Myrna Loy Movies

Myrna Loy made movies for seven decades...from 1925 to 1980.
Myrna Loy made movies for seven decades…from 1925 to 1980.

Want to know the best Myrna Loy (1905-1993) movies?  How about the worst Myrna Loy movies?  Curious about Myrna box office grosses or which Myrna Loy movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Myrna Loy 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.

At the suggestion of Robwrite, I began researching Myrna Loy’s career about two months ago for this movie page. My knowledge of Myrna Loy was pretty much limited to… she had been in the successful Thin Man series and had appeared in a couple of Cary Grant movies. Other than those two things, I did not really think there was much to really know about Myrna Loy’s career…..boy was I wrong.

“Myrna Loy was one of cinema’s brightest stars. Beautiful, talented, warm, witty, wise and urbane, she swept all before her with a startling succession of box-office hits that lasted from 1932 until 1941, when wartime commitments overtook her career. Adored by moviegoers, Myrna was crowned “Queen of Hollywood” in 1938, with twenty million fans casting their votes in the largest poll of its kind ever conducted. Spencer Tracy was besotted with her, Valentino and Barrymore smitten and President Roosevelt obsessed, whilst Miss Loy had to push Gable off her front-step for “getting fresh”! Her extraordinary profile also supplied plastic surgeons with the most requested image of the 1930s, despite Myrna never having gone under the knife. Loy also managed to royally piss off Hitler by speaking out against his treatment of Jews and, with Chaplin, had the distinction of heading his blacklist”.

“Yet, somehow, Myrna Loy – at her peak more popular than Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn combined – seems almost forgotten. Whether this can be attributed to her gracious acting style (allowing her leading men to dominate), the lack of scandal in her private life, or the relative scarcity of her films in this country, I’m not sure, but it is a situation that deserves to be rectified”. The previous two paragraphs come from the Myrna Loy forum at Empire.com by Rick 7.

Her IMDb page shows 138 acting credits from 1925-1982. This page will rank Myrna Loy movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies and many of her early silent movies were not included in the rankings.

Myrna Loy and William Powell....and do not forget Asta the dog.... in one the best movie series ever...The Thin Man movies...Loy and Powell appeared in 14 movies together
Myrna Loy and William Powell….and do not forget Asta the dog…. in one the best movie series ever…The Thin Man movies…Loy and Powell appeared in 14 movies together

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

Myrna Loy 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 Myrna Loy movies by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Myrna Loy movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Myrna Loy movies by domestic yearly box office rank
  • Sort Myrna Loy 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 Myrna Loy movie received.
  • Sort Myrna Loy 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.
  • Use the sort and search button to make this a very interactive page.  For example type in William Powell to see 13 Powell/Loy movies….or type Clark Gable in the search box to bring up all of the Gable/Loy movies….or type in….I think you get the idea.

Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Myrna LoyTable

  1. Twenty-nine Myrna Loy movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 41.42% of her movies listed. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) was her biggest box office hit.
  2. An average Myrna Loy movie grosses $118.70 million in adjusted box office gross.
  3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  52 of Myrna Loy’s movies are rated as good movies…or 74.28% of her movies.  After The Thin Man (1936) was her highest rated movie while Parnell (1937) was her lowest rated movie.
  4. Fifteen Myrna Loy movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 21.42% of her movies.
  5. Five Myrna Loy movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 7.14% of her movies.
  6. An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 49 Myrna Loy movies scored higher than that average….or 70.00% of her movies.  The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) got the the highest UMR Score while Just Tell Me What You Want (1980) got the lowest UMR Score.
Cary Grant and Myrna Loy in 1935's Wings in the Dark...one of three Grant/Loy movies
Cary Grant and Myrna Loy in 1935’s Wings in the Dark…one of three Grant/Loy movies

Possibly Interesting Facts About Myrna Loy

1. Loy had 80 screen credits before finally becoming a star with the release of the low budget surprise hit….1934’s The Thin Man. This UMR page looks at her career from 1933-1980, with a few of her pre-1933 releases.

2. During her early years…..Loy appeared in the first ever European/American co-production…1925’s Ben-Hur…..she appeared in the first movie to use a movie score…..1926’s Don Juan…..she appeared in the first talkie….1927’s The Jazz Singer……and she appeared in the first ever filmed operetta….1929’s The Desert Song.

3. Myrna Loy appeared in over 120 movies, but never received an Oscar® nomination or a Golden Globe® nomination for any of her acting roles. She did receive an honorary Oscar® for career achievement in 1991.

