Dorothy Dandridge (1922-1965) was an Oscar® winning actress, singer and dancer. She is perhaps one of the most famous African-American actresses to have a successful Hollywood career and the first nominated for an Oscar® for Best Actress for her performance in 1954’s Carmen Jones. Her IMDb page shows 36 acting credits from 1935 to 1962. This page ranks 19 Dorothy Dandridge movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts and her movies not released in North America theaters are not included in the rankings.
Dorothy Dandridge Movies Ranked By Combination of Box Office, Reviews and Awards (UMR Score) *Classic UMR Table (the one with all the stats is the second table)
CreditRank
Movie (Year)
UMR Co-Star Links
UMR Score
S
CreditRank Movie (Year) UMR Co-Star Links UMR Score S
1
Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
Sonja Henie &
John Payne97.4
2
Porgy and Bess (1959)
Sidney Poitier
93.8
3
Carmen Jones (1954)
AA Best Actress NomHarry Belafonte
93.6
4
Island in the Sun (1957)
James Mason &
Joan Fontaine90.1
5
Irene (1940)
Ray Milland
76.5
6
Hit Parade of 1943 (1943)
Susan Hayward
74.6
7
Sundown (1941)
Gene Tierney &
George Sanders71.0
8
Bahama Passage (1941)
Sterling Hayden &
Flora Robson66.4
9
Going Places (1938)
Dick Powell
65.5
10
The Decks Ran Red (1958)
James Mason
63.1
11
Remains To Be Seen (1953)
June Allyson &
Van Johnson60.2
12
Moment of Danger/Malaga (1960)
Trevor Howard
57.7
12
The Harlem Globetrotters (1951)
Harlem Globetrotters
57.0
14
Lady from Louisana (1941)
John Wayne
53.6
15
Bright Road (1953)
Harry Belafonte
47.4
15
Tamango (1958)
Curd Jürgens
44.6
18
Tarzan's Peril (1951)
Lex Barker &
Tarzan Movies44.5
16
Atlantic City (1944)
Constance Moore
43.8
19
Malaga (1960)
Trevor Howard
37.1
19
Drums of the Congo (1942)
Ona Munson
8.9
Dorothy Dandridge 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 Dorothy Dandridge movies by co-stars of her movies.
- Sort Dorothy Dandridge movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Dorothy Dandridge movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Dorothy Dandridge movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Dorothy Dandridge movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Dorothy Dandridge movie won.
- Sort Dorothy Dandridge 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 button to make this page very interactive.
| 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 | Sun Valley Serenade (1941) | Sonja Henie & John Payne |
7.30 | 279.4 | 279.40 | 9 | 77 | 03 / 00 | 97.4 | |
| 2 | Porgy and Bess (1959) | Sidney Poitier | 8.30 | 148.9 | 148.90 | 28 | 77 | 04 / 01 | 93.8 | |
| 3 | Carmen Jones (1954) AA Best Actress Nom |
Harry Belafonte | 7.10 | 167.4 | 167.40 | 40 | 73 | 02 / 00 | 93.6 | |
| 4 | Island in the Sun (1957) | James Mason & Joan Fontaine |
14.30 | 275.0 | 275.00 | 7 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 90.1 | |
| 5 | Irene (1940) | Ray Milland | 2.40 | 93.0 | 178.20 | 80 | 58 | 01 / 00 | 76.5 | |
| 6 | Hit Parade of 1943 (1943) | Susan Hayward | 3.60 | 128.8 | 128.80 | 87 | 44 | 02 / 00 | 74.6 | |
| 7 | Sundown (1941) | Gene Tierney & George Sanders |
2.80 | 108.5 | 159.70 | 90 | 46 | 03 / 00 | 71.0 | |
| 8 | Bahama Passage (1941) | Sterling Hayden & Flora Robson |
1.30 | 51.4 | 51.40 | 154 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 66.4 | |
| 9 | Going Places (1938) | Dick Powell | 1.90 | 75.1 | 106.80 | 123 | 54 | 01 / 00 | 65.5 | |
| 10 | The Decks Ran Red (1958) | James Mason | 2.30 | 41.8 | 41.80 | 95 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 63.1 | |
