Want to know the best Joan Bennett movies? How about the worst Joan Bennett movies? Curious about Joan Bennett box office grosses or which Joan Bennett movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Joan Bennett 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.
Joan Bennett (1910-1990) was an American stage, film and television actress. Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies, well into the sound era. Her IMDb page shows 98 acting credits from 1916-1982. This page will rank 56 Joan Bennett movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances and some movies made between 1928 and 1932 were not included in the rankings. This page comes from a request by Brando90.
Joan Bennett 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 Joan Bennett films by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Joan Bennett films by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Joan Bennett films by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Joan Bennett films 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 Joan Bennett film received.
- Sort Joan Bennett films 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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Father of the Bride (1950) AA Best Picture Nom |
Spencer Tracy & Elizabeth Taylor |
11.50 | 259.0 | 390.40 | 6 | 82 | 03 / 00 | 98.9 | |
| 2 | Little Women (1933) AA Best Picture Nom |
Katharine Hepburn | 4.00 | 187.1 | 277.20 | 13 | 82 | 03 / 01 | 98.7 | |
| 3 | Scarlet Street (1945) | Edward G. Robinson & Dan Duryea |
6.90 | 220.2 | 259.70 | 41 | 87 | 00 / 00 | 98.6 | |
| 4 | The Woman in the Window (1944) | Edward G. Robinson & Dan Duryea |
6.50 | 218.4 | 361.30 | 36 | 85 | 01 / 00 | 98.4 | |
| 5 | Father's Little Dividend (1951) | Spencer Tracy & Elizabeth Taylor |
9.10 | 197.1 | 289.50 | 13 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 95.5 | |
| 6 | We're No Angels (1955) | Humphrey Bogart & Peter Ustinov |
8.60 | 177.7 | 177.70 | 35 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 95.0 | |
| 8 | Man Hunt (1941) | Walter Pidgeon | 4.50 | 173.9 | 173.90 | 37 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 94.7 | |
| 10 | The Man In The Iron Mask (1939) | Louis Hayward | 4.40 | 169.4 | 169.40 | 44 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 93.1 | |
| 8 | Nob Hill (1945) | George Raft | 8.60 | 273.4 | 273.40 | 26 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 90.6 | |
| 11 | Vogues of 1938 (1937) | Warner Baxter | 4.40 | 182.7 | 182.70 | 29 | 58 | 02 / 00 | 90.3 | |
| 10 | Mississippi (1935) | Bing Crosby & W.C. Fields |
2.70 | 121.9 | 121.90 | 40 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 90.2 | |
| 12 | The Macomber Affair (1947) | Gregory Peck | 4.30 | 126.0 | 126.00 | 80 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 89.3 | |
| 14 | Trade Winds (1938) | Fredric March | 3.90 | 154.9 | 216.20 | 42 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 87.3 | |
| 15 | The Texans (1938) | Randolph Scott | 3.50 | 138.2 | 138.20 | 54 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 85.7 | |
| 15 | Disraeli (1929) AA Best Picture Nom |
George Arliss | 3.00 | 90.9 | 147.40 | 34 | 61 | 03 / 01 | 83.3 | |
| 16 | For Heaven's Sake (1950) | Clifton Webb | 4.90 | 109.1 | 109.10 | 55 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 80.3 | |
| 17 | There's Always Tomorrow (1955) | Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray |
2.90 | 59.2 | 59.20 | 109 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 79.0 | |
| 18 | Bulldog Drummond (1929) | Ronald Colman | 3.30 | 100.2 | 153.80 | 26 | 57 | 02 / 00 | 78.2 | |
| 19 | Wild Geese Calling (1941) | Henry Fonda | 2.40 | 93.1 | 93.10 | 98 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 77.9 | |
| 22 | 13 Hours By Air (1936) | Fred MacMurray | 2.40 | 104.2 | 104.20 | 82 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 77.1 | |
| 21 | Moby Dick (1930) | John Barrymore | 1.80 | 96.0 | 132.20 | 70 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 77.0 | |
