Virginia Mayo Movies

mayoWant to know the best Virigina Mayo movies?  How about the worst Virginia Mayo movies?  Curious about Virginia Mayo box office grosses or which Virginia Mayo movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Virginia Mayo movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Virginia Mayo (1920-2005) was an American actress and dancer.  In the late 1940’s she was one of one of the most popular thespians working. From 1944 to 1954 she appeared in 16 movies that crossed the $100 million (adjusted gross) mark at the box office. Her IMDb page shows 69 acting credits from 1939-1997.  This page will rank 45 Virginia Mayo movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances, shorts and uncredited roles were not included in the rankings.  This page comes from a request by Søren.

Frequent co-stars Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in 1945's Wonder Man.
Frequent co-stars Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in 1945’s Wonder Man.

Virginia Mayo 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 Virginia Mayo movies by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Virginia Mayo movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Virginia Mayo movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Virginia Mayo 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 Virginia Mayo movie received.
  • Sort Virginia Mayo 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.
  • Blue link in Co-star column takes you to that star’s UMR movie page

Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Virginia Mayo Table

  1. Sixteen Virginia Mayo movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 35.56% of her movies listed. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) was her biggest box office hit.
  2. An average Virginia Mayo movie grossed $94.70 million in adjusted box office gross.
  3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  16 Virginia Mayo movies are rated as good movies…or 35.56% of her movies.  White Heat (1949) is her highest rated movie while The Silver Chalice (1954) is her lowest rated movie.
  4. Nine Virginia Mayo movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 20.00% of her movies.
  5. Two Virginia Mayo movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 4.44% of her movies.
  6. An average Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 40.00.  16 Virginia Mayo movies scored higher that average….or 35.56% of her movies. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) got the the highest UMR Score while Castle of Evil (1966) got the lowest UMR Score.
James Cagney and Virginia Mayo in 1949's White Heat...which critics and audiences say is her best movie.
James Cagney and Virginia Mayo in 1949’s White Heat…which critics and audiences say is her best movie.

Possibly Interesting Facts About Virginia Mayo

1. Virginia Clara Jones was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1920.

2. After high school, Virginia Mayo, started dancing at the St. Louis Municipal Orchestra.  Shortly after that Samuel Goldwyn (he was a movie mogul) signed her to an acting contract with his company.  He cast her in her first hit….1943’s Jack London.

3.  Virginia Mayo appeared in 5 Danny Kaye movies.  That represents almost a third of all Kaye movies.  Those 5 movies grossed over 1 Billion in adjusted domestic box office.

4. After the Sultan of Morocco saw Virginia Mayo in person he said it was….”tangible proof of the existence of God.”

5. Virginia Mayo’s favorite leading men were: Alan Ladd (Bob smiles) and Gregory Peck (Flora smiles).

6.  Virginia Mayo was slightly cross-eyed and had to be carefully photographed.

7.  Virginia Maya was Paul Newman‘s first on screen leading lady.  That would have been in 1954’s The Silver Chalice…which is her lowest rated movie according to critics and audiences.

8.  Virginia Mayo was married once.  She was married to actor Michael O’Shea from 1947 until his death in 1973….they had one daughter.

9.  Virginia Mayo’s career domestic adjusted box office total is $4.14 BILLION…..that currently ranks her as the 23rd most successful box office actress in my database.

10. Check out Virginia Mayo‘s career compared to current and classic actors and fact #9 at  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Due to space issues on the previous table….have to list these worldwide adjusted box office grosses here

  1. Along the Great Divide (1951) $94.50 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  2. The Big Land (1957) $132.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  3. Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1950) $234.40 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  4. Colorado Territory (1949) $146.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  5. The Flame and the Arrow (1950) $282.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  6. Flaxy Martin (1949) $42.00 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  7. Fort Dobbs (1958) $68.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  8. The Iron Mistress (1952) $166.50 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  9. The Kid From Brooklyn (1946) $356.80 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  10. Painting The Clouds With Sunshine (1951) $229.90 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  11. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) $335.40 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  12. She’s Back On Broadway (1953) $81.40 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  13. She’s Working Her Way Through College (1952) $131.20 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  14. The Silver Chalice (1954) $233.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  15. A Song Is Born (1948) $176.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  16. South Sea Woman (1953) $100.90 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  17. Starlift (1951) $111.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  18. The Story of Mankind (1957) $17.50 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  19. The West Point Story (1950) $144.70 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  20. Westbound (1959) $57.30 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  21. White Heat (1949) $190.20 million in adjusted worldwide box office
  22. Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) $16.90 million in adjusted worldwide b.o.
  23. Wonder Man (1945) $339.20 million in adjusted worldwide box office

55 thoughts on “Virginia Mayo Movies

  1. BRUCE
    1 I have just been pouring over Ginny Mayo’s 22 worldwide grosses [on 21 lines!] and I see that the split is our old friend 65%domestic/35% foreign.