4. In 1921, Loy posed for Harry Winebrenner’s statue titled “Spiritual,” which remained in front of Venice High School throughout the 20th century and can be seen in the opening scenes of the 1978 film Grease.

5. Gangster John Dillinger was shot to death after leaving a screening of the 1934 film Manhattan Melodrama which starred Loy, Clark Gable and William Powell.

6. Loy and William Powell appeared in 14 movies together. 6 times they appeared as Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man movie series (1934-1947). When looking at the table above….8 of their movies finished in Loy’s Top Ten according to critics and audiences.

7. Check out the list of co-stars for Loy…..Clark Gable (7 movies), Cary Grant (3 movies), Warner Baxter (3 movies), Spencer Tracy (2 films), and with one film….James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Paul Newman, Frederich March, Will Rogers, Charlton Heston, Tyrone Power, and of course Burt Reynolds.

8. The first part of her career was in silent movies…she was typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent…..her first film her character was called Vamp…..these roles kind of solidified her exotic non-America image…..which is strange as she was born and raised in Montana.

9. Loy’s big break? Loy attended a Hollywood party with director W.S. Dyke. At the party Dyke detected a wit and sense of humor that Loy’s films had not revealed. He then chose Loy for the Nora Charles role in The Thin Man. The success of The Thin Man changed how Hollywood viewed her, and her roles got bigger and better.

10. With the outbreak of World War II, she abandoned her acting career to focus on the war effort and worked closely with the Red Cross. She helped run a Naval Auxiliary Canteen and toured frequently to raise funds.

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

Not enough stats for you?….Then check out 37 Myrna Loy worldwide adjusted grosses

  • After the Thin Man (1936) $355.90 million in adjusted box office
  • Animal Kingdom (1932) $58.10 million in adjusted box office
  • Another Thin Man (1939) $267.40 million in adjusted box office
  • The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) $384.70 million in adjusted box office
  • The Bad Man (1930) $84.00 million in adjusted box office
  • The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) $859.60 million in adjusted box office
  • Bride of the Regiment (1930) $69.70 million in adjusted box office
  • The Desert Song (1929) $232.20 million in adjusted box office
  • Double Wedding (1937) $264.40 million in adjusted box office
  • Evelyn Prentice (1934) $122.30 million in adjusted box office
  • The Great Ziegfeld (1936) $525.20 million in adjusted box office
  • I Love You Again (1940) $185.30 million in adjusted box office
  • Isle of Escape (1930) $37.10 million in adjusted box office
  • Libeled Lady (1936) $306.00 million in adjusted box office
  • Love Crazy (1941) $200.70 million in adjusted box office
  • Lucky Night (1939) $130.20 million in adjusted box office
  • Manhattan Melodrama (1934) $129.00 million in adjusted box office
  • Man-Proof (1938) $136.90 million in adjusted box office
  • The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) $68.30 million in adjusted box office
  • Men In White (1934) $152.20 million in adjusted box office
  • Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) $197.50 million in adjusted box office
  • New Morals For Old (1932) $36.60 Night Flight (1933) $112.30 million in adjusted box office
  • Noah’s Ark (1928) $191.00 million in adjusted box office
  • Parnell (1937) $204.70 million in adjusted box office
  • Pay As You Enter (1928) $11.30 million in adjusted box office
  • Petticoat Fever (1936) $121.90 million in adjusted box office
  • The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) $97.20 million in adjusted box office
  • Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) $224.10 million in adjusted box office
  • The Show of Shows (1929) $209.90 million in adjusted box office
  • Song of the Thin Man (1947) $142.40 million in adjusted box office
  • Test Pilot (1938) $487.60 million in adjusted box office
  • The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) $193.90 million in adjusted box office
  • The Thin Man, The (1934) $159.90 million in adjusted box office
  • Too Hot To Handle (1938) $299.20 million in adjusted box office
  • The Truth About Youth (1930) $37.00 million in adjusted box office
  • Under a Texas Moon (1930) $107.50 million in adjusted box office
  • Whipshaw (1935) $97.60 million in adjusted box office
  • Wife vs Secretary (1936) $232.70 million in adjusted box office

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

For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.

(Visited 22,562 times)

229 thoughts on “Myrna Loy Movies”

  1. I just saw Myrna Loy in Midnight Lace. She was Doris Day’s Aunt Bea.

    I see I haven’t gone over the number of films I have seen of Loy’s. when I first started following you there were so many to read I only discussed favourites.

