Want to know the best Dorothy Lamour movies? How about the worst Dorothy Lamour movies? Curious about Dorothy Lamour box office grosses or which Dorothy Lamour movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Dorothy Lamour movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Dorothy Lamour (1914-1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remember for her “Road to” movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Her IMDb page shows 74 acting credits from 1933-1987. This page will rank 52 Dorothy Lamour movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances, shorts and uncredited roles were not included in the rankings. This page comes from a request by Søren.
Dorothy Lamour 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 Lamour movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Dorothy Lamour movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Dorothy Lamour movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Dorothy Lamour 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 Dorothy Lamour movie received.
- Sort Dorothy Lamour 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.
- Blue link in Co-star column takes you to that star’s UMR movie page
| 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 | The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) AA Best Picture Win |
Charlton Heston & James Stewart |
32.90 | 645.2 | 645.20 | 1 | 64 | 05 / 02 | 99.3 | |
| 2 | Road to Utopia (1945) | Bob Hope & Bing Crosby |
12.50 | 396.3 | 396.30 | 6 | 82 | 01 / 00 | 97.9 | |
| 3 | Road to Morocco (1942) | Bob Hope & Bing Crosby |
11.40 | 424.8 | 424.80 | 7 | 80 | 02 / 00 | 97.8 | |
| 4 | Road to Rio (1947) | Bob Hope & Bing Crosby |
12.20 | 354.3 | 354.30 | 7 | 80 | 01 / 00 | 97.6 | |
| 5 | Wild Harvest (1947) | Alan Ladd & Robert Preston |
6.90 | 200.8 | 200.80 | 37 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 97.5 | |
| 6 | Road to Singapore (1940) | Bob Hope & Bing Crosby |
4.70 | 181.5 | 181.50 | 18 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 96.0 | |
| 6 | Dixie (1943) | Bing Crosby | 8.90 | 318.6 | 318.60 | 13 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 95.2 | |
| 7 | My Favorite Brunette (1947) | Bob Hope | 8.40 | 244.1 | 244.10 | 26 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 95.1 | |
| 9 | Road to Zanzibar (1941) | Bob Hope & Bing Crosby |
4.20 | 163.6 | 163.60 | 41 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 94.4 | |
| 10 | The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) | Bob Hope & W.C. Fields |
5.20 | 207.6 | 207.60 | 27 | 63 | 01 / 01 | 93.8 | |
| 11 | Caught in The Draft (1941) | Bob Hope | 7.10 | 273.2 | 273.20 | 10 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 93.8 | |
| 12 | The Hurricane (1937) | Thomas Mitchell & Directed by John Ford |
4.40 | 182.4 | 182.40 | 30 | 69 | 01 / 00 | 93.7 | |
| 13 | Duffy's Tavern (1945) | Betty Hutton & Paulette Goddard |
7.70 | 242.9 | 242.90 | 34 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 93.3 | |
| 15 | Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942) | Jack Haley | 5.70 | 212.4 | 212.40 | 31 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 93.2 | |
| 15 | Variety Girl (1947) | Alan Ladd & Paulette Goddard |
9.70 | 283.5 | 283.50 | 18 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 92.0 | |
| 17 | Rainbow Island (1944) | Eddie Bracken | 5.40 | 182.1 | 182.10 | 64 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 91.8 | |
| 17 | Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) | Betty Hutton & Alan Ladd |
8.30 | 308.0 | 308.00 | 13 | 55 | 02 / 00 | 91.4 | |
| 18 | High, Wide and Handsome (1937) | Irene Dunne & Randolph Scott |
4.20 | 174.1 | 174.10 | 37 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 91.2 | |
| 19 | The Fleet's in (1942) | William Holden & Betty Hutton |
5.00 | 185.9 | 185.90 | 45 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 90.7 | |
| 20 | Road to Bali (1952) Cameo Role |
Bob Hope & Bing Crosby |
8.30 | 163.3 | 163.30 | 15 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 90.2 | |
| 22 | Aloma of the South Seas (1941) | Jon Hall | 4.80 | 186.3 | 186.30 | 31 | 56 | 02 / 00 | 90.2 | |
| 22 | Swing High, Swing Low (1937) | Carole Lombard & Anthony Quinn |
4.00 | 165.8 | 165.80 | 43 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 90.0 | |
| 25 | Man About Town (1939) | Jack Benny & Edward Arnold |