    2 I was though surprised to see no WW gross for Laddie’s Iron Mistress. Your WB raw material lists it as having earned 2290 domestic/1537 foreign and if those stats were applied pro rata to your adjusted domestic gross figure for that film we would get a WW gross of $206.4 million. Doe you not trust the foreign gross stat in the ledgers?

    3 Ginny’s movies were amongst those where we would often get two for the price of one back in the old days. For example her She’s Working her Way through College was on a double with The Lion and the Horse starring Steve Cochran who coincidentally was Virginia’s lover in White Heat; and Mayo’s Great Day in the Morning was twinned with While the City Sleeps starring Dana Andrews another of Ginny’s former co stars. Do you know how they organise a fair split of income between the two movies on a double ill? It must to some extent be theoretical?

    1. Hey Bob….good catch….I failed to notice that The Iron Mistress was a Warner Brothers movie so I did not originally include it. Well no more….as it is now on the list of worldwide grosses. Also when looking at the Warner Brothers ledgers I realize I had the box office gross wrong….so the new number has been fixed on Mayo and Ladd’s page.

      As for your question of how they split up double bill movies…I have no idea….and have only heard of block bookings that they in the 1930s…..these drove Frank Capra crazy. Block bookings were when a studio sent out 5 movies together…..when the box office results came back…they would split the revenue between the 5 movies. When It Happened One Night…Columbia sent it out with 4 dogs…..when everybody went to see the Gable classic…..the 4 dogs got great returns. I am sure Capra’s contract that had bonuses based on box office had nothing to do with It Happened One Night be attached to 4 bad movies….lol.

      1. Re your post at 1052 6 Dec –
        1 And so NOW my 4th all time fave actor gets his overall domestic gross reduced. Why don’t I just keep my big mouth shut !

        2 Thanks for the feedback on the double bills. They remind me that when mentioning defunct former legal safeguards my solicitor used to often refer to the extinct bird the dodo and he would say “People hear about it but it is not around anymore.”. When one remembers most of the films on the double bills and looks at your stats it is clear many of them were such relatively low grossers that as Charlton Heston suggested it was lucky that they could be made cheaply back in theeir day and wouldn’t be profitable in today’s market.

        1. Hey Bob….that was actually a tough call…..as the Variety source was higher than the Warner Brother ledger….but in the end I went with my the studio said.

          Good stuff on double bills and Heston quotes.

  2. SUPERMAN RETURNS – WICKIPEDIA Cast]
    • Brandon Routh as Clark Kent / Superman: The Kryptonian superhero who disguises himself as a journalist. Stephan Bender portrays the teenage Clark Kent in a flashback scene. Director Singer believed only an unknown actor would be suitable for the part.[4] Routh was chosen from thousands of candidates interviewed at casting calls in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.[5] He had coincidentally auditioned for Clark Kent in the television series Smallville, but lost to Tom Welling. Routh had also met director Joseph “McG” Nichol for the role during pre-production of Superman: Flyby. Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher Reeve, believed Routh’s physical resemblance to her late husband was striking.[6] To obtain the muscular physique to play Superman convincingly, Routh underwent a strict bodybuilding exercise regimen.[7] Prior to Routh’s casting, Singer had X2 actor Daniel Cudmore audition.[8]
    • Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane: A reporter who works with Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, and former lover of Superman. Spacey recommended Singer to cast Bosworth in the role because she co-starred with Spacey in Beyond the Sea (2004) as Sandra Dee.[9] Claire Danes and Keri Russell were reportedly considered for the role.[10] Amy Adams, who would later be cast as Lois Lane in the 2013 reboot Man of Steel, confirmed in an interview that she had also auditioned for Lois in 2005. Adams had previously auditioned for Lois in 2003 when Brett Ratner was planning to direct Superman: Flyby.[11] Bosworth studied Katharine Hepburn’s acting for inspiration, particularly in The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967),[10] as well as Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich (2000).[12]
    • Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor: An evil sociopath armed with vast resources and an extensive knowledge of science who is Superman’s nemesis. Because of his Academy Award-winning performance in Singer’s film The Usual Suspects (1995), and friendship with the director, Spacey was the only actor considered for Lex Luthor. The writers specifically had Spacey in mind for the part when writing the script.[9] Spacey’s version of Luthor has the same comically exaggerated vanity and pompous arrogance of the earlier Gene Hackman version as well as the same strong interest in real estate, but Spacey’s version is far less campy and more serious. Spacey later said that director Singer told him to play the character as “darker and more bitter” compared to Hackman and not to use the earlier portrayal as an inspiration.[13]
    • James Marsden as Richard White: The nephew of the Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White and fiancé to Lois Lane. Marsden said Richard acts as an emotional challenge for Superman, since the hero comes back to find that “Lois Lane picks somebody who’s very Supermanesque”.[14]
    • Parker Posey as Kitty Kowalski: Lex Luthor’s henchwoman. She served as a prison nurse and would give Lex his examinations.[15] The character is based on Eve Teschmacher from the 1978 film, portrayed by Valerie Perrine.[16] Posey was the only actress considered for the role.[17]
    • Marlon Brando as Jor-El: Superman’s biological father. Brando (who died in 2004) reprises his role from the 1978 film through the use of previous footage combined with computer-generated imagery. This required negotiations with Brando’s estate for permission to have his footage used. Singer explained, “We had access to all of the Brando footage that was shot. There was unused footage that had Brando reciting poems, trailing off subject and swearing like a sailor.”[18]
    • Tristan Lake Leabu as Jason White: The son of Lois Lane and Superman. The question of whether Superman or Richard is Jason’s father is initially unclear. He suffers from asthma and other ailments, but it is later revealed that he is the son of Superman, when he displays superhuman strength and discomfort around Kryptonite

