1961 in Film - Notable Films Released in 1961

Notable Films Released in 1961

U.S.A. unless stated

A

  • The Absent-Minded Professor, starring Fred MacMurray
  • Accattone, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini - (Italy)
  • Ada, starring Dean Martin and Susan Hayward
  • All in a Night's Work, starring Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine
  • And Love Has Vanished (Dvoje) - (Yugoslavia)
  • Angel Baby, starring Salome Jens and Mercedes McCambridge
  • Antigone, starring Irene Papas - (Greece)
  • Armored Command, starring Howard Keel and Tina Louise
  • The Artillery Sergeant Kalen (Ogniomistrz Kaleń) - (Poland)
  • The Assassin (L'Assassino), starring Marcello Mastroianni - (Italy)
  • Atlantis, the Lost Continent, starring John Dall

B

  • Babes in Toyland, starring Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello
  • Bachelor in Paradise, starring Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss
  • Back Street, starring Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera Miles
  • Bandits of Orgosolo (Banditi a Orgosolo) - (Italy)
  • Barabbas, starring Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano and Jack Palance - (Italy)
  • The Big Bankroll, aka King of the Roaring 20's, starring David Janssen, Mickey Rooney, Diana Dors
  • The Big Gamble, starring Stephen Boyd
  • Black Silk (Prae Dum) - (Thailand)
  • Blast of Silence, directed by and starring Allen Baron
  • The Blonde from Buenos Aires (Una Americana en Buenos Aires), starring Mamie Van Doren and Jean-Pierre Aumont - (Argentina/France)
  • Blue Hawaii, starring Elvis Presley (his biggest box-office success), with Joan Blackman and Angela Lansbury
  • Boatmen of Thessaloniki (Солунските Атентатори) - (Yugoslavia)
  • A Bomb Was Stolen (S-a furat o bombă) - (Romania)
  • Bootleggers (Samogonshchiki) - (USSR)
  • Breakfast at Tiffany's, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
  • Bridge to the Sun, starring Carroll Baker and James Shigeta - (France/U.S.)
  • By Love Possessed, starring Lana Turner, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., George Hamilton

C

  • Carry On Regardless, starring Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey - (U.K.)
  • Cash on Demand, starring Peter Cushing and André Morell - (U.K.)
  • A cavallo della tigre (aka On the Tiger's Back), starring Nino Manfredi - (Italy)
  • The Children's Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner and Miriam Hopkins (who also starred in the original film These Three)
  • Chronicle of Flaming Years (Povest plamennykh let) - (USSR)
  • The Coachman (Mabu) - (South Korea)
  • The Colossus of Rhodes, directed by Sergio Leone, starring Rory Calhoun - (Italy)
  • The Comancheros, starring John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Lee Marvin, Ina Balin
  • Come September, starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida
  • Cry for Happy, starring Glenn Ford, Miyoshi Umeki, Donald O'Connor
  • The Curse of the Werewolf, starring Clifford Evans and Oliver Reed - (U.K.)

D

  • The Day the Earth Caught Fire, starring Edward Judd - (U.K.)
  • The Deadly Companions, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith
  • Dersu Uzala - (USSR)
  • The Devil at 4 O'Clock, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, Gregoire Aslan
  • A Difficult Life (Una vita difficile), directed by Dino Risi, starring Alberto Sordi - (Italy)
  • Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana), directed by Pietro Germi, starring Marcello Mastroianni - (Italy)
  • Dondi, starring David Janssen

E

  • El Cid, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren - (U.S./Italy)
  • The End of Summer (Kohayagawa-ke no aki), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
  • The End of the Cancageiros (A Morte Comanda o Cangaço) - (Brazil)
  • The Errand Boy, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis
  • The Exiles - documentary
  • The Explosive Generation, starring William Shatner and Patty McCormack

F

  • Fanny, starring Charles Boyer and Leslie Caron
  • The Fascist (Il Federale), starring Ugo Tognazzi - (Italy)
  • A Fever in the Blood, starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Angie Dickinson, Don Ameche, Jack Kelly, Carroll O'Connor
  • Flooded Out (Los Inundados) - (Argentina)
  • Flower Drum Song, starring Nancy Kwan
  • Francis of Assisi, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bradford Dillman and Dolores Hart
  • The Frightened City, starring Sean Connery, John Gregson, Yvonne Romain

G

  • The George Raft Story, starring Jayne Mansfield and Ray Danton
  • Gidget Goes Hawaiian, starring Deborah Walley
  • Girl with a Suitcase (La Ragazza con la valigia), starring Claudia Cardinale - (Italy)
  • Go Naked in the World, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Franciosa - (Italy)
  • Goodbye Again, starring Ingrid Bergman and Yves Montand - (France/U.S.)
  • Gorgo, starring Bill Travers - (U.K.)
  • The Great Impostor, starring Tony Curtis
  • The Greengage Summer, starring Kenneth More and Susannah York - (U.K.)
  • Gunga Jumna, starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala - (India)
  • The Guns of Navarone, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn - (U.K.)

