1961 in film


The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.
Fandom movies:1961

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1961 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
RankTitleDistributorDomestic rentals
1West Side StoryUnited Artists$19,645,000
2The Guns of NavaroneColumbia$13,000,000
3El CidAllied Artists$12,000,000
4The Parent TrapBuena Vista$9,300,000
5The Absent-Minded ProfessorBuena Vista$9,000,000
6King of KingsMGM$8,000,000
7Lover Come BackUniversal$7,625,000
8One Hundred and One DalmatiansBuena Vista$6,200,000
9La Dolce VitaCineriz / Pathé$6,000,000
10Come SeptemberUniversal$5,772,000

Top-grossing films by country

The highest-grossing 1961 films from countries outside of North America.
CountryTitleStudioGross
IndiaGunga JumnaMehboob Studio$14,610,000
Soviet UnionStriped TripLenfilm$12,720,000

Events

1961 film releases

United States unless stated

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Notable films released in 1961

US unless stated

A

The Absent-Minded Professor, starring Fred MacMurrayAccattone, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini – Ada, starring Dean Martin and Susan HaywardAll in a Night's Work, starring Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaineAna Wa Banati, starring Salah Zulfikar, Zaki Rostom and Fayza Ahmed – And Love Has Vanished – Angel Baby, starring Salome Jens and Mercedes McCambridgeAntigone, starring Irene Papas – Armored Command, starring Howard Keel and Tina LouiseThe Artillery Sergeant Kalen – The Assassin, starring Marcello Mastroianni – Atlantis, the Lost Continent, starring John Dall

B

Babes in Toyland, starring Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette FunicelloBachelor in Paradise, starring Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige, Jim Hutton, Paula PrentissBack Street, starring Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera MilesBandits of Orgosolo – Barabbas, starring Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano and Jack Palance – The Big Bankroll, aka King of the Roaring 20s, starring David Janssen, Mickey Rooney, Diana DorsThe Big Gamble, starring Stephen BoydThe Black Monocle, directed by Georges LautnerBlack Silk – Blast of Silence, directed by and starring Allen BaronThe Blonde from Buenos Aires, starring Mamie Van Doren and Jean-Pierre Aumont – Blue Hawaii, starring Elvis Presley, with Joan Blackman and Angela LansburyBoatmen of Thessaloniki – A Bomb Was Stolen – Moonshiners – Breakfast at Tiffany's, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy EbsenBridge to the Sun, starring Carroll Baker and James Shigeta – By Love Possessed, starring Lana Turner, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., George Hamilton

C

Carry On Regardless, starring Sid James, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey – Cash on Demand, starring Peter Cushing and André Morell – On The Tiger's Back, starring Nino Manfredi – The Children's Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner and Miriam HopkinsChronicle of Flaming Years – Claudelle Inglish, starring Diane McBain and Arthur KennedyThe Coachman – The Colossus of Rhodes, directed by Sergio Leone, starring Rory Calhoun – The Comancheros, starring John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Lee Marvin and Ina BalinCome September, starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby DarinThe Connection, directed by Shirley ClarkeCry for Happy, starring Glenn Ford, Miyoshi Umeki and Donald O'ConnorThe Curse of the Werewolf, starring Clifford Evans and Oliver Reed –

D

The Day the Earth Caught Fire, starring Edward Judd – The Deadly Companions, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Maureen O'Hara and Brian KeithDersu Uzala – The Devil at 4 O'Clock, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, Grégoire AslanA Difficult Life, directed by Dino Risi, starring Alberto Sordi – Divorce Italian Style, directed by Pietro Germi, starring Marcello Mastroianni – Dondi, starring David Janssen

E

El Cid, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren – The End of Summer, directed by Yasujirō Ozu – The End of the Cancageiros – The Errand Boy, directed by and starring Jerry LewisEverything's Ducky, starring Buddy HackettThe Exiles – documentaryThe Explosive Generation, starring William Shatner and Patty McCormack

