Want to know the best Barry Fitzgerald movies? How about the worst Barry Fitzgerald movies? Curious about Barry Fitzgerald box office grosses or which Barry Fitzgerald movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Barry Fitzgerald movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Barry Fitzgerald (1888-1961) was an Irish Oscar®-winning actor. Fitzgerald was one of the great supporting actors from the mid 1930s to the late 1950s. His IMDb page shows 50 acting credits from 1924-1964. This page will rank 37 Barry Fitzgerald movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television roles, uncredited roles and movies that were not released in North America were not included in the rankings.
One of our favorite pieces of movie trivia revolves around Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is the only actor/actress to get two Oscar® nominations for the same role in the same year. Fitzgerald was nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for 1944’s Going My Way. The Oscar® people changed the rules after this happened….so it will never happen again.
Barry Fitzgerald 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 Barry Fitzgerald movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Barry Fitzgerald movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Barry Fitzgerald movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Barry Fitzgerald movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Barry Fitzgerald movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Barry Fitzgerald movie won.
- Sort Barry Fitzgerald movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Barry Fitzgerald Table
- Nineteen Barry Fitzgerald movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 51.35% of his movies listed. Going My Way (1944) was easily his biggest box office hit when looking at adjusted domestic box office gross.
- An average Barry Fitzgerald movie grosses $128.20 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 31 Barry Fitzgerald movies are rated as good movies…or 83.78% of his movies. Bringing Up Baby (1938) is his highest rated movie while Full Confession (1939) was his lowest rated movie.
- Ten Barry Fitzgerald movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 27.02% of his movies.
- Five Barry Fitzgerald movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 13.51% of his movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00 or higher. 25 Barry Fitzgerald movies scored higher than that average….or 67.56% of his movies. Going My Way (1944) got the the highest UMR Score while Full Confession (1939) got the lowest UMR Score.
Ten Possibly Interesting Facts About Barry Fitzgerald
1. William Joseph Shields was born in Walworth Road, Portobello, Dublin, Ireland in 1888.
2. Barry Fitzgerald became a full-time actor when he was 41 years old.
3. Barry Fitzgerald and playwrite Seán O’Casey were roommates. Appearing in O’Casey’s plays is what first got Fitzgerald attention.
4. Barry Fitzgerald’s first full length movie picture was 1930’s Juno and the Paycock…..that movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
5. Barry Fitzgerald broke the head off his Best Supporting Actor Oscar® practicing his golf swing.
6. Barry Fitzgerald was never married and did not have any children.
7. Along with Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone, Barry Fitzgerald is one of only three actors to receive Oscar® nominations for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for playing the same character: (1) Fitzgerald was nominated for both awards for playing Father Fitzgibbon in Going My Way (1944), (2) Pacino was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing Michael Corleone The Godfather (1972) and Best Actor for the same role in The Godfather: Part II (1974) and (3) Stallone was nominated for Best Actor for playing Rocky Balboa in Rocky (1976) and Best Supporting Actor for the same role in Creed (2015).
8. Check out Barry Fitzgerald’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Academy Award®, Tony® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
Hi
A superb character actor and a natural scene stealer. I think my favourite role of his would be in The Quiet Man. He was also terrific in Bringing Up Baby. As for Going My Way, it must have come across as a bit weird being nominated for the same role in two categories. Surely somebody must have seen the contradiction. Nevertheless he was great in the part. Like all the great character actors, in a lot of cases he was more memorable than the actual star. Maybe it’s me but there doesn’t seem to be his kind around now. I suppose there’s not as much need now in franchised movies. All the best for 2018.
Hey Chris. I am right there with you about The Quiet Man. Easily my favorite Fitzgerald movie….not to mention my favorite John Wayne movie. Bringing Up Baby is a classic….but Fitzgerald does not really have a huge part…..but I love the movie. Nowadays they make the studio pick the category…..I guess it should be referred to as the Fitzgerald rule. It would have been even stranger if he had WON both Oscars…..lol. I think there are some character actors out there….Michael Shannon comes to mind…..which he is in my mind the new Christopher Walken. Happy New Year….thanks for sharing your thoughts on Mr. Fitzgerald…it is greatly appreciated.
