Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1909-2000) was an American actor and a decorated naval officer of World War II. He was the only child of silent movie superstar, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. He has acting credits for an incredible 7 different decades. His IMDb page shows 99 acting credits from 1916 to 1989. This page ranks 42 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, bit parts and his movies not released in North America theaters are not included in the rankings. This page was requested by Chad and Anonymous a very long time ago….sorry it took so long.
From Joel Hirschhorn’s Rating The Movie Stars Book: “The old saying, “Like father, like son” applies to Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and his son. Both displayed a hearty, engaging vitality in costume epics, but Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. demonstrated more range as a dramatic actor, partly due to opportunities provided by talkies.”
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Movies Ranked By Combination of Box Office, Reviews and Awards (UMR Score) *Classic UMR Table (the one with all the stats is the second table)
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. 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 Douglas Fairbanks Jr. movies by movie title and movie trailers.
- Sort Douglas Fairbanks Jr. movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Douglas Fairbanks Jr. movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Douglas Fairbanks Jr. movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Douglas Fairbanks Jr. 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 Douglas Fairbanks Jr. movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Douglas Fairbanks Jr. movie won.
- Sort Douglas Fairbanks Jr. 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.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. has never been on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list, 7 decades be damned. Lillian Gish made films in 8 decades and she’s never been on. These are the only actors on the current list Doug worked with.
44 CHRISTOPHER LEE Destination Milan (1954)
132 VANESSA REDGRAVE Red and Blue (1967)
211 MICHAEL YORK Red and Blue (1967)
307 MICKEY ROONEY The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
816 ANTHONY QUINN Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
The following actors appeared on the 2000 list and have fallen off in time. All appeared with Doug;
14 JOHN CARRADINE Morning Glory (1933)
102 DAVID NIVEN The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
125 VINCENT PRICE Green Hell (1940)
146 MIKE MAZURKI Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
151 CESAR ROMERO That Lady in Ermine (1948)
179 JOHN WAYNE The Forward Pass (1929)
179 JOHN WAYNE The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
222 BESS FLOWERS Success at Any Price (1934)
234 AKIM TAMIROFF The Corsican Brothers (1941)
287 RICHARD FARNSWORTH Gunga Din (1939)
323 GEORGE SANDERS Green Hell (1940)
354 CYRIL CUSACK Destination Milan (1954)
410 GEORGE RAFT Love Is a Racket (1932)
438 GLYNIS JOHNS The Great Manhunt (1950)
463 EDWARD G. ROBINSON Little Caesar (1931)
472 TERRY-THOMAS Kingdom of Gifts (1978)
507 RALPH BELLAMY The Narrow Corner (1933)
517 WILFRID HYDE-WHITE Mister Drake’s Duck (1951)
538 ARTHUR HILL Mister Drake’s Duck (1951)
571 CHARLES LANE Joy of Living (1938)
571 CHARLES LANE The Rage of Paris (1938)
571 CHARLES LANE Union Depot (1932)
575 JACK HAWKINS The Great Manhunt (1950)
592 WHIT BISSELL That Lady in Ermine (1948)
599 JOHN DOUCETTE The Fighting O’Flynn (1949)
651 MELVYN DOUGLAS Ghost Story (1981)
671 EDUARDO CIANELLI Gunga Din (1939)
673 PETER SELLERS Kingdom of Gifts (1978)
740 GEORGE CHANDLER Joy of Living (1938)
740 GEORGE CHANDLER Parachute Jumper (1933)
740 GEORGE CHANDLER Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
740 GEORGE CHANDLER The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
740 GEORGE CHANDLER Union Depot (1932)
744 DEAN JAGGER Having Wonderful Time (1938)
777 ERIC POHLMANN The Great Manhunt (1950)
790 ROLAND CULVER Accused (1936)
827 ANTON DIFFRING The Great Manhunt (1950)
832 DON BRODIE The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
918 BETTE DAVIS Parachute Jumper (1933)
959 LEON AMES Parachute Jumper (1933)
969 BYRON FOULGER The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
975 MAUREEN O’HARA Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
Doug appeared with 23 Oscar winners including 6 times with Loretta Young.