| 11 | Remains To Be Seen (1953) | June Allyson & Van Johnson |
2.10 | 37.9 | 51.10 | 165 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 60.2 | |
| 12 | Moment of Danger/Malaga (1960) | Trevor Howard | 1.20 | 19.0 | 19.00 | 120 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 57.7 | |
| 12 | The Harlem Globetrotters (1951) | Harlem Globetrotters | 1.80 | 39.6 | 39.60 | 161 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 57.0 | |
| 14 | Lady from Louisana (1941) | John Wayne | 1.20 | 46.2 | 46.20 | 161 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 53.6 | |
| 15 | Bright Road (1953) | Harry Belafonte | 0.50 | 9.7 | 13.70 | 229 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 47.4 | |
| 15 | Tamango (1958) | Curd Jürgens | 0.90 | 16.0 | 16.00 | 146 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 44.6 | |
| 18 | Tarzan's Peril (1951) | Lex Barker & Tarzan Movies |
2.10 | 46.2 | 103.20 | 149 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 44.5 | |
| 16 | Atlantic City (1944) | Constance Moore | 0.50 | 18.2 | 18.20 | 164 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 43.8 | |
| 19 | Malaga (1960) | Trevor Howard | 0.40 | 5.5 | 5.50 | 145 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 37.1 | |
| 19 | Drums of the Congo (1942) | Ona Munson | 0.60 | 22.7 | 22.70 | 203 | 39 | 00 / 00 | 8.9 |
Halle Berry is wonderful as Dorothy Dandridge in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Pretty sure she won some awards for that performance. Dorothy had a hard life. Her movies and her movie are her legacy,
Hey Julia….I will have to watch Berry playing Dandridge…I vaguely remember when that came out. Good points about her life and legacy. Thanks for stopping by.
I adore this woman. Unfortunately, due to her skin tone at the time she never received the admiration that she deserved. She was one of the most beautiful and graceful actresses I’ve seen. Love this tribute to her.
Hey Tina. You make some excellent points about Dandridge. Glad you like our Dorothy tribute. Thanks for stopping by.
Dorothy Dandridge eh… I’ve seen clips of her films in various shows and documentaries.
Looking at the chart the only film I’ve seen is Tarzan’s Peril. I have all the old Tarzan classics on DVD. Island in the Sun may be worth a look, James Mason!
Well that’s it. Bob has more to say on the subject in his post. Vote Up!
Hey Steve…..well your 1 tops my total of 0. I am attempting to do a new page a day for the month of November. So far 8 new pages in 8.33 days. Anyway…last night I saw that today was her birthday, and I figured she would be an easy one to do. But had to hit the Harrison Reports for some of her older movies (1930s and 1940s). One day I will see Carmen Jones. I have never seen her John Wayne movie in capacity…not VHS, BETA, DVD, Blu-Ray or HD. Thanks for checking out our latest page.
HI MASTER NO 2 Dorothy came to my attention in the 1953’s Bright Road which was on the 2nd half of a double bill over here but drew me in as it was the movie debut of Harry Belafonte whose singing I liked. His hit record of 1953 Matilda rang in my ears for some time.
Yet Dorothy had been around since 1935 in movies and had for example appeared as a “Jungle Queen” in a 1951 Tarzan film as your table mentions and even before that had performed for example uncredited roles in my Alan’s Lucky Jordan and Abbott & Costello’s Ride em Cowboy both in 1942.
***Pity you couldn’t have got a gross for her 1935 debut because in your case it was a “close to home” feature called Teacher’s Beau starring Our Gang! [It was the 136th Our Gang short movie.]
