Alan Ladd Movies

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

In the hierarchy of movie-tough guys, Alan Ladd (1913-1964), is an honored name.  Ladd was an American actor who found success in film during the 1940s and early 1950s.  We think the best current comparison to Ladd is Bruce Willis.  Each specialized in box office hit action movies and each got very little respect for their acting abilities.  Ladd’s IMDb page shows 98 acting credits from 1932-1964. This page will take a statistical look at 50 Alan Ladd movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  His uncredited roles, his cameo roles and his television appearances were not included in the table.

Drivel part:  So after getting sidetracked on some other UMR movie page projects….we felt it was time to start knocking out some of the performers from our Request Hotline page.  So Søren, Flora & Dan…here is finally your requested Alan Ladd UMR movie page.

Alan Ladd in 1942’s This Gun For Hire

Alan Ladd Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

1942’s The Glass Key

Alan Ladd 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 Alan Ladd movies by his co-stars
  • Sort Alan Ladd movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Alan Ladd movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Alan Ladd 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 Alan Ladd movie received.
  • Sort Alan Ladd movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Alan Ladd in 1964's The Carpetbaggers...his last movie was the biggest box office hit of his career
Alan Ladd in 1964’s The Carpetbaggers…his last movie was the biggest box office hit of his career

Possibly Interesting Facts About Alan Ladd

  1. Alan Walbridge Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas on September 3rd, 1913.

2. Alan Ladd was a swimming and diving champion in high school.

3. Alan Ladd has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 1601 Vine Street.  He received his star in 1960.

4.  Alan Ladd He and Veronica Lake made seven movies together: 1942’s This Gun For Hire, 1942’s The Glass Key, 1942’s Star Spangled Rhythm,  1945’s Duffy’s Tavern, 1946’s The Blue Dahlia (1946), 1947’s Variety Girl and 1948’s Saigon (1948). In Variety Girl (1947), Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) and Duffy’s Tavern (1945), they appear as themselves.

5.  Alan Ladd was the visual inspiration for the original illustrations of superhero Green Lantern/Alan Scott (created in 1940). Ladd was 27 years old at the point. The Green Lantern’s full name is Alan Ladd Wellington Scott.

6.  Alan Ladd was ranked in the annual Top 10 Box Office Stars 3 times:  His was ranked 10th in 1947, 4th in 1953 and 6th in 1954.

7.  Alan Ladd was married two times in his life. He had 3 children.  His son, Alan Ladd, Jr. won an Oscar® for producing 1995’s Braveheart.  His son, David Ladd, earned a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1958’s The Proud Rebel.  His daughter, Alana Ladd, appeared in four of her father’s movies….including a part in Shane.  His granddaughter, Jordan Ladd, has over 50 IMDb acting credits.

8.  Alan Ladd was strongly considered for or actually attached to these roles:  Kirk Douglas role in Detective Story, Gregory Peck role in Roman Holiday, James Dean role in Giant, John Wayne role in The Sons of Katie Elder, Spencer Tracy role in Bad Day At Black Rock and William Holden role in Submarine Command.

9.  Check out Alan Ladd’s movie career compared to current and classic stars on our Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time page.

10.  Many people might have first discovered Alan Ladd in 1982’s Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.  Check out You Tube view to see his brief but impressive appearance in that movie ..

Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.

Figured it might be interesting to see the process of what it takes to put these pages together.  How we put together our Alan Ladd page.

Steve’s Alan Ladd You Tube Video

 

(Visited 2 times)

114 thoughts on “Alan Ladd Movies”

  1. HI STEVE

    1 Have just watched the Burt Lancaster video and among the things that I enjoyed was the foreign language versions of posters. I jotted down your titles with their general high scores and compared your list with Bruce’s stats for Burt and when you marry his artistic and commercial achievements it reinforces a point I made to Bruce sometime ago that Burt’s virtual exclusion from Quigley Top 10s throughout his career calls into question the credibility of those lists.

    2 I agree with your vertiginous rankings for the Swimmer and Sweet Smell of Success. Curtis said that Burt’s putting him in the latter film and Trapeze elevated him in the eyes of critics from matinee idol to serious actor but at the time Burt publicly lamented the fact that Sweet Smell was not nearly as commercially successful as Trapeze even though both films had the
    same two stars.

    3 However historians have reckoned that Burt’s production company ultimately folded because it broke new ground by making too many films like Sweet Smell that were ahead of their time and were too ‘intellectual’ to be hugely popular at the box office back then. We have been talking a lot about potential modern day counterparts of classic era actors and given that Tony said that working with Burt was “like being near a furnace” I’m going to nominate Bruce Cogerson as the new Burt Lancaster !

