List of American films of 1951
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A list of American films released in 1951.
Danny Kaye hosted the 24th Academy Awards ceremony on March 20, 1952, held at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The winner of the Best Motion Picture category was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's An American in Paris.
The other nine nominated pictures were Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Vivien Leigh won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Leigh had also played Blanche in the London stage production that had been directed by her then-husband Laurence Olivier. Other Best Actress nominees that year were Katharine Hepburn for The African Queen (Hepburn's 5th Best Actress Nomination), Eleanor Parker for The Detective Story, Shelley Winters for A Place in the Sun and Jane Wyman for The Blue Veil.
Humphrey Bogart won his only Oscar for his portrayal of Charlie Allnut in The African Queen. Other Best Actor nominees for that year were Marlon Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire, Montgomery Clift for A Place in the Sun, Arthur Kennedy for Bright Victory and Fredric March for Death of a Salesman.
The 9th Golden Globe Awards also honored the best films of 1951. That year's Golden Globes also marked the first time that the Best Picture category was split into Musical or Comedy or Drama. A Place in the Sun won Best Motion Picture - Drama, while An American in Paris won Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Fredric March won Best Actor, Drama for Death of a Salesman, while Danny Kaye won Best Actor, Musical or Comedy for On the Riviera. Jane Wyman won Best Actress, Drama, for her role in The Blue Veil, while June Allyson won Best Actress, Musical or Comedy for Too Young to Kiss.
1951 also saw the film debut of Grace Kelly and Carroll Baker.
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Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
Callaway Went Thataway |
Melvin Frank, Norman Panama |
Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire |
Comedy |
Also known as The Star Said No |
Call Me Mister |
Lloyd Bacon |
Betty Grable, Dan Dailey |
Musical |
Based on the Broadway Musical |
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. |
Raoul Walsh |
Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo |
Adventure |
Based on Horatio Hornblower novels |
Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere |
Spencer Gordon Bennet |
Judd Holdren, Larry Stewart |
Serial |
|
Casanova Cat |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Cat Napping |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Cattle Drive |
Kurt Neumann |
Joel McCrea, Dean Stockwell |
Western |
|
Cause for Alarm! |
Tay Garnett |
Loretta Young, Barry Sullivan, Bruce Cowling |
Film Noir |
|
Chained for Life |
Harry L. Fraser |
Hilton Twins |
Exploitation |
|
Cheese Chasers |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
China Corsair |
Ray Nazarro |
Jon Hall, Ernest Borgnine |
Adventure |
|
Chow Hound |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
Close to My Heart |
William Keighley |
Gene Tierney, Ray Milland |
Drama |
|
Come Fill the Cup |
Gordon Douglas |
James Cagney, Gig Young |
Drama |
Oscar nomination for Young |
Comin' Round the Mountain |
Charles Lamont |
Abbott and Costello |
Comedy |
|
Cruise Cat |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Cry Danger |
Robert Parrish |
Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming |
Film Noir |
Shot in 22 days |
David and Bathsheba |
Henry King |
Gregory Peck. Susan Hayward |
Historical |
from 2nd Old Testament book of Samuel |
Day of the Fight |
Stanley Kubrick |
Walter Cartier |
Documentary |
First picture directed by Kubrick |
The Day the Earth Stood Still |
Robert Wise |
Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal |
Science Fiction |
Remade in 2008 |
Death of a Salesman |
László Benedek |
Fredric March, Mildred Dunnock |
Drama |
Based on Arthur Miller play |
Decision Before Dawn |
Anatole Litvak |
Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill |
War |
From the novel Call It Treason |
The Desert Fox |
Henry Hathaway |
James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke |
Biographical |
Based on the book Rommel |
Destination Meatball |
Walter Lantz |
Woody Woodpecker |
Animation |
|
Detective Story |
William Wyler |
Kirk Douglas, William Bendix, Eleanor Parker |
Film Noir |
Based on Sidney Kingsley play |
Distant Drums |
Raoul Walsh |
Gary Cooper, Richard Webb |
Western |
|
Don Daredevil Rides Again |
Fred C. Brannon |
Ken Curtis, Aline Towne |
Serial |
|
Don't Throw That Knife |
Jules White |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
Double Dynamite |
Irving Cummings |
Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell |
Musical Comedy |
|
Drip-Along Daffy |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
Duck and Cover |
Anthony Rizzo |
|
Propaganda |
|
E-H
Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
The Enforcer |
Bretaigne Windust |
Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel |
Film Noir |
Based on the Murder, Inc. trials |
Father's Little Dividend |
Vincente Minnelli |
Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor |
Comedy |
Sequel to Father of the Bride |
The Family Secret |
Henry Levin |
