24 thoughts on “Jeanne Crain Movies”

1. Jeanne Crain had a fine run of top billed lead roles from 1944 thru the early 50s.
   However her top star days tapered off from around the mid 1950s and she was consigned to second or lower billing and supporting roles to Glenn Ford, Kirk Douglas, Jeff Chandler, Alan Ladd, Sinatra and Mitzi Gaynor.

   A stand alone movie that Jeanne made in 1955, The 2nd Greatest Sex, flopped –just $69 million and a 53% critical rating in the table above

   In recognition of Jeanne’s legacy the Jeanne Crain memorabilia collection currently resides at Wesleyan University in Middletown Connecticut whose archives hold also the memorabilia of Hollywood legends Ingrid Bergman, Clint Eastwood, Frank Capra and others.

   In her heyday Jeanne was such a “party animal” that her nickname was “Hollywood’s Number One Party Girl!”

   As a movie buff I agree with Steve that Jeanne is an interesting subject and I therefore join him in his signature Vote Up for this new page.

   Reply

   1. Hey Bob…..thanks for checking out our Jeanne Crain page. Good information on Crain. I agree it seems her career started off super hot…but quickly cooled. Looking at the co-stars you listed…I see many are your favorites. good information about Wesleyan University in Middletown Connecticut. I was actually not too far from there last weekend….if only they had ledgers…lol. Interesting nickname for her….I have not heard many details about her “party girl” ways. I bet she had some pretty incredible stories about those days. Thanks for the Steve Vote Up..

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      1. HI BRUCE Better late than never! Appreciate the belated Crain feedback and agree with your summing up Great coincidence you being near that university

         My own most enduring memory of Jeanne is from the western Man without a Star when Kirk Douglas taunted her to put her down by singing to her in his own voice the following love song

         AND THE MOON GREW BRIGHTER AND BRIGHTER
         From the film “Man Without A Star” (1955)
         Kirk Douglas (Film Soundtrack) – 1955

         I was under a prairie moon
         Whistlin’ a lonesome tune
         When my rovin’ eye came to sight her
         And my heart growed lighter and lighter
         And the Moon grew brighter and brighter

         When I told her that she was swell
         She said, “You’re swell as well”
         I just don’t know who was politer
         Then my arms just seemed to invite her
         And the Moon grew brighter and brighter

         Yo-dah-lo-dee-oh-eee-oh
         Yo-dah-lay-dee-ay-dee-ay
         So I rounded up some kisses to delight her
         And she roped me tighter and tighter
         And the Moon grew brighter and brighter

         Reply

         1. Very cool Bob….thanks for sharing the lyrics to that song….I have not yet seen Man Without A Star….but I hope one of these days I will stumble across it. Good stuff.

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2. Jeanne has never been on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. These are the actors on the 2016 list she has appeared with;

   247 CHARLTON HESTON Skyjacked (1972)
   325 JAMES BROLIN Skyjacked (1972)
   912 ARTHUR TOVEY Hot Rods to Hell (1967)
   937 ROBERT EASTON Belles on Their Toes (1952)
   937 ROBERT EASTON O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)
   966 KATHLEEN FREEMAN Madison Avenue (1962)
   966 KATHLEEN FREEMAN O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)

   Tovey, Easton and Freeman are now gone.

   The following actors on the 2000 list and now gone who appeared with her as follows;

