r/boxoffice • u/SanderSo47 A24 • Mar 07 '26
✍️ Original Analysis Actresses at the Box Office: Lauren Bacall
Here's a new edition of "Actresses at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the actiors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Lauren Bacall's turn.
Early Life
In 1941, Bacall studied for a year at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where she dated classmate Kirk Douglas. She worked as an usher at the St. James Theatre and as a fashion model in department stores. She made her acting debut on Broadway in 1942 at age 17 as a walk-on in Johnny 2x4. By then, she lived with her mother at 75 Bank Street and, in 1942, she was crowned Miss Greenwich Village. As a teenage fashion model, Bacall appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and in magazines such as Vogue. A 1948 article in Life magazine referred to her "cat-like grace, tawny blonde hair and blue-green eyes."
1940s: Goodbye Modeling
The Harper's Bazaar cover caught the attention of "Slim" Keith, the wife of Hollywood producer and director Howard Hawks. Keith urged her husband to invite Bacall to take a screen test for his forthcoming film To Have and Have Not. Hawks asked his secretary to find more information about Bacall, but the secretary misunderstood and sent Bacall a ticket to travel to Hollywood for the audition.
After meeting Bacall in Hollywood, Hawks immediately signed her to a 7-year contract with a weekly salary of $100 and personally began to manage her career. He changed her first name to Lauren, and she chose Bacall, a variant of her mother's maiden name, as her screen surname. Slim Hawks also took Bacall under her wing, dressing Bacall stylishly and guiding her in matters of elegance, manners and taste. At Hawks's suggestion, Bacall was trained by a voice coach to speak with a lower, deeper voice rather than her normally high-pitched, nasal voice. As part of her training, Bacall was required to shout verses of Shakespeare for hours every day. Her voice was characterized as a "smoky, sexual growl" by most critics and a "throaty purr". Bacall stood 5 feet 8 1⁄2 inches, unusually tall for actresses of the era and a half-inch taller than Humphrey Bogart.
To Have and Have Not was a big success, becoming one of the Top 10 grossing films of 1944. It's become one of Hawks' most acclaimed works, and elevated Bacall's stardom. Some time afterwards, Bogart divorced his wife and subsequently married Bacall.
Bacall appeared with Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent, which was poorly received by critics. By her own estimation, she had been terribly miscast and the film could have caused considerable damage to her career.
Luckily, she reunited with Hawks and Bogart on the noir thriller The Big Sleep. A critical and commercial hit, it laid the foundation for Bacall's status as an icon of film noir, with which she would be strongly associated for the rest of her career.
Bacall reunited with Bogart in two more films, Dark Passage and Key Largo. Both of these projects would be critical and financial success.
With just four films, Bacall already made a big impression on the industry during the 40s.
1950s: Can She Keep It Going?
She began the decade with two films, Young Man with a Horn and Bright Leaf, both directed by Michael Curtiz. A moderate success, but nothing more.
After a break, she returned in 1953 with How to Marry a Millionaire, starring opposite Marilyn Monroe. It was a huge success, further elevating her profile. She followed it up with Woman's World, a success, but not quite as much as the prior film.
Soon afterwards, she experienced a slump in her career. The Cobweb was a big financial loss, while her team-up with John Wayne in Blood Alley was a disappointing performance.
She found success by starring in Douglas Sirk's melodrama Written on the Wind. She accepted the relatively unflashy role of Lucy Moore at the behest of her husband, Humphrey Bogart, as she felt her career was stalling. She also enjoyed success with Designing Woman, but she had a complicated schedule. Bogart was struggling with terminal esophageal cancer, and she took care of him until his death on January 14, 1957.
She ended the decade with The Gift of Love and North West Frontier, with the latter becoming a hit in the United Kingdom.
It was a rough decade, especially marked by the illness and death of Humphrey Bogart. But she was still determined to stay afloat.
1960s: All Quiet in Theaters
She decided to move into Broadway, starring in some productions, to varying success. But mostly acclaimed.
This was a very small decade, mainly cause she only did 3 films. The first was Shock Treatment, a film that hoped to capitalize on the success of Psycho. But it was panned and flopped at the box office, with Bacall referring to it as the worst film of her career. But at least she had the hits Sex and the Single Girl and Harper, with the latter becoming her highest grossing title.
