Movie Box Office Grosses: 1925 through 1931

It was finally time to do some cleaning in my office.

So recently I have been getting some subtle (and some not so subtle) hints from my wife that my office needed some attention. A quick look around my office showed 37 movie books from 7 different libraries. 37? Yep… I had checked out 37 books…most from the colleges around me. The beauty of the College of William and Mary (the wife is getting her masters degree there) and Old Dominion University (oldest daughter is getting her masters degree there) libraries is they let their students keep the books for an entire year. That long check out time has helped make my collection of library books really grow.

Before sending most of the library books back…I figured I should write down all the box office information I had found in the books, but had not used. After writing down box office information on 3 or 4 movies…I came up with a better idea. Why not put all of these movies in one massive table…and put the information on the internet. That would accomplish two things: (a) It would keep the box office numbers from going into a notebook that I am sure I would misplace in the future and (b) It will get the box office information out there right now! Somebody in the world could be researching the film careers of Leatrice Joy and Rod La Rocque….and this page could be exactly what they are looking for.

In the end I found 128 movies that have not been used in any of my movie pages. The good news was I found two Myrna Loy movies and one Gary Cooper movie that I had missed. Those movies will be added to their pages very soon. After entering all of these movies into the table….I turned my attention to organizing my office. 3 hours later and my office is looking pretty good and more importantly the wife is happy. The car is now loaded with many library books…and tomorrow I will try not to get too misty eyed when the time comes to send the books back….sniff…sniff…they were such good and helpful books.

