Doris Day-Box Office Results with Inflation-Her Best & Worst and all the rest
79Doris Day in her # 1 movie Pillow Talk(Movie Score 82.52)...she received her only Academy Award nomination for this movie.
Every April 3rd, my wife and Doris Day share birthdays. Doris Day turned 89 in 2011 and she is still going strong.....as is my wife. Doris Day first gained notoriety in 1946 for the hit song Sentimental Journey. Three years later, Day started her movie career with the movie Romance on the High Seas. In Doris Day's twenty year movie career, she starred in thirty-eight movies. Her last movie, With Six You Get Eggroll co-starring Brian Keith, was released in 1968. During her movie career she received one Academy Award nomination and five Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress. During the peak of her career(1959-1964), she was named the number one movie star.... four times. Blockbuster hit movies during this time period included, Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back and That Touch of Mink. According to Quigley Publishing, Day is the top-ranking female box office star of all time and ranked 11th among all box office performers.
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Doris Day in one of her first movies # 27 The Winning Team(1952).......co-starring Ronald Reagan.
In the table below, box office grosses are listed by inflated gross using ticket sales. Why use inflated vs actual grosses? The inflated gross makes it much easier to think about how an old movie would compare to today's movies. For example: Pillow Talk grossed 16.9 million dollars and ranked 7th in 1959. In 2010 a movie grossing 16.9 million would have ranked 120th for the year right behind Furry Vengeance. By using tickets sold, we can figure out how much a old movie would have made today by multiplying tickets sold by average ticket price . If Pillow Talk would have opened in 2010....it would have grossed 224.20 million and finished 9th for the year....it would have finished behind Shrek Forever and ahead of How to Train Your Dragon.
The following Doris Day movies are ranked by Movie Score. Information can be sorted by any of the category headings.
Rank Movie Year
| Co-Star
| 2011 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Tickets Sold (Millions)
| Movie Score
| Critics Audience Score
| Nom / Win
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
#1 Pillow Talk (1959)
| Rock Hudson
| 224.20
| 28.20
| 82.52
| 84%
| 05 / 01
|
#2 Lover Come Back (1961)
| Rock Hudson
| 180.50
| 22.70
| 64.34
| 79%
| 01 / 00
|
#3 That Touch of Mink (1962)
| Cary Grant
| 185.20
| 23.29
| 63.11
| 69%
| 03 / 00
|
#4 The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
| James Stewart
| 163.80
| 20.60
| 62.93
| 82%
| 01 / 01
|
#5 Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
| James Cagney
| 139.90
| 17.60
| 56.36
| 70%
| 06 / 01
|
#6 Calamity Jane (1953)
| Howard Keel
| 128.00
| 16.10
| 53.94
| 73%
| 03 / 01
|
#7 Move Over Darling (1963)
| James Garner
| 121.60
| 15.30
| 50.57
| 70%
| 00 / 00
|
#8 Please Don't Eat the Daises (1960)
| David Niven
| 134.40
| 16.89
| 49.97
| 66%
| 00 / 00
|
#9 The Thrill Of It All (1963)
| James Garner
| 108.10
| 13.60
| 47.29
| 73%
| 00 / 00
|
#10 Teacher's Pet (1958)
| Clark Gable
| 93.00
| 11.69
| 45.47
| 73%
