Who were the Top Movie Stars of the 1940s statistically? This page will attempt to answer that question. Our main source of information was our massive Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) that looked at over 1,300 movies made from 1940 to 1949. Granted this is far from all the movies made during that time frame….but it does cover most of the major movie releases in that decade. To see that massive page…check out 1940s Box Office Grosses.
We have included four lists of information. List one looks at the Top 15 stars by adjusted domestic box office (the Top Star might surprise you). List two looks at the Top 15 stars by highest average rating per movie according to critics and audiences. List three looks at the Top 15 Stars by highest average UMR score per movie. List four shows our entire table of all the stars we looked at while complying these lists.
Top 15 Adjusted Domestic Box Office Leaders 1940 – 1949
- 1st – Van Johnson $5,254,200,000
- 2nd – William Bendix $5,144,000,000
- 3rd – Bing Crosby $4,791,800,000
- 4th – Dorothy Lamour $4,724,400,000
- 5th – William Demarest $4,692,600,00
- 6th – Thomas Mitchell $4,550,700,000
- 7th – John Wayne $4,508,800,000
- 8th – Edward Arnold $4,495,500,000
- 9th – Walter Brennan $4,368,000,000
- 10th – Bob Hope $4,322,000,000
- 11th – Dennis Morgan $4,297,800,000
- 12th – Dana Andrews $4,296,000,000
- 13th – Ray Milland $4,200,500,000
- 14th – Humphrey Bogart $3,992,500,000
- 15th – Spencer Tracy $3,917,800,000
Top 15 Average Critic/Audience Rating Leaders 1940 – 1949 (min 9 movies)
1st – Teresa Wright – 79.20%
2nd – Orson Welles – 79.00%
3rd – Joseph Cotton – 76.00%
4th – Cary Grant – 75.40%
5th – Humphrey Bogart – 74.90%
6th – Edward G. Robinson – 74.90%
7th – Burt Lancaster – 74.50%
8th – Ingrid Berman – 74.00%
9th – Katharine Hepburn – 73.20%
10th – Elsa Lanchester – 73.10%
11th – Bing Crosby – 73.00%
12th – Myrna Loy – 72.70%
13th – Gary Cooper – 72.60%
14th – Judy Garland – 72.60%
15th – Claude Rains – 72.60%
Top 15 Average UMR Score Per Movie (minimum 9 movies)
1st – Katharine Hepburn
2nd – Teresa Wright
3rd – Gregory Peck
4th – Gary Cooper
5th – Ingrid Bergman
6th – Judy Garland
7th – Bing Crosby
8th – Bob Hope
9th – Greer Garson
10th – Cary Grant
11th – Clark Gable
12th – Bette Davis
13th – Olivia de Havilland
14th – Spencer Tracy
15th – Celeste Holm
Top Movie Stars 1940-1949 Main Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort by actor or actress
- Sort by movies made between 1940 and 1949
- Sort by total adjusted domestic box office from 1940 to 1949
- Sort by total adjusted worldwide box office from 1940 to 1949
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each performers’ movies earned
- Sort by average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
| Rank | Thespians | Movies | Adj. Domestic B.O. | Adj. Worldwide B.O. | AVG Review% | Oscar Noms / Wins | AVG UMR Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Johnson | 27 | $5,254,200,000 | $7,508,400,000 | 66.3 % | 025 / 04 | 74.85 | |
| William Bendix | 40 | $5,144,000,000 | $5,237,600,000 | 63.9 % | 013 / 01 | 68.61 | |
| Bing Crosby | 19 | $4,791,800,000 | $5,462,700,000 | 73.0 % | 032 / 09 | 82.02 | |
| Dorothy Lamour | 31 | $4,724,400,000 | $4,873,400,000 | 64.0 % | 011 / 00 | 70.25 | |
| William Demarest | 33 | $4,692,600,000 | $4,911,800,000 | 68.0 % | 019 / 03 | 70.89 | |
| Thomas Mitchell | 33 | $4,550,700,000 | $5,128,400,000 | 66.9 % | 039 / 07 | 70.75 | |
| John Wayne | 32 | $4,508,800,000 | $5,168,400,000 | 65.9 % | 029 / 02 | 70.97 | |
| Edward Arnold | 37 | $4,495,500,000 | $6,035,900,000 | 64.0 % | 013 / 02 | 67.45 | |
| Walter Brennan | 28 | $4,368,000,000 | $5,087,400,000 | 69.8 % | 045 / 04 | 74.43 | |
| Bob Hope | 20 | $4,322,000,000 | $4,424,000,000 | 70.8 % | 011 / 01 | 81.21 | |
| Dennis Morgan | 29 | $4,297,800,000 | $5,820,000,000 | 61.2 % | 012 / 01 | 69.67 | |
| Dana Andrews | 30 | $4,296,000,000 | $4,967,000,000 | 67.4 % | 038 / 11 | 71.53 | |
| Ray Milland | 31 | $4,200,500,000 | $4,365,600,000 | 63.9 % | 024 / 06 | 69.15 | |
| Humphrey Bogart | 25 | $3,992,500,000 | $5,975,300,000 | 74.9 % | 021 / 07 | 78.28 | |
| Spencer Tracy | 19 | $3,917,800,000 | $5,542,100,000 | 68.8 % | 016 / 02 | 78.96 | |
| Barry Fitzgerald | 24 | $3,902,400,000 | $4,260,100,000 | 67.5 % | 037 / 15 | 73.51 | |
| Gary Cooper | 16 | $3,836,800,000 | $4,380,400,000 | 72.6 % | 050 / 06 | 83.35 | |
| Cary Grant | 20 | $3,804,000,000 | $5,198,600,000 | 75.4 % | 036 / 06 | 80.95 | |
| Judy Garland | 17 | $3,774,000,000 | $5,471,800,000 | 72.6 % | 013 / 02 | 82.72 | |
| Fred MacMurray | 32 | $3,763,200,000 | $3,927,000,000 | 62.2 % | 018 / 00 | 65.95 | |
| Walter Pidgeon | 23 | $3,707,600,000 | $5,567,800,000 | 64.7 % | 040 / 12 | 72.60 | |
| June Allyson | 18 | $3,706,200,000 | $5,369,000,000 | 65.0 % | 010 / 02 | 78.42 | |
| George Sanders | 27 | $3,688,200,000 | $4,004,400,000 | 66.6 % | 038 / 07 | 69.20 | |
