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 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
- 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.
- An average Myrna Loy movie grosses $118.70 million in adjusted box office gross.
- 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.
- Fifteen Myrna Loy movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 21.42% of her movies.
- Five Myrna Loy movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 7.14% of her movies.
- 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.
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.
JOHN/STEVE
My recent penultimate post was meant for John – apologies to both of you but my mind never works sharply when Bruce is not around to keep me on my toes.s
JOHN
1 Further to my recent post about the marquee issue I have now checked IMDB and it confirms Wikipedia with IMBD saying that “the studios ORDERED theatre owners to place Wayne’s name first on their marquees.”
2 Under the early studio system the major production companies owned most of the theatre chains but even where that was not so if a studio had a hot property like Gone with the Wind and stipulated that a cinema could not show it unless Gable got first billing it is difficult to imagine a local cinema replying “We don’t want it unless Vivien goes first.” As you say though normally the studios have traditionally left local decisions TO the locals and Ford seems to have been a ‘total control’ guy where HIS movies were concerned and to paraphrase Buffy St Marie in the song “The big ones get their way.” Clearly the Duke did not mind Dern getting top billed in Berkeley though Spencer Tracy might have and anyway would YOU object to the other guy getting top billing if his name was Bruce?.
🙂 On the way back.
A wealth of comments have been posted on this site over the last week or so about Myrna’ career and I’ll therefore go direct to your video.
(1) I really liked the posters and still for Wings in the Dark and others I admired were Bachelor and Bobby-Soxer [aka Bachelor Knight] Men in White and Manhattan Melodrama.
(2) Nora Charles was of course a big part of her career and you include all 6 Thin Man films with average score of 73.2 but Bruce is way ahead of you there with an overall average of around 78.7 for the series
(3) For me Fu Manchu, Animal Kingdom and Love me Tonight would be borderline for inclusion as Loy doesn’t seem to have contributed much. You and Bruce agree on 3 of your Top 5
(4) I always thought of Best Years of Our Lives as a Dana Andrews movie. However top-billed Myrna undoubtedly made a great contribution to it and in fact I am somewhat surprised that whereas you make it No 1 Bruce lists it only 3rd after 2 Thin Man movies. He sure liked that Charles duo or maybe it was little Asta. [Asta’s real life owner earned $250 per week [about $4.3 million in today’s dollars] for the dog’s services. Most movie doges earned only about 25 dollar a week around 430 dollars, today
Hi Bob, thanks for checking out my tribute to Hollywoods Box Office Queen. [Bob winces]
As a life-long sci-fi and horror fan The Mask of Fu Manchu is the film that interested me the most from Myrna Loy’s oeuvre. I have it on DVD. She looks great as Fu Manchu’s daughter, the slight slant to her distinctive eyes helped give her an oriental look. Btw that last photo of her on the video is not from Fu Manchu but a little seen 1928 silent titled The Crimson City.
I like Myrna and I like her eyes too. I thought she was very attractive and a more sympathetic leading lady than most actresses around at that time.
I like the first photo on the video, Loy and Grant from Wings in the Dark, “The eyes! It’s all in the eyes.”, I think it was Stanwyck who said that
I’m surprised to see the Thin Man and sequel topping The Best Years of Our Lives on Bruce’s chart, I haven’t seen the latter but I know it’s been lauded quite a bit. I’m pretty sure The Thin Man series is far more entertaining than that Best Picture winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPjra0VYi1Y
1 I’ll bet you Myrna’s Oriental look was not as iconic as that of Mr M in Teahouse of the August Moon.
2 By the way did you know in today’s PC world we are advised to to use the term oriental so if Bruce gets angry with us remember – YOU SAID IT FIRST!
1 Our discussing Fu Manchu reminds me at the end of each movie in the series with Christopher Lee as Fu the latter always promised us in voice-over at the end of each movie “The world shall hear from me again.”