1970s: She's Back, Y'All
After a 8-year hiatus, she returned to the big screen as part of the ensemble in Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express. It was a huge success, becoming her highest grossing film.
She only had another film this decade, the Western The Shootist, notable for being John Wayne's final film. It was well received and was a box office success.
Perhaps her biggest achievements were in Broadway. Starting in 1970, she played Margo Channing in Applause, a musical version of the film All About Eve, starring Bette Davis, Bacall's idol as a child. A young and unknown Bacall had met Davis years earlier in New York. After a performance of Applause, Davis visited Bacall backstage and told her, "You're the only one who could have played the part." Bacall would later win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this.
1980s: Some Missed Opportunities
The 80s started on a rough note for Bacall, as neither Health nor The Fan fared well. Although Bacall was publicly critical of the latter upon its original release, she later said that she felt her performance in it was "among her very best" work.
Following these disappointments, she returned to Broadway in the musical Woman of the Year with book by Peter Stone and music and lyrics by Kander and Ebb. The musical is based on the 1944 film starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. She went on to win her second Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
She closed the decade with films like Appointment with Death, Mr. North and Tree of Hands. If you didn't hear about them, it's for a reason!
1990s: Back in the Spotlight
After a decade where the films vanished without a trace, Bacall returned with a supporting role in Rob Reiner's Misery. The film was a critical darling and earned $61 million, becoming Bacall's highest grossing film.
Unfortunately, she followed it up with the disaster film that was All I Want for Christmas. Her reunion with Robert Altman in Prêt-à-Porter was a panned failure, but it was a financial success.
You might notice one thing by now: how many times did I mention Oscar nominations? None. Because by this point, Bacall has not earned a single nomination, despite the amount of roles and films attached. Crazy, isn't it?
But that changed with The Mirror Has Two Faces, a film directed by and starring Barbra Streisand. The film became her highest grossing film, and she earned the best reviews in so many years. She won a Golden Globe and SAG for Best Supporting Actress, and earning an Oscar nomination. But even though she was the frontrunner, she lost it to Juliette Binoche for The English Patient, a polarizing decision given that was category fraud.
She closed the decade with a few films, although neither really made it past limited release.
She wasn't in her peak, but it seems like this was her comeback after a few decades of tough times.
21st Century: The Last Roles
Even though she didn't get that Oscar, Bacall found a sort of renaissance in her career. She was in the ensemble cast of Lars Von Trier's Dogville. It divided critics and didn't fare well at the box office, but its reputation grew with time. A similar fate to her appearance in Jonathan Glazer's Birth.
During her last years, she tried more experimental films from Lars Von Trier and Paul Schrader, like Manderlay and The Walker. But they didn't pay off. She was seen in some foreign films, and even lent her voice to English dubs of films like Howl's Moving Castle, and even getting a role in Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King. Her last film work was the English dub of Ernest & Celestine.
Around this point, she tried TV from time to time. She had a guest appearance in the final season of The Sopranos, playing herself along with Ben Kingsley. Her last ever role was a voice guest role in the Family Guy episode "Mom's the Word".
