Want to know the best Irene Dunne movie? How about the worst Irene Dunne movie? Curious about Irene Dunne’s box office grosses or which Irene Dunne movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Irene Dunne movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place.
Irene Dunne (1898 – 1990) was one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood from the early 1930s through the late 1940s. Dunne earned 5 Best Actress Oscar® nominations. Her IMDb page shows 51 acting credits from 1930-1962. This page will rank Irene Dunne 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.
Irene Dunne Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Irene Dunne Movies Can Be Ranked 5 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort by Irene Dunne movies by her co-stars
- Sort Irene Dunne movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Irene Dunne movies by yearly domestic box office grosses
- Sort Irene Dunne 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 Irene Dunne movie received.
- Sort Irene Dunne 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.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Irene Dunne Table
1. 16 of Irene Dunne’s movies crossed the magical $100 million mark. That is a percentage of 41.02% of her movies listed. Her top box office hit was White Cliffs of Dover (1943) which barely beat out Life With Father (1947) and A Guy Named Joe (1944).
2. An average Irene Dunne movie grossed $111.30 million in adjusted box office gross.
3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 32 of Irene Dunne’s movies are rated as good movies…or 82.05% of her movies. Her highest rated movie is 1948’s I Remember Mama.
4. 13 of Irene Dunne’s movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 33.33% of her movies.
5. 4 of Irene Dunne’s movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 10.25% of her movies.
6. An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00. 29 of Irene Dunne’s movies scored higher that average….or 74.35% of her movies. The Awful Truth (1937) got the highest UMR Score while Thirteen Women (1932) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly interesting things about Irene Dunne
1. Irene Dunne was born in Louisville, Kentucky on December 20, 1898.
2. Irene Dunne’s track to Hollywood. After her father died when she was 12, her family moved to Madison, Indiana. In Madison, she started taking music lessons. Her singing ability would take her to New York City. Her ultimate goal was to be part of the Metropolitan Opera Company but that did not work out. She did however start appearing in plays. Her part in the musical Show Boat led to her first movie contract with RKO.
3. Irene Dunne was married one time…to Dr. Francis Griffin from 1928 until his death in 1965…they had one daughter.
4. Irene Dunne was nominated for 5 Best Actress Oscars®. Those 5 movies were 1930’s Cimarron, 1936’s Theodora Goes Wild, 1937’s The Awful Truth, 1939’s Love Affair and 1948’s I Remember Mama.
5. Irene Dunne co-starred with Cary Grant in 3 movies. 1937’s The Awful Truth, 1940’s My Favorite Wife and 1941’s Penny Serenade.
6. The missing Irene Dunne movies that are not included on this page with their critic/audience rating:
- Leathernecking (1930) 70.0%
- Bachelor Apartment (1931) 58.0%
- The Secret of Madama Blanche (1933) 64.0%I
7. Irene Dunne’s Cimarron (1931) won the Best Picture Oscar® but it is ranked as the second-worst of the 92 Best Picture Oscar® winners according to critics and audiences. Only 1929’s The Broadway Melody has a lower critic/audience rating.
8. As I searched and searched for Irene Dunne box office numbers…I found a very impressive Irene Dunne fan site. http://www.irenedunnesite.com/ is loaded with tons more information on Irene Dunne and her movies. This site is highly recommended.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
This is actually the 3rd home for Cogerson Movie Scores. We started writing these pages over 4 years ago. Our first page was called a hub and it was found on HubPages.com. After some success there we started our own website…CogersonMovieScore.com. So after a combined 3.5 million views we are moving again. For those used to our old movies tables…I agree I liked the older tables better….but these new tables do offer a sort button and a search button….they are starting to grow on me and I hope they grow on you. Please excuse our mess as we build UltimateMovieRankings into a pleasant viewing experience.
For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
Irene Dunne has 8 100 million dollar pictures on your list. At the moment there is only one person on the current Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list who has appeared with her. Well 1952 was the last time she was in a film that was released (she did do some TV).
Together Again (1944) – 781 Shelley Winters
The following people were on the 2000 list who have fallen off over the years but appeared in films with her.
A Guy Named Joe (1943) – 467 Van Johnson, 894 Philip Van Zandt
Ann Vickers (1933) – 989 Bruce Cabot
Anna and the King of Siam (1946) – 301 Lee J. Cobb
Bachelor Apartment (1931) – 222 Bess Flowers
Back Street (1932) – 542 Paul Fix, 783 James Flavin
High, Wide and Handsome (1937) – 234 Akim Tamiroff
I Remember Mama (1948) – 851 Cedric Hardwicke, 994 Ellen Corby
It Grows on Trees (1952) – 265 Richard Crenna, 744 Dean Jagger, 963 Frank Ferguson
Joy of Living (1938) – 571 Charles Lane, 740 George Chandler
Lady in a Jam (1942) – 222 Bess Flowers, 507 Ralph Bellamy, 571 Charles Lane, 982 Billy Benedict
Leathernecking (1930) – 740 George Chandler
Life with Father (1947) – 281 Elizabeth Taylor, 894 Philip Van Zandt
Love Affair (1939) – 222 Bess Flowers, 393 Charles Boyer
Magnificent Obsession (1935) – 783 James Flavin
Never a Dull Moment (1950) – 379 Ann Doran
Over 21 (1945) – 222 Bess Flowers, 255 Alexander Knox, 356 Phil Brown, 783 James Flavin
Penny Serenade (1941) – 379 Ann Doran
The Awful Truth (1937) – 222 Bess Flowers, 507 Ralph Bellamy, 969 Byron Foulger
The Mudlark (1950) – 392 Alec Guinness, 517 Wilfried Hyde-White, 712 Finlay Currie
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) – 25 Roddy McDowell, 100 Ian Wolfe, 237 Peter Lawford, 281 Elizabeth Taylor, 467 Van Johnson (5 from a film 56 years old at the time).