H

  • Harry and the Butler (Harry og kammertjeneren) - (Denmark)
  • Havoc in Heaven (aka The Monkey King), an animated films - (China)
  • Hogs and Warships (Buta to gunkan), directed by Shōhei Imamura - (Japan)
  • Homicidal, directed by William Castle
  • The Honeymoon Machine, starring Steve McQueen, Brigid Bazlen, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss
  • Hoodlum Priest, starring Don Murray
  • The Human Condition (Ningen no jōken), directed by Masaki Kobayashi - (Japan)
  • The Houseguest and My Mother (Sarangbang sonnimgwa eomeoni) - (South Korea)
  • The Hustler, directed by Robert Rossen, starring Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, Jackie Gleason

I

  • Immortal Love (Eien no hito) - (Japan)
  • The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr - (U.K.)

J

  • 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, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Rita Gam, Rip Torn
  • The Knife (Het Mes), directed by Fons Rademakers - (Netherlands)

L

  • The Ladies Man, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis
  • The Last Judgement (Il Giudizio universale), directed by Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
  • The Last Sunset, starring Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten, Carol Lynley
  • The Last Time I Saw Archie, starring Robert Mitchum and Jack Webb
  • The Last War (Sekai Daisensō) - (Japan)
  • Last Year at Marienbad (L'Année dernière à Marienbad), directed by Alain Resnais, starring Delphine Seyrig - Golden Lion winner - (France)
  • Leon Morin, Priest (Léon Morin, prêtre), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo - (France)
  • Lola, directed by Jacques Demy, starring Anouk Aimée - (France)
  • The Long Absence (Une aussi longue absence) - Palme d'Or winner - (France)
  • The Long and the Short and the Tall, starring Laurence Harvey and Richard Harris - (U.K.)
  • Look in Any Window, starring Paul Anka and Ruth Roman
  • The Lovemakers (La Viaccia), starring Claudia Cardinale and Jean-Paul Belmondo - (Italy)
  • Lover Come Back, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson

M

  • Mad Dog Coll (Gene Hackman's debut)
  • A Majority of One, starring Rosalind Russell and Alec Guinness
  • Man-Trap, starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Stella Stevens
  • The Mark, starring Stuart Whitman and Maria Schell - (U.K.)
  • The Mask, starring Paul Stevens - (Canada)
  • The Miracle of Father Malachia (Das Wunder des Malachias), directed by Bernhard Wicki - (West Germany)
  • The Misfits, directed by John Huston, starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable (in both their last screen roles) and Montgomery Clift
  • Mother Joan of the Angels (Matka Joanna od Aniołów) - (Poland)
  • Mothra, directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)
  • Murder, She Said, starring Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, James Robertson Justice, Stringer Davis - (U.K.)
  • Mysterious Island, starring Michael Craig, Michael Callan, Joan Greenwood

N

  • The Naked Edge, starring Gary Cooper (in his final film) and Deborah Kerr
  • Nazrana (Gift), starring Raj Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala - (India)
  • Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (Nefertiti, regina del Nilo), starring Jeanne Crain and Vincent Price - (Italy)
  • No Love for Johnnie, starring Peter Finch - (U.K.)
  • La Notte (The Night), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau - Golden Bear winner - (Italy/France)
  • Nude on the Moon, directed by Doris Wishman

O

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

P

  • The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith
  • Paris Belongs to Us (Paris nous appartient), directed by Jacques Rivette - (France)
  • Paris Blues, starring Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Diahann Carroll
  • Parrish, starring Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Claudette Colbert
  • Peace to Him Who Enters (Mir vkhodyashchemu) - (USSR)
  • Pigs and Battleships (Buta to gunkan), directed by Shohei Imamura - (Japan)
  • The Pit and the Pendulum, with Vincent Price
  • Plácido, directed by Luis García Berlanga - (Spain)
  • Please, Not Now! (La Bride sur le cou), starring Brigitte Bardot - (France)
  • The Pleasure of His Company, starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds
  • Pocketful of Miracles, final film of director Frank Capra, starring Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Hope Lange, Peter Falk, Ann-Margret
  • Portrait of a Mobster, starring Vic Morrow
  • Il Posto (The Errand Boy), directed by Ermanno Olmi - (Italy)
  • Professor Mamlock - (East Germany)

