Kim Hunter Movies

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

Kim Hunter (1922-2002) was an Oscar® winning American actress.  She played Stella Kowalski on stage and then won her Oscar® for playing Stella in 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire.  Later in her career she played Zira in three Planet of the Apes movies.   Her IMDb page shows 142 acting credits from 1943 to 2001.  This page will rank Kim Hunter movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, movies that were not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings.  To do well in our overall rankings a movie has to do well at the box office, get good reviews by critics, be liked by audiences and get some award recognition.

Kim Hunter played Zira in three Planet of the Apes movies.

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

Kim Hunter and Marlon Brando in 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire

Kim Hunter 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 Kim Hunter movies by his co-stars
  • Sort Kim Hunter movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Kim Hunter movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Kim Hunter 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 Kim Hunter movie received.
  • Sort Kim Hunter movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
  • Worldwide Box Office Numbers Were Not Available For All The Movies
David Niven and Kim Hunter in 1946’s Stairway To Heaven, also known as, A Matter of Life And Death

Best IMDb Trivia On Kim Hunter

1. Janet Cole was born in Detriot, Michigan in 1922.

2.  An agent for David O. Selznick saw her in a stage production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” at the Pasadena Playhouse and signed her to a seven-year contract. Selznick suggested she change her first name to “Kim” and a RKO secretary suggested the last name of “Hunter”.

3. Bette Davis accepted her Oscar® for her although the two had never met. Several years later the two actresses would co-star in “Storm Center.”.  Hunter was in a play and could not make it to the ceremony.

4. Kim Hunter was one of 4 Best Supporting Actress Oscar® winners to have guest starred in Murder, She Wrote (1984). The others are Teresa Wright, Claire Trevor and Shirley Jones.

5. The movie line, “Stella! Hey, Stella!” from A Streetcar Named Desire,  was voted as the #45 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).  She played Stella.

Check out Kim Hunter’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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37 thoughts on “Kim Hunter Movies”

  1. The first time I ever saw Kim Hunter in a film I didn’t really see what she looked at. That was in Planet of the Apes. Kim has never been on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. This is probably because she never appeared in a film with Michael Caine or Gabby Hayes. Moving on, these are the actors on the 1000 she has appeared with.

    14 ERNEST BORGNINE Abilene (1999)
    36 ROD STEIGER The Kindred (1987)
    71 RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH Stairway to Heaven (1946)
    74 GENE HACKMAN Lilith (1964)
    92 CHARLTON HESTON Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
    92 CHARLTON HESTON Planet of the Apes (1968)
    105 ROBERT MITCHUM When Strangers Marry (1944)
    108 M. EMMET WALSH Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
    109 DAVID NIVEN Stairway to Heaven (1946)
    110 RODDY MCDOWELL Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
    110 RODDY MCDOWELL Planet of the Apes (1968)
    127 BURT LANCASTER The Swimmer (1968)
    146 MARTIN BALSAM The Black Cat (1993)
    146 MARTIN BALSAM Two Evil Eyes (1990)
    165 PETER FONDA Lilith (1964)
    185 JOHN CUSACK Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
    221 GEOFFREY LEWIS Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
    228 JOSE FERRER ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN (1952)
    230 JEFF COREY Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
    320 BOB GUNTON Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
    348 KEITH CARRADINE Out of the Cold (1999)
    349 OLYMPIA DUKAKIS Lilith (1964)
    352 BRIAN KEITH Storm Center (1956)
    392 BRIAN DENNEHY Out of the Cold (1999)
    413 RANCE HOWARD Abilene (1999)
    414 LOIS MAXWELL Stairway to Heaven (1946)
    440 JUDE LAW Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
    602 KEVIN SPACEY Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
    717 ROBERT RYAN Tender Comrade (1943)
    734 JAMES WHITMORE Here’s to Life! (2000)
    734 JAMES WHITMORE Planet of the Apes (1968)
    772 SALLY KIRKLAND The Black Cat (1993)
    772 SALLY KIRKLAND Two Evil Eyes (1990)
    780 MARLON BRANDO A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
    801 BETTE DAVIS Storm Center (1956)
    851 E.G. MARSHALL ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN (1952)
    851 E.G. MARSHALL Two Evil Eyes (1990)
    891 RENE AUBERJONOIS Lilith (1964)
    904 JACK ALBERTSON ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN (1952)
    911 EDIE FALCO A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES (1998)
    966 JIM BACKUS Deadline – U.S.A. (1952)
    988 OSSIE DAVIS Here’s to Life! (2000)
    HM (509) JACK THOMPSON MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (1997)
    HM (963) TIMOTHY BOTTOMS The Hiding Place (2000)

    For the uninitiated, Stairway to Heaven is also known as A Matter of Life and Death.

