Want to know the best Andy Griffith movies? How about the worst Andy Griffith movies? Curious about Andy Griffith box office grosses or which Andy Griffith movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Andy Griffith 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.
Andy Griffith was an American actor, comedian and television producer. He was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in 1957’s A Face In The Crowd and 1958’s No Time For Sergeants. Griffith became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles in The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995). His IMDb page shows 72 acting credits between 1957-2009. This page will rank 11 Andy Griffith movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television appearances,cameos and straight to DVD movies were not included in the rankings.
Drivel Part: Years ago I managed a grocery store on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. During my time in Nags Head (of Wright Brothers plane fame)….I actually got to meet Mr. Andy Griffith. Griffith reluctantly (on an island the options can be limited) shopped at my store though he was far from a fan of the grocery store chain that I worked for. So even if our encounters were not exactly the friendliest…..I am glad they did happen. It is safe to say the man was a legend on the Outer Banks. This comes from a request from one of WoC’s co-workers. So here you go Ted Y. a Andy Griffith UMR page.
Andy Griffith 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 Andy Griffith movies by co-stars of the movie
- Sort Andy Griffith movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Andy Griffith movies by yearly box office rank
- Sort Andy Griffith movies 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 Andy Griffith movie received.
- Sort Andy Griffith movies by Ultimate Movie Score (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Andy Griffith Table
- One Andy Griffith movie crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 9.09% of his movies listed. No Time for Sergeants (1958) was his biggest box office hit.
- An average Andy Griffith movie grosses $55.80 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 6 Andy Griffith movies are rated as good movies…or 54.54% of his movies. A Face In The Crowd (1957) was his highest rated movie while Spy Hard (1996) is his lowest rated movie.
- Zero Andy Griffith movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 0.00% of his movies.
- Zero Andy Griffith movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 0.00% of his movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Score (UMR) Score is 60.00. 5 Andy Griffith movies scored higher that average….or 45.45% of his movies. No Time for Sergeants (1958) got the the highest UMR Score while Play The Game (2009) got the lowest UMR Score.
After Andy left his own show in 68 and made Angel in My Pocket he returned to TV. I was a kid back in 1971 when CBS had Andy back in a show called Headmaster (he was a headmaster at a school) on Friday nights. It didn’t do too good and in midseason it was reformatted as the New Andy Griffith show with Andy back in a small town and Lee Meriwether played his wife. I believe most of the Mayberry gang made appearances (I don’t know what he did for a living in the show) but it tanked also and was dumped. 2 series in one season, sort of rare.
I remember George Hamilton starred with Lana Turner (yes Lana) in an ABC series called The Survivors about 1969. It too was tanking and ABC reformatted it as a detective show in mid season called Paris 7000 also starring Hamilton but minus Ms. Turner.
The John Forsythe show in 1965 starred John as a headmaster of a girl’s school co-starring Elsa Lancaster and Ann B. Davis (from the Brady Bunch). In midseason it was reformatted as a spy series (yes) and not a comedy (Elsa and Ann were gone) but still called the John Forsythe show. Another one year double header.
Hey Dan….thanks for the information on Andy’s television career….I had no idea that he had two failed series in one year….that is indeed some good trivia. George Hamilton and John Forsythe in the same group….good stuff to now….once again…thanks for sharing this information.
