Joel McCrea Movies

mccrea-1111Want to know the best Joel McCrea movies?  How about the worst Joel McCrea movies?  Curious about Joel McCrea box office grosses or which Joel McCrea movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Joel McCrea 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.

Joel McCrea (1905-1990) was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years. His IMDb page shows 95 acting credits from 1927-1976. This page ranks 65 Joel McCrea movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  His television performances, his uncredited roles, his cameos and some of his late 1920s and early 1930s movies (lack of box office information) were not included in the rankings.

Drivel Part:  So later today we are headed to Las Vegas and Hollywood.  In Las Vegas, WoC is a featured speaker at a conference.  In Hollywood….I have an appointment at the USC (University of Southern California) to view the William Schaefer Warner Brother’s Ledgers.  So before we leave for a week….we wanted to get a new page published.  Recently it has come to our attention…that Joel McCrea was being unfairly discriminated against at UMR.com (as he did not have a UMR page).  Well since we strongly believe that everybody should be treated equally and fairly…we have finally written a page on Mr. McCrea.  So Lyle, Flora and Bob you request has been completed. 

mccrea-22222
Joel McCrea in 1941’s Sullivan’s Travels

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

Joel McCrea 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 Joel McCrea movies by co-stars of his movies
  • Sort Joel McCrea movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Joel McCrea movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Joel McCrea 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 Joel McCrea movie received.
  • Sort Joel McCrea 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 Joel McCrea Table

  1. Fifteen Joel McCrea movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 23.05% of his movies listed. Union Pacific (1939) was his biggest box office hit.
  2. An average Joel McCrea movie grossed $68.50 million in adjusted domestic box office gross.
  3. That translates to a career adjusted box office of $4.45 billion.
  4. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  41 Joel McCrea movies are rated as good movies…or 63.07% of his movies. Sullivan’s Travels (1941) is his highest rated movie while Cry Blood, Apache (1970) is his lowest rated movie.
  5. Eleven Joel McCrea movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 16.92% of his movies.
  6. Two Joel McCrea movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 3.07% of his movies.
  7. An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 32 Joel McCrea movies scored higher that average….or 49.23% of his movies.  The More the Merrier (1943) got the the highest UMR Score while Cry Blood, Apache (1970) got the lowest UMR Score.
Fay Wray and Joel McCrea in 1932's The Most Dangerous Game
Fay Wray and Joel McCrea in 1932’s The Most Dangerous Game

Possibly Interesting Facts About Joel McCrea

1. Joel Albert McCrea was born in in South Pasadena, California in 1905.

2. Joel McCrea was good around horses.  Even as a high school student, he was working as a stunt double and held horses for cowboy stars William S. Hart and Tom Mix.

3. Joel McCrea met the real Wyatt Earp in Hollywood in 1928 and ended up playing the iconic lawman in 1955’s Wichita.

4. Joel McCrea’s nickname was McFee.

5.  Joel McCrea was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1969.

6.  Joel McCrea was married 1 time.  He married actress Frances Dee in 1933…..he passed away on their 57th anniversary….they had three children.

7.  We found worldwide box office on 13 of Joel McCrea’s movies:

  • The More The Merrier (1943) $211.50 million in adjusted gross
  • Foreign Correspondent (1940) $ 188.90 million in adjusted gross
  • The Outriders (1950) $ 109.30 million in adjusted gross
  • Stars In My Crown (1950) $107.50 million in adjusted gross
  • Primrose Path (1940) $103.20 million in adjusted gross
  • Our Little Girl (1935) $99.50 million in adjusted gross
  • The Lost Squadron (1932) $97.70 million in adjusted gross
  • Three Blind Mice (1938) $86.80 million in adjusted gross
  • The Common Law (1931) $85.10 million in adjusted gross
  • The Silver Cord (1933) $83.50 million in adjusted gross
  • Private Worlds (1935) $82.40 million in adjusted gross
  • Bird of Paradise (1932) $82.10 million in adjusted gross
  • The Most Dangerous Game (1932) $47.80 million in adjusted gross

8.  Joel McCrea was infamously modest about his own acting abilities, often bordering on a soft-spoken contempt.  The Top 2 actresses on the AFI Screen Legends list, Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis, however spoke very highly of McCrea’s acting skills.

9. Joel McCrea was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 1719 Vine Street and for Radio at 6241 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

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

Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.

(Visited 12,256 times)

32 thoughts on “Joel McCrea Movies”

  1. Hello Bruce. Thanks for the great page on Joel McCrea. A very likable actor who was very successful in westerns but of course my favorites are Foreign Correspondent (1940), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942) and The More the Merrier (1942). Of McCrea’s westerns my favorites are Union Pacific (1939), Ramrod (1947), Four Faces West (1948), Stars in My Crown (1950), Cattle Drive (1951), Trooper Hook (1957) and the best of the lot is Sam Peckinpah’s Ride the High Country (1962). I’m also grateful to get box office information on another Jean Arthur film in Adventure in Manhattan. Thank you, Bruce.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lyle….glad you found your requested page. Our Default rankings has your top 4 in the Top 5…..makes me think we picked the right way to rank McCrea’s movies. Of the westerns you listed….the only one I have seen is Ride the High Country….I will have to check out some the westerns you listed. Adventure in Manhattan made some money…but boy were the reviews weak. Thanks for the comment and the visit.

