Want to know the best Oscar Levant movies? How about the worst Oscar Levant movies? Curious about Oscar Levant box office grosses or which Oscar Levant movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Oscar Levant movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Oscar Levant (1906-1972) was as an American concert pianist, composer, music conductor, bestselling author, radio game show panelist and personality, television talk show host, and actor. He was as famous for his mordant character and witticisms. His IMDb page shows 15 acting credits since 1929 to 1958. In the table below, Ultimate Movie Rankings ranks 13 of his movies in 6 different sortable columns. One television roles and one uncredited role were not included in the rankings on the table.
Oscar Levant Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Oscar Levant 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.
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Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Oscar Levant movie received.
Sort Oscar Levant 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.
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Check out Oscar Levant’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
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I saw 2. no10s. no favorites. no hidden gems. I am not a Kelly fan. give me Astaire.
Hey bob cox….thanks for the visit and the thoughts on Oscar Levant. 2 might seem a small number….but by % that is 15% of his career….which is not too bad. So you are a Fred man versus a Gene man. Well…in our new book…Top 50 Movie Stars….both made it…and the good news? Fred finished higher in the rankings than Gene. Good stuff…as always.
I have seen 9 Oscar Levant movies, 8 of them in the top 10.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is An American in Paris.
The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is You Were Meant For Me.
The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is O Henry’s Full House.
Favourite Oscar Levant Movies:
An American in Paris
Rhapsody in Blue
The Band Wagon
Barkleys of Broadway
Humoresque
Romance on the High Seas
The Cobweb – Levant is great; rest of film tries to be serious, but unintentionally
funny
Other Oscar Levant Movies I have Seen:
Rhythm on the River
O Henry’s Full House
Hey Flora….your 9 Oscar Levant is easily the most of the people that provided a tally count. Congrats on your gold medal….you are only a handful of his movies from being a Levant completist….bet you did not realize that before this page popped up.
You Were Meant For Me was a decent hit…but not a movie that has much of a legacy. I agree his performance in The Cobweb is pretty good…probably the best part of the movie. John Kerr got the James Dean role….not thinking it was the success launcher he originally thought.
The five I have seen…are all in your favorites list. Looking at that list…Romance on the High Seas is the one I want to see. Thanks for the visit, tally and comment.
I’m shocked Bob has never seen An American in Paris, shocked I tells ya! [blows a raspberry] 😉
I’ve seen just 3 of the 13 films on the chart – The Barkleys of Broadway, The Band Wagon and An American in Paris. I’ve watched the last two many times over the decades. It’s been a few years since I saw Barkleys. I have them all on DVD. Levant was hilarious
I want to see The Cobweb and maybe Rhapsody in Blue.
Good stuff Bruce. Vote Up!
HI STEVE
You must remember that when An American in Paris was released in 1951 I was just 10 years of age, had just started watching movies and was primarily interested in B movie westerns and action films.
I have never come across a TV rerun of it but I keep meaning to try to track down a DVD copy as today I DO like the old Hollywood musicals that I neglected when they first came out and I find Kelly enjoyable to watch.
Meanwhile I accept that Kelly musicals like On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain and American in Paris are classics that have been highly influential. Today when public discussion turns to dancing Kelly and Astaire are always the two names that immediately usually crop up.
Hey Bob….excuses, excuses, excuses….lol. Actually…it took me years to finally watch An American In Paris….and I will probably never watch it again. Now Singin’ In The Rain is a musical I will rewatch.
But WORK HORSE have you yet fulfilled your promise that you made to me a year or more ago to catch up on Chuck’s 1953 The Naked Jungle? [I think you said that like me Bern was an admirer of it.]
The exchanges about Levant have been worthwhile because until you profiled him I had forgotten all about him so thanks for your feedback on my own post
Also you “educated” me recently about Mahershala Ali. I had seen just two of his films but had not recalled him in them. However by coincidence after reading your new page on him W o Bob and I started to watch True Detective TV series 3 and he is the star of that. I am quite impressed with his acting and charisma, so another good “scoop” by you!
Hey Bob….hey no fair…..lol. Sad to say, I have not seen The Naked Jungle yet…but one day I will. Glad UMR was able to introduce to Mr. Ali. I suspect…he is going to be around awhile. Sounds like season 3 of True Detective is closer to the greatness of season 1 versus the blahness of season 2. Good stuff.
Hey Steve…wow…never thought my 5 would top you. I figured with all of his musicals you would easily top me. I have seen all 3 of the ones you have seen. Levant got compared to George Sanders….now that is good company to be in. Too bad Oscar did not make more movies. The Cobweb is an interesting movie. That was going to be James Dean’s next role….but his untimely death gave the role to somebody else. The Cobweb is a big role for Richard Widmark. Good feedback as always.
When I see that The Master has contributed to a new page I am immediately tempted to say “pass” as I know that I am never going to be able to offer anything that will top the pearls of wisdom that are sure to have been imparted from this site’s resident Oracle in Chief. However the cynic in me always likes to sit back and watch with amusement the worshipping and grovelling response of the Deputy Oracle to his idol’s verdicts.
Years ago I understandably tended to confuse Oscar Levant with Oscar Homolka the Austrian actor who for example was nominated for a supporting actor Academy Award for playing Uncle Chris in 1948’s I Remember Myrna. Homolka also had supporting roles in many key Hollywood films of the 1950s, such as Seven Year Itch, War and Peace and A Farewell to Arms but I most remember him for 3 1960s films – my Richard’s The Long Ships and Homolka’s key supporting role of Col Stok in Sir Maurice’s two Harry Palmer flicks Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain – see Work Horse I always find my own way to get mentioning, albeit obliquely, The Master!
I have seen just 5 of the 13 films listed in the above table-
Romance on the High Seas [aka It’s Magic, the debut of my Doris]
The Cobweb [top-starring my Richard]
The Band Wagon [Astaire]
Humoresque [my Joan]
The I Don’t care Girl [a probably little-known Mitzi Gaynor flick]
However what a five from my perspective! as 3 of my greatest all-time idols are in them, I always loved Astaire too and Mitzi’s film was one of the earliest movies I ever saw, so a resounding “Vote Up” for a revisit to Nostalgia Lane alone, and I did enjoy Levant in those movies. He was the bread-and-butter supporting performer that the Hollywood production lines of the classic era depended upon so much. Good choice WH.
Hey Bob….we are tied with seeing 5 Oscar Levant movies each…with 3 being the same….I have seen An American in Paris…..watched that one during a Best Picture Oscar Winning marathon. I am glad you decided to join Joel in this Levant discussion. Interesting that you got the Oscars mixed….I did not have that issue …as I was unaware of either of them. Glad you liked this trip down memory lane. One more Joel subject completed. Good stuff.
With the possible exception of George Sanders, no other performer ever turned witty cynicism to such good advantage as Oscar Levant. Despite an offhanded attitude toward acting, he took his profession seriously. Director Vincente Minnelli re-called his “vanity-wounded roar” when one of his scenes was cut from An American in Paris. – Rating the Movie Stars Book
4 Star Oscar Levant Performances
Rhapsody In Blue (1945)
Humoresque (1946)
Hey Joel….as always….good to see your thoughts. Good stuff.