1956 in film

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The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers (when adjusted for inflation)
• February 5 - First showing of documentary films by the Free Cinema movement, at the National Film Theatre, London.
• August 4 - The last film serial, Blazing the Overland Trail from Columbia Pictures, is released.
• November 15 - Elvis Presley's first film, Love Me Tender, opens.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Rank	Title	Leading Star	Studio	Gross
1.	The Ten Commandments	Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner and Anne Baxter	Paramount	$43,000,000
2.	Around the World in Eighty Days	David Niven, Cantinflas and Shirley MacLaine	United Artists	$23,120,000
3.	Giant	Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean	Warner Bros.	$14,000,000
4.	War and Peace	Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda	Paramount	$12,500,000
5.	The King and I	Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner	20th Century Fox	$9,000,000
6.	The Searchers	John Wayne	Warner Bros.	$8,500,000
7.	Bus Stop	Marilyn Monroe	20th Century Fox	$7,269,000
8.	The Girl Can't Help It	Jayne Mansfield, Tom Ewell, and Edmund O'Brien	20th Century Fox	$6,250,000
9.	High Society	Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra	MGM	$5,878,000
10.	Written on the Wind	Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone	Universal	$5,712,000
11.	Julie	Doris Day	MGM	$4,500,000
12.	The Eddy Duchin Story	Tyrone Power and Kim Novak	Columbia	$4,396,000
13.	The Lieutenant Wore Skirts	Tom Ewell and Sheree North	20th Century Fox	$4,390,000
14.	Baby Doll	Carroll Baker and Karl Malden	Warner Bros.	$4,885,000
15.	Zarak	Victor Mature, Michael Wilding, and Anita Ekberg	Columbia	$4,882,000
16.	Love Me Tender	Elvis Presley and Debra Paget	20th Century Fox	$4,880,000
17.	The Best Things in Life Are Free	Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, Ernest Borgnine, and Sheree North	20th Century Fox	$4,777,000
18.	The Man Who Knew Too Much	James Stewart and Doris Day	Paramount	$4,773,000
19.	Between Heaven and Hell	Robert Wagner, Buddy Ebsen, Broderick Crawford, and Terry Moore	20th Century Fox	$4,669,000
20.	Star in the Dust	John Agar, Richard Boone, and Mamie Van Doren	Universal	$4,662,000

(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Around the World in Eighty Days - Todd, United Artists

Best Director: George Stevens - Giant

Best Actor: Yul Brynner - The King and I

Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia

Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn - Lust for Life

Best Supporting Actress: Dorothy Malone - Written on the Wind

Best Foreign Language Film: La strada, directed by Federico Fellini, Italy

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Around the World in Eighty Days

Best Actor: Kirk Douglas - Lust for Life

Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: The King and I

Best Actor: Cantinflas - Around the World in Eighty Days

Best Actress: Deborah Kerr - The King and I

Other

Best Director: Elia Kazan - Baby Doll

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture: Earl Holliman - The Rainmaker

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture: Eileen Heckart - The Bad Seed

Best Foreign Film: Before Sundown, West Germany

Best Foreign Film: The Girl in Black, Greece

Best Foreign Film: Richard III, United Kingdom

Best Foreign Film: Roses on the Arm, Japan

Best Foreign Film: War and Peace, Italy

Best Foreign Film: The White Reindeer, Finland

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Silent World (Le monde du silence), directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle, France

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): Not awarded

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Invitation to the Dance, directed by Gene Kelly, United States

Films released in 1956

U.S.A. unless stated

• 7 Wonders of the World
• 23 Paces to Baker Street, starring Van Johnson and Vera Miles
• 1984, directed by Michael Anderson, starring Edmond O'Brien and Michael Redgrave - (U.K.)

A

• Accused of Murder
• Alexander the Great, starring Richard Burton
• Anastasia, starring Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner
• And God Created Woman, directed by Roger Vadim and starring Brigitte Bardot - (France)
• Aparajito (The Unvanquished), directed by Satyajit Ray - (India)
• Around the World in 80 Days, starring David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine - Academy Award for Best Picture
• Attack, starring Jack Palance and Lee Marvin
• Autumn Leaves, starring Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson

B

• Baby Doll, starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Eli Wallach
• Back from Eternity, starring Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger
• The Bad Seed, starring Nancy Kelly and Patty McCormack
• The Battle of the River Plate, written and directed by Powell and Pressburger - (U.K.)
• Between Heaven and Hell, directed by Richard Fleischer
• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Dana Andrews
• Bhowani Junction, starring Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger - (U.K./U.S.)
• Bigger Than Life, starring James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau
• The Birds and the Bees
• Bob le flambeur (Bob the Gambler), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville - (France)
• The Bold and the Brave
• The Brave One
• The Burmese Harp (Biruma no tategoto), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
• Bus Stop, starring Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray

C

• C.I.D. - (India)
• Calle Mayor (Main Street), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem, starring Betsy Blair - (Spain)
• Carousel, starring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae
• The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn - (U.K.)
• The Catered Affair, starring Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine
• Chori Chori, starring Nargis and Raj Kapoor - (India)
• Comanche
• Congo Crossing
• The Conqueror, starring John Wayne (as Genghis Khan)
• The Court Jester, starring Danny Kaye
• Crazed Fruit (狂った果実), directed by Ko Nakahira - (Japan)

D-F

• D-Day the Sixth of June, starring Robert Taylor
• Dakota Incident
• Dance With Me Henry, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Death in the Garden (La mort en ce jardin), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Simone Signoret and Charles Vanel - (France)
• Diane, starring Lana Turner in her final MGM film after nearly 20 years with the studio
• Early Spring (Soshun), directed by Yasujiro Ozu - (Japan)
• Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
• The Eddy Duchin Story, starring Tyrone Power and Kim Novak
• Elena and Her Men - (France/Italy)
• The Fastest Gun Alive, starring Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford
• Forbidden Planet, starring Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis
• Friendly Persuasion, starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins
• Funtoosh, starring Dev Anand - (India)

G-H

• Gaby
• Gervaise - (France)
• Giant, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean in his final film
• The Girl Can't Help It, starring Tom Ewell and Jayne Mansfield in her first starring role
• A Girl in Black, directed by Michael Cacoyannis - winner of Golden Globe - (Greece)
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, starring Raymond Burr and Takashi Shimura - (Japan/U.S.)
• Good-bye, My Lady, directed by William A. Wellman
• Great Day in the Morning, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Robert Stack and Virginia Mayo
• The Great Locomotive Chase
• The Great Man, starring José Ferrer
• The Green Man, starring Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas - (U.K.)
• Gun the Man Down, starring James Arness and Angie Dickinson in her film debut
• The Harder They Fall, starring Humphrey Bogart in his final film
• High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly in her final film prior to her marriage to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
• Hollywood or Bust, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis with Anita Ekberg
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame - (France/Italy)

I-J

• Ich suche Dich (I Seek You), starring O.W. Fischer and Anouk Aimée - (West Germany)
• The Indian Fighter, starring Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers, directed by Don Siegel, starring Kevin McCarthy
• Invitation to the Dance, directed by and starring Gene Kelly
• Jagte Raho, starring Raj Kapoor - (India)
• Johnny Concho, starring Frank Sinatra
• Jubal, starring Glenn Ford, Rod Steiger, Ernest Borgnine
• Julie, starring Doris Day

K-L

• Kanal, directed by Andrzej Wajda - (Poland)
• The Killers, a short film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Killing, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Sterling Hayden
• The King and I, starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner
• A Kiss Before Dying, starring Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward
• The Lady Killers (U.S. release)
• The Last Wagon, starring Richard Widmark
• The Long Arm - (U.K.)
• Love Me Tender, starring Elvis Presley in his film debut
• Lust for Life, starring Kirk Douglas

M-N

• A Man Escaped (Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut), directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
• The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, starring Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Keenan Wynn, Lee J. Cobb
• Man on the Tracks (Człowiek na torze) - (Poland)
• The Man Who Knew Too Much, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (a remake of his own 1934 British film). Starring James Stewart and Doris Day
• The Man Who Never Was - (U.K.)
• Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta) - (Hungary)
• Moby Dick starring Gregory Peck
• Naked Gun starring Mara Corday and Willard Parker
• Nagareru (Flowing) - (Japan)
• Never Say Goodbye
• New Delhi - (India)

O-Q

• Old Khottabych - (U.S.S.R.)
• On the Threshold of Space
• Pardners, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Patterns, starring Van Heflin and Ed Begley
• Private's Progress, a Boulting Brothers film starring Ian Carmichael and Richard Attenborough - (U.K.)
• The Proud and Profane
• The Proud Ones, starring Robert Ryan