| Paulette Goddard | 26 | $3,598,400,000 | $3,644,100,000 | 61.9 % | 029 / 02 | 67.63 | |
| Lionel Barrymore | 26 | $3,585,400,000 | $4,501,600,000 | 66.7 % | 022 / 02 | 67.35 | |
| Agnes Moorehead | 24 | $3,549,600,000 | $4,415,700,000 | 69.7 % | 040 / 04 | 73.93 | |
| Betty Grable | 20 | $3,512,000,000 | $3,511,900,000 | 63.5 % | 012 / 02 | 73.59 | |
| Maureen O'Hara | 23 | $3,512,100,000 | $3,735,700,000 | 64.1 % | 024 / 10 | 72.69 | |
| Eve Arden | 31 | $3,431,700,000 | $4,447,900,000 | 63.3 % | 015 / 02 | 65.60 | |
| Mickey Rooney | 19 | $3,429,500,000 | $4,740,500,000 | 64.6 % | 014 / 04 | 76.58 | |
| Anthony Quinn | 24 | $3,429,600,000 | $3,861,600,000 | 67.5 % | 009 / 02 | 71.52 | |
| Barbara Stanwyck | 22 | $3,390,200,000 | $4,012,500,000 | 68.7 % | 016 / 00 | 75.62 | |
| Sydney Greenstreet | 24 | $3,364,800,000 | $5,210,400,000 | 70.4 % | 016 / 03 | 72.60 | |
| Anne Baxter | 23 | $3,355,700,000 | $3,573,200,000 | 67.9 % | 024 / 02 | 72.80 | |
| Robert Young | 30 | $3,354,000,000 | $3,969,100,000 | 65.6 % | 010 / 01 | 67.70 | |
| Ingrid Bergman | 13 | $3,321,500,000 | $4,750,700,000 | 74.0 % | 051 / 10 | 82.75 | |
| Charles Bickford | 17 | $3,286,100,000 | $3,584,200,000 | 68.7 % | 033 / 07 | 77.22 | |
| Claude Rains | 24 | $3,276,000,000 | $4,666,400,000 | 72.6 % | 036 / 08 | 73.58 | |
| Lana Turner | 16 | $3,270,400,000 | $4,832,800,000 | 65.9 % | 009 / 02 | 77.36 | |
| Alan Ladd | 22 | $3,238,400,000 | $3,297,700,000 | 66.1 % | 005 / 00 | 72.39 | |
| Linda Darnell | 24 | $3,180,000,000 | $3,179,500,000 | 65.3 % | 017 / 05 | 70.54 | |
| Fay Bainter | 23 | $3,169,400,000 | $3,969,200,000 | 66.8 % | 012 / 03 | 70.61 | |
| Errol Flynn | 20 | $3,152,000,000 | $5,280,400,000 | 64.8 % | 015 / 01 | 74.53 | |
| Jane Wyman | 27 | $3,148,200,000 | $3,783,700,000 | 62.1 % | 027 / 08 | 65.60 | |
| John Garfield | 22 | $3,130,600,000 | $4,218,200,000 | 68.1 % | 022 / 05 | 72.10 | |
| Ann Sheridan | 22 | $3,126,200,000 | $4,318,900,000 | 66.6 % | 005 / 00 | 72.09 | |
| Gene Tierney | 20 | $3,098,000,000 | $3,141,300,000 | 67.1 % | 022 / 03 | 73.67 | |
| Randolph Scott | 29 | $3,085,600,000 | $3,415,000,000 | 59.4 % | 010 / 00 | 64.26 | |
| Donald Crisp | 19 | $3,078,000,000 | $4,459,100,000 | 70.4 % | 029 / 07 | 76.09 | |
| Claudette Colbert | 17 | $3,066,800,000 | $3,361,100,000 | 69.5 % | 023 / 02 | 75.36 | |
| Red Skelton | 20 | $3,054,000,000 | $4,518,100,000 | 61.4 % | 006 / 02 | 70.20 | |
| Robert Walker | 15 | $3,034,500,000 | $3,995,700,000 | 65.2 % | 018 / 02 | 76.01 | |
| Walter Huston | 17 | $3,019,200,000 | $3,927,800,000 | 70.0 % | 029 / 07 | 76.40 | |
| Harry Morgan | 28 | $2,996,000,000 | $3,121,700,000 | 66.9 % | 009 / 02 | 66.97 | |
| Peter Lawford | 19 | $2,984,900,000 | $4,437,000,000 | 66.8 % | 012 / 03 | 73.14 | |
| Peter Lorre | 24 | $2,976,000,000 | $4,537,100,000 | 72.1 % | 015 / 03 | 71.29 | |
| Abbott & Costello | 25 | $2,970,000,000 | $3,086,200,000 | 69.3 % | 000 / 00 | 70.76 | |
| Elisha Cook Jr. | 27 | $2,959,200,000 | $3,388,700,000 | 67.5 % | 025 / 03 | 66.56 | |
| Hattie McDaniel | 21 | $2,937,900,000 | $3,561,200,000 | 63.5 % | 017 / 03 | 68.35 | |
| Gene Kelly | 15 | $2,917,500,000 | $4,301,500,000 | 66.4 % | 018 / 03 | 77.35 | |
| Hedy Lamarr | 17 | $2,910,400,000 | $3,640,200,000 | 60.2 % | 009 / 02 | 69.08 | |
| Greer Garson | 13 | $2,910,700,000 | $4,968,200,000 | 68.3 % | 037 / 08 | 81.11 | |
| Marsha Hunt | 31 | $2,889,200,000 | $4,256,000,000 | 64.1 % | 022 / 03 | 63.47 | |
| Ronald Reagan | 22 | $2,842,400,000 | $3,619,300,000 | 59.5 % | 009 / 01 | 63.89 | |
| Dan Duryea | 24 | $2,822,400,000 | $3,771,800,000 | 72.1 % | 036 / 02 | 70.08 | |
| Donna Reed | 21 | $2,801,400,000 | $3,793,400,000 | 66.7 % | 022 / 03 | 68.92 | |
| Gregory Peck | 12 | $2,775,600,000 | $3,067,900,000 | 72.4 % | 035 / 08 | 84.00 | |
| Mary Astor | 18 | $2,736,000,000 | $3,857,300,000 | 66.7 % | 014 / 02 | 72.54 | |
| Tyrone Power | 15 | $2,728,500,000 | $2,728,500,000 | 66.4 % | 020 / 05 | 76.01 | |
| Edward G. Robinson | 22 | $2,719,200,000 | $3,129,700,000 | 74.9 % | 012 / 01 | 73.87 | |
| Ginger Rogers | 16 | $2,718,400,000 | $3,331,900,000 | 63.2 % | 011 / 01 | 73.60 | |
| Esther Williams | 12 | $2,689,200,000 | $4,339,100,000 | 63.7 % | 003 / 01 | 77.95 | |
| Lucille Ball | 22 | $2,662,000,000 | $3,478,100,000 | 63.6 % | 003 / 00 | 66.58 | |
| Angela Lansbury | 13 | $2,658,500,000 | $3,863,700,000 | 69.2 % | 024 / 08 | 76.37 | |
| Van Heflin | 20 | $2,654,000,000 | $3,857,800,000 | 69.0 % | 011 / 03 | 71.09 | |
| Joseph Cotten | 16 | $2,652,800,000 | $3,011,900,000 | 76.0 % | 046 / 07 | 77.20 | |
| Virginia Mayo | 17 | $2,633,300,000 | $3,512,600,000 | 66.3 % | 018 / 08 | 70.34 | |
| Margaret O'Brien | 17 | $2,631,600,000 | $3,732,200,000 | 69.9 % | 017 / 01 | 73.79 | |
| Vincent Price | 16 | $2,622,400,000 | $2,936,500,000 | 68.1 % | 036 / 11 | 74.16 | |
| Veronica Lake | 20 | $2,608,000,000 | $2,608,200,000 | 67.2 % | 008 / 00 | 70.32 | |
| Bette Davis | 17 | $2,568,700,000 | $4,063,900,000 | 72.5 % | 033 / 03 | 79.86 | |
