Want to know the best Alice Faye movies? How about the worst Alice Faye movies? Curious about Alice Faye box office grosses or which Alice Faye movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Alice Faye movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Alice Faye (1915-1998) was an American actress and singer. In the late 1930s and early 1940s Faye was one of the most popular stars making movies. In the Quigley Publication annual list of most popular stars, Faye was ranked 9th in 1938, 7th in 1939, 13th in 1940, 12th in 1941, 12th in 1943 and 15th in 1944. Faye’s IMDb page shows 39 acting credits from 1935 to 1980. This page will rank Alice Faye movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, movies that were not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings. To do well in our overall rankings a movie has to do well at the box office, get good reviews by critics, be liked by audiences and get some award recognition.
Alice Faye Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Alice Faye Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Alice Faye movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Alice Faye movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Alice Faye movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Alice Faye movies by how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort Alice Faye movies by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each movie received.
- Sort Alice Faye movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Blue link in Co-star column takes you to that star’s UMR movie page
The Best of IMDb Trivia on Alice Faye
1. Alice Jeanne Leppert was born on May 5, 1915, in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.
2. Alice Faye introduced almost twice as many ‘Hit Parade‘ songs in her movies (23) as each of her closest competitors: Judy Garland (13), Betty Grable (12) and Doris Day (12).
3. Alice Faye referred to her home studio (20th Century Fox) as “Penitentiary Fox“.
4. Alice Faye was so upset by Darryl F. Zanuck’s editing hack job on Fallen Angel (1945), in order to benefit newcomer Linda Darnell, that she literally walked away from the studio and didn’t return for 16 years.
5. Alice Faye made six movies with Don Ameche. Her thoughts on those movies: “…six films I made with Don and, in every one of them, my voice was deeper than the plot.
Check out Alice Faye’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
2nd attempt at this, it vanished the first time. Alice is another one who was never close to being on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Centers of the Hollywood Universe (you have to be Arthur Tovey or Bess Flowers in the old days). These are the people on the current list she appeared with. Imagine the money she made off her husband Phil Harris’ residuals for The Thing and Bare Necessities.
48 JOHN CARRADINE Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938)
48 JOHN CARRADINE Fallen Angel (1945)
48 JOHN CARRADINE Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
79 BRUCE DERN Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
119 DEAN STOCKWELL Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
172 MICKEY ROONEY The Magic of Lassie (1978)
297 HENRY FONDA Lillian Russell (1940)
375 TERI GARR Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
382 ROBERT DOWNEY JR. A Century of Cinema (1994)
419 ANN-MARGRET State Fair (1962)
512 KEYE LUKE Barricade (1939)
512 KEYE LUKE King of Burlesque (1936)
512 KEYE LUKE The Gang’s All Here (1941)
512 KEYE LUKE Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
537 KATHLEEN FREEMAN Every Girl Should Have One (1978)
613 BRODERICK CRAWFORD Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
672 WALTER PIDGEON Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
698 ALDO RAY Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
770 MADELINE KAHN Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
784 CESAR ROMERO The Great American Broadcast (1941)
784 CESAR ROMERO Week-End in Havana (1941)
805 CHARLES LANE In Old Chicago (1937)
805 CHARLES LANE Rose of Washington Square (1939)
815 DANA ANDREWS Fallen Angel (1945)
867 PETER LAWFORD Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
909 JAMES STEWART The Magic of Lassie (1978)
970 YVONNE DE CARLO Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
Alice did better than Mercedes with Oscar winners, she appeared with 16.