2 It has been a few days since we’ve heard from our own icon so he is obviously enjoying himself without us and as I don’t want to bombard him with posts in his absence I’m lucky I’ve you to fall back on or I’d be twiddling my thumbs.
“—let him never come back to us,
There would be doubt, hesitation and pain.
Never glad confident morning again.”
[The Lost Leader – Robert Browning]
Hey Steve…thanks for the link….I have watched it….just have not commented on it. As for 2 Thin Man movies topping the critic score…..it is possible that it would go lower as the IMDb, MetaCritic and Rotten Tomatoe scores tend to change….just the nature of the beast….as people are constantly putting “their two cents” in.
Thanks for seeing things my way. “my tribute to Hollywoods Box Office Queen”…glad you can see the light.
1 CORRECTION – apologies for any confusion.
Bruce has got us all so used to casually tossing around billions and millions when relating to movie stats that my automatic pilot finds difficulty in stooping to lowly hundreds and thousands. My final sentence in the previous post on Myrna Loy should have read:
“Asta Cogerson’s salary was $250 per week which is about 4.3 THOUSAND per week in today’s dollars whereas most movie dogs earned approx 25 dollars a week equating to $430 today.” Even Demi Moore wouldn’t have been looking $4.3 million for a week’s work all the year round though according to the Guinness Book of Records for just one week Brando got $9.3 million in today’s dollars for the 1978 Superman. That was however for just one film and they would not have paid him that EVERY week.
2 CELEBRITY
“Everything passes and everything changes,” sang Bob Dylan but in some ways it doesn’t. In the 1950s all the young males were keen to copy Tony Curtis’ high wavy hairstyle which became known as a “Tony” and barbers used to advertise the inclusion of a “Tony” among their services . Today I saw outside a nearby barber shop a large photo of The Donald with his massive quiff of hair glistening in the sun and the barber was offering to his customers a “Donald”. And to think that in one of your posts you made a big deal of women copying Myrna’s hairstyle! Have a good weekend BOB
“the Donald” I wonder if America is still in shock. If it was a movie no one would believe it. Thanks for the trivia Bob.
If you get bored during the weekend check out this youtube channel, it’s got some rare movie star documentaries, some of them in Spanish, but there’s an English one for Alan Ladd, here’s the link –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLLMpjQWqznrMfNK0tZANg/videos
Thanks for the Laddie link but if you don’t mind I’ll not give you my son’s E Mail address!
Bob, I don’t want your son’s email address!! Is he the one that makes fun of Ladd’s um stature? 🙂
🙂 poor little Laddie…lol
Thanks for the link….about to watch it…as I wait to board to Atlanta….long day is now down to two flights.
🙂 As much as Brando got paid maybe he should get credit for Superman Returns….lol.
Hey Bob…..yep…my comment about her being the biggest box office actress got the ball rolling on comments for sure….and in the end we have agreed to disagree on that one lol. I have yet to check out Steve’s video….will do when I get back home. Three of the Top 5 is ok….but certainly not too impressive. I think at one point….Best Years Of Our Lives was first….but some recent reviews and ratings have driven down the score since I did this page in 2011.
Cogerson (and Bob who is really into billing)
If two big stars like Cooper and let’s say Grant were teamed–I remember reading an article decades ago in which an industry insider commented on billing and said that whoever was put first in the movies or on posters, the biggest star would be the one whose name appeared on the theatre marque alongside the title. And that was in the hands of the theatre owner. If Grant and Cooper were in the same movie in let’s say the late fifties, I think the big cities would have put Grant first on their marques. The smaller towns would have put Cooper first. Most likely Cooper would have been first on more marques. Grant on marques which provided a larger percentage of the gross.
I remember a story about The Cowboys with John Wayne and Bruce Dern being interviewed by a journalist. The journalist said something to Dern along the lines of “America’s going to hate you after they see you shoot the Duke in the back.” Dern replied, “But I will be top billed in Berkeley.” Wayne couldn’t stop laughing.
marque in the above post should be marquee.
