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. Okay, so I just read on your James Stewart page that you did update this page last week. I also see that you answered my question on the James Ford page my question about how many pictures Fonda and Ford made together: 7 . I’ve seen all of them.

    I’ve seen a higher percentage of James Stewart films than Henry Fonda films. I’ve seen 74% of Stewart’s films.

    I’ve barely seen over 50% of Henry Fonda’s films. Yikes! and I own a lot of them on DVD.

    I’ve seen 54 of these films. I’ve seen a much higher percentage of Richard Widmark films. Oh well.

    Probably the movie I watch the most often now is Once upon a Time in the West which airs a lot on Silver Screen Classics.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the updated stats. Seems since I have started doing this webpages…..I have been watching more of the classic actors than ever before….probably due to the low tally counts. I have been watching lots of Gable, Fonda, Stewart, Power and others. My Fonda tally is now 36…..up from 12 when I first did the tally count back in 2011. So I have really closed the gap….but still a long ways to go. So glad I saved these comments from that “other” web site.

      Reply

      1. Yes, that “OTHER” website that I am no longer on because they banned me for talking about mental health awareness.

        Bruce is talking about Hubpages where I used to be a freelance writer.

        I wonder if your fans – of which I am number 1 although you and I both like to pretend we are related even though we have never met each other – along with Steve Lensman in England have been talking to each other about movies for 5 years and would likely keep on comparing our Fonda family totals even if we were the only three people using this website.

        How am I supposed to follow your daughters youtube videos if I can’t get into my account?

        Really, my knowledge of Hollywood families does NOT help me in my every day life on computers.

        LOL!

        How many comments on this site are mine or Steve Lensman combined? I would say at least half of them.

        And as we know, Steve lensman is not his real name. However, I have always used my real name on this site.

        Reply

        1. By the way, the reason I am making silly comments like this is because Steve lensman is from England and I have a feeling that this website is NOT the biggest thing on his mind today. However, the worse world events get, the more I happen to focus on this website as a way to relax. Your website Bruce is a very important aspect of the entertainment – not bad for a HOBBY you started 5 years ago. Seriously. This is something you do for free. Writing on this website is also something that “I” do for free.

          Reply

          1. FLORA:
            1 I too am well into events in England today; indeed as I live in Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom I had a vote on the matter concerned and am feeling a bit drowsy as I sat up half the night following progress.

            2 However like you I can forget about weightier matters and relax by using the Net. Thankfully Bruce usually gives me something every day that is of considerable interest to me. Like I say he’s been put here to give us all a grand time.

            3 Did I read somewhere else that you were penalised for bringing up mental health issues? If so, provided you didn’t use swear words and were putting forward views in a civilised fashion, I think that what happened was sad. “I totally disagree with your opinions but would defend to the death your right to voice them,” would I think reflect Hank Fonda’s philosophy; but it is a tolerance that many seem to have forgotten.

            4 On a lighter note I noticed your reference to Robert Shaw. As you will know he was one of the stars of JAWS. So here in Belfast in the 70s we used to refer to that film as SHAWS

            Best wishes BOB

          2. Hey Flora….glad to know that the website is therapeutic for you. Maybe that is why we are closing in on 7 million views……lol.

            Sounds like Steve is dealing with England’s vote well….it might as Bette Davis says in All About Eve….it’s going to be a bumpy night!…but in the end it will all work out fine.

            Amazing that 5 years has passed. As for Sam’s video channel…you can create your yahoo email…and give her another subscriber… she will be glad for another….lol.

          3. Hey Bob…for today you have two new things for your entertainment….an updated James Cagney page…..and a look at the Harrison Reports ratings for movies from 1934 though 1936….both links are in the new post section of the page.

    1. Thanks for the awesome words and coment William N…….comments like yours make spending all of this time running the website worth it.

      Reply

  3. This weekend on Friday night I added Battle of the Bulge to my seen list of Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan and Robert shaw movies and I have to say -it is a one time viewing for me.

    Have you seen this film, Bruce?
    It focuses almost entirely on the Nazis and has the Nazi anthem sung – it is totally inaccurate! My grandfather’s brother in law was in the battle of the Bulge and it was NOT correct. I wrote a review on letterboxed about it. I tell you, the films I watch simply because I a fan of the stars in it …….some are fabulous. Some are BAD!

    You have done a page on Henry and a page on Jane. When are you going to do a page on Peter? He just finished filming his part in Boundries in Vancouver.

    Have a good Memorial Day tomorrow Bruce.

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora.
      1. Sorry you did not enjoy The Battle of the Bulge….but it will help you on the tally count when I get the Robert Ryan page….currently I am in 1955….and working my way back…when it comes to the progress on that Ryan page.
      2. I thought The Battle of the Bulge was ok….though far from my favorite war movie…my dad who loved war movies…hardly ever mentioned this movie.
      3. That is interesting about your grandfather’s brother-in-law.
      4. I will check out your Letterboxd.com review.
      5. A Peter Fonda page….I will have to add that one to the request list.
      6. It rained all day Sunday and Monday…but we had perfect weather on Saturday for our annual cul-de-sac Memorial Day party….so overall it was a great weekend. Hope yours was a good one too.

      Reply

      1. Yes it was. I had a great performance to end the season on Sunday followed by a picnic. We had hotdogs and chicken.

        And I watched a lot of war movies on TCM. I tell you- what a hard life it is watching movies with favourite actors in uniform. LOL!

        Reply

        1. Hey Flora….glad to hear you had a great weekend too. Flora and war movies…who saw that coming? …..lol. Your Robert Ryan page is finished and published….I actually had to wait until RottenTomatoes worked through their problems today….their site was down for a couple of hours today.

          Reply

  4. I remember reading a novel back in the late 60’s or early 70’s that portrayed a pic of an soon to be seen movie starring Henry Fonda. The story was a tale of revenge and retribution upon several hunter’s who would kidnap, rape and eventually murder their victims by stalking them in a remote mountainous terrain. I don’t know whatever became of the movie, have never seen it, but I’m sure that it was a real project. Would welcome any information on this subject.

    Reply

    1. Hey mike….I wish I could be more help but I have no idea what movie that is. Looking at his movies during that time frame….none seem to fit your description. Once Upon A Time In The West is a tale of revenge and retribution…..Sometimes A Great Notion takes place in a mountainous terrain….but neither movie has the plot you mentioned. I will ask a friend that knows lots of movies….maybe he can help.

      Reply

    1. Hey Brian….glad you like my Henry Fonda page…..lots of work went into this one…I appreciate the visit and the comment

      Reply

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