The Best Ava Gardner Movies

Ranker Film
Updated August 11, 2023 2.5K votes 409 voters 40.6K views
Over 400 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Ava Gardner Movies
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List of the best Ava Gardner movies, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. Ava Gardner's highest grossing movies have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. The order of these top Ava Gardner movies is decided by how many votes they receive, so only highly rated Ava Gardner movies will be at the top of the list. Ava Gardner has been in a lot of films, so people often debate each other over what the greatest Ava Gardner movie of all time is. If you and a friend are arguing about this then use this list of the most entertaining Ava Gardner films to end the squabble once and for all.

If you think the best Ava Gardner role isn't at the top, then upvote it so it has the chance to become number one. The greatest Ava Gardner performances didn't necessarily come from the best movies, but in most cases they go hand in hand.

List is made up of a variety of films, including Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and Singapore.

"This list answers the questions, "What are the best Ava Gardner movies?" and "What are the greatest Ava Gardner roles of all time?"

Movie fans who love Ava Gardner have also been known to enjoy films starring Rita Hayworth and Lauren Bacall.

Most divisive: The Hucksters
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  • The Night of the Iguana
    1

    The Night of the Iguana

    Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr
    85 votes
    • Released: 1964
    • Directed by: John Huston
    Lusty defrocked minister Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton) is a tour guide in Mexico. Leading a tourist group from a Baptist women's college, he finds it difficult to avoid acting on his attraction to Charlotte (Sue Lyon), the young niece of the group's leader, Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall). When Fellowes swears to ruin him, Shannon strands the bus at a hotel to seek advice from the manager, an old friend. Over the course of one night, the alcoholic Shannon spirals out of control.

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  • Mogambo
    2

    Mogambo

    Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly
    81 votes
    • Released: 1953
    • Directed by: John Ford
    Victor Marswell (Clark Gable) is a big-game hunter in Kenya. After Eloise Kelly (Ava Gardner) is stood up by a friend there, she falls in with Marswell. Shortly thereafter, the Nordleys (Grace Kelly, Donald Sinden) arrive for a gorilla safari. Mrs. Nordley, disillusioned with her husband, takes a liking to Marswell, and the two have a brief affair. Kelly grows jealous, and the two women engage in a battle of wills over the hunter, while Mr. Nordley remains oblivious to it all.

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  • Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
    3

    Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

    James Mason, Ava Gardner, Nigel Patrick
    70 votes
    • Released: 1951
    • Directed by: Albert Lewin
    Fishermen in 1930s Spain find the bodies of a 17th-century Dutch sea captain (James Mason) and a woman (Ava Gardner) willing to die for him.

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  • On the Beach
    4

    On the Beach

    Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire
    81 votes
    • Released: 1959
    • Directed by: Stanley Kramer
    After World War III, Australia is the only remaining haven for mankind. However, wind currents carrying lingering radiation all but condemn those on the continent to the same fate suffered by the rest of the world. When the survivors receive a strange signal from San Diego, Cmdr. Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) must undertake a mission with Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) to see if there is hope for humanity -- leaving behind Moira (Ava Gardner) and Mary (Donna Anderson), the women they love.
  • The Barefoot Contessa
    5

    The Barefoot Contessa

    Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien
    66 votes
    • Released: 1954
    • Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
    Washed-up film director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart) gets a second chance at stardom when he discovers stunning peasant Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner) dancing in a nightclub in Madrid, Spain. Goaded by his producer, strong-arming Wall Street financier Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens), Harry convinces her to screen test for, and then star in, his next big picture. But as Edwards' possessive nature and the realities of stardom weigh on Maria, she seeks a genuine lover with whom she can escape.

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  • The Killers
    6

    The Killers

    Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien
    76 votes
    • Released: 1946
    • Directed by: Robert Siodmak
    Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede" (Burt Lancaster). When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator (Edmond O'Brien), on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman (Ava Gardner) who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man (Albert Dekker).

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