| Olivia de Havilland | 16 | $2,552,000,000 | $3,325,800,000 | 70.7 % | 026 / 07 | 79.81 | |
| George Brent | 28 | $2,525,600,000 | $3,116,900,000 | 62.8 % | 005 / 00 | 63.27 | |
| Lee J. Cobb | 17 | $2,519,400,000 | $2,547,200,000 | 64.5 % | 020 / 06 | 70.23 | |
| Clark Gable | 11 | $2,502,500,000 | $3,454,100,000 | 69.3 % | 002 / 00 | 79.97 | |
| Henry Fonda | 20 | $2,502,000,000 | $2,639,300,000 | 68.4 % | 010 / 02 | 71.97 | |
| Susan Hayward | 22 | $2,492,600,000 | $2,767,600,000 | 62.7 % | 016 / 01 | 66.43 | |
| Cornel Wilde | 18 | $2,422,800,000 | $2,474,200,000 | 65.6 % | 014 / 01 | 69.24 | |
| Robert Mitchum | 20 | $2,420,000,000 | $3,085,000,000 | 64.7 % | 011 / 01 | 68.13 | |
| Herbert Marshall | 20 | $2,418,000,000 | $3,025,300,000 | 68.8 % | 033 / 01 | 68.50 | |
| Judith Anderson | 16 | $2,393,600,000 | $2,894,100,000 | 72.0 % | 022 / 03 | 74.23 | |
| Rita Hayworth | 18 | $2,392,200,000 | $2,580,500,000 | 67.4 % | 020 / 03 | 71.87 | |
| Roddy McDowall | 14 | $2,371,600,000 | $2,884,100,000 | 68.8 % | 019 / 05 | 75.34 | |
| Ida Lupino | 20 | $2,360,000,000 | $3,189,700,000 | 67.0 % | 005 / 00 | 68.61 | |
| Loretta Young | 18 | $2,356,200,000 | $2,597,800,000 | 67.2 % | 017 / 02 | 72.17 | |
| Jeanne Crain | 12 | $2,349,600,000 | $2,349,200,000 | 67.4 % | 015 / 04 | 76.56 | |
| Betty Hutton | 14 | $2,321,200,000 | $2,320,900,000 | 63.9 % | 006 / 00 | 73.67 | |
| Robert Preston | 20 | $2,306,000,000 | $2,366,300,000 | 62.8 % | 014 / 02 | 65.33 | |
| Paul Henreid | 16 | $2,264,000,000 | $3,548,700,000 | 70.8 % | 014 / 04 | 69.03 | |
| Gail Russell | 18 | $2,262,600,000 | $2,262,800,000 | 63.4 % | 007 / 00 | 68.04 | |
| Teresa Wright | 10 | $2,249,000,000 | $3,097,700,000 | 79.2 % | 044 / 14 | 85.37 | |
| Glenn Ford | 23 | $2,242,500,000 | $2,354,000,000 | 63.0 % | 003 / 00 | 63.96 | |
| Kathryn Grayson | 12 | $2,235,600,000 | $3,493,800,000 | 60.9 % | 008 / 01 | 71.58 | |
| Victor Mature | 17 | $2,135,200,000 | $2,233,400,000 | 63.6 % | 012 / 03 | 66.07 | |
| Lena Horne | 11 | $2,129,600,000 | $2,947,700,000 | 63.8 % | 005 / 00 | 74.29 | |
| Joan Fontaine | 13 | $2,129,400,000 | $2,417,400,000 | 69.8 % | 023 / 05 | 78.37 | |
| Elsa Lanchester | 15 | $2,119,500,000 | $2,565,900,000 | 73.1 % | 020 / 02 | 74.96 | |
| Rosalind Russell | 18 | $2,091,600,000 | $2,398,100,000 | 63.1 % | 012 / 00 | 68.62 | |
| Don Ameche | 22 | $2,090,000,000 | $2,090,500,000 | 61.4 % | 011 / 00 | 63.67 | |
| Katharine Hepburn | 10 | $2,081,000,000 | $2,972,800,000 | 73.2 % | 011 / 03 | 85.97 | |
| James Cagney | 12 | $2,076,000,000 | $2,714,100,000 | 68.5 % | 014 / 04 | 77.12 | |
| Leo G. Carroll | 15 | $2,052,000,000 | $2,393,600,000 | 70.0 % | 025 / 05 | 71.26 | |
| Shirley Temple | 15 | $2,052,000,000 | $2,273,700,000 | 64.8 % | 012 / 02 | 67.85 | |
| Irene Dunne | 11 | $2,044,900,000 | $2,605,900,000 | 72.5 % | 020 / 02 | 76.77 | |
| Basil Rathbone | 26 | $2,038,400,000 | $2,493,400,000 | 64.7 % | 003 / 01 | 61.33 | |
| Fred Astaire | 11 | $2,026,200,000 | $2,975,600,000 | 70.4 % | 016 / 01 | 76.42 | |
| James Stewart | 15 | $1,992,000,000 | $2,404,600,000 | 71.5 % | 012 / 03 | 75.10 | |
| Robert Taylor | 15 | $1,975,500,000 | $3,222,000,000 | 61.7 % | 008 / 02 | 69.78 | |
| Cyd Charisse | 13 | $1,976,000,000 | $2,988,000,000 | 60.9 % | 006 / 01 | 68.99 | |
| Myrna Loy | 12 | $1,948,800,000 | $2,782,400,000 | 72.7 % | 009 / 08 | 74.42 | |
| Robert Cummings | 21 | $1,942,500,000 | $2,299,800,000 | 66.1 % | 011 / 01 | 64.85 | |
| Charles Laughton | 18 | $1,935,000,000 | $2,236,100,000 | 64.1 % | 006 / 01 | 66.96 | |
| Dean Stockwell | 13 | $1,924,000,000 | $2,586,200,000 | 68.6 % | 018 / 04 | 70.60 | |
| George Raft | 17 | $1,912,500,000 | $2,159,200,000 | 59.6 % | 003 / 00 | 63.63 | |
| Pat O'Brien | 24 | $1,855,200,000 | $2,122,000,000 | 59.9 % | 004 / 00 | 60.07 | |
| Elizabeth Taylor | 10 | $1,820,000,000 | $2,775,500,000 | 66.6 % | 012 / 03 | 75.28 | |
| Monty Woolley | 10 | $1,807,000,000 | $2,136,600,000 | 70.5 % | 019 / 02 | 78.65 | |
| Dick Powell | 18 | $1,794,600,000 | $1,930,600,000 | 62.1 % | 004 / 00 | 64.27 | |
| Arthur Kennedy | 17 | $1,795,200,000 | $2,516,800,000 | 70.0 % | 013 / 02 | 69.37 | |
| Ralph Bellamy | 21 | $1,768,200,000 | $1,956,000,000 | 62.9 % | 004 / 00 | 60.91 | |
| Robert Ryan | 18 | $1,764,000,000 | $2,171,000,000 | 63.4 % | 013 / 01 | 65.63 | |
| Jennifer Jones | 8 | $1,740,800,000 | $1,793,400,000 | 72.6 % | 030 / 06 | 79.73 | |
| Gig Young | 12 | $1,738,800,000 | $2,749,500,000 | 65.0 % | 007 / 01 | 72.52 | |
| William Holden | 18 | $1,720,800,000 | $1,749,000,000 | 59.7 % | 000 / 00 | 62.21 | |
| Claire Trevor | 17 | $1,710,200,000 | $2,090,500,000 | 66.6 % | 007 / 01 | 66.56 | |
| Jack Benny | 11 | $1,708,300,000 | $1,948,100,000 | 70.0 % | 002 / 00 | 74.09 | |
| Joan Bennett | 21 | $1,703,100,000 | $1,857,100,000 | 62.5 % | 002 / 00 | 61.53 | |
| June Haver | 10 | $1,701,000,000 | $1,763,000,000 | 60.5 % | 003 / 00 | 72.64 | |