Q

  • Question 7, directed by Stuart Rosenberg - (U.S./West Germany)

R

  • A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee
  • The Rebel, starring Tony Hancock - (U.K.)
  • Return to Peyton Place, directed by José Ferrer, starring Carol Lynley, Tuesday Weld, Eleanor Parker
  • The Right Approach, starring Martha Hyer and Juliet Prowse
  • The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, starring Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty - (U.K.)

S

  • Sail a Crooked Ship, starring Ernie Kovacs, Robert Wagner, Dolores Hart, Frank Gorshin
  • Scarlet Sails (Алые Паруса) - (U.S.S.R.)
  • The Second Time Around, starring Debbie Reynolds, Andy Griffith, Juliet Prowse
  • The Secret Ways, starring Richard Widmark
  • Seetha Rama Kalynam, directed by and starring N. T. Rama Rao - (India)
  • Sennin Buraku (Hermit Village) - (Japan)
  • The Sins of Rachel Cade, starring Angie Dickinson
  • A Soldier's Prayer (Ningen no jôken), directed by Masaki Kobayashi - (Japan)
  • Something Wild, starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker
  • A Song About the Gray Pigeon (Piesen o sivém holubovi) - (Czechoslovakia)
  • Splendor in the Grass, starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty
  • The Steamroller and the Violin (Katok i skripka), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky - (U.S.S.R.)
  • Summer and Smoke, starring Geraldine Page and Laurence Harvey
  • Susan Slade, starring Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens

T

  • Taste of Fear, starring Susan Strasberg - (U.K.)
  • Then Nilavu (Honeymoon), starring Gemini Ganesan and Vyjayanthimala - (India)
  • A Taste of Honey, directed by Tony Richardson, starring Rita Tushingham - (U.K.)
  • Three Daughters (Teen Kanya), directed by Satyajit Ray - (India)
  • Through a Glass Darkly (Såsom i en spegel), directed by Ingmar Bergman - (Sweden)
  • A Thunder of Drums, starring Richard Boone, George Hamilton, Luana Patten
  • Town Without Pity, starring Kirk Douglas, Christine Kaufmann, E. G. Marshall, Frank Sutton, Robert Blake
  • Two Living, One Dead, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Patrick McGoohan - (UK/Sweden)
  • Two Rode Together, starring James Stewart and Richard Widmark

U

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

V

  • Victim, directed by Basil Dearden, starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Sims - (U.K.)
  • Viridiana, directed by Luis Buñuel - Palme d'Or winner - (Mexico/Spain)
  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, starring Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Robert Sterling, Peter Lorre, Barbara Eden

W

  • We Were Young (A byahme mladi) - (Bulgaria)
  • West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
  • When the Trees Were Tall (Kogda derevya byli bolshimi) - (U.S.S.R.)
  • Whistle Down the Wind, directed by Bryan Forbes, starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates - (U.K.)
  • Wife Number 13 (Al zouga talattashar) - (Egypt)
  • Wild in the Country, starring Elvis Presley with Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins
  • A Woman Is a Woman (Une Femme est une femme), directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina - (France)

Y

  • Yojimbo, directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshirō Mifune - (Japan)
  • The Young Ones, starring Cliff Richard and The Shadows - (U.K.)
  • The Young Savages, starring Burt Lancaster and Dina Merrill

Read more about this topic:  1961 In Film

Famous quotes containing the words notable, films and/or released:

    In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. The Seminole Indians surrendered to the Tamiami Trail. From the Everglades the remnants of this race emerged, soon after the trail was built, to set up their palm-thatched villages along the road and to hoist tribal flags as a lure to passing motorists.
    —For the State of Florida, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    Television does not dominate or insist, as movies do. It is not sensational, but taken for granted. Insistence would destroy it, for its message is so dire that it relies on being the background drone that counters silence. For most of us, it is something turned on and off as we would the light. It is a service, not a luxury or a thing of choice.
    David Thomson, U.S. film historian. America in the Dark: The Impact of Hollywood Films on American Culture, ch. 8, William Morrow (1977)

    the walk liberating, I was released from forms,
    from the perpendiculars,
    straight lines, blocks, boxes, binds
    of thought
    into the hues, shadings, rises, flowing bends and blends
    of sight:
    Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926)