Want to know the best Walter Brennan movies? How about the worst Walter Brennan movies? Curious about Walter Brennan’s box office grosses or which Walter Brennan movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Walter Brennan 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.
Walter Brennan (1894-1974) is the only person in the history of people to win 3 Best Supporting Actor Oscars®. Brennan specialized in playing cantankerous old men. He appeared in some of the greatest westerns ever made: 1940’s The Westerner, 1946’s My Darling Clementine, 1948’s Red River and 1959’s Rio Bravo. Not to say all of Brennan’s movies were westerns….as he also appeared in many other non-western classics: 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein, 1941’s Meet John Doe, 1941’s Sergeant York, 1942’s The Pride of the Yankees, 1946’s To Have And Have Not and 1969’s Support Your Local Sheriff.
His IMDb page shows 244 acting credits from 1925-1975. This page ranks Walter Brennan movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, cameos and movies not released in North America were not included in the rankings.
Walter Brennan 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
1942
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
AA Best Picture Nom
1941
Sergeant York (1941)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1962
How the West Was Won (1962)
AA Best Picture Nom
1944
To Have and Have Not (1944)
1940
Northwest Passage (1940)
1946
My Darling Clementine (1946)
1959
Rio Bravo (1959)
1948
Red River (1948)
1941
Meet John Doe (1941)
1944
The Princess and The Pirate (1944)
1946
A Stolen Life (1946)
1954
The Far Country (1954)
1946
Nobody Lives Forever (1946)
1939
Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
1938
Kentucky (1938)
AA Best Supp Actor Win
1946
Centennial Summer (1946)
1957
Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)
1955
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
1939
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
1940
The Westerner (1940)
AA Best Supp Actor Win
1942
Stand By For Action (1942)
1936
Come and Get It (1936)
AA Best Supp Actor Win
1936
These Three (1936)
1938
The Buccaneer (1938)
1936
Fury (1936)
1943
The North Star (1943)
1943
Slightly Dangerous (1943)
1935
Barbary Coast (1935)
1938
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
1944
Home in Indiana (1944)
1949
Task Force (1949)
1969
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
1938
The Texans (1938)
1938
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
1947
Driftwood (1947)
1952
Lure of the Wilderness (1952)
1941
Nice Girl? (1941)
1948
Blood on the Moon (1948)
1940
Maryland (1940)
1941
Swamp Water (1941)
1965
Those Calloways (1965)
1948
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948)
1967
The Gnome-Mobile (1967)
1951
Along the Great Divide (1951)
1938
Mother Carey's Chickens (1938)
1936
Banjo On My Knee (1936)
1954
Drums Across the River (1954)
1956
The Proud Ones (1956)
1956
Good-bye, My Lady (1956)
1957
The Way To The Gold (1957)
1939
They Shall Have Music (1939)
1945
Dakota (1945)
1943
Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
1951
The Wild Blue Yonder (1951)
1941
Rise and Shine (1941)
1936
The Moon's Our Home (1936)
1968
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)
1955
At Gunpoint (1955)
1952
Return of the Texan (1952)
1956
Come Next Spring (1956)
1950
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950)
1935
The Wedding Night (1935)
1937
She's Dangerours (1937)
1932
Once In A Lifetime (1932)
Uncredited
1951
Best of the Badmen (1951)
1949
The Green Promise (1949)
1939
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939)
1941
This Woman Is Mine (1941)
Walter Brennan 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 Walter Brennan movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Walter Brennan movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Walter Brennan movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Walter Brennan movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Walter Brennan movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Walter Brennan movie won.
- Sort Walter Brennan 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.
