Sylvia Sidney Movies

Want to know the best Sylvia Sidney movies?  How about the worst Sylvia Sidney movies?  Curious about Sylvia Sidney box office grosses or which Sylvia Sidney movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Sylvia Sidney 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.

Sylvia Sidney (1910-1999) was an Oscar® nominated American actress.  She was a leading lady in the 1930s….whose career spanned 8 decades.  His first movie was 1929’s Thru Different Eyes and her last movie was 67 years later when she saved Earth from aliens in 1996’s Mars Attacks.   Her IMDb page shows 107 acting credits from 1929-1998. This page will rank 35 Sylvia Sidney movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  Her many television appearances, a few not released in North American theaters and some early Paramount movies were not included in the rankings.  This page comes from a request by Germany’s Lupino.

Alec Baldwin, Sylvia Sidney and Gena Davis in 1988’s Beetlejuice

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

Sylvia Sidney 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 Sylvia Sidney films by co-stars of her movies
  • Sort Sylvia Sidney films by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Sylvia Sidney films by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Sylvia Sidney 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 Sylvia Sidney film received.
  • Sort Sylvia Sidney 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.

Possibly Interesting Facts About Sylvia Sidney – All From Lupino’s Excellent Comment

  1. Sylvia Sidney was born August 8th, 1910 as Sophia Kosow in New York (Bronx).

2. Sylvia Sidney had an ongoing affair with Paramount producer BP Schulberg in the 30’s, who was 18 years her senior.

3. Sylvia Sidney was married 3 times, had one son, Jodie, who suffered from ALS and to whom she was highly devoted. He died in 1987.

4. Sylvia Sidney had a reputation for being very outspoken, she was often referred to as being cantankerous.

5. Sylvia Sidney played the tragic Cio-Cio San in the nonmusical version of 1932’s Madame Butterfly  which led to a brand of Japanese condoms being named the “Sylvia Sidneys”.

6. Sylvia Sidney was nominated for Golden Globes® and Emmy Awards®, she won the Golden Globe® for her work in the first TV movie dealing with HIV, An early Frost in 1985.

7. Sylvia Sidney was an expert on needle pointing and wrote 2 books on that topic.

8.  Sylvia Sidney made one movie with Alfred Hitchcock and William Wyler….she did not get along with either legendary director.

9. Director Tim Burton was a fan of Sylvia Sidney.  He cast her as Juno in Beetlejuice and as Grandma Flo in Mars Attacs!. Sidney had the following to say about him: “The way Tim Burton treated me, I really felt like a star!”

10. Sylvia Sidney died from throat cancer aged 88, being a lifelong smoker she didn’t even stop during chemo-therapy.

Check out Sylvia Sidney’s movie career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Steve Lensman’s Sylvia Sidney You Tube Video

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78 thoughts on “Sylvia Sidney Movies”

  1. Hi

    I’m surprised that you don’t mention the movie Dead End from 1937. One of her big hits directed by William Wyler. Sylvia had a great waif like quality, those big eyes and sad face, she always looked so vulnerable. In her peak years she was very beautiful but I think she was really stuck in the 30’s, in those depression type movies. There’s a wonderful documentary on youtube, it was filmed late in her life, she comes across as a very spunky old lady who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. It’s definitely worth looking up.
    She was terrific in Beetlejuice and clearly Tim Burton was a big fan. I also remembered You Only Live Once with Henry Fonda, a really good show.

    Reply

    1. Hey Chris you are 100% correct where is Dead End…just checked my database….and it is listed with her movies….yet it is not on the table….gotta fix that. Not sure what went wrong. Thanks for the catch.

      Reply

        1. New tally count…Flora 8, Steve 6 or 7 depending on Dead End…and me still stuck on 4 as I have not seen Dead End. Thanks for the return visit and re-tally count. Sorry I forget to include it the first time around.

          Reply

      2. Hey Chris….wow….not only did I not include a movie…..but it was her number one. I think that has happened one time before….but Dead End is now on the table…thanks again.