Movie Box Office Grosses: 1925 through 1931

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

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Movie #	Movie (Year)	Year	Star of Movie	Box Office Domestic Actual (mils.)	Box Office Domestic Adjusted (mils.)	Tickets Sold (mils.)
1	50 Million Frenchmen	1931	John Halliday	$1.19	$47.60	5.6
2	A Blonde for a Night	1928	Harrison Ford	$0.44	$11.00	1.3
3	A Ship Comes In	1928	Louise Dresser	$0.60	$14.80	1.8
4	Alias Jimmy Valentine	1928	Lionel Barrymore	$2.64	$65.40	7.8
5	Almost Human	1927	Vera Reynolds	$0.46	$12.20	1.4
6	Bachelor Brides	1926	Rod La Rocque	$0.60	$16.80	2.0
7	Beau Ideal	1931	Loretta Young	$1.15	$46.30	5.5
8	Big Boy	1930	Al Jolson	$1.34	$56.70	6.7
9	Billy the Kid	1930	Wallace Beery	$2.18	$92.00	10.9
10	Bought!	1931	Constance Bennett	$1.77	$71.00	8.4
11	Braveheart	1925	Rod La Rocque	$0.95	$29.60	3.5
12	Check and Double Check	1930	Amos & Andy	$5.39	$227.10	26.9
13	Chicago	1927	Phyllis Haver	$1.68	$44.20	5.2
14	Children of Pleasure	1930	Judith Wood	$0.80	$33.70	4.0
15	Corporal Kate	1926	Vera Reynolds	$0.54	$15.10	1.8
16	Cracked Nuts	1931	Boris Karloff	$1.49	$60.00	7.1
17	Desert Nights	1929	John Gilbert	$1.88	$45.40	5.4
18	Dixiana	1930	Bert Wheeler	$1.54	$64.80	7.7
19	Don Juan	1926	John Barrymore	$5.27	$148.20	17.6
20	Dress Parade	1927	William Boyd	$0.93	$24.50	2.9
21	Everything's Rosie	1931	Anita Louise	$0.61	$24.30	2.9
22	Eve's Leaves	1926	Leatrice Joy	$0.64	$18.00	2.1
23	Fighting Love	1927	Jetta Goudal	$0.35	$9.10	1.1
24	Footlights and Fools	1929	Colleen Moore	$1.93	$46.40	5.5
25	For Alimony Only	1926	Leatrice Joy	$0.49	$13.70	1.6
26	General Crack	1930	John Barrymore	$2.83	$119.20	14.1
27	Gentleman's Fate	1931	John Gilbert	$1.11	$44.50	5.3
28	Gigolo	1926	Rod La Rocque	$0.80	$22.40	2.7
29	Glorious Betsy	1928	Dolores Costello	$2.72	$67.40	8.0
30	God's Gift to Women	1931	Joan Blondell	$0.44	$17.80	2.1
31	Gold Diggers of Broadway	1929	Conway Tearle	$8.12	$195.50	23.2
32	Half Shot at Sunrise	1930	Bert Wheeler	$2.01	$84.70	10.0
33	Hell's Highroad	1925	Leatrice Joy	$0.81	$25.30	3.0
34	Her Man o' War	1926	William Boyd	$0.61	$17.20	2.0
35	His Dog	1927	Joseph Schildkraut	$0.55	$14.50	1.7
36	His Glorious Night	1929	Lionel Barrymore	$1.88	$45.30	5.4
37	Hit The Deck	1929	Jack Oakie	$3.13	$75.40	8.9
38	Hold 'Em Yale	1928	Rod La Rocque	$1.00	$24.80	2.9
39	Hold Everything	1930	Joe E. Brown	$3.13	$132.00	15.7
40	Hook Line and Sinker	1930	Bert Wheeler	$1.83	$77.20	9.2
41	Kismet	1930	Loretta Young	$0.97	$40.90	4.8
42	Kiss Me Again	1930	Walter Pidgeon	$0.68	$27.30	3.2
43	Let 'Er Go Gallegher	1928	Harrison Ford	$0.51	$12.80	1.5
44	Lights of New York	1928	Helene Costello	$3.87	$95.90	11.4
45	Lilac Time	1928	Gary Cooper	$5.58	$138.40	16.4
46	Lovin' the Ladies	1930	Richard Dix	$1.14	$48.00	5.7
47	Madame X	1929	Lionel Barrymore	$2.92	$70.40	8.4
48	Made for Love	1926	Leatrice Joy	$0.59	$16.60	2.0
49	Mammy	1930	Al Jolson	$2.43	$102.30	12.1
50	Man-Made Women	1928	H.B. Warner	$0.51	$12.60	1.5
51	Marianne	1929	Marion Davies	$2.22	$53.50	6.3
52	Midnight Madness	1928	Clive Brook	$0.46	$11.40	1.3
53	Moby Dick	1930	John Barrymore	$1.78	$75.10	8.9
54	My Friend from India	1927	Franklin Pangborn	$0.43	$11.30	1.3
55	My Man	1928	Fanny Brice	$3.66	$90.80	10.8
56	New Moon	1930	Adolphe Menjou	$1.56	$65.90	7.8
57	No No Nanette	1930	Zasu Pitts	$2.58	$108.80	12.9
58	Noah's Ark	1928	Myrna Loy	$4.56	$113.00	13.4
59	Nobody's Widow	1927	Leatrice Joy	$0.44	$11.60	1.4
60	Oh Kay!	1928	Colleen Moore	$1.58	$39.30	4.7
61	Old San Francisco	1927	Dolores Costello	$1.62	$42.60	5.1
62	On Trial	1928	Jason Robards, Sr.	$3.63	$90.00	10.7
63	On with the Show!	1929	Joe E. Brown	$5.56	$134.00	15.9