| 23 | The House Across The Bay (1940) | George Raft | 2.20 | 86.1 | 86.10 | 88 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 75.4 | |
| 22 | Suspiria (1977) | Jessica Harper | 4.90 | 23.5 | 23.50 | 85 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 75.2 | |
| 24 | Two For Tonight (1935) | Bing Crosby | 1.40 | 64.0 | 64.00 | 93 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 74.0 | |
| 25 | The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo (1935) | Ronald Colman & Colin Clive |
1.50 | 67.6 | 67.60 | 83 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 72.7 | |
| 26 | The Woman on the Beach (1947) | Robert Ryan | 2.50 | 72.1 | 72.10 | 127 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 71.6 | |
| 27 | She Couldn't Take It (1935) | George Raft | 1.20 | 53.8 | 53.80 | 116 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 70.6 | |
| 29 | She Knew All The Answers (1941) | Franchot Tone | 2.00 | 75.6 | 75.60 | 121 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 70.5 | |
| 28 | The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934) | Claude Rains | 1.20 | 58.3 | 58.30 | 93 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 70.1 | |
| 30 | Wedding Present (1936) | Cary Grant | 1.50 | 65.6 | 65.60 | 119 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 69.6 | |
| 31 | The Trial of Vivienne Ware (1932) | Zasu Pitts | 0.90 | 43.4 | 43.40 | 125 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 69.1 | |
| 31 | The Man I Married (1940) | Lloyd Nolan | 1.70 | 64.8 | 64.80 | 123 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 68.8 | |
| 32 | Girl Trouble (1942) | Don Ameche | 1.80 | 68.5 | 68.50 | 131 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 68.5 | |
| 33 | Hush Money (1931) | Myrna Loy & George Raft |
1.10 | 54.5 | 54.50 | 143 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 67.8 | |
| 35 | The Son Of Monte Cristo (1940) | Louis Hayward & George Sanders |
2.00 | 75.3 | 75.30 | 101 | 56 | 01 / 00 | 67.5 | |
| 35 | Big Brown Eyes (1936) | Cary Grabt | 1.20 | 51.6 | 69.60 | 134 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 67.3 | |
| 36 | Green Hell (1940) | Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. | 2.00 | 76.4 | 76.40 | 98 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 66.2 | |
| 38 | The Pursuit of Happiness (1934) | Francis Lederer | 1.20 | 55.6 | 55.60 | 99 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 66.2 | |
| 40 | Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946) | Charles Coburn | 2.20 | 67.8 | 67.80 | 117 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 64.1 | |
| 40 | Two In A Crowd (1936) | Joel McCrea | 1.00 | 42.4 | 42.40 | 148 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 62.5 | |
| 40 | House Of Dark Shadows (1970) | Jonathan Frid | 5.60 | 38.7 | 38.70 | 51 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 62.3 | |
| 43 | The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939) | Victor Mature | 1.60 | 63.4 | 63.40 | 142 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 61.1 | |
| 42 | Hollow Triumph (1948) | Paul Henreid | 1.40 | 38.4 | 38.40 | 155 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 59.9 | |
| 45 | I Met My Love Again (1938) | Henry Fonda | 1.70 | 69.6 | 95.10 | 135 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 59.6 | |
| 44 | Secret Beyond the Door... (1947) | Michael Redgrave | 1.10 | 33.5 | 33.50 | 156 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 59.6 | |
| 44 | Me And My Gal (1932) | Spencer Tracy | 0.50 | 24.6 | 24.60 | 163 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 57.3 | |
| 46 | Margin For Error (1943) | Milton Berle | 1.80 | 63.8 | 63.80 | 120 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 57.2 | |
| 49 | Artists and Models Abroad (1938) | Jack Benny | 1.70 | 67.3 | 67.30 | 141 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 56.6 | |
| 49 | The Reckless Moment (1949) | James Mason | 2.00 | 49.9 | 49.90 | 144 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 56.6 | |
| 50 | The Guy Who Came Back (1951) | Linda Darnell | 1.20 | 26.2 | 26.20 | 188 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 55.0 | |
