Top Grossing Movies Of 1952

The Greatest Show On Earth was easily the biggest box office hit of 1952

This movie page looks at The Top Grossing Movies of 1952.  In 1952, 463 movies were released in theaters.  Average weekly movie attendance was 51 million.  That translates to $2.65 billion (25th best year in movie history) movie tickets sold which generated revenue of $1.24 billion.  So with all of this money flying around you would think somebody would have kept track of how each movie was performing.  Sadly that was the case!

Currently when you type in the search words….”Top Grossing Movies of 1952″ you do not get much information.  Wikipedia provides 10 movies.  The Numbers.com provides 10 movies.  Stats-a-mania offers up 7 movies.  You have to go to the 26th search result to find the next place that lists box office results….UMR’s (that’s us) Marilyn Monroe page which offers up 5 movies.  So in an effort to get more information out there…we have decided to unlock our 1952 movie database vault and share the information we have collected over the years.

To make this list a movie had to be made in 1952 (as listed on IMDB.com).  Obviously many movies made in 1951 earned box office dollars in 1952.  On the other side many movies made in 1952 made money in 1953 and later.  This page will looks at 162 Top Grossing Movies of 1952.  The movies are listed in a massive table that shows who starred in the movie, had much the movie grossed when it was released and how that gross means in today’s money.

Drivel part of the page:  Currently our movie database is down for a massive update which includes a new box office formula and a new formula for our movie ranking equation. So we do not have access to all of our information.  For some reason….Wife of Cogerson thinks her full time job takes precendent over this non-revenue generating hobby. Sometimes I just do not understand her….lol.  So without the ability to do a page on a actor or actress…I had to pick a year as our the latest movie page.

My favorite 1952 movie is The Quiet Man
My favorite 1952 movie is The Quiet Man

Our UMR Top 50 of 1952

Top Grossing Movies of 1952 Can Be Sorted 3 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1952 by the stars or in some cases the director of the movie.
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1952 by domestic actual box office grosses (in millions)
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1952 by domestic adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)

Singin' In The Rain, considered the greatest musical ever, was released in 1952
Singin’ In The Rain, considered the greatest musical ever, was released in 1952

1952 Box Office Grosses – Adjusted World Wide

How the Box Office Numbers were Calculated 

Sadly in 1952….BoxOfficeMojo was not around to keep track of box office earnings. Back then earnings seem to be a secret and a secret that needed to be safely locked up.  When studios did report box office stats they used “box office rentals”.  Box office rentals were the amount of money the studio got back from the theaters.  It is NOT the box office gross.  According to Film Daily Yearbook the film rentals as percentage of box office grosses was 36% in 1952. That means that box office gross was 2.75 times greater than box office rentals.  It is not an exact calculation….but for 1952 the multiplier we used was 2.75.

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118 thoughts on “Top Grossing Movies Of 1952”

    1. Thank you Phalbe….I fixed that error not only this page but on my Danny Kaye page….too….thanks for the catch….it is greatly apppreciated.

      Reply

  3. Nice to see COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA at #10 with $9.73 million, as it was a rather small, intimate domestic drama. Despite this it apparently appealed to a wide audience, undoubtedly due in part to the acclaim heaped upon Shirley Booth’s brilliant performance. These were the days when a modestly successful Broadway run of 190 performances could attract the attention of a distinguished independent Hollywood producer such as Hal Wallis. And he was wise as well as brave enough to risk casting Booth to recreate her award-winning Broadway performance.

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    1. Hey Philip…Come Back Little Sheba got released in late 1952…and ended up being the 14th biggest hit of1953. Pretty sure Shirley Booth getting an Oscar for the movie helped the box office. Growing up I only knew Booth from Hazel re-runs….I remember when I realized she and Mrs. Partridge were both Oscar winning actresses….at first it really confused me. Glad Wallis gave her a chance….amazing how well she and Lancaster matched up in that movie….thanks for feedback.

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      1. I didn’t catch up with SHEBA until it came out on VHS in the early 90s, though I’d long been familiar with Booth and knew she’d won the Oscar for it. She was still alive at the time of my first viewing, and as I wiped my eyes at the end I thought, “But when she dies, the obits will lead off with ‘Shirley Booth, TV’s HAZEL…'” and I was right. Anyway, it’s a heartbreaker of a performance, and I think most people who’ve been closely affected by the alcoholism of a loved one will tell you that she got everything right.

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        1. I just watched Sheba about 5 years ago. I decided to try and watch all the major category Oscar winning movies….so I tracked down the movie. She was incredible….never once did I think of Hazel. I can see her Obit starting that way. I think no the Hazel memory is fading…and she is now one of the many woman great actresses to win a Best Actress Oscar.

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  4. Just visited Ringling Museum in Sarasota, FL where much history, Artwork and posters provide great background and detail about circus performers and preparation for performance. The movie, The greatest Show on Earth, appears to give a true and accurate account of the circus. Brought back a lot of wonderful childhood memories!

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    1. Hey Suzy….very cool…thanks for sharing your visit to the Ringling Musuem. Growing up my dad always talked about the train wreck in Greatest Show On Earth…..I have the chase scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark….and he had the train wreck scene. Glad that brought back those wonderful childhood memories….thanks for the comment and thanks for stopping by.

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  5. WOW – LOTS OF RESEARCH FOR ALL THESE MOVIES. I have seen quite a few of these movies. DID YOU EVER SEE IRON MISTRESS WITH ALAN LADD? That was a good movie. So many good movies that entertained for 1952 – YOU WERE NOT EVEN A TWINKLE IN YOUR DAD’S EYE OR MINE EITHER, ha, ha, ha. Thanks so much for the information – interesting to say the least!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

    1. Hey Bern1960….glad you liked my 1952 movie page. I have not seen Iron Mistress but I saw it made a lot of money. I remember dad talking about more than a few of these movies. He was always a fan of the train wreck in The Greatest Show On Earth….he would have been 15 or so when he saw that….I imagine it made a big impact on him as a kid. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply

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