Bette Davis Movies

Bette Davis was voted as the 2nd greatest actress of all time according to the American Film Institute.
Bette Davis was voted as the 2nd greatest actress of all time according to the American Film Institute.

Want to know the best Bette Davis movies?  How about the worst Bette Davis movies?  Curious about Bette Davis’s box office grosses or which Bette Davis movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Bette Davis movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which one got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place…. because we have all of that information and much more.

Bette Davis (1908-1989), a two time Oscar® winning actress. She was voted as the second greatest actress of all-time according to the American Film Institute. Her movie career started in 1931 and ended only months before her death in 1989. According to IMDB, she had 122 television and movie credits over her career.

Her IMDb page shows 123 acting credits from 1931-1989. This page ranks Bette Davis movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos, some early 1930 Davis movies and movies that were not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings.

Hattie McDaniel and Bette Davis in 1941's The Great Lie
Hattie McDaniel and Bette Davis in 1941’s The Great Lie

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

79 Bette Davis 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.

  • Blue Movie Title is a link that will take to that movie’s trailer
  • Sort Bette Davis movies by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Bette Davis movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Bette Davis movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions) *** if domestic and worldwide box office are the same…then worldwide is unknown
  • Sort Bette Davis 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 Bette Davis movie received.
  • Sort Bette Davis 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.
  • Use the search and sort buttons to make this page very interactive….for example type Bogart in the search box and all 6 Bogart/Davis movies will pop up or type in *** in the search box and all of Davis Oscar® nominated performances will pop up.
Bette Davis in 1938's Jezebel
Bette Davis in 1938’s Jezebel

Possibly Interesting Facts About Bette Davis

1. Bette Davis made her movie debut in 1931’s The Bad Sister. The movie also starred another newcomer, Humphrey Bogart. Davis and Bogart would appear in 6 movies together from 1931 to 1939.

2. Bette Davis was nominated 11 times for a Best Actress Oscar®. She won twice…..1935’s Dangerous and 1938’s Jezebel. Only one of her films won the Best Picture Oscar®….1950’s All About Eve.

3. Bette Davis holds the record with Greer Garson for most years in a row to receive an Oscar® nomination…..5 years in a row. Davis was nominated every year from 1938-1942. Garson did the same accomplishment 1941-1945.

4. Bette Davis was married four times in her life. Her marriages to Harmon Nelson (1932-1939) and Arthur Farnsworth (1940-till his death in 1943) produced no children. She had one daughter with her third husband William Sherry(1945-1950) and two adopted children(boy and a girl) with fourth husband Gary Merrill(1950-1960).

5. Roles Bette Davis turned down or was seriously considered for during her career: Cool Hand Luke, The African Queen, Come Back Little Sheba, 1931’s Frankenstein, Mary Poppins and Gone With The Wind. Davis really wanted the Scarlett O’Hara role but her studio would not allow her to work for another studio.

6. Bette Davis and Lucille Ball both attended the John Murray Anderson Dramatic School. Davis was the star of the school, while Ball was sent home because she was too shy to become an actress.

7. Bette Davis was one of the founders of the Hollywood Canteen in 1942. The Hollywood Canteen was a nightclub where soldiers passing through Los Angeles during World War II got to see Hollywood stars perform live on stage. Often Davis would spend all day making a movie and all night performing for soldiers at the Hollywood Canteen. She felt that the Hollywood Canteen was one of her greatest accomplishments.

8. Bette Davis once sold over two million dollars worth of war bonds for the troops during World War II in only two days.

9. In 1981 Kim Carnes released the song “Bette Davis Eyes”. The song would reach number one and earn gold and platinum record status. Bette Davis Eyes helped Davis be discovered by a new generation.

10. One of the best collection of Bette Davis fans can be found on Facebook at Bette Davis Babylon.  If you are a Bette Davis you have to join this group….it is easily the best movie group on Facebook that I have come across….and I am in many Facebook movie groups.

Check out Bette Davis‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Steve Lensman’s Bette Davis You Tube Video

For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.

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184 thoughts on “Bette Davis Movies

  1. The Man who Came to Dinner airs on TCM every Christmas. I do not like M. Woolly so I haven’t seen it, but it is part of their Christmas lineup.

    That is a great movie. I would see it in the theatre, rather than wait for DVD.

    As for me specifically, rather than general public, (weird me who prefers people without a pulse- I HATE THAT PHRASE ,pulse/no pulse) this bizzare idiotic 35 year old does indeed watch several of Bette’s films each year.

    1. The Man who Came to Dinner airs on TCM every Christmas. I do not like M. Woolly so I haven’t seen it, but it is part of their Christmas lineup.

      That is a great movie. I would see it in the theatre, rather than wait for DVD.

      As for me specifically, rather than general public, (weird me who prefers people without a pulse- I HATE THAT PHRASE ,pulse/no pulse) this bizzare idiotic 35 year old does indeed watch several of Bette’s films each year.

    2. Hey Flora….I have not seen The Man Who Came To Dinner either. I have not seen enough Monte Wooly movies to have an opinion on him.