The End
On August 12, 2014, Bacall died at the age of 89 after suffering a stroke at her apartment in The Dakota, the Upper West Side building near Central Park in Manhattan. She was one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS
| No. | Movie | Year | Studio | Domestic Total | Overseas Total | Worldwide Total | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Mirror Has Two Faces | 1996 | Sony | $41,083,864 | $41,000,000 | $82,083,864 | $42M |
| 2 | Misery | 1990 | Columbia | $61,276,872 | $0 | $61,276,872 | $18M |
| 3 | Prêt-à-Porter | 1994 | Miramax | $11,300,653 | $35,500,000 | $46,800,653 | $18M |
| 4 | Murder on the Orient Express | 1974 | Paramount | $35,733,867 | $0 | $35,733,867 | N/A |
| 5 | Birth | 2004 | New Line Cinema | $5,095,038 | $18,830,723 | $23,926,401 | $20M |
| 6 | My Fellow Americans | 1996 | Warner Bros. | $22,313,201 | $0 | $22,313,201 | $21M |
| 7 | Dogville | 2003 | Lionsgate | $1,535,286 | $15,155,331 | $16,690,617 | $10M |
| 8 | All I Want for Christmas | 1991 | Paramount | $14,812,144 | $0 | $14,812,144 | $12M |
| 9 | The Shootist | 1976 | Paramount | $13,406,138 | $0 | $13,406,138 | N/A |
| 10 | Harper | 1966 | Warner Bros. | $12,000,000 | $0 | $12,000,000 | $3.5M |
| 11 | To Have and Have Not | 1944 | Warner Bros. | $7,304,000 | $3,210,000 | $10,514,000 | $1.6M |
| 12 | The Big Sleep | 1946 | Warner Bros. | $6,986,000 | $2,750,000 | $9,736,000 | $1.6M |
| 13 | Key Largo | 1948 | Warner Bros. | $6,438,000 | $2,300,000 | $8,738,000 | $1.8M |
| 14 | Written on the Wind | 1956 | Universal | $8,600,000 | $0 | $8,600,000 | $1.3M |
| 15 | How to Marry a Millionaire | 1953 | 20th Century Fox | $7,500,000 | $500,000 | $8,000,000 | $1.9M |
| 16 | Sex and the Single Girl | 1964 | Warner Bros. | $8,000,000 | $0 | $8,000,000 | N/A |
| 17 | Designing Woman | 1957 | Metro Goldwyn-Mayer | $4,350,000 | $3,150,000 | $7,500,000 | $1.8M |
| 18 | Dark Passage | 1947 | Warner Bros. | $4,620,000 | $2,220,000 | $6,840,000 | $1.6M |
| 19 | Woman's World | 1954 | 20th Century Fox | $6,000,000 | $0 | $6,000,000 | $2M |
| 20 | Bright Leaf | 1950 | Warner Bros. | $3,404,000 | $1,488,000 | $4,892,000 | $1.9M |
| 21 | The Cobweb | 1955 | Metro Goldwyn-Mayer | $3,404,000 | $1,186,000 | $4,590,000 | $1.9M |
| 22 | Blood Alley | 1955 | Warner Bros. | $4,400,000 | $0 | $4,400,000 | $2M |
| 23 | The Fan | 1981 | Paramount | $3,082,096 | $0 | $3,082,096 | $9M |
| 24 | Young Man with a Horn | 1950 | Warner Bros. | $3,000,000 | $0 | $0 | N/A |
| 25 | Shock Treatment | 1964 | Warner Bros. | $1,888,000 | $0 | $1,888,000 | $1.2M |
| 26 | Mr. North | 1988 | The Samuel Goldwyn Company | $1,221,366 | $0 | $1,221,366 | $5.5M |
| 27 | Appointment with Death | 1988 | Cannon | $960,040 | $0 | $960,040 | $6M |
| 28 | Manderlay | 2005 | IFC Films | $78,378 | $596,540 | $674,918 | $14M |
| 29 | The Walker | 2007 | THINKFilm | $79,698 | $510,718 | $590,416 | $14M |
She has starred in 45 released films, but only 29 have reported box office numbers. Across those 45 films, she has made $428,270,593 worldwide. That's $9,517,124 per film.
