Want to know the best Henry Koster movies? How about the worst Henry Koster movies? Curious about Henry Koster box office grosses or which Henry Koster movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Henry Koster movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well, you have come to the right place…. because we have all of that information and much more.
Henry Koster (1905-1988) was an Oscar® nominated German born director. Koster directed all genres of movies. He received a Best Director Oscar® nomination for 1947’s The Bishop’s Wife. His IMDb page shows 50 directing credits from 1932 to 1966. This page will rank Henry Koster movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. To do well in the rankings, a movie needed to do well at the box office, be liked by both critics and audiences and earn some award recognition. FYI – Some of his early 1930s movies are not included in the rankings due to lack of box office information.
Henry Koster Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
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Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
1947 | The Bishop's Wife (1947) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
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1949 | Come to the Stable (1949) | ||
1937 | One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) AA Best Picture Nom |
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1950 | Harvey (1950) | ||
1936 | Three Smart Girls (1936) AA Best Picture Nom |
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1961 | Flower Drum Song (1961) | ||
1953 | The Robe (1953) AA Best Picture Nom |
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1955 | A Man Called Peter (1955) | ||
1944 | Music For Millions (1944) | ||
1954 | Désirée (1954) | ||
1952 | Stars and Stripes Forever (1952) | ||
1962 | Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) | ||
1949 | The Inspector General (1949) | ||
1946 | Two Sisters From Boston (1946) | ||
1941 | It Started with Eve (1941) | ||
1938 | The Rage of Paris (1938) | ||
1950 | My Blue Heaven (1950) | ||
1940 | Spring Parade (1940) | ||
1960 | The Story of Ruth (1960) | ||
1950 | Wabash Avenue (1950) | ||
1951 | Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell (1951) | ||
1952 | My Cousin Rachel (1952) | ||
1942 | Between Us Girls (1942) | ||
1951 | Elopement (1951) | ||
1963 | Take Her, She's Mine (1963) | ||
1966 | The Singing Nun (1966) | ||
1951 | No Highway in the Sky (1951) | ||
1947 | The Unfinished Dance (1947) | ||
1948 | The Luck of the Irish (1948) | ||
1956 | D-Day The Sixth of June (1956) Director |
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1955 | Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) | ||
1957 | My Man Godfrey (1957) Director |
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1955 | The Virgin Queen (1955) Director |
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1952 | O. Henry's Full House (1952) | ||
1958 | Fräulein (1958) | ||
1965 | Dear Brigitte (1965) | ||
1956 | The Power And The Prize (1956) | ||
1958 | The Naked Maja (1958) Director |
Henry Koster 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 Koster movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Henry Koster movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Henry Koster movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Henry Koster movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Henry Koster movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Henry Koster movie won.
- Sort Henry Koster 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.
R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
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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 Bishop's Wife (1947) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Cary Grant & David Niven & Loretta |
9.40 | 297.0 | 395.70 | 20 | 78 | 05 / 01 | 98.7 | |
2 | Come to the Stable (1949) | Loretta Young & Celeste Holm |
8.30 | 208.9 | 208.90 | 15 | 74 | 07 / 00 | 97.4 | |
2 | One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) AA Best Picture Nom |
Deanna Durbin & Adolphe Menjou |
9.10 | 376.5 | 376.50 | 3 | 68 | 05 / 01 | 97.4 | |
5 | Harvey (1950) | James Stewart & Wallace Ford |
7.40 | 166.8 | 166.80 | 17 | 87 | 02 / 01 | 97.2 | |
3 | Three Smart Girls (1936) AA Best Picture Nom |
Binnie Barnes & Charles Winninger |
5.50 | 235.1 | 235.10 | 10 | 70 | 03 / 00 | 97.1 | |