    Kim appeared with 23 other Oscar winners in a picture.

    BETTE DAVIS Storm Center (1956)
    BURT LANCASTER The Swimmer (1968)
    CHARLTON HESTON Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
    CHARLTON HESTON Planet of the Apes (1968)
    DAVID NIVEN Stairway to Heaven (1946)
    DEAN JAGGER When Strangers Marry (1944)
    ERNEST BORGNINE Abilene (1999)
    ETHEL BARRYMORE Deadline – U.S.A. (1952)
    GENE HACKMAN Lilith (1964)
    GINGER ROGERS Tender Comrade (1943)
    HUMPHREY BOGART Deadline – U.S.A. (1952)
    JACK ALBERTSON ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN (1952)
    JANE DARWELL Tender Comrade (1943)
    JOSE FERRER ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN (1952)
    KARL MALDEN A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
    KEVIN SPACEY Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
    MARLON BRANDO A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
    MARTIN BALSAM The Black Cat (1993)
    MARTIN BALSAM Two Evil Eyes (1990)
    OLYMPIA DUKAKIS Lilith (1964)
    RENEE ZELLWEGER A Price Above Rubies (1998)
    ROD STEIGER The Kindred (1987)
    VIVIEN LEIGH A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

    Happy 2020 or Happy Barbara Walters

    Reply

    1. Hey Dan. As always you provide awesome information on our latest subjects. It took me a long time to connect her from the planet of the ape movies and streetcar named desire. Both of the included lists are small compared to many of your other lists. That being said she still has lots of legends on those lists. Good point about her lack of Caine connections. As always good stuff.

      Reply

  3. I saw 6 of top 11. 10 not favorite: streetcar named desire, no 9s. 1 eight: midnight in the garden of good and evil , a hidden gem(I love cusack).
    I did not enjoy the planet of the apes series which I recently revisited. good sci fi for 68 but I never liked masks for actors and I am not a big heston fan. he did three epics that I cannot conceive anyone doing better ben hur, ten commandments, el cid. lots of good supporting efforts just not my cup of tea.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob Cox. I have seen five of her movies to your six. I think we disagree a lot on this subject, which is very unusual as we usually think alike. But don’t worry I still respect your opinion…..lol. Though I am a huge Cusack fan, which redeems you a lot…..lol. Good feedback.

      Reply

  4. In a certain way Kim went “from the sublime to the ridiculous” on the big screen. As Bruce highlights above she played the classic role of “Stellahhh!” in Streetcar and then went on to become Dr Zira in heavy makeup in the Planet of the Apes franchise. Even if Stallone had been a woman he wouldn’t have been allowed to play the former though he could have done the latter – ah Tobor! I like the vintage Kim/Marlon still above, showing how lovely she was back then.

    She was not known for too much else on the big screen and the last film I can recall seeing her in is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Bruce regards it as just barely ”good” with a 60% review rating; but it will always be fresh in my own mind because it was set in Savannah where I spent a day when I visited the States in 1999.

    Kim’s television career was though amazing in its output: from 1948-2001 she appeared in a massive 112 TV productions. Included in them was a TV movie whose Biblical title reflects why some people clamour for Joel Hirschhorn –“Give Us Barabbas!”

    The last TV presentation in which I saw her was a Columbo episode, 1971’s Suitable for Framing. In that one [still a lovely-looking lady] she plays a rather scatter-brained Aunt Edna Matthews whose nephew [played by Ross Martin] frames her for murder. Luckily lawyer Don Ameche is on hand to help Columbo save her by unmasking her uncle as the real killer.

    IMDB credits Kim with 2 competitive awards [ie an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her supporting Streetcar performance] and 2 competitive nominations. Not a great haul but 4 more than was achieved by The Thin Woman, whose lack of success in that respect was the cause of a recent “weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth” on this site!

    However I always “tell it as it is” and it has to be said that ‘Nora’ by far outstripped ‘Stella’ in wealth: ‘Mrs Charles’ on her death in 1993 was worth 130 million in today’s money and according to Celebrity Net Worth was “one of the richest movie stars” of her day; by contrast in 2002 ‘Mrs Kowalski’ left behind a net worth of just over half a million in 2019 dollars.

    Anyway, well done Bruce on Kim’s new pag; “Voted Up!”; and happy new year to you and your family.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob. Good information on Kim Hunter. I agree with you 100% that she’s only known for those two roles. But those are two great roles. I figured you would enjoy the trivia about her appearance on Colombo, I had to include it when I read it, that just for you. Good stats on the greatest female box office the star of all time. With her having a page now every major character in a streetcar named desire now has a UMR page. And always thanks for sharing this information, you are the man.

