1959 in film

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The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)[edit]

The top ten 1959 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1959
Rank	Title	Studio	Box-office gross rental
1	Ben-Hur	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$36,000,000^[1]
2	The Shaggy Dog	Walt Disney/Buena Vista Distribution	$9,600,000^[2]
3	Operation Petticoat	Universal Pictures	$9,300,000^[1]
4	Some Like It Hot	United Artists/The Mirisch Company	$7,800,000^[2]
5	Pillow Talk	Universal Pictures	$7,500,000^[1]
6	Imitation of Life	Universal Pictures	$6,500,000^[1]
7	Suddenly, Last Summer	Columbia Pictures	$6,400,000^[1]
8	Rio Bravo The Nun's Story	Warner Bros.	$5,800,000^[1]
9	North by Northwest	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$5,740,000^[3]
10	Anatomy of a Murder	Columbia Pictures	$5,500,000^[1]

Events[edit]

January 23 – Republic Pictures releases its last production, Plunderers of Painted Flats.^[4]
January 29 – Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty premieres, their most expensive film to date and the first animated film to be shot in Super Technirama 70. It initially ends up losing money for the studio due to its high production costs. However, it would eventually gain a cult following and is now considered one of Disney's great classics.
April 30 – François Truffaut's The 400 Blows opens the 1959 Cannes Film Festival bringing international attention to the French New Wave.
June 4 – The Three Stooges release their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.
June 7 – A contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions is signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over a seven-year period.^[5] This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut, and the return of film rights after 30 years.
July 1 - Herbert J. Yates, founder of Republic Pictures, sells his controlling stake in the company.
July – Les Cousins, another film of the French New Wave, wins the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival.
July 22 – Joseph E. Levine promotes the release of Hercules in the United States starring Steve Reeves which popularizes the sword and sandals genre.
August 4 – The Big Fisherman is the first film released in Super Panavision 70.
September 30 – The film of Mise Éire, made by George Morrison for Gael Linn, is premiered to close the Cork Film Festival, the first feature-length Irish language film.
October 7 – Rock Hudson, who is later voted top in the Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll for the year, appears in Pillow Talk alongside Doris Day for the first time.
October 14 – Legendary Australian-born actor Errol Flynn dies of a heart attack in Vancouver, Canada at the age of 50.
November 18 – William Wyler's film Ben-Hur, the most expensive film of all time with a budget of $15,175,000, premieres at Loew's State Theater in New York City. It went on to win a record 11 Academy Awards.
December 2 – The battle of the smellies starts with the release of the documentary Behind the Great Wall in AromaRama, with scents pumped into the theater during the film.

Awards[edit]

Category/Organization	17th Golden Globe Awards March 10, 1960		12th BAFTA Awards March 26, 1960	32nd Academy Awards April 4, 1960
Category/Organization	Comedy or Musical	Drama	12th BAFTA Awards March 26, 1960	32nd Academy Awards April 4, 1960
Best Film	Some Like It Hot (Comedy) Porgy and Bess (Musical)	Ben-Hur	Room at the Top	Ben-Hur
Best Director	William Wyler Ben-Hur		-	William Wyler Ben-Hur
Best Actor	Jack Lemmon Some Like It Hot	Anthony Franciosa Career	Sidney Poitier The Defiant Ones	Charlton Heston Ben-Hur
Best Actress	Marilyn Monroe Some Like It Hot	Elizabeth Taylor Suddenly, Last Summer	Simone Signoret Room at the Top	Simone Signoret Room at the Top
Best Supporting Actor	Stephen Boyd Ben-Hur		-	Hugh Griffith Ben-Hur
Best Supporting Actress	Susan Kohner Imitation of Life		-	Shelley Winters The Diary of Anne Frank
Best Screenplay, Adapted	Room at the Top Neil Paterson		Orders to Kill Paul Dehn	Room at the Top Neil Paterson
Best Screenplay, Original	Room at the Top Neil Paterson		Orders to Kill Paul Dehn	Pillow Talk Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro, and Maurice Richlin

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), directed by Marcel Camus, France

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Il Generale della Rovere (General della Rovere), directed by Roberto Rossellini, Italy / France

La grande guerra (The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, Italy / France

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Les Cousins (The Cousins), directed by Claude Chabrol, France