5 | Flower Drum Song (1961) | Nancy Kwan & James Shigeta |
15.70 | 228.9 | 228.90 | 10 | 72 | 05 / 00 | 96.7 | |
7 | The Robe (1953) AA Best Picture Nom |
Richard Burton & Jean Simmons |
39.20 | 704.8 | 1,216.60 | 1 | 62 | 05 / 02 | 96.3 | |
7 | A Man Called Peter (1955) | Richard Todd & Jean Peters |
12.90 | 266.5 | 266.50 | 18 | 72 | 01 / 00 | 95.8 | |
8 | Music For Millions (1944) | June Allyson & Jimmy Durante |
7.60 | 254.4 | 417.80 | 28 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 95.5 | |
10 | Désirée (1954) | Marlon Brando & Jean Simmons |
12.90 | 301.3 | 301.30 | 15 | 67 | 02 / 00 | 94.8 | |
12 | Stars and Stripes Forever (1952) | Clifton Webb & Robert Wagner |
8.30 | 163.3 | 163.30 | 18 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 93.6 | |
13 | Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) | James Stewart & Maureen O'Hara |
11.40 | 164.3 | 164.30 | 18 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 93.4 | |
14 | The Inspector General (1949) | Danny Kaye | 6.10 | 153.2 | 272.30 | 35 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 93.3 | |
14 | Two Sisters From Boston (1946) | Kathryn Grayson & Jimmy Durante |
9.00 | 277.5 | 371.30 | 26 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 92.1 | |
15 | It Started with Eve (1941) | Deanna Durbin & Charles Laughton |
2.90 | 111.8 | 111.80 | 85 | 82 | 01 / 00 | 90.6 | |
16 | The Rage of Paris (1938) | Douglas Fairbanks Jr. | 3.60 | 144.6 | 144.60 | 49 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 89.7 | |
17 | My Blue Heaven (1950) | Betty Grable & David Wayne |
6.50 | 146.0 | 146.00 | 30 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 88.7 | |
18 | Spring Parade (1940) | Deanna Durbin & Robert Cummings |
2.90 | 110.0 | 110.00 | 53 | 72 | 04 / 00 | 87.9 | |
19 | The Story of Ruth (1960) | Stuart Whitman | 8.60 | 133.9 | 133.90 | 36 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 87.5 | |
20 | Wabash Avenue (1950) | Betty Grable & Victor Mature |
5.90 | 131.5 | 131.50 | 44 | 62 | 01 / 00 | 85.6 | |
21 | Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell (1951) | Clifton Webb & Zero Mostel |
5.00 | 107.8 | 107.80 | 61 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 84.1 | |
22 | My Cousin Rachel (1952) | Olivia de Havilland & Richard Burton |
3.60 | 70.8 | 70.80 | 96 | 72 | 04 / 00 | 82.5 | |
23 | Between Us Girls (1942) | Robert Cummings & Kay Francis |
2.90 | 106.2 | 106.20 | 101 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 82.0 | |
25 | Elopement (1951) | Clifton Webb | 5.70 | 123.2 | 123.20 | 47 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 81.9 | |
27 | Take Her, She's Mine (1963) | James Stewart & Sandra Dee |
9.30 | 116.4 | 116.40 | 30 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 80.9 | |
26 | The Singing Nun (1966) | Debbie Reynolds & Greer Garson |
9.50 | 93.1 | 93.10 | 33 | 65 | 01 / 00 | 80.9 | |
27 | No Highway in the Sky (1951) | James Stewart & Marlene Dietrich |
3.30 | 70.8 | 70.80 | 108 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 80.6 | |
28 | The Unfinished Dance (1947) | Cyd Charisse | 3.10 | 88.9 | 181.30 | 113 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 79.0 | |
29 | The Luck of the Irish (1948) | Tyrone Power & Anne Baxter |
3.70 | 99.3 | 99.30 | 95 | 57 | 01 / 00 | 77.3 | |
30 | D-Day The Sixth of June (1956) Director |
Robert Taylor & Richard Todd |
5.60 | 109.2 | 144.20 | 53 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 74.4 | |
31 | Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) | Jennifer Jones | 2.80 | 58.7 | 58.70 | 114 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 70.2 | |
32 | My Man Godfrey (1957) Director |
June Allyson & David Niven |
3.40 | 66.0 | 66.00 | 72 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 69.8 | |
33 | The Virgin Queen (1955) Director |
Bette Davis & Richard Todd |
2.70 | 56.3 | 56.30 | 119 | 63 | 01 / 00 | 69.1 | |
34 | O. Henry's Full House (1952) | Richard Widmark & Marilyn Monroe |
2.80 | 54.4 | 54.40 | 120 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 68.5 | |
35 | Fräulein (1958) | Mel Ferrer | 1.60 | 29.2 | 29.20 | 118 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 60.8 | |
36 | Dear Brigitte (1965) | James Stewart & Fabian |
4.70 | 50.0 | 50.00 | 56 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 58.1 | |
37 | The Power And The Prize (1956) | Robert Taylor & Elisabeth Müller |
