Want to know the best Judy Garland movies? How about the worst Judy Garland movies? Curious about Judy Garland’s box office grosses or which Judy Garland movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Judy Garland movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
A quick check on the American Film Institute’s Top Stars Of All-Time list….I found that the highest rated performer that I had not written a movie page on was Judy Garland. Garland is ranked as the 8th greatest actress according to their Legends poll. Even more impressive is the massive box office success her movies experienced. Of her 31 movies…23 crossed the $100 million mark when looking at adjusted box office grosses. That is the highest total for any actress that I have researched.
Judy Garland’s (1922-1969) IMDb page shows 38 acting credits from 1930-1963. This page will rank 31 Judy Garland movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, and cameos were not included in the rankings. Most of the box office figures are provided by the Eddie Marmix MGM Feature Film Ledgers and include not only North America figures but worldwide box office totals as well. I have seen 3 of her movies….so I do not really know how accurate my rankings turned out…I look forward to Judy Garland experts telling me which movies are too high or too low.
Judy Garland Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Judy Garland 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 Judy Garland movies by co-stars of her movies.
- Sort Judy Garland movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
- Sort Judy Garland movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
- Sort Judy Garland 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 Judy Garland movie received.
- Sort Judy Garland 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 Judy Garland Table
- Twenty-four Judy Garland movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 77.41% of his movies listed. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) was her biggest box hit.
- An average Judy Garland movie grosses $176.80 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 28 of Judy Garland’s movies are rated as good movies…or 90.32% of her movies. Wizard of Oz (1939) is her highest rated movie. Everybody Sing (1938) was her lowest rated movie.
- Twelve Judy Garland movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 38.70% of her movies.
- Four Judy Garland movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 12.90% of her movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00. 26 Judy Garland movies scored higher that average….or 83.87% of her movies. A Star is Born (1954) got the the highest UMR Score while I Could Go On Singing (1963) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly interesting facts about Judy Garland.
1. Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm. At the age of 6 she started performing with her two older sisters in a vaudeville act call the Gumm Sisters.
2. Judy Garland was married 5 times in her life. She had two children with Sidney Luft and one child(Liza Minnelli) with Oscar® winning director Vincente Minnelli.
3. Dorothy’s daughter was married to the Tin Man’s son for seven years….or in other word’s Judy’s daughter Liza Minnelli was married to Jack Haley’s son Jack Haley Jr. for seven years.
4. Judy Garland’s singing of Over the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz was voted the greatest song in movies according to the American Film Institute.
5. Judy Garland received 2 Oscar® nominations for acting….Best Actress in 1954’s A Star Is Born and Best Supporting Actress in 1961’s Judgement at Nuremberg. She also received a special Juvenile Oscar® for her work in The Wizard of Oz.
6. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney appeared in 9 movies together….or roughly 33% of all Judy Garland movies also starred Mickey Rooney.
7. One of only six actresses to dance with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in a movie….the other five? Debbie Reynolds, Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Leslie Caron and Vera-Ellen.
8. I have over 22,000 movies in my database….before doing this hub I had not included The Wizard of Oz in the database….however after including The Wizard of Oz it has a high enough ranking to crack my Top 100 Films of All-Time movie page….as it comes in at #75.
9. To see vintage movie posters of Judy Garland’s movie career….please check out his outstanding hub by Steve Lensman….Judy Garland Movie Posters
10. Check out Judy Garland‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Steve Lensman’s Judy Garland You Tube Video
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
Most of the box office totals came from the Eddie Mannix MGM Film Ledgers.
Judy Judy Judy!!! What I can say about the lady who was the first movie star I was aware of as a kid as well as the star of my all time favorite movie which is THE WIZARD OF OZ? Let me begin by saying that I’ve seen 19 of Judy’s movies. Favorites include THE WIZARD OF OZ, GIRL CRAZY, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, THE CLOCK, EASTER PARADE, THE PIRATE, IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME, SUMMER STOCK, A STAR IS BORN, JUDGMENT AT NUMERBERG, and GAY PURR-EE. Other Garland movies that I have seen include STRIKE UP THE BAND, BABES ON BROADWAY, ZIEGFIELD GIRL, FOR ME AND MY GAL, THE HARVEY GIRLS, TIL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY, and I COULD GO ON SINGING. Judy got two Oscar nominations during her career. One Best Actress nomination for A STAR IS BORN and then a BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS nomination for JUDGEMENT AT NUMERBERG. Personally, I can think of three other movies for which Judy deserved to be nominated for the award. Just my opinion but Judy deserved Best Actress nominations for THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) and THE CLOCK (1945). Quite frankly, I think she should have WON THE OSCAR in 1939 for THE WIZARD OF OZ. The lady gives A BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE in what I consider to be THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME and gets absolutely no recognition for it!!! All I can say is give me a break!!!
