Want to know the best Paul Lukas movies? How about the worst Paul Lukas movies? Curious about Paul Lukas box office grosses or which Paul Lukas movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Paul Lukas movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well, you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Paul Lukas (1891-1971) was an Oscar®-winning Hungarian actor. Lukas won the Best Actor Oscar® for his performance in 1943’s Watch on the Rhine. It was a role he created on the Broadway stage. His IMDb page shows 135 acting credits from 1915 to 1971. This page will rank Paul Lukas movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, many of his silent movies and some early 1930s movies (thank you Paramount) 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.
Paul Lukas Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Paul Lukas 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 Paul Lukas movies by his co-stars
- Sort Paul Lukas movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Paul Lukas movies by yearly domestic box office rank.
- Sort Paul Lukas 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 Paul Lukas movie received.
- Sort Paul Lukas movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Best IMDb Trivia On Paul Lukas
1. Pál Lukács was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1891.
2. Paul Lukas made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917.
3. Paul Lukas had a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany, and Austria, where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He arrived in Hollywood in 1927 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1937.
4. Paul Lukas sang Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s song “None But the Lonely Heart” (English title) in Little Women (1933).
5. Paul Lukas played Cosmo Constantine in the original 1950 Broadway stage version of Irving Berlin’s Call Me Madam, opposite Ethel Merman for over 600 performances.
Check out Paul Lukas’ career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Paul Lukas has never been on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. These are the actors on the list he has appeared with.
28 TREVOR HOWARD The Roots of Heaven (1958)
30 ANTHONY QUINN The Ghost Breakers (1940)
32 PETER O’TOOLE Lord Jim (1965)
44 JAMES MASON 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
44 JAMES MASON Lord Jim (1965)
48 JOHN CARRADINE Captain Fury (1939)
57 ORSON WELLES The Roots of Heaven (1958)
78 JASON ROBARDS Tender Is the Night (1962)
92 CHARLTON HESTON 55 Days at Peking (1963)
100 ELI WALLACH Lord Jim (1965)
102 RIP TORN Sol Madrid (1968)
104 HARRY ANDREWS 55 Days at Peking (1963)
109 DAVID NIVEN 55 Days at Peking (1963)
109 DAVID NIVEN Dinner at the Ritz (1937)
109 DAVID NIVEN Dodsworth (1936)
119 DEAN STOCKWELL Kim (1950)
138 HERBERT LOM The Roots of Heaven (1958)
141 KIRK DOUGLAS 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
142 MARC LAWRENCE The Monster and the Girl (1941)
207 DENHOLM ELLIOTT Scent of Mystery (1960)
208 TELLY SAVALAS Sol Madrid (1968)
232 ANGELA LANSBURY The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
241 AKIM TAMIROFF Lord Jim (1965)
242 AVA GARDNER 55 Days at Peking (1963)
308 GLENN FORD The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
321 GEORGE SANDERS Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
342 EDDIE ALBERT The Roots of Heaven (1958)
373 ERIC POHLMANN 55 Days at Peking (1963)
375 TERI GARR Fun in Acapulco (1963)
379 JOHN IRELAND 55 Days at Peking (1963)
389 PETER CUSHING They Dare Not Love (1941)
391 LLOYD BRIDGES They Dare Not Love (1941)
417 WALTER GOTELL 55 Days at Peking (1963)
417 WALTER GOTELL Lord Jim (1965)
441 MARNE MAITLAND Lord Jim (1965)
467 PAUL FIX Strange Cargo (1940)
467 PAUL FIX The Ghost Breakers (1940)
512 KEYE LUKE The Casino Murder Case (1935)
534 JACK HAWKINS Lord Jim (1965)
598 PHILIPPE LEROY 55 Days at Peking (1963)
608 RIC YOUNG LORD JIM (1965)
610 PAT HINGLE Sol Madrid (1968)
631 GEORGE COULOURIS Watch on the Rhine (1943)
646 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Scent of Mystery (1960)
672 WALTER PIDGEON Rockabye (1932)
672 WALTER PIDGEON The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933)
717 ROBERT RYAN Berlin Express (1948)
717 ROBERT RYAN The Ghost Breakers (1940)
743 LEO MCKERN SCENT OF MYSTERY (1960)
782 EDWARD G. ROBINSON Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
801 BETTE DAVIS Watch on the Rhine (1943)
805 CHARLES LANE Grand Slam (1933)
877 LLOYD NOLAN Don’t Be a Sucker (1943)
941 CURT JURGENS Lord Jim (1965)
962 DAVID MCCALLUM Sol Madrid (1968)
974 CECIL PARKER The Lady Vanishes (1938)
HM (728) LEO GENN 55 Days at Peking (1963)
HM (806) CHARLES BOYER The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
HM (905) GEOFFREY BAYLDON 55 DAYS AT PEKING (1963)
Paul appeared with 24 Oscar winners (rather low I thought).
