Want to know the best Doris Day movies? How about the worst Doris Day movies? Curious about Doris Day’s box office grosses or which Doris Day movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Doris Day movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place ….. because we have all of that information.
Every April 3rd, my wife and Doris Day (1922-2019) share birthdays (with Marlon Brando and Eddie Murphy as well). Doris Day will turned 91 this year and she is still going strong…..as is my wife. Doris Day began her career as a big band singer in 1939. Her popularity began to rise after her first hit recording, Sentimental Journey in 1945. Four years later, Day started her movie career with the movie Romance on the High Seas. She would become one of the biggest movies stars of all time.
Her IMDb page shows 41 acting credits from 1948-1973. This page will rank 39 Doris Day movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances were not were not included in the rankings.
Doris Day Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Doris Day Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In The Following Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Column one – the link will take you to that movie’s trailer
- Sort by Doris Day’s co-stars of her movies.
- Sort Doris Day movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Doris Day movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Doris Day movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Doris Day movie received.
- Sort Doris Day 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.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Pillow Talk (1959) AA Best Actress Nom |
Rock Hudson & Tony Randall |
22.20 | 463.1 | 463.10 | 6 | 83 | 05 / 01 | 98.6 | |
| 2 | The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) | James Stewart & Directed by Alfred Hitchcock |
11.70 | 266.2 | 266.20 | 22 | 81 | 01 / 01 | 97.9 | |
| 3 | Lover Come Back (1961) | Rock Hudson | 24.30 | 410.2 | 410.20 | 7 | 79 | 01 / 00 | 97.0 | |
| 6 | On Moonlight Bay (1951) | Gordon MacRae | 7.80 | 195.6 | 266.40 | 18 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 96.3 | |
| 4 | Love Me or Leave Me (1955) | James Cagney | 11.50 | 277.1 | 386.80 | 23 | 69 | 06 / 01 | 96.1 | |
| 10 | Young at Heart (1954) | Frank Sinatra | 7.10 | 194.1 | 194.10 | 42 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 95.8 | |
| 5 | The Thrill of It All (1963) | James Garner | 15.70 | 228.4 | 228.40 | 14 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 95.5 | |
| 5 | That Touch of Mink (1962) | Cary Grant | 24.30 | 404.8 | 404.80 | 5 | 69 | 03 / 00 | 95.1 | |
| 7 | Move Over, Darling (1963) | James Garner | 17.40 | 253.3 | 253.30 | 9 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 94.4 | |
| 12 | Midnight Lace (1960) | Myrna Loy & Rex Harrison |
10.00 | 181.2 | 181.20 | 24 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 11 | The Pajama Game (1957) | John Raitt | 7.70 | 171.0 | 255.00 | 26 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 93.3 | |
| 9 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) | David Niven | 15.20 | 274.7 | 373.10 | 11 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 93.2 | |
| 13 | Calamity Jane (1953) | Howard Keel | 7.60 | 157.8 | 237.20 | 30 | 73 | 03 / 01 | 92.3 | |
| 15 | Send Me No Flowers (1964) | Rock Hudson | 12.90 | 171.0 | 171.00 | 15 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 92.1 | |
| 14 | Teacher's Pet (1958) | Clark Gable | 7.70 | 160.7 | 221.50 | 28 | 73 | 02 / 00 | 92.0 | |
| 16 | Romance on the High Seas (1948) | Jack Carson | 5.80 | 180.9 | 265.20 | 54 | 63 | 02 / 00 | 90.6 | |
| 17 | Tea for Two (1950) | Gordon MacRae | 6.60 | 172.8 | 271.70 | 26 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 89.9 | |
| 18 | I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) | Danny Thomas | 7.00 | 174.2 | 228.30 | 30 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 87.9 | |
| 19 | Lullaby of Broadway (1951) | Gene Nelson | 6.00 | 150.1 | 220.40 | 39 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 87.3 | |
| 20 | The West Point Story (1950) | James Cagney | 6.10 | 159.7 | 215.00 | 39 | 61 | 01 / 00 | 87.2 | |
| 21 | April in Paris (1952) | Ray Bolger | 7.60 | 173.6 | 224.70 | 21 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 87.1 | |
| 22 | My Dream Is Yours (1949) | Jack Carson | 5.50 | 161.0 | 221.40 | 47 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 86.8 | |
| 24 | Young Man with a Horn (1950) | Kirk Douglas | 4.70 | 122.1 | 172.80 | 64 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 85.5 | |
| 24 | By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) | Gordon MacRae | 5.70 | 119.1 | 166.90 | 53 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 85.4 | |
| 26 | It's a Great Feeling (1949) | Jack Carson | 5.70 | 166.3 | 219.10 | 42 | 51 | 01 / 00 | 84.1 | |
| 25 | The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) | Rod Taylor | 11.50 | 130.7 | 130.70 | 25 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 83.3 | |
| 27 | With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) | Brian Keith | 14.30 | 136.3 | 136.30 | 26 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 82.6 | |
| 28 | Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) | Jimmy Durante | 7.10 | 119.0 | 190.50 | 36 | 61 | 01 / 00 | 81.6 | |
| 29 | Do Not Disturb (1965) | Rod Taylor | 10.40 | 127.5 | 127.50 | 22 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 81.5 | |
| 30 | Storm Warning (1950) | Ginger Rogers & Ronald Reagan |
3.60 | 93.0 | 93.00 | 93 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 79.7 | |
| 33 | Lucky Me (1954) | Robert Cummings | 4.60 | 126.3 | 194.90 | 62 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 77.9 | |
| 32 | It Happened To Jane (1959) | Jack Lemmon | 4.90 | 101.2 | 101.20 | 52 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 77.2 | |
| 31 | The Winning Team (1952) | Ronald Reagan | 4.00 | 90.8 | 101.30 | 86 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 77.2 | |
| 34 | Starlift (1951) | Gordon MacRae | 4.80 | 121.1 | 164.40 | 64 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 76.8 | |
| 35 | The Tunnel of Love (1958) | Richard Widmark | 5.00 | 104.2 | 160.10 | 50 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 75.5 | |
| 36 | Julie (1956) | Louis Jordan | 4.00 | 91.9 | 168.80 | 77 | 54 | 02 / 00 | 71.5 | |
| 39 | Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968) | Robert Morse | 10.00 | 95.4 | 95.40 | 37 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 53.1 | |
| 37 | Caprice (1967) | Richard Harris | 5.00 | 51.7 | 51.70 | 49 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 50.5 | |
| 38 | The Ballad of Josie (1967) | Peter Graves | 1.30 | 13.6 | 13.60 | 126 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 42.6 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Doris Day Table
- Twenty-three Doris Day movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 58.97% of her movies listed. Pillow Talk (1959) was her biggest hit.