        I agree with you 100% on her seeming vulnerable…..I think her small body helped that a lot. I will have to check out that You Tube video. Burton really liked her….and just like Vincent Price he cast her in her last movie.

        I never thought I would do a page on the little old lady from Beetlejuice….but I am glad I did. Thanks for the visit and the comment.

        Reply

  2. 1 Sylvia’s heyday was gone by the time I started watching movies in the early 1950sso I remember her older films from only a few TV reruns such as Bogie’s The Wagons Roll at Night. Unfortunately I recall that one not for Sylvia but because historians regard it as the start of the “Bogart era” (ie as a star).

    2 In an actual movie house I only ever saw Sylvia in two movies, a supporting role in Mature’s Violent Saturday (1955) and the 2nd lead in the B movie Behind the High Wall (1956). After that she seems to have worked largely in television with sporadic cinematic output However given that her career spanned 72 years she has to be regarded as a great overall survivor in entertainment and is certainly worthy of this page.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob…thanks for the comment and memories of Sylvia Sidney….I feel good about seeing one of her movies in theaters…granted it was Beetlejuice…..but still I saw a Sylvia Sidney movie in theaters.

      I imagine the relationship between Bogart and Sidney changed from their 1937 Dead End to their 1941 The Wagons Roll At Night….as Bogart’s star was skyrocketing by 1941. Though The Wagons Roll At Night might be one of his least known movies.

      I would have guessed you saw Violent Saturday in theaters…little Bobby and a western on a Saturday afternoon….I wonder if you noticed Lee Marvin on that fist viewing.

      Thanks for the feedback…quality stuff as usual.

      Reply

      1. HI BRUCE
        1 Yes Violent Saturday was the one where Marvin stands outside the town bank while his pals case the place and Lee nonchalantly stubs his cigarette into the balloon of a passing small kid and bursts the balloon to the kid’s dismay. Ernie Borgnine also had a small part as a Quaker farmer who abandons his peaceful ways to pitchfork a baddie who is about to shoot Mature,

        2 Mature plays an ex soldier who sickened by his war experiences refuses to join the men of the town for their Sat afternoon shooting expedition out of town but earns their contempt by going shopping with his wife instead Of course being the only one left in town when Marvin and his gang go for the bank Vic has to go into the “A man’s gotta do…” mode and take out the bad guys. The film ends with the sheriff thanking Vic not just for saving the bank but because “From now on there’s a lot of men in this town who will feel free to do what they really want to do on a Sat afternoon – go shopping with their wives.!” Great stuff! Make sure W o C sees it if she hasn’t as I’m sure she’d like the ending.

        Reply

        1. Hey Bob….good to know Marvin made an impact on you…years before he would become a superstar. That does sound like a great final line of the movie….thanks for sharing that information.

          Reply

  3. The following people are on the 2016 Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list that have worked with Sylvia. Thanks to a couple of star studded 90’s epics she appeared in she has more connections than one would think. Sylvia has never appeared on the list.

    Beetlejuice (1988) – 76 Alec Baldwin, 440 Winona Ryder, 666 Michael Keaton, 865 Tony Cox, 918 Jeffrey Jones
    Copkiller (1983) – 5 Harvey Keitel
    Damian: Omen II (1978) – 85 Lance Henriksen
    God Told Me To (1976) – 665 Richard Lynch
    Hammett (1982) – 746 Peter Boyle
    I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) – 49 Clint Howard, 147 Dennis Quaid
    Mars Attacks ! (1996) – 24 Rance Howard, 112 Rod Steiger, 162 Danny Devito, 223 Greg Bronson, 226 Pierce Brosnan, 229 Bob Pepper, 264 Glenn Close, 280 Natalie Portman, 354 Jack Black, 491 Jack Nicholson, 510 Lukas Haas, 552 Willie Garson, 632 Pam Grier, 900 Joe Don Baker
    Used People (1992) – 108 Kathy Bates, 200 Joe Pantoliano, 455 Shirley MacLaine, 515 Marcia Gay Harden, 888 Michael Badalucco
    Violent Saturday (1955) – 142 Ernest Borgnine

    I count 33 Oscar winners that Sylvia worked with.

