Want to know the best Maureen O’Sullivan movies? How about the worst Maureen O’Sullivan movies? Curious about Maureen O’Sullivan box office grosses or which Maureen O’Sullivan movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Maureen O’Sullivan movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Maureen O’Sullivan (1911-1998) was an Irish-American actress best known for playing Jane in the Tarzan series of films starring Johnny Weissmuller. Maureen O’Sullivan’s IMDb page shows 97 acting credits from 1930-1994 This page will rank 50 Maureen O’Sullivan movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Her television appearances were not included in the rankings. Sadly, I was unable to find box office information on 11 of her movies made from the early 1930s….so they were also not included in the massive table below.
Drivel Part: Gotta admit..I have always gotten Maureen O’Sullivan and Margaret Sullavan mixed up. I knew one of them was Jane in the Tarzan movies (Maureen), I knew one of them was from my hometown of Norfolk, Va (Margaret), I knew one of them was Mia Farrow’s mom (Maureen), I knew one of them was married to Henry Fonda (Margaret)….well maybe after doing this UMR page on Maureen O’Sullivan…I will be able to keep the two Sullys separate in my head. This page comes from a request by one of our most recent commenters, John.
Maureen O’Sullivan 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 Maureen O’Sullivan movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Maureen O’Sullivan movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Maureen O’Sullivan movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Maureen O’Sullivan 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 how many Oscar® wins each Maureen O’Sullivan movie received.
- Sort Maureen O’Sullivan 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.
- Blue link in Co-star column takes you to that star’s UMR movie page
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Maureen O’Sullivan Table
- Fifteen Maureen O’Sullivan movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 30.00% of her movies listed. A Day At The Races (1937) was her biggest box office hit.
- An average Maureen O’Sullivan movie grossed $81.40 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 32 of Maureen O’Sullivan’s movies are rated as good movies…or 64.00% of her movies. The Thin Man (1934) is her highest rated movie while The Phynx (1970) is her lowest rated movie.
- Seven Maureen O’Sullivan movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 14.00% of her movies.
- Two Maureen O’Sullivan movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 2.00% of her movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 40.00. 28 Maureen O’Sullivan movies scored higher that average….or 56.00% of her movies. A Day At The Races (1937) got the the highest UMR Score while The Phynx (1970) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Maureen O’Sullivan
1. Maureen Paula O’Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1911.
2. Maureen O’Sullivan’s film career began when she met motion picture director Frank Borzage, who was doing location filming on Song o’ My Heart. She got a small part in that movie and returned with Borzage to Hollywood to complete the movie….and the rest is history.
3. Maureen O’Sullivan was never nominated for an Oscar® or a Golden Globe® in her entire 60 plus year career.
4. Maureen O’Sullivan is considered to be Ireland’s first film star.
5. Maureen O’Sullivan despised working with the chimpanzee Cheetah during the filming of the Tarzan movies at MGM.
6. Maureen O’Sullivan was for awhile Frank Sinatra’s mother-in-law.
7. Maureen O’Sullivan was married two times and had seven children. Her first marriage was to Oscar®-winning writer John Farrow. They were married from 1936 until his death in 1963 they had 7 children together.
8. Maureen O’Sullivan’s cumulative box office totals: Adjusted domestic box office: $4.07 billion. 19 Oscar® nominations all her movies in all categories. 4 Oscar® wins all her movies in all categories.
Check out Maureen O’Sullivan‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globe® is a registered trademark.
Not enough stats for you? Well here are Adjusted Worldwide Grosses On 22 Maureen O’Sullivan Movies (in millions)
- A Yank In Oxford (1938) $341.20 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) $315.40 million adjusted worldwide box office
- David Copperfield (1935) $307.20 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Tarzan The Ape Man (1932) $304.40 million adjusted worldwide box office
- A Day At The Races (1937) $298.80 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942) $280.00 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Tugboat Annie (1933) $268.70 million adjusted worldwide box office
- The Crowd Roars (1938) $254.00 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Tarzan Finds A Son (1939) $251.10 million adjusted worldwide box office
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) $245.70 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Tarzan Escapes (1936) $241.50 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Tarzan And His Mate (1934) $233.90 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Anna Karenina (1935) $230.80 million adjusted worldwide box office
- The Emperor’s Candlesticks (1937) $173.10 million adjusted worldwide box office
- The Thin Man (1934) $159.90 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Pride and Prejudice (1940) $159.10 million adjusted worldwide box office
- West Point Of The Air (1935) $131.90 million adjusted worldwide box office
- The Big Clock (1948) $120.50 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Where Danger Lives (1950) $65.20 million adjusted worldwide box office
- The Tall T (1957) $52.30 million adjusted worldwide box office
- My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937) $45.90 million adjusted worldwide box office
- Payment Deferred (1932) $33.50 million adjusted worldwide box office
1 STEVE: Though I saw her as the definitive Jane I never paid too much attention to Maureen in Tarzan films as my eyes were always on the Jungle King. However I especially liked her in The Tall T which I was delighted to see was your No 6. She must have secured a screen first in that one as at 46 she was a Scott leading lady who wasn’t a ‘child bride’. Randolph too was unusually for him a risqué hero who in a cave commences to romance Maureen by saying “Sometimes you’ve just got to just take what you want.”
