Want to know the best Doris Day movies? How about the worst Doris Day movies? Curious about Doris Day’s box office grosses or which Doris Day movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Doris Day movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place ….. because we have all of that information.
Every April 3rd, my wife and Doris Day (1922-2019) share birthdays (with Marlon Brando and Eddie Murphy as well). Doris Day will turned 91 this year and she is still going strong…..as is my wife. Doris Day began her career as a big band singer in 1939. Her popularity began to rise after her first hit recording, Sentimental Journey in 1945. Four years later, Day started her movie career with the movie Romance on the High Seas. She would become one of the biggest movies stars of all time.
Her IMDb page shows 41 acting credits from 1948-1973. This page will rank 39 Doris Day movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances were not were not included in the rankings.
Doris Day Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Doris Day Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In The Following Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Column one – the link will take you to that movie’s trailer
- Sort by Doris Day’s co-stars of her movies.
- Sort Doris Day movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Doris Day movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Doris Day 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 Doris Day movie received.
- Sort Doris Day 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.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Pillow Talk (1959) AA Best Actress Nom |
Rock Hudson & Tony Randall |
22.20 | 399.4 | 399.40 | 6 | 83 | 05 / 01 | 98.8 | |
| 2 | The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) | James Stewart & Directed by Alfred Hitchcock |
11.70 | 229.6 | 229.60 | 21 | 81 | 01 / 01 | 98.0 | |
| 3 | Lover Come Back (1961) | Rock Hudson | 24.30 | 353.8 | 353.80 | 7 | 79 | 01 / 00 | 97.3 | |
| 4 | Love Me or Leave Me (1955) | James Cagney | 11.50 | 239.0 | 333.60 | 23 | 69 | 06 / 01 | 96.5 | |
| 5 | The Thrill of It All (1963) | James Garner | 15.70 | 197.0 | 197.00 | 14 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 95.7 | |
| 5 | That Touch of Mink (1962) | Cary Grant | 24.30 | 349.1 | 349.10 | 5 | 69 | 03 / 00 | 95.5 | |
| 7 | Move Over, Darling (1963) | James Garner | 17.40 | 218.5 | 218.50 | 9 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 95.0 | |
| 9 | On Moonlight Bay (1951) | Gordon MacRae | 7.80 | 168.7 | 229.80 | 18 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
| 10 | Young at Heart (1954) | Frank Sinatra | 7.10 | 167.4 | 167.40 | 42 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 94.1 | |
| 9 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) | David Niven | 15.20 | 236.9 | 321.70 | 11 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 94.0 | |
| 11 | The Pajama Game (1957) | John Raitt | 7.70 | 147.5 | 219.90 | 26 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 91.8 | |
| 12 | Midnight Lace (1960) | Myrna Loy & Rex Harrison |
10.00 | 156.2 | 156.20 | 22 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 91.8 | |
| 13 | Calamity Jane (1953) | Howard Keel | 7.60 | 136.1 | 204.50 | 30 | 73 | 03 / 01 | 91.2 | |
| 14 | Teacher's Pet (1958) | Clark Gable | 7.70 | 138.6 | 191.00 | 28 | 73 | 02 / 00 | 90.8 | |
| 15 | Send Me No Flowers (1964) | Rock Hudson | 12.90 | 147.4 | 147.40 | 15 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 90.8 | |
| 16 | Romance on the High Seas (1948) | Jack Carson | 5.80 | 156.0 | 228.70 | 54 | 63 | 02 / 00 | 89.3 | |
| 17 | Tea for Two (1950) | Gordon MacRae | 6.60 | 149.0 | 234.30 | 26 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 88.6 | |
| 18 | I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) | Danny Thomas | 7.00 | 150.2 | 196.90 | 30 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 86.6 | |
| 19 | Lullaby of Broadway (1951) | Gene Nelson | 6.00 | 129.5 | 190.00 | 39 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 86.4 | |
| 20 | The West Point Story (1950) | James Cagney | 6.10 | 137.7 | 185.40 | 39 | 61 | 01 / 00 | 86.1 | |
| 21 | April in Paris (1952) | Ray Bolger | 7.60 | 149.7 | 193.80 | 21 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 85.7 | |
| 22 | My Dream Is Yours (1949) | Jack Carson | 5.50 | 138.9 | 190.90 | 47 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 85.5 | |
| 21 | By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) | Gordon MacRae | 5.70 | 102.7 | 143.90 | 53 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 85.0 | |
| 24 | Young Man with a Horn (1950) | Kirk Douglas | 4.70 | 105.3 | 149.00 | 64 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 84.9 | |
| 25 | The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) | Rod Taylor | 11.50 | 112.7 | 112.70 | 25 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 82.1 | |
| 26 | It's a Great Feeling (1949) | Jack Carson | 5.70 | 143.4 | 188.90 | 42 | 51 | 01 / 00 | 82.1 | |
| 27 | With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) | Brian Keith | 14.30 | 117.6 | 117.60 | 26 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 81.2 | |
| 28 | Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) | Jimmy Durante | 7.10 | 102.7 | 164.30 | 36 | 61 | 01 / 00 | 80.4 | |
| 29 | Do Not Disturb (1965) | Rod Taylor | 10.40 | 110.0 | 110.00 | 22 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 80.0 | |
| 30 | Storm Warning (1950) | Ginger Rogers & Ronald Reagan |
3.60 | 80.2 | 80.20 | 93 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 78.7 | |
| 31 | The Winning Team (1952) | Ronald Reagan | 4.00 | 78.3 | 87.40 | 86 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 75.8 | |
| 32 | It Happened To Jane (1959) | Jack Lemmon | 4.90 | 87.3 | 87.30 | 51 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 75.4 | |
| 33 | Lucky Me (1954) | Robert Cummings | 4.60 | 108.9 | 168.10 | 62 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 75.2 | |
| 34 | Starlift (1951) | Gordon MacRae | 4.80 | 104.4 | 141.80 | 64 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 73.9 | |
| 35 | The Tunnel of Love (1958) | Richard Widmark | 5.00 | 89.8 | 138.10 | 50 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 73.0 | |
| 36 | Julie (1956) | Louis Jordan | 4.00 | 79.2 | 145.60 | 77 | 54 | 02 / 00 | 68.6 | |
| 37 | Caprice (1967) | Richard Harris | 5.00 | 44.5 | 44.50 | 49 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 46.7 | |
| 39 | Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968) | Robert Morse | 10.00 | 82.3 | 82.30 | 37 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 45.6 | |
| 38 | The Ballad of Josie (1967) | Peter Graves | 1.30 | 11.8 | 11.80 | 126 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 41.7 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Doris Day Table
- Twenty-three Doris Day movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 58.97% of her movies listed. Pillow Talk (1959) was her biggest hit.