| 02 / 00
|
#11 Midnight Lace (1960)
| Rex Harrison
| 85.10
| 10.69
| 45.40
| 74%
| 01 / 00
|
#12 On Moonlight Bay (1951)
| Gordon MacRae
| 79.50
| 10.00
| 45.06
| 83%
| 00 / 00
|
#13 I'll See You in My Dreams (1951)
| Danny Thomas
| 108.10
| 13.60
| 43.00
| 59%
| 00 / 00
|
Rank Movie Year
| Co-Star
| 2011 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Tickets Sold (Millions)
| Movie Score
| Critics Audience Score
| Nom / Win
|
#14 Young at Heart (1954)
| Frank Sinatra
| 69.20
| 8.69
| 40.66
| 77%
| 00 / 00
|
#15 Send Me No Flowers (1964)
| Rock Hudson
| 76.30
| 9.60
| 40.45
| 72%
| 00 / 00
|
#16 The Pajama Game (1957)
| John Raitt
| 70.80
| 8.89
| 40.40
| 75%
| 00 / 00
|
#17 Young Man With A Horn (1950)
| Kirk Douglas
| 76.30
| 9.60
| 39.63
| 70%
| 00 / 00
|
#18 Tea for Two (1950)
| Gordon MacRae
| 79.50
| 10.00
| 38.77
| 65%
| 00 / 00
|
#19 Lullaby of Broadway (1951)
| Gene Nelson
| 70.80
| 8.89
| 37.02
| 65%
| 00 / 00
|
#20 The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
| Rod Taylor
| 73.10
| 9.19
| 36.20
| 62%
| 00 / 00
|
#21 April in Paris (1952)
| Ray Bolger
| 79.50
| 10.00
| 35.97
| 57%
| 00 / 00
|
#22 By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)
| Gordon MacRae
| 56.40
| 7.09
| 35.90
| 70%
| 00 / 00
|
#23 Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)
| Jimmy Durante
| 61.20
| 7.69
| 35.47
| 61%
| 00 / 00
|
#24 The West Point Story (1950)
| James Cagney
| 59.60
| 7.50
| 33.98
| 61%
| 01 / 00
|
#25 Do Not Disturb (1965)
| Rod Taylor
| 62.00
| 7.80
| 32.93
| 59%
| 00 / 00
|
#26 With Six You Get Eggroll (1968)
| Brian Keith
| 60.40
| 7.59
| 32.50
| 58%
| 00 / 00
|
Rank Movie Year
| Co-Star
| 2011 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Tickets Sold (Millions)
| Movie Score
| Critics Audience Score
| Nom / Win
|
#27 The Winning Team (1952)
| Ronald Reagan
| 49.30
| 6.19
| 32.02
| 63%
| 00 / 00
|
#28 Lucky Me (1954)
| Robert Cummings
| 65.20
| 8.19
| 31.59
| 53%
| 00 / 00
|
#29 The Tunnel of Love (1958)
| Richard Widmark
| 47.70
| 6.00
| 31.24
| 57%
| 00 / 00
|
#30 Storm Warning (1951)
| Ronald Reagan
| 39.80
| 5.00
| 31.18
| 66%
| 00 / 00
|
#31 It Happened To Jane (1959)
| Jack Lemmon
| 45.30
| 5.69
| 30.06
| 60%
| 00 / 00
|
#32 It's A Great Feeling (1949)
| Jack Carson
| 53.30
| 6.69
| 29.11
| 51%
| 01 / 00
|
#33 Julie (1956)
| Louis Jourdan
| 40.50
| 5.09
| 28.43
| 55%
| 02 / 00
|
#34 Romance on the High Seas (1948)
| Jack Carson
| 12.70
| 1.60
| 25.90
| 63%
| 02 / 00
|
#35 Where Were You When The Lights Went Out (1968)
| Robert Morse
| 48.50
| 6.09
| 24.27
| 42%
| 00 / 00
|
#36 My Dream Is Yours (1949)
| Jack carson
| 11.90
| 1.50
| 23.50
| 60%
| 00 / 00
|
#37 Ballad of Josie (1967)
| Peter Graves
| 8.70
| 1.10
| 23.44
| 62%
| 00 / 00
|
#38 Caprice (1967)
| Richard Harris
| 27.00
| 3.40
| 18.00
| 36%
| 00 / 00
|
The Best of Doris Day.
#1 Pillow Talk(Movie Score 82.52)...her biggest hit, had box office success and critical acclaim.
#2 Lover Come Back(Movie Score 64.34)....reunites the Pillow Talk team.....Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall.
#3 That Touch Of Mink(Movie Score 63.11)... two of the greatest stars ever... Cary Grant and Doris Day in this 1962 comedy.
#4 The Man Who Knew Too Much(Movie Score 62.93)....Doris Day and James Stewart star in a Alfred Hitchcock directed movie.