    4 Watched again the Ladd video and it reminded me that Ladd too formed his own production company in the 50s and it made 10 films from 1954 until 1960 seven of which such as Drumbeat and All the Young Men with Poitier are on your list. Laddie had a number of other projects in mind which went nowhere, for example:

    (1) A series of films with Doris Day. I think the pair actually started negotiations on the idea.

    (2) The Cavalry Men which from what I read at the time was a proposed reworking of Fort Apache (1948) with Laddie in Duke’s role, Eva Marie Saint in the Shirley Temple part and playing Henry Fonda’s character – Mr Mumbles. Now think how even your excellent Ladd video might have been further improved if THAT movie had been in your selection !!

    5 So Ladd/Burt two enjoyable videos and if they had been videos of Superman and other superhero films I would have paraphrased you by saying “Marked up, up and away!” But where do you keep getting those marvellous opening quotes from ? and I’m beginning to wonder if you’re making them up in the way you accused Bruce of concocting titles like The Lobster for his sci-fi list !

    Reply

    1. Thanks Bob, glad you liked the videos and the posters. Funny how foreign movie poster art of the 40s and 50s was often more gorgeous than the US artwork. And one of the pleasures of looking at old movie posters is the unashamed hype, “the greatest western of our time is here”,”10 years in the making”, “Now it can be told…” etc 🙂

      The quotes are um ‘borrowed’ from various sources including the IMDB, I don’t make them up though I do combine two together occasionally.

      Flora mentioned on the Ladd video that apart from the top 5 the scores were quite low for his films, in one of my replies I mention that Ladd was very popular but only a handful of his films were genuinely great.

      Thanks for the info you certainly know your stuff.

      Reply

  3. HI STEVE

    1 Thanks for the wonderful trip down memory lane with Alan Ladd. Movies like the Deep Six,Two Years before the Mast ,and The Iron Mistress were a big part of my boyhood; and I loved the opening quote by Ladd which I had never before seen.

    2 Now that I have the links for your similar videos covering other stars like Lancaster/Holden I’ll work through them at my leisure but in the meantime some comments on your Ladd titles.

    (1) Captain Carey USA(1950) introduced to the world the now classic song Mona Lisa which was specially written for the movie.

    (2) Ladd was given an unusually high salary at the time for Boy on a Dolphin (1957)and the salary drew attention in the press.

    (3) I notice that your poster reproduction for Drumbeat contains one of my fave taglines “They Called Him Injun Lover but Never to His Face” On Belfast poster they had “Indian” instead of “Injun”

    (4) “When there’s danger and its gone and you wonder who sent it away but nobody makes a sound THAT’s Whispering Smith” (1948).

    (5) The McConnell Story (1955) was called Tiger in the Sky over here, The Big Land (1957) was known as Stampeded. and Paratrooper (1953) was instead The Red Beret.

    (6) Shane (1953) had some great one liners like when Ryker who hires Jack Wilson (Palance) to scare off the homesteaders says “That’s one of them there and I’ll kill him if I have to” and Wilson quietly replies “You mean I’ll kill him if you have to.””

    (7) The Badlanders (1958) was a western remake of the Asphalt Jungle.

    3 Just like my Dad hated Mr Mumbles my son hates Alan Ladd and indeed gave a prize winning High School lecture on how in my son’s opinion Ladd epitomised the ridiculousness of the Hollywood hero. Once I read out to my son another fan’s reported tribute to Ladd which was “If you were in trouble it would be comforting to look round and see him at your shoulder.” to which my son replied to me “Yes but you’d have to look down to get that comfort.”

    4 Anyway thanks again for the entertainment Steve and as you would say Marked Up !!

    BOB

    Reply

    1. Thanks Bob, much appreciated. You know a lot more about Ladd and his films than I do, I was unfamiliar with many of these films when compiling the video. He wasn’t a great actor but for a while he was extremely popular. My dad was a fan and he used to tell me that Ladd never smiled in his films, not often but of course he smiled.

      If you read the quote I included at the start of the video, here it is – “I have the face of an aging choirboy and the build of an undernourished featherweight. If you can figure out my success on the screen you’re a better man than I.” Ladd himself was bemused by his popularity.

      Bruce’s charts differ somewhat from mine, a couple of films in his top 10 that I didn’t include at all. Second, third and fourth on my video co-star sultry Veronica Lake, Bruce includes them in the critics top 10 and only The Blue Dahlia makes the UMR top 10, and it’s the biggest grosser of the three.

