Henry Fonda Movies

Want to know the best Henry Fonda movies?  How about the worst Henry Fonda movies?  Curious about Henry Fonda’s box office grosses or which Henry Fonda movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Henry Fonda movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Whew!….After almost two months I have finally finished my Henry Fonda movie page.  Before getting to his massive 83 movie table…let’s look at some possibly interesting facts about his life.

1. Henry Fonda (1905-1982) was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. One of his first acting jobs was with the Omaha Community Playhouse. One of his fellow actors was Dodie Brando, the mother of screen legend Marlon Brando. He attended the University of Minnesota, but dropped out, and headed to Cape Cod and New York seeking stage work.

2. After eight years of stage acting, Fonda appeared in his first movie, 1936’s The Farmer Takes A Wife. He did not have to wait long for a box office hit. As Trail of the Lonesome Pine  (his 4th movie) was the 4th biggest hit of 1936. Fonda would appear in 114 movie and television projects over the next 46 years.

3. During his days as a struggling actor, his roommate was another struggling actor, James Stewart. After Fonda had moved to Hollywood, he encouraged Stewart to take a screen test. The result of the screen test earned Stewart his first movie contract and a move to Hollywood. They would remain lifelong friends and appear in 4 movies together over the years.

4. After starring in 40 movies from 1935 to 1948, Fonda left Hollywood for seven years to return to the stage. His greatest success on stage is the movie that brought him back to making movies in 1955. That movie was the classic film…..Mister Roberts.

5. Henry Fonda was married 5 times in his life. He had three children;….daughter Jane Fonda (two time Oscar® winning actress), son Peter Fonda (Oscar® nominated actor) and daughter Amy. His granddaughter, Bridget Fonda, is also an actress. The three generations of Fonda actors have 301 acting credits on IMDB.

His IMDb page shows 115 acting credits from 1935-1981. This page will rank 83 Henry Fonda movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.

Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in 1981's On Golden Pond
Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in 1981’s On Golden Pond

Henry Fonda Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Henry Fonda 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 Henry Fonda movies by the co-stars of his movies
  • Sort Henry Fonda movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Henry Fonda movies by actual domestic box office rank by year
  • Sort Henry Fonda 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 Henry Fonda movie received.
  • Sort Henry Fonda 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.
Henry Fonda in 1968's Once Upon A Time in the West
Henry Fonda in 1968’s Once Upon A Time in the West

5 More Possibly Interesting Facts About Henry Fonda.

1. Surprisingly Henry Fonda was only nominated two times for an acting Oscar®. He received his first nomination for The Grapes of Wrath in 1940 then had to wait 41 years for his second nomination for On Golden Pond. The wait was worth it as he took home the Oscar® for On Golden Pond. Fonda did receive an Honorary Oscar® in 1981 and a producer’s nomination for 1957’s 12 Angry Men.

2. The American Film Institute named Henry Fonda as the 6th greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends. In 2005 the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor Fonda.

3. Henry Fonda worked with legendary director, John Ford, on 7 movies. Those movies were Drums Along the Mohawk, The Young Lincoln, The Grapes of Wrath, My Darling Clementine, The Fugitive, Fort Apache and Mister Roberts.

4. Did you know that the brown Fedora worn by Fonda in On Golden Pond belonged to Spencer Tracy and was given to Fonda by Katharine Hepburn on the first day on the set.

5. Check out Henry Fonda‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Check Out Steve’s Henry Fonda You Tube Video

 
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.

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186 thoughts on “Henry Fonda Movies

  1. Mr. Roberts is one of my all time favorites. But I can see Mr. Fonda was with me every step of the way along the path of my love of movies. Cogerson, your hubs are always interesting and informative. Then the comment section highlights your work so well as your fans join in to celebrate your work.

    1. Hey mckbirdbks….glad to see that you followed Henry Fonda during your movie watching career. I appreciate the kid words about the movie page and the comments…thankfully my hubs always seem to generate some conversation….which is something your hubs do as well…thanks for stopping by.

  2. Finally Fonda! Finally another classic actor hub (but didn’t your Mom and Mother-in-law want you to remember the women?)

    Okay, I am going to have to do this in more than one trip or I will get nothing done. So you will need to be patient with me.

    First of all, although I am not as big a fan of Fonda as I am of Peck and some other western stalwarts, I have seen quite a few of Fonda’s westerns as well as his non-westerns, if that is anything to go by. Notice how some that are missing in the top ten lists have John Wayne in large roles…

    This post will be what I have seen, regardless of favourites or what I am looking forward too etc.

