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List of Ethel Barrymore Movies: Ranked Best To Worst

1. National Red Cross Pageant (1917)
11
2
National Red Cross Pageant
11
2
Role:
Flanders / Belgium - Flemish & Final episodes
Starring:
Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Edith Wynne Matthison, Douglas Wood
Directed By:
Christy Cabanne
2. Portrait of Jennie (1948)
13
2
Portrait of Jennie
TV-PG
13
2

During depression era, struggling artist Eben Adams meets a young girl, Jennie Appleton, in Central Park. His sketch of Jennie fetches appreciation from art-dealer Miss Spinney, inspiring him to work further. He frequently comes across Jennie who appears to be growing quickly into a beautiful woman he falls in love with. Will he finally learn the truth beyond the mysteries surrounding Jennie?

Role:
Miss Spinney
Starring:
Lillian Gish, Brian Keith, Cecil Kellaway, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones
Directed By:
William Dieterle
3. The Spiral Staircase (1946)
12
2
The Spiral Staircase
12
2

The Spiral Staircase is an American psychological horror film which revolves around a mute young woman named Helen living in 1906 Vermont, who is employed as a live-in companion for a bedridden woman named Mrs Warren. Her life turns upside down when she finds herself terrorized by a serial killer who has been targeting disabled women.  

Role:
Mrs. Warren
Starring:
Dorothy McGuire, Elsa Lanchester, George Brent, Rhonda Fleming
Directed By:
Robert Siodmak
4. The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
12
2
The Farmer's Daughter
12
2
Role:
Agatha Morley
Starring:
Loretta Young, James Arness, Charles Bickford, Rose Hobart
Directed By:
H.C. Potter
6. Deadline - U.S.A. (1952)
12
2
Deadline - U.S.A.
12
2
Role:
Margaret Garrison
Starring:
Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Ed Begley, Kim Hunter, Warren Stevens
Directed By:
Richard Brooks
7. Moonrise (1948)
10
2
Moonrise
10
2
Role:
Grandma
Starring:
Lloyd Bridges, Allyn Joslyn, Rex Ingram, Dane Clark
Directed By:
Frank Borzage
8. The Story of Three Loves (1953)
11
2
The Story of Three Loves
11
2

This technicolour anthology film presents three stories narrated by three passengers on board a cruiser. The relationship between a ballet choreographer and a ballerina with a heart condition is featured in the first. In the second, a boy miraculously converts into a young man and charms his governess. In the third, a failed trapeze artist along with a suicidal woman perform a daring circus act. 

Role:
Mrs. Hazel Pennicott (segment "Mademoiselle")
Directed By:
9. Kind Lady (1951)
11
2
Kind Lady
11
2

Wealthy and aged, Mary Herries, lives in her London home with her housemaid Rose. Having a passion for art and fine furniture, she meets Henry, a young and struggling painter, who talks her into letting him live in her home with his wife and child. Mary realizes her folly when he holds them captive in their bedroom, and announces that he is her nephew and that she has a mental breakdown.  

Role:
Mary Herries
Starring:
Keenan Wynn, Angela Lansbury, Maurice Evans, Betsy Blair
Directed By:
John Sturges
10. The Secret of Convict Lake (1951)
11
2
The Secret of Convict Lake
TV-PG
11
2

In 1871, Jim Canfield, an innocent wrongly sentenced for murder, escapes Nevada Prison with a group of toughened criminals and leads them to a farming settlement, to avenge the man who framed him. With only women at the settlement while men are off prospecting, Canfield is drawn towards Marcia, fiancée of the man who trapped him. What happens when the man returns? 

Role:
Granny
Starring:
Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney, Ann Dvorak, Zachary Scott
Directed By:
Michael Gordon
11. Young at Heart (1954)
11
2
Young at Heart
11
2
Role:
Aunt Jessie Tuttle
Starring:
Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Gig Young, Dorothy Malone
Directed By:
Gordon Douglas
12. Moss Rose (1947)
11
2
Moss Rose
11
2

A woman is trying to solve the mystery behind her friend’s murder, but soon it seems that she might be the next victim.