3.80 | 145.5 | 145.50 | 53 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 86.8 | |
| 24 | Spawn of the North (1938) | Henry Fonda & John Barrymore |
3.40 | 134.9 | 134.90 | 55 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 86.7 | |
| 23 | They Got Me Covered (1943) | Bob Hope | 6.20 | 223.9 | 343.50 | 40 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 86.6 | |
| 26 | And The Angels Sing (1944) | Fred MacMurray & Betty Hutton |
3.50 | 119.5 | 119.50 | 91 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 85.5 | |
| 27 | A Medal for Benny (1945) | Arturo de Córdova | 4.00 | 125.5 | 125.50 | 85 | 62 | 02 / 00 | 85.1 | |
| 28 | Donovan's Reef (1963) | John Wayne & Lee Marvin |
8.90 | 111.0 | 204.10 | 33 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 84.4 | |
| 30 | St. Louis Blues (1939) | Lloyd Nolan | 3.20 | 123.9 | 123.90 | 65 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 82.9 | |
| 30 | Johnny Apollo (1940) | Tyrone Power | 2.90 | 110.0 | 110.00 | 54 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 82.7 | |
| 31 | Disputed Passage (1939) | Akim Tamiroff | 3.00 | 116.5 | 116.50 | 74 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 82.1 | |
| 32 | Chad Hanna (1940) | Henry Fonda & Linda Darnell |
3.60 | 137.5 | 137.50 | 39 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 80.5 | |
| 33 | The Jungle Princess (1936) | Ray Milland | 2.10 | 89.3 | 89.30 | 99 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 78.7 | |
| 34 | Her Jungle Love (1938) | Ray Milland | 1.80 | 71.9 | 71.90 | 127 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 77.2 | |
| 35 | The Road to Hong Kong (1962) | Bob Hope & Bing Crosby |
7.40 | 106.8 | 106.80 | 35 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 76.6 | |
| 36 | Tropic Holiday (1938) | Ray Milland | 2.80 | 112.6 | 112.60 | 78 | 51 | 01 / 00 | 75.2 | |
| 38 | The Lucky Stiff (1949) | Brian Donlevy & Claire Trevor |
3.10 | 76.6 | 76.60 | 114 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 73.1 | |
| 37 | Moon Over Burma (1940) | Robert Preston | 1.70 | 64.6 | 64.60 | 124 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 72.7 | |
| 39 | On Our Merry Way (1948) | Henry Fonda & James Stewart |
4.10 | 109.9 | 164.00 | 87 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 72.1 | |
| 40 | Slightly French (1949) | Don Ameche | 3.80 | 94.2 | 94.20 | 94 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 70.9 | |
| 42 | Typhoon (1940) | Robert Preston | 1.90 | 71.7 | 71.70 | 109 | 56 | 01 / 00 | 65.9 | |
| 42 | Manhandled (1949) | Sterling Hayden & Dan Duryea |
2.40 | 59.1 | 59.10 | 133 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 65.0 | |
| 44 | Masquerade in Mexico (1945) | Arturo de Córdova | 1.80 | 56.8 | 56.80 | 121 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 57.6 | |
| 45 | Lulu Belle (1948) | George Montgomery | 2.00 | 52.8 | 52.80 | 142 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 56.5 | |
| 43 | The Last Train from Madrid (1937) | Lew Ayres | 0.40 | 16.4 | 16.40 | 206 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 56.3 | |
| 46 | The Girl from Manhattan (1948) | Charles Laughton | 2.50 | 67.7 | 67.70 | 122 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 55.1 | |
| 47 | Thrill of a Lifetime (1937) | Betty Grable | 0.80 | 32.9 | 32.90 | 181 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 47.0 | |
| 48 | Creepshow 2 (1987) | George Kennedy & Stephen King |
14.00 | 38.6 | 38.60 | 71 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 32.7 | |
| 49 | Riding High (1943) | Dick Powell | 0.90 | 33.4 | 33.40 | 148 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 25.7 | |
| 50 | Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) | Victor Mature & Walter Pidgeon |
3.60 | 18.4 | 18.40 | 94 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 22.9 | |
| 51 | The Phynx (1970) | Richard Pryor & Maureen O'Sullivan |
0.00 | 0.3 | 0.30 | 188 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 7.0 | |
| 52 | Pajama Party (1964) | Buster Keaton & Tommy Kirk |
2.40 | 27.9 | 27.90 | 97 | 25 | 00 / 00 | 1.6 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Dorothy Lamour Table
- Twenty-six Dorothy Lamour movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 50.00% of her movies listed. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) was her biggest box office hit.