      Reply

      1. With reference to The Work Horse’s constant assertion, for example again at 10.10pm in his post of yesterday, that The Thin Woman [aka Myrna Loy] is the greatest female box office star of all time, that sweeping statement must be treated with some caution.

        Bruce is the most reliable source on the planet that I personally know for box office figures for the classic era and there is no doubt in my mind that collectively the movies that Myrna ‘appeared in’out-gross those of any other female star.

        However we have to qualify the matter by pointing out that in for example the 30 movies of Myrna which crashed the Cogerson magical 100 million dollar barrier in adjusted US grosses Miss Loy was the top billed lead in just 4.

        That record contrasts sharply with the outputs of the likes of my gals Joan, Deanna and Doris, Shirley Temple as a child star, and Betty Grable, who were the top billed leads in droves of their movies and often had to carry mediocre male romantic leads/co-stars. In Part 3 is an excellent post from Steve written 2 years ago which again emphasises the significance that Hollywood stars attach to billing; The Work Horse praised Steve’s post at the time. Continued in Part 2.

        Reply

        1. Of course where an ensemble of stars is involved it is often difficult to accurately say which one made the biggest box office contribution to any particular film and Myrna was habitually surrounded in her movies with male legends such as Gable, Leach, Newman and Burt Reynolds as well as slightly lesser but still important stars in their day like Bill Powell and Clifton Webb.

          Elvis Presley had 33 cinematic releases and was billed alone above the title in, I think, 30 of them – so there is no doubt in my mind as to who the main draw was in an Elvis film!

          Accordingly whilst it is fair to say that in terms of box office totals Myrna has the most successful record to date, I would advise against assuming that this achievement automatically translates to her being the biggest box office female in history; that accolade might well go to one of the ladies that I mention above or to the likes of Mary Pickford/Liz Taylor in my opinion; indeed Quigley seems to think it goes to my Doris.

          I therefore feel that a form of wording that might cover Myrna’s situation is the one offered by reporter Sally Field in Newman’s 1981 Absence of Malice when her newspaper articles about Paul which have been honest and largely correct in detail have nevertheless seriously misled her readers and the legal authorities. At the end of the movie Sally sheepishly says to Newman whom she has unfairly maligned something like “Reporting is worthwhile and because I did it badly doesn’t make it any less worthwhile———my articles were accurate, but they were not the truth.”

          Reply

          1. Steve Lensman
            January 28, 2018 at 6:03 am

            Bob, I thought this titbit from The Divine Feud might interest you and other Crawford fans.

            In April 1940, when Strange Cargo was previewed, Joan attended the showing and experienced a definite sense of achievement concerning her performance. There was one fault with the film, however: in the opening credits the name of Clark Gable came before hers. Her contract forbade this, and she asked that the prints of the picture be recalled and retitled, so that her name was first. Joe Mankiewicz, the producer, tried to explain that Gable had first billing in his current picture, a little epic called Gone With the Wind.

            His immense popularity as Rhett Butler would help them sell Strange Cargo, especially if his name came first. “I don’t give a sh*t about Rhett Butler or Gone With the Wind,” said Joan. “I’ve got a contract. Either change it or I’ll talk to my lawyers.” Telegrams were sent to Harry Rapf, who called L. B. Mayer, who called Joan.

            It was such a minor matter, Mayer tried to tell Joan. She had been billed second in her last picture, The Women, and she got the best notices. “That was different,” Crawford said. I needed that role. This time you needed me. You asked for Joan Crawford. You got Joan Crawford. And Joan Crawford always comes first on the marquee.”

        2. Hey Bob. The ghost of Myrna Loy might be visiting Ireland if you keep talking about her. She might not of been top billed but she certainly was above the title. Like Katharine Hepburn, they both took second billing unto Spencer Tracy and William Powell…those movies are considered Tracy/Hepburn movies and Powell/Loy movies…..not Tracy and Powell movies. I’m pretty sure will never see things the same way when it comes to this subject. Good stuff as always.

          Reply

          1. HI BRUCE: As always you make some excellent points. However in a way we are not comparing apples with apples because-

            1/Nobody ever suggested that Katie Hep was “the greatest box office actress ever” and indeed as you have pointed out on the Edward Arnold page today she was at one stage labelled box office poison.

            2/Steve’s post of 2 years ago about Crawford’s billing battles emphasises strongly in my view the supreme importance that Hollywood attached to whoever was the greatest box office attraction being given top billing. Joseph Mankiewicz the producer in attempting to explain to Joan why it was important that Clark’s name came first said:

            ”His immense popularity as Rhett Butler would help sell Strange Cargo, especially if his name came first.”

            3/Katie had and has immense prestige as an actress, with loads of competitive acting awards and noms whereas Myrna was never given anything but received honorary awards and no noms.

