Want to know the best Marilyn Monroe movies? How about the worst Marilyn Monroe movies? Curious about Marilyn Monroe’s box office grosses or which Marilyn Monroe movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Marilyn Monroe movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962), started showing in movies in 1947. Most of her early films were either uncredited or very small parts. Her first major role was in the B feature Ladies of the Chorus in 1948. After Ladies of the Chorus performed weakly at the box office, she started appearing in supporting parts in bigger budget movies like The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve. In early 1952, she admitted to posing for nude photos. In an interview, she said she did the photos because she was unable to pay her rent, the resulting publicity made the public curious about the struggling actress.
The rest of 1952 was a coming out party for Marilyn Monroe. Three of her movies, Monkey Business, Clash By Night and Don’t Bother To Knock were successful at the box office. All the parts were supporting parts but they were marketed as Marilyn Monroe films. By the time 1953 came around, she was a much in demand actress. During the next seven years she made classic films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How To Marry A Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch and her best film Some Like It Hot. In 1962 she started working on Something’s Got to Give, she however only showed up for work 12 out of 35 days and was dismissed from the movie. Unfortunately in August of that year she was found dead at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 36.
Her IMDb page shows 33 acting credits from 1947-1962. Ther page will rank 24 Marilyn Monroe movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.
Marilyn Monroe Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Marilyn Monroe Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In Ther Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort by Marilyn Monroe’s co-stars of her movies.
- Sort Marilyn Monroe movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Marilyn Monroe movies by box office rank by year of release
- Sort Marilyn Monroe 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 Marilyn Monroe movie received.
- Sort Marilyn Monroe 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.
Possibly interesting facts about Marilyn Monroe.
1. She was never nominated for an Oscar® in her career.
2. She received 2 Golden Globe® nominations….winning for Some Like It Hot ….and receiving a nomination for Bus Stop.
3. The American Film Institute considers her one of the Top 10 movie stars of all time.
4. She was married to legendary baseball player Joe DiMaggio and later married to legendary writer Arthur Miller.
5. She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson and baptized as Norma Jeane Baker.
6. Fox talent scout Ben Lyon has gotten the credit for the name Marilyn Monroe….Marilyn was from stage actress Marilyn Miller. The last name Monroe was Marilyn’s mother’s maiden name.
7. Her crypt is located at Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.
8. Marilyn Monroes has two movies that I was unable to find any box office information….so it they were not included in th3e page….1952’s As Young as You Feel and 1951’s HomeTown Story.
9. And finally …her social security number was….563-32-0764
10. Check out Marilyn Monroe’s movie career compared to current and classic stars on our Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time page.
Cogerson’s Marilyn Monroe You Tube Video
Steve’s Marilyn Monroe You Tube Video
America Film Institutes’ Top 25 Screen Legend Actress and UMR’s Links That Rank All Of Their Movies.
just found a documentary on her final days – including outakes from Somethings got to give – she never looked more beautiful, but fans never saw that pic (never finished – made later with Doris day).! very sad…
Hey ty….yep it is said that she never finished that movie. I think she and Dean Martin would have made a great screen couple.
Thanks for the work. Are these U.S. or international grosses? Are they just first runs or include any revivals?
Hey Eric…..these numbers are North America only. Re-release numbers are in the totals. Sorry for the delay in the response.
Cheers I always wanted to know what Marilyn’s social security number was. [wink]
How did I miss this hub, article, chart thingy I don’t know. So glad to see Some Like it Hot at no.1, my favorite of her films. I also produced a hub on the film if I recall.
I’ve seen 13 of the 23 films you’ve listed. 10 from the box office 10 and 9 from the critics 10. I still have not seen Don’t Bother to Knock.
Hey Steve…thanks for the visit…finally….lol. I have doubled my Monroe movies since I wrote this page. My tally is now at 10…which still puts me in last when compared to your 13 and Flora(where ever she is) and her 15.
I am glad to hear you like my top ranked movie….Some Like It Hot is a classic and seems to be aging very well.
Hi, great article, came across it while looking for vintage dresses and I have to admit that she was indeed a great actress and wore really beautiful dresses. Please feel free to check out my blog on http://www.cheapcuteclothesreview.com/vintage-clot… Thanks.
Hey Ulrike…thanks for the visit and the link…I will be sure to check it out.
I’ve been a Marilyn fanatic since I was 9 years old(I’m 48 now).My favorite Marilyn films are, Some Like It Hot,All About Eve(tied for # 1),followed closely by Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.Seven Year Itch # 3.I truly believe Marilyn was a genius of sorts.Not to be mistaken for a great actress mind you(not in that Meryl Streepian way at any rate).I don’t think her range was great,but the variations she found on the dumb blonde persona showed real talent and charisma.Her Lorelei Lee in Blondes is very different from her Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot for example.In addition to being a peerless comedienne,she was also a terrific singer!I also believe her work grew and deepened after she studied at the Actor’s Studio.Some people make the mistake of patronizing her even in death.The “tragic” Marilyn still sells the most books,but those of us who have truly studied her life and work,know the esteem that she was held in,even before her death.Great artists like Olivier,Billy Wilder,Lee Strasberg and others were singing her praises long before the curtain was closed on her life.”Sexy” Hollywood glamour girls come and go,but there’s only one Marilyn Monroe!
Hey Darcy thanks for such a nice comment. Glad to see your Top 3 are pretty close with my ranking system’s Top Five…as Some Like it Hot is #1, All About Eve is #2, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is #5. Good points about the difference between Sugar Kane and Lorelei Lee….I am sure many people think she just repeated herself in those roles, instead of giving two very different performances. I agree 100% with you about there only being one Marilyn Monroe….she had something many people since have tried to duplicate but have never even come close.