1951 in film
The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.
Events
Top grossing films (U.S.)
| Rank |
Title |
Studio |
Actors |
Gross |
| 1. |
Quo Vadis |
MGM |
Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr |
$11,902,000 |
| 2. |
Alice in Wonderland* |
Disney/RKO |
|
$7,196,000 |
| 3. |
Show Boat |
MGM |
Ava Gardner, Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson |
$5,533,000 |
| 4. |
A Streetcar Named Desire |
Warner Brothers |
Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando |
$4,800,000 |
| 5. |
David and Bathsheba |
20th Century Fox |
Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward |
$4,720,000 |
| 6. |
An American in Paris |
MGM |
Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron |
$4,531,000 |
| 7. |
The African Queen |
United Artists |
Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn |
$4,300,000 |
| 8. |
A Place in the Sun |
Paramount |
Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters |
$4,213,000 |
| 9. |
Strangers on a Train |
Warner Brothers |
Farley Granger and Robert Walker |
$3,800,000 |
| 10. |
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman |
MGM |
Ava Gardner and James Mason |
$3,500,000 |
(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)
Awards
Academy Awards:
- Best Picture: An American in Paris - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Best Director: George Stevens - A Place in the Sun
- Best Actor: Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen
- Best Actress: Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire
- Best Supporting Actor: Karl Malden - A Streetcar Named Desire
- Best Supporting Actress: Kim Hunter - A Streetcar Named Desire
Golden Globe Awards:
- Drama:
- Best Picture: A Place in the Sun
- Best Actor: Fredric March - Death of a Salesman
- Best Actress: Jane Wyman - The Blue Veil
- Musical or comedy:
- Best Picture: An American in Paris
- Best Actor: Danny Kaye - On the Riviera
- Best Actress: June Allyson - Too Young to Kiss
- Other
- Best Director: Laslo Benedek - Death of a Salesman
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival):
- Miss Julie (Fröken Julie), directed by Alf Sjöberg, Sweden
- Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano), directed by Vittorio De Sica, Italy
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)
- Rashômon, directed by Akira Kurosawa, Japan
Films released in 1951
U.S.A. unless stated
A
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
- Ace in the Hole (aka The Big Carnival), directed by Billy Wilder, starring Kirk Douglas
- Across the Wide Missouri, starring Clark Gable
- The African Queen, directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart (Oscar for best actor) and Katharine Hepburn - (U.K.)
- Alice in Wonderland
- Along the Great Divide, starring Kirk Douglas
- An American in Paris, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron
- Angels in the Outfield, starring Paul Douglas
- Anna, starring Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone and Vittorio Gassman - (Italy)
- Another Man's Poison, starring Bette Davis
- Apache Drums
- Appointment with Danger, starring Alan Ladd
- As Young as You Feel, starring Monty Woolley
- Awaara, directed by and starring Raj Kapoor - (India)
B
C
- Callaway Went Thataway, starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel
- Call Me Mister, starring Betty Grable
- Captain Horatio Hornblower, starring Gregory Peck - (U.K.)
- Cattle Drive
- Cause for Alarm!, starring Loretta Young
- China Corsair
- Come Fill the Cup
- Comin' Round The Mountain
- Cops and Robbers (Guardie e ladri), directed by Mario Monicelli - (Italy)
- Cry Danger, starring Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming
- Cry, the Beloved Country, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Sidney Poitier - (U.K.)
D
- David and Bathsheba, starring Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward
- The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Robert Wise, starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal
- Death of a Salesman, starring Fredric March
- Decision Before Dawn, starring Richard Basehart
- The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, starring James Mason
- Detective Story, starring Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Lee Grant
- Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un curé de campagne), directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
- Dream of a Cossack, starring Sergei Bondarchuk - (U.S.S.R.)
E-F
G-J
K-L
M
- The Magic Box, starring Robert Donat, a biopic of William Friese-Greene - (U.K.)
- The Man in the White Suit, directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Alec Guinness and Joan Greenwood - (U.K.)
- The Mating Season, starring Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins, Thelma Ritter
- Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano), directed by Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
- Miss Julie (Fröken Julie), directed by Alf Sjöberg - (Sweden)
- The Model and the Marriage Broker
- Mr. Imperium, starring Lana Turner
- Murder, Inc. (aka The Enforcer (1951 film)), starring Humphrey Bogart
N-O
P-Q
- Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, starring Ava Gardner and James Mason - (U.K.)
- Payment on Demand, starring Bette Davis and Barry Sullivan
- Penny Points to Paradise, starring Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan - (U.K.)
- People Will Talk, starring Cary Grant
- A Place in the Sun, starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters
- Pool of London - (U.K.)
- The Prowler, directed by Joseph Losey
- Quo Vadis, starring Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr
R
S
- ...Sans laisser d'adresse - (France)
- Santa Fe, starring Randolph Scott
- Scrooge (aka A Christmas Carol), starring Alistair Sim - (U.K.)
- Show Boat, a musical starring Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner with songs by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern
- Starlift
- The Steel Helmet, directed by Samuel Fuller
- Storm Warning, starring Ginger Rogers and Doris Day
- Strangers on a Train, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker
- A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Vivien Leigh (Oscar for best actress) and Marlon Brando
- Summer Interlude (Sommarlek), directed by Ingmar Bergman - (Sweden)
- Superman and the Mole Men, starring George Reeves
- Susana (aka The Devil and the Flesh), directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
T-V
W-Z
Serials
Short film series
Births
- January 8 - John McTiernan, American director
- January 12 - Kirstie Alley, American actress
- February 13 - David Naughton, American actor & singer
- February 15 - Jane Seymour, English actress
- February 16 - William Katt, American actor
- March 13 - Charo, Spanish-American singer & actress
- March 17 - Kurt Russell, American actor
- April 10 - Steven Seagal, American actor & martial artist
- April 17 - Olivia Hussey, Argentine-born English actress
- April 21 - Tony Danza, actor
- May 30 - Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor
- July 6 - Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor
- July 8 - Anjelica Huston, American actress
- July 9 - Chris Cooper, American actor
- July 21 - Robin Williams, American actor & comedian
- July 24 - Lynda Carter, American actress & singer
- August 6 - Catherine Hicks, American actress
- August 14 - Carl Lumbly, American actor
- September 5 - Michael Keaton, American actor
- September 12 - Joe Pantoliano, American actor
- September 17 - Cassandra Peterson, American actress
- September 25 - Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish director
- November 27 - Kathryn Bigelow, American director
- December 1 - Treat Williams, American actor
Deaths
- January 11 – Charles W. Goddard, American playwright & screenwriter (b. 1879)
- March 6 - Ivor Novello, British actor, singer & composer (b. 1893)
- March 25 - Oscar Micheaux, African American pioneer filmmaker & author (b. 1884)
- April 4 - Al Christie, Canadian-born early Hollywood director/producer (b. 1881)
- June 6 - Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)
- June 9 - Mayo Methot, American actress (b. 1904)
- July 23 - Robert J. Flaherty, American pioneer documentary filmmaker (b. 1884)
- August 28 - Robert Walker, American actor (b. 1918)
- August 30 - Konstantin Märska, Estonian cinematographer (b. 1896)
- September 7 - Maria Montez, Dominican-born actress (b. 1912)
Film Debuts