1951 in film
| List of years in film (table) |
|---|
| ... 1941 . 1942 . 1943 . 1944 . 1945 . 1946 . 1947 ... 1948 1949 1950 -1951- 1952 1953 1954 ... 1955 . 1956 . 1957 . 1958 . 1959 . 1960 . 1961 ... In television: 1948 1949 1950 -1951- 1952 1953 1954 In radio : 1948 1949 1950 -1951- 1952 1953 1954 |
| Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Philosophy . Science +... |
| Years in film |
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| 1870s |
The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.
Events
- Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati
Top grossing films (U.S.)
(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)
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
- 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
- Special Award: Pictura: An Adventure in Art
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
Top ten money making stars
| Rank | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| 1. | John Wayne |
| 2. (tie) | Dean Martin Jerry Lewis |
| 3. | Betty Grable |
| 4. (tie) | Bud Abbott Lou Costello |
| 5. | Bing Crosby |
| 6. | Bob Hope |
| 7. | Randolph Scott |
| 8. | Gary Cooper |
| 9. | Doris Day |
| 10. | Spencer Tracy |
Notable films released in 1951
U.S.A. unless stated
- The 13th Letter, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Linda Darnell and Charles Boyer
A
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
- Ace in the Hole (aka The Big Carnival), directed by Billy Wilder, starring Kirk Douglas and Jan Sterling
- Across the Wide Missouri, starring Clark Gable
- The African Queen, directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart (Oscar for best actor) and Katharine Hepburn - (GB/U.S.A.)
- Alice in Wonderland, an animated film by Walt Disney
- Along the Great Divide, starring Kirk Douglas
- An American in Paris, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron (Oscar for best picture)
- Angels in the Outfield, starring Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh
- Anna, starring Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone and Vittorio Gassman - (Italy)
- Another Man's Poison, directed by Irving Rapper, starring Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Emlyn Williams and Anthony Steel - (GB)
- Apache Drums, starring Stephen McNally and Coleen Gray
- Appointment with Danger, starring Alan Ladd, with future Dragnet (series) co-stars Jack Webb and Harry Morgan
- As Young as You Feel, starring Monty Woolley
- Atoll K, starring Laurel and Hardy in their final film
- Awaara (Tramp), directed by and starring Raj Kapoor - (India)
- The Axe of Wandsbek (Das Beil von Wandsbek) - (East Germany)
B
- Baazi (Gamble), starring Dev Anand - (India)
- Bedtime for Bonzo, starring Ronald Reagan (with a chimpanzee)
- Bellissima, directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Anna Magnani - (Italy)
- Blackmailed, starring Mai Zetterling and Dirk Bogarde - (GB)
- The Blue Veil, starring Jane Wyman
- Bright Victory, starring Arthur Kennedy
- The Browning Version, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Michael Redgrave and Jean Kent - (GB)
- Bullfighter and the Lady, starring Robert Stack and Joy Page
C
- Callaway Went Thataway, starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel
- Call Me Mister, starring Betty Grable
- Captain Horatio Hornblower, starring Gregory Peck - (GB)
- Cattle Drive, starring Joel McCrea, Dean Stockwell and Chill Wills
- Cause for Alarm!, starring Loretta Young and Barry Sullivan
- China Corsair, starring Jon Hall
- Circle of Danger, starring Ray Milland - (GB)
- The Clouded Yellow, starring Trevor Howard and Jean Simmons - (GB)
- Come Fill the Cup, starring James Cagney and Gig Young
- Comin' Round The Mountain, starring Abbott and Costello
- 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 - (GB)
D
- Darling, How Could You!, starring Joan Fontaine
- Daughter of Deceit (La hija del engaño), directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
- 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, Gary Merrill and Oskar Werner
- Deedar, starring Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Nargis - (India)
- The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, starring James Mason
- Detective Story, starring Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Lee Grant, Horace McMahon, and George Macready
- Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un curé de campagne), directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
- Distant Drums, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Gary Cooper
- Double Dynamite, starring Jane Russell, Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx
- Dream of a Cossack (Kavalier zolotoy zvezdy), starring Sergei Bondarchuk - (U.S.S.R.)
