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

 
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186 thoughts on “Henry Fonda Movies”

  1. Peter Fonda has died at the age of 79. HE died of respiratory failure due to lung cancer. He does not yet have a UMR page and Bruce does not come back until Sunday. Is it possible that one of his children can do a page?

    Steve does have a Peter Fonda video.

    I have always been a Henry Fonda fan but only in the last few years have I become a fan of Jane and Peter.

    I have seen several of Peter’s films, most notable Easy Rider. Recently I saw Outlaw Blues and Dirty Mary Crazy Larry for the first time. Many of his movies were independent films and did not make a lot of money nor was he paid a lot.

    Rest in Peace Peter.

    Reply

    1. এই আকর্ষণীয় ত্রৈমাসিক জন্য ড্যান আপনাকে ধন্যবাদ। (Thank you in Bangla)

      Reply

  3. Hi Steve,
    Your updated, extended videos of legendary movie stars are a treat for the eyes. I especially enjoyed the Henry Fonda one as he’s one of my favorite actors. As Bob suggests, Fonda was never quite as big a box office attraction during his living years as contemporaries such as Wayne, Cooper, Tracy or Gable, but over time, the quality of many of his films made him equal in stature to these stars. Your video justifiably shows almost 30 of his films rated 7 and above, and a full dozen rated 8 and above, which I suspect is matched by only a handful of actors (maybe Bogart, Stewart and Grant)…Further, the diversity of Fonda’s films and the longevity of his career make him truly unique.
    With the exception of Once Upon a Time in the West, where he was excellent as a vicious killer, my favorite Fonda films are ones where he portrayed a thoughtful man of integrity, quietly standing up for a just cause, in particular: The Grapes of Wrath, The Ox-Bow Incident, 12 Angry Men, Advise and Consent, The Best Man and Fail Safe. As Fonda himself says in the opening quote of your video, nobody could have that much integrity – and he’s right of course, but I am sure that through his films, he did inspire such integrity in many others….and this of course made him a perfect choice to play the ageing gunfighter who inspired Nobody in My Name is Nobody 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hey PhilHoF…..excellent breakdown of Steve’s video and Fonda’s career. Glad it is now part of the comments here. Job well done.

      Reply

    2. Hey Phil, thanks for the kind words. The layout has changed at the UMR and I somehow missed seeing your comment. I still miss the old layout.

      I will get round to more extended videos soon. I wasn’t happy with some of the scores in my first 20 or 30 actor videos 2 years ago. And I left out too many good films. I’m glad these longer videos are getting some views.

      Reply

      1. Hey Steve…..I thought this was an excellent breakdown on your video and Fonda’s career….glad you “found” it…just letting you know…..looking at some different “themes” for the website…..which is another way to say….some huge changes “might” be coming down the pike.

        Reply

        1. Hey Bruce, looking forward to some more exciting UMR themes.

          My movie forum once tried changing ‘skins’ and it was hilarious and hideous at the same time, the new color and layout was horrible. Luckily somewhere at the bottom of the page was the option to change back to the old skin.

          Reply

          1. Hey Steve…,they are coming. Glad you look forward to them. Apparently our custom made banners will not work on this theme. Funny about your forum’s changes…..,lol.

  4. Thanks for the share Bruce, it is much appreciated. Looks like I’ll never get a chance to show off my Meteor and Swarm posters, a shame. Unless I started producing Bottom 20 videos. Hey that might catch on! ‘Michael Caine’s Bottom 20 Lowest Rated Movies’. 😉

    p.s. My Name is Nobody is on there somewhere.

    Reply

    1. The video is so big…..and I generally type will the new movies pop up…some how I missed The Man Called Nobody which is a movie that I love….love the action….love the characters…and love the music. Good to know it is on there. I will have to go back and check it out.

      Reply

  5. Just added Steve’s Fonda You Tube Video to this page.

    “I have seen 34 of these movies….and a total of 39 Henry Fonda movies overall. No The Swarm, Meteor or Tentacles? How can we take this video seriously? lol. Favorites include #39 Midway #29 There Was A Crooked Man, #25 Warlock, #7 The Longest Day, #5 Mister Roberts, #3 Once Upon A Time in The West and #1 12 Angry Men. Did The Man Called Nobody not crack the Top 50…I have gone back to see if I missed it…..if I did…sorry…if I didn’t….where is it? It has some pretty good reviews. Voted up…and shared at UltimateMovieRankings.com.”

    Reply

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