Want to know the best Charles Laughton movies? How about the worst Charles Laughton movies? Curious about Charles Laughton’s box office grosses or which Charles Laughton movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Charles Laughton 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.
Charles Laughton (1899-1962) might have been the greatest character actor of all-time. Laughton went from being a hotel clerk to studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to stage success on London stages to becoming an Oscar® winning actor in Hollywood. Laughton starred in over 50 movies from 1929 to 1962.
His IMDb page shows 65 acting credits from 1928-1962. This page currently ranks 45 Charles Laughton movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies not released in North America were not included in the rankings.
Charles Laughton 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 Charles Laughton movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Charles Laughton movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Charles Laughton movies by domestic yearly box office rank
- Sort Charles Laughton 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 Charles Laughton movie received and how many Oscar® wins each Charles Laughton movie won.
- Sort Charles Laughton 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 | Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Actor Nom |
Clark Gable | 8.20 | 366.3 | 649.90 | 1 | 86 | 08 / 01 | 99.8 | |
3 | Witness for the Prosecution (1957) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Marlene Dietrich & Tyrone Power |
10.90 | 209.0 | 209.00 | 15 | 91 | 06 / 00 | 99.6 | |
2 | Spartacus (1960) | Kirk Douglas | 31.70 | 495.5 | 495.50 | 2 | 91 | 06 / 04 | 99.6 | |
4 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) | Maureen O'Hara | 7.50 | 287.7 | 593.20 | 11 | 83 | 02 / 00 | 98.3 | |
5 | Les Misérables (1935) AA Best Picture Nom |
Frederic March | 3.40 | 153.4 | 153.40 | 16 | 81 | 04 / 00 | 96.6 | |
7 | Tales of Manhattan (1942) | Henry Fonda & Rita Hayworth |
7.10 | 265.5 | 265.50 | 18 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 95.8 | |
8 | If I Had a Million (1932) | Gary Cooper | 3.60 | 177.0 | 177.00 | 8 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 95.0 | |
9 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) AA Best Picture Nom |
Norma Shearer | 3.60 | 168.5 | 313.80 | 7 | 71 | 02 / 00 | 94.8 | |
9 | The Canterville Ghost (1944) | Robert Young | 5.60 | 189.6 | 189.60 | 60 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 94.6 | |
10 | The Suspect (1944) | Ella Raines | 5.40 | 180.3 | 180.30 | 65 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 94.5 | |
13 | Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) AA Best Picture Nom |
Mary Boland | 2.90 | 128.3 | 128.30 | 34 | 79 | 01 / 00 | 93.4 | |
12 | The Sign of the Cross (1932) | Claudette Colbert & Directed by Cecil B. DeMille |
7.80 | 383.5 | 383.50 | 1 | 62 | 01 / 00 | 93.2 | |
15 | The Big Clock (1948) | Ray Milland & Maureen O'Sullivan |
5.30 | 141.8 | 141.80 | 64 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 93.1 | |
15 | The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Win |
Robert Donat | 2.40 | 113.8 | 113.80 | 23 | 79 | 02 / 01 | 92.5 | |
15 | Salome (1953) | Rita Hayworth | 14.40 | 258.6 | 258.60 | 8 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 92.3 | |
16 | Stand By For Action (1942) | Walter Brennan | 5.80 | 213.8 | 339.60 | 27 | 58 | 01 / 00 | 92.1 | |
17 | This Land Is Mine (1943) | Maureen O'Hara | 4.00 | 143.7 | 143.70 | 79 | 73 | 01 / 01 | 91.4 | |
18 | It Started with Eve (1941) | Deanna Durbin | 2.90 | 111.8 | 111.80 | 85 | 82 | 01 / 00 | 90.6 | |
20 | The Paradine Case (1947) | Gregory Peck & Directed by Alfred Hitchcock |
5.90 | 173.2 | 173.20 | 54 | 62 | 01 / 00 | 90.4 | |
19 | The Blue Veil (1951) | Natalie Wood & Jane Wyman |
6.30 | 135.5 | 135.50 | 36 | 72 | 02 / 00 | 90.0 | |
21 | Jamaica Inn (1939) | Maureen O'Hara & Directed by Alfred Hitchcock |
5.00 | 193.1 | 193.10 | 27 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 89.3 | |
22 | Advise & Consent (1962) | Henry Fonda | 5.70 | 82.1 | 82.10 | 47 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 86.3 | |
23 | Because of Him (1946) | Deanna Durbin | 3.50 | 108.2 | 108.20 | 90 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 85.9 | |
24 | Island of Lost Souls (1932) | Bela Lugosi | 1.60 | 79.8 | 79.80 | 53 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 85.3 | |
25 | The Old Dark House (1932) | Boris Karloff & Melvyn Douglas |
1.80 | 87.0 | 87.00 | 49 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 84.8 | |
26 | The Night of the Hunter (1955) | Robert Mitchum | 0.90 | 17.8 | 17.80 | 181 | 93 | 00 / 00 | 83.0 | |
28 | Sidewalks of London (1938) | Vivien Leigh | 2.20 | 87.8 | 87.80 | 103 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 82.1 | |
27 | Hobson's Choice (1954) | David Niven | 1.70 | 40.2 | 40.20 | 132 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 81.5 | |
29 | The Bribe (1949) | Ava Gardner | 4.30 | 108.6 | 174.80 | 72 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 80.2 | |
30 | Forever And a Day (1943) | Ray Milland & Claude Rains |
2.50 | 89.8 | 199.70 | 106 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 79.2 | |
31 | Young Bess (1953) | Stewart Granger & Deborah Kerr |
5.00 | 89.6 | 222.90 | 63 | 62 | 02 / 00 | 78.9 | |
32 | Arch of Triumph (1948) | Ingrid Bergman | 4.50 | 120.6 | 120.60 | 81 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 77.6 | |