- Daar Doer in Die Bosveld (Far Away in the Bushveld), starring Jamie Uys - (South Africa)
E-F
- Early Summer (Bakushū), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
- Encore, starring Nigel Patrick and Kay Walsh - (GB)
- The Enforcer (Murder, Inc.), starring Humphrey Bogart and Zero Mostel
- FBI Girl, starring Audrey Totter and Cesar Romero
- The Family Secret, Starring John Derek and Lee J. Cobb
- Father's Little Dividend, starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor
- The Fighting Seventh (aka (Little Big Horn), starring Lloyd Bridges
- Flying Leathernecks, starring John Wayne and Robert Ryan
- Follow the Sun, starring Glenn Ford (as Ben Hogan)
- The Forbidden Christ (Il Cristo proibito), starring Raf Vallone - (Italy)
- Fort Worth, starring Randolph Scott
- Four in a Jeep (Die Vier im Jeep), starring Ralph Meeker and Viveca Lindfors - (Switzerland)
- Fourteen Hours, starring Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Jeffrey Hunter and Grace Kelly
- The Frogmen, starring Richard Widmark and Dana Andrews
- Furrows (Surcos) - (Spain)
G-J
- Go for Broke!, starring Van Johnson
- Golden Girl, starring Mitzi Gaynor, Dale Robertson, Dennis Day
- The Golden Horde, starring Ann Blyth
- Goodbye My Fancy, starring Joan Crawford and Robert Young
- The Great Caruso, starring Mario Lanza
- Grounds for Marriage, starring Kathryn Grayson and Van Johnson
- The Guy Who Came Back, starring Paul Douglas
- Half Angel, starring Loretta Young
- Happy Go Lovely, starring David Niven and Vera-Ellen - (GB)
- He Ran All the Way, starring John Garfield and Shelley Winters
- Here Comes the Groom, directed by Frank Capra, starring Bing Crosby
- His Kind of Woman, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price and Raymond Burr
- The House in Montevideo (Das Haus in Montevideo) - (West Germany)
- The House on Telegraph Hill, starring Richard Basehart
- I Can Get It for You Wholesale, starring Susan Hayward
- I Want You, directed by Mark Robson, starring Dana Andrews
- The Idiot (Hakuchi), directed by Akira Kurosawa - (Japan)
- Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison, starring Steve Cochran
- Jim Thorpe – All-American, starring Burt Lancaster
- Journey Into Light, directed by Stuart Heisler, starring Sterling Hayden
- Juliette, or Key of Dreams (Juliette ou La clef des songes), directed by Marcel Carné - (France)
K-L
- Kind Lady, directed by John Sturges, starring Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Keenan Wynn, Angela Lansbury
- Kon-Tiki, a documentary directed by and starring Thor Heyerdahl - (Norway)
- The Last Outpost, starring Ronald Reagan
- Laughter in Paradise, starring Alastair Sim - (GB)
- The Lavender Hill Mob, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sid James and Alfie Bass, with an early appearance by Audrey Hepburn - (GB)
- The Lemon Drop Kid, starring Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, William Frawley and Tor Johnson
- Let's Go Crazy, starring Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers - (GB)
- Leva på 'Hoppet', starring Ingrid Thulin - (Sweden)
- Lightning Strikes Twice, starring Ruth Roman and Mercedes McCambridge
- Little Egypt, starring Rhonda Fleming and Mark Stevens
- The Long Dark Hall, starring Rex Harrison - (GB)
- Lost Continent, starring Cesar Romero
- Love Nest, starring June Haver and Marilyn Monroe
M
- The Magic Box, starring Robert Donat, a biopic of William Friese-Greene - (GB)
- The Magnificent Yankee, starring Louis Calhern
- Malliswari, starring N.T. Rama Rao - (India)
- The Man in the White Suit, directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Michael Gough and Ernest Thesiger - (GB)
- The Mating Season, starring Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins and Thelma Ritter
- The Medium, starring Marie Powers - (Italy)
- 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, starring Jeanne Crain, Thelma Ritter, Scott Brady, Zero Mostel
- Mr. Imperium, starring Lana Turner and Ezio Pinza
N-O
- New Mexico, starring Lew Ayres and Marilyn Maxwell
- The Night Before Christmas (Noch pered Rozhdestvom) - (U.S.S.R.)