    Here we go: I will go over each 10 until I fall under 50% then go to the overall total.

    Top ten box office :

    I have seen only 5:1,3,4, 8 and 10.

    Top ten critics:

    I have seen all ten!

    Top ten movie score:

    I have seen 5 of them, already mentioned above. 50%

    Top 20:

    I have seen 12. Above 50%

    Top 30:

    I’ve seen 19. Above 50 and then some at 63%

    Top 40:

    I’ve seen 24. over 50% at 60%

    I fall under 50% in the next ten, so I’ll go to the end:

    Out of 59 movies, I have seen 29 of them. That is 49%. Ironically, the finally 3 films I’ve seen are in her bottom 5 films. I’m surprised that anything with Montgomery Clift did so poorly at the box office.

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora….well your 29 blows me out of the water as I have only seen 9 of the movies. I think I have seen more Powell/Loy movies but I can only clearly remember three of them. Lonelyhearts was made after many of Clift’s personal problems had become public knowledge, so I think his movies during the late 50s and mid 60s were either supporting parts or lower budget films(he scared the producers of big budgets)….such a sad ending to a very gifted actor.

      Looking at Steve’s comments, he does not give a tally count but I am pretty sure your 29 movies will top his total. It always amazes me when I see how many months have gone by since I wrote the hub(8 months ago) and when you commented the first time(7 months ago)…it seems like only yesterday that I wrote the Loy page..thanks for the update.

      Reply

      1. Bruce, Flora has us both beat, I saw 12 of Loy’s films and my favourite isn’t The Thin Man (Flora gasps] it’s The Mask of Fu Manchu, way down on your list. Hey Karloff is in it, nuff said! And I wrote a hub on the film, someone had to! 🙂

        Reply

        1. Steve – regarding Loy’s Midnight Lace costar Doris Day, I couldn’t find a tally for you in the comment sections when I talked about the film on Bruce’s Day hub. How many of Day’s films have you seen?

          Reply

          1. Hi Flora, I will pop right over to Bruce’s Day Movie Page and start counting. 🙂

          2. Hey Steve and Flora….once again Flora takes the tally count win for a classic actress for both Loy and Day.

      2. Monty was yet to be nominated for Judgement @ Nuremburg, play Freud for Huston or star in his final European action film. Elizabeth Taylor was arranging for him to star opposite her in Reflections of A Golden Eye when he died. Monty, Myrna, Roddy McDowall were all good friends.

        Reply

  2. I Love You Again” is my favorite Loy/Powell movie. It’s just a really silly, crazy, amnesia story. But everyone is having so much fun. Really, really funny – and sometimes touching too. Ends wonderfully. What chemistry they had. Timeless.

    Reply

    1. Hey Mark Wilcox…thanks for the comment and for checking out my Loy pages.

      As for I Love You Again….I agree 100% with you about it being a wonderful fun movie to watch…it did ok at the box office…but critics and audiences love the movie…finishing as her 5th highest rated movie according to critics and audiences.

      Reply

  4. I wish they would make classy movies again, those ladies bck then used to look so glamourous, thank for reeling back and giving us a piece of what made movies so special to watch…

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the compliment on my Loy page ..Darknlovely3426….I am glad you liked this page on some classy movies from the 1930s and 1940s…..thanks for stopping by and reading my page.

      Reply

  5. Yes, she made 9 movies with William Powell, some Thin Man, others not. I love them together, even Manhatten Melodrama, only noteable because of Dillanger. Other Loy films I love are:

    The Best Years of our lives

    Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse

    The Mask of Fu Manchu (an indulgence)

    The Great Ziegfeld

    Test Pilot

    Reply

    1. Hey FloraBreenRobinson…..Loy and Powell made 13 movies were they co-starred together….and one movie where Loy does a cameo appearance..for a total of 14 movies….1947’s The Senator Was Indiscreet was the last time they appeared together. Nice top 5….kudos for mentioning The Mask of Fu Manchu…..Steve Lensman has a great hub on that movie….if interested I have attached that hub….thanks for reading my page.

      Reply

      1. 13! I have seen only 9 of them. Yes, this means there are more that I haven’t seen for the first time! Hmm. More research and more films to watch! now to find these other titles.

        Reply

        1. Hey Flora….I have found that I get way more enjoyment out of researching older movies more rather than the newer ones. As for Loy/Powell movies you have me beat….I have only seen….6 of them.

          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.