   32 KIRK DOUGLAS A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
   32 KIRK DOUGLAS Man Without a Star (1955)
   76 EDDIE ALBERT Madison Avenue (1962)
   76 EDDIE ALBERT The Joker Is Wild (1957)
   96 FERDY MAYNE Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955)
   108 DUB TAYLOR The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
   119 RICHARD WIDMARK O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)
   125 VINCENT PRICE Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
   125 VINCENT PRICE Nefertiti, regina del Nilo (1961)
   132 GLENN FORD The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
   147 LLOYD BRIDGES City of Bad Men (1953)
   169 JOHN DEHNER State Fair (1945)
   169 JOHN DEHNER The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
   169 JOHN DEHNER Vicki (1953)
   185 KEVIN MCCARTHY Winged Victory (1944)
   207 WILLIAM HOLDEN Apartment for Peggy (1948)
   222 BESS FLOWERS Dangerous Crossing (1953)
   222 BESS FLOWERS People Will Talk (1951)
   222 BESS FLOWERS State Fair (1945)
   234 AKIM TAMIROFF Invasion 1700 (1963)
   241 BRODERICK CRAWFORD The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
   244 WALTER GOTELL Duel in the Jungle (1954)
   270 FRANK SINATRA The Joker Is Wild (1957)
   273 GEORGE COULOURIS Duel in the Jungle (1954)
   290 GEORGE WALLACE Man Without a Star (1955)
   290 GEORGE WALLACE The Second Greatest Sex (1955)
   299 FRITZ FELD O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)
   301 LEE J. COBB Winged Victory (1944)
   323 GEORGE SANDERS The Fan (1949)
   356 PHIL BROWN State Fair (1945)
   359 KARL MALDEN Winged Victory (1944)
   384 GILBERT ROLAND Guns of the Timberland (1960)
   395 WALTER PIDGEON Skyjacked (1972)
   404 JACK ELAM Man Without a Star (1955)
   451 DANA ANDREWS Duel in the Jungle (1954)
   451 DANA ANDREWS Hot Rods to Hell (1967)
   451 DANA ANDREWS Madison Avenue (1962)
   451 DANA ANDREWS State Fair (1945)
   517 WILFRID HYDE-WHITE Duel in the Jungle (1954)
   520 WILLIAM SCHALLERT The Tattered Dress (1957)
   522 RED BUTTONS Winged Victory (1944)
   544 LEO GORDON City of Bad Men (1953)
   555 HUME CRONYN People Will Talk (1951)
   562 PAUL BRYAR The Joker Is Wild (1957)
   571 CHARLES LANE Apartment for Peggy (1948)
   592 WHIT BISSELL Winged Victory (1944)
   599 JOHN DOUCETTE City of Bad Men (1953)
   599 JOHN DOUCETTE The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
   612 JEFFREY HUNTER Belles on Their Toes (1952)
   612 JEFFREY HUNTER Take Care of My Little Girl (1951)
   623 RUSS TAMBLYN The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
   648 HARRY MORGAN State Fair (1945)
   690 PARLEY BAER People Will Talk (1951)
   690 PARLEY BAER Vicki (1953)
   712 FINLAY CURRIE People Will Talk (1951)
   746 HERB VIGRAN O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)
   775 DINA MERRILL Twenty Plus Two (1961)
   777 ERIC POHLMANN Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955)
   783 JAMES FLAVIN O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)
   816 CARLETON YOUNG People Will Talk (1951)
   816 CARLETON YOUNG Twenty Plus Two (1961)
   824 FRANK WILCOX In the Meantime, Darling (1944)
   848 FRANK LATIMORE In the Meantime, Darling (1944)
   859 MYRON HEALEY Man Without a Star (1955)
   873 PAUL MULLER Pontius Pilate (1962)
   963 FRANK FERGUSON City of Bad Men (1953)
   963 FRANK FERGUSON The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951)
   972 RICHARD BOONE City of Bad Men (1953)
   972 RICHARD BOONE Man Without a Star (1955)
   972 RICHARD BOONE Vicki (1953)

   Jeanne worked with 16 Oscar winners;

   BRODERICK CRAWFORD The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
   CELESTE HOLM A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
   CHARLES LAUGHTON O’Henry’s Full House (1952/I)
   CHARLTON HESTON Skyjacked (1972)
   CLAIRE TREVOR Man Without a Star (1955)
   EDMUND GWENN Apartment for Peggy (1948)
   EDMUND O’BRIEN Winged Victory (1944)
   ETHEL BARRYMORE Pinky (1949)
   FRANK SINATRA The Joker Is Wild (1957)
   GEORGE SANDERS The Fan (1949)
   HATTIE MCDANIEL MARGIE (1946)
   JUDY HOLLIDAY Winged Victory (1944)
   KARL MALDEN Winged Victory (1944)
   RED BUTTONS Winged Victory (1944)
   WALTER BRENNAN Centennial Summer (1946)
   WALTER BRENNAN Home in Indiana (1944)
   WILLIAM HOLDEN Apartment for Peggy (1948)

   Reply

   1. Hey Dan
      1. As always…thanks for the lists of information on Jeanne Crain.
      2. So the bottom three are no longer on the list…..I imagine Charlton Heston will be next….with James Brolin coming soon after…..seems he is busy playing Mr. Streisand and rarely appears in movies these days.
      3. Second list….Bess gets three movies…but Dana Andrews has the most movies with Crain….4 times. I recently was adding a movie trailer to our 1975 page….when I came across an Eddie Albert movie…..I miss him in supporting roles….growing up….you could always count on him to make a movie better. A quick IMDb look….and I see it is a shocking 13 years since he passed…and over 20 since he made a movie…RIP Mr. Albert.
      4. 16 Oscar winners….is below average…but her career produced a limited amount of movies…so overall…not a bad %…..thank you Winged Victory…accounting for 25% of her Oscar winning co-stars.
      Good stuff as always.

      Reply

3. Hmmm I’m not very familiar with Jeanne Crain. Have I seen any of her films?

   Let’s see I count…. 5 films out of 29 that I know for sure I’ve watched.

   Leave Her to Heaven
   The Fastest Gun Alive
   The Joker is Wild
   Man Without a Star
   Skyjacked

   None of them huge favorites but I did enjoy the two westerns.

