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 | 50 | 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.
I have no idea if the data shown here is accurate, but the boxoffice figures that have been adjusted for inflation are staggering.
Hey j michael….I feel pretty good about the accuracy of these numbers…..and yes they are staggering.
A note about “Romance on the High Seas”. I have in front of me Variety dated January 5, 1949 listing the top moneymakers of 1948. “Romance on the High Seas” is listed at number 62 with RENTALS (Not gross) returned to the studio of $ 2,100,000 which would indicate gross of about 4 million. It was Warner Brothers 9th largest moneymaking film of 1948 per Variety.
Hey Paul….you were 100% correct. I fixed the score and Romance on the High Seas really moved up the rankings….from 35th to 16th….thanks very much for bringing my mistake to my attention…it is truly appreciated.
Cogerson; when I was growing up, Doris Day was probably my favourite actress, and I really became quite fond of and attracted to the characters she played which seemed to have an innocence and goodness about them which has been largely lost over more cynical recent decades. Her comedies were just pure fun. I guess it’s films like ‘Pillow Talk’ which portray her at her best, and I remember I loved ‘The Glass Bottom Boat’ when I first saw it ( and I loved the theme music too), though this one didn’t seem quite so funny when I saw it more recently after a long gap. I’m not a great fan of musicals, but ‘Calamity Jane’ is a classic, and possibly my all-time favourite musical thanks to the portrayal in the lead role of Doris Day.
And speaking of music, for me Doris Day remains one of the greatest of all female singers. I love her renditions of movie songs like ‘Three Coins in the Fountain’, ‘Secret Love’, ‘Que Sera Sera’ and – best of all – ‘The Black Hills of Dakota’.
She remains one of the greatest entertainers in history, and a much loved film and music star, so thanks for this tribute. Alun.
Hey Alun….thanks for sharing all of those memories…excellent comment. I just recently saw Calamity Jane….she is very impressive in the role. Thanks for the visit.
DD is my dearest singer and actress. I own copies of all 39 movies, all shows and almost all songs – which are available.
My top list
1. Love me or leave me
2. Calamity Jane
3. With six you get eggroll
4. Lullaby of Broadway
5. Tea for two
6. Pillow talk
7. Young man with the horn
8. I’ll see you in my dreams
9. Pajama game
10. The thrill of it all
11. Teacher’s pet
12. No send me flower
She is good in all her movies, but some I don’t like – It’s a great feeling, Where were you, Caprice, Starlift.
Today I found your site and like it.
Hey Nada….glad you found my Doris Day hub….since writing this hub I have seen many more of her movies…..looking at your favorites I have seen 4 of them in the last 6 months and 6 of them in total. I want to see Young Man With The Horn but have not been able to locate it….she and Cagney were excellent in Love Me or Leave Me.
As for the ones you did not like….they all rank pretty low in my rankings…although I am not sure what happened to the movie Starlift…I will have to do some research…..thanks for the visit and the awesome comment….they are both greatly appreciated.
Doris Day – Hands down my favorite actress. She’s not the greatest actress in the world, but definitely the best in my book. She also had a difficult personal life and muscled through it with grace. Great page!
Hey Glimmer Twin Fan….thanks for the visit….I was very surprised to read about all her troubles when I was researching this movie page…..but as you say she was able to muscle her way through it….and she is still going strong to this day. I appreciate the comment and the compliment