- An average Dorothy Lamour movie grossed $124.60 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 31 Dorothy Lamour movies are rated as good movies…or 59.61% of her movies. Road to Utopia (1945) is her highest rated movie while Pajama Party (1964) is her lowest rated movie.
- Eleven Dorothy Lamour movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 21.11% of her movies.
- Two Dorothy Lamour movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 3.84% of her movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 40.00. 33 Dorothy Lamour movies scored higher that average….or 63.46% of her movies. Road to Utopia (1945) got the the highest UMR Score while Pajama Party (1964) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Dorothy Lamour
1. Mary Leta Dorothy Kaumeyer was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1914.
2. Dorothy Lamour ‘s parents’ marriage lasted only a few years. Her mother married for the second time to Clarence Lambour, whose surname Dorothy later adopted and modified as her stage name.
3. In 1931 Dorothy Lamour won the Miss New Orleans beauty contest.
4. Dorothy Lamour was discovered by orchestra leader Herbie Kay. Kay spotted her in performance at a Chicago talent show and hired her as a singer. This led to radio work, which then led her to a 7 year movie contract with Paramount Pictures.
5. According to Joel Hirschhorn’s Rating The Movie Stars book…..1947’s My Favorite Brunette was Dorothy Lamour’s best performance.
6. During World War II, Dorothy Lamour toured the country, selling in excess of $300 million worth of war bonds.
7. Dorothy Lamour was married twice. She had two children. Hollywood legend says she and J. Edgar Hoover were involved in a romantic relationship.
8. Dorothy Lamour’s nicknames were The Beautiful One, The Sarong Girl and Dottie.
9. Counting cameo roles she appeared in 12 movies with Bob Hope and 10 movies with Bing Crosby.
8. Check out Dorothy Lamour‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
STEVE
1 Since the appearance of the Work Horse’s [WH for short] comprehensive profile of Dorothy I have been hoping to see a video from you and this one has been well worth the wait and is a fine 9.3/10 companion piece to WH’s s page. I have already offered some trivia on the subject of Dottie in my posts dated 4 Dec 16 and 15 March 17 on this page so I’ll go straight into comments on the video.
2 Obviously in any meaningful appreciation of the Lamour career the 7 Road movies will be a prominent topic. Wisely you have bypassed the awful Road to Hong Kong but included all of the other 6. Your overall average for those 6 is 70.6% compared with WH’s average of 77.9% for the same half dozen. WH has 4 Road movies in his overall Top 5 whereas you have only 3. Moreover he has as his No 4 for critic/audience Wild Harvest my own favourite Lamour film because Laddie is her co-star so how can I object to its inclusion? On the other hand your No 4 is The Hurricane a very respectable choice and even if I objected to No 1 Greatest Show on Earth I wouldn’t dare! WH has no such qualms though as he has that movie way down at No 18 with a 64% rating. What HAS he got against our Chuck?
3 There is again a glut of fine posters in the video and I personally favour Manhandled, Beyond the Blue Horizon, Johnny Apollo, Typhoon, Dixie and the very striking one from Donovan’s Reef in which the Duke in action is very prominent. Best of the stills for my money are the opening coloured one from Aloma of the South Seas, Laddie and Lamour from Wild Harvest, Dottie, Bob Hope and gun from Caught in the Draft and the amazing one from The Hurricane As two of my idols Laddie and Duke are featured in the pictorials I’m sure you will appreciate how much I enjoyed the viewing so thanks.