ANTHONY QUINN The Ghost Breakers (1940)
BETTE DAVIS Watch on the Rhine (1943)
CHARLTON HESTON 55 Days at Peking (1963)
CLARK GABLE Strange Cargo (1940)
DAVID NIVEN 55 Days at Peking (1963)
DAVID NIVEN Dinner at the Ritz (1937)
DAVID NIVEN Dodsworth (1936)
DON AMECHE Ladies in Love (1936)
DONALD CRISP A PASSPORT TO HELL (1932)
ELIZABETH TAYLOR Scent of Mystery (1960)
GARY COOPER City Streets (1931)
GARY COOPER The Shopworn Angel (1928)
GEORGE SANDERS Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
JANE DARWELL No One Man (1932)
JANET GAYNOR Ladies in Love (1936)
JASON ROBARDS Tender Is the Night (1962)
JENNIFER JONES Tender Is the Night (1962)
JOAN CRAWFORD Strange Cargo (1940)
JOAN FONTAINE Tender Is the Night (1962)
KATHARINE HEPBURN Little Women (1933)
LORETTA YOUNG Grand Slam (1933)
LORETTA YOUNG Ladies in Love (1936)
LUISE RAINER Hostages (1943)
MARY ASTOR Dodsworth (1936)
SUSAN HAYWARD Deadline at Dawn (1946)
VICTOR MCLAGLEN Captain Fury (1939)
WALTER BRENNAN Sing, Sinner, Sing (1933)
WALTER HUSTON Dodsworth (1936)
Having nothing to do with Paul, but my wife’s cousin’s husband apparently went to high school with Brian Dennehy. He was posting pics of them on the football team and high school yearbook pictures on Facebook. My wife’s niece went to high school with Lori Loughlan.
Hey Dan. As always…thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. I am not too aware of him at all….I think…..”he was an Oscar winner” is about the extent of my knowledge. I bet if the Oracle list was around in the 1950s he would have had a spot in the Top 100.
First list. Pretty short compared to other lists…especially the one you just did on the late Brian Dennehy. But has some legends on the list. David Niven wins the title of most frequent Oracle co-star.
Second list. 24 is good considering many of his movie were made before the Oscars even existed. He was already almost 40 when they got created. The listed is almost all acting legends…Crawford, Davis, Hayward, Cooper, Taylor and Heston.
Interesting trivia on Brian Dennehy. His first movie role was as a football player in Semi-Tough. Thanks for shring it. Rest in peace Mr. Dennehy.
Good stuff as always.
Looking at the chart I’ve seen 9 Paul Lukas films, my favorites – The Lady Vanishes, The Ghost Breakers, Fun in Acapulco, 55 Days at Peking & 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
The Lady Vanishes is one of my most watched Hitchcock films and my favorite of his British output. The Ghost Breakers is on of Bob Hope’s best with a creepy finale. Fun in Acapulco is fun and colorful with some great songs.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of my childhood favorites, it was re-released in cinemas in the 1970s and I got my chance to see it on a big big screen for the last time ever, ooh that sounded a bit depressing.
Nice work Bruce. Vote Up!
HI STEVE: ADDITIONAL TRIVIA
Scared Stiff is a 1953 American horror paranormal semi-musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. One of the 17 films made by the Martin and Lewis team, it was released on April 27, 1953 by Paramount Pictures. It is the fourth screen adaptation of the 1909 play The Ghost Breaker by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard, previously filmed under that title in 1914 and 1922 and as The Ghost Breakers in 1940.
Hey Bob…good information on Scared Stiff and The Ghost Breakers. Comedy and ghosts….they have been around for a very long time.
Hey Steve. Thanks for checking out our Paul Lukas page. Tally count..Flora 21….Bob, Steve and Cogerson a combined 21…so we tied her. Your 9 helped us get that tie…as Bob and myself sit at 6. I have not seen many of your favorites. Since starting this website…I have seen 55 Days at Peking pop up a lot…yet I still have not seen it. As for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea….my dad loved that movie….with Kirk’s passing it was another connection to my dad that seems like it is not there anymore. Good stuff as always.
Tchaikovsky’s “None But the Lonely Heart:
“None but the lonely heart
Can know my sadness
Alone and parted
Far from joy and gladness
My senses fail
A burning fire
Devours me
None but the lonely heart
Can know my sadness”
ADDITIONAL ASSOCIATED TRIVIA: There’s a bit of self-indulgence on my part in mentioning in Part 2 McCormack’s 1927 recording but it is possible that that wily Work Horse may also have been indulging himself when he included mention of the song is Paul’s trivia section. Archibald Alexander Leach made None but the Lonely Heart for the big screen in 1944 and Tchaikovsky’s composition was played over the opening credits and often in the film including a piano rendition by Al leach and a cello performance by Archie’s co-star Jane Wyatt. If I’m right in all that then darn it that WH has sucked me into giving Archie another plug! However Al Leach DOES deserve it this time because for that movie he got one of his two Oscar leading actor nominations with the other being for 1942’s Penny Serenade.