      Reply

  2. Hi

    When Maureen Stapleton won her Oscar in ’82 for Reds, she dedicated her win to Joel McCrea. Warren Beattie at the time looked quite puzzled, and I remember it being mentioned in the press. Anyway, McCrea had a very successful career, especially with Westerns. But for me his best performance was The Palm Beach Story, followed by Foreign Correspondent and Sullivan’s Travels.
    Sadly I doubt few young people have heard of him. P.s. What happened the New Brando page?

    Reply

    1. Hey Chris…interesting about Stapleton and her Oscar dedication to McCrea….have to admit….I am like Beatty….trying to figure out the connection….will have to do some research on that. I have seen and enjoyed all three of your favorites….another I enjoyed was Internes Can’t Take Money. I agree not many young people remember Mr. McCrea…though his page is off to a good start. We know have a link for The New Brando…it is under site index and the subjects column.

      Reply

  3. I always liked These Three and hated The Great Moment, one of the worst movies of the 1940’s (mixing comedy and the story of anesthesia). There are very few people on the current Oracle of Bacon top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe that worked with Joel, they are;

    Buffalo Bill (1944) – 681 Anthony Quinn
    Cattle Drive (1951) – 198 Dean Stockwell
    Frenchie (1950) – 781 Shelley Winters
    Half a Sinner (1934) – 245 Mickey Rooney
    Stars in My Crown (1950) – 198 Dean Stockwell
    Union Pacific (1939) – 681 Anthony Quinn

    Joel Himself never made the list. The following people on the 2000 list that appeared with him and have now fallen off are;

    Adventure in Manhattan (1936) – 222 Bess Flowers, 982 Billy Benedict
    Barbary Coast (1935) – 102 David Niven, 256 Hank Worden, 463 Edward G. Robinson
    Border River (1954) – 192 Yvonne De Carlo, 290 George Wallace, 915 Ivan Triesault
    Buffalo Bill (1944) – 740 George Chandler, 975 Maureen O’Hara
    Cattle Drive (1951) – 93 Harry Carey Jr., 959 Leon Ames
    Cattle Empire (1958) – 930 Bing Russell (Kurt’s father)
    Colorado Territory (1949) – 100 Ian Wolfe
    Come and Get it (1936) – 256 Hank Worden, 832 Don Brodie
    Dead End (1937) – 611 Don ‘Red’ Barry
    Foreign Correspondent (1940) – 100 Ian Wolfe, 323 George Sanders, 671 Eduardo Cianelli
    Fort Massacre (1958) – 878 Denver Pyle
    Frenchie (1950) – 256 Hank Worden, 963 Frank Ferguson
    Gunsight Ridge (1957) – 245 Slim Pickens, 350 L.Q Jones, 740 George Chandler, 746 Herb Vigran
    He Married His Wife (1940) – 151 Cesar Romero, 219 Elisha Cook Jr.
    Hollywood Story (1951) – 221 John Crawford, 271 Peter Brocco, 503 Richard Conte, 532 Jim Backus
    Internes Can’t Take Money (1937) – 571 Charles Lane, 786 Lloyd Nolan
    Lightnin’ (1930) – 222 Bess Flowers
    Primrose Path (1940) – 571 Charles Lane
    Private Worlds (1935) – 222 Bess Flowers, 393 Charles Boyer
    Ramrod (1947) – 50 Jeff Corey, 147 Lloyd Bridges, 682 Ray Teal
    Reaching for the Sun (1941) – 740 George Chandler, 783 James Flavin
    Ride the High Country (1962) – 165 R.G. Armstrong, 350 L.Q. Jones, 453 Warren Oates, 969 Byron Foulger, 978 John Davis Chandler
    Rockabye (1932) – 395 Walter Pidgeon
    Rough Shoot (1953) – 98 Herbert Lom
    South of St. Louis (1949) – 824 Frank Wilcox
    Splendor (1935) – 102 David Niven
    Stranger on Horseback (1955) – 14 John Carradine, 185 Kevin McCarthy, 458 Dabbs Greer
    Sullivan’s Travels (1941) – 969 Byron Foulger
    The First Texan (1956) – 459 Dabbs Greer, 859 Myron Healey
    The Great Man’s Lady (1942) – 571 Charles Lane, 740 George Chandler
    The Great Moment (1944) – 969 Byron Foulger
    The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959) – 302 Richard Anderson
    The Lone Hand (1953) – 290 George Wallace, 878 Denver Pyle, 963 Frank Ferguson
    The More the Merrier (1943) – 379 Ann Doran
    The Most Dangerous Game (1932) – 783 James Flavin
    The Oklahoman (1957) – 682 Ray Teal
    The Outriders (1950) – 50 Jeff Corey, 362 James Whitmore, 362 Barry Sullivan
    The Palm Beach Story (1942) – 222 Bess Flowers, 969 Byron Foulger
    The Richest Girl in the World (1934) -222 Bess Flowers
    The San Francisco Story (1952) – 192 Yvonne De Carlo, 599 John Doucette
    The Sport Parade (1932) – 740 George Chandler
    The Tall Stranger (1957) – 421 Michael Ansara, 544 Leo Gordon, 593 Whit Bissell, 682 Ray Teal
    The Virginian (1946) – 27 Marc Lawrence
    They Shall Have Music (1939) – 783 James Flavin
    Three Blind Mice (1938) – 102 Dabid Niven, 219 Elisha Cook Jr., 936 Jose Nieto
    Trooper Hook (1957) – 155 Royal Dano, 169 John Dehner
    Two in a Crowd (1936) – 219 Elisha Cook Jr., 542 Paul Fix, 783 James Flavin
    Union Pacific (1939) – 234 Akim Tamiroff, 783 James Flavin, 969 Byron Foulger
    Wells Fargo (1937) – 786 Lloyd Nolan
    Wichita (1955) – 147 Lloyd Bridges, 353 Peter Graves, 404 Jack Elam, 917 Robert J. Wilke
    Woman Chases Man (1937) – 241 Broderick Crawford, 740 George Chandler
    Woman Wanted 91935) – 571 Charles Lane, 783 James Flavin, 832 Don Brodie

