Robert Taylor Movies

Robert Taylor in 1951's Quo Vadis
Robert Taylor in 1951’s Quo Vadis

Want to know the best Robert Taylor movies?  How about the worst Robert Taylor movies?  Curious about Robert Taylor’s box office grosses or which Robert Taylor movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Robert Taylor movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Robert Taylor (1911-1969) was an American film and television actor who was one of the most popular leading men of his time. His IMDb page shows 79 acting credits from 1934 to 1969. This page will rank 68 Robert Taylor movies.  Movies will be ranked from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters in North America were not included in the rankings.

Drivel part of the page:  Recently Marcel G. sent us a wonderful comment, saying….(1) he had been coming to our website for years (2) how amazing our website was and (3) that it was lacking a Robert Taylor page.  So after reading his comment….we did a quick check on Mr. Taylor’s career and realized that we not only had domestic box office numbers (thank you MGM) on most of his movies….but also we had worldwide box office numbers on 60 of his movies.  Amazingly we were able to put together, write and publish this page in less than 90 minutes.  For comparison…please know we spent almost two months working (because Paramount kept horrible records) on our Bing Crosby page.  So Marcel….here is your requested Robert Taylor page.

Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne in 1935's Magnificent Obsession
Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne in 1935’s Magnificent Obsession

Robert Taylor Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Robert Taylor 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 Robert Taylor movies by co-stars of his movies
  • Sort Robert Taylor movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Robert Taylor movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Robert Taylor 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 Robert Taylor movie received.
  • Sort Robert Taylor 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 Robert Taylor Table

  1. Thirty-two Robert Taylor movie crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark.  That is a percentage of 47.06% of his movies listed. Quo Vadis (1951) was his biggest box office hit.
  2. An average Robert Taylor movie grosses $106.000 million in adjusted box office gross.
  3. Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter.  36 of Robert Taylor’s movies are rated as good movies…or 52.94% of his movies.  Camille (1936) was his highest rated movie while Valley Of The Kings (1954) was his lowest rated movie.
  4. Fifteen Robert Taylor movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 22.05% of his movies.
  5. Two Robert Taylor movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 2.94% of his movies.
  6. An good Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 60.00.  44 Robert Taylor movie scored higher that average….or 64.70% of his movies. Quo Vadis (1951) got the the highest UMR Score while Savage Pampas (1966) got the lowest UMR Score.
Ava Gardner & Robert Taylor in 1953's Knights of the Round Table
Ava Gardner & Robert Taylor in 1953’s Knights of the Round Table

Possibly Interesting Facts About Robert Taylor

1.Spangler Arlington Brugh was born in Filley, Nebraska in 1911.  After signing a 7 year contract with MGM…they give him Robert Taylor as his screen name.

2. Robert Taylor was a track star and played the cello in his high school orchestra.  Taylor moved to California and enrolled at Pomona College.  In 1932 he was spotted by a MGM scout while appearing in a play at Pomona.  By 1935 he was a movie star.

3. During World War II, Robert Taylor was a flying instructor in the U.S. Naval Air Corps.  He also directed 17 United States Navy training films during World War II.

4. Robert Taylor and Clark Gable were great friends. Taylor was one of the pallbearers at Gable’s funeral in November 1960.

5. Robert Taylor never received a Oscar® or Golden Globe nomination during his entire career.

6. Robert Taylor’s favorite movie he starred in was 1940’s Waterloo Bridge….with 1936’s Camille being his second favorite.  Greta Garbo was his favorite co-star.

7. Robert Taylor’s nicknames included: The Man with the Perfect Profile”, Arly, Bob and The New King.  He was called the New King when Clark Gable left MGM in 1953.

8.  Robert Taylor was married two times. His first marriage was to actress Barbara Stanwyck.  They were married from 1939 to 1951.  His second marriage was to actress Ursula Thiess from 1954 to his death in 1969.  They had two children.

9. Robert Taylor owned a house in Mandeville Canyon, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles.  That in itself is not so interesting…however the house known as the Robert Taylor Ranch is a 34-room home situated on 112 acres.  At one point it was on sell for only $45 million!

10.  Check out Robert Taylor‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.  His 30 $100 Million Dollar Movies is one of the best totals of all-time.

Steve’s Robert Taylor You Tube Video

Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. 

If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.