- Use the search and sort button to make this page 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 | The Pride of the Yankees (1942) AA Best Picture Nom |
Gary Cooper | 10.50 | 389.9 | 389.90 | 9 | 84 | 11 / 01 | 99.5 | |
| 2 | Sergeant York (1941) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Gary Cooper | 13.50 | 521.1 | 521.10 | 1 | 81 | 11 / 02 | 99.4 | |
| 3 | How the West Was Won (1962) AA Best Picture Nom |
James Stewart | 36.10 | 518.8 | 1,237.40 | 2 | 76 | 08 / 03 | 99.0 | |
| 4 | To Have and Have Not (1944) | Humphrey Bogart | 11.80 | 396.9 | 571.30 | 8 | 87 | 00 / 00 | 98.6 | |
| 5 | Northwest Passage (1940) | Spencer Tracy | 6.20 | 238.6 | 346.50 | 9 | 85 | 01 / 00 | 98.4 | |
| 8 | My Darling Clementine (1946) | Henry Fonda | 7.40 | 228.9 | 228.90 | 43 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 6 | Rio Bravo (1959) | John Wayne & Dean Martin |
16.40 | 295.2 | 517.30 | 11 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 7 | Red River (1948) | John Wayne & Montgomery Clift |
11.80 | 317.4 | 317.40 | 1 | 83 | 02 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 9 | Meet John Doe (1941) | Gary Cooper | 5.30 | 202.6 | 297.60 | 23 | 82 | 01 / 00 | 98.0 | |
| 11 | The Princess and The Pirate (1944) | Bob Hope | 6.30 | 211.9 | 211.90 | 47 | 77 | 02 / 00 | 97.2 | |
| 10 | A Stolen Life (1946) | Bette Davis | 8.70 | 268.2 | 398.30 | 29 | 72 | 01 / 00 | 95.8 | |
| 12 | The Far Country (1954) | James Stewart | 7.10 | 167.4 | 167.40 | 43 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 95.4 | |
| 13 | Nobody Lives Forever (1946) | John Garfield | 5.70 | 174.3 | 231.40 | 61 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 94.5 | |
| 12 | Stanley and Livingstone (1939) | Spencer Tracy | 8.00 | 308.0 | 308.00 | 9 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 94.5 | |
| 13 | Kentucky (1938) AA Best Supp Actor Win |
Loretta Young | 7.00 | 279.5 | 279.50 | 12 | 63 | 01 / 01 | 93.9 | |
| 14 | Centennial Summer (1946) | Linda Darnell | 8.10 | 249.7 | 249.70 | 31 | 63 | 02 / 00 | 93.7 | |
| 18 | Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) | Debbie Reynolds | 8.60 | 165.0 | 165.00 | 23 | 74 | 01 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 17 | Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) | Spencer Tracy | 5.70 | 118.5 | 226.40 | 56 | 87 | 03 / 00 | 93.4 | |
| 20 | The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) | Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers |
4.50 | 172.5 | 281.10 | 42 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 93.1 | |
| 19 | The Westerner (1940) AA Best Supp Actor Win |
Gary Cooper | 3.50 | 134.2 | 134.20 | 41 | 79 | 03 / 01 | 92.9 | |
| 21 | Stand By For Action (1942) | Charles Laughton | 5.80 | 213.8 | 339.60 | 27 | 58 | 01 / 00 | 92.1 | |
| 23 | Come and Get It (1936) AA Best Supp Actor Win |
Directed by Howard Hawks | 2.90 | 126.0 | 126.00 | 65 | 79 | 02 / 01 | 91.8 | |
| 24 | These Three (1936) | Directed by William Wyler | 2.80 | 118.6 | 118.60 | 71 | 82 | 01 / 00 | 91.5 | |
| 22 | The Buccaneer (1938) | Fredric March & Directed by Cecil B. DeMille |
5.60 | 221.8 | 221.80 | 22 | 55 | 01 / 00 | 91.1 | |
| 25 | Fury (1936) | Spencer Tracy | 2.30 | 98.5 | 187.10 | 89 | 86 | 01 / 00 | 90.5 | |
| 26 | The North Star (1943) | Dana Andrews | 5.30 | 192.0 | 312.60 | 52 | 51 | 06 / 00 | 90.2 | |
| 27 | Slightly Dangerous (1943) | Lana Turner | 4.30 | 154.0 | 154.00 | 72 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 89.7 | |
| 28 | Barbary Coast (1935) | Edward G. Robinson | 2.90 | 128.6 | 128.60 | 32 | 70 | 01 / 00 | 88.3 | |
| 29 | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) | Directed by Norman Taurog | 3.00 | 118.8 | 118.80 | 71 | 70 | 01 / 00 | 87.2 | |
| 32 | Home in Indiana (1944) | Jeanne Crain | 5.60 | 190.2 | 190.20 | 59 | 47 | 01 / 00 | 87.0 | |
| 30 | Task Force (1949) | Gary Cooper | 5.00 | 125.3 | 125.30 | 59 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 86.5 | |
| 31 | Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) | James Garner | 14.70 | 111.4 | 111.40 | 22 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 85.9 | |