| Ruth Hussey | 14 | $1,698,200,000 | $2,087,200,000 | 66.8 % | 009 / 02 | 69.40 | |
| William Powell | 12 | $1,693,200,000 | $2,400,300,000 | 68.2 % | 004 / 00 | 71.50 | |
| Dan Dailey | 14 | $1,649,200,000 | $1,902,300,000 | 62.5 % | 006 / 02 | 66.96 | |
| Joel McCrea | 16 | $1,640,000,000 | $1,874,300,000 | 68.3 % | 013 / 01 | 68.18 | |
| Merle Oberon | 15 | $1,551,000,000 | $1,776,500,000 | 60.9 % | 011 / 00 | 63.06 | |
| Charles Boyer | 13 | $1,548,300,000 | $2,084,500,000 | 70.6 % | 018 / 02 | 72.77 | |
| Alice Faye | 10 | $1,546,000,000 | $1,545,500,000 | 64.8 % | 005 / 02 | 73.12 | |
| Melvyn Douglas | 17 | $1,540,200,000 | $1,915,500,000 | 62.3 % | 002 / 00 | 63.01 | |
| Norman Lloyd | 14 | $1,521,800,000 | $1,604,900,000 | 67.4 % | 012 / 01 | 66.16 | |
| Deanna Durbin | 15 | $1,512,000,000 | $1,511,800,000 | 66.3 % | 011 / 00 | 67.14 | |
| Lloyd Bridges | 15 | $1,504,500,000 | $1,589,800,000 | 65.3 % | 006 / 00 | 64.81 | |
| Joan Crawford | 12 | $1,504,800,000 | $2,140,200,000 | 67.6 % | 009 / 01 | 71.08 | |
| Fredric March | 12 | $1,488,000,000 | $1,913,800,000 | 69.8 % | 014 / 07 | 69.17 | |
| Wallace Beery | 16 | $1,476,800,000 | $1,630,300,000 | 58.5 % | 000 / 00 | 61.60 | |
| Ethel Barrymore | 12 | $1,466,400,000 | $1,675,900,000 | 67.8 % | 015 / 03 | 72.86 | |
| Celeste Holm | 9 | $1,451,700,000 | $1,452,100,000 | 71.4 % | 024 / 06 | 79.86 | |
| Jessica Tandy | 7 | $1,439,200,000 | $1,841,100,000 | 66.0 % | 005 / 00 | 74.57 | |
| Victor McLaglen | 17 | $1,416,100,000 | $1,645,200,000 | 63.0 % | 004 / 01 | 61.60 | |
| Edmond O'Brien | 15 | $1,393,500,000 | $1,635,200,000 | 67.0 % | 010 / 02 | 64.94 | |
| Danny Kaye | 6 | $1,339,800,000 | $1,853,900,000 | 73.0 % | 006 / 01 | 82.39 | |
| Johnny Weissmuller | 12 | $1,326,000,000 | $2,276,500,000 | 59.4 % | 002 / 00 | 62.72 | |
| Dorothy McGuire | 7 | $1,318,800,000 | $1,385,700,000 | 71.3 % | 012 / 04 | 83.19 | |
| Boris Karloff | 21 | $1,318,800,000 | $1,533,300,000 | 63.5 % | 003 / 00 | 57.84 | |
| Marlene Dietrich | 10 | $1,303,000,000 | $1,555,500,000 | 61.4 % | 009 / 00 | 69.45 | |
| Frank Sinatra | 8 | $1,260,000,000 | $1,736,000,000 | 63.4 % | 009 / 02 | 72.41 | |
| Broderick Crawford | 23 | $1,248,900,000 | $1,291,100,000 | 62.1 % | 007 / 03 | 58.28 | |
| Burt Lancaster | 9 | $1,205,100,000 | $1,204,700,000 | 74.5 % | 005 / 00 | 75.97 | |
| Joan Blondell | 13 | $1,199,900,000 | $1,338,000,000 | 64.0 % | 004 / 01 | 62.43 | |
| Robert Montgomery | 13 | $1,184,300,000 | $1,422,300,000 | 65.3 % | 012 / 03 | 65.44 | |
| Dean Jagger | 12 | $1,172,400,000 | $1,340,000,000 | 66.3 % | 012 / 02 | 66.84 | |
| Lizabeth Scott | 9 | $1,169,100,000 | $1,169,500,000 | 64.3 % | 001 / 00 | 69.31 | |
| Dorothy Malone | 9 | $1,168,200,000 | $1,643,000,000 | 61.9 % | 000 / 00 | 67.55 | |
| Donald O'Connor | 17 | $1,156,000,000 | $1,155,700,000 | 65.5 % | 002 / 00 | 61.31 | |
| Eleanor Parker | 10 | $1,146,000,000 | $1,613,400,000 | 62.5 % | 002 / 00 | 64.67 | |
| Rhonda Fleming | 7 | $1,145,200,000 | $1,186,900,000 | 68.4 % | 007 / 01 | 75.48 | |
| Ava Gardner | 12 | $1,098,000,000 | $1,294,000,000 | 62.5 % | 004 / 00 | 63.16 | |
| Andy Hardy | 7 | $1,094,800,000 | $1,611,900,000 | 61.8 % | 000 / 00 | 73.29 | |
| Janet Leigh | 10 | $1,092,000,000 | $1,649,900,000 | 65.1 % | 004 / 01 | 67.59 | |
| Paul Lukas | 14 | $1,080,800,000 | $1,426,300,000 | 67.8 % | 007 / 01 | 64.68 | |
| Elia Kazan | 5 | $1,071,500,000 | $1,174,500,000 | 73.3 % | 014 / 04 | 88.49 | |
| Lauren Bacall | 5 | $1,070,000,000 | $1,572,900,000 | 84.0 % | 001 / 01 | 88.19 | |
| Raymond Burr | 18 | $1,069,200,000 | $1,294,200,000 | 63.3 % | 002 / 01 | 58.83 | |
| Orson Welles | 10 | $1,067,000,000 | $1,099,000,000 | 79.0 % | 015 / 02 | 74.97 | |
| Ed Begley | 8 | $1,064,000,000 | $1,063,600,000 | 66.5 % | 006 / 00 | 71.83 | |
| Jean Arthur | 8 | $1,060,000,000 | $1,220,700,000 | 71.3 % | 018 / 01 | 76.10 | |
| Clifton Webb | 5 | $1,045,000,000 | $1,044,900,000 | 77.2 % | 010 / 02 | 86.99 | |
| Gloria Grahame | 9 | $1,031,400,000 | $1,303,200,000 | 69.0 % | 010 / 00 | 69.71 | |
| Ronald Colman | 7 | $1,019,900,000 | $1,635,600,000 | 71.9 % | 022 / 02 | 75.62 | |
| Burgess Meredith | 11 | $996,600,000 | $1,108,400,000 | 56.9 % | 008 / 00 | 61.57 | |
| Lew Ayres | 12 | $993,600,000 | $1,062,800,000 | 64.2 % | 013 / 01 | 62.97 | |
| Laurence Olivier | 8 | $989,600,000 | $1,068,500,000 | 75.9 % | 030 / 09 | 79.62 | |
| Natalie Wood | 9 | $983,700,000 | $983,300,000 | 65.7 % | 005 / 03 | 67.97 | |
| Maria Montez | 22 | $981,200,000 | $1,204,900,000 | 56.0 % | 006 / 00 | 54.32 | |
| Oscar Levant | 7 | $960,400,000 | $1,299,000,000 | 61.9 % | 007 / 00 | 69.62 | |
| Priscilla Lane | 11 | $943,800,000 | $1,188,500,000 | 65.0 % | 003 / 00 | 62.3 | |
| Kirk Douglas | 8 | $937,600,000 | $995,700,000 | 71.4 % | 012 / 03 | 72.71 | |
| Ann Miller | 15 | $937,500,000 | $1,150,200,000 | 65.5 % | 002 / 01 | 59.62 | |
| David Niven | 10 | $912,000,000 | $1,034,100,000 | 67.2 % | 005 / 01 | 65.53 | |
