Joan Crawford Movies

Want to know the best Joan Crawford movies?  How about the worst Joan Crawford movies?  Curious about Joan Crawford’s box office grosses or which Joan Crawford movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Joan Crawford movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which one got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place…. because we have all of that information and much more.

Even though Joan Crawford (1904-1977) was voted by the American Film Institute as the 10th greatest film actress, I have to admit that I have not seen many of her movies (fourteen to be exact). So how did I write a movie page that ranked all of her movies from 1st to 78th? Lots and lots of research is the answer.

Well the first place I started was IMDb (Internet Movie Database) and saw she had lots of acting credits.  Then I read two of her biographies….Not The Girl Next Door by Charlotte Chandler and Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford by Donald Spoto. Next I was lucky enough to find this Best of Everything Joan Crawford tribute page on the internet which was jam packed with tons of hard to find box office information from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Using the information that I had collected from these sources I was able to finally write this page.

Her IMDb page shows 103 acting credits from 1925-1972. This page ranks 78 Joan Crawford movies from Best to Worst in seven different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings.

Joan Crawford and Clark Gable in 1934's Chained...her 9th biggest box office hit.
Joan Crawford and Clark Gable in 1934’s Chained…her 9th biggest box office hit.

Joan Crawford Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

78 Joan Crawford 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.

  • The highlighted movie links take you to that movie’s trailer or a small clip of the Joan movie.
  • Sort Joan Crawford movies by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Joan Crawford movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Joan Crawford movies by yearly domestic box office gross
  • Sort Joan Crawford 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 Joan Crawford movie received.
  • Sort Joan Crawford 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 Joan Crawford Table

  1. Twenty-seven Joan Crawford movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 34.61% of her movies listed. Mildred Pierce (1945) was her biggest box office hit.
  2. An average Joan Crawford movie grosses $80.50 million in adjusted box office gross.
  3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  36 of Joan Crawford’s movies are rated as good movies…or 46.15% of her movies.  Johnny Guitar (1954) is her highest rated movie while Trog (1970) was her lowest rated movie.
  4. Fifteen Joan Crawford movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 19.23% of her movies.
  5. Three Joan Crawford movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 3.84% of her movies.
  6. A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00.  47 Joan Crawford movies scored higher than that average….or 60.25% of her movies.  Mildred Pierce (1945) got the the highest UMR Score while Trog  (1970) got the lowest UMR Score.
Joan Crawford in 1954's Johnny Guitar
Joan Crawford in 1954’s Johnny Guitar

Possibly Interesting Facts About Joan Crawford

1. Joan Crawford’s birth name was Lucille Fay LeSueur. The only movie that lists her birth name is Pretty Ladies (1925).  How she got the Joan Crawford name comes from Bob Kale.  “Her name was voted on by the public in a movie magazine.  The public’s first choice was Joan Arden.  Since there was already a Joan Arden already making movies….they had to go with the second choice…..Joan Crawford.  She initially hated the name because she thought it was to close to “crawfish”.

2. Joan Crawford was nominated for 3 Oscars® during her career….winning one time for 1945’s Mildred Pierce. Her other two nominated performances were for 1947’s Possessed and 1952’s Sudden Fear. She amazingly was never nominated for a Golden Globe®.

3. Speaking of Possessed….she is one of the few actresses to appear in two movies with the same name that have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Possessed (1931) was about a factory worker and was a romantic movie…while Possessed (1947) was about a woman that is obsessed with a man and how that obsession leads to murder.

4. Joan Crawford was married 4 times in her life. Marriage one was to actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (an actor), marriage two was to Franchot Tone (they appeared in 8 movies together), marriage three was to Phillip Terry (an actor) and finally she was married to Alfred Steele (CEO of Pepsi-Cola). Many of her movies at her request/demand had Pepsi placement in them.  Joan Crawford adopted five children. The three girls were Christina, Cathy and Cynthia. The two boys were both called Christopher …although one of the two boys was reclaimed by his birth mother. Christina authored the book…Mommie Dearest….which was turned into a movie starring Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford.

5.  Joan Crawford appeared in two all-star movies….1929’s Hollywood Revue and 1944’s Hollywood Canteen.  Both roles were cameos and were not included in the rankings.  It should be noted that Hollywood Revue was the first time Crawford’s voice was heard in movies….while Hollywood Canteen was one of the biggest box office hits of the 1940s.