#5 Love Me or Leave Me(Movie Score 56.36)...Day teams up with James Cagney. He received an Oscar nomination, while she somehow did not get a nomination.
The Worst of Doris Day.
The Bronze: My Dream Is Yours(Movie Score 23.50)....one of her first movies
RunnerUp: Ballad of Josie(Movie Score 23.44).....she returned to a western movie after her very successful Calamity Jane....this time the old West did not work for her...ranks dead last in box office numbers
Winner: Caprice(Movie Score 18.00)....teams with Richard Harris in this mess of a movie...earned a critical score of 36%....one of her last movies she ever appeared in
A Doris Day Tribute...by theodomus.
Movie Score card for Pillow Talk.
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CommentsLoading...
She was one of the big stars when I was a kid.
Doris Day,in the day, was the queen of romantic comedies.;)
I will have to check out Love Me or Leave Me....mom will be ashamed but I have only seen one Doris Day movie...That Touch of Mink
Thanks for reading Will....4 times number one box office draw in the world...pretty impressive stat for Ms Day
Mentalist acer....No argument from me on that title..."Queen of Romantic Comedies"....although I would have to say...that the current queen is either Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock...thanks for commenting
Love Me Or Leave Me was a very good movie, I have taped it and have always enjoyed seeing it. That Touch Of Mink was a silly movie but Doris Day always has gorgeous clothes in her movies. MIDNIGHT LACE was a good movie - suspence...The ones with Rock Hudson were always good. Did not know that your wife and Doris Day shared the same birthday...KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. SPENCER TRACY WOULD BE A GOOD ACTOR...
Love her! Pillow Talk was cute, but which movie was the one she made her own ketchup and soap in?
According to my Doris Day expert....she played Beverly Boyer...in The Thrill Of It All......where she made her own ketchup and became a tv commercial star for Happy Soap...thanks for reading
Great job! Congrats to you on a great Hub and to your wife and DD on their birthdays.
Just turned on the Internet and heard that Elizabeth Taylor died at the age of 79. NOW THERE WOULD BE A GREAT HUB TO DO...she made some very good movies...
I love all of her movies, my mom and I used to watch her movies on AMC and TBS, my favorites were the ones with James Garner. I love this hub, it brings back great memorys.
Young Man With A Horn with Kirk Douglas was a very good dramatic movie - good acting and Lauren Bacall was in it along with Doris Day. VERY GOOD MUSIC...
Thanks for the compliment Radioguy
Hey KellyE....I am glad my hub and Doris Day brought back some nice memories
BERN1960....Elizabeth Taylor is on the long list of people to do......in my research I found out that Douglas and Day did not really get along during the making of Young Man With A Horn....also it was one of the first movies to suggest a character was gay...the Lauren Bacall part...thanks for commenting
Good article, vote up, truely intereting stats.
Nice hub. voted up. I have heard of her, but have not watched any of her movies
I use to love watching her movies as a girl. I only have one. But, I want to have more. Thanks to this tribute to a wonderful lady. Wow, I did not know she was a good nine years older than my Momma. Great hub. Bookmarked, up and awesome! :D
Thank you for the compliment Multiman
Shaun....she ruled the box office in the early 1960s.....I just watched Pillow Talk for the first time....it had some moments.....thanks for reading
Hey shygirl....thanks for reading...yep she will be 89 this Sunday....you can never have enough Doris Day movies.
My mom loves all the Rock Hudson/Doris Day and James Garner/Doris Day movies. Very nice article.
Ha! We just watched Pillow Talk 2 nights ago! For me, Doris Day is all about her clear, melodious voice. My favorite song is 'Perhaps,' a song that really displays her vocal talent.
Wow she has not made a movie the entire time since I was two, say h-day to your wife. Another nice hub
Great hub! It's nice to see that 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' is near the top. This movie really shows what Doris can do with good material and good direction. And who can forget her scream at the end?!