| Eleanor Powell | 6 | $895,800,000 | $1,259,100,000 | 62.9 % | 005 / 01 | 69.84 | |
| Jane Powell | 6 | $888,000,000 | $1,287,800,000 | 51.2 % | 002 / 00 | 66.06 | |
| Rex Harrison | 11 | $887,700,000 | $887,700,000 | 70.8 % | 009 / 03 | 65.09 | |
| Ruth Gordon | 7 | $863,100,000 | $1,303,500,000 | 73.2 % | 007 / 02 | 73.69 | |
| Yvonne De Carlo | 11 | $845,900,000 | $932,500,000 | 63.8 % | 001 / 00 | 61.58 | |
| Jeanette MacDonald | 8 | $826,400,000 | $1,386,500,000 | 60.3 % | 003 / 00 | 64.54 | |
| Betty Garrett | 5 | $819,000,000 | $1,196,800,000 | 68.8 % | 002 / 02 | 77.40 | |
| Lillian Gish | 5 | $805,500,000 | $805,300,000 | 70.2 % | 005 / 01 | 71.14 | |
| Kay Francis | 10 | $791,000,000 | $953,900,000 | 60.3 % | 001 / 00 | 59.68 | |
| Richard Widmark | 6 | $762,600,000 | $762,300,000 | 69.9 % | 002 / 00 | 73.64 | |
| Jane Russell | 3 | $759,900,000 | $760,000,000 | 63.8 % | 001 / 01 | 76.50 | |
| Bela Lugosi | 20 | $724,000,000 | $742,600,000 | 58.5 % | 001 / 00 | 53.16 | |
| Thelma Ritter | 5 | $698,000,000 | $698,000,000 | 75.5 % | 007 / 05 | 78.94 | |
| Farley Granger | 6 | $692,400,000 | $915,700,000 | 70.9 % | 006 / 00 | 70.35 | |
| Madeleine Carroll | 9 | $684,900,000 | $685,000,000 | 65.5 % | 006 / 01 | 62.46 | |
| Sonja Henie | 5 | $674,000,000 | $764,900,000 | 56.0 % | 003 / 00 | 66.09 | |
| James Mason | 8 | $668,800,000 | $781,900,000 | 71.2 % | 003 / 01 | 66.65 | |
| Douglas Fairbanks Jr. | 8 | $660,800,000 | $661,100,000 | 62.7 % | 003 / 00 | 62.48 | |
| Constance Bennett | 10 | $661,000,000 | $758,300,000 | 62.9 % | 003 / 00 | 59.66 | |
| Maureen O'Sullivan | 6 | $655,200,000 | $1,071,600,000 | 70.1 % | 001 / 01 | 70.04 | |
| Arlene Dahl | 5 | $643,000,000 | $831,000,000 | 57.5 % | 001 / 00 | 65.13 | |
| Joe E. Brown | 7 | $639,800,000 | $826,300,000 | 62.3 % | 000 / 00 | 59.85 | |
| Dorothy Dandridge | 8 | $636,000,000 | $751,800,000 | 55.6 % | 009 / 00 | 58.37 | |
| Nelson Eddy | 8 | $630,400,000 | $850,300,000 | 62.1 % | 010 / 02 | 61.94 | |
| Burl Ives | 4 | $625,200,000 | $680,100,000 | 64.8 % | 002 / 00 | 71.63 | |
| Gene Autry | 28 | $624,400,000 | $623,600,000 | 64.3 % | 001 / 00 | 53.54 | |
| Laurel and Hardy | 10 | $615,000,000 | $615,400,000 | 63.9 % | 000 / 00 | 58.67 | |
| W.C. Fields | 6 | $600,000,000 | $600,200,000 | 70.6 % | 004 / 00 | 68.31 | |
| Deborah Kerr | 9 | $588,600,000 | $745,100,000 | 69.0 % | 004 / 03 | 62.40 | |
| Tallulah Bankhead | 3 | $583,200,000 | $583,200,000 | 70.7 % | 005 / 00 | 72.27 | |
| Marjorie Main | 3 | $553,500,000 | $553,600,000 | 68.5 % | 001 / 00 | 71.92 | |
| Vivien Leigh | 5 | $545,500,000 | $659,500,000 | 66.0 % | 007 / 01 | 69.18 | |
| Miriam Hopkins | 5 | $529,000,000 | $710,400,000 | 69.8 % | 008 / 04 | 70.24 | |
| Paul Muni | 5 | $523,500,000 | $523,400,000 | 64.2 % | 007 / 00 | 66.97 | |
| Jean Simmons | 6 | $495,600,000 | $495,800,000 | 72.4 % | 014 / 08 | 70.13 | |
| Eva Gabor | 7 | $480,900,000 | $480,700,000 | 55.4 % | 002 / 00 | 55.79 | |
| Margaret Sullavan | 6 | $480,000,000 | $480,000,000 | 74.2 % | 002 / 00 | 66.75 | |
| Sylvia Sidney | 5 | $472,000,000 | $509,000,000 | 57.3 % | 001 / 01 | 60.06 | |
| Judy Holliday | 2 | $452,800,000 | $510,600,000 | 78.2 % | 001 / 00 | 85.08 | |
| Montgomery Clift | 3 | $447,900,000 | $448,000,000 | 86.7 % | 014 / 05 | 85.36 | |
| Barbara Bel Geddes | 4 | $443,200,000 | $520,000,000 | 70.3 % | 005 / 00 | 71.82 | |
| Karl Malden | 3 | $441,300,000 | $441,300,000 | 67.7 % | 003 / 00 | 71.05 | |
| Lyle Talbot | 5 | $433,000,000 | $433,100,000 | 62.1 % | 003 / 00 | 59.25 | |
| Ben Johnson | 3 | $401,700,000 | $581,000,000 | 75.3 % | 002 / 01 | 76.59 | |
| Charles Chaplin | 2 | $384,000,000 | $384,000,000 | 89.0 % | 006 / 00 | 89.51 | |
| Marx Brothers | 5 | $383,000,000 | $486,300,000 | 61.3 % | 000 / 00 | 60.67 | |
| Helen Hayes | 1 | $378,600,000 | $378,600,000 | 54.0 % | 002 / 00 | 77.20 | |
| Ethel Merman | 1 | $378,600,000 | $378,600,000 | 54.0 % | 002 / 00 | 77.20 | |
| Doris Day | 3 | $372,300,000 | $517,100,000 | 58.2 % | 003 / 00 | 67.04 | |
| Frances Farmer | 6 | $367,800,000 | $388,000,000 | 60.1 % | 000 / 00 | 57.40 | |
| Carole Lombard | 4 | $355,200,000 | $430,800,000 | 65.6 % | 002 / 00 | 65.23 | |
| Sterling Hayden | 5 | $351,000,000 | $350,900,000 | 59.8 % | 000 / 00 | 59.06 | |
| Shelley Winters | 5 | $336,500,000 | $336,700,000 | 67.1 % | 005 / 02 | 62.20 | |
| José Ferrer | 2 | $315,200,000 | $415,600,000 | 67.5 % | 007 / 02 | 76.72 | |
| Buster Keaton | 2 | $313,200,000 | $351,100,000 | 66.3 % | 000 / 00 | 75.36 | |
| Patricia Neal | 3 | $301,500,000 | $322,300,000 | 69.4 % | 001 / 00 | 68.84 | |
| Trevor Howard | 8 | $293,600,000 | $293,600,000 | 76.1 % | 006 / 01 | 61.20 | |
| Louis Jourdan | 4 | $288,400,000 | $350,400,000 | 68.5 % | 002 / 00 | 63.10 | |
| Red Buttons | 1 | $277,000,000 | $277,000,000 | 65.0 % | 000 / 00 | 81.60 | |
| Norma Shearer | 3 | $236,700,000 | $361,200,000 | 62.7 % | 000 / 00 | 61.69 | |