Theodora Goes Wild (1936) – 222 Bess Flowers, 651 Melvyn Douglas, 832 Don Brodie, 982 Billy Benedict (and 4 from a film 64 years old at the time).
Thirteen Women (1932) – 959 Leon Ames
This Man is Mine (1934) – 507 Ralph Bellamy
Together Again (1944) – 393 Charles Boyer, 783 James Flavin
Unfinished Business (1941) – 542 Paul Fix
When Tomorrow Comes (1939) – 299 Fritz Feld, 393 Charles Boyer
Irene only worked with 13 Oscar winners that I could find.
A Guy Named Joe (1943) – Lionel Barrymore, Spencer Tracy
Ann Vickers (1933) – Jane Darwell, Walter Huston
Anna and the King of Siam (1946) – Rex Harrison
Back Street (1932) – Jane Darwell
It Grows on Trees (1952) – Dean Jagger
Joy of Living (1938) – Alice Brady
Life with Father (1947) – Elizabeth Taylor
Over 21 (1945) – Charles Coburn
Roberta (1935) – Ginger Rogers
The Mudlark (1950) – Alec Guinness
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) – Elizabeth Taylor
Theodora Goes Wild (1936) – Melyvn Douglas
Together Again (1944) – Charles Coburn, Shelley Winters
Hey Dan….wow Shelley Winters is the last woman standing on the updated list. Not surprised at all that she never made it on the Oracle 1000….heck even her 2000 list is pretty small compared to others. And now the 3rd list. Shocked….I tell ya I am shocked that she only worked with 13 Oscar winners….that seems way too low for a star of her stature. Heck…as you showed before Danny Trejo is sitting at 12…..sometimes stats do not make sense.
Hi, Bruce.
In looking up the actresses on the list of to-do classic names-as I wanted to loom up a woman next- I chose Irene Dunne. And reading your comment above, I can say I easily beat you, though I do not know what Steve’s tally is.
Regarding the ten you couldn’t find, I have not seen any.
My favourite film of hers is The Awful Truth 1st, My Favourite Wife 2nd, A Guy Named Joe 3rd, Roberta 4th and Theodora Goes Wild 5th.
Penny Seranade is not actually a comedy. It’s a sad family drama. Not what one wouldexpect with Grant and Dunne.
Life With Father is one I should have enjoyed more considering the cast. But I found myself irritated with the characters more than anything.
I have seen all of the top 5
I have seen all of the top 10
I have seen 12 of the top 15
I have seen 14 of hers overall.
I prefer the stage version of Show Boat to the movie.
I think I could see The Awful Truth once a day and never tire of it.
In looking at your list of names, I written down and added on my to-answer list Sophia Loren and William Goldman.
Cheers,
Flora Breen Robison
Hey Flora…thanks for checking out my very first Ultimate Movie Rankings movie page that I ever wrote. First of all….let me say congrats….you are back on top of the tally count after a rough 2 page run (not including James Dean)…..the tally count…..Flora 14, Steve 7 and me at the bottom with 6. I am surprised you are only at 14…..I thought your tally would be much higher.
Seeing 12 of the Top 15 I am thinking you have seen the best of Irene Dunne. Of your Top 5….I have not see A Guy Named Joe (but I want to) and Theodora Goes Wild. I have seen all of her Cary Grant movies many many times….although I guess I have only seen Penny Serenade a few times…but The Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife are watched about once a year.
I agree with you about Life With Father…..that was one and done movie for me…..great cast…but the humor has not aged well….which pretty much just leaves some irritating characters which grew tiresome.
I forgot about Sophia Loren when I sent that list…..on my old website….she was hiding out in the current actress section….as always…your input is greatly appreciated.
Great look at a great lady.
Thank you Hurbschin
Hi Cogerson. I’ve only seen a few Irene Dunn movies. By far the best in my opinion is The Awful Truth. The scene where she plays the hillbilly sister to Cary Grant is hilarious. What I do find refreshing about Irene Dunn is that while most female stars of that time were past their peak at 40, her career was flourishing. I once read that a noted journalist in Hollywood claimed that of all the great stars, she was the most level headed and down to earth they’d ever met.
Hey Chris….I have only seen 6 of her movies myself. I am a huge Cary Grant fan so I discovered her when I watched The Awful Truth. Actually if I take out the Grant/Dunne movies I am down to 3 Dunne movies watched. For some reason I do not see her movies on DVD very much. I know her movies play on TCM all the time but I rarely watch television unless it is football season. The hillbilly scene you mentioned actually came from Dunne herself…she suggested it to the director and he ran with it….a good decision. Dunne got the nickname “The First Lady of Hollywood” because she remained level headed and down to earth. Thanks for the comment, and for finding this new website….it is greatly appreciated.
Sorry you have to include Cary Grant…so hard on the eyes…. hee hee.. love all of the pictures of the two of them together…..
@David….I agree having Grant in the photo makes it almost difficult to look at.