64	Red Dice	1926	Rod La Rocque	$0.64	$18.00	2.1
65	Redemption	1930	John Gilbert	$1.22	$51.60	6.1
66	Rio Rita	1929	Bert Wheeler	$5.67	$136.60	16.2
67	Risky Business	1926	Alan Hale	$0.44	$12.40	1.5
68	Sally	1929	Joe E. Brown	$3.89	$93.80	11.1
69	Say It with Songs	1929	Al Jolson	$5.51	$132.70	15.7
70	Seven Keys to Baldpate	1929	Richard Dix	$1.40	$33.60	4.0
71	Silence	1926	H.B. Warner	$0.98	$27.40	3.3
72	Sit Tight	1930	Joe E. Brown	$1.87	$75.10	8.9
73	Skyscraper	1928	William Boyd	$0.94	$23.20	2.8
74	Smiling Irish Eyes	1929	Colleen Moore	$1.96	$47.20	5.6
75	So Long Letty	1929	Charlotte Greenwood	$1.30	$31.20	3.7
76	Son of the Gods	1930	Constance Bennett	$3.29	$138.60	16.4
77	Sonny Boy	1929	Edward Everett Horton	$2.68	$64.50	7.6
78	Stand and Deliver	1928	Rod La Rocque	$0.71	$17.70	2.1
79	Street Girl	1929	Jack Oakie	$2.58	$62.00	7.4
80	Sunny	1930	Marilyn Miller	$1.65	$69.60	8.3
81	Sunny Side Up	1926	Donald Crisp	$0.53	$14.80	1.8
82	Svengali	1930	John Barrymore	$1.06	$42.60	5.1
83	Synthetic Sin	1929	Colleen Moore	$1.58	$38.20	4.5
84	Tenderloin	1928	Conrad Nagel	$2.96	$73.50	8.7
85	Tenth Avenue	1928	Phyllis Haver	$0.78	$19.30	2.3
86	The Angel of Broadway	1927	Leatrice Joy	$0.55	$14.40	1.7
87	The Better 'Ole	1926	Syd Chaplin	$3.47	$97.60	11.6
88	The Big House	1930	Robert Montgomery	$3.94	$165.90	19.7
89	The Blue Danube	1928	Leatrice Joy	$0.90	$22.30	2.7
90	The Case of Sergeant Grischa	1930	Jean Hersholt	$1.25	$52.80	6.3
91	The Clinging Vine	1926	Leatrice Joy	$0.56	$15.70	1.9
92	The Coming of Amos	1925	Rod La Rocque	$0.87	$27.10	3.2
93	The Cop	1928	William Boyd	$1.01	$25.00	3.0
94	The Country Doctor	1927	Rudolph Schildkraut	$1.03	$27.20	3.2
95	The Cruise of the Jasper B	1926	Rod La Rocque	$0.43	$12.20	1.4
96	The Cuckoos	1930	Bert Wheeler	$2.04	$85.90	10.2
97	The Fighting Eagle	1927	Rod La Rocque	$1.17	$30.70	3.6
98	The First Auto	1927	William Demarest	$0.59	$15.50	1.8
99	The Flying Fleet	1929	Ramon Novarro	$2.01	$48.30	5.7
100	The Forbidden Woman	1927	Jetta Goudal	$0.99	$26.10	3.1
101	The Jazz Singer	1927	Al Jolson	$6.85	$180.60	21.4
102	The Lash	1930	Richard Barthelmess	$1.74	$73.30	8.7
103	The Last Flight	1930	Richard Barthelmess	$1.20	$48.10	5.7
104	The Leopard Lady	1928	Alan Hale	$0.66	$16.30	1.9
105	The Life of the Party	1930	Winnie Lightner	$2.11	$88.80	10.5
106	The Lion and the Mouse	1928	Lionel Barrymore	$2.90	$71.80	8.5
107	The Main Event	1927	Vera Reynolds	$0.67	$17.80	2.1
108	The Man from Blankley's	1930	John Barrymore	$0.96	$40.30	4.8
109	The Missing Link	1927	Tom McGuire	$1.48	$38.90	4.6
110	The Pagan	1929	Ramon Novarro	$2.28	$54.90	6.5
111	The Rogue Song	1930	Laurel & Hardy	$2.54	$106.90	12.7
112	The Show of Shows	1929	John Barrymore	$4.02	$96.90	11.5
113	The Singing Fool	1928	Al Jolson	$12.74	$315.80	37.5
114	The Terror	1928	Edward Everett Horton	$4.07	$100.90	12.0
115	The Trail of '98	1928	Harry Carey	$2.80	$69.30	8.2
116	The Unholy Three	1930	Lon Chaney	$2.20	$92.90	11
117	The Vagabond Lover	1929	Marie Dressler	$2.14	$51.60	6.1
118	The Wedding Song	1925	Leatrice Joy	$0.75	$23.60	2.8
119	The Wise Wife	1927	Phyllis Haver	$0.53	$13.90	1.7
120	The Wreck of the Hesperus	1927	Alan Hale	$0.93	$24.40	2.9
121	The Yankee Clipper	1927	William Boyd	$1.00	$26.40	3.1
122	Three Faces East	1926	Clive Brook	$1.14	$32.10	3.8
123	Trader Horn	1931	Harry Carey	$4.86	$195.00	23.1
124	Under a Texas Moon	1930	Myrna Loy	$2.05	$86.50	10.3
125	Viennese Nights	1930	Walter Pidgeon	$1.06	$44.50	5.3
126	Walking Back	1928	Richard Walling	$0.57	$14.00	1.7
127	When A Man Loves	1927	John Barrymore	$2.54	$67.00	7.9
128	Young April	1926	Donald Crisp	$0.68	$19.00	2.3