    Did you ever see Joel and Frances’ son Jody in the old AIP beach party films, he’s in a number of them. He looks like dad but is really goofy.

    Joel worked with 18 Oscar winners that I could find including a number of times with Walter Brennan.

    Banjo on My Knee (1936) – Walter Brennan
    Barbary Coast (1935) – David Niven, Walter Brennan
    Bed of Roses (1933) – Jane Darwell
    Buffalo Bill (1944) – Anthony Quinn
    Chance at Heaven (1933) – Ginger Rogers
    Colorado Territory (1949) – Dorothy Malone
    Come and Get it (1936) – Walter Brennan
    Dead End (1937) – Humphrey Bogart, Claire Trevor
    Foreign Correspondent (1940) – George Sanders, Edmund Gwenn
    Frenchie (1950) – Shelley Winters
    Half a Sinner (1934) – Walter Brennan
    One Man’s Journey (1933) – Lionel Barrymore
    Primrose Path (1940) – Ginger Rogers
    Private Worlds (1935) – Claudette Colbert
    Rockabye (1932) – Paul Lukas
    South of St. Louis (1949) – Dorothy Malone
    Splendor (1935) – David Niven
    The Lost Squadron (1932) – Mary Astor
    The More the Merrier (1943) – Charles Coburn
    The Palm Beach Story (1942) – Claudette Colbert, Mary Astor
    These Three (1936) – Walter Brennan
    They Shall Have Music (1939) – Walter Brennan
    Three Blind Mice (1938) – David Niven, Loretta Young, Jane Darwell
    Union Pacific (1939) – Anthony Quinn
    Woman Chases Man (1937) – Broderick Crawford

    Reply

    1. Hey Dan…..thanks for the Joel McCrea lists…sorry again that my link was wrong…will finally be able to fix that know that I have a computer again. List 1…..not many people left….I always find that bittersweet. List 2…..one of the things I look at when I am done with a page is the how many co-stars the subject had that have UMR pages….wow…looking at the co-stars and this list…he has some…but not nearly as many as I would have thought…especially with a career that lasted 50 years. List 3: 18 is pretty small to for such a long career. As for his son Jody….have seen any of the Beach movies in years….so when I saw him…I had no idea who his dad was….but it is cool they got to make at least one movie together. As always thanks for the information.

      Reply

  4. I don’t think you’ll find a page like this on Joel McCrea anywhere else on the net. Impressive!

    eeek a lot more films than I expected.. byeee [come back Steve we need a tally!] oh okay I’ve watched 1,2,3.. 13 McCrea movies out of the 65 you’ve listed, that’s actually more than I expected. There are westerns on there I’ve seen but can’t remember the titles.

    Favorites include Ride the High Country aka Guns in the Afternoon, The Most Dangerous Game aka The Hounds of Zaroff (bought on DVD, by the people who made King Kong and using some of the same sets and Fay Wray too!), Dead End, Union Pacific, The Virginian, Wichita, Buffalo Bill, Sullivan’s Travels and of course Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent.

    The More the Merrier tops Foreign Correspondent on the UMR, hmmm… and Sullivan’s Travels is no.1 on the critics chart, I bought that a few months ago on blu-ray.

    Another top job Bruce. Voted Up!

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve….thanks for the nice words on my McCrea page. 13 for you? Well….I am pretty close as I have seen 10 of his movies. I liked The Most Dangerous Game as well. Not thinking I have seen a single one of his movies that he made in the 1950s. I admit I was surprised The More The Merrier got the top spot too…..but that is what the numbers say. After some delays finally got a new page done.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.