ALICE BRADY Joy of Living (1938)
ANTHONY QUINN Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
BETTE DAVIS Parachute Jumper (1933)
DAVID NIVEN The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
DEAN JAGGER Having Wonderful Time (1938)
GARY COOPER Wild Horse Mesa (1925)
GEORGE SANDERS Green Hell (1940)
GINGER ROGERS Having Wonderful Time (1938)
JANET GAYNOR The Young in Heart (1938)
JOAN CRAWFORD Our Modern Maidens (1929)
JOAN FONTAINE Gunga Din (1939)
JOHN WAYNE The Forward Pass (1929)
JOHN WAYNE The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
KATHARINE HEPBURN Morning Glory (1933)
LORETTA YOUNG I Like Your Nerve (1931)
LORETTA YOUNG Loose Ankles (1930)
LORETTA YOUNG THE CARELESS AGE (1929)
LORETTA YOUNG The Forward Pass (1929)
LORETTA YOUNG The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
LORETTA YOUNG The Show of Shows (1929)
MARY ASTOR The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
MARY ASTOR The Show of Shows (1929)
MELVYN DOUGLAS Ghost Story (1981)
PATRICIA NEAL Ghost Story (1981)
PAUL LUKAS Captured! (1933)
RONALD COLMAN Stella Dallas (1925)
RONALD COLMAN The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
THOMAS MITCHELL ANGELS OVER BROADWAY (1940)
THOMAS MITCHELL LITTLE ACCIDENT (1930)
VANESSA REDGRAVE Red and Blue (1967)
VICTOR MCLAGLEN Gunga Din (1939)
WALTER BRENNAN Little Accident (1930)
WALTER BRENNAN Parachute Jumper (1933)
Hey Dan
1. You are so correct…..he has nothing on Gish…..he was a slacker in decades worked…lol.
2. When looking at his first list….of the 5 remaining actors…only Redgrave and York are still around…Redgrave seems to be more active than York these days…so maybe Redgrave will keep him connected to the new list.
3. Second list….one for Bess Flowers and 5 for George Chander….gotta admit…I have never heard of him before.
4. 23 Oscar winning co-stars…..decent but not great.
5. Six movies with Loretta Young….a screen combo that never gets mentioned.
Thanks for putting this lists together…always appreciated.
I have seen 11 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. movies. That total is less than I thought it would be.
The HIGHEST Ranked film I have seen is Gunga Din.
The highest rated film I have NOT seen is Stella Dallas.
The LOWEST rated film I have seen is Union Depot which is enjoyable. I have always enjoyed Fairbanks’ performances even if not the overall film.
Favourite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Movies:
Gunga Din
The Prisoner of Zenda
Sinbad the Sailor
Little Caesar
The Dawn Patrol
The Corsican Brothers
Morning Glory
Union Depot
Other Douglas Fairbanks Movies I Have Seen:
The Young in Heart
Joy of Living
Having Wonderful Time
Hey Flora…..as always….thanks for the feedback, the comment and the tally count. Well so far you top the tally count….actually….if you combine me and Steve’s tally count….you would still be the winner. 11 for you, 6 for Steve and 4 for me. The more I think about it the more I think I have seen Morning Glory….I just do not remember much about the movie….so I think my tally is 4.5….lol. Of your favorites…Gunga Din, Prisoner of Zenda and Little Caesar are the ones I liked too….with Ghost Story being the fourth one I have seen…which I liked as well. You would think…with me enjoying the 4 I have seen….that I would watch more of his movies. I would like to see The Corsican Brothers and Sinbad The Sailer. Good stuff as always.