34 | Captain Kidd (1945) | Randolph Scott | 2.80 | 88.5 | 88.50 | 98 | 59 | 01 / 00 | 76.1 | |
33 | Under Ten Flags (1960) | Van Heflin | 2.90 | 44.6 | 44.60 | 76 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 74.9 | |
36 | Devil and the Deep (1932) | Gary Cooper & Cary Grant |
1.50 | 72.1 | 72.10 | 63 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 72.7 | |
38 | The Beachcomber (1938) | Elsa Lanchester | 1.80 | 73.1 | 73.10 | 125 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 71.9 | |
36 | Rembrandt (1936) | Elsa Lanchester | 0.90 | 36.8 | 36.80 | 161 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 71.8 | |
38 | The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949) | Burgess Meredith | 3.50 | 88.4 | 88.40 | 102 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 69.4 | |
40 | The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942) | Jon Hall | 1.70 | 65.0 | 65.00 | 137 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 68.9 | |
38 | O. Henry's Full House (1952) | Marilyn Monroe | 2.80 | 54.4 | 54.40 | 120 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 68.5 | |
42 | White Woman (1933) | Carole Lombard | 1.50 | 68.9 | 68.90 | 63 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 67.2 | |
41 | Payment Deferred (1932) | Maureen O'Sullivan & Ray Milland |
0.50 | 23.7 | 42.60 | 165 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 66.1 | |
43 | They Knew What They Wanted (1940) | Carole Lombard | 1.60 | 63.5 | 63.50 | 128 | 57 | 01 / 00 | 63.9 | |
44 | Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) | Bud Abbott | 3.30 | 65.1 | 107.00 | 111 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 61.8 | |
45 | The Man From Down Under (1943) | Donna Reed | 1.60 | 57.0 | 109.90 | 128 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 61.1 | |
46 | The Girl from Manhattan (1948) | Dorothy Lamour | 2.50 | 67.7 | 67.70 | 122 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 55.1 |
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Charles Laughtonl Table
- Nineteen Charles Laughton movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 42.22% of his movies listed. Spartacus (1960) was his biggest box office hit.
- An average Charles Laughton movie grosses $107.20 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 33 Charles Laughton movies are rated as good movies…or 73.33% of his movies. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) is his highest rated movie while Girl From Manhattan (1948) is his lowest rated movie.
- Seventeen Charles Laughton movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 37.77% of his movies.
- Four Charles Laughton movie won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 8.88% of his movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 40.00. 30 Charles Laughton movies scored higher that average….or 66.66% of his movies. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) got the the highest UMR Score while Girl From Manhattan (1948) got the lowest UMR Score.
Adjusted Worldwide Grosses on 12 Charles Laughton Movies
- Barretts of Wimpole Street, The (1934) $245.70 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Bribe, The (1949) $135.90 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Forever And A Day (1943) $156.30 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Man From Down Under, The (1943) $85.60 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) $508.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Payment Deferred (1932) $33.50 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Stand By For Action (1942) $266.20 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- They Knew What They Wanted (1940) $73.30 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Tuttles of Tahiti, The (1942) $73.40 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Under Ten Flags (1960) $53.10 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- White Woman (1933) $54.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
- Young Bess (1953) $183.00 million in adjusted worldwide gross
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HI STEVE
Maybe like Burl Ives and Charles Bickford in The Big Country some day John & I will; simply have to draw matters to a close by shooting it out in a canyon and that like Chuck and Greg you and Bruce will be obliged to be mere onlookers [despite talks of referees and peacemakers] .. I am sure though that for John any ultimate disappointment about finding me on this site was more than compensated for by discovering a movie buff’s gold mine like the Work Horse.
HEALTH CLARIFICATION I don’t really want to shoot John so please, please regard my comments above as just another joke. I have no interest in being another Dillinger though if I were I like to think I would have a better taste in acressses
Bob
What makes you think I am disappointed in any way. I enjoy our debates. I have only one minor criticism. You occasionally point out some of my personality flaws(“lecturing” “patronizing” “no sense of humor”), As I am a nasty, crabby, curdled, miserable old grouch, and everyone knows it, it seems to me these comments are superfluous.
HI JOHN
1 To be honest I never thought of you as a Stalin [or Staleen as Cornel Wilde called him in the 1952 movie Operation Secret]. but rather as a Spencer Tracy who seemed to enjoy rows with just about everybody but Katherine Hepburn and Van Johnson [and please accept this a sweeping generalisations and don’t don’t feel the need to correct me that he also liked Robert Wagner].