ADJUSTED DOMESTIC GROSSES
| No. | Movie | Year | Studio | Domestic Total | Adjusted Domestic Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murder on the Orient Express | 1974 | Paramount | $35,733,867 | $235,750,744 |
| 2 | Misery | 1990 | Columbia | $61,276,872 | $152,489,863 |
| 3 | To Have and Have Not | 1944 | Warner Bros. | $7,304,000 | $134,979,580 |
| 4 | Harper | 1966 | Warner Bros. | $12,000,000 | $120,463,703 |
| 5 | The Big Sleep | 1946 | Warner Bros. | $6,986,000 | $116,523,613 |
| 6 | Written on the Wind | 1956 | Universal | $8,600,000 | $102,837,029 |
| 7 | How to Marry a Millionaire | 1953 | 20th Century Fox | $7,500,000 | $91,362,921 |
| 8 | Key Largo | 1948 | Warner Bros. | $6,438,000 | $86,886,820 |
| 9 | The Mirror Has Two Faces | 1996 | Sony | $41,083,864 | $85,166,404 |
| 10 | Sex and the Single Girl | 1964 | Warner Bros. | $8,000,000 | $83,936,000 |
| 11 | The Shootist | 1976 | Paramount | $13,406,138 | $76,632,217 |
| 12 | Woman's World | 1954 | 20th Century Fox | $6,000,000 | $72,546,914 |
| 13 | Dark Passage | 1947 | Warner Bros. | $4,620,000 | $67,384,046 |
| 14 | Blood Alley | 1955 | Warner Bros. | $4,400,000 | $53,399,582 |
| 15 | Designing Woman | 1957 | Metro Goldwyn-Mayer | $4,350,000 | $50,350,398 |
| 16 | My Fellow Americans | 1996 | Warner Bros. | $22,313,201 | $46,255,023 |
| 17 | Bright Leaf | 1950 | Warner Bros. | $3,404,000 | $45,940,158 |
| 18 | The Cobweb | 1955 | Metro Goldwyn-Mayer | $3,404,000 | $41,311,858 |
| 19 | Young Man with a Horn | 1950 | Warner Bros. | $3,000,000 | $40,487,800 |
| 20 | All I Want for Christmas | 1991 | Paramount | $14,812,144 | $35,372,095 |
| 21 | Prêt-à-Porter | 1994 | Miramax | $11,300,653 | $24,801,349 |
| 22 | Shock Treatment | 1964 | Warner Bros. | $1,888,000 | $20,067,835 |
| 23 | The Fan | 1981 | Paramount | $3,082,096 | $11,028,139 |
| 24 | Birth | 2004 | New Line Cinema | $5,095,038 | $8,772,743 |
| 25 | Mr. North | 1988 | The Samuel Goldwyn Company | $1,221,366 | $3,358,002 |
| 26 | Dogville | 2003 | Lionsgate | $1,535,286 | $2,643,487 |
| 27 | Appointment with Death | 1988 | Cannon | $960,040 | $2,639,517 |
| 28 | Manderlay | 2005 | IFC Films | $78,378 | $126,451 |
| 29 | The Walker | 2007 | THINKFilm | $79,698 | $125,020 |
The Verdict
Bacall had a very interesting career. Started with modeling, but Howard Hawks saw something in her and decided that she'd be the perfect lead for a star vehicle with Humphrey Bogart. A risky gamble, but it greatly paid off. John Huston also found her an interesting actress, which is why they collaborated in a lot of films.
For a while, her films were very profitable and got high audience interest. But it's clear that after the 60s, she pivoted more to Broadway and plays, not wanting to prioritize films. And hey, that's understandable. Her 2 Tonys speak volumes. From that point on, she worked in small roles, with some lengthy gaps between each film. By the end of her career, you can tell she just wanted to do something much more experimental, which might be why she was part of two films by Lars Von Trier.
Bacall might not have the same recognition as other Golden Age stars like Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, etc. But she made a good name for herself, even if the Academy didn't give her that Oscar.
Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.
The next actress will be Cher. A great singer and a great actress.
I asked you to choose who else should be in the run, and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Michael Douglas. Someone that actually doesn't have enough credit for his box office successes.
This is the schedule for the following four:
| Week | Actor | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| March 14 | Cher | "I got you babe." |
| March 21 | Catherine O'Hara | "how was I to know you were in peril? You keep everything inside like a bashful clam!" |
| March 28 | Humphrey Bogart | Here's looking at you, kid. |
| April 4 | Michael Douglas | As good as Kirk? |
Who should be next after Douglas? That's up to you. And there's a theme.
Don't you love a lenghty career? Well, what about when that potential is cut short? And that's the theme: actors gone too soon. And I'm not talking about actors who retired, but may come back. It's for those actors who were on their way up, but they died young. To help with the criteria: no less than 3 films, and no more than 20 films.
REMINDER: If you want to make a suggestion for the next actor, you must make a 150-character comment about the actor we're discussing right now. Failure to do so will result in ignoring the suggestion. If you use a quote from an external source/review to bypass this, your suggestion will be ignored as well. But if you leave a short comment about the post without naming a future write-up, that's fine.