1.60 | 31.9 | 59.90 | 152 | 57 | 01 / 00 | 45.9 | |
38 | The Naked Maja (1958) Director |
Ava Gardner & Anthony Franciosa |
2.90 | 51.3 | 51.30 | 77 | 40 | 00 / 00 | 22.0 |
Henry Koster Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses
Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) | S |
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Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) | S |
The Robe (1953) AA Best Picture Nom |
Richard Burton & Jean Simmons |
1,216.60 | |
Music For Millions (1944) | June Allyson & Jimmy Durante |
417.80 | |
The Bishop's Wife (1947) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Cary Grant & David Niven & Loretta |
395.70 | |
Two Sisters From Boston (1946) | Kathryn Grayson & Jimmy Durante |
371.30 | |
The Inspector General (1949) | Danny Kaye | 272.30 | |
The Unfinished Dance (1947) | Cyd Charisse | 181.30 | |
D-Day The Sixth of June (1956) Director |
Robert Taylor & Richard Todd |
144.20 | |
The Power And The Prize (1956) | Robert Taylor & Elisabeth Müller |
59.90 |
Check out Henry Koster’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time
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I have seen 22 Henry Koster movies.
The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is The Bishop’s Wife.
The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is One Hundred Men and a Girl.
The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is Dear Brigitte
Favourite Henry Koster Movies:
The Bishop’s Wife
Three Smart Girls
Flower Drum Song
Harvey
The Inspector General
My Cousin Rachel
No Highway in the Sky
The Singing Nun
The Unfinished Dance
Good Morning Miss Dove
O’Henry’s Full House
Other Henry Koster Movies I Have Seen:
The Robe
Come to the Stable
Music For Millions
Desiree
Two Sisters From Boston
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
Take Her, She’s Mine
D-Day, the Sixth of June
My Man Godfrey
The Virgin Queen
Dear Brigitte
Hey Flora. Thanks for checking out my Henry Koster page. I have seen….counting….seen 8 of his movies….that is not going to get me on the medal platform as Dan has seen 37, you have seen 22 and Greg has seen 13 of his movies. Of the favorites….I have seen two of them. The Bishop’s Wife, even though it stars one of my favorites, Cary Grant, is not a favorite of mine. As for the “other” movies I have seen 4 of them…..none that I liked that much either. Good stuff as always.
Hey Bob….pretty sure Mr. Koster only made two movies. We will just chalk this up to you and your limited movie knowledge…..lol. I went to bed without doing the final update to this page……but now….with your reminder….his page is considerably longer. Of his 50 directing credits…we have 38 ranked….with only his documentary, Marilyn missing and his early early movies. Thanks for the heads up and the quote.
HI BRUCE: I appreciate your multiple replies. I have actually been waiting for a long time for the opportunity to use that Reagan quote “Where’s the rest of me?”. So I thank YOU for giving me the opening!!
Politically Reagan was nicknamed “The Great Communicator” so it’s worth repeating how he turned-around taunts from journalists and other political opponents during the 1980 presidential election about his perceived B movie/B list actor status.
He allowed them to ramble about that for a few weeks, then suddenly pounced by saying “Incidentally did you know that in the Hollywood of my day B movie meant a movie you had to bring a movie in on B -udget? – which is what we always did and which is what I’m going to do for the finances of this great country of ours. So vote for me!”
Actually a slender Dan-like link runs through the foregoing trivia. After her retirement to live in France Deanna often returned to Hollywood for brief visits particularly to meet up with her longstanding friend Judy Garland,
One such visit coincided with Henry’s direction of Desiree so he arranged a dinner party at his home where Brando and Durbin could meet for the first time. Brando was a notorious womaniser [dating Monroe for example for a long period] and Deanna openly admitted her fondness for men.
However their meeting at Henry’s home seems to have been strictly respectable and routinely social as I never read of any “hanky- panky” between the pair; and in fact they seemed to spend their spare time there signing autographs. For example one of Henry’s daughters had broken her leg and it was in a plaster cast; and Deanna and Marlon both autographed the cast!
