Want to know the best Lucille Ball movies? How about the worst Lucille Ball movies? Curious about Lucille Ball box office grosses or which Lucille Ball movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Lucille Ball movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which ones got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place…. because we have all of that information and much more.
Lucille Ball (1911-1989) was an American actress, comedienne, model, film studio executive and producer. Ball became one of the most famous people in the world from her television shows in the 1950s. Meanwhile she quietly had a great movie career too. She appeared in over 70 movies from the 1930s to the 1970s. This page is only going to look at her movie career ….sorry we do not have any television stats in our database.
Her IMDb page shows 120 acting credits 1933-1986. This page will rank 38 Lucille Ball movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, his many shorts and cameos were not included in the rankings.
Lucille Ball Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
1937
Stage Door (1937)
AA Best Picture Nom
1936
Follow the Fleet (1936)
1945
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
1949
Sorrowful Jones (1949)
1945
Without Love (1945)
1954
The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
1943
Thousands Cheer (1943)
1950
Fancy Pants (1950)
1943
Best Foot Forward (1943)
1946
Easy to Wed (1946)
1968
Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)
1960
The Facts of Life (1960)
1943
Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
1956
Forever, Darling (1956)
1941
Look Who's Laughing (1941)
1939
That's Right - You're Wrong (1939)
1967
A Guide For The Married Man (1967)
1946
The Dark Corner (1946)
1938
Joy of Living (1938)
1938
Having Wonderful Time (1938)
1945
Abbott & Costello in Hollywood (1945)
1938
Room Service (1938)
1942
Seven Days' Leave (1942)
1936
That Girl From Paris (1936)
1947
Her Husband's Affair (1947)
1947
Lured (1947)
1940
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
1941
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941)
1974
Mame (1974)
1939
Five Came Back (1939)
1946
Two Smart People (1946)
1942
The Big Street (1942)
1934
Murder At The Vanities (1934)
Uncredited
1946
Lover Come Back (1946)
1942
Valley of The Sun (1942)
1949
Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
1944
Meet The People (1944)
1935
I Dream Too Much (1935)
1963
Critic's Choice (1963)
1949
Easy Living (1949)
1951
The Magic Carpet (1951)
1962
The Good Years (1962)
Lucille Ball 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 Lucille Ball movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Lucille Ball movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Lucille Ball movies by yearly domestic box office rank or trivia
- Sort Lucille Ball 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 Oscar® wins each Lucille Ball movie received.
- Sort Lucille Ball movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Use the sort and search buttons to make this table 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 | Stage Door (1937) AA Best Picture Nom |
Katharine Hepburn & Ginger Rogers |
5.00 | 226.0 | 318.50 | 23 | 87 | 04 / 00 | 99.3 | |
| 3 | Follow the Fleet (1936) | Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers |
5.10 | 240.0 | 424.10 | 15 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 95.8 | |
| 2 | Ziegfeld Follies (1945) | Fred Astaire & Gene Kelly |
9.90 | 342.6 | 513.00 | 14 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 94.8 | |
| 5 | Sorrowful Jones (1949) | Bob Hope | 9.40 | 258.1 | 258.10 | 11 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 94.5 | |
| 4 | Without Love (1945) | Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy |
7.50 | 259.4 | 363.30 | 35 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 94.5 | |
| 6 | The Long, Long Trailer (1954) | Desi Arnaz | 11.40 | 291.9 | 370.60 | 22 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 93.9 | |
| 7 | Thousands Cheer (1943) | Donna Reed & Kathryn Grayson |
10.70 | 419.8 | 658.70 | 7 | 63 | 03 / 00 | 93.3 | |
| 9 | Fancy Pants (1950) | Bob Hope | 7.40 | 181.8 | 181.80 | 18 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 93.0 | |
| 8 | Best Foot Forward (1943) | William Gaxton | 5.90 | 229.5 | 302.60 | 43 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 92.4 | |
| 9 | Easy to Wed (1946) | Esther Williams & Van Johnson |
10.90 | 365.5 | 511.60 | 14 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 91.3 | |
| 11 | Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) | Henry Fonda & Van Johnson |