    Top Ten Box office:

    I have seen five of them: the top 5-1,2,3,4 and 5.

    Top ten Critics: Once again I’ve seen all of the top 5.

    Overall, I have seen more than the box office:7 out of ten: 1,2,3,4,5,8, and 10.

    Top ten Movie Score:

    I have seen 6 of them: 60%

    1,2,3,4,6, and 10.

    Top 20:

    I have seen 10 of them, so that is a drop to 50%

    Top 30:

    I have seen 15, and is still at 50%.

    Top 40:

    Steady at 20 films and 50%.

    Top 50:

    I drop below 50%! I am at 23/50 or 46%

    Therefore, I will skip to my overall total out of 83: 27

    That is only 32% overall. Ouch! I was cruising along at 50 % for the top half of his films.

    grrr.

    The lowest ranked film I have seen is The Rounders at #62 co-starring Glenn Ford.

    1. Hey Flora…I think I did about three or four classic women actresses and I will do more….but I have had these hub in the works for months now. Looking at the tally count….it looks like it is going to go to Steve with a 34 to 27 to 12 win.

      I think it is safe to say that his movies near the bottom of the rankings are ones that have been forgotten pretty quickly….You are at 16% of his last 43 ranked movies. I actually think that is why it took me so long to get motivated to finish this hub…the fact that there were so many movies I had never even heard of before doing this hub.

      I am sure Henry Fonda fans will forgive you for avoiding the John Wayne movies….although Fort Apache is excellent….with Fonda really shining in the movie.

      1. Oh, wow. A lot has changed since I made this comment. I think my John Wayne total ha gone up about 200% since I made this comment.

    2. One thing I’ll quickly add in a separate post, but still related to what I’ve seen:

      Of the remaining 34 films where I did not list how many I have seen at 51-84, the 50s and 60s are tied.

      1. Hey Flora….thanks for the update on movies 50-83…..I think that it is a shame that he did not make any movies from 1948-1955….that should have been his primetime movie making period. I am sure Hitchcock could have used him during that time period. Thanks for the comme

        1. I am not surprised I’ve seen most of his best films regardless of what box office it got. I quite often ignore box office completely when deciding what films to watch first as quite often box office and critics don’t agree and when that happens, I will believe what the critics say. There are plenty of examples of movies that have gotten better box office than it should have gotten simply because of the fame of the stars.

          If I love the star I will watch even the worst of the person’s films (as I am determined to see every film my favourites made ), although only after I’ve seen the best and the average films.

          1. I’ve told you which films I’ve seen of his top ten groupings via numbers. 6 of them.

            Here are the titles of films I’ve seen of Fonda’s from #11-#62 in Movie Score order:

            The Lady Eve

            The Boston Strangler

            Drums Along the Mohawk

            The Ox-Bow Incident

            Twelve Angry Men

            Jesse James

            Young Mr. lincoln

            Once Upon a Time in the West

            Sex and the Single Girl

            Fail Safe

            The Male animal

            The Cheyenne Social Club

            The Fugitive (no relation to the TV show and later film)

            The Wrong Man

            The Mad Miss Manton

            The Story of alexander Graham Bell

            Warlock

            The Big Street

            That Certain Woman

            Madigan

            The Rounders

          2. Hey Flora…I am right there with you about box office….it just is a huge factor in my scoring system…and ultimately lack of box office results generally ends people’s careers or at least changes their Hollywood power.

            I understand about watching movies by people you like…for me I am a huge Micheal Caine and Bruce Willis fan…granted they have lots of great movies….but they have more than their share of really bad movies….but regardless I watch the bad ones and the good ones…I just bought Bruce Willis’s The Setup on Blu-Ray…..now I am trying to find time to watch the movie that is generally considered to be a complete waste of time….but I will be wasting that time very soon.

          3. Hey Flora…looking at your list of movies you have seen…I notice lots of westerns…..just curious although I love the movie…how did Once Upon A Time In The West make your list of movies to watch?

            As for the ones you watched…I have not seen Madigan…but my mom has a DVD of it, and I will borrow it the next time I am over there. I just recently watched The Lady Eve and found it very entertaining. I love Fail-Safe and The Ox-Bow Incident.