            4/Katie often got top billed whereas Myrna rarely did. For example in succession from 1933-1938 Hepburn was billed first in a drove of movies: Morning Glory, Christopher Strong, Spitfire, Sylvia Scarlett, Little Women, A Woman Rebels, Alice Adams, Stage Door, Holiday and Bringing up Baby. Also Katie in her heyday was at times billed above some other very top star names: Archie Leach, Robert Taylor, Ginger Rogers for example. I have previously quoted you detailed stats showing how weak Myrna’s billing record was.

          2. Hey Bob….good stats….but we will have to continue to “agree to disagree:. Enjoy your weekend.

    2. Hey Bob. On our trip down south we stopped at my favorite bookstore, the place where I picked up a few books for you, they had two Christmas books. Both books included die hard as one of their Christmas movies. I almost bought them. As I figured you would appreciate a book that we list it as a Christmas movie. Good stuff.

      Reply

      1. HI BRUCE

        In my last post on this subject I predicted that “the world would hear [about Dire Hard as a Christmas movie] again.” I just didn’t expect that issue to come up again so soon!

        Anyway to paraphrase The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance “When what suits you is preferable to the truth go with the fiction!”

        Reply

  5. First, in the paragraph about Kim Hunter’s playing Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, you say she was an “Oscar-NOMINATED American actress.” It should read “Oscar award-WINNING American Actress.”

    I have seen 11 Kim Hunter movies, including 8 of the top 10.

    The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is A Streetcar Named Desire.

    The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is You Came Along.”

    The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is The Young Stranger.

    Favourite Kim Hunter Movies:

    A Matter of Life and Death
    Planet of the Apes
    Beneath the Planet of the Apes

    Other Kim Hunter Movies I Have Seen:

    A Streetcar Named Desire
    Tender Comrade
    Escape From the Planet of the Apes
    The Swimmer
    Deadline USA
    Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
    Lilith
    The Young Stranger

    Reply

    1. FLORA:

      Well spotted – that Kim WON her supporting Oscar.

      That was probably a deliberate mistake on The Work Horse’s part though – Joel Hirschhorn wouldn’t allow Bruce to give even Brando’s co-stars too much credit!

      Anyway happy new year to you. You deserve it for your contribution to this site alone.

      Reply

      1. Thanks Bob. Happy New Year to you too. Ironically, the first three Planet of the apes movies are airing on TCM tomorrow night (Friday).

        Reply

        1. Hey Flora. Good timing on my part on her page and the plan the movie showing on tv. Thanks for sharing that information.

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      2. Hey Bob. Her slight has been fixed. We do not have access to the database but we can fix small errors. Ask for Joel and a streetcar named desire pretty sure Joel was a fan of that movie. So that’s late had nothing to do with Joel but more with me trying to get so many pages done before leaving town. Hope you had a good new year.

        Reply

        1. Thanks for the feedback and the New Year greetings. Well that’s it all behind us for another year: the controversy about Dire Hard I mean. However as in the case of Fu Manchu I am sure that “the world will hear from [it] again!” Probably next year you will once more set the Christmas season rolling with an article by some other deluded crank who thinks he has been watching a proper Xmas movie. When I read your stuff and Steve’s about Dire Hard I always think of Pinocchio longing to be “a real boy”.

          ‘THOUGHT ASSOCIATION’ OF THE DAY: Talking about cranks and associating that with you being an American and the mention in your 10.04pm post yesterday about ‘leaving town’ I am reminded of a ‘hellfire preacher ‘ whom you Yanks imported to us for a brief while in the 1950s to do a 15 min weekly radio show in which he screamed at us incessantly for being sinners and among other things blamed the influence of Brando’s The Wild One for all the violence, disturbances and revolutions that were going on in the world at that time.

          A few years after The Man of God returned to be with his Fellow Americans I read this sentence in a local newspaper here: “The Rev Garner Bill Fisher is said to have skipped town with a huge sum from his Church funds and the FBI believe that he may be hiding out over the Mexican border.” [Sinner “heal thyself!”]

          “Behave yourself. This is Ladd’s town. And Ladd’s guns and Ladd’s fists say that if you misbehave in his town you gotta leave town fast!” [Rather long tagline on some 1940s posters.]

          Keep safe and look after yourself.

          Reply

    2. Hey Flora. Thanks for checking out our latest page. I fix the error you mentioned. Got to give her the proper credit. I have seen five of her movies compared to your 11. I see a streetcar named desire did not make your favorites list. I am not a big fan of that movie either. I like her planet of the apes movies much better.I’m interested in seeing the swimmer even though it’s not on your favorite list. Glad you found this classic page. There is one more classic page before we return on Sunday. Staying in Alabama until a wedding on Saturday. Good start as always.

      Reply

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