1951 in film

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Years in film
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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.)

Rank	Title	Studio	Actors	Gross
1.	Quo Vadis	MGM	Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr	$11,902,000
2.	Alice in Wonderland*	Disney		$7,196,000
3.	Show Boat	MGM	Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Ava Gardner	$5,533,000
4.	A Streetcar Named Desire	Warner Brothers	Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando	$4,800,000
5.	David and Bathsheba	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

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, starring Bette Davis - (GB)
• Apache Drums, starring Stephen McNally and Coleen Gray
• Appointment with Danger, starring Alan Ladd, with future Dragnet (series) co-stars Jack Webb amd 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)
• 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
• 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 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, directed 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
  • 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 diretor & author (born 1884)
• April 4 - Al Christie, Canadian-born director/producer (born 1881)
• 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

• Carroll Baker
• Jeff Bridges
• Charles Bronson
• Leslie Caron
• Lee Grant
• Audrey Hepburn
• Grace Kelly
• Leonard Nimoy
• Irene Pappas
• Peter Sellers
• William Shatner
• Rod Steiger