BoomerFlicks...yep her only Hitchcock movie comes in #4.....her scream at the end is indeed "classic"....when I wrote this hub...I had only seen one Doris Day movie...since then I watch Pillow Talk and The Man Who Knew Too Much.....thanks for commenting
Thank you for the compliments hinton1966 and Yankees Rule(and today they did rule 6-3 over the Tigers)
Thanks for commenting Dolores, I agree her voice was awesome...."Perhaps" was and is, one of my mom's favorite songs....
i really like it. good job. see a lot of the old stars are considerably better that the ones today. plus their movies made sense and were entertaining.
Wonderful hub on a fabulous actress!
I love you a bushel and a peck
a bushel and a peck
and a hug around the neck!
Hehe, had to throw the Doris Day lyrics in there! Voted up and beautiful! Great job.
Thanks for the compliment kittythedreamer.....if I remember correctly that song is from Guys and Dolls...my mom used to sing that all the time when I was growing up...thanks for stopping by
So what has she done lately? My guess charity work involving animals. She seems to be a classy lady. Reminds me of Debbie Reynolds.
From what I have read, her husband was the driving force behind her movie career. When he passed away...two things happened.....(1) she stopped making movies and (2) found out between her husband and her account....she had no money.....a court case went on for years....which she finally won....but the accountant has appealed many many times over the years.....she had a tv show....and her animal work pretty much is all she did the last twenty years....she is still alive and well
I remember that show. My wife and I would watch it. I loved her boss name Cy Bennedick. I don't know why it just sounded cool.
I agree that is a cool name.....I have many memories of my mom watching that show....thanks for the comments
Hi, again.
Here are my ten favourite Doris Day movies in alphabetical order. You will notice not all are comedies or musical comedies. Of course there is Hitchcock included. You may be surprised that as a Widmark fan I've not included Tunnel of Love. She was great, but it was not his best.
Calamity Jane
The Glass Bottom Boat
Julie-this is a freaky thriller.Jourdan is frightening
Love Me or Leave Me
lover Come Back
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Pajama Game
Pillow Talk-my favourite of the three with Rock
Please Don't Eat The Daisies
That Touch of Mink
Hey Flora....I will have to add Mr. Richard Widmark to my list of actor's to do for you....he had a very very long career. As for Day....nice list of movies you have included... I must admit...until this hub I had never heard of Julie....I will have to check it out....I love Cary Grant....but some reason I have not been a huge fan of That Touch of Mink....I always think they could have come up with a better story for these two great actors...as always thanks for your comments.
@Cogerson...Great stuff, as usual. One can tell you love doing this, and we love reading it!
You'd think Doris would have gotten more than one nomination in her hey-day, being the top star of that 1959-1964 period, and 11th all-time box office performer.
I loved the cute-sy cleverness of Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back. Rock and Tony Randall were great in those, too. But in The Man Who Knew Too Much, we saw a multi-talented star hit the nail on the head.
Hey Barbsbitsnpieces....it seems when I was growing up almost every movie my mom watched had Doris Day in the movie...especially her romantic comedies with Rock Hudson and James Garner. Since writing this hub ....I finally saw Love Me or Leave Me...a different role for her but she is great in the movie...but I am surprised she did not got a nomination for that role...they gave me to Cagney...but not her? It is a shame she stopped making movies when she was so young. As always thanks for the great comment.
Hey cogerson! Great hub on Doris Day! Very informative and fun facts!!! Voted UP!!
Hey Sunshine625....I greatly appreciate you checking out this pulse hub...she might not have made a movie in 40 years....but she is still alive and kicking...thanks for the votes up.
I am probably one Doris Day's biggest fans in India. In the last year or so, I have bought nearly 20 movies of hers. She is so very adorable. Both my wife and I enjoy most of her movies. Her facial expressions whether happy or sad are simply amazing. Some of the songs she sings are like "Its Magic" and "Secret love" are among my favorite love songs. God Bless you Doris.
Hey Savio Carvalho...thanks for checking out my Doris Day hub...hopefully you found lots of information on her movie career in this hub. My mom is also a huge fan of hers and she likes the same songs you mentioned..I agree that she was an awesome actress.
Oh! The Deadwood Stage is a-rollin' on over the plains,
With the curtains flappin' and the driver slappin' the reins.