    3. Yes Flora, his mother wanted him to do more women, ha, ha, ha. Cogerson the Movie I mentioned with Lucille Ball was THE BIG STREET – watch it if you ever get the chance – made in 1942…..did not know that he was married five times and that he also has a daughter AMY…one never hears about her. GOOD MOVIE PAGE ONCE AGAIN…

      1. Hey BERN1960…thanks for the visit and the compliment. Hey when working on this hub….I discovered 4 screen credits that Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball shared….The Big Street which was the one you were thinking about…Yours,Mine and Ours which was one of Henry Fonda’s biggest hits….The Good Years which was a tv movie that focused on Ball’s return to television and 1935’s I Dream Too Much….with Lucille Ball having a bit part and Fonda being the star.

        As for his kids….Amy Fonda was left 200,000 dollars in his will….the rest of his estate went to this 5th wife….nothing for Jane or Peter. Glad you liked my Fonda movie page

  3. An impressive movie page for a Hollywood legend Bruce, kudos!

    It was worth waiting 5 or is it 6 months for? 😉

    On Golden Pond no.1 hmmm it had to be a film I have not yet seen, and the only film he won an Oscar for.

    Mister Roberts is fun but a lot of my top faves are further down the charts, Once Upon a Time in the West and My Name is Nobody.

    I’ve seen 34 of the 83 films you’ve listed, not as many as I thought.

    I’ve seen seven from the top 10 box office chart and all ten from the critics chart.

    He had not much more than a cameo role in about a dozen of those films, turning up as the president in one scene in a few of them.

    How the West Was Won and The Longest Day are big favourites though he was just one of many stars.

    Great movie page, love the data and the trivia, good work amigo

    1. Hey Steve….not quite 5 or 6 months…but it seems I have been working on this page forever. Your 34 movies is almost triple the amount I have seen as my number is only 12. Both westerns you mention are favorites of mine….but barely registered at the box office….Once Upon A Time In The West was the 46th biggest box office hit in 1969, while My Name is Nobody was the 69th biggest box office hit in 1974 here in the States…thus their scores are low……but I hope you noticed that Once Upon A Time in The West was 2nd in the critics audience poll.

      I decided to include The Longest Day and How The West Was Won….because at least he had more than one scene in each movie….I think so far the only person that I have excluded from How The West Was Won is John Wayne….who really only shows up for about 2 minutes….I think is in it for at least 5 minutes…lol.

      Thanks for the motivation to finish this page….it is greatly appreciated.

      1. Hey Bruce, I’ve seen 4 of Henry Fonda’s films in the cinema – Midway (1976), The Swarm (1977), Tentacles (1977) and Meteor (1979). Not the best films in his career I admit but at that time I would see anything at the cinema, good bad and ugly.

        I remember Testacles sorry Tentacles being especially awful and I don’t think I even rented it on video in 80’s, once was enough for that film.

        The Swarm is a famously bad film and I have to admit to buying it on DVD and the long version too, I like to torture myself sometimes. Michael Caine was the star and for a few years back then he was a magnet for crap movies.

        1. Hey Steve…I find it very interesting that we both saw The Swarm and Midway at the theater(I thankfully missed out on Tentacles) ….Fonda made a ton of clunkers in the 1970s…which makes On Golden Pond even more impressive….it was like a old baseball player hitting a game winning homerun on the day he was going to retire….just replace baseball with soccer and replace homerun with goal and you will understand my point..lol.

          Having read Michael Caine’s autobiography….he willingly says he made most of his movies for the money in the late 1970s…..and I followed him to the theater for The Swarm, The Island, Beyond the Posideon, and others. Thanks for the comment.

  4. I love Henry Fonda. My favorites are My Darling Clementine, The Grapes of Wrath, and 12 Angry Men.

    1. Hey thatmovieguy71….you list three very good movies…and they ended up 5th, 7th and 19th…not too bad of a showing….thanks for the visit.

  5. Interesting movie page Bruce. He certainly had a very prolific career. I really loved On Golden Pond the first time I saw it but my favourite of his movies is How The West Was Won. I also like 12 Angry Men and Mister Roberts. I don’t think there are many of his movies that I would not enjoy to be honest.

    1. Hey Jools99…he was a very busy actor…and it is even more amazing when you see he only made about 6 movies from 1944 to 1955….right in the middle of his peak years. I enjoy HTWWW also, although his part is very short…as Steve Lensman calls it…an extended cameo. Mister Roberts and Once Upon a Time in the West are my favorites…with My Name is Nobody being a guilty pleasure as well. Thanks for the comments

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