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, rating and comparison, much appreciated.
When I saw your comment on this page yesterday I thought how did Bob know I was working on a Dorothy Lamour page, has he got a sixth sense about these things? 🙂
Glad you liked the posters and stills. I couldn’t get Wild Harvest up higher than that, it’s chances were hobbled by Leonard Maltin who only gave it 3 out of 10. Bruce’s sources were much kinder.
I can’t be nasty to dear old Leonard his fat movie guides along with Halliwells and Steven Scheuers were my well worn film bibles decades ago, a time when there was no internet and no IMDB. I’ve kept editions of those books on my shelves out of pure nostagia and I still dip into them now and then.
Maltin has a soft spot for De Mille’s epic circus movie and gave it 9 out of 10, that’s a higher score than any of Lamour’s films managed and helped it reach the top. Still none of these films managed to pass a score of 8 on my chart. On Bruce’s critics chart The Greatest Show on Earth barely made the top 20 and the likes of Spawn of the North and Her Jungle Love are rated higher… eek!
HI BRIUCE
1 The A C Lyles wild cards were certainly being handed out in the recent few episodes that I watched from the late 1980s of Angela Lansbury’s Murder She Wrote because among the bit players were Laraine Day, Dorothy Lamour and Martin Balsam. Whilst the latter was just a supporting actor he will among movie buffs at least probably always be remembered for playing Detective Milton Arbogast whom ‘Mrs’ Bates stabbed when he climbed the stairs of ‘her’ home.
2 Martin did though have a strong supporting part in the episode concerned whereas Laraine and Dottie each had just two one-minute scenes in the episodes and it was sad to see them in such fleeting parts in contrast to the roles they had in their heyday. Ah! the “spoils of time”. For you young cubs it is like the man and his wheelbarrow – it’s all ahead you. and someday even the Work Horse will have to go out to pasture with no A C Lyles to save him.
3 The episode in which Laraine (66) featured was her final appearance in movies/TV and Dorothy (73) was in her penultimate role in those mediums. For fun a small Dan-like chain could be identified as Angela was appearing with Dorothy Lamour who starred in High Wide and Handsome with Randolph Scott who acted with Angela Lansbury in A Lawless Street. The latter was one of my very favourite Scott movies despite the mauling it gets from Cogerson’s critics/audience. In my database though I’ve decided to credit Hedy Lamarr with the feminine lead in that movie.
Hey Bob
1. Thanks for the mini-reviews of some of the Murder She Wrote episodes you watched.
2. I am glad these legends had a place to still get paid for acting.
3. I wonder how many “favors” Lansbury called to get some of her old buddies on the show.
4. Yep…time is undefeated…..and the spoils of time gets us all.
5. Sorry my rating sources did not like A Lawless Street as much as you.
Good feedback as always.
1 Posters normally delight me but unfortunately there is a sad little story behind those for Road to Hong Kong. Crosby vetoed Lamour for the female lead thinking her too old at 48 and she appealed to Hope who refused to do the film without her so Crosby compromised giving her a cameo whilst Joan Collins was the female lead. However Bing refused to allow Dottie to be billed above the title with him, Bob and Joan and she claims she again appealed to Hope who this time said there was nothing he could as the matter was out of his hands. In a later interview she said she felt betrayed at not getting 100% support from Hope.
1 Unfortunately nowadays Lamour can often be regarded as simply the ‘third wheel’ of the Crosby/Hope Road series but as the table above illustrates she made some 40 films totally without Hope/Crosby, a good number of them stand-alone vehicles and co-starred with many prominent actors of her time other than those two. I therefore regard her as an important major star of the classic era and my data base would always be incomplete without the stats now provided so I warmly welcome this new page.
Hey Bob good story on the making of Roaf to Hong Kong. Sounds like Hope did pretty well for her….usually cameo and supporting roles do not get above the title billing. I agree any thespian who has a 50% $100 million hits to movies made is a major star in my book too. That 26 is among the best of actors and actresses……thanks for sharing your Lamour knowledge.