Got it
Hey John….very good perspective on a Grant/Cooper movie. Your logic makes sense to me. Funny story about Bruce Dern and John Wayne. I remember when Dern was known as the man that killed Wayne…..those days are long gone…..gone but not forgotten.
JOHN:
1 I wish Bruce would go back to the system of a few weeks ago whereby a full day’s new posts were flagged-up. Sleeping overnight when Yanks are all active I’m sure I’ve missed many fine posts and I’ve just by chance caught up with your interesting 21 Nov post about marquee billing and I apologise for not responding sooner. [Note I’m the one who’s spelt marquee right]. With the caveats that I’ll mention in para 3, I wholeheartedly agree with your industry insider and indeed will give you some examples including ones that I’ve experienced first hand.
BROKEN LANCE 1954
Official billing
SPENCER TRACY
Robert Wagner/Jean Peters/Richard Widmark
Marquee billing
SPENCER TRACY & RICHARD WIDMARK
THE SUN ALSO RISES 1957
Official Billing
TYRONE POWER/AVA GARDNER/MEL FERRER/ERROL FLYNN
Marquee billing in Belfast
AVA GARDNER
Tyrone Power/Errol Flynn
RUN SILENT RUN DEEP 1958
Official Billing
CLARK GABLE/BURT LANCASTER
Marquee billing in Belfast
BURT LANCASTER/CLARK GABLE
2 So will see that on the marquee not only will at times they depart from the order of official billing but will also at the same time give some officially first billed stars smaller billing than others.
3 However perception of the bigger star can vary from not only area to area as you have indeed suggested but also from country to country which is why the studios normally determine themselves who is the bigger star OVERALL but leave the marquee to the discretion of locals. As in most things though Studios and powerful filmmakers and stars can dictate terms locally and arrange contracts accordingly if they are determined to do so. Two examples:
(1) The Fugitive Kind 1960 starring Marlon Brando and Italian Anna Magnani. Concerned cast and crew find Anna sobbing hysterically in a corner of the set and she explains “Not even in my native Italy will Marlon let me have top billing.”
(2) For The Man who Shot liberty Valance the Duke and Jimmy Stewart agreed that Wayne would be billed first on the screen and Jimmy on all the official promotional material such as trailers, posters and advance cast lists. However if you read Wikipedia you will discover that at John Ford’s request Paramount INSTRUCTED theatre owners to place Duke first on their marquees. Ford later explained that though the two stars were equal in status Wayne really had the lead role in the movie
Hello Bob
Thanks for the comment. On Anna Magnani, was she referring though to marquee billing, or to her billing in the actual movie when dubbed into Italian? My take is that it would have only been gracious for Brando to cede top billing in her home country. I don’t think he would have lost any stature as a star with such a gesture.
On The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (by the way, one of my favorite films). I have also read about Ford asking for Wayne to be placed first on the marquees. But I think Wayne would probably have been first on a strong majority of marquees (in the US at least) anyway.
I guess a key is the verb. Is it instructed? Demanded? Ordered? or just recommended?
On Ford and Wayne. Of the documentary on the making of the film on its US DVD, the two had a delicate relationship at the time. Paramount would only go ahead with the film if Wayne agreed to star. This upset Ford who had been a prestige director for a long time and had won four best director Academy Awards. Still, like it or not, Ford needed Wayne and Wayne didn’t need Ford. My take is that in the film Stewart actually has the lead role, but Wayne has the better role. Ford might have wanted to stroke Wayne a bit to keep his options open for working with him in the future, hence the gesture of asking for Wayne to get top marquee billing.
One thing about marquee billing, though. While I think Wayne would have gotten top billing on most marquees in 1962 regardless, how could Paramount actually enforce such a rule? at least at most venues? Were they going to send men around to every small town or drive-in to check marquee billing? Doesn’t seem plausible.