HI BRUCE
The first time that I ever saw Doug Junior [Jamar was the nickname he had for some reason] was in the 1951 Mr Drake’s Duck which was on an obscure double bill at a local cinema and I didn’t like it and I think your 49% rating for it is about right.
However I loved Doug’s 1947 Sinbad the Sailor [71% from you] and it is one of those flicks I must have watched 20 times or more. Lancaster and Power were probably my fave swashbuckling heroes but Jamar’s Sinbad was my single favourite movie in the genre.
You credit Doug above with twelve $100 million barrier smashers but although he was leading man in a few to big female stars like Ginger Rogers and Irene Dunne, he could be said to be the out and star of just 2 of the 12, Sinbad the Sailor and The Corsican Brothers, the only two of the dozen in which he was top billed.
However he can be proud of his career as he had a hard act to follow in his legendary father. Also he of course had to live with being “Mr Joan Crawford” early in the career. [Now I wouldn’t have minded being Mr Joan Crawford but I was never in line for stardom!]
I enjoyed Doug Jr whether as adventure hero, the villain [as in Prisoner of Zenda ] or romantic leading man so a “Voted Up” rating for this new page.
Hey Bob….thanks for commenting on our latest page (though it is now our 2nd latest page). Some how…I do not find that a movie called Mr. Drake’s Duck is indeed not very good….it sounds like it is in the same category as Operation Dumbo Drop…lol. Glad one of your favorites and part of your 20 club got some more UMR attention. I agree with you about his more popular movies not being stand alone Douglas Fairbanks movies. I almost included a Joan/Douglas photo….but in the end…I went with his movies instead. Good to see we agree on his villain role in Zenda…..that is my favorite role of his…with Gunga being my favorite movie he appeared in. Thanks for the vote up. Good stuff.
Who says Bruce doesn’t do pages on the Brits? Oh wait Doug is American, though you can be forgiven for thinking he’s English, a lifelong Anglophile Doug had that perfect upper class English snob accent down pat. Plus he was always mixing with the royals and received an honorary Knighthood too. There you go.
Looking at the chart I’m ashamed to say I’ve only seen 6 of the 42 films on the chart – Gunga Din, The Prisoner of Zenda, Little Caesar, The Dawn Patrol, Sinbad the Sailor and Ghost Story.
All are favorites except maybe Sinbad, which was colorful but had very little magic.
I’ve checked my video chart after seeing your top 3 – you have Little Caesar at no.1, I have Gunga Din at the top followed by Prisoner of Zenda and Little Caesar at no.3. Close enough but my scores and rankings are the real deal. [Bruce fumes] 🙂
Good stuff as always Bruce. So many golden oldies I’ve missed but it’s not too late to catch up. Vote Up!
Hey Mr. Steve Lensman…even though your total of 6 is pretty low…it still almost doubles my even lower total of 4. The four I have seen are all in the 6 you have seen. I thought he was the best in Prisoner of Zenda. He was playing George Raft in Little Caesar. He was still a dashing looking gentlemen in Ghost Story. That leaves Gunga Din to talk about. Gunga Din was one of my dad’s favorite movies. I like it because of Cary Grant…..I think Douglas and Victor play second fiddle to Grant in that one….even though Fairbanks has the love interest storyline. As for the differences in the rating….just goes to further prove….my personal thoughts are kept out of the rankings….as Gunga Din would surely be the number one movie if I was the deciding factor. Thanks as always for the feedback.
So I was looking at our UMR database….and I sorted by thespians that had over 40 movies in the database but did not have an UMR page. Well…when Douglas Fairbanks, Jr’s name popped up….I decided I should “release” the movies we have box office grosses for……granted this is far from all of his movies…..but realistically his silent movie grosses might never been uncovered….as well as his low budget British movies. So we will continue searching for his box office grosses….but right now this is what we have in our database.
Great data on Douglas Jr
Thx
Mike
You are welcome Mike.