| Leslie Howard | 3 | $229,800,000 | $229,900,000 | 73.8 % | 003 / 01 | 68.35 | |
| Zero Mostel | 1 | $224,400,000 | $305,000,000 | 55.5 % | 000 / 00 | 77.10 | |
| Ralph Richardson | 6 | $219,600,000 | $219,700,000 | 70.5 % | 010 / 04 | 60.48 | |
| Jack Albertson | 1 | $211,700,000 | $326,600,000 | 72.5 % | 003 / 01 | 86.90 | |
| John Gielgud | 2 | $206,600,000 | $208,800,000 | 73.0 % | 007 / 04 | 72.56 | |
| Christopher Lee | 1 | $204,900,000 | $204,900,000 | 81.0 % | 007 / 04 | 98.05 | |
| Robert Morley | 5 | $204,500,000 | $204,300,000 | 62.3 % | 000 / 00 | 55.27 | |
| Mae West | 2 | $202,000,000 | $201,900,000 | 62.3 % | 000 / 00 | 64.90 | |
| Alec Guinness | 3 | $200,400,000 | $200,500,000 | 82.4 % | 005 / 02 | 70.71 | |
| Marilyn Monroe | 3 | $188,700,000 | $188,600,000 | 51.4 % | 000 / 00 | 53.54 |
AN APPRECIATION OF JOSEPH COTTON
1 It comes as no surprise that Orson Welles’ protégé “a guy named Joe” should top the new 1940s critic/audience table when you consider some of the quality films he made in the 1940s especially Kane, Ambersons and the Third Man, all with his mentor Welles. The likes of Flynn, Power and Wayne played the larger than life heroic characters in those days and Joseph’s roles were usually ones of more ‘ordinary’ men. However in real life it was apparently a bit different because he had a playboy reputation and publicly confessed to enjoying an “open marriage” with his first wife.
2 Indeed according to a biographer Joe had a fling with the young Deanna Durbin 16 years his junior with whom he co-starred in the 1943 Hers to Hold. Certainly a friend of Deanna attested that she had never before detected the on-set underlying genuine attention chemistry between Deanna and a leading man that there appeared to be with Durbin and Cotton during the making of that film.
3 Certainly Durbin like Audrey Hepburn seemed to have nothing against older lovers because when she quit Hollywood Deanna married Frenchman Charles David her director in Lady on a Train who was also 16 years her senior and she lived in relative seclusion apparently very happily with Charles on a French farm for half a century until his death in 1999.
4 Still IF the Cotton/Durbin rumors are true when one considers all the great romantic idols who swamped the Hollywood of Deanna’s time it is a bit ironic that Deanna should fall for the rather staid [at least on-screen] Cotton. However when Joe was a young man he was considered ‘sexy’ enough to be hired for male modelling work (by for example The American Magazine) and for me any infidelities on his part were his own business. Also whatever strange arrangements he entered into with his spouses his two marriages were remarkably long ones by Hollywood standards his being wed to Lenore Kipp from 1931 until 1960 and supporting actress
the lovely Patricia Medina from 1960 until Joe’s death in 1994)
5 I have always regarded Joe and Dana Andrews as two of those fine actors who fell just short of the legendary status of the accredited Greats but who gave me as much pleasure at the movies as many of those Greats. This is ‘bonus’ post for me as I have gotten to write about two of my own all-time favourites Durbin and Cotton the former being in my top 5 and the latter being just outside my top 20. I now patiently await the promised Cotton page so that I can copy this post to it. Joe is said to have told a biographer that he loved to relax with a drink when the day’s work was done and I think that personally I would prefer to have had a drink with the to me fascinating Joe rather than with some of the supposed colourful hell-raisers of old Hollywood
Hey Bob
1. Wow…you can just copy and paste this comment….when I finally get my Joseph Cotten page completed.
2. Good stuff throughout…..so Cotten was messing around with your girl Durbin?
3. You are correct his movies in the 1940s are some all-time classics. Glad John pointed out my error and I was able to include him here as well.
4. Red Skelton might be able to put up a decent box office total as well….but sadly I do not have many of his 1940s in the database.
5. Good comparison between Andrews and Cotten.
6. Glad you were able to talk about two of your favorites.
So is it Cotton or Cotten? Make up your mind guys. I’m pretty sure it’s Joseph Gotten.
Gotten was a good actor, his best film of course was The Abominable Dr. Phibes, which I’m proud to say I have on blu-ray disc.
Steve
It is Cotten.
The only one who ever got it wrong is a senile old poster who got it right the first time but screwed up a second post. Cogerson and, well, even Bob, got it right. (lol–a joke Bob)
I was not even going to mention it….but….in a joking manner….So you claim he is one of your favorites and do not even how to spell his name? Sorry I couldn’t resist the sarcasm….. as many mistakes that I make…it is kind of like throwing rocks from a glass house.
STEVE/JOHN /WORKHORSE
“When I was a little bitty baby
My momma used to rock me in the Cradle
In them old cotton/cotten fields back home.”