*And a memory of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance from when it was first shown on network TV back in I think the late sixties. James Stewart received top billing on the actual film shown. Remember those little signs which came up for the credits. His sign came up first. I am positive of this as when we fellows discussed the film the next day, everyone remarked that they were surprised at Stewart being billed first. I have never heard anyone ever mention this, but I know it as a fact. There must have been some quirks in the billing arrangement between the two stars. One possibility which has occurred to me is that as Stewart did some TV work. If he had a show running on the network, the network might have demanded he get top billing when the movie was shown on the network. Or is it possible Wayne was scheduled for guest appearances on a rival network?
And, by the way, the showings of Stewart’s old movies over the years refreshed his status. In the end of the century Gallup (I hope I spelled that right) poll of favorite American actors, he finished second to Wayne among classic actors.
Hey John….great comment. Some thoughts: (1) I agree….Ford might have had Paramount send instructions…..but there was no way they would know if those instructions actually happened….either through a kid not paying attention…..or a Stewart fan refusing to put Wayne first. (2) At the time…Ford…though a legend….had made some not so stellar movies…especially when it came to box office results….while Wayne was still a force….so I can see that Wayne’s involvement was paramount to Paramount. (3) Like Davis and Crawford….comparing these two legends is almost impossible….they are both all time greats….and it was just lucky we got to see them in this movie together. Good stuff as always….your movie thoughts are greatly appreciated.
HI JOHN:
1 Lots of good points in there with I think the two main ones requiring answer:
(1) BRANDO/FUGITIVE KIND. The article did not specif the marquee position but my point was to demonstrate how the ‘big guys” can dictate the terms. How it is enforced is of course as you say another matter. I don’t know whether he still does it or not but Cruise used to insist that his name ALONE would be above the title on posters. However –
THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON 1956
Official Billing and posters in Belfast CITY Centre
MARLON BRANDO/GLENN FORD/MACHIKO KYO
Posters in Belfast suburbs and country areas
GLENN FORD/MARLON BRANDO/MACHIKO KYO
(2) LIBERTY VALANCE. Possibly the fates set out to punish Ford for interfering in the normal marquee arrangement because apparently when Liberty was first released it was not expected to do well and was released on the second half of double bills. If that is so although Wayne may have been billed before Stewart on the marquee the stars of the film on the 1st half of the bill will obviously have been mentioned before the Duke and it would have been a hollow victory for Ford. Ford apparently “recommended” to Paramount that Wayne go first on marquees and according to IMDB the studio “ORDERED” the theatres to do as Ford asked.
(3) Returning to your point about enforcement the following I witnessed first hand when I was serving with the Armed Forces in England in 1962 where Liberty Valance was exhibited by the Associated British Cinemas [ABC] chain. Throughout English towns the general billboards displayed the official posters giving Stewart his contracted top billing. However when you visited an ABC theatre you found that they had outdone even Steve and created THEIR OWN posters billing the Duke first. Of course Brits always think they do know better than everyone else!
2 I don’t think that in general the stars care much about local variations as (a) it is the official posters from the studios that reflect their OVERALL status in the pecking order (b) once an audience sits down it will see on the screen to whom the studios have given top billing Anyway thanks for the extra information you have provided.
Hey Bob…..I think the comment page shows the last 50 comments……not thinking that we “Yanks” can generate that many comments while you are sleeping. Maybe if the site continues to grow.
Interesting comparison between actually billing and marquee billing. Talking to my father-in-law…marquee billing was left to the theater owners…..and I think they could be influenced by their personal choices….for instance at my theater the marque would have said…..The Dark Knight starring Sir Michael Caine and others…..lol.
Ford might have left instructions….but what actually happened in the road shows…who knows. Still good stuff!
1 Sincerest apologies as I hadn’t picked up that you now had a separate long previous comments page and I think it is a great facility if retained.
2 “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good” so from our viewpoint great that you’re back in full action soon.