| 34 | The Texans (1938) | Randolph Scott | 3.50 | 138.2 | 138.20 | 54 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 85.7 | |
| 32 | The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) | Gary Cooper | 2.60 | 104.5 | 104.50 | 87 | 68 | 03 / 01 | 85.7 | |
| 35 | Driftwood (1947) | Natalie Wood | 3.40 | 98.4 | 98.40 | 102 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 84.8 | |
| 35 | Lure of the Wilderness (1952) | Jeffrey Hunter | 5.60 | 108.9 | 108.90 | 48 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 84.5 | |
| 37 | Nice Girl? (1941) | Deanna Durbin | 2.60 | 99.4 | 99.40 | 94 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 84.1 | |
| 38 | Blood on the Moon (1948) | Robert Mitchum | 5.60 | 150.0 | 187.20 | 58 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 83.8 | |
| 38 | Maryland (1940) | Fay Bainter | 2.60 | 99.0 | 99.00 | 70 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 82.4 | |
| 40 | Swamp Water (1941) | Dana Andrews | 2.50 | 94.5 | 94.50 | 97 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 82.2 | |
| 41 | Those Calloways (1965) | Brian Keith | 9.20 | 97.1 | 97.10 | 30 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 82.1 | |
| 44 | Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948) | Natalie Wood | 5.30 | 141.8 | 141.80 | 65 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 79.9 | |
| 42 | The Gnome-Mobile (1967) | Richard Deacon | 10.00 | 89.1 | 89.10 | 30 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 78.7 | |
| 42 | Along the Great Divide (1951) | Kirk Douglas & Virginia Mayo |
3.80 | 81.2 | 120.70 | 93 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 78.7 | |
| 44 | Mother Carey's Chickens (1938) | Anne Shirley | 2.20 | 86.7 | 112.30 | 105 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 77.9 | |
| 46 | Banjo On My Knee (1936) | Barbara Stanwyck | 3.00 | 129.4 | 129.40 | 60 | 48 | 01 / 00 | 77.2 | |
| 48 | Drums Across the River (1954) | Audie Murphy | 4.00 | 93.7 | 93.70 | 80 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 76.9 | |
| 47 | The Proud Ones (1956) | Robert Ryan & Virginia Mayo |
4.00 | 78.4 | 78.40 | 84 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 76.6 | |
| 49 | Good-bye, My Lady (1956) | Walter Brennan | 1.40 | 27.4 | 29.20 | 159 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 75.4 | |
| 51 | The Way To The Gold (1957) | Jeffrey Hunter | 5.00 | 95.7 | 159.50 | 47 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 73.2 | |
| 50 | They Shall Have Music (1939) | Joel McCrea | 1.00 | 40.0 | 40.00 | 173 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 72.2 | |
| 53 | Dakota (1945) | John Wayne | 3.20 | 100.5 | 100.50 | 94 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 71.6 | |
| 53 | Hangmen Also Die! (1943) | Brian Donlevy | 0.40 | 15.6 | 15.60 | 164 | 76 | 02 / 00 | 70.8 | |
| 53 | The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) | Wendell Corey | 2.90 | 61.6 | 61.60 | 130 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 68.8 | |
| 56 | Rise and Shine (1941) | Linda Darnell | 2.00 | 77.7 | 77.70 | 115 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 68.2 | |
| 55 | The Moon's Our Home (1936) | Henry Fonda & Maureen Sullavan |
1.40 | 60.0 | 60.00 | 125 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 68.1 | |
| 57 | The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968) | Kurt Russell & Goldie Hawn |
6.40 | 52.9 | 52.90 | 57 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 67.0 | |
| 58 | At Gunpoint (1955) | Fred MacMurray | 2.90 | 59.2 | 59.20 | 110 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 65.1 | |
| 58 | Return of the Texan (1952) | Richard Boone | 1.70 | 33.5 | 33.50 | 172 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 61.8 | |
| 60 | Come Next Spring (1956) | Ann Sheridan | 0.90 | 18.2 | 18.20 | 187 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 60.7 | |
| 60 | Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950) | Donald O'Connor | 2.00 | 44.0 | 44.00 | 145 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 59.4 | |