Anyway this new Koster page is welcomed with a rousing “Vote Up” – put THAT in your pipes and smoke it Hirsch and Work Horse!
Hey Bob….good stories about Henry and some Hollywood legends. I figured when I saw he directed Desiree that some Brando info was coming. Good stuff about your favorites signing the daughter’s cast. Good stuff.
HI YOUR MAGNIFENCE Glad you liked the Brando/Durbin trivia-though they were lucky it wasn’t a cast of thousands or they might have been bogged-down in Koster’s place for years.
Gosh I’m on fire today! The wit is flowing so fast that I almost feel that I in an Al Leach role in one of his screwball comedies; and if Hope had still been around he would have been lionising me to guest on his TV and radio shows.
Included in Henry’s large filmography that for some reason Brucie is keeping hidden away from us Is 1954’s Desiree in which Brando plays the legendary “Nappy” as Steve persists in calling that great if notorious Frenchman.
Anyone who has been following my posts over the years (I say modestly when I know from the figures Bruce keeps quoting that I must have millions of avid readers on this site) will know of that there is a massive “elephant in the room” on page 57 of Joel Hirschhorn’s book Rating the Movie Stars which the Work Horse keeps re-reading as often as Winston Churchill watched Deanna’100 Men and a Girl.
On that highly-misinformed page 57 of his book on which Joel performs the greatest crucifixion since the famous Biblical one thousands of years ago is the ‘gem’ that “Nobody cared for Desiree or Brando’s performance of Napoleon.”
Wow! – the breath is taken away from one! Now for some realism: According to Bruce’s own figures on his 1954 box office stats page Desiree was the 16th greatest box office hit of the year (with a whopping adjusted domestic gross of nearly $260 million); and Lord Laurence Olivier in his time went public with great praise of Brando’s interpretation of “Nappy”.
And to cap it all The Work Horse’s own wider sources give it a 67% review rating which is comfortably in excess of “Good” under Bruce’s own criteria. So I have often invited The Work Horse, as Joel is for some reason his idol, if he can define Joel’s own definition of “nobody”. Metaphorically-speaking though by way of response WH has always “looked through me a if I were a leafless Tree” (Thomas Hardy – Far from the Madding Crowd).
Always a good way to start off the day….getting to read stuff from Joel and Bob. I did not know Joel was not a big fan of Brando’s Napolean….lol. Thanks for all the feedback on our lates page. Good stuff!
HI BRUCE: Staying with the subject of entertainers as Ronnie Reagan once was professionally, and expanding on the subject of Joel who also was an entertainer back in his rock n roll/nightclub days; I am sure that you have realised that in the most successful TV sitcoms like Cheers, Friends and Frasier the key recurring characters tend to have standing idiosyncrasies and obsessive compulsive disorders that they are endlessly allowed to indulge repeatedlythroughout a series’ run to the delight of the audiences.
It’s familiarity with the normally-corny habits concerned that makes audiences laugh at them; you can’t laugh at something whose point you don’t get and familiarity with a character’s flaws or compulsions can actually endear the person to audiences.
Accordingly I always try to find room for Joel in my posts. It could be though that I have hoisted myself on my own petard as the saying goes: by repeatedly using Brando associations to make Hirsch a ‘fun’ character it could be that anyone who has read my posts will actually find him endearing for the reasons I have described.
This famous movie quote is I think from Ronald Reagan in 1942’s King’s Row when he wakes- up and finds that he has no legs. Henry Koster could equally ask the same question if he saw his two-movie filmography on this page.
Among the many movies he directed Koster was possibly most famous for directing Deanna Durbin in some half dozen of her hey-day hit movies including 100 Men and a Girl which was Sir Winston Churchill’s fave film that apparently he watched every year with a cigar and a few brandys to celebrate the war’s VE day.
So it’s not just Howard Hughes and Elvis who were addicted to watching a movie over and over again which each respectively did with Wayne’s The Conqueror and Brando’s The Wild One.
The Duke, Brando and Deanna had that effect on Greats like Hughes, Elvis and Churchill which is why those three stars are among my own idols; though come to think of it anybody who is worth idolising is on MY list – sorry Sly and Thins!