The 50+ Best Myrna Loy Movies, Ranked By Fans

If classic Hollywood had a group chat, Myrna Loy would be the one dropping dry jokes,
solving mysteries, and looking impossibly chic while doing it. Best known as the
quick-witted Nora Charles in The Thin Man series, she moved effortlessly
from screwball comedy to serious drama over a career that stretched from the silent
era into the 1980s. No wonder fans still arguevery politely, of courseabout which
Myrna Loy movies truly deserve the top spots.

This guide pulls together fan rankings, movie-buff polls, and classic film resources
to highlight the 50+ best Myrna Loy movies. Think of it as a curated watchlist built
from what real viewers actually love: the funniest comedies, the most stylish mysteries,
and the dramas that hit you right in the feelings.

Whether you’re a longtime TCM addict or you just discovered her via a late-night
streaming rabbit hole, this Myrna Loy movie ranking will help you figure out where to
start, what to rewatch, and which hidden gems deserve a spot in your next classic
film marathon.

How Fans Rank the Best Myrna Loy Movies

To build this list, we looked at fan-driven rankings and rating data from major film
communities and databases, plus long-running classic-movie blogs and retrospective
articles. Across these sources, some clear patterns emerge:

• The Thin Man movies almost always dominate the top spots, thanks
  to sparkling dialogue and the unbeatable chemistry between Myrna Loy and William Powell.
• Prestige dramas like The Best Years of Our Lives and
  The Rains Came show up high on lists for their emotional depth and awards
  recognition.
• Office and domestic comediesthink Mr. Blandings Builds His
  Dream House or Wife vs. Secretaryhave become comfort-watch favorites
  for modern fans.
• Her postwar and late-career roles in films like
  Cheaper by the Dozen, Midnight Lace, and
  Airport 1975 earn bonus points for “oh wow, that’s Myrna Loy!” cameos.

The ranking below reflects this fan consensus: it leans on popularity with viewers,
not just critics, and balances iconic titles with lesser-known gems that fans still
champion.

Top Myrna Loy Movies Ranked by Fans

#1 – The Thin Man (1934)

If you watch only one Myrna Loy movie, make it The Thin Man. This fizzy
blend of mystery and screwball comedy introduced Nora and Nick Charles, the most
charmingly tipsy detective couple in movie history. Loy and William Powell trade
banter so fast you’ll want subtitles just to catch every joke. The whodunit is fun,
but the real joy is watching Nora roll her eyes, crack wise, and effortlessly keep
up with the boys.

Fans consistently rank this as her signature performance because it crystallizes the
Myrna Loy screen persona: sophisticated, playful, intelligent, and never the
long-suffering wife. She’s a full partner in the sleuthing and the chaos,
which still feels surprisingly modern.

#2 – After the Thin Man (1936)

Many fans consider After the Thin Man one of those rare sequels that fully
lives up to the original. Nora and Nick leave New York for San Francisco, where a
domestic drama in Nora’s family spirals into murder, missing husbands, and a young
Jimmy Stewart in an early, memorable role.

Loy is at her comic peak herewatch the way she underplays her reactions while the
rest of the cast spins into melodrama. It’s the kind of performance that looks
effortless but requires razor-sharp timing.

#3 – The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

In this Oscar-winning drama about World War II veterans returning home, Myrna Loy
plays Milly Stephenson, the steady center of a family quietly reshaped by war. The
film isn’t built around her character, but she grounds it with warmth and realism.
Her scenes opposite Fredric March show how a long marriage bends, wobbles, and
somehow holds.

Fans and critics alike point to this movie as proof that Loy was far more than a
light comedian. Here she’s understated, lived-in, and deeply humanno slapstick,
just truth.

#4 – Libeled Lady (1936)

Put Myrna Loy, William Powell, Jean Harlow, and Spencer Tracy in one newsroom-meets-high-society
farce and you get Libeled Lady, a favorite for fans of old Hollywood
ensembles. Loy plays heiress Connie Allenbury, who sues a newspaper for printing a
false storycue a scheme involving fake marriages, fishing scenes gone wrong, and
more double-crosses than a soap opera.

Loy’s Connie is smart, skeptical, and definitely not a pushover. She matches Powell
beat for beat, which is exactly what audiences love about her best roles.

#5 – Another Thin Man (1939)

By the third Thin Man film, Nora and Nick have a baby, a dog (Asta, of course), and
absolutely no reason to keep stumbling into murder casesbut they do anyway.
Another Thin Man proves the formula still works, with Loy tossing out dry
commentary while juggling motherhood, party invitations, and potential killers.