I must have watched reruns of those two 1942 films [especially the Ladd one] umpteen times in the very early 50s and never noticed Dorothy because in those days black actors/actresses [with the exception of the likes of Paul Robson and Dooley Wilson of Casablanca] didn’t tend to get a high profile.
In my opinion that doesn’t say much about us back then especially when one looks at the wealth of talent that has emerged down the subsequent years from the coloured community such as Poitier, Eddie Murphy, Samuel l Jackson, my own particular idols Morg and Denzel and Whoppi whom you have also just profiled of course Dorothy herself.
She will probably be most remembered for the 3 box office blockbusters in your top 5 highest grossers above, Island in the Sun, Porgy and Bess and Carmen Jones and after those she didn’t really have too much of a chance to consolidate her success as she sadly died prematurely of a drug overdose at aged 42 in 1965.
Therefore the last movie in which I saw her was 1958’s The Decks Ran Red which as you faithfully record above also featured her Island in the Sun co-star James Mason and which was on the 2nd half of a double bill over here. I am delighted that you have given Dorothy a new page on the anniversary of her 96th birthday. “Voted Up” Nice little montage of b/w images of Dorothy above which I liked
HI BRUCE
Did you spot the deliberate mistake? Teacher’s Beau was released in 1935 whereas I stated Dorothy’s debut was in 1936. I have to give you the opportunity to be right and me wrong SOME of the TIME! as you correctly record her debut as being in 1935.
Anyway maybe if you get a moment you would change my two 1936 references to read 1935. Many thanks
Hey Bob…those errors have been fixed…I do not know enough about this subject to be able to spot your deliberate errors….maybe on Caine, Willis or Grant. But my Dandridge knowledge is very very limited.
Hey Bob
1. Thanks for such a detailed comment on Dorothy Dandridge. Joel did not do a breakdown on her career….so I dub you “my expert on D.D.”.
2. Interesting that Harry Belafonte being the reason you discovered D.D. In my limited knowledge of her….those two are connected.
3. I almost included those two movies you watched all the time….but decided against doing so….since IMDb lists it as a cameo. I generally follow my cameo role….with a few exceptions.
4. Times have changed a lot since those movie times….it is amazing that she got that Oscar nomination back then….. the cards were stacked against her and all the African-American thespians.
5. Wikipedia actually says “she died under mysterious conditions:…..surprised that is not talked about more….Hollywood usually loves a good mystery.
6. It looks like her career was stalled out before her untimely passing….her last movie Marco Polo got shutdown before it was finished….and the one before that was a dud.
7. Glad you like the photo and the birthday girl page….Happy Birthday Dorothy Dandridge.
HI BRUCE
Thanks for the comprehensive feedback. You [like Steve] deserve great credit for the deep and broad range of diverse stars to whom you have given pages, including not just the recognised Legends and other popular major stars but deserving supporting actors, prestige actors/actresses with no great box office worth, the coloured community – and even President Trump!
Yes, as he contributed to movies it was not unreasonable that he should be given recognition for that just as Ronnie has always been for HIS film output, whatever each individual thinks one way or the other about the politics of either them.
I don’t go into politics much in public but the one thing I do hold against The Donald is that actually claimed in an interview where sport came up that he is so fit and athletic that he could thrash my Roger at tennis – the nerve! Speaking of Roger I see that for the 16th year in succession he has been voted the No 1 favourite of worldwide tennis fans – the Duke Wayne of tennis? .
Thanks for amending that error for me – what would I do without you?!
Hey Bob…..thanks for the kind words…..hopefully we are building a pretty diverse website……if a person makes a lot of movies….then there is a great chance that person no matter race, sex, religious beliefs or political leanings can get an UMR page.
So today is Dorothy Dandridge’s 96th birthday. So to remember her….we quickly put together this UMR page together. 19 of her movies ranked Best to Worst. Happy birthday to one of Hollywood’s ground breaking stars.