- An average Doris Day movie grossed $117.40 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 28 of Doris Day’s movies are rated as good movies…or 71.79% of her movies. Pillow Talk (1959) was her highest rated movie while Caprice (1967) was her lowest rated movie.
- Thirteen Doris Day movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 33.33% of her movies.
- Four Doris Day movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 10.25% of her movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00. 30 Doris Day movies scored higher that average…. or 76.92% of her movies. Pillow Talk (1959) got the the highest UMR Score while Where Were You When The Lights Went Out (1968) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Doris Day
1. Doris Day (1924-) was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2. At the suggestion of orchestra leader, Barney Rapp, she adopted the stage surname Day. He got Day from the fact that he admired her rendition of the song “Day After Day”.
3. During the location filming of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), when she saw how camels, goats and other “animal extras” in a marketplace scene were being treated. From that day she began her lifelong commitment to preventing animal abuse.
4. Doris Day was nominated for one acting Oscar® nomination…1959’s Pillow Talk.
5. Doris Day was nominated for five acting Golden Globe® nominations…1958’s The Tunnel of Love, 1959’s Pillow Talk, 1960’s Midnight Lace, 1962’s Billy Rose’s Jumbo and 1963’s Move Over Darling.
6. During the peak of her movie career (1959-1964), she was named the number one movie star…. four times.
7. Doris Day has often said Calamity Jane (1953) as her personal favorite of the 39 films she appeared in.
8. Doris Day briefly dated Ronald Reagan.
9. Doris Day was the first choice to play Mrs. Robinson in 1967’s The Graduate.
10 Doris Day She has two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One for music career and one for movie career.
For one of the best Doris Day pages out there….check out The Magic of Doris Day.
Steve Lensman’s Doris Day You Tube Video
Our Doris Day Box Office Only Page.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
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Loved and admired Doris Day since I was 9 years old. She inspired me and I followed my dream! I met Doris and moved to Los Angeles- got to really know her and she invited me to be her personal secretary- you can read all about my Doris ‘days’ / what a thrill to work for and then live with (in Doris in her home). Precious memories with dear Doris! You can read all about this in my new updated book – DAY AT A TIME / An Indiana Girl’s Sentimental Journey to Doris Day’s Hollywood and Beyond – just go to:
http://www.dayatatimesentimentaljourney.com
Follow your dreams. I did! ❤️
Hey Mary Anne…..that is awesome that you got spend so much time with her. We were so happy that she was nice enough to send us an autograph during our correspondences. At that point in her life she had stopped doing that. Thanks for sharing the link to your book.
Hope you enjoy my days with Doris ?
Thank you Mary.
My Top 5 Doris Day Movies
1. ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS (1948). Intended for Betty Hutton, but Betty had to bow out due to pregnancy. So it became Doris’ motion picture debut. It’s funnier than a lot of her later pictures.
2. CALAMITY JANE (1953). Obviously it was Warners’ version of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, with Howard Keel borrowed from MGM, who had been in the earlier picture. Doris sings the Oscar-winning song “Secret Love” perfectly. She gets to do lots of comedy and action scenes. It’s a fun movie and was said to have been Doris’ own personal favorite.
3. JULIE (1956). A rare dramatic role for her. Typical woman in peril stuff from the 50s. But she’s very good in it, and so is Louis Jourdan who plays the menacing husband.
4. LOVER COME BACK (1961). The second of three with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall. And I think it’s the best of the bunch.
5. THE THRILL OF IT ALL (1963). The second of two with James Garner. They worked well together. The plot is silly and very 60s. But it’s highly entertaining. Good character actors in the supporting roles also help.
Hey Top Billed…..that is a good Top 5. I have seen all of them with the exception of Julie. Thanks for sharing your Top 5.
A reminder that today, Sunday June 9th, TCM is airing 24 hours of Doris Day movies in tribute to her.
Thanks for this information Flora. Lots of great movies were on yesterday. Good stuff.
My prayers to her loved ones.
Thanks for the thoughts and prayers Harry D.