2 Wonderful posters & stills came tumbling out and more viewings will be necessary so these are just first impressions of the very best. POSTERS Hold that Kiss, Maisie was a Lady, Tarzan’s Secret Treasure, Tarzan Escapes, Devil doll and of course The Tall T. STILLS The Crowd Roars with Robert Taylor, a cracker from Tarzan’s NY Adventure with the bridge ensemble, the Threesome on the fallen tree, Maureen showing off her legs in Tarzan the Ape Man and the stunning closing one of Maureen and the elephants. And a nice little close-up of Johnny and Mo shows that they among the ‘beautiful people’ in movies at that time
3 You and the Work Horse are agreed on just 2 of the Top 5 O’Sullivan flicks and I suppose that it doesn’t surprise you ? that on even a Maureen O’Sullivan page he has Hannah and Her Sisters as No 2 for critic/audience whereas you exclude it altogether. However as he has The Tall T at no 5, I praise him for that and indeed BOTH of you have in your Top 5s movies that were not ‘Maureen O’Sulivan’ flicks and I am just relieved that she didn’t make 5 movies with Chuck.
4 This video is one of your best and with its glut of great pictorials it deserves 9.5/10. I also liked the opening quote where Mo informs us that her son told her he was proud that she was Tarzan’s mate. I suppose that W o C experiences that sort of reaction all the time from devotees of this site regarding HER mate.
1 STEVE/ANYONE! Further to my previous post about Steve’s video I meant to say that even professional journalists have confessed to not knowing to whom or what the title The Tall T was referring in the movie. I can think of a number of alternatives but have never been able to confirm any of them so if anybody frequenting this site knows the answer I’d be grateful if he/she would drop me a post on Cogerson.
2 I see that according to IMDB Randy was up to his “Young Man” tricks again in The Tall T :
because –
(1) Although just 45** when the movie was released Maureen O’Sullivan was widely considered by film journalists etc to be “too old” for the 58 or 59 year old Randolph
(2) In the plot Scott was portrayed as younger than Arthur Hunnicut who was actually 12 years younger than Randy in real life.
**In my previous post I inadvertently said Maureen was 46 which she was when I actually.saw the movie
Hey Bob…I see John saved the day and provided a likely reason. 🙂
Hello Bob, thanks for taking time checking out my latest video-rama, always appreciated.
I’m waiting for John to pop in and tell me off for not including one of his favorites (usually a film that wasn’t even on my master list). 😉
I’m kidding John! I was just looking at the running time for this video and it’s exactly the same as the Johnny Weissmuller one, isn’t that nice and neat? No I didn’t plan it out that way.
Glad you liked the video Bob, there were a lot of great pictures to choose from. I tried to find a few alternate Tarzan posters and stills than the one’s I used recently on the Weissmuller video.
I was watching The Tall T last year on TCM and didn’t know it was Maureen O’Sullivan until I looked it up on IMDB, she looked familiar but I didn’t realise it was Tarzan’s mate Jane aged 45. She was only 20 when she started filming Tarzan the Ape Man.
I see Bruce has The Thin Man starring Myrna Loy and that thin guy with the mustache as the top rated film on Maureen’s chart, naturally… 🙂
Shock horror! The no.1 movie on my chart, David Copperfield (no not the magician), didn’t even make it into Bruce’s top 10, what.. the.. Dickens! Tugboat Annie is rated higher than David Copperfield… oh the humanity! Time to upgrade your sources Bruce. You can borrow a few of mine if you want. eh? what? [cue Bruce snarling]
Hey Bob….good review on Steve’s video…and the comparison of our ratings…I guess I will have to forgive Steve for excluding her movie with Michael Caine. I think WoC is extremely proud of this website and how it has grown. She actually used it in her master class …and her whole class….reviewed and gave criticisms to make it better. The good stuff they mentioned? The massive amount of movie subjects and the fact that list shows all of their movies. They were impressed with the amount of comments.
On the bad side….they hate our “banner” at the top of the page. Says it looks terrible …and gets worse the bigger the screen gets. The biggest complaint was that it is hard to understand that 40 is an average score…..they say it is confusing to know if we think a movie is good or not. Working on possible solutions to their concerns.
Sorry got off on a tangent…..good feedback on Jane. 🙂
Maureen never made the Oracle of Bacon top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. I believe also now the 2000 list is the first list compiled due to the site’s years being 1999 to now (I thought it had been earlier0. Below are the people on the current list who appeared in a film with Mia’s mom.