Showing 1 to 128 of 128 entries

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20 thoughts on “Movie Box Office Grosses: 1925 through 1931”

S T CONSTABLE says:

October 14, 2019 at 5:01 pm

Can I PLEASE get your good advice, about how to access accurate figures, for the grosses of Rudolph Valentino, nationally and internationally?

Reply
1. Cogerson says:
  
  October 20, 2019 at 10:38 pm
  
  Hey ST Constable….Valentino’s box office grosses are very hard to find. I have done some research….and only have a few of movies in our massive database. We have “The Sheik” earning rentals of $1.50 million in 1921…which would translate to about $300 million in today’s box office grosses. We have The Son Of The Sheik (1926) earning about 820,000 in rentals and The Eagle (1925) about the same in rentals….both would be around $100 million in today’s box office. That is our entire stash of information. We have checked out several of his books…but grosses are rarely mentioned….except for statements like….”it did well”…or “it was disappointing”. I wish we could be more help. Maybe one day we will unlock the treaure of R.V.’s box office glory.
  
  Reply
  1. S T CONSTABLE says:
    
    November 1, 2019 at 4:29 pm
    
    Hi! Is there a reason your original disappeared? Here it is:
    
    Hey S T Constable. Did some further research…we have 5 of his movies completely researched. 5 is not a number we feel comfortable enough to do an UMR page on. Which “rival” site has his numbers? My sources are Variety, books and this link. http://filmindex.0catch.com/boxoffice.htm Here is some of the information we have on R.V.
    
    1. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) Actual B.O. $10,328,638.00 Adjusted B.O. $441,180,408.00 Review % 78.00% UMR Score 96.20
    2. The Sheik (1921) Actual B.O. $7,042,988 Adjusted B.O.$300,804,452 Review % 66.00% UMR Score 93.19
    3. The Son of the Sheik (1926) Actual B.O. $2,981,818.00 Adjusted B.O.$89,156,355.00 Review % 70.00 UMR Score 80.30
    The Eagle (1925) Actual B.O. $3,136,882.00 Adjusted B.O. $104,214,187.00 63.00 Review % UMR Score 78.95
    The Young Rajah (1922) Actual B.O. $240,000.00 Adjusted B.O. $9,785,454.00 Review % 69.00 UMR Score 46.78
    
    Box office numbers are domestic totals only.
    
    Thank you so much!
    
    S. T.
    
    Reply
    1. Cogerson says:
      
      November 2, 2019 at 1:03 pm
      
      Hey S.T. I am not sure what you mean about my “original disappeared”. Your original comment and my return comment was on the “Request page”/ https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/request-hotline/
      
      This is actually probably a better place…plus I see I need to update the page as we have pages on 1929, 1930 and 1931.
      
      Reply
Dan says:

March 14, 2016 at 9:19 pm

Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were a comedy team at RKO from 1929 to about 1937 when Woolsey died. Their 1933 film Diplomaniacs actually made more at the box office than the Marx Brothers similar Duck Soup (same year, similar plotlines) but that film along with them are forgotten now. I believe Betty Grable is in a couple of their films. AMC used to run all their RKO films in the 90’s (Turner owns the rights). They made one for Columbia, So This is Africa and their 1932 Girl Crazy was kept hidden for years due to the Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney MGM remake in 43.

Reply
1. Cogerson says:
  
  March 15, 2016 at 1:14 pm
  
  Thanks Dan….I did a quick IMDb search on them…Wheeler on made 24 full length movies while Woolsey only has 22. It makes me curious if they were successful enough to crack my adjusted 1 billion duo club https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/top-15-screen-duos-of-all-time/
  
  RKO has great records when it comes to box office grosses…..so I am adding them to my notebook of subjects to research. I will have to check out Diplonmaniacs. I think they did a great job of keeping their Girl Crazy hidden.
  
  Thanks for sharing so much information. I like learning new stuff about the movie business.
  
  Reply
Dan says:

March 14, 2016 at 2:04 pm

Now Wheeler and Woolsey can be done. Have almost all their movies.

Reply
1. Cogerson says:
  
  March 14, 2016 at 3:50 pm
  
  Hey Dan…I noticed Wheeler’s name popping up….I just am not aware of who he is. Thanks for checking out this table…and for the comment.
  
  Reply

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