Helen Hayes (1900-1993) was a 2 time Oscar®-winning American actress. Hayes was known as “The First lady of the American Theater”. Her career on stage, films and television spanned over eighty years. Her IMDb page shows 59 acting credits from 1917 to 1977. This page will rank 17 Helen Hayes movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television roles, cameo roles, short films and her first silent movie not included in the rankings.
Helen Hayes Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (0 to 5 stars) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
1932
A Farewell To Arms (1932)
AA Best Picture Nom
1956
Anastasia (1956)
1931
Arrowsmith (1931)
AA Best Picture Nom
1970
Airport (1970)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Supp Actress Win
1974
Herbie Rides Again (1974)
1943
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
1977
Candleshoe (1977)
1931
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
AA Best Actress Win
1933
The White Sister (1933)
1933
Night Flight (1933)
1975
One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
1934
What Every Woman Knows (1934)
1932
The Son-Daughter (1932)
1935
Vanessa: Her Love Story (1935)
1933
Another Language (1933)
1953
Main Street to Broadway (1953)
1952
My Son John (1952)
Helen Hayes 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 Helen Hayes movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Helen Hayes movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Helen Hayes movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Helen Hayes movies by 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 Helen Hayes movies received.
- Sort Helen Hayes 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 | A Farewell To Arms (1932) AA Best Picture Nom |
Gary Cooper | 4.60 | 259.7 | 259.70 | 4 | 71 | 04 / 02 | 97.8 | |
| 1 | Anastasia (1956) | Ingrid Bergman & Yul Brynner |
14.30 | 324.7 | 324.70 | 13 | 79 | 02 / 01 | 97.6 | |
| 3 | Arrowsmith (1931) AA Best Picture Nom |
Myrna Loy & Directed by John Ford |
3.80 | 228.9 | 228.90 | 11 | 72 | 04 / 00 | 97.5 | |
| 2 | Airport (1970) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Supp Actress Win |
Burt Lancaster & Dean Martin |
102.40 | 825.6 | 825.60 | 2 | 63 | 10 / 01 | 96.8 | |
| 5 | Herbie Rides Again (1974) | Ken Berry | 50.00 | 334.2 | 334.20 | 8 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 89.7 | |
| 6 | Stage Door Canteen (1943) | Ralph Bellamy & Merle Oberon |
12.40 | 516.6 | 516.60 | 5 | 54 | 02 / 00 | 89.6 | |
| 7 | Candleshoe (1977) | Jodie Foster & David Niven |
19.50 | 109.5 | 109.50 | 40 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 83.5 | |
| 8 | The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) AA Best Actress Win |
Robert Young | 1.90 | 114.5 | 114.50 | 55 | 61 | 01 / 01 | 81.6 | |
| 9 | The White Sister (1933) | Clark Gable | 2.10 | 116.5 | 259.60 | 31 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 80.8 | |
| 10 | Night Flight (1933) | Clark Gable & John Barrymore |
1.60 | 89.4 | 167.50 | 55 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 79.1 | |
| 11 | One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975) | Peter Ustinov | 16.70 | 101.6 | 101.60 | 42 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 78.6 | |
| 12 | What Every Woman Knows (1934) | Donald Crisp | 1.00 | 52.8 | 78.00 | 113 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 61.6 | |
| 14 | The Son-Daughter (1932) | Ramon Novarro | 0.90 | 51.2 | 51.20 | 123 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 53.7 | |
| 13 | Vanessa: Her Love Story (1935) | Robert Montgomery & Donald Crisp |
0.80 | 39.5 | 39.50 | 162 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 52.4 | |
| 15 | Another Language (1933) | Robert Montgomery & Walter Wanger |
0.70 | 40.1 | 72.50 | 142 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 52.1 | |
| 16 | Main Street to Broadway (1953) | Lionel Barrymore & Agnes Moorehead |
1.30 | 26.3 | 28.00 | 197 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 47.3 | |
| 17 | My Son John (1952) | Robert Walker | 2.30 | 51.8 | 51.80 | 144 | 49 | 01 / 00 | 42.3 |
I’ll join the club of those who have only seen two movies of Helen Hayes: Anastasia and Airport, where she was unforgettable as the cute old lady who partly foils Van Heflin’s plan to blow up the plane. Long career, but relatively few films. I was interested to learn from Bob she was James MacArthur’s mother!