33.20 | 297.5 | 297.50 | 9 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 91.3 | |
| 13 | The Facts of Life (1960) | Bob Hope | 9.10 | 155.7 | 155.70 | 28 | 64 | 05 / 01 | 89.9 | |
| 11 | Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) | Gene Kelly & Red Skelton |
7.30 | 287.8 | 391.20 | 25 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 89.8 | |
| 14 | Forever, Darling (1956) | Desi Arnaz | 7.40 | 158.7 | 158.70 | 32 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 88.7 | |
| 15 | Look Who's Laughing (1941) | Edgar Bergen | 3.80 | 161.5 | 172.50 | 59 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 87.6 | |
| 17 | That's Right - You're Wrong (1939) | Adolphe Menjou | 3.70 | 155.4 | 170.90 | 54 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 87.1 | |
| 16 | A Guide For The Married Man (1967) | Walter Matthau & Diirected by Gene Kelly |
13.90 | 134.7 | 134.70 | 21 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 86.7 | |
| 18 | The Dark Corner (1946) | Clifton Webb | 2.70 | 90.7 | 90.70 | 108 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 85.6 | |
| 19 | Joy of Living (1938) | Irene Dunne | 3.10 | 134.4 | 206.60 | 65 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 85.0 | |
| 22 | Having Wonderful Time (1938) | Ginger Rogers & Red Skelton |
3.10 | 134.2 | 175.50 | 66 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 84.0 | |
| 20 | Abbott & Costello in Hollywood (1945) | Bud Abbott | 3.10 | 105.6 | 105.60 | 96 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 84.0 | |
| 21 | Room Service (1938) | Marx Brothers | 2.70 | 115.8 | 152.30 | 84 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 83.6 | |
| 23 | Seven Days' Leave (1942) | Victor Mature | 3.30 | 132.5 | 205.50 | 81 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 83.1 | |
| 24 | That Girl From Paris (1936) | Jack Oakie | 3.90 | 182.2 | 241.70 | 33 | 43 | 01 / 00 | 83.0 | |
| 24 | Her Husband's Affair (1947) | Franchot Tone | 4.10 | 128.7 | 128.70 | 83 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 81.6 | |
| 26 | Lured (1947) | Boris Karloff & George Sanders |
1.90 | 60.1 | 60.10 | 140 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 77.9 | |
| 27 | Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) | Maureen O'Hara | 1.80 | 74.8 | 74.80 | 116 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 77.0 | |
| 28 | A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941) | George Murphy | 1.90 | 78.2 | 114.80 | 123 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 76.6 | |
| 29 | Mame (1974) | Robert Preston | 18.20 | 114.2 | 114.20 | 30 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 76.2 | |
| 28 | Five Came Back (1939) | Chester Morris | 1.90 | 81.7 | 128.70 | 119 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 76.0 | |
| 29 | Two Smart People (1946) | Lloyd Nolan | 2.40 | 79.0 | 108.80 | 116 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 75.2 | |
| 32 | The Big Street (1942) | Henry Fonda | 1.80 | 72.9 | 72.90 | 134 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 73.9 | |
| 33 | Murder At The Vanities (1934) Uncredited |
Victor McLaglen | 1.30 | 65.5 | 65.50 | 91 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 66.8 | |
| 33 | Lover Come Back (1946) | George Brent | 1.90 | 64.0 | 64.00 | 122 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 65.2 | |
| 33 | Valley of The Sun (1942) | James Craig | 1.40 | 55.0 | 82.80 | 159 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 61.9 | |
| 34 | Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) | William Holden | 1.00 | 26.6 | 26.60 | 183 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 60.3 | |
| 36 | Meet The People (1944) | Dick Powell | 2.20 | 79.4 | 113.70 | 113 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 59.1 | |
| 37 | I Dream Too Much (1935) | Henry Fonda | 1.10 | 54.7 | 89.50 | 121 | 52 | 01 / 00 | 50.5 | |
| 38 | Critic's Choice (1963) | Bob Hope | 3.40 | 46.8 | 46.80 | 67 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 39.9 | |
| 39 | Easy Living (1949) | Victor Mature & Lizabeth Scott |
1.50 | 41.8 | 41.80 | 158 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 35.3 | |
| 42 | The Magic Carpet (1951) | Raymond Burr | 1.20 | 28.5 | 28.50 | 187 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 22.6 | |
| 40 | The Good Years (1962) | Henry Fonda | 0.10 | 2.3 | 2.30 | 141 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 22.2 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Lucille Ball Table
- Sixteen Lucille Ball movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 44.44% of her movies listed. Thousands Cheer (1943) was her biggest box office hit.