ALICE BRADY In Old Chicago (1937)
ART CARNEY Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
BRODERICK CRAWFORD Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
DON AMECHE Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938)
DON AMECHE Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
DON AMECHE In Old Chicago (1937)
DON AMECHE Lillian Russell (1940)
DON AMECHE That Night in Rio (1941)
DON AMECHE You Can’t Have Everything (1937)
GEORGE BURNS A Century of Cinema (1994)
HATTIE MCDANIEL MUSIC IS MAGIC (1935)
HENRY FONDA Lillian Russell (1940)
JAMES DUNN 365 Nights in Hollywood (1934)
JAMES STEWART The Magic of Lassie (1978)
JANE DARWELL Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)
JANE WYMAN George White’s 1935 Scandals (1935)
JANE WYMAN King of Burlesque (1936)
JANE WYMAN Tail Spin (1939)
JESSICA TANDY A Century of Cinema (1994)
LIZA MINNELLI A Century of Cinema (1994)
SPENCER TRACY Now I’ll Tell (1934)
WALTER BRENNAN George White’s Scandals (1934)
WARNER BAXTER Barricade (1939)
WARNER BAXTER King of Burlesque (1936)
Hey Dan….sorry you first attempt vanished. Glad the second attempt worked. As always thanks for putting this information together. I imagine in the mid 1940s she would have had a nice spot on the Oracle list. But her career pretty much stopped 74 years ago….I am not surprised she is not even close to the Top 1000. Looking at her first list…looks like Robert Downey, Jr. will keep her associated with the Oracle list for awhile. 16 Oscar winning co-stars is pretty low…..but the Oscars were less than 20 years old when she stopped her career. Good stuff as always.
I have seen 10 Alice Faye movies. I have not seen as many films of stars of Twentieth Century Fox as I do from other studios because TCM does not own the rights to a huge number of their films and I do not have access to Fox Movie Channel.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is In Old Chicago.
The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is The Gang’s All Here.
The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is George White’s Scandals.
Favourite Alice Faye Movies:
In Old Chicago
Tin Pan Alley
Fallen Angel
That Night in Rio
Weekend in Havana
Alexander’s Rag Time Band – not in the table, but mentioned in Joel’s 4 Star Performances post.
Other Alice Faye Movie I Have Seen:
Poor Little Rich Girl
Stowaway
Hollywood Cavalcade
George White Scandals
Alice Faye’s signature song was “You’ll Never Know.”
Hey Flora.
1. Thanks for the thoughts on Alice Fay.
2. Tally count…you 10….and me…a pretty weak 2. Steve is at 4 as well….so your total almost doubles Steve and my total.
3. Interesting about TCM not having the rights to many of her movies.
4. Not sure how I missed Alexander’s Ragtime Band…as that is one of the two I have seen. It is now added to the page.
5. Good information on the song she is noted.
Good stuff as always.
The above charts faithfully illustrate that (1) Alice’s heyday lasted just 11 years from 1934 until 1945-ie not even a complete CALENDAR decade (2) after 1945 she was absent from the screen for 16 years. Plum roles that she declined in prestigious movies were A tree Grow in Brooklyn and The Dolly Sisters
On her return in 1962 she made just 5 more films, the 3 mentioned in Bruce’s charts, 1978’s Every Girl Should have One [an obscure whodunnit starring the flamboyant “famous for being famous” Zsa Zsa Gabor, whom one critic quipped should have been billed as Ga-bore!] and finally a 1995 documentary about Carmen Miranda.
Gingers Rogers used to complain that whilst she and Fred were a team, historians in later years tended to pay more attention to him so that in posterity he was allowed to [unfairly in her view] overshadow her. I always thought that the title Shadow of The Thin Man was highly appropriate as his wife in the series tended to be overshadowed by Nick Charles [and little Asta because of the latter’s cuteness].
So, because as Bruce points out Alice made 6 films with Don Ameche, and as Don had a long and highly prolific acting career from 1929 right up to old age and until his death in 1993, Alice’s contribution to those movies and her career overall tend to be overshadowed by historians often referring to her as “Don Ameche’s frequent/favourite leading lady,” despite the fact that in all of their 6 films she was billed before him.
Whilst her heyday was short it was also sweet as she was one of the important early talkies singer/actresses, so she deserves her Cogerson page. Celebrity Net Worth reckons that when she died in 1998 she left behind a fortune equivalent to $4 million in today’s money.
In 1984 she was the guest in an episode of the British television series This is Your Life in which famous people appeared in the studio and host Eamonn Andrews [an Irishman!]went over their life’s history with them, and friends and relatives past and present came on one by one over half an hour [later an hour] to pay tribute to the celeb. Often there were a lot of tears during the proceedings so it was the kind of “mush” that would appeal to the likes of Steve Lensman. It obviously appealed to many because it ran from 1955 through to 2003.
Hey Bob…thanks for the thoughts on Alice Faye…yet another Joel subject off the list….are you maintaining the check marks in the book? Counting on you to do that. Yep….after filming Fallen Angel, Alice Faye left the movie business. But her stats are truly impressive. Not thinking the Don/Alice combo was nearly as known as the Ginger/Fred combo…..heck…before Ameche’s Cocoon comeback he was nearly forgotten. Good trivia on her appearance on This Is Your Life and her net worth. Good stuff.
