Want to know the best Merle Oberon movies? How about the worst Merle Oberon movies? Curious about Merle Oberon box office grosses or which Merle Oberon movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Merle Oberon 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.
Merle Oberon (1911-1979) was an Oscar®-nominated Anglo-Indian actress. Film stardom came when she appeared in 1933’s The Private Life of Henry VIII. She starred in 29 movies from 1933 to 1948, before he career started slowing up. Her IMDb page shows 61 acting credits from 1928-1973. This page will rank 36 Merle Oberon movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.
Oberon’s seven television appearances, her 11 uncredited roles, her 4 movies not released in North America and her 1 unfinished movie (I, Claudius) were not included in the rankings. But wait…that leaves 2 movies. Ok…sadly we were unable to find box office information on 1934’s Thunder in the East and Vegabond Violinist….so they did not make the page either. This page comes from a request by Cameron and Lupino.
Merle Oberon 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 Merle Oberon films by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Merle Oberon films by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Merle Oberon films by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Merle Oberon 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 Merle Oberon film received.
- Sort Merle Oberon 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.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Merle Oberon Table
- Seven Merle Oberon movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 19.44% of her movies listed. Her biggest hit was Stage Door Canteen (1943)
- An average Merle Oberon movie grosses an average of $81.70 million in adjusted domestic gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 18 Merle Oberon movies are rated as good movies…or 50.00% of her movies. Wuthering Heights (1939) was her highest rated movie while Of Love and Desire (1963) was her lowest rated movie.
- Thirteen Merle Oberon movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 36.11% of her movies.
- Five Merle Oberon movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 13.88% of her movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 16 Merle Oberon movies scored higher than that average….or 44.44% of her movies. Wuthering Heights (1939) got the the highest UMR Score while Of Love and Desire (1963) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Merle Oberon
- Estelle Merle O’Brien Thompson was born in Bombay, India in 1911.
2. The name “Merle Oberon” was the brain child of director, producer Alexander Korda. When Korda cast her in 1933’s The Private Life of Henry VIII…that was the name he billed her under.
3. Because of facial scars the actress sustained in a London car crash in 1937, her future husband, cinematographer Lucien Ballard, designed a compact spotlight that he coined the “Obie” (Oberon’s nickname). Mounted on the side of the camera, the device lights the subject head on, thus reducing the incidence of unflattering facial lines and shadows.
4. Merle Oberon was only nominated for one Oscar®. Surprisingly it was not for 1939’s Wuthering Heights….it was for 1935’s Dark Waters.
5. Merle Oberon is the only Asian actress to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar®.
6. Merle Oberon was married four times and had two children. Her first marriage was to director Alexander Korda. When Korda was knighted in 1941….Oberon was became Lady Korda.
7. Check out Steve’s Merle Oberon Video….
8. Check out Merle Oberon’s movie 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.
Merle Oberon was never on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. There are 2 people on the 2016 list who appeared in films with her and they have both passed on. Check out Mr. Rietty’s strange career, some of whose credits I find suspicious or ridiculous. His 2 films with Merle were 83 years ago and his last was in 1998. He was 11 in 1934.
767 ROBERT RIETTY THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN (1934)
767 ROBERT RIETTY THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1934)
937 ROBERT EASTON Deep in My Heart (1954)
These are the people on the first list in 2000 who worked with Merle who have since fallen off the chart. Rank is for 2000.