(Visited 1 times)

76 thoughts on “Robert Taylor Movies”

  1. STEVE

    A week or so ago I watched your Robert Taylor video and drafted a post about it but I cannon find either the draft or the actual post on Taylor’s site. I admired Taylor and very much liked your video but I don’t want to be duplicating posts so perhaps you’d confirm if you did actually receive the post concerned.

    Many thanks BOB

    Reply

    1. Hi Bob, I don’t remember seeing such a post, scanning Bruce’s Robert Taylor chart I would have remembered chatting about some of those titles. Maybe you posted it at another actor page by accident and I didn’t see it? Before Bruce introduced the comments page?

      Reply

        1. I also do not remember it. Look forward to seeing the “missing” comment. So Bob….just watched Brooklyn….and is often the case I go to IMDb ……and e trivia says people are comparing the male lead (Emory Cohen) to…..drumroll…..Marlon Brando. While watching his performance gotta admit I did not see any Brando in him……but obviously others do.

          Reply

          1. Actually…..when I went downstairs Brooklyn was still playing….and re-watched a scene with Cohen…..and I could see a resemblance to Mr. Brando.

  2. Robert Taylor has 30 movies on your list that have made 100 million dollars. Bob never appeared on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. Bob died in 1969 and these are the only actors on the current list who have appeared in a film with him.

    A House is Not a Home (1964) – 781 Shelley Winters
    Above and Beyond (1952) – 912 Arthur Tovey
    Cattle King (1963) – 65 Robert Loggia
    D-Day the Sixth of June – 622 Ralph Moratz
    Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) – 323 Donald Pleasence
    Party Girl (1958) – Arthur Tovey
    Ride, Vacqueo! (1953) – 681 Anthony Quinn
    The Law and Jake Wade (1958) – 548 Henry Silva
    Undercurrent (1946) – 809 Robert Mitchum
    West Point of the Air (1935) – 245 Mickey Rooney

    Of Course Bob did better on the 2000 list. These are the actors who fallen over time off the list with their 2000 rankings who worked with Mr. Taylor.