#6 – Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Fans of the series love Shadow of the Thin Man for its racetrack setting,
snappy supporting cast, and a slightly more mature version of the Charles marriage.
The martinis are still flowing, but the stakes feel a bit higher, and Loy leans into
Nora’s practical side without losing the fun.

#7 – The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)

What’s more awkward than visiting your parents? Visiting your parents while your
reputation as a detective guarantees a local murder. In The Thin Man Goes Home,
Loy’s Nora tries to help Nick survive family expectations and small-town suspicion.
Fans enjoy how this entry fleshes out Nick’s background while keeping Nora right in
the thick of the action.

#8 – Song of the Thin Man (1947)

The final Thin Man movie throws the Charleses into a jazzy nightclub mystery. While
opinions on this installment vary, many fans still rank it among her must-see films
because it gives Nora and Nick one last stylish romp. Loy’s comic reactions to
postwar youth culture alone are worth the watch.

#9 – I Love You Again (1940)

This underrated romantic comedy pairs Myrna Loy and William Powell in a story about
a con man who wakes from amnesia and discovers he’s been living as a dull, respectable
citizen. Loy plays his bewildered (and increasingly suspicious) wife. It’s a fan
favorite for the way it twists marriage tropes and lets Loy mix exasperation with
affection.

#10 – Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

If you’ve ever renovated a home and wondered why you didn’t just live in a tent,
this one’s for you. Starring Cary Grant as a New Yorker who drags his family to the
country for a “simple” dream house, the film lets Loy shine as the calm, sensible
Mrs. Blandings who watches costsand wallsspiral out of control.

Contemporary viewers relate hard to the budget disasters and construction chaos,
which helps keep this movie high on rewatch lists.

#11 – Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

Ignore the trashy title; this is a surprisingly nuanced workplace romance. Clark
Gable plays a publishing executive, Jean Harlow is the efficient secretary, and
Myrna Loy is the wife who has to decide how much she trusts her husband in a world
full of gossip and appearances.

Fans appreciate how Loy plays the role with intelligence and dignity. Instead of
melodrama, she gives us a woman who feels jealousy, examines it, and chooses how to
respond like an adulta rarity in 1930s screenwriting.

#12 – The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

This lavish biopic of Broadway showman Florenz Ziegfeld is pure MGM spectacle.
Loy’s role as actress Billie Burke isn’t huge, but she leaves a strong impression
with her delicate, humorous performance. Fans include it on “best of” lists partly
for her turn, partly because it’s a time-capsule of studio era excess.

#13 – Test Pilot (1938)

In Test Pilot, Clark Gable plays a daredevil flyer, Spencer Tracy is his
loyal mechanic, and Myrna Loy is the woman who marries into a life of constant risk.
This is one of her standout dramatic roles from the late 1930s, balancing romance
with genuine anxiety about what it means to love someone whose job might kill them.

#14 – The Rains Came (1939)

Set in India and centered on a catastrophic flood and earthquake, The Rains
Came casts Loy as Lady Edwina Esketh, a cynical aristocrat whose affair-filled
life is upended by disaster and sacrifice. While the movie clearly reflects its era
in terms of cultural representation, fans still call out Loy’s performance as one of
her most complex and emotionally layered.

#15 – Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)

Decades before the modern remake, there was this warm, gently comedic portrait of a
real-life family with twelve children. Loy plays Lillian Gilbreth, one half of a
time-management expert duo raising kids as if their home were a living laboratory.
Fans love the film’s mix of nostalgia, tenderness, and subtle feminismLoy’s
character is a working woman whose professional identity matters just as much as her
role as a mother.

More Fan-Favorite Myrna Loy Movies to Add to Your Watchlist

To reach 50+ titles, we also need to celebrate the deep cuts and supporting favorites
that longtime fans constantly recommend. Here are more Myrna Loy movies that frequently
show up in rankings, lists, and classic-film conversations:

Romantic Comedies & Screwball Favorites

• The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
• Double Wedding (1937)
• Petticoat Fever (1936)
• Lucky Night (1939)
• Too Hot to Handle (1938)
• So Goes My Love (1946)
• Love Crazy (1941)
• Parnell (1937)
• To Mary – With Love (1936)
• Man-Proof (1938)

Drama, Mystery, and Prestige Projects

• Evelyn Prentice (1934)
• Lonelyhearts (1958)
• From the Terrace (1960)
• Midnight Lace (1960)
• Airport 1975 (1974)
• The Ambassador’s Daughter (1956)
• The April Fools (1969)
• Just Tell Me What You Want (1980)
• Lonelyhearts (1958)
• The End (1978)

Pre-Code & Early Career Highlights

• The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
• Thirteen Women (1932)
• Penthouse (1933)
• Men in White (1934)
• The Animal Kingdom (1932)
• The Squall (1929)
• The Desert Song (1929)
• The Black Watch (1929)
• The Truth About Youth (1930)
• The Naughty Flirt (1931)
• The Devil to Pay! (1930)
• When Ladies Meet (1933)

Add those to the earlier top-tier list and you’ve got well over 50 Myrna Loy movies
that fans repeatedly highlight. You’ll also notice how her career transitions: early
“exotic” roles, then sophisticated comedies, then mature dramas and maternal figures.
Watching her filmography in order is like watching classic Hollywood itself grow up.