- An average Lucille Ball movie grossed $114.50 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 25 of Lucille Ball’s movies are rated as good movies…or 69.44% of her movies. Stage Door (1937) was her highest rated movie while A Girl a Guy and a Gob (1941) was her lowest rated movie.
- Five Lucille Ball movie received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 13.88% of her movies.
- One Lucille Ball movie won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 2.77% of her movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 60.00. 24 Lucille Ball movies scored higher that average….or 66.66% of her movies. Stage Door (1937) got the the highest UMR Movie Score while A Girl a Guy and a Gob (1941) got the lowest UMR Movie Score.
Sadly we were not able to find box office information on all of Lucille Ball’s movies. So which movies are missing? Lots of her movies from her RKO “B” movie days, many of the Columbia movies she made right before I Love Lucy started and a few movies from the 1940s. That being said, we figured there was no reason not to share what we do have. We call our website Ultimate Movie Rankings because we normally try and rank every movie an actor or actress made. Since this is only 36 of Lucy’s movie we will just call this a Lucille Ball Movie Ranking Page and leave out the Ultimate!
Steve’s Lucille Ball You Tube Video
Check out Lucille Ball‘s career compared to current and classic actors and directors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Stanley Blystone appeared in 17 films with Lucy. Sam Harris was with her 13 times. Maxine Jennings, Larry Steers and Frank Mills were in 10 pictures with her. Frank O’Connor was in 10.
Hey Dan. Thanks for the information on all of Lucille Ball’s most frequent co-stars. The 17 movies between Ball and Stanley Blystone is truly impressive. Good stuff.
Lucille Ball’s movie career was in my view moderately successful but not spectacular. Her television career was however very much the latter. On the strength of that TV career she was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Greatest People of the 20th Century along with Sinatra for music, Chaplin for comedy and silent era influence, Brando for general acting and Monroe as a sex symbol.
So Lucille was in good company and she was reunited with THAT same company in Variety’s Top 10 greatest entertainers of the 20th century, which this time included the likes of Bogie and Elvis. [Time later admitted it had seriously erred by not including Elvis in its Top 100 – that’s an understatement if there ever was one.]
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Given that I didn’t rate Lucille’s movie career over-highly I was surprised at how good a fist your made out of it for video purposes and certainly your presentation is easily worth a solid 97% to me. Best POSTERS I think are Mame, raunchy one for Meet the People, both for Seven Days Leave with the young Victor again both quite raunchy] The Long, Long Trailer [for once Tracy had to take 2nd billing as his film The Actress was on the bottom half of a double bill with “Trailer”] two excellent ones for Miss Grant Takes Richmond with the young Golden, Dance Girl Dance, Dark Corner, DuBarry was a Lady [yet more raunchy material!], Room Service [remade as Step Lively in 1944 starring Sinatra] and Two Smart People. Look here! I’m fed up with you finding ways to give Bruce and Joel plugs in your videos.
STILLS that most impressed me – Lucille with Van and Esther, Lucille with presumably the long forgotten John Hodiak [married at one time to Anne Baxter and who died at just 41] with the Marx boys, with George Sanders, in Ziegfeld Follies, in Stage Door, with the Honorary Sir Leslie Townes, and looking seductive in the bedroom scene from DuBarry was a Lady in gorgeous colour.
You and one of the Two Smart People agree on 4 of Lucille’s Top 6 best reviewed Goodness knows though how far you would be in agreement with the other half of the Two Smart People! Anyway as already indicated “Vote UP”!