Notable films released in 1959[edit]

United States unless stated

U–V[edit]

Up Periscope, starring James Garner and Edmond O'Brien
Il vedovo (The Widower), directed by Dino Risi, starring Alberto Sordi – (Italy)
La vida alrededor (Life Around Us) – (Spain)
Violent Summer (Estate violenta), starring Jean-Louis Trintignant – (Italy/France)

W–X[edit]

Warlock, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Anthony Quinn, Dorothy Malone, Dolores Michaels, DeForest Kelley
The Wasp Woman, starring Susan Cabot
We Are Altogether Crazy (Vi er allesammen tossede) – (Denmark)
Westbound, starring Randolph Scott and Virginia Mayo
When the Woman Butts In (Kam čert nemůže) – (Czechoslovakia)
The Wild and the Innocent, starring Audie Murphy, Joanne Dru, Sandra Dee
Woman Obsessed, starring Susan Hayward
The Wonderful Country, starring Robert Mitchum and Julie London
The World, the Flesh and the Devil, starring Harry Belafonte and Inger Stevens
The World of Apu (Apur Sansar), directed by Satyajit Ray – (India)
The Wreck of the Mary Deare, starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston – (Britain/U.S.)

Y–Z[edit]

Yellowstone Kelly, starring Clint Walker and Edd Byrnes
Yesterday's Enemy, directed by Val Guest, starring Stanley Baker – (Britain)
The Young Philadelphians, starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Brian Keith, Alexis Smith, Robert Vaughn
Zorro, the Avenger^{[clarification needed]}

Short film series[edit]

Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
Terrytoons (1930–1964)
Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Births[edit]

January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor and voice actor
January 17 – Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese former actress and singer
January 22 – Linda Blair, American actress
February 2 – Laine Mägi, Estonian actress and dancer
February 4 – Pamelyn Ferdin, American actress
February 22 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
March 5 – Darío Grandinetti, Argentinian actor
March 6 – Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
March 7 – Donna Murphy, American actress and singer
March 8 – Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
March 15 – Renny Harlin, Finnish director and producer
March 18
- Luc Besson, French director and producer
- Irene Cara, American actress and singer
March 22 – Matthew Modine, American actor
March 23 – Catherine Keener, American actress
April 3 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor
April 15 – Emma Thompson, English actress
April 17 – Sean Bean, English actor
April 20 – Clint Howard, American actor
May 16 – Mare Winningham, American actress
May 29 – Rupert Everett, English actor
June 11 – Hugh Laurie, English actor
June 22 – Wayne Federman, American actor and comedian
June 30 – Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
July 26 – Kevin Spacey, American actor
July 29 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
August 10 – Rosanna Arquette, American actress
August 14 – Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
August 29 – Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
September 14 – Haviland Morris, American actress
September 23 – Jason Alexander, American actor
October 21 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
November 14 – Paul McGann, English actor
November 19 – Allison Janney, American actress
November 20 – Sean Young, American actress
November 28 – Judd Nelson, American actor
December 13 – Johnny Whitaker, American actor
December 29 – Patricia Clarkson, American actress
December 31 – Val Kilmer, American actor

Deaths[edit]

