Lena Horne (1917-2010) was an American singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist. Horne’s career spanned over 70 years appearing in film, television, and theater. Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of 16 and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the 1943 films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. This page ranks 15 Lena Horne movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, bit parts and her movies not released in North America theaters are not included in the rankings. This page comes from a request by GVD.
Lena Horne Movies Ranked By Combination of Box Office, Reviews and Awards (UMR Score) *Classic UMR Table (the one with all the stats is the second table)
CreditRank
Movie (Year)
UMR Co-Star Links
UMR Score
S
CreditRank Movie (Year) UMR Co-Star Links UMR Score S
1
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
June Allyson
96.1
2
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
Gene Kelly &
Fred Astaire95.2
5
Cabin in The Sky (1943)
Ethel Waters &
Directed by Vincente Minnelli95.0
3
Till The Clouds Roll By (1946)
Judy Garland &
Directed by Vincent Minnelli94.6
4
Thousands Cheer (1943)
Donna Reed &
Kathryn Grayson93.9
6
Stormy Weather (1943)
Bill Robinson &
Musicals93.4
6
Words and Music (1948)
Gene Kelly &
Mickey Rooney90.9
8
Duchess of Idaho (1950)
Esther Williams &
Van Johnson90.6
9
Panama Hattie (1942)
Red Skelton &
Directed by Vincent Minnelli88.4
11
I Dood It (1943)
Red Skelton &
Eleanor Powell86.2
10
Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
Dan Dailey &
Cyd Charisse85.7
12
Broadway Rhythm (1944)
George Murphy
76.4
13
The Wiz (1978)
Richard Pryor &
Directed by Sidney Lumet72.1
14
Death of a Gunfighter (1969)
Richard Widmark
53.8
15
Swing Fever (1943)
Kay Kyser
51.9
Lena Horne 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 Lena Horne movies by co-stars of her movies.
- Sort Lena Horne movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Lena Horne movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Lena Horne 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 Lena Horne movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Lena Horne movie won.
- Sort Lena Horne 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.
- Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
| 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 | Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) | June Allyson | 9.20 | 309.9 | 497.30 | 18 | 73 | 01 / 00 | 96.1 | |
| 2 | Ziegfeld Follies (1945) | Gene Kelly & Fred Astaire |
9.90 | 314.3 | 470.70 | 14 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 95.2 | |
| 5 | Cabin in The Sky (1943) | Ethel Waters & Directed by Vincente Minnelli |
4.90 | 176.5 | 200.50 | 62 | 76 | 01 / 00 | 95.0 | |
| 3 | Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) | Judy Garland & Directed by Vincent Minnelli |
12.90 | 396.4 | 560.90 | 9 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
| 4 | Thousands Cheer (1943) | Donna Reed & Kathryn Grayson |
10.70 | 385.1 | 604.30 | 7 | 63 | 03 / 00 | 93.9 | |
| 6 | Stormy Weather (1943) | Bill Robinson & Musicals |
4.60 | 164.3 | 164.30 | 69 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 6 | Words and Music (1948) | Gene Kelly & Mickey Rooney |
9.10 | 244.9 | 322.80 | 12 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 90.9 | |
| 8 | Duchess of Idaho (1950) | Esther Williams & Van Johnson |
8.10 | 182.9 | 271.80 | 13 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 90.6 | |
| 9 | Panama Hattie (1942) | Red Skelton & Directed by Vincent Minnelli |
5.10 | 191.2 | 247.20 | 38 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 88.4 | |
| 11 | I Dood It (1943) | Red Skelton & Eleanor Powell |
4.60 | 165.8 | 221.50 | 66 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 86.2 | |
| 10 | Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) | Dan Dailey & Cyd Charisse |
6.30 | 124.2 | 208.00 | 40 | 64 | 01 / 00 | 85.7 | |
| 12 | Broadway Rhythm (1944) | George Murphy | 3.10 | 104.9 | 104.90 | 101 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 76.4 | |
| 13 | The Wiz (1978) | Richard Pryor & Directed by Sidney Lumet |
21.00 | 97.0 | 97.00 | 33 | 50 | 04 / 00 | 72.1 | |
| 14 | Death of a Gunfighter (1969) | Richard Widmark | 2.60 | 19.5 | 19.50 | 84 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 53.8 | |
| 15 | Swing Fever (1943) | Kay Kyser | 1.50 | 52.7 | 74.70 | 129 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 51.9 |
Lena Horne Box Office Grosses – Adjusted World Wide
| Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | World-Wide Box Office Adjusted (mil) | S |
| Thousands Cheer (1943) | Donna Reed & Kathryn Grayson |
604.30 | |
| Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) | Judy Garland & Directed by Vincent Minnelli |
560.90 | |
| Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) | June Allyson | 497.30 | |
| Ziegfeld Follies (1945) | Gene Kelly & Fred Astaire |
470.70 | |
| Words and Music (1948) | Gene Kelly & Mickey Rooney |
322.80 | |
| Duchess of Idaho (1950) | Esther Williams & Van Johnson |
271.80 | |
| Panama Hattie (1942) | Red Skelton & Directed by Vincent Minnelli |
247.20 | |
| I Dood It (1943) | Red Skelton & Eleanor Powell |
221.50 | |
| Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) | Dan Dailey & Cyd Charisse |
208.00 | |
| Cabin in The Sky (1943) | Ethel Waters & Directed by Vincente Minnelli |
200.50 | |
| Swing Fever (1943) | Kay Kyser | 74.70 |
This was one long week at work….but I did manage to watch and enjoy Lena Horne’s The Cabin in the Sky. So my new tally is 1…….yeah
HI BRUCE In only one of the films listed above, Stormy Weather, is Lena Horne the star and indeed in all the others except Death of A Gunfighter she had just relatively small roles. In just one other movie in her entire career had she to the best of my knowledge the top leading lady role, her debut movie The Bronze Venus [aka The Duke is Tops] not included in your table.