BOB
Hey Bob….yep the comment page located in the heading above shows the last 50 comments…..which normally is about 36 to 48 hours worth of comments. Some days it is less than that….but normally it is keeping the comments active.
Bruce:
I have seen 31 of Myrna’s movies, most in the top 30. My favourites her movies with Powell and The Best Years of Our Lives.
Hey Flora….thanks for checking out this page….over the years this one has had many many facelifts….but this was probably the biggest…..as it added it lots of movies….and lots of new box office stats…..31…..my new total is…..20….Steve did not give a tally on the update……so maybe our combined total has you beat…..thanks for the visit and the comment.
Hello Bruce and Flora, looks like we’ve got the band back together again. [wink wink]
My tally is thus – 17 films out of 70, which is a bit low considering Myrna’s “the biggest box office star the world has ever known” [Bob rolls his eyes]
That total includes the Thin Man series which I have in a lovely box set on DVD.
Hey Steve….it was a very nice surprise to see some Flora’s comments. Wow…finally our combined total topples Flora’s…..31 for Flora….20 for me and 17 for you. Good to see you get Loy’s new title right…… lol. That Thin Man series is a keeper…..thanks for the Loy revisit.
Bob & Cogerson
I certainly valid to question the meaning of the fact of Myrna Loy being the top ticket seller. Does this really translate into her have the greatest box-office pull? Or is it misleading? But why Joan Crawford as the standard of box office performance? So many of her contemporaries did so much better than Crawford. Loy was one, but othere–
Joan Crawford
Average box office–80.50
top film–Mildred Pierce-239.90
Ingrid Bergman
average box office–144.80
top films–The Bells of St Mary’s-501.40
For Whom the Bell Tolls-485.00
Casablanca-344.30
Spellbound-336.80
Saratoga Trunk-335.10
Notorious-315.70
Murder on the Orient Express-261.20
Greer Garson
average box office–146.30
top films–Mrs. Miniver-445.00
Random Harvest-387.50
The Valley of Decision-314.50
Adventure-292.70
Mrs. Parkington-260.20
Claudette Colbert
average box office–119.94
top films–Boom Town-394.50
The Egg and I-338.70
Since You Went Away-335.50
The Sign of the Cross-299.90
Drums Along the Mohawk-264.90
So Proudly We Hail-240.90
Katherine Hepburn
average box office–113.90
top films–Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner-375.40
On Golden Pond-361.70
Suddenly Last Summer-255.90
Little Women-240.90
Jeannette MacDonald
average box office–117.30
top films–San Francisco-425.50
Maytime-283.10
Sweethearts-251.90
How can one twist this into making Crawford some sort of box office queen. She is way behind in average grosses. All of these stars appeared multiple hit movies which grossed more than any that Crawford appeared in. Several had single films which grossed more than twice what any Crawford film did. Crawford’s top grossing film would be #8 in Bergman’s list. #6 in Garson’s list. #6 in Colbert’s list. #5 in Hepburn’s list. #4 in MacDonald’s list.
I haven’t checked everyone, but these actresses are much better rivals for Loy in box office performance in the 1930 to 1950 era.
HI JOHN
1 Your 20 Nov post at 4.06 pm is another one that I’ve missed under Bruce’s new flag up system so I can only once again apologise for not replying.
2 However we seem to be going round in circles as I’ve NEVER proclaimed Crawford box office Queen, though she was certainly one of them, and in fact I’ve clearly said I meant that by DOMINATION she successfully manipulated the studio and star system in her own interests and to the disadvantage of other. For example I’ve produced internet extracts which, IF TRUE, show that (1) King Gable wanted her as his Parnell co-star and she turned him down probably because the title told her HIS would be the lead (2) Myrna Loy was instructed to substitute for her and Crawford took over Moy’s role in the Last of Mrs Cheyney (3) Spencer Tracy was assigned as Joan’s co-star in Strange Cargo but Joan rejected him and demanded – and got – Gable.