January 21
- Cecil B. DeMille, 77, American director and producer, The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Show on Earth
- Carl Switzer, 31, American singer and actor, Our Gang
February 1 – Madame Sul-Te-Wan, 85, American actress, King of the Zombies, In Old Chicago
February 4 – Una O'Connor, 78, Irish actress, Witness for the Prosecution, The Adventures of Robin Hood
February 5 – Gwili Andre, 51, Danish actress, Secrets of the French Police, No Other Woman
February 20 – George Archainbaud, 68, French director, Thirteen Women, Girls of the Big House
February 22 – Helen Parrish, 34, American actress, Too Many Blondes, X Marks the Spot
March 2 – Eric Blore, 71, British actor, Top Hat, The Lady Eve, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
March 3 – Lou Costello, 52, American comedian and actor, half of Abbott and Costello comedy team, Africa Screams, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
March 26 – Raymond Chandler, 70, American author and screenwriter, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity
March 27 – Grant Withers, 54, American actor, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache
April 12 – James Gleason, 76, American actor, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Bishop's Wife
April 17 – Cecil Cunningham, 70, American actress, The Awful Truth, Monkey Business
April 18 – Irving Cummings, 70, American director, Louisiana Purchase, The Dolly Sisters
May 3 – Troy Sanders, 57, American score arranger and composer, White Christmas, Going My Way
June 2 – Lyda Borelli, 75, Italian actress, Malombra, The Moth
June 4 – Charles Vidor, 58, Hungarian director, Gilda, Love Me or Leave Me
June 16 – George Reeves, 45, American actor, Gone with the Wind, So Proudly We Hail!
June 18 – Ethel Barrymore, 79, American actress, Portrait of Jennie, The Spiral Staircase
August 6 – Preston Sturges, 60, American writer, director, Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve
September 6
- Edmund Gwenn, 81, British actor, Miracle on 34th Street, Mister 880
- Kay Kendall, 32, British actress, Genevieve, Les Girls
September 11 – Paul Douglas, 52, American actor, A Letter to Three Wives, It Happens Every Spring
September 13 – Adrian, 56, American costume designer, The Wizard of Oz, The Women
September 14 – Wayne Morris, 45, American actor, Kid Galahad, Paths of Glory
September 25 – Helen Broderick, 68, American actress, Top Hat, Swing Time
September 30 – Taylor Holmes, 81, American actor, Kiss of Death, Sleeping Beauty
October 3 – William Bishop, 41, American actor, Harriet Craig, Top Gun
October 7 – Mario Lanza, 38, American singer and actor, The Great Caruso, Winged Victory
October 14 – Errol Flynn, 50, Australian actor, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood
October 21 – Olive Blakeney, 60, American actress, Leave It to Blanche, Don't Get Me Wrong
October 23 – Gerda Lundequist, 88, Swedish actress, Gosta Berlings Saga
October 30 – Noel Francis, 53, American actress, Blonde Crazy, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
November 7 – Victor McLaglen, 72, British actor, The Quiet Man, Gunga Din
November 20 – Sylvia Lopez, 26, French actress, Hercules Unchained, Son of the Red Corsair
November 21 – Max Baer, 50, American boxer and actor, The Prizefighter and the Lady, The Harder They Fall
November 25 – Gérard Philipe, 36, French actor, Fan-Fan the Tulip, Beauties of the Night
December 22 – Gilda Gray, 58, American actress, Aloma of the South Seas, Cabaret
December 24 – Edmund Goulding, 68, American director, Grand Hotel, The Razor's Edge

Film debuts[edit]

Seymour Cassel – Shadows
James Coburn – Ride Lonesome
Mia Farrow – John Paul Jones
Don Francks – Ivy League killers (The Fast Ones)
George Hamilton – Crime and Punishment U.S.A.
Richard Harris – Shake Hands with the Devil
Shirley Knight – Five Gates to Hell
Martin Landau – Pork Chop Hill
Millie Perkins – The Diary of Anne Frank
Michael J. Pollard – It Happened to Jane
Jason Robards – The Journey
Martin Scorsese – Vesuvius VI
George C. Scott – The Hanging Tree
Steven Spielberg – The Last Gunfight
Stella Stevens – Say One for Me
Billy Dee Williams – The Last Angry Man

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
^ ^a ^b Top 100 All Time Box Office Hits in 1966
^ The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ Plunderers of Painted Flats at the American Film Institute Catalog
^ Krutnik, Frank (2000). Inventing Jerry Lewis. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-1560983699.
^ "Al Capone (1959)". BFI. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

[Finler-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.

[1966AllTimeTop100-2] Top 100 All Time Box Office Hits in 1966

[3] The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

[4] Plunderers of Painted Flats at the American Film Institute Catalog

[5] Krutnik, Frank (2000). Inventing Jerry Lewis. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-1560983699.

[6] "Al Capone (1959)". BFI. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

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1959 in film

Contents

Top-grossing films (U.S.)[edit]

Events[edit]

Awards[edit]

Notable films released in 1959[edit]

#[edit]

A[edit]

B[edit]

C[edit]

D[edit]

E–F[edit]

G[edit]

H[edit]

I[edit]

J[edit]

K–L[edit]

M[edit]

N[edit]

O[edit]

P[edit]

Q–R[edit]

S[edit]

T[edit]