41 BURGESS MEREDITH That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
75 CAMERON MITCHELL Desirée (1954)
77 JOSE FERRER Deep in My Heart (1954)
100 IAN WOLFE A Song to Remember (1945)
100 IAN WOLFE This Love of Ours (1945)
102 DAVID NIVEN Beloved Enemy (1936)
102 DAVID NIVEN Wuthering Heights (1939)
129 CURT JURGENS Of Love and Desire (1963)
158 JOSEPH COTTEN Lydia (1941)
160 ROBERT RYAN Berlin Express (1948)
185 KEVIN MCCARTHY Hotel (1967)
187 RAY MILLAND Forever and a Day (1943)
188 MARLON BRANDO Desirée (1954)
216 LAURENCE OLIVIER The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
216 LAURENCE OLIVIER Wuthering Heights (1939)
219 ELISHA COOK JR. Dark Waters (1944)
222 BESS FLOWERS Desirée (1954)
222 BESS FLOWERS That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
222 BESS FLOWERS ‘Til We Meet Again (1940)
256 HANK WORDEN The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
273 GEORGE COULOURIS A Song to Remember (1945)
359 KARL MALDEN Hotel (1967)
395 WALTER PIDGEON Deep in My Heart (1954)
409 ROD TAYLOR Hotel (1967)
410 GEORGE RAFT Stage Door Canteen (1943)
451 DANA ANDREWS Night Song (1947)
472 TERRY-THOMAS The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933)
503 RICHARD CONTE Hotel (1967)
506 DOUGLAS FOWLEY Deep in My Heart (1954)
507 RALPH BELLAMY Affectionately Yours (1941)
507 RALPH BELLAMY Stage Door Canteen (1943)
517 WILFRID HYDE-WHITE Over the Moon (1939)
532 JIM BACKUS Deep in My Heart (1954)
583 PAUL STEWART Berlin Express (1948)
583 PAUL STEWART Deep in My Heart (1954)
592 WHIT BISSELL Night Song (1947)
611 DON ‘RED’ BARRY Beloved Enemy (1936)
623 RUSS TAMBLYN Deep in My Heart (1954)
651 MELVYN DOUGLAS Hotel (1967)
651 MELVYN DOUGLAS That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
679 FRANCISCO RABAL Todo es posible en Granada (1954)
707 DARREN MCGAVIN A Song to Remember (1945)
731 JOHN HOYT Desirée (1954)
740 GEORGE CHANDLER Night Song (1947)
740 GEORGE CHANDLER The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
783 JAMES FLAVIN Affectionately Yours (1941)
806 NINA FOCH A Song to Remember (1945)
819 RALPH RICHARDSON The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
819 RALPH RICHARDSON The Lion Has Wings (1939)
824 FRANK WILCOX Affectionately Yours (1941)
824 FRANK WILCOX The Price of Fear (1956)
824 FRANK WILCOX ‘Til We Meet Again (1940)
851 CEDRIC HARDWICKE Forever and a Day (1943)
851 CEDRIC HARDWICKE The Lodger (1944)
868 LEX BARKER The Price of Fear (1956)
915 IVAN TRIESAULT A Song to Remember (1945)
930 BING RUSSELL The Price of Fear (1956)
960 CLAUDIO BROOK Interval (1973)
969 BYRON FOULGER First Comes Courage (1943)
973 JEAN SIMMONS Desirée (1954)
Merle worked with 27 Oscar winners;
CHARLES COBURN Forever and a Day (1943)
CHARLES LAUGHTON Forever and a Day (1943)
CHARLES LAUGHTON The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933)
DAVID NIVEN Beloved Enemy (1936)
DAVID NIVEN Wuthering Heights (1939)
DONALD CRISP BELOVED ENEMY (1936)
DONALD CRISP FOREVER AND A DAY (1943)
DONALD CRISP WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
EDMUND GWENN Forever and a Day (1943)
ETHEL BARRYMORE Night Song (1947)
FREDRIC MARCH The Dark Angel (1935)
GALE SONDERGAARD NIGHT IN PARADISE (1946)
GARY COOPER The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
GEORGE SANDERS The Lodger (1944)
HATTIE MCDANIEL AFFECTIONATELY YOURS (1941)
HELEN HAYES Stage Door Canteen (1943)
JANE DARWELL Stage Door Canteen (1943)
JOSE FERRER Deep in My Heart (1954)
KARL MALDEN Hotel (1967)
KATHARINE HEPBURN Stage Door Canteen (1943)
LAURENCE OLIVIER The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
LAURENCE OLIVIER Wuthering Heights (1939)
MARLON BRANDO Desirée (1954)
MELVYN DOUGLAS Hotel (1967)
MELVYN DOUGLAS That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
PAUL LUKAS Berlin Express (1948)
PAUL LUKAS Temptation (1946)
PAUL MUNI Stage Door Canteen (1943)
RAY MILLAND Forever and a Day (1943)
REX HARRISON Over the Moon (1939)
ROBERT DONAT The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933)
THOMAS MITCHELL DARK WATERS (1944)
VICTOR MCLAGLEN Forever and a Day (1943)
WALTER BRENNAN The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
WALTER BRENNAN These Three (1936)
Hey Dan
1. Good lists as always.
2. I agree Rietty IMDb career seems pretty unusual.
3. But it is still good to know there are 2 people still standing from the current Oracle list.
4. Seeing Melvyn Douglas’ name makes me think he would be a good UMR subject.
5. 27 Oscar winners…..a decent total….but far from Sir Caine’s total.
Good feedback.