    UP IN ARMS Cast overview, first billed only: IMDB
    Danny Kaye
    … Danny Weems
    Dinah Shore
    … Virginia
    Dana Andrews
    … Joe
    Constance Dowling
    … Mary Morgan
    The Goldwyn Girls
    … Dancing Ensemble
    Knox Manning
    … Narration (voice)
    Louis Calhern
    … Colonel Ashley
    George Mathews
    … Blackie
    Benny Baker
    … Butterball
    Elisha Cook Jr.
    … Info Jones
    Lyle Talbot
    … Sgt. Gelsey
    Walter Catlett
    … Major Brock
    George Meeker
    … Ashley’s Aide
    Tom Keene
    … Ashley’s Aide (as Richard Powers)
    Margaret Dumont
    … Mrs. Willoughby

    SUPERMAN RETURNS Cast overview, first billed only: IMDB
    Brandon Routh
    … Clark Kent / Superman
    Kate Bosworth
    … Lois Lane
    Kevin Spacey
    … Lex Luthor
    James Marsden
    … Richard White
    Parker Posey
    … Kitty Kowalski
    Frank Langella
    … Perry White
    Sam Huntington
    … Jimmy Olsen
    Eva Marie Saint
    … Martha Kent
    Marlon Brando
    … Jor-El (archive footage)
    Kal Penn
    … Stanford
    Tristan Lake Leabu
    … Jason White
    David Fabrizio
    … Brutus

    THE NUMBERS BOX OFFICE MARLON BRANDO
    Release
    Date Title Role Domestic
    Box Office International
    Box Office Worldwide
    Box Office
    7/29/2015 Listen to Me Marlon
    Himself $426,130 $92,613 $518,743
    5/7/2013 Viva Zapata!
    Emiliano Zapata $0 $0 $0
    6/28/2006 Superman Returns
    Jor-El $200,120,000 $173,965,065 $374,085,065
    8/3/2001 Apocalypse Now Redux
    Col. Walter E. Kurtz $4,615,959 $0 $4,615,959
    7/13/2001 The Score
    Max Baron $71,069,884 $42,472,207 $113,542,091
    8/23/1996 The Island of Dr. Moreau
    Dr. Moreau $27,682,712 $0 $27,682,712
    4/7/1995 Don Juan DeMarco
    Dr. Jack Mickler $22,032,635 $0 $22,032,635
    8/21/1992 Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
    Tomas de Torquemada $8,251,071 $0 $8,251,071
    7/20/1990 The Freshman
    Carmine Sabatini aka Jimmy The Tucan $21,289,527 $0 $21,289,527
    9/20/1989 Dry White Season
    Ian McKenzie $3,282,890 $0 $3,282,890
    12/19/1980 The Formula
    Adam Steiffel, Chairman Titan Oil $8,894,289 $0 $8,894,289
    8/15/1979 Apocalypse Now
    Col. Walter E. Kurtz $78,800,000 $2,450,488 $81,250,488
    1/1/1976 The Missouri Breaks
    Robert E. Lee Clayton $14,000,000 $0 $14,000,000
    10/14/1972 Last Tango in Paris
    Paul $36,144,824 $0 $36,144,824
    3/15/1972 The Godfather
    Don Vito Corleone $134,966,411 $133,533,589 $268,500,000
    12/31/1968 Candy
    Grindl $16,408,286 $0 $16,408,286
    11/8/1962 Mutiny on The Bounty
    1st Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, Master’s Mate $13,680,000 $0 $13,680,000
    12/5/1957 Sayonara
    Major Lloyd Gruver USAF $26,300,000 $0 $26,300,000
    7/28/1954 On the Waterfront
    Terry Malloy $9,600,000 $0 $9,600,000
    1/1/1954 Desiree
    Napoleon Bonaparte $9,000,000 $0 $9,000,000
    9/18/1951 A Streetcar Named Desire
    Stanley Kowalski $8,000,000 $0 $8,000,000
    Movies: 21 Totals: $714,564,618 $352,513,962 $1,067,078,580
    Averages: $34,026,887 $16,786,379 $50,813,266

    1. Hey Superheros Franchises….thanks for all the kind words….and all of the stats. I have fixed the Mayo/Kaye error…thanks for the heads up.