6.  One of Joan Crawford’s last project was one of Steven Spielberg’s first projects. She appeared in the TV movie Night Gallery, which had 3 segments (she starred in the 2nd segment, directed by Spielberg) and aired in November of 1969. The actual TV show did not premiere until over a year later, in December of 1970.

7. According to Quigley Publications…..Joan Crawford was a Top Ten Movie Star from 1930 to 1936. She was ranked #1 in 1930, #3 in 1931 and 1932, #10 in 1933, #6 in 1934, #5 in 1935 and #7 in 1936. By the end of 1937 she was considered “box office poison”….without a doubt a case of …”what have you done for me lately”.

8. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis simply hated each other. Their feud lasted for decades and is legendary in the history of Hollywood. Somehow they managed to actually act in a movie together….1962’s Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?. Then again I guess the fact that their two characters in the movie hated each other as well…made the acting pretty easy for them.

9. Joan Crawford was Fred Astaire‘s first on screen dance partner. The two appeared in 1933’s Dancing Lady. Others in the cast….Clark Gable, Franchot Tone (her 2nd husband) and the Three Stooges.

10. One of the best collection of Joan Crawford fans can be found on Facebook at Joan Crawford Chat Room.  If you are a Joan Crawford you have to join this group….it is easily the best movie group on Facebook that I have come across….and I am in many Facebook movie groups.

Check out Joan Crawford‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

This is the 3rd home for my Joan Crawford movie page….but this is a brand new You Tube video…made especially for my new and hopefully final home for my Joan Crawford page.

But Wait…We Have More Joan Crawford Movie Stats…How About Adjusted Worldwide Grosses on 59 Joan Crawford Movies

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225 thoughts on “Joan Crawford Movies”

  1. JOHN/BRUCE/STEVE
    As we have exchanged posts about the subjects of the following article I thought its reproduction might be of passing interest to you.

    “POSTED ON JULY 12, 2013 by AURORA
    GABLE AND CRAWFORD THE THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLYWOOD

    1 This is the story of Hollywood royalty. Sparks flew and embers are still visible in their movie pairings – eight in total – all at Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Of all the stars in the heavens they were two of the brightest. In 1931 Joan Crawford‘s star was already shining brightly.as she Metro Goldwyn Mayer‘s (MGM) second highest grossing actress after Marie Dressler,

    2This article is dedicated to the films Crawford and Gable made together – in eight incarnations sparks flew, with varying intensity. A memorable duo – if not dynamic – the likes of which we are unlikely to ever see again. Two of the greatest movie stars – in their respective prime the King and Queen of Hollywood.

    2 However whereas Gable was easygoing in real life Joan could be a bitter enemy if crossed. Marlon Brando was rumoured to have been wanted by Joan as a co-star for two of her films, 1952’s Sudden Fear and 1956’s Autumn Leaves. In 1951, Joan had admired Brando in his Streetcar Named Desire performance and sent him a congratulatory telegram after its debut. When it was time for filming on Sudden Fear to begin, she submitted the script to Brando’s agent; Brando sent it back, rudely saying that he wasn’t interested in doing “any mother-and-son pictures at the present time.” Subsequently Joan made statements to the press saying that Brando wasn’t as good looking in a polished way as Gable or Grant and she didn’t find him sexy in Last Tango in Paris.

    4 Regardless though of their OWN off-screen highs and lows, the truth remains that the two fabulous stars Gable and Crawford made wonderful music together. In the long run what matters most however is the measure of a life and as far as that goes Clark Gable and Joan Crawford remained in each other’s lives until Gable’s death in 1960. He always referred to her as his favourite co-star.” [Poor Myrna Loy who made 7 films with Gable!].”

    Reply

    1. Bob, interesting post. Gable and Crawford making 8 movies together is pretty impressive, but were any of them as enjoyable as Too Hot to Handle (1938)? Starring Gable and um… you know who… 😉

      Just popped in my head – a film called Gable and Lombard, released in 1976 and starring James Brolin as Gable, Jill Clayburgh as Lombard. Never saw it.

      Did Timothy Dalton play Gable too? mmm kind of, he played Rhett Butler in the TV movie sequel to Gone With the Wind. “Shaken or stirred?” “Frankly my dear I don’t care!”

      Reply

      1. HI AGAIN STEVE:

        1 Any Crawford/Gable movie as good as Too Hot to handle which paired Gable with that bl**dy awful actress they used to give the King as his constant stand-in for the exceptionally busy and much-in-demand Crawford? According to IMDB two of the Gable/Crawford films were even better – just – than Too Hot to Handle, Strange Cargo and Possessed.