Thanks for reviewing and rating my Lucille Ball video Bob, it is appreciated.
Glad you liked the posters and stills.
From what I’ve seen there aren’t that many classic actors and actresses left for me to produce videos on, especially actresses, only about a handful left on my files. I don’t think I’ll bother with popular supporting actors like Walter Brennan or Thelma Ritter for the simple reason they rarely feature on the movie poster art. So if I’m still doing this in 2019 the videos will feature mostly modern actors. I might do more directors just to shake things up a bit.
There are two Lucille Ball films scoring 10 out of 10 – Follow the Fleet and Stage Door, and she wasn’t even the top 5 on the credit list.
Stage Door tops all the charts including mine and Bruce’s.
HI STEVE
Thanks for the feedback. I am a always intrigued by the background to your ratings. Yes, as far as I can recall you and Bruce have both covered nearly all of the major A list classic era stars and even a fair number of the significant B list stars and supporting performers from the old days
Off the top of my head the one Legend [at least from the sound era] who immediately comes to mind that I can’t recall seeing a profile from Bruce about is George Raft I seem to recall WH saying that he was trying to cobble together a Raft page but he admitted that he was having difficulty because Paramount was Raft’s studio and reliable stats from them were often hard to track down
I don’t think either of you have profiled Donald O’Connor who was a reasonably big name in musicals and as the star of Francis the Talking Mule series. However I know that you like to do your videos in sequenced categorised groups so maybe Donald has missed your musicals boat. I last saw him in an episode of the TV sitcom Frasier in which he played an eccentric billionaire who had lost his marbles and who kept calling everyone “Sparky” He had still retained much of his comic timing.
For me directors WOULD be worth your having a go at and whilst I am not as big a fan of modern flicks as I am of classic era ones I have still loved the modern era posters that I have seen you producing for your regulars. So as the cliche goes “Bring it on!”
Hope you are having a good weekend.
Hey Bob..yep Mr. Raft has been looked at numerous times….but as you wrote…those Paramount movies keep derailing me. But one day….I will get his page completed.
Hey Steve…I had noticed that Stage Door topped both of our charts. I imagine at some point doing some character actors would make a good week or two of subjects for your You Tube channel. Lionel Barrymore, Charles Bickford, Donald Crisp, Brennan, Ritter and other have a place in movie history. I have pages on all of them except for Bickford. The Walter Brennan page has been a decent view getter. Good stuff as always.
Hey Bob…good review on Steve’s video…and Lucy’s overall career.
Hello Bruce,
Did you know that Lucille Ball was with Marlene Dietrich in USO SHOW in 1941 and it was called California Tour and with Ann Miller, Kay Francis, Desi Arnaz etc and with Kay Kyser and his orchestra, it is in a book about Dietrich and all her performance in the world on stage and theaters
Sorry to miss Father s day but for me father day is every day , every minute, every second and unfortunately there is no vacation for that but in the mean time i think to myself, it is the best moment i have ever to do
Bye
Pierre
I had no idea Lucy was in so many movies. Like really, wow! And 23 of them over $100 Million! Now I haven’t seen any but she was very funny on her show. I can remember one episode where she was making wine and it was hilarious.
Seen: 0/38 or 0%
Favorite Top 10: N/A
UMR Snub (Too High or Too Low): N/A
Guilty Pleasure: N/A
Hey BryRog57….thanks for checking out our Lucy page. The success of her television show really overshadowed her long and pretty successful movie career. I know that episode that you speak of..classic television.
Thanks for this article and list. Ball’s movie career has been downplayed and overlooked, mostly due to her gigantic success on TV, but I like a lot of her films, and it is good to see what steady box office she attained. My favorites are Miss Grant Takes Richmond, Fuller Brush Girl, Stage Door, Without Love, Five Came Back, Long Long Trailer, and Facts of Life. There are many more really good ones. I always thought Yours, Mine and Ours was her biggest movie hit. That was a banner year for her, 1968. Huge movie success, the Lucy Show was #2 in the ratings, and she won an Emmy. I guess it was the pinnacle of her post-I Love Lucy career.