      As for The Numbers.com….I appreciate the stats….but I do not have much confidence in their numbers at all. Plus they do not give their references at all.

      Our page uses Variety, Warner Brothers Ledgers, RKO Ledgers and MGM Ledgers.

      I have been meaning to add that Brando documentary to the page….but Superman Returns…like Olivier in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow…can’t see giving him credit for a movie that occurred after their passings.

      Thanks for a great comment.

  3. Dear Mr Cogerson
    1 Your site is renowned for its fair and objective treatment of stars across the board and I am writing on behalf of my members to urge you to be vigilant about ensuring that there is continuing impartial and consistent treatment of the stars of our franchises with the stars of other movies.

    2 In that respect on the new Virginia Mayo page we note that your Possibly Interesting Facts cites 4 Danny Kaye/Virginia Mayo movies whilst M-s Mayo’s co-star links column refers to 5 such films.

    3 Clearly both can’t be right and it occurs to us that the inclusion of Up in Arms might be a misnomer as noneof the posters mention Virginia Mayo and the IMD’s cast list for the movie places her in 82nd position and says that she had the uncredited role of a nurse in the movie.

    4 Thus her contribution to the movie seems to have been negligible and my members would ask you to review her being given credit for its grosses in your Virginia Mayo table. To assist you in any reappraisal I will be sending you 4 extracts from 3 current major sites that relate to M-s Mayo and a Mr Brando who could be said to be one of the major actor forefathers of the present cycles of superhero films.

    Yours sincerely SELF APPOINTED SECRETARY TO SUPERHEROES FRANCHISES FANCLUBS

    1. Hey Superheroes Franchises….I appreciate your thoughts on Mayo and Up In Arms…..one of our issues here at UMR.com….is not being able to separate supporting roles and leading roles…when it comes to our formula for ranking movies. Wow 82nd is pretty low in the billings. Thanks for that information. Good stuff in your comment.

  4. 1 I loved your comment about toys and in fact [whilst I hope Flora doesn’t think you are referring to her as a ‘toy girl’] it got me chuckling as it reminded me of one of my all-time favourite movie punchlines from the film All the Brothers were Valiant starring Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger.

    2 That pair are two of the brothers in the title and when they were children Granger though the younger was the more assertive and would steal all his quieter big brother’s toys. Fast forward until they are men and out at sea bad guy Granger boards goodie Captain Taylor’s ship and later stirs up a mutiny and as he locks his brother in the brig laughingly jeers “Bit like old times when I used to take your toys away from you.” However eventually Taylor breaks loose and successfully organises a counter mutiny and as he triumphs says to his little brother “I’m taking all my toys back now!” Sheer magic! Thanks for reminding me of it!

  5. Hi Bruce
    1 Thanks for responding but Flora’s scary words were “the two movies she [Mayo] made with Gregory Peck” so I was flabbergasted to think there might be a major Greg movie out there of which I was unaware and anyway I feel that ANY page that makes reference to Greg should be perfect as befits the great man himself.

    2 Also it occurred to me that Flora might be confusing Ginny with Barbara Payton who attracted the envy of every feminine moviegoer in 1951 when she was signed to co-star with the legendary heartthrob Peck in Only the Valiant. [Excellent movie by the way despite your 53.3% rating.]

    3 Payton too was blonde and looked very much like Ginny so it is easy to confuse the two. Barbara was sadly only 39 when she died so our now notorious “Curse” certainly stamped its credentials well and truly on that occasion. However in her short life she obviously got around because she had 4 husbands one of whom was the famous Franchot Tone [1951/52] who also shared out his favours to the opposite gender being know for a time as Mr Joan Crawford in their marriage from 1935-39.

    4 Anyway perhaps you would thank Flora on my behalf for clarifying matters. I would have personally communicated with her about the mystery but for some reason she’s ‘stopped returning my calls’.

    “She looked through me as if I was a leafless tree.”
    [Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy]

    1. Hey Bob…..here to help….lol. Gotta admit I have never heard of Barbara Payton. Sorry Only the Valiant got such low ratings.

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