      I know there have been movies where the Crawford/Davis feud are referenced(Mommie Dearest)…but never has it been the main focus of a movie. Just think of all the stories that have focused about the feud …I can only imagine some of the stories that never got mentioned.

      As for Bette Davis…other than All About Eve….most people probably could not name three Bette Davis movies….where as somebody like James Stewart, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe…I imagine the general public could mention at least three of their movies.

      As is often the case, after I write a hub I get motivated to watch some of the movies of the star I wrote about…in this case Davis is ending my Astaire marathon….as I watched Dark Victory for the first time yesterday….I thought it was ok, she was awesome in the role….and I liked Bogart as well….I had read that he was miscast in the role…but I thought he did just fine….and I felt she would have been happier with the trainer more than the doctor….at least the trainer never deceived her…lol. Thanks for the comments.

  2. Bruce; Amanda Seyfried and Rachel McAdam as Bette and Joan. Hmmm. I think I’d go with Kate Winslet and Kate Blanchet instead. I’d pay to see it.

    Rob

    1. Hey Rob…I was thinking Amanda Seyfried because of her eyes and how close they look to Bette Davis eyes….so I figured you would have to have a younger actress….and then as I was thinking about that up popped a Sherlock Holmes ad on tv…..so I came up with McAdams. My first thought was Cate Blanchett….but then I could not shake her as Katharine Hepburn in my head. She has already won an Oscar for playing a famous actress…but great minds were thinking alike….but I can live with your suggestion….now all we need is some money to write a script….lol.

  3. You did Betty Davis a very proud service here. She is without doubt a super star. I know many who would rank her number one in the acting department.

    I had to laugh when I read she turned down ‘Cool Hand Luke’, luckily Newman got the nod

    1. Hey mckbirdbks…Bette Davis was a superstar…I think the only thing she is missing is a movie everybody considers a classic and they watch it every year….All About Eve is close….but I rarely see it mentioned when people talk about the best movies of all-time. But I am sure if she visited the Emerald Wells Cafe it would be a visit that Harold and Em would talk about for years…..the part she turned down in Cool Hand Luke was playing Luke’s mom…now that would have made Cool Hand Luke even better…two legends doing a scene together…thanks for stopping by.

      1. Hey mckbirdbks….I think you are correct…I think if she would have been the mother in Cool Hand Luke….she would have stolen the show and probably picked up her last Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress…the power of “What if”.

  4. Two facts I appreciated were:

    #6. Bette Davis and Lucille Ball both attended the John Murray Anderson Dramatic School. Davis was the star of the school, while Ball was sent home because she was too shy to become an actress (I’m guessing Lucille Ball laughed all the way to the bank!)

    #9. In 1981 Kim Carnes released the song “Bette Davis Eyes”. The song would reach number one and earn gold and platinum record status. Bette Davis Eyes helped Davis be discovered by a new generation. (One of my favorite songs, I could kill that song in karaoke!)

    1. Hey Sunshine625….I am glad you liked those 2 facts about Bette Davis…I can easily see you singing Bette Davis Eyes on a karaoke night. As for Lucille Ball, I think she overcame that shyness thing….lol. Thanks for stopping by.

  5. Oh…….aww……. I think I’m gonna cry…I’m a softie. What a precious exchange between you and your Mom. As a Mom of 4 adult sons, that really touches my heart. It’s very apparent in black and white that your Mom is a wonderful mother and you are a sweet son…it doesn’t get any better than that!

    1. Hey fpherj48….I was reading my mom’s comments and at first it was all about Bette Davis…and then it turned more personal…and my eyes got teary eyed reading the rest of her comment….does that mean I have to turn in my man card? Thanks for reading the comments….my father passed away June of this year so we are going through our first holidays without my dad….it is a much different holiday season this year….but he will be with us in so many other ways.

      1. Cogerson, My heart is with you and your family. I know too well the sadness of such a profound loss….but you are so right, he WILL be with you. Not only may you keep your MAN card, you are now a PLATINUM member. My sons all grew up comfortable enough in their man-skin to shed tears when they have sorrow. That’s what it comes down to, Cogerson. Men are allowed to be human.

        1. Thanks for the words fpherj48 they are greatly appreciated. As for your trivia question I had to cheat but I when I found the answer I kicked myself for not knowing the answer right away….Elizabeth Taylor actually won her 2nd Oscar playing that part….the classic film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe.

          1. You win a TEDDY BEAR! It’s Ok however you found the answer…don’t kick yourself. I saw Virginia Wolfe at the theatre when it came out….went with a group of friends. Not a one of us liked the movie….I remember wanting to leave halfway through. Liz played an excellent Shrew…(it was in B&W, wasn’t it?) I did not know about the Oscar win….

            Sunshine….send me a tape of you singing karaoke!! lol

          2. Hey fpherj48….yep Virginia Wolfe is in black and white….and yes it is a very difficult movie to get through…not many happy moments in the entire movie….but Burton and Taylor are excellent….I think in hindsight they were giving us a glimpse into their private lives which were pretty hectic as well.

            Excellent….I like winning things….lol. I look forward to my teddy bear….lol.

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