John Derek, Lee J. Cobb |
Drama |
|
The Fighting Seventh |
Charles Marquis Warren |
Lloyd Bridges, John Ireland |
Western |
|
Flight to Mars |
Lesley Selander |
Cameron Mitchell, Arthur Franz |
Science Fiction |
|
The Flying Cat |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Flying Leathernecks |
Nicholas Ray |
John Wayne, Robert Ryan |
Action |
|
Flying Padre |
Stanley Kubrick |
Fred Stadmueller |
Documentary |
Kubrick's second film |
Follow the Sun |
Sidney Lanfield |
Anne Baxter, Glenn Ford |
Biographical |
Based on life of Ben Hogan |
Fort Worth |
Edwin L. Marin |
Randolph Scott, David Brian |
Western |
|
Fourteen Hours |
Henry Hathaway |
Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart |
Drama |
|
French Rarebit |
Robert McKimson |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
The Frogmen |
Lloyd Bacon |
Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews |
War |
First film about scuba diving |
Gerald McBoing-Boing |
Robert Cannon |
Marvin Miller |
Animation |
Academy Award: Best Animated Short |
Go for Broke! |
Robert Pirosh |
Van Johnson, Lane Nakano |
War |
|
The Golden Horde |
George Sherman |
Ann Blyth, David Farrar |
Historical |
|
Goodbye, My Fancy |
Vincent Sherman |
Joan Crawford, Robert Young |
Romantic-Comedy |
Based on 1948 play |
Government Agents vs Phantom Legion |
Fred C. Brannon |
Walter Reed, Mary Ellen Kay |
Serial |
12-chapter serial |
The Great Caruso |
Richard Thorpe |
Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth |
Biographical |
Based on life of Enrico Caruso |
He Ran All the Way |
John Berry |
John Garfield, Shelley Winters |
Film Noir |
Garfield's last film |
Here Comes the Groom |
Frank Capra |
Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman |
Musical |
|
His Kind of Woman |
John Farrow, Richard Fleischer |
Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Jim Backus, Raymond Burr |
Film Noir |
|
His Mouse Friday |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Home Town Story |
Arthur Pierson |
Jeffrey Lynn, Marilyn Monroe |
Drama |
|
The House on Telegraph Hill |
Robert Wise |
Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese |
Film noir |
|
Hula-La-La |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
I-M
Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
I Can Get It for You Wholesale |
Michael Gordon |
Susan Hayward, Dan Dailey |
Romance |
|
I Was a Communist for the FBI |
Gordon Douglas |
Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart |
Film Noir |
|
I'll See You in My Dreams |
Michael Curtiz |
Doris Day |
Biographical |
Based on life of Gus Kahn |
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison |
Crane Wilbur |
Steve Cochran, David Brian |
Drama |
Inspired Johnny Cash song |
Jerry and Jumbo |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Jerry and the Goldfish |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Jim Thorpe -- All-American |
Michael Curtiz |
Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford |
Biographical |
|
Just Ducky |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Kind Lady |
John Sturges |
Ethel Barrymore, Angela Lansbury |
Comedy |
|
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney |
Edwin H. Knopf |
Greer Garson, Michael Wilding |
Comedy |
aka The Law and the Lady |
The Lemon Drop Kid |
Sidney Lanfield |
Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell |
Comedy |
Remake of 1934 film; Introduced the song Silver Bells |
Let's Make It Legal |
Richard Sale |
Claudette Colbert, MacDonald Carey |
Comedy |
|
Lost Continent |
Sam Newfield |
Cesar Romero, Chick Chandler |
Science Fiction |
|
Love Nest |
Joseph Newman |
June Haver, William Lundigan, Marilyn Monroe |
Drama |
|
Lullaby of Broadway |
David Butler |
Doris Day |
Musical |
|
M |
Joseph Losey |
David Wayne, Howard Da Silva |
Drama |
Remake of 1931 film |
The Magnificent Yankee |
John Sturges |
Louis Calhern, Ann Harding |
Biographical |
Based on life of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. |
The Man from Planet X |
Edgar G. Ulmer |
Robert Clarke, Margaret Field |
Sci-fi |
|
The Man with My Face |
Edward Montagne |
Barry Nelson, Carole Mathews |
Film Noir |
Jack Warden film debut |
The Man with a Cloak |
Fletcher Markle |
Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck |
Drama |
Based on the short story The Gentleman from Paris |
The Mating Season |
Mitchell Leisen |
Gene Tierney, John Lund |
Comedy |
|
Merry Mavericks |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
The Mob |
Robert Parrish |
Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler |
Film Noir |
|
The Model and the Marriage Broker |
George Cukor |
Jeanne Crain, Scott Brady, Thelma Ritter |
Romantic comedy |
|
Mr. Imperium |
Don Hartman |
Lana Turner, Ezio Pinza, Marjorie Main |
Romance |
|
Mysterious Island |
Spencer Gordon Bennett |
Richard Crane, Marshall Reed |
Serial |
Based on the Jules Verne novel |
N-R
Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
Nit-Witty Kitty |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
No Smoking |
Jack Kinney |
Goofy |
Animation |
|
On Moonlight Bay |
Roy Del Ruth |
Doris Day, Gordon MacRae |
Musical |
Followed by By the Light of the Silvery Moon |
On the Riviera |
Walter Lang |
Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney |
Musical |
Based on the play The Red Cat. |
Operation Pacific |
George Waggner |