    A House is Not a Home (1964) – 151 Cesar Romero, 241 Broderick Crawford, 327 Raquel Welch, 626 Billy Beck
    A Wicked Woman (1934) – 571 Charles Lane
    A Yank at Oxford (1938) – 524 Richard Wattis
    Above and Beyond (1952) – 222 Bess Flowers, 361 James Whitmore, 459 Dabbs Greer, 532 Jim Backus, 891 Gregory Walcott
    All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) – 43 Keenan Wynn, 361 James Whitmore, 544 Leo Gordon, 599 John Douchette, 935 Stewart Granger
    Ambush (1950) – 682 Ray Teal, 959 Leon Ames
    Bataan (1943) – 786 Lloyd Nolan
    Billy the Kid (1941) – 682 Ray Teal
    Cattle King (1963) – 682 Ray Teal, 743 William Windom
    Conspirator (1949) – 281 Elizabeth Taylor, 517 Wilfrid Hyde-White
    D-Day the Sixth of June (1956) – 406 Edmond O’Brien, 459 Dabbs Greer, 690 Parley Baer
    Devil’s Doorway (1950) – 459 Dabbs Greer
    Flight Command (1940) – 395 Walter Pidgeon, 606 Alberto Morin
    Her Cardboard Lover (1942) – 323 George Sanders
    High Wall (1947) – 256 Hank Worden, 682 Ray Teal
    Ivanhoe (1952) – 281 Elizabeth Taylor, 323 George Sanders, 712 Finlay Currie, 889 Robert Brown
    Johnny Eager (1941) – 583 Paul Stewart
    Johnny Tiger (1966) – Marc Lawrence
    Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) – 636 Gregoire Aslan
    Knights of the Round Table (1953) – 186 Ava Gardner, 251 Mel Ferrer, 645 Laurence Harvey, 871 Desmond Llewelyn, 985 Niall MacGinnis
    Le rouble a deux faces (1968) – 393 Charles Boyer
    Lucky Night (1939) – 506 Douglas Fowley, 571 Charles Lane
    Magnificent Obsession (1935) – 783 James Flavin
    Many Rivers to Cross (1955) – 623 Russ Tamblyn, 863 Allan Hale Jr.
    Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) – 76 Eddie Albert, 129 Curt Jurgens, 481 Lilli Palmer, 506 Douglas Fowley
    Murder in the Fleet (1935) – 278 Keye Luke
    Party Girl (1958) – 90 John Ireland, 272 Vito Scotti, 301 Lee J. Cobb, 746 Herb Vigran
    Private Number (1936) – 506 Douglas Fowley
    Quentin Durward (1955) – 94 Robert Morley, 517 Wilfrid Hyde-White, 777 Eric Pohlmann
    Quo Vadis (1951) – 144 Peter Ustinov, 166 Sophia Loren, 281 Elizabeth Taylor, 395 Walter Pidgeon, 712 Finlay Currie
    Return of the Gunfighter (1967) – 221 John Crawford, 546 Reed Morgan, 978 John Davis Chandler
    Ride, Vaquero! (1953) – 186 Ava Gardner, 404 Jack Elam, 894 Philip Van Zandt
    Rogue Cop (1954) – 271 Peter Brocco, 310 Steve Forrest, 410 George Raft, 562 Paul Bryar, 682 Ray Teal, 816 Carleton Young, 863 Alan Hale, Jr., 961 Nicky Blair
    Saddle the Wind (1958) – 155 Royal Dano, 682 Ray Teal, 922 John Cassavetes
    Savage Pampas (1966) – 27 Marc Lawrence, 492 Georges Rigaud, 905 Ron Randell
    Small Town Girl (1936) – 344 James Stewart, 506 Douglas Fowley
    Society Doctor (1935) – 783 James Flavin
    Song of Russia (1944) – 682 Ray Teal, 763 Feodor Chaliapin Jr., 915 Ivan Tresault
    Stand By for Action (1942) – 506 Douglas Fowley, 969 Byron Foulger
    The Bribe (1949) – 125 Vincent Price, 186 Ava Gardner, 606 Alberto Morin, 731 John Hoyt
    The Crowd Roars (1938) – 81 Lionel Stander, 542 Paul Fix, 611 Don “Red” Barry
    The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) – 222 Bess Flowers, 344 James Stewart, 651 Melvyn Douglas
    The House of the Seven Hawks (1959) – 777 Eric Pohlmann
    The Last Hunt (1956) – 623 Russ Tamblyn, 786 Lloyd Nolan, 935 Stewart Granger
    The Law and Jake Wade (1958) – 119 Richard Widmark
    The Night Walker (1964) – 617 Paul Frees
    The Power and the Prize (1956) – 851 Cedric Hardwicke
    This is My Affair (1937) – 14 John Carradine, 506 Douglas Fowley, 783 James Flavin
    Three Comrades (1938) – 740 George Chandler
    Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957) – 177 Marcel Dalio, 531 Lilyan Chauvin, 824 Frank Wilcox
    Undercurrent (1946) – 222 Bess Flowers, 256 Hank Worden
    Valley of the Kings (1954) – 389 Leon Askin
    Westward the Women (1951) – 232 Roy Jenson, 740 George Chandler
    Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (168) – 376 Stella Stevens, 467 Van Johnson, 663 Milton Berle, 965 Mary Wickes

    Reply

    1. Hey Dan….poor Robert Taylor his list really got smaller. On the current list only Henry Silva is alive but at 87..not thinking he will get Taylor back in the Top 1000. It almost seems sad that an actor like Taylor that appeared in so many box office hits is largely forgotten….I wonder if Bruce Willis is headed down that road. So Arthur Tovey is listed in the updated list but not the older one for Above and Beyond….does that mean Tovey joined the Top 1000 on the last update? As always…I appreciate you sharing this information.

      Reply

  3. I thank you for compiling and posting this information.

    I like him very much. I feel as if he is: the-boy-next-door version of: William Powell. I much prefer his comedies more than his dramatic roles.

    I frequently watch: The Mystery of Mr. X (1934), Petticoat Fever (1936), Hide-Out (1934), The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) and June Bride (1948).

    Reply

    1. Hey Bern 1960. Thanks for tally count. That would have been good enough for 4th place…….but short of a medal in our competition……the big question would be if you are representing Canada or America.

      Reply

  5. Bruce…Thank You

    Great to be able to have this reference….and in record time….add to my comments your dedication.

    For the record; I have seen 43 of his movies and own 32.

    There are many reasons to see movies; eating popcorn is one.

    Robert Taylor was never Oscar material however he was a steadfast, honest and a hardworking entertainer. He is why we eat popcorn. MGM held on to him for a little more than three decades.
    He worked with the best and his performances in Waterloo Bridge, D-Day the Sixth of June, The Last Hunt and especially Bataan say a lot about his abilities.