1 Actually before sending my Cotten post I checked the spelling in Joe’s case with a quick glance at Wikipedia but that fleeting glance didn’t register with me that I was looking at a Joseph Cotton whose name was spelt that way but who was a mariner many years ago.
2 Well done Steve and to quote Baby’s father in Dirty Dancing “When I’m wrong I say I’m wrong,” unlike the Work Horse who has yet to acknowledge my texts about Raw Mind in Eden.
So I am assuming I have a mistake out there…..please remind me of my error so I can fix it.
Bob & Steve & Cogerson
I didn’t even notice that Bob had it wrong. My faux pas. I thought I was the only one who did. I apologize if Bob or anyone else took it wrong as I was only referring to myself.
As for Cogerson, ah, why is Teresa Wright first in the list of critical rankings when Katherine Hepburn has a higher total? lol. The whole world is getting too tricky for me. It was so much simpler when I was young and you couldn’t communicate with anyone except by mail.
Cogerson
You do have Teresa Wright above Katherine Hepburn and in the first picture in the list of critical rankings at the top when Hepburn has the higher total.
Hey John…. I am going to have to fix that…for some season. I thought Teresa had a 66.50 UMR score average. Thanks for the catch.
Steve & Cogerson
How can you leave it at The Abominable Dr. Phibes when he was also the star of the immortal Lady Frankenstein. After slumming in Citizen Kane and The Third Man, I am certain Mr. Cotten was most appreciative of appearing in a movie like Lady Frankenstein which will live through the ages. For those who haven’t seen this low-budget Italian classic, it has the daughter of Baron Frankenstein (Cotten) create her own monster after the Baron’s demise, only she intends the monster to be the perfect lover. Unfortunately the monster doesn’t know his own strength and hugs her to death while making love to her. As they say, the best laid plans . . . This is one that all true aficionados and aficionadas of artistic cinema must see.
Hey John…,pretty sure that is the Vincent Price fan in Steve that wants to mention Dr. Phibes…..and ignore some all-time classics.
Oh that is how you spell it. I have to go back and fix my error. Thanks for the heads up Steve…lol.
Bob
I certainly totally agree with what you say about Joseph Cotten and Dana Andrews.
When I think of the 1940’s in movies, they are two who come to mind rather quickly for appearing in what I guess would be called decade defining movies.
🙂
Hey John….Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright are now part of the page.
Cogerson
And I must say that Joseph Cotton & Teresa Wright did me proud. I thought Cotton would be near the top on critics rating, and he was better than anyone with double figures in movies made, and only Olivier with 8 barely topped him with anyone over 5 movies. I expected something like that.
As for Wright, she is very impressive also. An actress with a quality career in the 1940’s.
Cogerson
Sorry, it is Cotten, not Cotton. My aged mind flipped back into common spelling.
No problem. We all make mistaxes here…lol.
Hey John….two good suggestions….though I must admit….I was not too happy that I had to go back and create two more photos for the page….and poor Bogart and Bergman got dumped from the photo…lol. Thanks for the suggestions of those two thespians. Wright had an awesome 1940s….blockbusters and Oscar love…all 10 of her movies were already in my database…so it was really easy to add her to the table. Thanks again.
These are the people top billed most in the 1405 1940’s films I’ve seen since November 1992 when I hit number 8000. All the big stars films I had seen beforehand so we have the obscurities and B westerns in that time. I would see Cary Grant in revival theaters and on regular TV in the 80’s. Anything leftover is leftovers. In the past year I saw When You’re in Love with Grace Moore for the first time and Cary is billed 2nd. Anyway the few with 10 films or more where they have top billing.
56 Johnny Mack Brown
29 Gene Autry
29 William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy)
26 Buster Crabbe
18 Charles Starrett
18 Tim Holt
16 Roy Rogers
15 Chester Morris
12 Ann Sothern
12 Wallace Beery
12 Bill Elliott (Wild Bill)
11 Lon Chaney Jr.
10 Warner Baxter
HI DAN
1 Good comprehensive and informative roundup as it is usual to expect from you.
2 In the early days of the classic era stars churned out numerous films and usually under contract so that before they hit the very top performers such as Tracy, Wayne and Grant were often billed less than first. However all that changed when these stars became the Giants that today we know them as and Grant for example was never again 2nd billed after Penny Serenade in 1941. Elvis was 2nd billed only in his very first film and not thereafter.while Marlon Brando in his top star years after Streetcar Named Desire was billed 2nd (to Elizabeth Taylor) just once in a 50 year period [apart from the Ensemble Candy where billing was alphabetical] Paul Muni was NEVER billed other than first but he made only 22 movies.
DAN/SLIGHT CORRECTION TO MY LAST POST
Brando and Susan Sarandon accepted cameos for the 1989 A Dry White Season for political purposes – to denounce apartheid in South Africa Donald Sutherland was the star but Brando and Susan got special billing and Brando was Nominated for a supporting actor Oscar. Brando had just a couple of scenes in the 1980 movie The Formula but along with a $3 million dollar fee he got compromise billing with the movie’s star George C Scott that copied the McQueen/Newman compromise for Towering Inferno. It is therefore more precise to say that Brando was billed less than first in a normal FULL LENGTH role only once in the 50 year period from 1951 until 2001.
Hey Bob…..I actually give Brando more than a “cameo” role….granted it is a small role….but it was big enough to earn Brando his last Oscar nomination. I always wished Brando returned after the court case in Dry White Season….but he sadly did not. Still….his appearance in the movie does not change your point about Brando and top billing.
Hey Bob…thanks for sharing that information….I actually did not realize that Cary Grant was never not first billed after 1941….but it makes lots of sense. Also good trivia nuggets on Elvis, Brando and Muni….thanks for sharing it. 🙂
BRUCE
1 I should have explained that for fun Cary took an uncredited gimmicky cameo role in the 1946 Without Reservations starring Colbert and Wayne but in all other movies between 1941 and 1966 his roles were normal and he always got first billing.
2 Incidentally Without Reservations is the last ever film in which the Duke was billed less than first except for cameos and the compromise shared billing with Stewart in Liberty Valance that we have often discussed.
Hey Bob…..I have always wanted to see Without Reservations, So Claudette took down the Duke when it comes to billing…good trivia. One day I will see the whole movie…instead of just Grant’s cameo scene.
Hey Dan….good information. I am always amazed about the information that you are able to share. I have been thinking about doing a list that shows every movie I saw in theaters….but I can never get started…..anyway….everytime I see one of your lists…I think….”I should start that movie theater list”….and yet I never start. As for your list here….Johnny Mack Brown was one busy actor…that is almost 6 movies a year for the entire decade.
I got all those Johnny Mack Browns from one internet seller, 80 films for $25. Of course there was a duplicate and a few I saw before. Not one of them is memorable too, you can’t tell one from another except there are different casts in the Universal (Tex Ritter may be with him or Fuzzy Knight) and maybe Raymond Hatton at Monogram and those are the 2nd billed people (the sidekicks). Tex top billed some at Monogram and Grand National (they released 2 James Cagney flics). How many B westerns have Gabby Hayes, Smiley Burnette, Dub Taylor, Richard Martin or the immortal Al ‘Fuzzy’ St. John 2nd billed.