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) – 10 Michael Caine, 20 Max Von Sydow, 31 John Turtorro, 124 Richard Jenkins, 572 Carrie Fisher, 725 Barbara Hershey, 841 Woody Allen, 975 Mia Farrow, 986 J.T. Walsh
Hide-Out (1934) – 245 Mickey Rooney
Hold That Kiss (1938) – 245 Mickey Rooney
Never Too Late (1965) – 566 Timothy Hutton
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) – 48 Nicolas Cage, 585 Jim Carrey, 978 Joan Allen
Stranded (1987) – 719 Joe Morton
The Phynx (1970) – 956 Larry Hankin
The Tall T (1957) – 548 Henry Silva
Too Scared to Scream (1985) – 211 John Heard, 424 Ian McShane
West Point of the Air (1935) – 245 Mickey Rooney
Where Danger Lives (1950) – 809 Robert Mitchum
These are the people on the first list who appeared in a film with Maureen who fell off the list over the past 16 years.
A Day at the Races (1937) – 222 Bess Flowers, 287 Richard Farnsworth, 969 Byron Foulger
A Yank at Oxford (1938) – 524 Richard Wattis
All I Desire (1953) – 54 Stuart Whitman, 423 Brett Halsey
Cardinal Richelieu (1935) – 14 John Carradine, 151 Cesar Romero
Duffy of San Quentin (1954) – 271 Peter Brocco
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) – 412 Sam Waterston, 786 Lloyd Nolan, 921 Daniel Stern
Hold That Kiss (1938) – 982 Billy Benedict
Let Us Live (1939) – 56 Henry Fonda, 379 Ann Doran, 507 Ralph Bellamy, 571 Charles Lane, 969 Byron Foulger
Mission Over Korea (1953) – 221 John Crawford, 459 Dabbs Greer
My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937) – 395 Walter Pidgeon, 783 James Flavin
Never Too Late (1965) – 786 Lloyd Nolan
Okay, America ! (1932) – 234 Akim Tamiroff, 783 James Flavin
Payment Deferred (1932) – 187 Ray Milland
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) – 14 John Carradine, 959 Leon Ames, 988 Kathleen Turner
Pride and Prejudice (1940) – 216 Laurence Olivier
Spring Madness (1938) – 41 Burgess Meredith
Stranded (1987) – 195 Michael Greene
Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942) – 571 Charles Lane
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) – 100 Ian Wolfe
The Big Clock (1948) – 187 Ray Milland, 222 Bess Flowers, 648 Harry Morgan, 894 Philip Van Zandt
The Crowd Roars (1938) – 81 Lionel Stander, 542 Paul Fix, 611 Don ‘Red’ Barry
The Emperor’s Candlesticks (1937) – 100 Ian Wolfe
The Phynx (1970) – 299 Fritz Feld, 421 Michael Ansara
The Tall T (1957) – 271 Peter Brocco
The Thin Man (1934) – 151 Cesar Romero, 506 Douglas Fowley
Too Scared to Scream (1985) – 189 Val Avery, 483 Murray Hamilton, 866 Anne Archer
Where Danger Lives (1950) – 682 Ray Teal, 894 Philip Van Zandt, 903 Jack Kruschen
Wild Heritage (1958) – 256 Hank Worden, 704 Troy Donahue
Woman Wanted (1935) – 571 Charles Lane, 783 James Flavin, 832 Don Brodie
I found 22 Oscar winners she appeared with;
A Yank at Oxford (1938) – Lionel Barrymore, Edmund Gwenn, Vivien Leigh
Anna Karenina (1935) – Fredric March
Bonzo Goes to College (1952) – Edmond Gwenn
Cardinal Richelieu (1935) – George Arliss
David Copperfield (1935) – Lionel Barrymore
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) – Michael Caine, Dianne Wiest
Let Us Live (1939) – Henry Fonda
Payment Deferred (1932) – Charles Laughton, Ray Milland
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) – Nicolas Cage
Port of Seven Seas (1938) – Wallace Beery
Pride and Prejudice (1940) – Laurence Olivier, Edmund Gwenn, Greer Garson
Sporting Blood (1931) – Clark Gable
Stage Mother (1933) – Alice Brady
Strange Interlude (1932) – Clark Gable, Norma Shearer
Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) – Barry Fitzgerald
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) – Charles Laughton, Fredric March, Norma Shearer
The Big Clock (1948) – Ray Milland, Charles Laughton
The Bishop Misbehaves (1935) – Edmund Gwenn
The Crowd Roars (1938) – Jane Wyman
The Devil-Doll (1936) – Lionel Barrymore
The Emperor’s Candlesticks (1937) – Luise Rainer
The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936) – Lionel Barrymore
Tugboat Annie (1933) – Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery
West Point of the Air (1935) – Wallace Beery, Walter Brennan
Hey Dan
1. First list: Seeing Michael Caine at #10 is very cool…..but I wonder how long it will take for him to fall off the Top 1000? 20 years? It seems no matter how popular you were in your career that time is not kind to actors not working when looking at the Oracle list. 10 from Hannah and her Sisters is pretty impressive.