- No Highway in the Sky (No Highway), starring James Stewart, Glynis Johns and Marlene Dietrich - (GB)
- Olivia, directed by Jacqueline Audry - (France)
- On Dangerous Ground, starring Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan
- On Moonlight Bay, starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae
- On the Riviera, starring Danny Kaye
- One Summer of Happiness (Hon dansade en sommar) - (Sweden)
- Only the Valiant, starring Gregory Peck
P-Q
- Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, starring Ava Gardner and James Mason - (GB)
- Paris Vice Squad (Identité judiciaire) - (France)
- Payment on Demand, starring Bette Davis and Barry Sullivan
- Penny Points to Paradise, starring Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan - (GB)
- The People Against O'Hara, starring Spencer Tracy
- People Will Talk, starring Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain, Hume Cronyn and Finlay Currie
- A Place in the Sun, directed by George Stevens, starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters and Raymond Burr
- Pool of London, directed by Basil Dearden - (GB)
- The Prowler, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes
- Quo Vadis, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov and Leo Genn
R
- The Racket, starring Robert Mitchum
- The Raging Tide, starring Richard Conte and Shelley Winters
- Rawhide, starring Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward
- The Red Badge of Courage, directed by John Huston, starring Audie Murphy
- Red Mountain, starring Alan Ladd and Lizabeth Scott
- Repast (Meshi), directed by Mikio Naruse, written by the novelist Yasunari Kawabata - (Japan)
- El revoltoso (The Rebellious) - (Mexico)
- Rhubarb, starring Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, William Frawley and Leonard Nimoy
- Rich, Young and Pretty, starring Jane Powell
- The River (Le Fleuve), directed by Jean Renoir - (France/India/U.S.A.)
- Royal Wedding, starring Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford and Jane Powell
S
- ...Sans laisser d'adresse (No Forwarding Address), starring Bernard Blier and Danièle Delorme - (France)
- Santa Fe, starring Randolph Scott
- Saturday's Hero, starring John Derek and Donna Reed
- Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), starring Alastair Sim - (GB)
- The Secret of Convict Lake, starring Glenn Ford and Gene Tierney
- Show Boat, a remake of the hit musical, starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, and Ava Gardner, with songs by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern
- Silver City, starring Edmond O'Brien and Yvonne De Carlo
- Sirocco, starring Humphrey Bogart and Marta Toren
- Spring Season (Bahar), first Hindi film of Vyjayanthimala and the producer A. V. Meiyappan - (India)
- Starlift, starring Janice Rule and Ruth Roman
- The Steel Helmet, directed by Samuel Fuller
- Storm Warning, starring Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan and Doris Day
- The Strange Door, starring Charles Laughton and Boris Karloff
- 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), Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden
- Strictly Dishonorable, starring Ezio Pinza and Janet Leigh
- The Strip, starring Mickey Rooney and Sally Forrest
- Sugarfoot, starring Randolph Scott
- 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
- Take Care of My Little Girl, directed by Jean Negulesco, starring Jeanne Crain and Mitzi Gaynor
- A Tale of Five Cities (Passaporto per l'oriente) - (Italy/GB)
- The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) - (Japan)
- The Tales of Hoffmann, a cinematic opera directed by Powell and Pressburger and starring Moira Shearer - (GB)
- The Tall Target, starring Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson and Ruby Dee
- That Happy Couple (Esa pareja feliz), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga - (Spain)
- That's My Boy, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
- The Thing from Another World, produced by Howard Hawks, starring Kenneth Tobey and James Arness as the title creature
- Three Guys Named Mike, starring Jane Wyman
- Thunder on the Hill, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Claudette Colbert and Ann Blyth
- Tom Brown's Schooldays, starring John Howard Davies and Robert Newton - (GB)
- Tomahawk, starring Van Heflin and Yvonne De Carlo
- Two of a Kind, starring Edmond O'Brien and Lizabeth Scott
- Two Tickets to Broadway, starring Janet Leigh, Tony Martin, Gloria DeHaven
- Vengeance Valley, starring Burt Lancaster and Joanne Dru
- Victimas del Pecado (Victims of Sin) - (Mexico)
W-Z
- Warpath, starring Edmond O'Brien, Forrest Tucker, Polly Bergen
- Warsaw Premiere, directed by Jan Rybkowski (Poland)
- The Well, starring Harry Morgan
- Westward the Women, starring Robert Taylor
- When Worlds Collide, starring Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Larry Keating, John Hoyt and Hayden Rorke
- Where No Vultures Fly, directed by Harry Watt, starring Anthony Steel, Dinah Sheridan, Harold Warrender and Meredith Edwards - (U.K.)