Hey Greg…..great thoughts on Judy Garland. 19 Garland movies seen is impressive. Garland and Tyrone Power are the two thespians that have surprised me the most when researching all of these careers. Both were huge at the box office for almost their entire careers. In our book, Top 50 Movie Stars…Statistically Speaking she got a spot 21st spot overall, and the 3rd highest actress. In the excellent book by Danny Peary, Alternate Oscars….he writes that Garland should have gotten a nomination for The Wizard of Oz and should have won for A Star Is Born. I do disagree with you on your last part of your comment..”gets absolutely no recognition for it”. The academy did give her an Honorary Oscar for the role….and her Dorothy is probably a Top 10 all-time movie character in the history of movies. But great minds can not always agree…lol. Good stuff.
In my observation Judy Garland has remained an Entertainments institution with a status similar to the great male Hollywood stars of her time such as Sinatra and Crosby who also highly successfully combined acting and singing careers.
In Judy’s case that is an even greater achievement than it sounds because even in her heyday Judy had health problems that interfered to an extent with her career.
However despite those diffciulties she has left an enduring body of work on the screen and in recordings that her fans today can continue to treasure and enjoy.
Best POSTERS in your Garland video are for me Broadway Melody 1938, 1st one for Little Nellie Kelly, Lily Mars, Till the Clouds Roll By, 1st one for Child is Waiting [what an iconic team Judy and Burt!] the 2nd one of For Me and My Gall, the foreign language ones for Harvey Girls, Star is Born, Easter Parade, and I Could Go on Singing with my Dirk well showcased and Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry
As your posters illustrate [ensemble, alphabetically billed movies aside] the latter film, the first of many Garland/Rooney teamings, is the only one in which Judy was billed before Mickey.
Superb STILLS in my book are (1) opening “family” one of Judy (2) Ziegfeld Girl, (3) ALL the Judy/Mickey ones (4) Ziegfeld Follies (5) and (6) the two of Judy and Gene and (7) Judy with Fred in Easter Parade.
Apparently when making Easter Parade Judy who had previously seen Astaire only from a distance at MGM and although a big star herself was very nervous when first formally introduced to him such was his legend even in those days
Judy was one of Hollywood’s great originals whose persona and talent can never be duplicated and the American Film Institute has ranked her the 8th greatest female movie legend of all time.
Her career has always fascinated me so there was no way I was going to give this profile with its wonderful graphics less that 98%
Full House! You and our own Living Legend agree on all 6 of Judy’s best reviewed films [Darn it – I can.t show favouritism here by taking sides!]
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, rating, info, trivia and comparison, always appreciated.
Happy you liked the posters and stills.
My previous Judy Garland video (uploaded August 2016) was a Top 20, checking IMDB I found she had only made 33 films so I thought an expanded and more complete video would be better. And an excuse to add a lot more stills.
I was surprised at how many films she was top billed, even over Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. A true Hollywood legend but by the end of the 1940s she started to fall apart and never really recovered.
Five of Judy’s films scored 10 out of 10, they were –
Wizard of Oz ,The
Meet Me in St. Louis
Judgement at Nuremberg
Star is Born ,A
Easter Parade
Two more scored 9 out of 10 – The Clock and Girl Crazy.
No.1 Garland film at IMDB is Judgment at Nuremberg, at Rotten Tomatoes The Wizard of Oz is an easy no.1 followed by Meet Me in St. Louis.
Good to see Bruce and I have the same top 6 on our charts though in slightly different order. The same no.1.
“I was born at the age of 12 on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.”
“MGM had us working days and nights on end. They’d give us pep-up pills to keep us on our feet long after we were exhausted. Then they’d take us to the studio hospital and knock us cold with sleeping pills . . . Then after four hours they’d wake us up and give us the pep-up pills again so we could work another 72 hours in a row. I started to feel like a wind-up toy.”
Judy on the Munchkins “They were drunks. They got smashed every night and the police used to scoop them up in butterfly nets. They used to sneak under my dress! I told them if they ever went under there – and I found out about it – they were in big trouble!”
“I’ve always taken The Wizard of Oz very seriously, you know. I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I’ve spent my entire life trying to get over it.”
“If I am a legend, then why am I so lonely?”
HI STEVE
Thanks for feedback on my Judy Garland video.
thanks steve, incredible stories and quotes.
Bob Cox, glad you found them interesting, cheers.
Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe, two of the most famous women in film history, both died of a barbiturate overdose in the 1960s. Judy was 47 and Marilyn was 36.
As always….your conversation (Bob and Steve) is both entertaining and educational….it does not get better than this…good stuff….and now….I go to work.
Added Steve’s updated Garland video to the page….my comments on that upgrade.
“Judy Garland’s box office record is stellar….sad that many have forgotten just how big a star she was. Maybe I am part of that problem…as I have only seen a handful of her movies. First match is #18 Love Finds Andy Hardy…which I only recently saw. …I found her role ok at best. #9 The Pirate….a fun movie….one of my favorite Gene Kelly roles. #5 Easter Parade…my notes say I have seen it….but I barely remember it. #4 A Star Is Born…surprised it did not crack the Top 3 #Judgement at Nuremberg….great ensemble movie #1 Wizard of Oz….her most famous role. So that is 6 of her movies…but half of her Top 10. Nice update. Voted up and shared and included on our Judy page.”