2. Second list: A few big names on this list….but mostly minor to bit players. Too bad she can not include all of the native extras in the Tarzan movie…and then she would jump into the Top 1000. I looked up Tarzan and His Mate….and the entire cast total is 12….6 credited roles and 6 uncredited roles…yet there are scenes that use at least 100 people….maybe Arthur Torvey was in those scenes…lol.
3. Third list….22 is actually a little on the low side….for a career that lasted so long…then again the Tarzan movies did not offer many “meaty” roles and she was with MGM for a very long time…those two factors had to limited this number.
Thanks for sharing the lists on our latest subject.
Steve Lensman
“If it was so popular, why did MGM stop making them?”
I was wondering that also. O’Sullivan wanted out and was interested in raising a family. Weissmuller was getting up there to be running about the jungle in a loincloth. Perhaps that was it. Or did Louis B just feel that these Tarzan films with comic relief by a chimp were just too low-brow for the image of MGM he was cultivating?
The behind the scenes story of the Tarzan movies is pretty incredible. But essential MGM let the film rights elapse after Tarzan Escapes because they felt the franchise was out of fresh ideas. Sol Lesser who had been making Tarzan movies that went up against the MGM Tarzan movies bought the rights and eventually brought back Johnny Weismuller to the Tarzan roles. Lots of behind the scenes fighting over Mr. Tarzan. I know that MGM made a huge mistake thinking the franchise was done as Tarzan still does well even today.
Hey Butler…thanks for the detailed reason of why MGM stopped making Tarzan movies. I agree with you …it was not one of their better decisions. Thanks again.
Hey John and Steve….looking at Butler’s comment that explains it some. I did read that Burroughs was selling each Tarzan story versus selling all the Tarzan stories to one company….this is why more thank once two Tarzan movies from different companies got released at the same time frame. Thankfully Ian Fleming did not do James Bond that way.
Thanks for the Maureen O’Sullivan chart. And I get the credit (or blame?) for inspiring it!
But not to be churlish, but what is this Betty Hutton business? Is this some sort of in-joke that is going over my head?
Hey John were we just chatting about Carmen Miranda’s unsuitability for Gilda at IMDB a few minutes ago or was it someone else? It’s a small world. Why is Betty Hutton mentioned alongside Maureen, just noticed because John mentioned it. Bruce whats the connection?
Hey Steve….the connection was author error….lol.
Hey John…you get the credit….as for the Betty Hutton mentions….my fault..I must have been distracted when I was changing the name from Hutton to O’Sullivan. I imagine that was somewhat confusing…..thanks for the catch…..and thanks for the suggestion.
My favorite Jane, Maureen O’ Sullivan, she was so cute and sexy in those old Tarzan films.
I’ve seen 15 of the 50 films listed, most of them Tarzan films. My favorites are the first two Tarzan’s she did with Johnny Weissmuller, A Day at the Races, The Devil-Doll (an excellent MGM horror starring Lionel Barrymore), The Thin Man, The Big Clock and The Tall T.
I watched The Tall T again recently and didn’t realize it was Maureen until I saw the credits.
The Thin Man tops the critics charts and A Day at the Races the UMR chart, not bad at all. I think that was the Marx Brothers most successful film. Their previous film, A Night at the Opera, was a lot better, and along with Duck Soup, their two best movies… The brothers later starred in… oh sorry I thought this was the Marx Bros page. I always get carried away when I see their films mentioned. 🙂
Worldwide adjusted grosses eh? That’s a rarity for these old movies. Nice work Bruce. Let’s see… Tarzan’s Secret Treasure was the most successful of her Tarzan films worldwide, I think that was the second to last one she did. If it was so popular why did MGM stop making them? RKO took over the series in the 40s.
Another top job Bruce. Voted Up!
Hey Steve…my tally is pretty low…..I am at 8…..which is 5 Tarzan movies, Peggy Sue, Hannah and The Thin Man. I liked her Jane as well. I read she got tired of the role…but they are what she’s the most famous for….I also read Tarzan New York Adventure was done so she could wear some dresses…gotta keep the stars happy…..lol. I have not seen The Tall T but after your comment and Bob’s it is on my list to watch. Luckily almost all the Tarzan movies are in my ledgers..so it was easy to find the worldwide box office. As for why MGM got out of the Tarzan business….I think it is safe to say they made a big mistake there…lol. Thanks for the visit and the comment.