R

• The Rainmaker, starring Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn
• Ransom! starring Glenn Ford and Donna Reed
• Reach for the Sky, a biopic of Douglas Bader starring Kenneth More - (U.K.)
• The Red Balloon - (France)
• Richard III (U.S. release)
• The Road of Life (El camino de la vida) - (Mexico)
• Rock Around the Clock, featuring Bill Haley and His Comets
• Rodan, directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)

S

• Samurai III: Duel At Ganryu Island, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, starring Toshirō Mifune - (Japan)
• The Searchers, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter
• Seven Men from Now, starring Randolph Scott and Lee Marvin
• Seven Samurai (U.S. release)
• The Silent World, a marine documentary by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle - (France)
• Singing in the Dark
• Sira` Fi al-Mina, directed by Youssef Chahine, starring Omar Sharif - (Egypt)
• The Solid Gold Cadillac, starring Judy Holliday
• Somebody Up There Likes Me, starring Paul Newman
• The Spanish Gardener, starring Dirk Bogarde - (U.K.)
• Star in the Dust, starring John Agar and Mamie Van Doren
• Stars in Your Eyes - (U.K.)
• La Strada (U.S. release)
• Street of Shame (Akasen chitai), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi - (Japan)

T-V

• Tea and Sympathy, starring Deborah Kerr
• The Teahouse of the August Moon, starring Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford
• The Ten Commandments, directed by Cecil B. de Mille, starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Yvonne De Carlo, Edward G. Robinson
• There's Always Tomorrow
• A Town Like Alice, starring Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch - (U.K.)
• Trapeze, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida
• Uncle Hyacynth (Mi tío Jacinto) - (Spain)

W-Z

• War and Peace, starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Anita Ekberg
• What a Woman!, starring Sophia Loren, Charles Boyer and Marcello Mastroianni - (Italy)
• While the City Sleeps, starring Dana Andrews and George Sanders
• Who Done It?, starring Benny Hill - (U.K.)
• Written on the Wind, starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone
• The Wrong Man, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Henry Fonda and Vera Miles
• X the Unknown - (U.K.)
• Yield to the Night, starring Diana Dors - (U.K.)
• Zarak - (U.K.)

Serials

• Blazing the Overland Trail, starring Lee Roberts and Dennis Moore
• Perils of the Wilderness

Short film series

• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)

Ending this year

• Donald Duck (1934-1956)
• Chip and Dale (1943-1956)
• Ranger Don (1953-1956)

Births

• January 3 - Mel Gibson, actor and director
• January 7 - David Caruso, actor
• January 9 - Kimberly Beck, actress
• January 21 - Geena Davis, actress
• January 27 - Mimi Rogers, actress
• February 3 - Nathan Lane, actor
• February 11 - Kathleen Beller, actress
• March 1 - Tim Daly, actor
• March 7 - Bryan Cranston, actor and director
• March 13 - Dana Delany, actress
• April 12 - Andy García, Cuban-American actor
• July 1 - Alan Ruck, actor
• July 9 - Tom Hanks, actor and director
• July 11 - Sela Ward, actress
• July 31 - Michael Biehn, actor
• August 12 - Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor
• August 20 - Joan Allen, actress
• August 21 - Kim Cattrall, English-born Canadian actress
• September 20 - Gary Cole, actor
• September 26 - Linda Hamilton, actress
• October 20 - Danny Boyle, English director and producer
• October 21 - Carrie Fisher, actress
• November 8 - Richard Curtis, New Zealand-born British director and screenwriter
• November 20 - Bo Derek, actress and model

Deaths

• January 12 - Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
• January 23 - Alexander Korda, Hungarian film director, the founder of London Films (b. 1893)
• March 25 - Robert Newton, English actor (b. 1905)
• April 15 - Kathleen Howard, Canadian-American opera singer & film character actress (b. 1884)
• June 6 - Margaret Wycherly, English stage & screen actress born of American parents (b. 1881)
• June 30 - Thorleif Lund, Norwegian actor (b. 1880)
• July 16 - Olof Winnerstrand, Swedish actor (b. 1875)
• August 16 - Béla Lugosi, Hungarian-born American actor best known for Dracula (b. 1882)
• October 9 - Marie Doro, American actress famous on Broadway and in silent films (b. 1882)
• November 30 - Viggo Wiehe, Danish actor (b. 1874)
• December 12 - Ewald André Dupont, German director (b. 1891)
• December 26 - Holmes Herbert, British actor in silents and sound films (b. 1882)

Film Debuts

• Jean-Paul Belmondo
• Michael Caine
• James Garner
• Robert Morse
• Leslie Nielsen
• Elvis Presley
• Rip Torn