3 I know that even powerful people will at times try to placate those who ‘shout the loudest’ but no capitalist entrepreneur will usually keep giving way to the demands of someone who is not a money making commodity for the organisation. For the most part though you and I seem to agree on more than we disagree and I think that we just seem to be at cross purposes at times
4 For example you apparently started loving Cooper when he was young whereas I took massively to him only when he was older – but does timing matter? Anyway it probably balanced out his fan worship for him as many of those who liked his early films were gone when I became a fresh admirer. But let’s rest our minds and keep them fresh for Bruce’s return. Have a good weekend BOB
hi Bob
One of the good things about MGM is that we have pretty good info about how their movies did because of the Eddie Mannix ledgers. So how was Crawford doing in the late thirties to early forties.
1937
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
rentals–$1,797,000
profit–$460,000
The Bride Wore Red
rentals–$1,200,000
profit/loss unavailable, but budget of $960,000 & distribution cost with rep as a flop, it probably lost money
1938
Mannequin
rentals–$1,694,000
profit–$470,000
The Shining Hour
rentals–$1,367,000
loss–$137,000
1939
Ice Follies of 1939
rentals–$1,219,000
loss–$343,000
The Women*
rentals–$2,270,000
loss–$262,000
1940
Strange Cargo
rentals–$1,929,000
profit–$21,000
Susan and God
rentals–$1,096,000
loss–$433,000
*The Women–a 1947 re-release moved this movie to a $62,000 profit
Joan clearly was slipping at the box office.
Here are Gable’s profits per picture during the 1940-1942 period when GWTW was in release.
Strange Cargo–$21,000
Boom Town–$1,892,000
Comrade X–$484,000
They Met in Bombay–$350,000
Honky Tonk–$1,895,000
Somewhere I’ll Find You–$1,749,000
*note–these are profits, not rentals.
If I were an MGM executive, I would draw the conclusion that teaming Gable with Crawford at this point was costing MGM a lot of money.
*the problem with the Mayer and billing stuff, is we don’t know the dynamics of the Mayer-Crawford relationship. He was loyal to his stars, and the two of them had both come up the hard way from the wrong side of the tracks. He might have had a soft spot for her. Perhaps it went beyond that, but this would be pure speculation.
Anyway, the bottom line–how do we know it is her box office performance which gave her influence with Mayer?
Hey John….I agree 100%….MGM and Eddie Mannix did a great job of leaving behind a financial record of their records. Over the years I have become very fond of Mr. Mannix. In my world he is just as famous as Gable and Tracy….lol. Plus he has people playing him in movies….so he has to be pretty famous. Josh Brolin played him in Hail Caesar and the late Bob Hoskins played him in Hollywoodland.
Good breakdown on the Gable/Crawford movies. As well as lots of stats….I have toyed with using the profit margin %….but in the end…only MGM and RKO provided that information…..so we decided to stay away from that.
From some of the stuff I have read…the Crawford/Mayer relationship was a love hate one…..lots of disputes in that relationship.
As always…your movie comments are greatly appreciated.
In fairness, Crawford’s peak years at the box office were from the late twenties to 1935 or so. She then had a decline, before reinventing herself and bouncing back in the mid-forties. That gave her momentum which lasted into the early fifties. From then on, like all “aging” actresses, it was basically playing to the base, as they say in politics. One thing to notice–Hollywood was/is really sexist. A Clark Gable shucks off Crawford and Loy and moves on to Turner and Gardner, and then shucks off Turner and Gardner to move on to Loren and Monroe. Cary Grant is older than Katherine Hepburn, but leaves her in his past as he moves on to Audrey. Women don’t have that option. They are lucky if they can find a granny and gramps movie out there for them to play in with an old codger their own age, as Katherine did with Henry Fonda.
Garson credited Loy with giving her her career – had Loy not left MGM to film The Rains Came Garson would never have been cast in Goodbye Mr. Chips.