    Beetlejuice (1988) – Geena Davis
    Behold My Wife (1934) – Dean Jagger
    Blood on the Sun (1945) – James Cagney
    City Streets (1931) – Gary Cooper, Paul Lukas
    Confessions of a Co-Ed (1931) – Bing Crosby
    Damien: Omen II (1978) – William Holden, Lee Grant
    Dead End (1937) – Humphrey Bogart, Claire Trevor
    Fury (1936) – Spencer Tracy, Walter Brennan
    God Told Me To (1976) – Sandy Dennis
    Good Dame (1934) – Fredric March, Walter Brennan
    Jennie Gerhardt (1933) – Jane Darwell, Mary Astor
    Ladies of the Big House (1931) – Jane Darwell
    Les Miserables (1952) – Edmund Gwenn
    Make Me a Star (1932) – Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Gary Cooper
    Mars Attacks! (1996) – Rod Steiger, Natalie Portman, Jack Nicholson
    Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935) – Melvyn Douglas
    Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) – Fredric March
    Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973) – Joanne Woodward, Martin Balsam
    The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936) – Henry Fonda
    The Wagons Roll at Night (1941) – Humphrey Bogart
    Used People (1992) – Kathy Bates, Shirley MacLaine, Marcia Gay Harden, Jessica Tandy
    Violent Saturday (1955) – Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin
    You Only Live Once (1937) – Henry Fonda

    Some connections

    Eric Roberts was in Endangered Species (2003) with Tony Lo Bianco who was in God Told Me To (1976) with Sylvia

    Eric is in The Long Ride Home (2003) with Rance Howard who was in Mars Attacks! (1996) with Sylvia and Ernest Borgnine who was in Violent Saturday (1955) with Sylvia

    Eric was in The Last Shot (2004) and Heaven’s Prisoners (2006) with Alec Baldwin who is in Beetlejuice (1988) with Sylvia

    Eric is in The Red Maple Leaf (2016) with Doris Roberts who was in Used People (1992) with Sylvia

    Eric was in The Immortals (1995) with Joe Pantoliano who was in Used People (1992)

    Eric Roberts is in Frank and Ava (2017) with Lukas Haas who was in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Eric was in The Cable Guy (1996) with Jack Black who is also in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Eric was in Bailout: The Age of Greed (2013) with Clint Howard who was in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) with Sylvia

    Michael Madsen was in The Natural (1984) with Glenn Close who was in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Mike was in Loosies (2011) with Joe Pantoliano

    Mike was in No Deposit (2015) with Doris Roberts

    Mike was in The Killing Time (1987) with Joe Don Baker who is Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Danny Trejo is in Danny Roane: First Time Director (2006) with Jack Black

    Danny Trejo was in Chinaman’s Chance: America’s Other Slaves (2008) with Ernest Borgnine

    Samuel L. Jackson was in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) with Natalie Portman who was in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Sam was in Jackie Brown (1997) with Pam Grier who is in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Sam was in Robocop (2014) with Michael Keaton who is Beetlejuice (1988) with Sylvia

    Sam was in Mother and Child (2009) with Annette Bening who is in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Sam is in Farce of the Penguins (2006) with Christina Applegate who is in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Harvey Keitel does it in 1 shot, he worked with Sylvia in Copkiller (1983)

    Willem Dafoe was in Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2004) with Martin Short who is in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Bill was in Lulu on the Bridge (1998) with Harvey Keitel

    Bill was in American Dreamz (2006) with Marcia Gay Harden who is Used People (1992)

    Bill was in American Dreams (2006) with Dennis Quaid who was in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)