F

Fanny, starring Charles Boyer and Leslie CaronThe Fascist, starring Ugo Tognazzi – A Fever in the Blood, starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Angie Dickinson, Don Ameche and Jack KellyFive Golden Hours, starring Robert Wagner, Cyd Charisse, Ernie KovacsFive Minutes to Live, starring Johnny Cash

G

Garibaldi, directed by Roberto Rossellini – The George Raft Story, starring Jayne Mansfield and Ray DantonGidget Goes Hawaiian, starring Deborah WalleyThe Girl on the Boat, starring Norman Wisdom – Girl with a Suitcase, starring Claudia Cardinale – Go Naked in the World, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Franciosa – Goliath Against the Giants, directed by Guido Malatesta – Goodbye Again, starring Ingrid Bergman and Yves Montand – Gorgo, starring Bill Travers – The Great Impostor, starring Tony CurtisThe Greengage Summer, starring Kenneth More and Susannah York – Gunga Jumna, starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala – The Guns of Navarone, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn –

H

Harry and the Butler – Havoc in Heaven, an animated films – Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis,, directed by Vittorio Cottafavi – Hercules in the Haunted World, directed by Mario Bava – His and Hers, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Terry-Thomas and Janette Scott – Hogs and Warships, directed by Shohei Imamura – Homicidal, directed by William CastleThe Honeymoon Machine, starring Steve McQueen, Brigid Bazlen, Jim Hutton, Paula PrentissThe Hoodlum Priest, starring Don MurrayThe Human Condition, directed by Masaki Kobayashi – The Houseguest and My Mother – The Hustler, directed by Robert Rossen, starring Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, Jackie Gleason

I

Immortal Love – The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr –

J

Jhumroo, starring Madhubala and Kishore Kumar – Johnny Nobody, directed by and starring Nigel Patrick – Judgment at Nuremberg, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Richard Widmark, William Shatner

K

King of Kings, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Jeffrey Hunter, Robert Ryan, Siobhán McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Rita Gam, Rip TornThe Knife, directed by Fons Rademakers –

L

The Ladies Man, directed by and starring Jerry LewisThe Last Judgment, directed by Vittorio De Sica – The Last Sunset, starring Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten, Carol LynleyThe Last Time I Saw Archie, starring Robert Mitchum and Jack WebbThe Last War – Last Year at Marienbad, directed by Alain Resnais, starring Delphine Seyrig – Golden Lion winner – Léon Morin, Priest, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo – Lola, directed by Jacques Demy, starring Anouk Aimée – The Long Absence, directed by Henri Colpi – The Long and the Short and the Tall, starring Laurence Harvey and Richard Harris – Look in Any Window, starring Paul Anka and Ruth RomanThe Lovemakers, starring Claudia Cardinale and Jean-Paul Belmondo – Lover Come Back, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson

M

Mad Dog Coll, directed by Burt Balaban and starring John Davis ChandlerA Majority of One, starring Rosalind Russell and Alec GuinnessMan-Trap, starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen and Stella StevensMarines, Let's Go, starring Tom Tryon and David HedisonThe Mark, starring Stuart Whitman and Maria Schell – The Marriage-Go-Round, starring James Mason and Julie NewmarThe Mask, starring Paul Stevens – Master of the World, directed by William Witney, starring Vincent Price and Charles BronsonThe Miracle of Father Malachia, directed by Bernhard Wicki – The Misfits, directed by John Huston, starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery CliftMother Joan of the Angels, directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz – Mothra, directed by Ishirō Honda – Mr. Sardonicus, directed by William CastleMr. Topaze, directed by and starring Peter Sellers – Murder, She Said, directed by George Pollock and starring Margaret Rutherford –

N

The Naked Edge, starring Gary Cooper and Deborah KerrNazrana, starring Raj Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala – Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile, starring Jeanne Crain and Vincent Price – No Love for Johnnie, starring Peter Finch – La Notte, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau – Golden Bear winner – Nude on the Moon, directed by Doris Wishman