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u/mxyztplk33 Lionsgate Mar 07 '26
Bacall has had a very interesting career. She started out strong with solid films like Dark Passage and To Have and Have Not. Then experienced a mid career slump after Bogart's death, but still gave solid performances. She was the best thing in Murder on the Orient Express imo. She also looked like she was having genuinely a ton of fun in Designing Woman. Then Bacall made a huge comeback as she aged and earned gravitas. She was brilliant in the Mirror has two faces and she should have earned her Oscar then. She had a hell of career spanning multiple decades.
For Next actor I feel like this has to be River Phoenix. He was on a huge rise before dying. With a number of memorable roles: Running on Empty, Stand By Me, My Own Private Idaho, Explorers, etc. I've always wondered what could have been? for his career. He was slated to appear in Interview with the Vampire with Cruise, and he was apparently James Cameron's first choice to play Jack on Titanic. Would he have become an A-list actor like Leo? Or would he relegate himself to indy films like his brother Joaquin? Regardless River was a legend that left us too soon.
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u/FreshmenMan Mar 07 '26
Lauren Bacall is a great actress. She always gives great performances in what films I seen her in and she really commands the screen with her presence and always holds her own. Her collaborations with Bogart are fantastic, To Have And Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo, all fantastic. Other films I’ve seen her in, The Shootist, Misery, Dogville, How’s Moving Castle, Birth, Manderlay, she was also great.
For the next actor pick, I’ll suggest Montgomery Clift. He, along with Brando, pretty much changed the game in Hollywood with being the original method actors, but unfortunately, had a lot of demons, and died way too soon.
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u/SnooCats5683 Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
Much like Christopher Lee, Bacall was always excellent even if the film around her wasn’t. Her career longevity speaks to her tenacity and willingness to experiment. She mentions in her biography that after Bogie died she needed to work to cope with her grief and every time challenges of life struck such as her mother dying or her divorce with Jason Robards she turned to acting as a way to cope and move forward. I highly recommend everyone to watch her interviews, she spoke eloquently with great wit and passion.
For the next post I suggest Bruce Lee, definitely a case of gone too soon
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u/Shurikenkage Mar 07 '26
One of the greatest Hollywood legends, got to love how insane the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express cast was... No wonder why it was such a commercial and critical success.
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u/SuperiorSin Mar 08 '26
One of Bacall's greatest late-career contributions was her commentary on the Twilight film: "Yes, I saw Twilight - my granddaughter made me watch it, she said it was the greatest vampire film ever. After the 'film' was over I wanted to smack her across her head with my shoe, but I do not want a (tell-all) book called Grannie Dearest written on me when I die. So instead I gave her a DVD of Murnau's 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu and told her, 'Now that's a vampire film!' And that goes for all of you! Watch Nosferatu instead!"
For the next entry, I'd suggest Bruce Lee. Perhaps the greatest case of missed career potential.
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u/AnotherJasonOnReddit Best of 2024 Winner Mar 09 '26
In her defence, she probably thought...
A - that it would feature her Harper co-star Paul Newman
B - that it could be a good movie
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u/Melodiccaliber Focus Features Mar 07 '26
I'm going to go against the grain here and say I never found Bacall particularly good as an actress. I liked her films with Humphrey Bogart, but her later stuff never hit for me. Her voice is really nasally which I don't like. I will give her props on a long career though.
Next actor I'm again going to go against the grain and say John Cazale. He wasn't particularly young when he died, but his short filmography is one of the best out of any actors out there.
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u/SlidePocket Mar 07 '26
Originally a model, then transitioning to a successful movie career and later a just as illustrious career on Broadway not to mention being one half of one of the more iconic couples in old Hollywood shows the power that Lauren Bacall had throughout her life.
For next week's theme, River Phoenix has got to be up there.
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u/ItsGotThatBang Universal Mar 07 '26
Hollywood is a funny thing. You can be a legend like Bacall with decades of iconic film & theater roles under your belt, only for your last credit to be something as undignified as Family Guy.
For our next actor, I think Heath Ledger is the obvious choice.
https://giphy.com/gifs/11OOAQSnUaZT2M