2 However you do depart from Old Cantankerous in at least one respect in that he absolutely detested Mr Mumbles whereas you have been more balanced in that respect.
Bob
My wife informs me her vote is for Stalin. She knows me much better than you do. She says Tracy was way too affable.
🙂
All of this happy talk makes my heart warm….lol.
🙂
Steve
This reminds me of something I recently read. I can’t be certain of the source, but I think it was David Halberstram’s The Best and the Brightest. It was about Averill Harriman and Joseph Stalin. It would be difficult to find two men more different in background and politics than this American billionaire and this old Bolshevik. Harriman had run our aid program to the Soviet Union early in WWII and was from 1943 to 1946 our ambassador. Another American, I think it was George Kennan, accompanied Harriman to a meeting with Stalin late in the war in 1945. Kennan was horrified as Stalin and Harriman got into a heated argument, shouting at each other. He tried to calm things down but they ignored him. Later, when alone with Kennan, Harriman told him not to worry. That is the way he and Stalin always were together and that Stalin enjoyed someone talking back to him. None of the Russians ever did. (I wonder why?)
As my wife can assure everyone, I share a lot of personality traits with ol’ Uncle Joe. And I also enjoy someone disagreeing with me and the ensuing exchanges.
Typos are the pits. It should be Averell Harriman. Sorry.
Hey John….I would fix your error but upstairs I do not have access to the edit function of the website. That is downstairs and currently that seems a long way away…..lol.
Hey John…good information to know. Glad you are enjoying your “discussions” with Bob….lol.
Hey Bob and John. Your comments are very passionate and heated. In the wonderful world of movies…..different opinions can be found everywhere. That is what makes movies so awesome. If somebody wants to claim Hugh Grant is the greatest actor of the last 30 years….they can make that claim….I might not agree with it…but I respect that person’s opinion.
So with regards to the latest rounds of comments….normally (though not much in this comment…yet) my comments are with a dash of sarcasm. I know sarcasm does not translate well online…but I tend to do it pretty often. Each person that comments here brings a different viewpoint….and that makes it very interesting.
So if John and I think Myrna Loy was a bigger star than Bob thinks…then it’s ok.
If Bob and Flora think Gregory Peck was one of the best actors ever….then it’s ok.
If Steve Lensman thinks Forrest Gump is the greatest movie ever made…then it’s ok.
If WoC thinks The American President is the greatest movie ever made….then it’s ok.
Because in the end…..it is just their/my/your opinion…..and no matter how much you think the other person is wrong…..in their view they are right no matter how many stats/references you can come up with.
So in a nutshell…..as Heath Ledger’s Joker said…..”Why so serious?”
I look forward to reading more movie history that both of you share in the future.
Cogerson
This discussion is not nearly as intractable as some of these international problems in the news these days. And I think hot and heavy debates get the rust off the old mental gears. They serve a purpose and I don’t take what folks say that seriously. Anyway, hope it provided light as well as heat.
Hey John…I understand completely. I see the humor in the comments…just not sure everybody does. Which kind of ruins the joke when you have to explain it….lol. You are right there are plenty of real world problems going on…..versus the debate of the greatness or non greatness of Myrna Loy. Thanks for the clarification.
We need a referee here. If you guys were on my movie forum a moderator would have turned up and tried to calm things down a tad, in case things get out of hand, if it did his next post would have included a final warning in large capitalised letters It happened to me a few times. 🙂
For the record I like Myrna Loy and Gregory Peck, I’m not a fan of Forrest Gump or Hugh Grant and I haven’t seen The American President.
STEVE
“I haven’t seen The American President”
Do! Do! Do!
I will will will ! (eventually)
I know Bruce is a huge fan of that movie, I always mix it up with the Kevin Kline film Dave, which I have seen, and enjoyed.
Hey Steve….actually it is WoC that is the big American President fan….I think it is good and recommend it….but rarely do I put the movie on….then again WoC watches it 3 or 4 times a year so I do not have to go and get the movie….lol.
Hey Bob…I agree….he should see it.
Hey Steve….changing your tune on Forrest Gump?…..I remember when it was challenging Ben-Hur for your number one spot…lol. As for a referee I think the opponents have stepped back and are raking a deep breathe. But I am sure they will be ready to go again in the future….:)
HI BRUCE
I think that you have a skill that I’ve often envied in a friend of mine called Barry who is also an
academic lecturer [and I take it I’m right in assuming what you are?] in that you can contradict or even put people ‘in their place’ without being over-offensive or pushing someone into a corner and yet leaving a loud and clear message. It mus be a wonderful knack to have.
Bob, when John was reviewing my videos at IMDB I told him about Bruce’s website and that there was a regular visitor named Bob who, like him, was very knowledgable about ooold Hollywood movies. I thought you two, being veteran movie buffs, would get along splendidly, instead you’re always at loggerheads (now there’s a word!) and rarely in agreement on anything. Oh well.
Hey Steve…they (John and Bob) might rarely agree….but they do offer up lots of solid unformation to back up their points. Thanks for telling John about us.