As already mentioned, BF was a scene stealer…kind of a male Thelma Ritter. Including his debut in Juno and the Paycock, I’ve seen 14 of his movies. Favs include The Quiet Man, And Then There Were None, Bringing Up Baby, How Green Was My Valley and None But The Lonely Heart. You seldom find a film starring Bing Crosby among my favorites, but as with Wyman’s Here comes the Groom, I really have a weak spot for both Going My Way and its sequel The Bells of St. Mary’s (without Fitzgerald). Cudos to one of the most prolific character actors of yesteryear- and to the chap who collected and put up all this information here.
Hey Lupino
1. BF was excellent at stealing scenes….John Ford loved him doing that.
2. I like the comparison to Thelma Ritter…..very fitting indeed.
3. Tally count…14 for you, 13 for Flora…and 7 for me…..I thought it was going to be much higher.
4. Of your favorites…you have my Top 3…Quiet Man, And Then There Were None and Bringing Up Baby.
5. Never liked None But The Lonely Heart….Cary was going for an Oscar…..but had to settle for a nomination.
6. Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s were massive hits….but they were a one and done movies to me…..I have seen them….but will never watch them again.
Good feedback as always.
I have seen 13 Barry Fitzgerald movies so far. He is one of my favourite character actors.
The highest rated film I have seen is How Green Was My Valley.
The highest rated film I have NOT seen is Two Years Before the Mast.
The lowest rated film I have seen is The Catered Affair.
My favourite Barry Fitzgerald films are: 6 listed instead of 5 this time
And Then There Were None
Bringing Up Baby
Going My Way
How Green Was My Valley
The Naked City
The Sea Wolf
Other movies I have seen are:
The Dawn Patrol
Incendiary Blonde
None But the Lonely Heart
The Quiet Man
The Saint Strikes Back
The Story of Seabiscuit
Hey Flora
1. Happy New Year…….thanks for stopping by.
2. He is one of my favorite character actors too….actually shocked it took this long to do an UMR page on him.
3. So you are at 13….I am at….counting….only 7. Very disappointed in myself.
4. I guess watching Bringing Up Baby and The Quiet Man so many times….it made me think I have seen more of his movies……now if we count multi-viewings….then my tally is close to 100….lol.
5. I have not see Two Years Before The Mast either.
6. I have seen the first 4 favorites you mentioned…..and I want to see The Naked City and The Sea Wolf.
7. The Quiet Man does not crack your Top 6…….that is surprising.
8. I love Cary Grant….but I did not enjoy None But The Lonely Heart at all.
Good feedback as always.
One of the few actors that made a movie better whenever he showed up on screen. He was always entertaining and always seemed to have a twinkle in his eye.
Hey Christopher…..good points on Barry Fitzgerald….I like the comment about a “twinkle in his eye”……that is a great way to describe him. Thanks for the visit and the comment.
Barry Fitzgerald was the very best of that grand Hollywood fixture, the lovable old codger. His Irish charm gave needed transfusions to many films, and won him an Oscar for Going My Way (even beating out Clifton Webb’s brilliant performance in Laura).
My 4 Star Barry Fitzgerald Performances from Rating The Movie Stars
1937 The Plough and the Stars
1938 Bringing Up Baby
1938 The Dawn Patrol
1940 The Long Voyage Home
1941 The Sea Wolf
1941 How Green Was My Valley
1944 Going My Way
1944 None But The Lonely Heart
1945 Incendiary Blonde
1945 Duffy’s Tavern
1945 And Then They Were None
1947 Welcome Stranger
1948 The Naked City
1948 The Sainted Sisters
1950 Union Station
1952 The Quiet Man
Barry Fitzgerald was one of the greatest scene stealing actors of all-time. John Ford loved casting him opposite big stars (big in many ways) like John Wayne. Of the 16 4 Star Movies listed I have seen Bringing Up Baby (movie that introduced me to Cary Grant), The Dawn Patrol, How Green Was My Valley, None But The Lonely Heart, And Then There Were None (best film version of that classic story), and The Quiet Man (my favorite John Wayne movie).