Hey Bob. Glad you like the trivia on Tchaikovsky’s “None But the Lonely Heart. Actually finding trivia on Lukas was not too easy…I almost decided not to include that part of the page. Cool connection betweenTchaikovsky, Grant and Lukas. As for Penny Serenade….not my favorite Grant film at all…but glad he got his first Oscar nomination for that one. Good stuff as always.
HI BRUCE
As yo know Archie’s earlier films were not my cup of tea and I haven’t seen Penny Serenade – but I think he should have had an Oscar for Lonely Heart or Notorious.
Dan-like link between McCormack’s None but the Lonely Heart recording/Archie’s movie/Archie’s piano rendition of the piece – I’ve mentioned before that following the success of Lanza as The Great Caruso there was talk of Archie playing McCormack in a biography of the latter but it never came to anything.
If you google John McCormack sings in 1937’s Wings of the Morning you will see and hear McCormack singing to Hank Fonda.
Hey Bob. I just re-watched Bringing Up Baby…..now that is an early Grant screwball movie that seems to get worse with each passing year. Give me His Girl Friday, My Favorite Wife, The Awful Truth, or The Philadelphia Story. Thanks for the Dan like link between McCormack and Grant. Thanks for the Google suggestion. Good stuff.
However despite never sustaining top stardom Paul [as first a smooth womanizer and later as a villain complete with sinister moustache] was nonetheless one of those supporting actors and/or male leads who were part of the backbone of Hollywood coming out of the silent era and into the talkies.
Wikipedia records 10 silent films for Paul and one part talkie; and The Work Horse above covers one of those silents [Two Lovers] and the part-talkie [Shopworn Angel]and as Paul carved out a solid niche for himself in a successful screen/stage career in Hungary/Germany/Austria and the early decades of Hollywood he deserves this new p inage which is “Voted Up!”
I was interested in Item 4 of WH’s trivia section above which tells us that Paul sang Tchaikovsky’s “None But the Lonely Heart” in 1933’s Little Women. Sinatra made a fine recording of that song but as it is a classical piece it is usually more suited to the tenor voice and in my own music collection I have an excellent 12 Oct 1927 version by my fave tenor John McCormack. Coincidentally in the 1922 movie Samson and Delilah Paul Lukas played the tenor Ettore Rico but obviously as that was a silent movie he didn’t sing on screen. However during his early stage years in Hungary etc he may have undergone formal singing training.
Hey Bob..thanks for the further information on Paul Lukas. He has a ton of silent movies…and sadly only one was uncovered by me. In cases like this…I think the website should just be called….Movie Rankings….versus Ultimate….as there are so many missing Lukas movies. Glad you have the McCormack versio from 1927….as I know he is one of your favorite singers. Thanks as always for adding value to these pages. Stay safe and healthy.
For me Paul Lukas is another of those performers whom I have seen many times but can precisely place in just a few films if I am lucky. In Paul’s case if you had asked me about him yesterday I could have mentioned Watch on the Rhine and that would have been it pending further research because he was well past his heyday when I started watching movies. However The Work Horse’s tables above have jogged my memory as they often do and I can record that I saw Paul in in 6 of his final 9 films:
Kim
20,000,000 Leagues
The Four Horsemen
55 Days at Peking
Fun in Acapulco
Lord Jim
Watch on the Rhine was of course his real moment in the sun but [like probably Ben Kingsley and F Murray Abraham] Paul was never able to capitalise on it in terms of top stardom. In all but one film post-Watch on the Rhine Paul played 2nd fiddle or lower to the likes of Flynn/Luise Rainer/Susan Hayward/Hedy Lamarr/George Brent/William Bendix/Jennifer Jones/and Charlie Bill Stuart.
In the tables above Bruce records 16 films that Paul made post-Watch on the Rhine and in only one of them is he the top-billed star: Address Unknown. Here is his star billing record in the other 15:
2nd- 2 movies
3rd-2 movies
4th -3 movies
6th-1 movie
Supporting-ie not billed equal to the stars-7 movies.
Hey Bob. Thanks for the comments on our Paul Lukas page. I had been sitting on these 40 movies for awhile……but late last night I pretty much gave up on finding box office on his many silent movies, his many Paramount movies and his many low budget movies. I figured 40 movies was a lot more than other pages that look at the career of Paul Lucas.
Tally count….I have my count at 6, which equals yours. I do admit, I do not remember his part in most of those movies. Other than Watch on the Rhine and 20,000 Leagues he has pretty much gone unnoticed by me….even his role in The Lady Vanishes…which finally got included in the database….as I found a couple of Harrison Reports box office notes on this early Hitchcock role.
I like the comparison of Lukas and F.Murray. One day F.Murray will get an UMR page…especially with the amount of Best Actor Oscar winners dwindling. Good information on his billings through the years. Good stuff.