Andy of course has never been on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. These are the people on the 2016 list he worked with;
24 RANCE HOWARD Play the Game (2008)
49 CLINT HOWARD Play the Game (2008)
97 CHARLES DURNING Spy Hard (1996)
99 ALAN ARKIN Hearts of the West (1975)
108 KATHY BATES Christmas Is Here Again (2007)
181 RIP TORN A Face in the Crowd (1957)
193 BILLY BOB THORNTON Daddy and Them (2001)
265 TOM BERENGER Rustlers’ Rhapsody (1985)
272 BEN AFFLECK Daddy and Them (2001)
286 CHRIS ELLIS Daddy and Them (2001)
297 FRED WARD Hearts of the West (1975)
305 JEFF BRIDGES Hearts of the West (1975)
323 DONALD PLEASENCE Hearts of the West (1975)
332 ELYA BASKIN Spy Hard (1996)
347 CLYDE KUSATSU Spy Hard (1996)
406 RITCHIE MONTGOMERY DADDY AND THEM (2001)
482 EDWARD ASNER Christmas Is Here Again (2007)
515 MARCIA GAY HARDEN Spy Hard (1996)
603 JAY LENO Christmas Is Here Again (2007)
676 DIANE LADD Daddy and Them (2001)
679 TAYLOR NEGRON SPY HARD (1996)
682 CARL CIARFALIO Spy Hard (1996)
791 KELLY PRESTON Daddy and Them (2001)
793 ALEX ROCCO Hearts of the West (1975)
829 WALTON GOGGINS DADDY AND THEM (2001)
855 LESLIE NIELSEN Spy Hard (1996)
906 MICHAEL BERRYMAN SPY HARD (1996)
919 PAT MORITA Spy Hard (1996)
952 LEW TEMPLE WAITRESS (2007)
The following people appeared on the first list on 2000 but have since fallen off. All worked with Andy;
39 FERNANDO REY Rustlers’ Rhapsody (1985)
108 DUB TAYLOR Hearts of the West (1975)
108 DUB TAYLOR No Time for Sergeants (1958)
133 WALTER MATTHAU A Face in the Crowd (1957)
133 WALTER MATTHAU Onionhead (1958)
165 R.G. ARMSTRONG A Face in the Crowd (1957)
225 PAUL SMITH (I) Onionhead (1958)
307 MATT CLARK Hearts of the West (1975)
310 STEVE FORREST The Second Time Around (1961)
378 BILLY J. MITCHELL Rustlers’ Rhapsody (1985)
483 MURRAY HAMILTON No Time for Sergeants (1958)
657 DEBBIE REYNOLDS The Second Time Around (1961)
680 TONY FRANCIOSA A Face in the Crowd (1957)
859 MYRON HEALEY Onionhead (1958)
872 ROBERT CULP Spy Hard (1996)
919 LARRY HAGMAN No Time for Sergeants (1958)
947 CHRISTOPHER MALCOLM Rustlers’ Rhapsody (1985)
961 NICKY BLAIR The Second Time Around (1961)
969 BYRON FOULGER Onionhead (1958)
994 ELLEN CORBY Angel in My Pocket (1969)
Andy worked with 7 Oscar winners.
ALAN ARKIN Hearts of the West (1975)
JEFF BRIDGES Hearts of the West (1975)
KATHY BATES Christmas Is Here Again (2007)
MARCIA GAY HARDEN Spy Hard (1996)
PATRICIA NEAL A Face in the Crowd (1957)
SHIRLEY JONES Christmas Is Here Again (2007)
WALTER MATTHAU Onionhead (1958)
I am becoming concerned that the Cogerson site instead of following the traditions of the Wall Street Journal and Variety in conveying financial accuracy is now joining the Fake News spreaders. Consequently I toss and turn in bed at night unable to sleep for fear that Bruce Willis Moore Cogerson and his cheerleader Steve “Mo” Lensman are in reality closet spammers. However –
WALTER BRENNAN
Walter appeared in numerous films in support of great legends like John Wayne, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda and Rory Calhoun*** so that Walt had the good fortune to be in 61 films that earned almost $8 billion dollars in adjusted domestic grosses thanks to their enormous box office clout of the aforementioned Legends and their kindred contemporaries
***”I take it this is your brat!” Rory to Walter as he drags up to Brennan the latter’s daughter Colleen Miller who has just taken a shot at Rory.
MYRNA LOY
Despite her usually being 2nd billed or less in slightly/completely subordinate roles 70 movies in which Myrna appeared totalled $8.3 billion in adjusted domestic grosses. However as the Cogerson site obliquely acknowledges in those movies she was in the company of some of the Greatest Legends of All time in her own heyday who were themselves mint-makers at the box office and she was also fortunate enough to be in a successful series of movies starring the great William Powell.
As if that was not enough she would often be allocated roles that bigger stars like Joan Crawford turned down [for example Parnell which flopped with Myrna in the female lead – King Gable had wanted Crawford for maximum box office insurance]. When her main era was past she benefited from supporting roles in the movies of later box office giants like Charlton Heston Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman and Box Office Bonanza-maker and Quigley Queen Doris Day.
It is therefore impossible to OBJECTIVELY determine M-s Loy’s personal contribution to any success of the movies to which she lent her support, and all we know is that movie insiders and observers of her day didn’t seem to place an undue amount of weight on her involvement. According to Melvyn Douglas Louis B Mayer ranked her last in his roster of leading MGM actresses at the time, Quigley polls were not overly fussed on her in their Top 10 and Oscar completely ignored her. That Cogerson steps away from the mainstream and anoints her the most successful box office actress of all time brings to mind again the famous quote from Ed Begley in 12 Angry Men “Boy oh boy there’s always one!”
Hey Bob….I have no problems letting the young people of the world know that Myrna Loy was a movie star for 7 decades and during that time she accumulated the greatest box office total for a woman in our database. I would bet Bess Flowers actually has a greater total….as she appeared in 909 movies in her lengthy career. Glad Dan’s information has given me more bullets to fire…lol. Thanks Dan.