O

One-Eyed Jacks, directed by and starring Marlon Brando, with Karl Malden, Katy Jurado, Ben JohnsonOne Hundred and One Dalmatians, featuring the voices of Rod Taylor and Betty Lou GersonOne, Two, Three, directed by Billy Wilder, starring James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene FrancisThe Outsider, a biography starring Tony Curtis as World War II Marine Ira Hayes

P

The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian KeithParis Belongs to Us, directed by Jacques Rivette – Paris Blues, starring Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Diahann CarrollParrish, starring Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Claudette ColbertPeace to Him Who Enters – Pigs and Battleships, directed by Shohei Imamura – The Pit and the Pendulum, starring Vincent PricePlácido, directed by Luis García Berlanga – Please, Not Now!, starring Brigitte Bardot – The Pleasure of His Company, starring Fred Astaire and Debbie ReynoldsPocketful of Miracles, final film of director Frank Capra, starring Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Hope Lange and Arthur O'ConnellPortrait of a Mobster, starring Vic MorrowPosse from Hell, directed by Herbert Coleman, starring Audie Murphy and John SaxonIl posto, directed by Ermanno Olmi –

Q

Question 7, directed by Stuart Rosenberg –

R

A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby DeeThe Rebel, starring Tony Hancock – Return to Peyton Place, directed by José Ferrer, starring Carol Lynley, Tuesday Weld and Eleanor ParkerThe Right Approach, starring Martha Hyer, Frankie Vaughan and Juliet ProwseRomanoff and Juliet, starring Peter Ustinov and Sandra DeeThe Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, starring Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty –

S

Sail a Crooked Ship, starring Ernie Kovacs, Robert Wagner, Dolores Hart and Frank GorshinSanctuary, starring Lee Remick and Yves MontandScarlet Sails, directed by Alexandr Ptushko – The Second Time Around, starring Debbie Reynolds, Andy Griffith and Juliet ProwseThe Secret Ways, starring Richard WidmarkSeetarama Kalyanam, directed by and starring N. T. Rama Rao – Sennin Buraku – The Sins of Rachel Cade, starring Angie DickinsonA Soldier's Prayer, directed by Masaki Kobayashi – Something Wild, starring Carroll Baker and Ralph MeekerA Song About the Gray Pigeon, directed by Stanislav Barabáš – Splendor in the Grass, starring Natalie Wood and Warren BeattySpotlight on a Murderer, directed by Georges Franju – The Steamroller and the Violin, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky – A Storm of Love, starring Salah Zulfikar and Nahed Sherif – Summer and Smoke, starring Geraldine Page and Laurence HarveySusan Slade, starring Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens

T

Tammy Tell Me True, starring Sandra DeeTaste of Fear, starring Susan Strasberg – Taxi for Tobruk, directed by Denys de La Patellière – Then Nilavu, starring Gemini Ganesan and Vyjayanthimala – A Taste of Honey, directed by Tony Richardson, starring Rita Tushingham – That's What Love Is, directed by Mahmoud Zulfikar, starring Salah Zulfikar, Sabah – The Terror of the Tongs, starring Geoffrey Toone, Christopher Lee and Yvonne Monlaur – Three Daughters, directed by Satyajit Ray – Through a Glass Darkly, directed by Ingmar Bergman – A Thunder of Drums, starring Richard Boone, George Hamilton and Luana PattenTintin and the Golden Fleece, directed by Jean-Jacques Vierne – Too Late Blues, starring Bobby DarinTown Without Pity, directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and starring Kirk Douglas – Two Living, One Dead, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Patrick McGoohan – Two Loves, starring Shirley MacLaineTwo Rode Together, starring James Stewart and Richard Widmark

U

Underworld U.S.A., directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Cliff Robertson

V

W

We Were Young – West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris

Y

Yojimbo, directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune – The Young Doctors, starring Ben Gazzara and Dick ClarkThe Young Ones, starring Cliff Richard and The Shadows – The Young Savages, starring Burt Lancaster and Dina Merrill

Short film series

Looney Tunes Terrytoons Merrie Melodies Goofy Tom and Jerry Noveltoons Loopy De Loop

Births

Deaths