Role:
Lady Margaret Drego
Starring:
Victor Mature, Vincent Price, Peggy Cummins, Margo Woode
Directed By:
Gregory Ratoff
13. The Great Sinner (1949)
10
2
The Great Sinner
10
2

While traveling from Moscow, writer Fedya becomes fascinated with gambling addict, the stunning Pauline Ostrovsky. When he abandons his own journey and follows her, he also decides to write a character study on gambling addicts. Unfortunately, his love for Pauline leads him down a path of gambling and crime from which he never recovers. 

Role:
Grandmother Ostrovsky
Starring:
Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Walter Huston, Agnes Moorehead, Melvyn Douglas
Directed By:
Robert Siodmak
14. Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
10
2
Rasputin and the Empress
10
2

Desperate to cure her hemophilic son Prince Alexei, Czarina Alexandra, resorts to the healer and mystic Rasputin to save him. Although it seems that Rasputin is initially curing the Prince, he conspires to bring about the downfall of the Russian Empire under Czar Nicholas II. Only Prince Paul Chegodieff stands in his way. 

Role:
The Czarina - Alexandra
Starring:
Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Tad Alexander, Ralph Morgan
Directed By:
Charles Brabin, Richard Boleslawski
15. That Midnight Kiss (1949)
10
2
That Midnight Kiss
TV-PG
10
2

This romantic musical film tells the story of vocalist Prudence Budell, who returns from Europe after finishing her training in music. While looking for a male lead for the opera, she meets a truck driver and decides to give him a chance. However, she eventually ends up falling in love with him. 

Role:
Abigail Trent Budell
Starring:
Keenan Wynn, Kathryn Grayson, José Iturbi, Mario Lanza
Directed By:
Norman Taurog
16. None But the Lonely Heart (1944)
10
2
None But the Lonely Heart
10
2
Role:
Ma Mott (as Miss Ethel Barrymore)
Starring:
Cary Grant, Jane Wyatt, Barry Fitzgerald, June Duprez
Directed By:
Clifford Odets
Awards:
Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
17. The Paradine Case (1947)
9
2
The Paradine Case
9
2

Anthony Keane is an attorney who has agreed to represent Mrs. Paradine, who is being charged of murdering her wealthy husband. Due to her beauty, the lawyer finds himself quite attracted to the woman, although he has been happily married himself for eleven years. He tries to pin the crime of murder on Latour, her servant; however the plan backfires.

Role:
Lady Sophie Horfield
Starring:
Charles Laughton, Louis Jourdan, Alfred Hitchcock, Gregory Peck, Charles Coburn, Louis Jourdan
Directed By:
18. The Red Danube (1949)
9
2
The Red Danube
9
2

Based on the 1947 novel Vespers in Vienna, this American drama film, tells the story of British Colonel Michael Nicobar, who is assigned to a unit in the British Zone of Vienna. His duty is aiding the Soviet authorities repatriate their citizens, though many of them prefer not to return.

Role:
Mother Superior ('Mother Auxilia')
Starring:
Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lawford, Walter Pidgeon, Janet Leigh
Directed By:
George Sidney
19. Night Song (1947)
9
2
Night Song
9
2

Cathy Mallory is a beautiful socialite who falls in love with a blind pianist after being entranced by his music. However due to the fact that she is rich, she discards him. Therefore, in order to win his heart, she starts acting as a poor blind lady. 

Role:
Miss Willey
Starring:
Merle Oberon, Dana Andrews, Hoagy Carmichael, Artur Rubinstein
Directed By:
John Cromwell
20. It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951)
9
2
It's a Big Country: An American Anthology
9
2

Told in eight episodes, the film covers different facets of American culture and spirit. It all begins with a professor being asked by a fellow passenger during a train journey if he loves America, to which he responds by counter-asking, “Which America”. The simple question leads to the unfolding of diverse layers of American ethos.   