Miss Oberon first came to my attention when I saw These Three on telly as a very young man. Only a few weeks later, I saw her in The Price of Fear. While the first has remained a favorite ever since, the second has remained a sort of “Guilty Pleasure”. I have seen 24 of the films listed above. Favorites are The Private Lives of Henry Vlll, Dark Angel, Lydia (still shocked about that ones poor boxoffice), First comes Courage, the remake of the Kay Francis/William Powell weepie One Way Passage ‘Til we meet again, The Divorce of Lady X, the sugary but lovely Night Song with the great Ethel Barrymore and, of course, Wuthering Heights. I think Oberon was quite good as Cathy, but not great…ever since I found out about Sylvia Sidney having been promised that part, I can’t help wondering what a Cathy she would have been.
Merle Oberon was an exquisite beauty with an almost perfect face and a delicate frame. Maybe this is why I love her playing independent and/or strong women, such as Cathy, Karen Larson, native spy in Nazi occupied Norway in Courage, Jessica Warren, using poor Lex Barker as a scapegoat for her own, deadly mistake in Price of Fear and last but not least her strong supporting part as the cold Duchess in Hotel, trying to protect hubby Michael Rennie, but more for her own than for his sake.
Merle Oberon made her last movie in 1973, and while it did nothing but provide a sad bookend to her career professionally, it also provided her with her last husband: dutch actor Rob Wolders was 24 years her junior and stayed with Oberon until her death from a massive stroke in 1979.
Finally, Merle Oberon and the Audrey Hepburn connection:
Merle played Karen Wright in the first movie adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour in 1936 (These Three), Audrey Hepburn played Karen Wright in it’s second dramatization in 1961. After Hepburn’s affair with actor Ben Gazzarra ended, she met fellow dutchman Rob Wolders in the early 80’s. The two became a couple, and though they never married, Wolders (7 years younger than Audrey) stayed with and cared for Hepburn during her illness that finally led to her death in 1993.
Upon his own request, he wasn’t mentioned in either lady’s will.
Hey Lupino
1. Thanks for such a detailed comment….interesting and informative…..the combo of a perfect combo.
2. Very interesting stuff about Rob Wolders….I had never heard of him before….actually when I saw he was the co-star of Intervals….I thought he was the guy from Lou Grant….that is Robert Walden (I think).
3. I have only seen 3 of her movies….but I have made mental notes of the ones that you like so much.
4. Tally count: Lupino 24, Flora 19, John 15, Steve 5 and me 3 (hiding my face in shame…lol).
5. Who knows what would have happened to Sidney’s career if she would have gotten the Wuthering Heights role.
Hope your weekend has gone awesome.
Thank you, Bruce, I hope so was yours!
I have seen 19 Merle Oberon films. I had seen only a handful of her movies until TCM did a Star of the Month tribute to her.
My favourite Merle Oberon films are:
Wuthering Heights
The Lodger
Beloved Enemy
Hotel
The Divorce of Lady X
Hey Flora…..well your 19 is good enough for the silver…as Lupino tops your total….though you easily destroyed my and Steve’s total. John gets third with a solid total of 15. Two of my three watched are listed on your Top 5…as I have seen Wuthering Heights and The Lodger. Of those two I like The Lodger more sn her 1939 classic. Good feedback.
Hello Bruce, thank you for the requested page on Merle Oberon. Usually I stay away from the internet on weekends (mostly to spend time with people I love in the real world and to squeeze in a movie or two), so I will comment later. Still, this new page makes it very hard for me…maybe later tonight 😉
Hey Lupino….you are welcome. I can easily understand your weekend thinking…as I have the same “rule” myself.
Cogerson
I have 15 Merle Oberon films, mainly the ones rated at the high end of your UMR score. I certainly agree with the critics’ rating of Wuthering Heights, These Three, and The Private Life of Henry VIII as being her top films. I saw These Three in a revival theater back in the early 1970’s, and I recall the late scene in which the nasty little girl (I think Bonita Granville) who has been ruining lives with her gossipy lies, sasses the maid, the later Wicked Witch of the West herself, Margaret Hamilton, and Hamilton slaps her. I have never heard such cheering in a theater.
Hey John…..thanks for the comment, visit and tally count. Your 15 looks good enough for the Bronze medal. Lupino 24, Flora 19, you 15….and Steve and myself not even worth mentioning. Interesting about Granville in These Three….as I have been toying with my Iconic Role by Age page…and I had just added her to the table. Sounds like a blast watching a classic movie with a huge audience. Good stuff.