| 50 | Confirm Or Deny (1941) | Don Ameche | 1.10 | 42.1 | 42.10 | 166 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 54.1 | |
| 51 | Private Worlds (1935) | Claudette Colbert | 1.50 | 68.3 | 105.10 | 81 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 52.9 | |
| 51 | Maybe It's Love (1930) | Joe E. Brown | 1.40 | 76.6 | 84.70 | 88 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 52.8 | |
| 55 | The Wife Takes A Flyer (1942) | Franchot Tone | 1.10 | 39.5 | 39.50 | 174 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 48.3 | |
| 53 | Careless Lady (1932) | Josephine Hull | 0.40 | 22.0 | 22.00 | 170 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 48.3 | |
| 55 | Highway Dragnet (1954) | Richard Conte | 1.00 | 22.4 | 22.40 | 152 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 46.6 | |
| 57 | Desire In The Dust (1960) | Raymond Burr | 1.20 | 19.3 | 19.30 | 119 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 40.5 | |
| 57 | Arizona to Broadway (1933) | James Dunn | 0.60 | 29.4 | 29.40 | 158 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 31.6 | |
| 57 | Twin Beds (1942) | George Brent | 1.20 | 44.8 | 44.80 | 165 | 40 | 00 / 00 | 18.9 | |
| 58 | Navy Wife (1956) | Gary Merrill | 1.10 | 22.2 | 22.20 | 174 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 17.9 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Joan Bennett Table
- Thirteen Joan Bennett movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 23.21% of her movies listed. Her biggest hit was Nob Hill (1945)
- An average Joan Bennett movie grosses an average of $74.02 million in adjusted domestic gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 30 Joan Bennett movies are rated as good movies…or 53.57% of her movies. Scarlet Street (1945) was her highest rated movie while Twin Beds (1942) was her lowest rated movie.
- Eight Joan Bennett movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 14.28% of her movies.
- Two Joan Bennett movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 3.57% of her movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 20 Joan Bennett movies scored higher than that average….or 35.71% of her movies. Father of the Bride (1950) got the the highest UMR Score while Twin Beds (1942) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Joan Bennett
- Joan Geraldine Bennett was born in Fort Lee, New Jersey in 1910.
2. Joan Bennett was born into a theatrical family. Her father, mother and two older sisters (Constance & Barbara) were all involved in acting…so real surprise when Joan followed their footprints.
3. Filming on 1932’s She Wanted a Millionaire was interrupted for 6 months when Joan Bennett broke her leg in a fall from a horse.
4. Joan Bennett made five films for Fritz Lang, more than any other American actor or actress who worked with him.
5. Joan Bennett was a finalist for the part of Scarlett O’Hara in 1939’s Gone with the Wind. Vivien Leigh got the role at the last minute. Her thoughts on that? “I wish Vivien would have stayed in England.”
6. Joan Bennett was married four times and had four children. Her second marriage was to producer Walter Wanger.
7. In 1951 Walter Wanger was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of talent agent Jennings Lang. Lang was the agent of Joan Bennett, then Wanger’s wife, and Wanger discovered the two of them were having an affair. He caught them in the act, and wound up shooting Lang. Wanger served a four-month sentence.
8. Billy Wilder came up with the idea for 1960’s The Apartment after reading all the details of Wanger and Bennett’s personal lives that were revealed in the scandal in interesting fact #7. Some of the details revealed included how executives were using people’s apartments as “meeting places”. So the next time you see The Apartment….think of Joan Bennett.
9. Joan Bennett’s movies from 1930 to 1939 earned $1.81 billion in adjusted domestic gross. That puts him in 47th place when looking at all the stars of that decade. 1930’s Top Box Office Stars.