Beautiful sky! A wonderful day!
Whip crack-away!, Whip crack-away!, Whip crack-away!
One of my favourite musicals, Calamity Jane.
I thought I had commented on this one Bruce, it must have slipped me by. It happens. :)
I've seen just seven of her movies, must have seen a lot more when I was young just can't remember the titles.
Love Me or Leave Me was very good, with James Cagney.
The Man Who Knew Too Much, 4th on your moviescore but that wasn't a typical Doris Day movie.
My two faves are the Hichcock and Calamity Jane...
Now where was I? Oh yes
Take me back to the Black Hills
The Black Hills of Dakota
To the beautiful Indian country
That I[STOP IT STEVE!]
Voted Up etc etc
Hey Steve thanks for checking out my Doris Day hub. I am guessing that the reason you never commented on this hub was the fact that it was tagged a duplicate and it took almost a month to get it straight with hubpages.
Well your 7 movies trumps my 5 movies and I think we both lose out to Flora who lists her 10 favorites...so she has seen at least 10....I have seen 2 of the 5 movies since I wrote the hub....Love Me or Leave Me and Pillow Talk.
I think I have seen more of her movies since my mom used to watch her movies all the time, I am can not remember which ones I watch when I was a kid. I will have to check out Calamity Jane. Thanks for checking out the hub it is as always greatly appreciated.
I haven't said how many I've seen!? Oh, dear I must amend this. That will never do!
I have seen 18 of them thus far, 49% of her films. And they are all through the list. The lowest ranked film I've seen is The Ballad of Josie. Of the top ten I have seen 7 of them. Of the ones I haven't seen, I can't say the comedies where children cause a lot of noise, mess or jealousy are high on my list of priorities (I think I'll be fine if I never see With Six You Get Eggroll.)
Hey Flora well you more than triple my total and more than double Steve's total....so you are easily the winner again. I have been thinking I want to watch the Garner/Day movies again. Probably do that after I am done watching Fred Astaire movies. Thanks for coming back for another visit to my Doris Day hub.
Great job here...lots of work but most impressive. I've seen all the films including "With Six You Get Eggroll", 54 times when it opened in the summer/fall of 1968. I was at the World Premiere in Boston at the Orpheum Theatre and sat in front of co-stars Pat Carroll and Barbara Hershey. "Eggroll" is one of the top ten moneymakers of Miss Day's career with more than 10 million gross in the US alone. I believe the adjusted number should be over million based on the gross as reported by Variety.
Forgive me for leaving out a number......"I believe the adjusted number for 2011 dollars should be over 70 million since "Eggroll" grossed more at the box-office than "The Glass Bottom Boat" two years earlier. My mistake and sorry.
Hey Paul E. Brogan...thanks for checking out my Doris Day hub. Wow you saw Eggroll many times and the World Premiere at the Orpheum sounds like a very memorable experience...thanks for sharing that story. As for the adjusted box office...rechecked my box office Variety magazines....On January 8th 1969 Variety reported that With Six You Get Eggroll was the 30th biggest hit of the year with rentals of 3.6 million.....in the Variety May 4 1983 issue...it gives With Six You Get Eggroll...credit for 4.5 in rentals....I use a 2.2 multiplier which gets the box office gross up to the 10 million you mention which translates to 60.40 million which is based on 7.6 million tickets sold for Eggroll..
Checking Glass Bottom Boat now...Variety on January 4th 1967 reported Glass Bottom Boat was the 20th biggest hit of the year with 4.32 million in rentals...and reported in Variety May 4 1983...Glass Bottom Boat earned 4.6 million in rentals which translates to 9.2 million tickets sold or 73.10 million in 2012 dollars....granted this is not an exact science..but I think our numbers are pretty close but different...thanks for the input it is greatly appreciated.
Last night I watched Midnight Lace for the first time. It is full of great stars and character actors. It is a taut thriller I highly recommend. It shouldn't be called Mignight Lace. That sounds like Pillow Case as if it were a romantic comedy. Plus, it refers to an outfit Day buys early in the film made of midnight black lace. While she does wear it near the end of the film, it is not important to the plot. I would have called it Mrs. Preston, similar to the thriller she made with louis Jourdan being called Julie. The person on the phone tormenting her always calls her Mrs. Preston.