    Robert De Niro was in Little Fockers (2010) with Harvey Keitel

    Robert De Niro was in Jackie Brown (1997) with Michael Keaton

    Malcolm McDowell is in Halloween (2007) and Get Crazy (1983) with Clint Howard

    Malcolm is in Just Visiting 92001) with Christina Applegate

    Malcolm is in Class of 1999 (1990) with Pam Grier

    Malcolm was in Sunset (1988) with Kathleen Quinlan who was in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)

    Donald Sutherland was in The Split (1968) with Ernest Borgnine

    Don was in Space Cowboys (2000) with Marcia Gay Harden

    Don was in The Dirty Dozen (1967) with Jim Brown who is in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Don is in Johnny Get His Gun (1971) with Don ‘Red’ Barry who was in Dead End (1937) with Sylvia

    Don was in Fanatic (1965) with Tallulah Bankhead who is in Make Me a Star (1932) with Sylvia

    Michael Caine was in Bewitched (2005) with Shirley MacLaine who was in Used People (1982)

    Mike was in The Swarm (1978) with Henry Fonda who was in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936) with Sylvia

    Mike was in Blood and Wine (1996) with Jack Nicholson who is in Mars Attacks! (1996)

    Mike was in Noises Off (1992) with Marilu Henner who was in Hammett (1982) with Sylvia

    Mike was in Silver Bears (1978) with Martin Balsam who was in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973) with Sylvia

    Mike was in Surrender (1987) and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) with Peter Boyle who is in Hammett (1982)

    Mike was in The Swarm (1978) with Cameron Mitchell who was in Les Miserables (1952) with Sylvia

    Mike was in Ashanti (1979) with William Holden who is in Damien: Omen II (1978) with Sylvia

    Mike was in Austin Powers: Goldmember (2002) with Clint Howard

    Mike was in Austin Powers: Goldmember (2002)with Danny Devito who was in Mars Attacks! (1996) with Sylvia.

    Reply

    1. Hey Dan
      1. First of all thanks for all the lists of great information.
      2. I imagine her co-stars in 1929 and 1996 gives her lots of unusual connections.
      3. Mars Attacks is filled with Bacon Oracle stars.
      4. 33 Oscar winner co-stars is impressive especially with her small amount of movies.
      5. Fun links with the Top 10…..seems her and Caine should have more.
      Good feedback as always.

      Reply

  4. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!

    I’ve seen 6 of the 34 films listed here. My favorite is Tim Burton’s hugely enjoyable Beetlejuice, watched that so many times back in the ‘VHS’ days. But I also enjoyed Mars Attacks! (by the same director), Damien Omen II and of course Hitchock’s Sabotage.

    Good to see Beetlejuice heading the UMR chart, have to confess I haven’t seen Fury or You Only Once but I did see the sequel You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery.

    Interesting to see Blood on the Sun was Sidney’s biggest hit, Cagney was still big box office in the 1940s he has always been one of my favorites from classic Hollywood.

    Another expert movie page Bruce. Voted Up!

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve….I am right there with you when it comes to wearing out a VHS copy of Beetlejuice.

      Fury is entertaining but Spencer Tracy’s character is hard to pull for….he is not a nice guy.

      Tally count; Currently Flora is the leader with 7….followed by your 6 and my 4.

      I think the Connery sequel is much better…lol. Even after doing this page she will still be known to me as the Beetlejuice lady.

      Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply

  5. I have seen 7 of Sylvia Sidney movies.

    My favourite – no surprise to people who know I love Hitchcock – is Sabotage. Even if that were the only one of her films I had seen I would know who she was. I’m glad to see another classic actress featured.

    The highest rated film I have seen is Beetlejuice.

    The lowest ranked film I have seen is The Wagons Roll at Night.

    The 7 movies I have seen are:

    Beetlejuice
    Fury
    Street Scene
    City Streets
    Sabotage
    Mars Attacks
    The Wagons Roll at Night

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora thanks for checking out our last page. Your tally of 7 is the leader currently. Steve has seen 6 and I am at 4. The only one I have seen and you have not would be Hammett. Somehow I have managed not to see Sabotage…but I want to. As always thanks for the feedback.

      Reply

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