10. Joan Bennett’s movies from 1940 to 1949 earned $1.56 billion in adjusted domestic gross. That puts him in 86th place when looking at all the stars of that decade. 1940’s Top Box Office Stars.
Check out Joan Bennett’s movie career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Check Out Steve’s Joan Bennett You Tube Video
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I have seen 11 Joan Bennet movies, 6 of them in the top 10.
TCM is airing a Star of the Month look at Ronald Colman, and I recently saw Bulldog Drummand for the first time.
They will be airing The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo later this month, so I will be able to add that title as well.
Another film I recently saw for the first time thanks to TCM is The Man in the Iron Mask.
My favourite films are:
Father of the Bride
The Woman in the Window
Father’s Little Dividend
Scarlett Street
Little Women
You will notice that I did not include The Macomber Affair. Although I adore Gregory Peck, it is not one of my favourites of his.
The other Joan Bennet films I have seen are
The Woman on the Beach
Hollow Triumph
The Son of Monte Cristo
Hey Flora…thanks for the comment, visit and tally count. Your 11 movies will beat me and Steve’s combined total of 10…. but fall to Lupino’s total. I have seen three of your Top 5. Her partnership with Fritz Lang produced some great films. I love the twist at the end of Woman in the Window. I think you can still keep your Peck fan card ,…even if you did not like Macomber Affair…..there are bound to be a few Peck movies that are not your favorites. Good feedback.
Thank you very, very much for doing an article on the beautiful and talented Joan Bennett. She excelled in every type of genre: screwball comedy, film noir, costume films, and everything else. She more than held her own with some of the best and the brightest: Cary Grant, Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson, and Spencer Tracy, among others.
Her career had four parts: she played ingenues during the 1930s; sexy ladies in the 1940s; moms and other women in the 1950s; and in the 1960s did extensive television and theater. God bless you Joan Bennett!
Hey Frank…glad you were able to find and like our Joan Bennett page. I like your breakdown of her movie eras…and I agree with them 100%. She had some awesome co-stars. Two of the missing movies starred Spencer Tracy….so they ended up starring in 4 movies together. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Joan Bennett.
The Michelle Pfeifer of our time. Her Lang movies are her best in my eyes.
Hey SteinHOF ….good comparison between Pfeiffer and Joan Bennett. Though I think Pfeiffer got more credit for acting. One of these days I do an UMR page on her. I agree her Fritz Lang movies are among her best.
Joan Bennett, I know the name, but have I seen her films? Let me check –
I’ve seen just… 4.. out of 56, wow that is not good. Should I blame her for not making the kind of films I like to see or myself for avoiding classic Hollywood drama and weepies. The films I’ve seen are – The Texans, Father of the Bride (not sure if I’ve seen the sequel to that), We’re No Angels and Suspiria (I saw this at the cinema, Dario Argento’s most popular horror movie and still his best).
Good to see Suspiria high up on the critics chart. Yes it’s true I’d rather watch that again than sit through Little Women and it’s sequel Little Men.
An interesting movie page Bruce, at least I did see some of her work. Vote Up!
Hey Steve…..I confuse I am not too aware of her myself. I had to double check the pictures to make sure I had the right person. My tally is 6…..but I bet our combined total of 10 is not going to rank very well. I would highly recommend her two EGR movies..both Woman in the Window and Scarlett Street are excellent. As for Suspira….ones I was shocked how well the reviews were for that one. Seems she picked a good movie for her swan song. Thanks for the visit and the comment.
When she claimed, “I made more than 70 movie…six were worthwhile.” Joan Bennett underrated herself. Although she didn’t get the coveted Scarlett O’Hara role, she did do a number of enjoyable pictures.
As always good to see Joel’s take on our latest UMR subject. Overall he gave Joan and her movies a pretty healthy 3.21 score (with 4.0 being the max)