      Reply

      1. Hey Steve….Yeah…yours are wrong…and mine are right!…..you know I am just joking…..there are tons of sources to use….so there is no right answer and no wrong answer….I will check out your Ladd video.

        Reply

        1. Well we both have Shane at the top, it didn’t really have any competition. And we both avoided including Citizen Kane which wouldn’t have been fair on the final score, since it isn’t an ‘Alan Ladd’ movie. Otherwise yeah mine seems to be in the correct order… [Bruce snarls] okay okay different sources, different results. [wink]

          Reply

          1. Hey Steve….yep it seems Shane is easily his best movie…..with some of the Lake/Ladd movies fighting for the runner up spot. Yep….as long as we use different sources…..we will always have different results. I have noticed that movies I researched in 2011 on IMDb….rarely have the same score when I check in 2016…..unless IMDb shuts down the voting….that will always be the case. Thanks for the visit and the comment.

  4. Alan Ladd who died in 1964 has never appeared on the Oracle of Bacon Center of the Hollywood Universe top 1000. These are the only people he appeared with who on the 2016 list.

    13 West Street (1962) – 112 Rod Steiger
    Appointment with Danger (1951) – 966 Kathleen Freeman
    Saskatchewan (1954) – 781 Shelley Winters
    The Badlanders (1958) – 142 Ernest Borgnine
    The Great Gatsby (1949) – 781 Shelley Winters
    The Last Train from Madrid (1937) – 681 Anthony Quinn
    The Proud Rebel (1958) – 40 Harry Dean Stanton

    What, no Arthur Tovey!!!

    Reply

    1. Here are the people who appeared on the 2000 Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list who have fallen off the chart but appeared in a film with Alan Ladd. Rank is 2000 rank.