Hmmm. I see that this is a hub I commented on very early in following you and as such I never said what percentage of movies I've seen.
Top ten movie score:
I've seen 8.
11-20:
I have seen 9 now with Midnight Lace added.
21-30:
Hmmm. I've only seen 5 of these. A couple I hadn't heard of.
31-38:
I've seen 5 of 9 of these. I've heard of nine of them, so I think these should be higher than the ten before full of things I don't know, but...oh well.
So I have seen 17 of her top 20. That is 85%.
Overall, I have seen 27 of 38 movies. That is 71%
Hey Flora....This was the hub that almost had me quit HubPages. As soon as I hit publish...it got tagged with a duplicate message and HubPages pulled it.....after arguing with them they made it active again....then pulled it down again saying it was duplicate again...it took almost a month to finally get things straight....the computer said it was too similar to my James Stewart hub. Granted they made a movie together but I think there were over 100 movies on the two hubs and one was the same...and it got a duplicate....it still makes me mad when I think about it...can you tell?...lol. Eventually they gave me this on my hub...that only I can see.
CERTIFIED ORIGINAL: This Hub has been granted an exception and is no longer considered by HubPages to be duplicated.
Ok...I am done ranting....71% you must be a Doris Day fan. I have only seen 6 of these movies...and three of them have been since I wrote the hub....although I almost checked out Caprice the other day. I will keep an eye out for Midnight Lace, I remember my mother always liking that movie...and it also stars Myrna Loy. Thanks for the update...they are always greatly appreciated.
Yes, I'm a Doris Day fan. :)
You feel better after your rant? I hope so!
Hey Flora...yep I feel better...lol.
Que sera sera! I've seen 7 Doris Day films my dear Flora and I've bought two on DVD, one directed by Hitchcock and the other a classic western musical, whip crack-away!
I must have seen more of her films when I was young I just can't remember them all. I mean they're all pretty similar. [Flora rolls her eyes] ;)
Well, it's clear which two you own :) Some of her early musicals had all the same songs because the studio already owned the rights to those songs. It wasn't until Calamity Jane that she convinced the studio to write new songs. Before that if you wanted to distinguish her musical films it was harder because there is a basic musical plot of Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets Girl Back and when the music isn't unique to the film...
By the light of the silvery Moon and On Moonlight Bay has the same cast too. Exactly the same songs.
By the way, that is 18% of her films that you've seen.
I'm guessing Pillow Talk was your fave non-Hitchcock D.D. film? :)
Love Me or Leave Me was pretty good, from what I remember she was bashed about a bit by James Cagney playing her husband and based on a true story.
18% isn't bad considering I'm not much of a fan. :)
Actually, I would say my favourite is a straight musical. I would put Calamity Jane before Pillow Talk therefore. I would put love Me or Leave second only to Calamity Jane among her musicals.
Pillow talk is my favourite Day comedy for sure.
The Man Who Knew Too Much is my favourite thriller, but all three of her thrillers are stellar. It is interesting, but TMWKTM is my least favourite of the Stewart-Hitchcock quartet.
Essentially, I can't really compare her separate genres. It really depends on what mood I'm in.
You prefer Rope to TMWKTM? hmmm I enjoy the latter much more, Rope was a fascinating experiment but not a Hitch film I watch often.
Well, it's likely because I prefer the original TMWKTM to the remake.
Interesting thoughts and comments ....Steve and Flora...I am just sitting in the corner thinking I should watch more Doris Day movies....thanks for both of your comments and contributions.
Well, I have just finished watching Move Over Darling for the first time. It was a lot of fun. This brings my total to 19-again 50%, just like my total is now for James Garner movies on your hub. :)
My cable went out during the last ten minutes of midnight lace. Help! How did it end?
Fay Paxton 14 months ago
"Love Me or Leave Me...what a movie!
up/useful