Great luck for you that you got to meet Mr. Griffith in your grocery store.
I am a fan of Andy Griffith’s for both of his television series, more The Andy Griffith Show than Matlock though I enjoyed them both.
I have seen 4 Andy Griffith movies so far. No Time For Sergeants is a favourite of mine. I have also seen A Face in the Crowd, Onion Head, and Hearts of the West. A Face in the Crowd I admire more than I enjoy. Onionhead is somewhat similar in tone to NTFS. Hearts of the West is an interesting look at movie westerns.
Hey Flora…..I am glad I met him……but the situations were not the best….he had some complaints about my company…..which I represented……so it put us at odds. Granted I tried to make him happy….because he was Sheriff Taylor…..but the situations never let that happen. He disliked our company so much….he did almost free radio and local tv ads for the small mom and pop grocery store…..while my company was a national chain.
We are tied at 4 Griffith movies a piece. No Time For Sergeants is one of WoC’s mom’s favorite movies. I have not seen either Onion Head or Hearts of the West….Jeff Bridges must have been a baby in that one. Good feedback as always.
STEVE
1 Andy Griffith is one of my favourite TV actors and I loved his courtroom drama Matlock which was a huge hit for him.
2 He had a short Purple Patch on the big screen with the critically acclaimed Face in the Crowd [86% from Bruce] the massive commercial hit No Time for Sergeants and a modest hit with Onionhead. In Face in the Crowd he played a nasty but supposedly lovable celebrity who fooled all of America in the way that some of WH’s idols always seem to fool him. In A Face in the Crowd Griffith’s character doesn’t realise the microphone is on one day and the American people hear him describe them all as morons. However many of WH’s idols seem to have escaped such detection.
3 Griffith was also excellent in the TV mini-series Washington Behind Closed Doors about in effect Watergate with Jason Robards as Nixon and Griffith as Lyndon Johnson.
Bob, thanks for the info on Griffith. Was your post always here, or was it a delayed appearance? I’ve just noticed it.
HI STEVE
It’s been aware for a while but it was but right that you replied to Flora before me – ladies first you know!
These comments were when the spam filters were really out of control…glad things seem to be better.
Hey Bob….glad one of your favorite TV actors got an UMR page….the man was a legend in the United States. I like your description of a “Purple Patch”. His performance in A Face In The Crowd actually was Danny Peary’s Alternate Oscar pick for that year. Growing up with him as the kind and wise Sheriff Taylor of Mayberry….it is a shock to see him play such an evil character in that movie.
I have not seen his mini-series……of the 4 Griffith movies I have seen….I have enjoyed all of them….Rustler’s Rhapsody is a pretty funny western comedy…..while Waitress gives him a pretty good supporting role. I think his character in that movie was close to the real Griffith off camera. Good feedback.
Andy Griffith? That name has come up recently when I’ve been compiling my videos – A Face in the Crowd – the poster for that movie has made appearances on three of my videos for Patricia Neal, Lee Remick and Walter Matthau.
But looking at the chart I’ve only seen one of his movies – Spy Hard. So I assume he was mostly a famous TV personality in the US?
And you met Griffith at your grocery store Bruce, good stuff!
Walking down London’s Soho area in the West End years ago I turned a corner and bumped into Joss Ackland*. I practically crashed into him, before I could say anything he walked off in a huff.
* Joss Ackland is a British actor, probably best known as the main villain in Lethal Weapon 2.
Steve, Andy Griffith was indeed a TV Star. He was in two series – The Andy Griffith Show where he played a Sheriff of a small town called Mayberry with Ronny (Ron) Howard as his son. Later in his life he star as a defence attorney called Matlock.
Hi Flora, thanks for the info. I knew his name but not much else. 🙂
Hey Flora…I grew up watching the Andy Griffith show…..but I rarely watched Matlock…..though when Don Knotts joined that show….I started to root for it to get strong ratings…..thanks for helping Steve out.
Hey Steve…..Andy Griffith’s television career made him a major star here in the states. His Andy Griffith Show is still played on a regular basis in reruns. Some of the soon to be stars who appeared on the show would include Jack Nicholson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttGg5xGamHI), Rob Reiner, Michael J. Pollard, Bill Bixby and Lee Van Cleef.
I have seen 4 of his movies. His tv persona was one of “good ole boy” that loves everybody……I personally did not see the “good ole boy” in my encounters with him. Interesting encounter with Joss Ackland….hopefully he was not lining up some plastic sheets behind you..lol.