Cogerson
Despite the above post, I find this a terrifically interesting posting. Van Johnson? I am a bit surprised he ended up at the box office top, but not shocked. I remember that he was a big deal when I was young. His career faded fast from the late fifties on. Dana Andrews? Like Joseph Cotton, an actor who had a fantastic decade in the 1940’s, but then faded. Still, for me he is one of the icons of the decade with several top films.
I was just playing a little mental game a while back on which were the stars of each decade. For the 1940’s, I picked Bergman as the female star. Your chart certainly backs me up as she appears near the top of each column. Garland and Garson are next in line and that is basically how I thought it would come out. I did not anticipate Lamour’s tremendous box office showing, and Hepburn did much better in this decade than I would have expected.
Interestingly, for the men, no one really breaks out. Crosby, Peck, and Cooper come out best in your list, with Andrews in the hunt. My pick for star of the decade, Bogart, didn’t do well, mainly because of too many programmers at the box office. Off your charts, I think Cooper would edge the others as the male star of the decade.
Hey John…well the awesomeness of my massive 1300 plus movie 1940s page is I was able to do some Cotten research. Here is what I have.
He made 16 movies between 1940 and 1949…..15 are in my database. Only missing Lydia. Those 15 movies grossed $2,476.40 million or $2.47 billion. That would put him in 46th place just ahead of Esther Williams.
When looking at average gross he is at $165.06 million….which would rank 29th. I will make sure to add him when I get home…..that I can not do from work.
Hey John
1. I think Ingrid Bergman makes a good case for Top Star of the decade regardless of sex.
2. When only looking at actresses Bergman is easily the top star statistically. She has the best average gross per movie, the second best review average and the most Oscar love.
3. I agree with you about Cooper. He only made 16 movies compared to almost double the amount people like MacMurray and Johnson made.
4. Katharine Hepburn had an awesome 1940s….all of her movies were hits…a perfect 10 for 10 when it comes to 100 million box office hits. Seems she got over being box office poison.
5. Glad my pages help confirm the results of your brain games….I do that all the time too.
Cogerson
I think where Cotten will really be impressive is in critical ratings. I look forward to seeing where he ends up. Thanks for the work in putting him on this list.
*another one you might think of adding,
Teresa Wright—movies include The Little Foxes, The Pride of the Yankees, Mrs. Miniver, Shadow of a Doubt, The Best Years of Our Lives–another 1940’s icon.
Cogerson
Well, I see no reason for Bob to be the only guy to hate me, so why not you? That being the probable case, I will still risk asking this question.
Where is Joseph Cotten?
I went over this list several times and did not see him, but just on the face of it, I think he has a good case for being the male star of the 1940’s. His movies include Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Shadow of a Doubt, Gaslight, Since You Went Away, Duel in the Sun, The Farmer’s Daughter, Portrait of Jennie, and The Third Man among others. Some of these were big box office hits, such as Duel in the Sun & Since You Went Away. Several were monster critical hits, such as Citizen Kane, Shadow of a Doubt, and The Third Man, which would make many or most top ten or top twenty lists for the decade.
My bottom line is that Joseph Cotten is a contender for male star of the decade. He lacks the overall career of some others, and perhaps charisma, but he was a star (certainly more so than Walter Brennan and at least as much, and I would think also more so, than Paul Henreid or Dick Powell). But if restricted to the 1940’s, Cotten had a fantastic decade.
My pick for male star of the decade for quality of films and he doesn’t even make your top 100?!?!
*Not to dwell on omissions, but I didn’t see Orson Welles on your list either, but in his case it might be because he was often a director. Still it seems he should have made the list.
Hey John. To date Mr. Cotten does not have a UMR page. Which seems like a glaring omission. I will need to fix that. In the immediate future I can look at his movies from this period. I noticed that Walter Wanger made it past the guards…. I need to get him off the list and Cotten on the list.
As for Welles he fell into the director category which I did not include. Out of laziness I did not separate his acting movies from his directing movies.
I am sure there are others like Cotten out there…..as these list is people already in our database.
No worries here…..I appreciate you calling me out on Mr. Cotten,.,,it will be interesting to see where he ends up when I get him on the list.
HI JOHN1 Good to hear from you again. When I challenged you about the “forgotten” Deanna Durbin I thought the halcyon days had returned and we could get the fur to fly again in a prolonged cut-and thrust debate to rank along side the heated exchanges over Joan/Myrna or your being in denial about the importance of billing but alas the Durban debate fizzled out.
2 I think that in fairness to Bruce he would probably accept as I think he did in Anthony Quinn’s case that say a $7 billion gross which a star accumulates in films in which he/she has merely mainly supported roles has not the same weight as a $7 billion or even $5 billion generated by for example a Gable or Grant in full starring roles but Bruce cannot avoid giving us all the relevant gross totals if he is to provide a complete and comprehensive statistically accurate table. Also actors like Quinn and Brennan would not have got all those roles in prestige productions if they were not bringing some commercial benefit to the table.
3 Regarding Cotten he is one of my own favourite actors and I especially admired him in not only prestige films like the Magnificent Ambersons, Shadow of a Doubt and Third Man but also in ‘little’ films like A Blueprint for Murder, Steel Trap and The Killer is Loose. However when there was another big star in the movie such as Durbin, Peck or Jennifer Jones Joe was usually 2nd or 3rd fiddle fiddle and I always regarded him as a prominent and important top of B list actor.. However I would not be dogmatic on the point because once you get beyond the obvious biggies such as Gable, Tracy, Wayne and Stewart there are a lot of important and talented stars of similar calibre from which to choose and even Wayne and Stewart did not make Quigley for example until around 1948 and 1950 respectively and in fact even as late as 1948/49 Stewart was accepting 2nd billing -there I go again! – to for example Joan Fontaine in You Gotta Stay Happy and Tracy in Malaya [aka East to the Rising Sun]
4. I presume that your use of the term “hate” is either humorous or hyperbolic.because certainly I can’t see Bruce hating anyone on this site who disagrees with or challenges him – look what he has had to stick from me over Myrna Loy and Raw MIND in Eden! Speaking for myself and using sporting comparisons as you seem to like those I see you and me on this movies site asbeing potentially like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on the tennis court in that they fight like tigers during matches but respect each other and are apparently very friendly off court.
5 I draw the distinction between honest opinion and bias. If for example I dislike John Wayne because I genuinely don’t think he’s a good actor that is reasoned opinion. But if I refuse to consider the quality of his performances because of his politics that in my view is bias and whilst I disagree with some of what you say I have never detected any bias in it and indeed it is always well reasoned – if occasionally wrong in my view!
Hey Bob
1. I agree, hate, is way too strong of a word for disagreements here at UMR.
2. With this site constantly expanding I know there are errrors that are bound to occur. So I always appreciate when an error is brought to my attention. In this case a missing Joseph Cotten really stood out…..and I will be sure to include him on the table when I get home.
3. I did not realize you were such a Joseph Cotten fan….having 15 of his 16 1940-1949 movies already in my database makes me think that it is time to give him so proper UMR attention.
Thanks for the feedback.
Bob
You seemed too emotional about Deanna Durbin to enter into any debate. I just like to discuss facts on a kind of “it is not all that important” basis.
Hey John ….I think I debate in that same realm.