John Wayne, Patricia Neal |
War |
|
Painting the Clouds with Sunshine |
David Butler |
Dennis Morgan, Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson |
Musical |
Remake of Gold Diggers of 1933. |
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman |
Albert Lewin |
Ava Gardner, James Mason |
Drama |
|
Payment on Demand |
Curtis Bernhardt |
Bette Davis, Barry Sullivan |
Drama |
Originally titled The Story of a Divorce |
Peking Express |
William Dieterle |
Joseph Cotten, Corinne Calvet |
Adventure |
Second remake of Shanghai Express |
The People Against O'Hara |
John Sturges |
Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien |
Film Noir |
|
People Will Talk |
Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain |
Romantic Comedy |
|
Pest Man Wins |
Jules White |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
A Place in the Sun |
George Stevens |
Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters |
|
Academy Award: Best Director |
The Prize Pest |
Robert McKimson |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
Final screwball Daffy Duck cartoon |
The Prowler |
Joseph Losey |
Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes |
Film Noir |
|
Quebec |
George Templeton |
John Drew Barrymore, Corinne Calvet |
Historical Drama |
|
Quo Vadis |
Mervyn LeRoy |
Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov |
Historical Epic |
|
Rabbit Fire |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
The Racket |
John Cromwell |
Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott |
Film Noir |
Remake of the 1928 film |
Rawhide |
Henry Hathaway |
Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward |
Western |
|
The Red Badge of Courage |
John Huston |
Audie Murphy, Bill Mauldin |
War |
Based on the novel |
Rich, Young and Pretty |
Norman Taurog |
Jane Powell, Wendell Corey, Danielle Darrieux |
Musical |
|
The River |
Jean Renoir |
Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight |
Romance |
|
Roadblock |
Harold Daniels |
Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon |
Film Noir |
|
Royal Wedding |
Stanley Donen |
Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford |
Musical |
|
S-Z
Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
Santa Fe |
Irving Pichel |
Randolph Scott, Janis Carter |
Western |
|
Scrambled Brains |
Jules White |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
The Secret of Convict Lake |
Michael Gordon |
Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney |
Western |
|
Show Boat |
George Sidney |
Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner |
Musical |
Based on Edna Ferber novel |
Sirocco |
Curtis Bernhardt |
Humphrey Bogart, Märta Torén, Lee J. Cobb |
Film Noir |
Based on novel Coup de Grace |
Sleepy-Time Tom |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Slicked-up Pup |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
Smart Alec |
|
|
Silent Porn |
|
Starlift |
Roy Del Ruth |
Janice Rule, Dick Wesson |
Musical |
|
The Steel Helmet |
Samuel Fuller |
Gene Evans, Steve Brodie |
War |
|
Storm Warning |
Stuart Heisler |
Ronald Reagan, Doris Day, Ginger Rogers |
Thriller |
|
Strangers on a Train |
Alfred Hitchcock |
Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker |
Thriller |
|
A Streetcar Named Desire |
Elia Kazan |
Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Kim Hunter |
Drama |
Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress |
Strictly Dishonorable |
Melvin Frank |
Ezio Pinza, Janet Leigh |
Romantic Comedy |
|
Superman and the Mole Men |
Lee Sholem |
George Reeves, Phyllis Coates |
Action |
|
The Tall Target |
Anthony Mann |
Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou |
Thriller |
|
Teresa |
Fred Zinnemann |
Pier Angeli, John Ericson |
Drama |
|
That's My Boy |
Hal Walker |
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis |
Comedy |
|
The Thing from Another World |
Howard Hawks |
Kenneth Tobey, Dewey Martin, James Arness |
Sci-fi |
Remade in 1982 as The Thing |
Three Arabian Nuts |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
Thunder on the Hill |
Douglas Sirk |
Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth |
Drama |
|
Tomahawk |
George Sherman |
Van Heflin, Yvonne De Carlo, Preston Foster |
Western |
|
The Tooth Will Out |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
Too Young to Kiss |
Robert Z. Leonard |
June Allyson, Van Johnson, Gig Young |
Comedy |
Golden Globe for Allyson |
Two Lost Worlds |
Norman Dawn |
James Arness, Bill Kennedy |
Sci-fi |
|
Two of a Kind |
Henry Levin |
Edmond O'Brien, Lizabeth Scott |
Film noir |
|
Two-Dollar Bettor |
Edward L. Cahn |
Steve Brodie, Marie Windsor |
Drama |
|
The Unknown Man |
Richard Thorpe |
Walter Pidgeon, Ann Harding |
Drama |
|
Unknown World |
Terry O. Morse |
Bruce Kellogg |
Sci-fi |
|
Vengeance Valley |
Richard Thorpe |
Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker |
Western |
|
The Wearing of the Grin |
Chuck Jones |
Porky Pig |
Animated |
|
The Well |
Leo Popkin |
Richard Rober, Harry Morgan |
Drama |
|
Westward the Women |
William A. Wellman |
Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, John McIntire |
Western |
|
When Worlds Collide |
Rudolph Mate |
Richard Derr, Barbara Rush |
Sci-fi |
|
You're in the Navy Now |
Henry Hathaway |
Gary Cooper |
Comedy |
|
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