Hi WH: I agree with you about Astaire Rogers v Faye/Ameche – for now! However psychologists tell us that most people subconsciously think that history has permanently run its course in THEIR OWN lifetime. That’s why my dad could never get over the likes of Crosby and Hope and thought there would never again be stars who would match The Duke and Bogie etc. It partially explains dad’s hatred of Brando and eg the golfer Tiger Woods: dad became enraged by contemporary fans putting Marlon and Tiger up there with “oldie” Greats such as say Olivier and Jack Nicklaus [The Golden Bear]respectively.
So we don’t KNOW FOR CERTAIN whether “100 years from now” [as Clint Eastwood would express it] Fay/Ameche will have been rediscovered and will have eclipsed Fred & Ginger in the affections of the world that then exists – look for example at the remarkable comeback of Canuck Leonard Cohen in his later years and after his death. Cohen, like [as some critics have argued] Bogie was possibly an even bigger star after death than before. “Que Sera Sera!”
However what I am certain of is that my own movie-loving even distant blood descendants will always be saying “I must consult what the works of dad/grandad’s favorite movie-related team [WH/W o C.] have to say about that old movie– Oh my goodness it must be good: Joel’s given its lead actors 4 stars each!” Ah posterity!
Hey Bob….good memories of your dad. My dad thought along the same path. Things were much better “back in the day”. Especially movies. As for golf….he really enjoyed the senior tournament alot. His favorites used to rule that circuit. Guys like Lee Trevino and Bob Charles (a lefty…which was like my dad). Those two are now 83 and 79…and not playing on that circuit anymore. Only time will tell if Clint is correct….but I still suspect he is slightly off in his predictions. Good final comment. Good stuff as always.
“Alice Faye’s biographers dwelled heavily on her feuds with producer Darryl F. Zanuck instead of her vulnerability and sensitivity on the screen. Her husky contralto voice was refreshing in an era of piercing sopranos.
4 Star Movie Roles
1937’s Wake Up And Live
1938’s In Old Chicago
1938’s Alexander’s Ragtime Band
1939’s Rose of Washington Square
1945’s Fallen Angel
This is an excerpt from Joel’s Rating The Movie Stars book (1983)
Hey Joel….always good to see your movie thoughts on the website.
Thank you for this interesting page on Alice Faye, I’m sure it had nothing to do with my request the day before, is it great minds think alike or fools seldom differ? lol.
There is something about Alice Faye, I’m not a big musical fan but her presence in these films seem to lift them (for me anyway) onto a different level, she’s very watchable and likeable, pleasing on the eye too with a great voice!
Fun quote about her saying her voice was deeper than most of the plots of her films! Interesting to read such ‘lightweight’ films as The Gang’s All Here, That Night In Rio and On The Avenue all made so much money, I guess laughter really is the best medicine for the blue’s!
It always amazes me how much money films back then made, how a film could make $200 million plus and only be the 26th biggest film of the year! Can’t imagine that in 2019!
It is a shame she walked away from her career at an early age, it would of been interesting to see how her career advanced, but there you are, fate had a different role for her to play.
Thank you once again for this interesting page.
Charlie
Hey Charlie….glad you got to see your requested page. I have a few lists I work on…..Oscar winners, requests and subjects of Joel Hirschhorn’s book Rating The Movie Stars. Since she hit two of those lists….we knocked out her page. It has always fascinated me that she was ranked so high in the Quigley annual reports….mainly because she is not somebody I am too aware of. But now I see it…..what a nice career.
As for a movie making over $200 million and still not being in the Top 25 for the year. The main reason for that is ….she was a star during the peak time for movies…..the 1940s saw almost half of the United States visiting a movie theater every single week. Attendance back then was on average about 90 million tickets sold a week….today…..less than 20 million a week are sold (on average). That is only about 3 billion more tickets a year sold….lol.
I have since added (second paragraph) in her Quigley Rankings for her peak years. I agree it is a shame she left her career after what many of her fans think was her greatest performance in Fallen Angel….oh what could have been. Thanks for the suggestion….the visit and the comment…all are greatly appeciated.