    Quite a few more say a lot about his Star Power.

    Thank you very much for the page.

    Marcel

    Reply

    1. Glad you found your requested page Marcel. It actually turned out to be one of the easiest ones we have written,….all thanks to the MGM ledgers. We have a tally contest here…let’s see where you 42 ranked.

      Gold Medal….Marcel with 42 RM movies watched
      Silver Medal ….Canada’s Flora with 29 RM movies watched
      Bronze Medal….England’s Steve with 22 RM movies watched

      Congrats on your win. I agree with you about his career…..it was much more successful than I ever imagined. His career dipped some at the end….but for most of his 30 years he made one hit movie after another.

      Glad you can use this as a reference….if you want the actual box office rentals….I have those as well.

      Reply

    2. Yes, there are movies that win awards, there are movies that make us want to eat popcorn, and there are movies that make us want to do both.

      I find that the type of movies made now that interest me are the ones that are at least nominated for awards and are therefore released later in the year.

      Make no mistake here. I am indeed a fan of Robert Taylor. I think he is an absolute scream in Personal Property. I nearly hyperventilated laughing watching that movie it was so funny. that was a popcorn movie.

      And my favourite Robert Taylor film of all time is very low in the rankings on this page: The Law and Jake Wade. And before you ask, it is no coincidence that this movie also stars two other favourites of mine: Richard Widmark and my favourite actor from the Star Trek universe – Deforest “Bones” Kelley.

      Reply

    3. Not only did he not get an Oscar but worse – Flora won’t let him have The Cowboy of the Century award that he so desired !

      Reply

      1. I won’t let him?????????????????

        Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

        Very funny, Robert. Very funny.

        If it was up to me, Deforest Kelley would have gotten the Roddenberry award for science fiction and the Golden Boot award for supporting players in westerns before he was dying as these were his genres, but:

        Okay:

        I have to ask Bruce:

        Who did decide who got this award? Was it the press? Or was it voted on by peers? Ie:

        Did fellow cowboys decide this or did the studio?

        And what did Steve McQueen think of the award Cowboy of the Century?

        We know that Fonda and Stewart were best friends, so that would not have bothered Fonda either.

        LOL! Robert.

        Very funny.

        😉

        Reply

        2. FLORA:
          1 I felt that I had to add that Cowboy of the Century was one of those fringe insider awards that abound in all professions [for example ,employee of the month] and which have no global or national standing like the Oscars the Golden Globes or the New York Film Critics’ prize.

          2 In fact that was really Bob Taylor’s point: Stewart had got the Oscar for Philadelphia
          Story and had collected many other important awards over the years; so why could Taylor not at least be given one of the relatively unimportant awards that probably very few others cared about it.

          3 Taylor DID care about it because he owned a large ranch and therefore felt that he was a real cowboy whereas he saw many of the other actors as just ‘pretend’ cowboys. Also he had played Billy the Kid and did have a reasonably firm body of good quality cowboy films in his CV.

          4 I had never heard about it until I read one of Taylor’s biographies; I have not heard of it since; and I probably won’t hear much about it in future as it will be another three quarter century before it’s trotted out again. So I do hope that Bruce won’t waste too much time trying to track it down for you.

          5 As always I enjoy corresponding with you because when you have an opinion you don’t flinch from stating it.

          Best wishes BOB

          Reply

          1. Okay, Robert.

            Yes there are plenty of people who are real life versions of the people they play on film and television.

            For example, Steve McQueen really did ride motorcycles in his private life.

            And I had no idea when it was given out.
            I had not heard of it.

            Thanks for the information. Yes, we don’t want Bruce trying to figure it out when there is no information.

        3. Hey Flora and Bob….not sure who decided that….I have to admit….that I have not heard of either award. But Mr. Kelley had lots of great credits to win those awards. Hopefully as I research another western star….Audie Murphy….I will stumble across those award voting criteria….lol.

          Reply

          1. I am looking forward to Murphy.

            Regarding Kelley – he died in the Motion Picture Hospital. This is closing due to lack of funds.

            Kelley lived long enough for William Campbell – The Squire of Gothos and the Klingon captain in The Trouble with Tribbles – to give him the Gene Roddenberry award in his hospital bed.

            When Campbell got home his wife was waiting in the driveway to tell him that Deforest Kelley had died.

            That was a horrible day for me.

            I’ll talk about that more when you do his own page.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.