- An average Doris Day movie grossed $117.40 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 28 of Doris Day’s movies are rated as good movies…or 71.79% of her movies. Pillow Talk (1959) was her highest rated movie while Caprice (1967) was her lowest rated movie.
- Thirteen Doris Day movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 33.33% of her movies.
- Four Doris Day movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 10.25% of her movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00. 30 Doris Day movies scored higher that average…. or 76.92% of her movies. Pillow Talk (1959) got the the highest UMR Score while Where Were You When The Lights Went Out (1968) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Doris Day
1. Doris Day (1924-) was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2. At the suggestion of orchestra leader, Barney Rapp, she adopted the stage surname Day. He got Day from the fact that he admired her rendition of the song “Day After Day”.
3. During the location filming of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), when she saw how camels, goats and other “animal extras” in a marketplace scene were being treated. From that day she began her lifelong commitment to preventing animal abuse.
4. Doris Day was nominated for one acting Oscar® nomination…1959’s Pillow Talk.
5. Doris Day was nominated for five acting Golden Globe® nominations…1958’s The Tunnel of Love, 1959’s Pillow Talk, 1960’s Midnight Lace, 1962’s Billy Rose’s Jumbo and 1963’s Move Over Darling.
6. During the peak of her movie career (1959-1964), she was named the number one movie star…. four times.
7. Doris Day has often said Calamity Jane (1953) as her personal favorite of the 39 films she appeared in.
8. Doris Day briefly dated Ronald Reagan.
9. Doris Day was the first choice to play Mrs. Robinson in 1967’s The Graduate.
10 Doris Day She has two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One for music career and one for movie career.
For one of the best Doris Day pages out there….check out The Magic of Doris Day.
Steve Lensman’s Doris Day You Tube Video
Our Doris Day Box Office Only Page.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Midnight Lace! Haven’t seen it in years and years Got to see it before I go!
Hey Chris Miller…..well hopeful you have lots of time to see it before you go…….thanks for stopping by and commenting.
I love all of Doris’ movies, and these are some of my favorites: Love Me or Leave Me, Pillow Talk, Send Me No Flowers, Lover Come Back, Move Over Darling, The Thrill of It All, Romance on the High Seas, That Touch of Mink, Do Not Disturb, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Midnight Lace, Julie and Calamity Jane. Pillow Talk is my absolute favorite.
I like almost all of your favories Patricia, with the exception of That Touch of Mink….even though I like both Cary and Doris….never really enjoyed that one at all. Maybe I will see the light in my next viewing…lol.
DORIS ALL WAYS THE BEST A GREAT STAR AND ACTRESS NEVER FORGOTTEN
Hey Lola….she will never be forgotten….she is one of the last connections to the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Hello, I just watched some of the trailers – among them “Julie”, Young Man With A Horn, and Love Me Or Leave Me, great seeing them – Julie has not been on TV on TCM but would love to see it again. Thanks for the entertainment – will watch more later on. Love Me Or Leave Me was on a couple of months ago and I watched it once again. Doris Day made some very good movies. She had some great leading men as well including ROCK HUDSON, right!!! THANK YOU.
Hey Bern1960…..glad you are enjoying this latest update. I have really enjoyed adding the trailers. In some cases it is actually the first time I have seen any part of the movie…even though I have been aware of the title for a very long time. Julie is a great example of what I am talking about…..thanks the return visit.
There is no such thing as a ‘bad’ Doris Day movie! All of her movies are entertaining, filled with great acting, and great talent. Doris Day could sing, dance, be silly, be comical, and be a damsel in danger and distress. Those of us who love her and have collected all of her films do so because we admire her talents and her always cheerful smile. Thank you, Doris Jenmary Day, for giving all of us unlimited hours of entertainment through the years. We all love you so much!
Great comment Danette….I agree with it 100%.