        2 You may not give a d**n but when someone asks me even a rhetorical question to which I know the answer I like to show off. Dalton played Rhett in the 1994 TV mini-series Scarlett in which his O’Hara was Joanne Whalley Kilmer wife of Val from 1988-96. Asked about his thoughts on playing that role Timothy simply said that he was nervous because “Gable was a hard act to follow.”

        3 My Joan was after the Scarlett role in 1939 and I always thought that it was a pity she didn’t get it as a Gable/Crawford Gone With the Wind would have been the icing on the cake for their great screen pairings and might have silenced even the criticisms of even John and The Work Horse.

        Reply

        1. Hey Bob…good comment. You should join the Joan Crawford Chatroom on Facebook. Lots of good people there…and they all agree with you. That is where I got my Joan autograph. 🙂

          Reply

          1. HI BRUCE

            1 Thanks for the chat room tip though I often find that when I get some uplifting item about one of my idols he or she in turn pours cold water of some sort on another of those whom admire. For example I thought that Brando’s put-down of Joan was in very bad taste. It was also unnecessary because all he had to do was politely refuse the request making the usual excuse about alternative commitments.

            2 However as I think you know I never believed that my idols could walk on water and was always keenly aware that those whom I admire on-screen might not earn corresponding admiration from me for their private activities. Brando [like Crowe today] got away with that kind of conduct because of who he was and in fact some of his ‘victims’ seemed to find it amusing. For example Diane Keaton gave me the impression that she had been flattered when she said in an interview that the first time they ever met was on the set of Godpop and Bud’s opening greeting to her was “Hello big t**s.”

  2. RANKER Listings Organisation
    Famous Friends of Joan Crawford
    Abbey Grantham
    2.5k views14 itemsEmbed
    List of famous people who are friends with Joan Crawford, listed alphabetically. Every person on this list is known to be acquaintances or best friends with Joan Crawford.
    Ann Blyth
    Barbara Stanwyck
    Cesar Romero
    Clark Gable
    Helen Hayes
    James Stewart
    Larry King
    Loretta Young
    Louis B Mayer
    Myrna Loy

    Joan Crawford: STAR To End All Stars.
    • Frank
    • 2016-03-09
    What a super movie feast today for us Joan Crawford fans. There will Never be another larger than life movie star like Joan! Her legacy and greatness is simply unmatched to this day

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob…thanks for this information….she was a star for sure. And a lasting star….of all the actress on our website….she is our third most popular actress….only trailing Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe.

      Reply

  3. I have seen 30 of the above listed films and I liked most of them. My favs from the 30’s are Grand Hotel,Rain, The Shining Hour and The Women, from the 40’s A Woman’s Face, Possessed and Humoresque. Never really got Mildred Pierce, I find Veda so annoying that I never understood how Mildred could put up with her for such a long time. In the 50’s, Crawford’s career slipped, but she still found work at various studios, mostly in star turns. To me, her WB years and the 50’s are the most interesting periods of her career. I like a lot of her 50’s work, although the films sometimes were a far cry from her heyday when it comes to directors or costars. I love Sudden Fear, Queen Bee, Autumn Leaves, The Best of Everything and, though to a lesser degree, The Story of Esther Costello and Female on the Beach. I’ve mentioned before that Westerns are not my favorite genre, but nevertheless I find Johnny Guitar quite different and therefore interesting. Of her 60’s movies, there is only one that deserves to be labeled “favorite”: The Clash of the Titans aka Battle of the Divas aka Whatever happened to Baby Jane! I do have a weak spot for some of her other Horror cheapies of that decade, but they all disappear from view compared to Baby Jane. Trog is better to be entirely forgotten…
    This said, I’m really looking forward to Feud, with Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange “recreating” the Battle of the Divas 😉

    Reply

  4. I have been studying this for a hour. Mostly agree with your rankings. I do question the gross on G. Hussey . Pretty sure that was one of bombs. Yet you have listed it as one of her biggest hits. Also I think Strai-Jacket is way low on your overall rankings. Really enjoyed my time on this page.

    Reply

  5. Followed the link from the Joan Crawford Chat Room and I am so glad I did. This is an amazing Joan page. I have loved her for years and I gobble up Crawford information. This is some amazing stuff here. Bookmarked. Thank you thank you for this. It feels like a late Christmas present.

    Reply

    1. Hey K. Gooch…..thanks for such nice words about our Joan page. The Joan Crawford Chat Room is one of my favorite Facebook pages….lots of great movie buffs over there. Luckily they share this link…..of this constantly changing page. Merry Christmas…lol.

      Reply

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