Role:
Mrs. Brian Patrick Riordan
Starring:
Gary Cooper, Gene Kelly, James Whitmore, Fredric March, Keenan Wynn, Janet Leigh, Van Johnson
Directed By:
Don Weis, William A. Wellman, Clarence Brown, John Sturges, Charles Vidor
21. Just for You (1952)
9
2
Just for You
9
2

Renowned Broadway producer Jordan Blake, a widower and father of two teenaged children, is courting his heroine Carolina. When he finds that his daughter Barbara had an argument with police and son Jerry has a crush on Carolina, he realizes he had been neglecting his children. On Carolina’s suggestion, he spends time with them, trying to help them grow into better adults.

Role:
Alida De Bronkhart
Starring:
Bing Crosby, Natalie Wood, Jane Wyman, Robert Arthur
Directed By:
Elliott Nugent
22. Johnny Trouble (1957)
9
2
Johnny Trouble
9
2

Katherine Chandler has been an invalid for 27 years, waiting for her missing son John to return. Her life gets even more difficult when she learns that a men’s dormitory is going to be built where she leaves, and she is going to be evicted. However, she refuses to vacate the premises as she believes that her long-lost son will return there, looking for her.

Role:
Katherine Chandler AKA Nana
Starring:
Carolyn Jones, Edd Byrnes, Cecil Kellaway, Jesse White, Stuart Whitman
Directed By:
John H. Auer
23. Main Street to Broadway (1953)
9
2
Main Street to Broadway
9
2

Main Street to Broadway is a musical romance film which tells the story of a playwright going through bad times, who meets a country girl, who is returning home after giving up her aspirations of becoming an actress. Hoping to find inspiration from her, he decides to follow her to her small town.  

Starring:
Rex Harrison, Helen Hayes, Henry Fonda, Shirley Booth, Lilli Palmer, Lionel Barrymore, Agnes Moorehead
Directed By:
Tay Garnett
24. Camille (1926)
8
2
Camille
8
2

Camille is a 1926 short silent film which was loosely based on a French novel named La Dame aux Camélias. The film revolves around a group of people drinking real alcohol during prohibition.

Starring:
Charlie Chaplin, Charles Chaplin, Paul Robeson, Sinclair Lewis, Anita Loos, George Jean Nathan
Directed By:
Ralph Barton
25. The Nightingale (1914)
11
2
The Nightingale
11
2
Role:
Isola Franti - 'The Nightingale'
Starring:
Conway Tearle, Charles A. Stevenson, William Courtleigh, Frank Andrews
Directed By:
Augustus E. Thomas

TV Shows and Videos

Omnibus (1952)
Omnibus
Starring:
Jack Benny, Christopher Plummer, Jason Robards, Eli Wallach, Peter Falk, Bea Arthur, Jean Stapleton
Directed By:
Andrew McCullough, Norman Lloyd, Charles S. Dubin, Harry Horner, Delbert Mann
NBC Television Opera Theatre (1950)
NBC Television Opera Theatre
Starring:
Charlotte Rae, Rosemary Kuhlmann, Leontyne Price, Paul Ukena
Climax! (1954)
Climax!
Starring:
Elizabeth Montgomery, William Shatner, Charlton Heston, Anne Bancroft, Leslie Nielsen, Lee Marvin, Rita Moreno
Directed By:
Buzz Kulik, Allen Reisner, John Frankenheimer, Paul Nickell, Jack Smight
Family Theatre (1949)
Family Theatre
Starring:
Raymond Burr, Don Ameche, James Dean, Loretta Young, Nelson Leigh, Regis Toomey
Directed By:
Arthur Pierson
Hollywood Opening Night (1951)
Hollywood Opening Night
Starring:
Gloria Swanson, Buddy Ebsen, Teresa Wright, Ann Sothern, Mary Wickes, Celeste Holm, David Niven
Directed By:
Richard Irving, William Corrigan
General Electric Theater (1953)
General Electric Theater
Starring:
Ron Howard, Cloris Leachman, Dennis Hopper, Michael Landon, Ryan O'Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Bob Crane
Directed By:
Herschel Daugherty, Don Medford, James Neilson, Jules Bricken, Mitchell Leisen

Ethel Barrymore Awards

Academy Awards
None But the Lonely Heart Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1945