      A Cry in the Night (1956) – 302 Richard Anderson, 406 Edmond O’Brien, 746 Herb Vigran, 925 Raymond Burr
      All the Young Men (1960_ – 231 Sidney Poitier
      And Now Tomorrow (1944) – 362 Barry Sullivan, 969 Byron Foulger
      Appointment with danger (1951) – 299 Fritz Feld, 583 Paul Stewart, 648 Harry Morgan, 746 Herb Vigran
      Beyond Glory (1948) – 273 George Coulouris, 296 Kenneth Tobey
      Born to the West (1937) – 179 John Wayne
      Botany Bay (1953) – 52 James Mason, 851 Cedric Hardwicke
      Boy on a Dolphin (1957) – 166 Sophia Loren
      Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) – 76 Eddie Albert
      Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950) – 623 Russ Tamblyn
      Captain Caution (1940) – 980 Victor Mature, 989 Bruce Cabot
      Chicago Deadline (1949) – 248 Arthur Kennedy, 562 Paul Bryar
      China (1943) – 767 Philip Ahn
      Citizen Kane (1941) – 9 Orson Welles, 158 Joseph Cotten, 273 George Coulouris, 583 Paul Stewrat, 732 Arthur O’Connell, 894 Philip Van Zandt
      Come on, Leathernecks! (1938) – 959 Leon Ames
      Cross-Country Romance (1940) – 222 Bess Flowers, 256 Hank Worden, 746 Herb Vigran
      Desert Legion (1953) – 234 Akim Tamiroff, 389 Leon Askin, 503 Richard Conte, 915 Ivan Triesault
      Drum Beat (1954) – 53 Charles Bronson, 219 Elisha Cook Jr., 549 Strother Martin
      Duffy’s Tavern (1945) – 362 Barry Sullivan, 783 James Flavin
      Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) – 506 Douglas Fowley, 507 Ralph Bellamy, 571 Charles Lane, 969 Byron Foulger
      Gangs of Chicago (1940) – 786 Lloyd Nolan
      Great Guns (1941) – 783 James Flavin, 982 Billy Benedict
      Guns of the Timberland (1960) – 384 Gilbert Roland
      Hell Below Zero (1954) – 985 Niall Macginnis
      Hell on Frisco Bay (1955) – 409 Rod Taylor, 463 Edward G. Robinson, 562 Paul Bryar, 583 Paul Stewart, 746 Herb Vigran
      I Look at You (1941) – 192 Yvonne DeCarlo
      Lucky Jordan (1942) – 192 Yvonne DeCarlo
      My Favorite Brunette (1947) – 379 Ann Doran, 534 Bob Hope, 682 Ray Teal, 731 John Hoyt, 783 James Flavin
      O.S.S. (1946) – 169 John Dehner, 731 John Hoyt, 963 Frank Ferguson
      One Foot in Hell (1960) – 553 Dan O’Herlihy
      Paper Bullets (1941) – 816 Carleton Young
      Paratrooper (1953) – 164 Harry Andrews, 244 Walter Gotell, 827 Anton Diffring
      Pigskin Parade (1936) – 219 Elisha Cook Jr.
      Red Mountain (1951) – 50 Jeff Corey, 90 John Ireland, 248 Arthur Kennedy, 592 Whit Bissell, 816 Carleton Young
      Saigon (1948) – 767 Philip Ahn
      Salty O’Rourke (1945) – 989 Bruce Cabot
      Santiago (1956) – 155 Royal Dano, 350 L.Q. Jones, 542 Paul Fix, 786 Lloyd Nolan
      Shane (1953) – 26 Jack Palance, 213 Ben Johnson, 219 Elisha Cook Jr., 994 Ellen Corby
      Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) – 118 Woody Strode, 187 Ray Milland, 534 Bob Hope
      The Badlanders (1958) – 379 Ann Doran, 399 Nehemiah Persoff
      The Big Land (1957) – 406 Edmond O’Brien, 562 Paul Bryar, 599 John Douchette
      The Black Cat (1941) – 241 Broderick Crawford
      The Black Knight (1954) – 164 Harry Andrews, 375 Peter Cushing
      The Blue Dahlia (1946) – 222 Bess Flowers
      The Carpetbaggers (1964) – 48 Martin Balsam, 137 Carroll Baker, 222 Bess Flowers, 379 Ann Doran, 571 Charles Lane, 611 Don “Red” Barry, 617 Paul Frees, 691 George Peppard, 800 Martha Hyer
      The Deep Six (1958) – 43 Keenan Wynn, 361 James Whitmore, 379 Ann Doran
      The Glass Key (1942) – 222 Bess Flowers, 982 Billy Benedict
      The Great Gatsby (1949) – 219 Elisha Cook Jr., 222 Bess Flowers, 362 Barry Sullivan, 682 Ray Teal
      The Green Hornet (1940) – 278 Keye Luke, 379 Ann Doran
      The Howards of Virginia (1940) – 375 Peter Cushing, 851 Cedric Hardwicke
      The Iron Mistress (1952) – 606 Alberto Morin, 963 Frank Ferguson
      The Last Train from Madrid (1937) – 222 Bess Flowers, 384 Gilbert Roland
      The McConnell Story (1955) – 108 Dub Taylor, 361 James Whitmore, 459 Dabbs Greer, 746 Herb Vigran, 891 Gregory Walcott, 963 Frank Ferguson
      The Proud Rebel (1958) -14 John Carradine, 744 Dean Jagger, 962 Olivia De Havilland, 965 Mary Wickes
      The Reluctant Dragon (1941) – 169 John Dehner
      They Met in Bombay (1941) – 278 Keye Luke, 671 Eduardo Cianelli, 682 Ray Teal, 767 Philip Ahn
      This Gun for Hire (1942) – 27 Marc Lawrence, 192 Yvonne DeCarlo, 963 Frank Ferguson
      Those Were the Days! (1940) – 207 William Holden, 783 James Flavin
      Thunder in the East (1952) – 393 Charles Boyer
      Two Years Before the Mast (1946) – 783 James Flavin
      Variety Girl (1947) – 45 Burt Lancaster, 187 Ray Milland, 207 William Holden, 379 Ann Doran, 380 Sterling Hayden, 534 Bob Hope, 963 Frank Ferguson
      Victory (1940) – 299 Fritz Feld, 851 Cedric Hardwicke
      Whispering Smith (1948) – 256 Hank Worden, 682 Ray Teal
      Wild Harvest (1947) – 100 Ian Wolfe, 786 Lloyd Nolan

      Reply

      1. Wow….time was really unkind to Alan Ladd and his co-stars…..to go from this big list (I started counting….but I lost track)…to only 7 in 2016…..looks like the Carpetbaggers and Variety Girl were loaded with Top 1000 players back then. As always a fun list to check out.

        Reply

    2. Hey Dan….fixed your comment Top 10 to Top 1000)…in case you are wondering where it went. No Tovey but there is Kathleen Freeman again. I guess Harry Dean Stanton is the last man standing….when it comes to who will get Ladd in the Top 1000…..but at 90 not thinking he has too many movies left in him.

      Reply

  5. Yes, in reading longer comments I see that I did a long comment on Mr. Ladd before –

    Bruce:

    Check your email for a forwarded video clip from Steve Lensman from me. It has nothing to do with movies.

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora….Steve sent it earlier today. Job well done…as I said on another comment…you look very happy singing. Glad to see that.

      Reply

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