Hey PhilHoF17. It is a good club to be in. Flora 9, Cogerson 5, Bob 2, bob cox 2, Steve 2 and PhilHoF16 2. Not only is it the 2 club…but looks like it was the same 2 movies watched….Airport and Anastasia. Glad Bob was able to share some of his trivia with you. Sadly….McArthur passed away in 2010…..but he too had a good career. He was a Disney regular in the 1960s while she was a Disney regular in the 1970s. Good feedback as always.
Helen Hayes was never on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. These are the people she worked with from the December 15, 2018 list.
49 GEORGE KENNEDY Airport (1970)
68 CHRISTOPHER LLOYD Airport (1970)
89 PETER USTINOV One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
91 JOSS ACKLAND One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
104 HARRY ANDREWS Candleshoe (1977)
109 DAVID NIVEN Candleshoe (1977)
127 BURT LANCASTER Airport (1970)
138 HERBERT LOM Third Man on the Mountain (1959)
224 JACQUELINE BISSET Airport (1970)
227 KEENAN WYNN Herbie Rides Again (1974)
241 AKIM TAMIROFF Anastasia (1956)
373 ERIC POHLMANN Anastasia (1956)
378 JODIE FOSTER Candleshoe (1977)
381 FERDY MAYNE Third Man on the Mountain (1959)
451 CLIVE REVILL One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
476 YUL BRYNNER Anastasia (1956)
485 ROY KINNEAR One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
629 ALLAN CUTHBERTSON ANASTASIA (1956)
743 LEO MCKERN CANDLESHOE (1977)
808 RICHARD JAECKEL My Son John (1952)
866 PERCY HERBERT One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
877 LLOYD NOLAN Airport (1970)
989 LAURENCE NAISMITH THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN (1959)
992 VITO SCOTTI Herbie Rides Again (1974)
Helen appeared with 19 Oscar winners;
BURT LANCASTER Airport (1970)
CLARK GABLE Night Flight (1933)
CLARK GABLE The White Sister (1933)
DAVID NIVEN Candleshoe (1977)
DEAN JAGGER My Son John (1952)
DONALD CRISP VANESSA: HER LOVE STORY (1935)
DONALD CRISP WHAT EVERY WOMAN KNOWS (1934)
GARY COOPER A Farewell to Arms (1932)
GEORGE KENNEDY Airport (1970)
HUMPHREY BOGART The Dancing Town (1928)
INGRID BERGMAN Anastasia (1956)
JANE DARWELL Stage Door Canteen (1943)
JODIE FOSTER Candleshoe (1977)
KATHARINE HEPBURN Stage Door Canteen (1943)
LIONEL BARRYMORE Night Flight (1933)
MAUREEN STAPLETON Airport (1970)
PAUL MUNI Stage Door Canteen (1943)
PETER USTINOV One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
RONALD COLMAN Arrowsmith (1931)
VAN HEFLIN Airport (1970)
VAN HEFLIN My Son John (1952)
YUL BRYNNER Anastasia (1956)
Hey Dan. As always thanks for the lists. For an actress whose career lasted so long, she actually did not make many movies. So…I think her lists are actually pretty impressive…especially the 19 Oscar winning co-stars. Not surprisingly….she did not work with the same person too often…I imagine lots of people she worked with in the 1920s and 1930s were not making movies when she was working in the 1970s. Interesting about her and Bogart in The Dancing Town….I did not know that. Good stuff.