   Looking at the adjusted gross for Leave Her to Heaven, wow it was a massive hit, how many movies this year or even last year reached $374m in domestic grosses? And this was a drama without any huge stars or special effects or explosions. Gene Tierney playing one of the most evil female characters in film history.

   An interesting subject. Vote Up.

   Reply

   1. Hey Steve….well….we the movie experts got our butts handed to us in the tally contest…..as our combined total of 9 is almost tripled by Lupino and easily beaten by Flora. I am right there with you….I know the name Jeanne Crain….but until writing this page…gotta admit her career was a blind spot in my movie knowledge. Of your 5….I have only seen Leave Her To Heaven. Skyjacked and Man Without A Star look interesting. Leave Her To Heaven benefited from opening at the peak of the movie going history….as 1945 through 1948 were the most popular years for people to go to theaters…..95 million people a week went back then….compared to less than 20 million that go today. I seem to remember you not really liking Leave Her To Heaven very much when you watched it…maybe it is growing on you. I know I would not go out on a lake with her character in that one…lol.

      Reply

      1. Bruce, I watched Leave Her to Heaven but it’s not one of my favorites, probably because Gene Tierney’s character is too irredeemably evil and I couldn’t enjoy the film because of that.

         But on the other hand I did like Anthony Hopkins insane cannibal Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, one of my favorite screen psychos, along with Norman Bates of course. There was something sympathetic about both those nutcases but Gene Tierney letting that boy drown in the lake killed the movie for me.

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         1. STEVE

            I saw Hopkins as Hitler last week in a TV movie called The Bunker (1981) and he was excellent. It was about Adolf’s last days before the Russians moved in on his lair..

            It seems that most actors with the exception of perhaps Danny DeVito and Arnie can look like Hitler if they comb their hair to one side and grow a mini-moustache.

            However Sir Tony brought out nuances in the Fuhrer that have escaped other performances of him that I have seen. Well worth watching – rated 70% by IMDB

            Reply

4. I have seen 13 Jeanne Crain movies.

   The highest ranked film I have seen is A Letter to Three Wives at number 1.

   The highest ranked film I have NOT seen is Margie at number 3.

   The lowest ranked film I have seen is Hot Rods To Hell at number 28.

   I found that Crain always gives strong performances in all of her films and I enjoy watching her no matter what the quality of the overall movie.

   My favourite Jeanne Crain movies are:

   Leave Her to Heaven
   A Letter to Three Wives
   The Fastest Gun Alive
   State Fair
   Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
   O Henry’s Full House (anthology of stories)

   Reply

   1. Hey Flora. Thanks for the visit, the comment and the tally count. Tally counts….Lupino 24, you 13, Steve 5 and me deadlast with 4. I have seen #1, #2, #4 and #11. I have also not seen Margie. I actually had to re-check my numbers when it ended up being ranked so high. I guess the power of Dana Andrews go you to watch Hot Rods To Hell. I have seen your top two movies….which are the Top 2 UMR movies. Leave Her To Heaven is a very memorable movie….but I give Gene Tierney the credit for that….as it is one of the most evil characters every in movies. Thanks as always for your feedback.

      Reply

5. Although Jeanne never was a favorite, I always found her pleasant to watch- very beautiful, with a likeable personality on which she could perhaps rely more than on her acting chops. Not saying that she couldn’t act, but somehow her parts were more about charm and likeability than acting. She had a great run right into the early 50’s, when she outgrew her screen image and it became harder for her to get good parts. I have seen 24 of her movies, and there are many favs among them: A Letter to three Wives, Leave her to Heaven, Pinky, The Model and the Marriage Broker, Appartement for Peggy, Margie, State Fair, Cheaper by the Dozen and, to a lesser extent, People Will Talk, her episode from O’Henry’s Full House, and the western The Fastest Gun Alive, though I found her character not likeable for a change. I have also seen Hot Rods to Hell, and I had the feeling she felt distinctly uncomfortable in that movie. A good career and a worthy subject for an UMR page!

   Reply

   1. Hey Lupino
      1. Thanks for your thoughts on another one of our classic actress pages.
      2. Got admit…..I am very unaware of her….so when I was looking for pictures to include…I was not always sure I was looking at Jeanne Crain.
      3. Of the 4 movies that I have seen with her….I did like her performances. My four are Pinky (probably her best role), Leave Her To Heaven (she is good in the movie…but this is Gene Tierney’s showcase), People Will Talk (she and Cary Grant made a good screen team…though the movie is way outdated) and A Letter To Three Wives (gottta admit…I do not remember her part very well).
      4. 24 is a huge number…only Flora comes even close to that total…and even she is 11 away from your tally.
      5. I have not seen Hot Rods To Hell….but the attached trailer looks interesting.
      6. Unless your name is Meryl Streep….movie screens at nice to even the most talented actresses after they reach their 40s.
      Good feedback as always.

      Reply

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