Why Myrna Loy Still Feels So Modern

A big reason these movies remain popular is that Myrna Loy rarely plays passive
heroines. Even when the scripts technically put her in a supporting role, she brings
a sense of agency, intelligence, and understated humor. She’s the person in the room
who sees exactly what’s going onand enjoys it.

Fans also respond to her onscreen partnerships. With William Powell, she created one
of cinema’s all-time great marriages, built on mutual respect and shared mischief.
With Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and others, she often undercuts the leading man’s ego
with a single raised eyebrow or deadpan line. That blend of warmth and wit feels
timeless.

From a viewing standpoint, her movies are also a passport into multiple eras:
pre-Code experimentation, glossy 1930s studio productions, sober postwar dramas, and
even 1970s disaster movies. If you want to explore classic Hollywood without feeling
like you’re doing homework, following Myrna Loy through her “best of” list is a very
fun way to go.

What It’s Like to Binge the Best Myrna Loy Movies Today

So what does it actually feel like to sit down and work through the 50+ best Myrna
Loy movies as a modern viewer? Imagine starting with The Thin Man on a
Friday night. You’re expecting a slow old mystery, and instead you get razor-sharp
comedy, cocktails, and a couple who treat each other like equal partners. The pacing
is brisk, the lines are quotable, and suddenly you understand why longtime fans
swear by these films.

As you move into the sequels, you start to feel like part of the Charles family.
You watch Nora and Nick banter their way through racetracks, nightclubs, and small
towns, and you realize that the appeal isn’t just about the crimesthey’re movies
about two people who genuinely enjoy each other’s company. For many viewers, that
dynamic feels more aspirational than any modern romantic comedy.

Shift into something like The Best Years of Our Lives or
The Rains Came, and the mood changes. Suddenly, Loy isn’t just delivering
quips; she’s playing women dealing with grief, war, and moral compromise. Watching
these films today, you may be surprised by how contemporary their emotional beats
feel. Topics like PTSD, economic uncertainty, and strained marriages are all there,
just filtered through period costumes and black-and-white cinematography.

Then there are the “comfort films.” Movies like Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream
House, Wife vs. Secretary, or Cheaper by the Dozen make
excellent Sunday-afternoon viewing. You can fold laundry, cook dinner, or scroll
your phone and still follow the story, but every time Loy is on screen she snaps
your attention back with a perfectly timed reaction shot or line reading. Many
classic-film fans develop yearly traditions around these titles, rewatching them the
way others rewatch holiday specials.

If you dive into her earlier pre-Code workfilms like Thirteen Women,
The Mask of Fu Manchu, or Penthouseyou get a different kind of
experience. Some elements feel dated or problematic, but you also see a young actor
figuring out how to turn small roles into scene-stealing moments. For film students
and movie buffs, tracking that evolution from supporting parts to star vehicles is
part of the fun.

By the time you reach late-career appearances in movies like Airport 1975
or Just Tell Me What You Want, Myrna Loy feels like an old friend dropping
in. Even if she’s not the lead, her presence connects you back to decades of movie
history. That continuitybeing able to follow one performer across eras, genres, and
studio stylesis exactly what makes exploring the “50+ best Myrna Loy movies” feel
like more than just a checklist. It becomes a cinematic journey with a very witty
guide.

Conclusion: Building Your Own Myrna Loy Marathon

If you’re new to Myrna Loy, start with The Thin Man, double-feature it with
After the Thin Man, then jump to The Best Years of Our Lives to
see her dramatic range. From there, sprinkle in comedies like Libeled Lady
and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, plus a few deep cuts like
Evelyn Prentice or Thirteen Women.

For longtime fans, revisiting these films in a fresh ordermixing Thin Man entries
with postwar dramas and late-career appearancescan reveal new layers in her work.
However you approach it, the best Myrna Loy movies ranked by fans aren’t just a list;
they’re an invitation to hang out with one of classic Hollywood’s sharpest, funniest,
and most enduring stars.