The latter film was first released in 1938 and Ralph Cooper was top-billed but when it was re-released in 1943 as Bronze Venus Lena had come into her own and the new posters gave her 1st billing and poor Ralph was just about mentioned on them – see example on Wiki.
In Death of a Gunfighter she did have leading lady status and star billing [albeit 2nd] alongside my Richard – but it was “still a Widmark film” as Spencer Tracy would express it.
However from memory I would say that Lena acquitted herself well in a solid dramatic role in that movie and I think that she would have made a bigger impact in movies had she been given more solid parts like at least that in the Widmark flick.
She seemed to waste a lot of time in those extravaganzas where she is historically at least almost buried in large ensemble casts such as Till the Clouds Roll By and Ziegfeld Follies that included mega legends like Sinatra, Garland, Astaire and Kelly. Even Queen Myrna might have struggled to be Top Dog in THAT exalted company – ask Bill Powell as he was in the latter film and had played the great Florenz Zigfeld in the 1936 biographical movie!
I do though welcome this new page even though it does tend to highlight the weakness of the movie career that Lena did have. She was certainly one sexy-looking lady in her heyday and anyone familiar with my own tastes in movie stars will appreciate that an added bonus for me is that her full name was Lena Mary CALHOUN Horne! The Dan in me can always spot an excuse for working in a link to my own great screen heroes/heroines!
I have seen 10 Lena Horne movies. She is one of my favourite singers.
The HIGHEST rated film I have seen is Two Girls and a Sailor.
The highest rated film I have NOT seen is Duchess of Idaho.
The LOWEST rated film I have seen is Broadway Rhythm. I am still searching for Death of a Gunfighter.
Some of the films where she had small parts that were made primarily to send overseas to troops during WWII had a large number of stars perform one number within another overall story. I remember being irritated when I saw Thousands Cheer that Gene Kelly was not really the star of the film, but that his story was just a loose plot ploy so that a huge number of stars could do songs/skits.
In some cases, when those movies were shown to audiences in southern states,Horne’s songs would be cut out of the picture. This happened, for example, with her appearance in Two Girls in a Sailor or Thousands Cheer sometimes.
Favourite Lena Horne Movies:
Stormy Weather
Cabin in the Sky
Ziegfeld Follies
Till The Clouds Roll By
Words and Music
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Hey Flora
1. Your tally of 10 is the easy winner…..so far at least.
2. Thanks for sharing the information on Horne, the south and her movies……that is so sad that it happened.
3. I did find a trailer for that Widmark movie…..it looks ok.
4. Of your favorites…Cabin in the Sky is available at one of libraries near me…I will have to check that one out
Good feedback on Lena Horne.
I’ve seen 5 of Lena Horne’s films that I know of – Thousands Cheer, Till the Clouds Roll By, Ziegfeld Follies, Words and Music and Meet Me in Las Vegas.
I’ve seen clips of her other musicals in That’s Entertainment and it’s sequels.
I may have seen Death of a Gunfighter, can’t remember.
From Wikipedia – “Horne lobbied for the role of Julie LaVerne in MGM’s 1951 version of Show Boat (having already played the role when a segment of Show Boat was performed in Till the Clouds Roll By, 1946) but lost the part to Ava Gardner, a personal friend in real life. Horne claimed this was due to the Production Code’s ban on interracial relationships in films, but MGM sources state she was never considered for the role in the first place.”
She would have been perfect as the mulatto Julie in Show Boat but I loved Ava Gardner in the role so I’m not complaining.
Good stuff Bruce. Vote Up!
Hey Steve. Thanks for checking out our Lena Horne page. Your tally of 5 has me by 5, but trails Flora by 5. I hang my head in shame and say my tally is the big goose egg. I will try and track down one of her movies in the near future. I have seen the Gardner version of Show Boat…it seems she would have been the perfect person for that role. Heck they did not even let Ava use her own voice for that massive hit. Good feedback on Ms. Horne.
Bruce, I think I’ve discovered your Achilles Heel… musicals, especially old Hollywood musicals. You’re not a fan. I enjoy the classic musicals especially if they have dancing in them, not the operatta type musicals though. Looking at my files I have nearly 200 musicals in my collection ranging from The Jazz Singer (1927) to Beauty and the Beast (2017) which I still haven’t seen yet!
My movie weak spot? Classic Hollywood melodrama, the type Bob and Flora enjoy. Jane Wyman sobbing on Rock Hudson’s shoulder. I’ll pass thanks. 🙂
Hey Steve….I admit it….never been a huge musical fan….I have been watching more classic movies over the last few years….seeing classics like Show Boat (1952), Seven Brothers for Seven Sisters, South Pacific and Oklahoma….but I have a long ways to go to even have a respectable tally compared to you and Flora. One day you will check out Mrs. Miniver and Best Years of Our Lives….one day…lol. Good stuff.
Thank you for the page, she was one unforgettable woman and talent. Anytime she came on screen from the big to little screen she mesmerized you with her beauty and talent. Good job again.
Hey George…thanks for breaking the ice on this page. Great description of her. A ground breaking thespian…..and somebody younger audiences should get to know better. Good feedback.