Want to know the best Ethel Merman movies? How about the worst Ethel Merman movies? Curious about Ethel Merman box office grosses or which Ethel Merman movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Ethel Merman movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well, you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Ethel Merman (1908-1984) was an American actress and singer. Merman was known for her distinctive, powerful voice and leading roles in musical theatre, she has been called “the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage”. Her IMDb page shows 41 acting credits from 1930 to 1982. This page will rank Ethel Merman movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. To do well in our overall rankings a movie has to do well at the box office, get good reviews by critics, be liked by audiences, and get some award recognition.
Ethel Merman Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Ethel Merman 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 any way you want.
- Sort Ethel Merman movies by her co-stars
- Sort Ethel Merman movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Ethel Merman movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Ethel Merman 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 Ethel Merman movie received.
- Sort Ethel Merman movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Ethel Merman
1. Ethel Agnes Zimmermann was born in Astoria, Queens in New York City in 1908.
2. How Ethel Zimmermann became Ethel Merman: When her career was just getting started she decided the name Ethel Zimmermann was too long for a theater marquee. She considered combining Ethel with Gardner or Hunter, which was her grandmother’s maiden name. These considerations caused her father’s ire, and she abbreviated Zimmermann to Merman to appease her father.
3. Ethel Merman loved Christmas so much, that she kept her Christmas tree up year-round.
4. Ethel Merman was married to Ernest Borgnine for 11 days. In her 1978 biography, Merman devoted a chapter of her autobiography to the marriage: It consisted of one blank page.
5. Among the many standards introduced by Ethel Merman in Broadway musicals are “I Got Rhythm” (from Girl Crazy); “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, “Some People”, and “Rose’s Turn” (from Gypsy—Merman starred as Rose in the original 1959 Broadway production); and the Cole Porter songs “It’s De-Lovely” (from Red, Hot and Blue), “Friendship” (from DuBarry Was a Lady), and “I Get a Kick Out of You”, “You’re the Top”, and “Anything Goes” (from Anything Goes). The Irving Berlin song “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, written for the musical Annie Get Your Gun, became Merman’s signature song.
Check out Ethel Mermaid’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Very good Ethel Merman page. Boy could she sing.
Thank you Mike. A entertainment legend of yesteryear that is pretty much forgotten today.
I have seen 7 Ethel Merman movies.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is Alexander’s Ragtime Band.
The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is Happy Landing.
The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is Anything Goes.
Favourite Ethel Merman Movies:
Alexander’s Ragtime Band
Airplane!
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
There’s No Business Like Show Business
Stage Door Canteen
Other Ethel Merman Movie I Have Seen:
Strike Me Pink
Anything Goes
Hey Flora…..thanks for sharing your thoughts on Ethel Merman. Tally counts: A win for Flora with 7, Steve and myself sit at 3, and Bob has one. I have seen three of your favorites…..which are the top three you list….so I guess I have seen the right ones. At some point I will see There’s No Business Like Show Business. Good stuff as always.
That photo from Airplane raises a smile. When I first saw that film I didn’t know who Ethel Merman was. And I’ve only seen her in two other films since.
I’ve seen three of the 17 films on the chart – There’s no Business Like Show Business, It’s a Mad Mad Sad Sad Bad Bad World and Airplane.
I may have seen Alexander the Great’s Ragtime Band way back but I can’t remember for sure.
Her highest rated film is Airplane, ooh purists might quibble but it was a big hit in it’s time.
Good stuff Bruce. Vote Up.
Hey Steve. Thanks for the feedback on our Ethel Merman page. Tally counts: Flora 7, you and me 3 and Bob 1. I have the same memory of Merman and Airplane. Eventually, I connected her cameo to the lady in Mad Mad Mad World. I do not like that Airplane got the top spot…..but it is the movie that I first noticed her…and first heard the unique name Ethel Merman. Good stuff.
There are of course many brilliant sketches in that movie which I enjoyed in spite of Old Cantankerous’ presence – Dick Shawn as the “Momma’s Boy” particularly amusing me; along with England’s Terry-Thomas blowing a fuse with somebody making a joke about The Queen of England; and when they find the buried loot Phil Silvers [trying to placate the burly pugilistic lorry driver who has been chasing him about in order to give Phil a Russell Crowe type thrashing] shouting out “Equal shares all round – but two shares for the Big Boy!”
Ethel did get top billing above a clutch of established big-screen stars like Donald O’Connor/Dan Dailey/Monroe in No Business Like Show Business though MM was just starting to develop her now- mega legendary status.
Ethel too though never achieving Monroe’s pinnacle mut be regarded as a Legend in the round so I welcome this new page with a “Vote Up.” Another excellent choice Roadrunner – my personal compliments What time did you and W o C [and anyone else?] leave at: was it a morning departure?
The final word though from One Who Knew about These Things writing back in 1983.
“Some Broadway stars are dismissed by studio heads as unsuitable for film material. Ethel Merman like her contemporary Mary Martin failed to conform to Hollywood standards of beauty. But when she was given a good opportunity she burst through onto the screen with flying colors.” However the writer gives Ethel credit for just one 4-star performance -Call Me Madam – and a mere 2 stars for her biggest movie commercial hit It’s a Mad—World.
Hey Bob…thanks for including the words of Joel at the end of the comment…I wrote this in advance….but there is no way for me to post a comment…like I can post a post. Thanks for the information on her billing and your favorite scenes from your one Merman movie seen. As for WoC and ourselves….it was indeed an early morning departure….heading home tomorrow. Good stuff.
HI BRUCE
Thanks for responding.
When I was quoting Joel and mentioning Call Me Madam all in the one paragraph I had a slip of the pen and initially had written “Call Me Madman.” Do you think that Dan could spot a link there?
My perception of Ethel’s career is that it was one as a combined-television and stage star as well as a musical recording artist rather than that of a prolific movie performer. However please see the conclusion of my Part 2: The Oracle has spoken!
Just the 17 movie credits only that WH gives her above Wikipedia too lists; highlights 17 of her stage presentations from 1930-77; lists 40 television productions in which she appeared [1949-82]; and details 12 of her hit records as well as 3 audio samples one of her singing with Jimmy Durante a duet “You say the nicest Things” which I often sing to myself when I am reading Joel’s book.
I have only ever seen her in one film: It’s a Mad—World in which she and many other top stars played stooge to Tracy the billing being “Spencer Tracy and in Alphabetical order” as shown today on Wiki/IMDB cast lists.
I remember standing with a friend outside a movie house and looking at the posters and the friend said “There you have it. As long as Tracy is named first it doesn’t matter about the rest of them- the b******s can’t even take his turn in an alphabetical all-star ensemble cast”
Hey Bob….thanks for the thoughts on Ethel Merman and her career. Thanks for sharing the informatio on her singing career, television roles and her records. I can now picture you reading Joel and listening to Ethel. I have seen 3 of her movies….including the one you have seen. Funny about your thoughts on his billing in that one. Good stuff.