- Young Wives' Tale, starring Joan Greenwood - (GB)
- You're in the Navy Now, starring Gary Cooper
- Your Day Will Come (Lak Yawm Ya Zalem) - (Egypt)
Serials
- Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere, starring Judd Holdren
- Don Daredevil Rides Again, starring Ken Curtis and Aline Towne
- Government Agents vs Phantom Legion, starring Walter Reed
- Mysterious Island, starring Richard Crane
- Roar of the Iron Horse, starring Buster Crabbe
Short film series
- Mickey Mouse (1928–1956)
- Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
- Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
- Popeye (1933–1957)
- The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
- Donald Duck (1936–1956)
- Pluto (1937-1951)
- Goofy (1939–1953)
- Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
- Bugs Bunny (1940–1964)
- Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
- Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
- Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
Births
- January 8 - John McTiernan, American director
- January 12 - Kirstie Alley, American actress
- January 15 - Charo, Spanish American actress, singer and comediene
- February 13 - David Naughton, American actor & singer
- February 15 - Jane Seymour, English actress
- February 16 - William Katt, American actor
- February 22 - Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
- March 17 - Kurt Russell, American actor
- April 12 - Tom Noonan, American director
- 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 (died 2014)
- 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 - Mark Hamill, American actor
- November 20 - Rodger Bumpass, American actor & voice actor
- November 27 - Kathryn Bigelow, American director
- December 1 - Treat Williams, American actor
Deaths
- January 11 – Charles W. Goddard, American playwright, screenwriter (born 1879)
- March 6 - Ivor Novello, Welsh actor, singer, composer (born 1893)
- March 25 - Oscar Micheaux, American director, author (born 1884)
- April 4 - Al Christie, Canadian-born director, producer (born 1881)
- May 2 - Edwin L. Marin, American director (born 1899)
- May 7 - Warner Baxter, American actor (born 1882)
- May 17 - S. Sylvan Simon, American director (born 1910)
- June 2 - Ernst Pittschau, German actor (born 1883)
- June 6 - Olive Tell, American actress (born 1894)
- June 9 - Mayo Methot, American actress (born 1904)
- July 23 - Robert J. Flaherty, American documentary filmmaker (born 1884)
- August 28 - Robert Walker, American actor (born 1918)
- August 30 - Konstantin Märska, Estonian cinematographer (born 1896)
- September 7 - Maria Montez, Dominican-born actress (born 1912)
Film Debuts
- Jeff Bridges - The Company She Keeps
- Charles Bronson - You're in the Navy Now
- Leslie Caron - An American in Paris
- John Cassavetes - Fourteen Hours
- James Dean - Fixed Bayonets!
- Lee Grant - Detective Story
- Audrey Hepburn - One Wild Oat
- Grace Kelly - Fourteen Hours
- Leonard Nimoy - Queen for a Day
- William Shatner - The Butler's Night Off
- Rod Steiger - Teresa