| 62 | The Wedding Night (1935) | Gary Cooper | 1.50 | 67.0 | 67.00 | 85 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 56.4 | |
| 62 | She's Dangerours (1937) | Walter Pidgeon | 0.90 | 36.1 | 36.10 | 177 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 48.2 | |
| 64 | Once In A Lifetime (1932) Uncredited |
Jack Oakie | 0.40 | 21.3 | 21.30 | 172 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 47.9 | |
| 63 | Best of the Badmen (1951) | Robert Ryan & Claire Trevor |
3.00 | 64.7 | 101.60 | 122 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 44.4 | |
| 64 | The Green Promise (1949) | Natalie Wood | 1.50 | 37.8 | 37.80 | 159 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 41.1 | |
| 67 | Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939) | Marsha Hunt | 0.80 | 29.2 | 29.20 | 193 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 34.5 | |
| 68 | This Woman Is Mine (1941) | Franchot Tone & Leo G. Carroll |
0.40 | 15.5 | 15.50 | 219 | 56 | 01 / 00 | 32.2 |
Check Out Steve’s Walter Brennan You Tube Video
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globes® are the registered trademark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
People who appeared in the ,most Walter Brennan films.
18 Lee Phelps, Stanley Blystone
15 Don Brodie
14 Tom London
13 Edmund Cobb, Arthur Hoyt, Ward Bond, Andy Devine
12 Richard Cramer, Lloyd Whitlock, Lafe McKee, Mary Gordon
11 Leo White, Monte Montague, Oscar Hendrian, Edward Peil Sr., Jack Pennick, Harrison Greene, James Flavin & Joe Sawyer
Hey Dan. For all this information on Walter Brennan’s most frequent costars. The man made a ton of movies and this only goes to prove that. Good stuff
Added Steve’s Walter Brennan You Tube Video To This Page. Our thoughts found on his channel are found below.
Nice video tribute to the King of the Extras. What a career, from many movies as an extra, to Oscar winning actor, to Disney star. He made almost every movie better by being in that movie. Sadly I have only seen 2 of the first 20 movies….Come and Get It and Stand By For Action. Much better total in the Top 20, as I have seen 14 or 70%. So my total is 16 of the movies in the video. Surprised My Darling Clementine is higher than Red River in your ratings…then again….I am not even sure how they rank at UMR. Favorites would include Red River, HTWWW, Support Your Local Sheriff and Far Country. Voted up. And shared on our Walter Brennan page.
Hi Bruce, Brennan was one of the most popular character actors in Hollywoods history and he played lead in a handful of films too. Looking at your critics chart on this page – My Darling Clementine and Red River failed to make the top 5. No.1 on your chart is To Have and Have Not. Maybe your sources aren’t western fans? Your tally 16, mine 15 and Flora’s ahead with 23. Thanks for the comment, share and vote, much appreciated.
p.s. I wish that video link above was mine, 2m views!
Hey Steve….well…..that is not the right video is it? The problem of rushing this morning. I will fix that issue when I get home tonight. Sorry about that. Looking at the critic scores….makes me wonder if I need to go back and see where those numbers are today. Some of those ratings go back to places I looked up back in 2011….that is almost 10 years ago. But the legends like John Wayne, Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart were some of the first ones I wrote about back in our Hub Pages days. PS. Has almost 10 years gone by already?
Hi Bruce, I update my movie scores once or twice a year, adding more sources, you could do the same. I added Videohounds Golden Movie Retriever as a source a few months ago. I have one of their fat books in pdf format.
Hey Steve….second time was the charm….got rid of Gustav’s video and finally included your You Tube video. WoC has been toying with having the database fetch the scores from the sources…but so far…she has not had the time to finish that task. My time is so limited these days….those critic scores will probably last awhile longer. Good stuff.