Judy Judy Judy! Flora’s a big fan she’s seen 30 of the 33 films on my video chart.
My tally 16, Bruce 6. It’s obvious you’re not a musicals fan or your tally would have been a lot higher.
Meet Me in St. Louis had better ratings than A Star is Born from my sources. Thanks again for commenting, appreciate the vote and share.
1 I’ve mentioned before that no matter how great the Great he/she is usually in thrall of some other Great. Most movie buffs will be familiar with Judy singing to King Gable’s photo in Broadway Melody of 1938; and apparently before making Easter Parade with Astaire Judy had never been in his close proximity and was so in awe of his legend that she was very nervous before their first formal meeting on the set of Easter Parade.
2 Good colour stills of Fred and Judy and Mason and Judy in your video and I loved the Garland/Rooney ones as well. Best posters from my viewpoint were Till the Clouds Roll By, the Harvey Girls and In the Good Old Summertime.
3 OTHER COMMENTS (1) I was really surprised that you made The Pirate your No 7 as I thought it was an awful movie and although Bruce doesn’t seem to agree with me he at least consigned it to his 17th spot for critical appraisal (3) he in turn did though surprise me by leaving Easter Parade slightly outside his Top 5 whereas you have it slightly inside. Bruce and you agree on 4 of the top 5 though not in the same order but he rounded off the 5 with The Clock instead of Easter Parade (4) I know the entire weight of historical critical opinion is against me but I thought Meet Me in St Louis far superior to Wizard of Oz (6) you have included 6 of the 7 Garland/Rooney films which is great but what have you got against Andy Hardy meets Debutante which Bruce has rated a relatively high 13 for critic/audience? Anyway lovely bright presentation and 9.4/10
POSTSCRIPT FOR BRUCE – who was Eddie Mannix?
CORRECTION Garland Rooney made 9 movies together but I was still surprises as exclusion of Debutnate.
Thanks Bob, appreciate the review, rating, observation and trivia. Debutante should have been up there, maybe I thought two Andy Hardy films was enough, sorry about that. On the plus side there are few people left in the world that would notice Debutante was missing from the top 30 and you’re one of them Bob. [cue Bob grinning]
Well I never claimed to be a completist like our illustrious commandante, as long as the top 5 or top 10 are more or less acceptable as that actors best films than I’m happy, the rest is just a series of colorful poster artwork. 🙂
Meet Me in St. Louis is a Christmas classic, even though only one segment is set at Xmas, and it was hugely successful. I only watch it for Judy Judy Judy, the gorgeous Technicolor and I love the Trolley Song. The children in the film do get on one’s nerve especially the youngest and I usually fast forward thru their scenes to get to Judy Judy Judy. I have to admit to having had the ‘hots’ for young Judy when I was a wee lad, and probably still do. [blushes]
The Pirate is an old favorite of mine, a fun musical with Gene Kelly in good athletic form, a shame you didn’t like it. Looking at my database it had scores all above 7, and it gets a 7 from Bruce too though it’s lower down the rung on his chart.
I love Easter Parade, no way that wasn’t going to be in Judy’s top 5, it’s one of her best.
1 Hi Steve, thanks for the explanations.
2 When you see the fresh and vibrant Judy in Meet Me in St Louis I always thought that it was sad what happened to her within such a relatively short period of time. According to Mickey Rooney MGM was to blame for a lot of it as they milked her talent with punishing schedules that put her under enormous pressure and effectively got her hooked on tablets etc to try to stay awake half the time. In my view they should have permanently suspended her until she got better BUT I feel they owed her a duty of care to pay for her treatment by the best professionals that money could buy and then reinstate her when she got better.
3 However I guess that’s not the way the system works and as Margaret Thatcher once cynically remarked “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” but it seems young Judy paid a price well above the norm for being a Legend. Another reason I like Meet Me in St Louis so much is that I can cheer up by reminding myself of the happy screen Judy in her heyday. This Saturday there is a special Xmas showing of It’s a Wonderful Life at a local College of education and I’m going to see it with my family and then over the next few days I’m going to dust off for their Christmas showing Meet Me in St Louis and Holiday Affair with Mitchum and Janet Leigh. Happy days!
Good on you Bob! You definitely know how to enjoy Xmas, while the rest of us are at home watching The Walking Dead and other nasty TV shows.
I read a couple of Judy Garland bios over the years and it really was a sad tale to tell. I’m surprised her life story hasn’t been filmed by Hollywood yet, there’s enough ups and downs, heartbreaks, anguish and mental breakdowns to guarantee whoever plays her an Oscar nomination.
Judy on Judy:
“I was born at the age of 12 on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.”
“I can live without money, but I can’t live without love.”
“If I am a legend, then why am I so lonely?”
I think some of her most moving and beautiful movie performances were in her later, more mature years. Especially with the singing! Have you seen her performance of “I could go on singing” or “by myself”?
Hey Kay…thanks for stopping by and checking out our Judy Garland page. I agree I think some of her later roles like A Star Is Born and Judgement At Nuremberg are excellent. I have not seen those performances…but I will do a You Tube search and see what I can find. Thanks for the suggestion.