A list of American films released in 1951.
Danny Kaye hosted the 24th Academy Awards ceremony on March 20, 1952, held at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The winner of the Best Motion Picture category was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's An American in Paris.
The other nine nominated pictures were Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun , Quo Vadis and A Streetcar Named Desire .
Vivien Leigh won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Leigh had also played Blanche in the London stage production that had been directed by her then-husband Laurence Olivier. Other Best Actress nominees that year were Katharine Hepburn for The African Queen (Hepburn's 5th Best Actress Nomination), Eleanor Parker for The Detective Story, Shelley Winters for A Place in the Sun and Jane Wyman for The Blue Veil.
Humphrey Bogart won his only Oscar for his portrayal of Charlie Allnut in The African Queen. Other Best Actor nominees for that year were Marlon Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire, Montgomery Clift for A Place in the Sun, Arthur Kennedy for Bright Victory and Fredric March for Death of a Salesman.
The 9th Golden Globe Awards also honored the best films of 1951. That year's Golden Globes also marked the first time that the Best Picture category was split into Musical or Comedy or Drama. A Place in the Sun won Best Motion Picture - Drama, while An American in Paris won Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Fredric March won Best Actor, Drama for Death of a Salesman, while Danny Kaye won Best Actor, Musical or Comedy for On the Riviera. Jane Wyman won Best Actress, Drama, for her role in The Blue Veil, while June Allyson won Best Actress, Musical or Comedy for Too Young to Kiss.
1951 also saw the film debut of Grace Kelly and Carroll Baker.
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| Callaway Went Thataway |
Melvin Frank, Norman Panama |
Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire |
Comedy |
Also known as The Star Said No |
| Call Me Mister |
Lloyd Bacon |
Betty Grable, Dan Dailey |
Musical |
Based on the Broadway Musical |
| Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. |
Raoul Walsh |
Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo |
Adventure |
Based on the Horatio Hornblower novels |
| Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere |
Spencer Gordon Bennet |
Judd Holdren, Larry Stewart |
Serial |
|
| Casanova Cat |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Cat Napping |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Cattle Drive |
Kurt Neumann |
Joel McCrea, Dean Stockwell |
Western |
|
| Cause for Alarm! |
Tay Garnett |
Loretta Young Barry Sullivan Bruce Cowling |
Film Noir |
|
| Chained for Life |
Harry L. Fraser |
The Hilton Twins |
Exploitation |
|
| Cheese Chasers |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| Chow Hound |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| Close to My Heart |
William Keighley |
Gene Tierney, Ray Milland |
Drama |
|
| Come Fill the Cup |
Gordon Douglas |
James Cagney, Gig Young |
Drama |
Academy Award Nomination: Gig Young, Best Supporting Actor |
| Comin' Round the Mountain |
Charles Lamont |
Abbott and Costello |
Comedy |
|
| Cruise Cat |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Cry Danger |
Robert Parrish |
Dick Powell , Rhonda Fleming |
Film Noir |
Shot in 22 days |
| Cry, the Beloved Country |
Zoltan Korda |
Canada Lee, Charles Carson Sydney Poitier |
Drama |
Based on the novel |
| David and Bathsheba |
Henry King |
Gregory Peck. Susan Hayward |
Historical |
Based on the second Old Testament book of Samuel |
| Day of the Fight |
Stanley Kubrick |
Walter Cartier |
Documentary |
First picture directed by Kubrick |
| The Day the Earth Stood Still |
Robert Wise |
Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal |
Science Fiction |
Re-made in 2008 |
| Death of a Salesman |
László Benedek |
Fredric March, Mildred Dunnock |
Drama |
Based on the play |
| Decision Before Dawn |
Anatole Litvak |
Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill |
War |
From the novel Call It Treason |
| The Desert Fox |
Henry Hathaway |
James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke |
Biographical |
Based on the book Rommel |
| Destination Meatball |
Walter Lantz |
Woody Woodpecker |
Animation |
|
| Detective Story |
William Wyler |
Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker |
Film Noir |
Based on the play |
| Distant Drums |
Raoul Walsh |
Gary Cooper, Richard Webb |
Western |
|
| Don Daredevil Rides Again |
Fred C. Brannon |
Ken Curtis, Aline Towne |
Serial |
|
| Don't Throw That Knife |
Jules White |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| Double Dynamite |
Irving Cummings |
Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell |
Musical-Comedy |
|
| Drip-Along Daffy |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| Duck and Cover |
Anthony Rizzo |
|
Propaganda |
|
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| The Enforcer |
Bretaigne Windust |
Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel |
Film Noir |
Based on the Murder, Inc. trials |
| The Family Secret |
Henry Levin |
John Derek, Lee J. Cobb |
Drama |
|
| Father's Little Dividend |
Vincente Minnelli |
Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor |
Comedy |
Sequel to Father of the Bride |
| Flight to Mars |
Lesley Selander |
Cameron Mitchell, Arthur Franz |
Science Fiction |
|
| Flying Leathernecks |
Nicholas Ray |
John Wayne, Robert Ryan |
Action |
|
| Flying Padre |
Stanley Kubrick |
Fred Stadmueller |
Documentary |
Kubrick's second film |
| Follow the Sun |
Sidney Lanfield |
Anne Baxter, Glenn Ford |
Biographical |
Based on the life of Ben Hogan |
| Fourteen Hours |
Henry Hathaway |
Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart |
Drama |
|
| French Rarebit |
Robert McKimson |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| The Frogmen |
Lloyd Bacon |
Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews |
War |
First film about scuba diving |
| Gerald McBoing-Boing |
Robert Cannon |
Marvin Miller |
Animation |
Academy Award: Best Animated Short |
| Go for Broke! |
Robert Pirosh |
Van Johnson, Lane Nakano |
War |
|
| Goodbye, My Fancy |
Vincent Sherman |
Joan Crawford, Robert Young |
Romantic-Comedy |
Based on the 1948 play |
| Government Agents vs Phantom Legion |
Fred C. Brannon |
Walter Reed, Mary Ellen Kay |
Serial |
12-Chapter serial |
| The Great Caruso |
Richard Thorpe |
Mario Lanza, Ann Blythe |
Biographical |
Based on the life of Enrico Caruso |
| Happy Go Lovely |
H. Bruce Humberstone |
Vera-Ellen, David Niven |
Romantic-Comedy |
Produced in the UK |
| He Ran All the Way |
John Berry |
John Garfield, Shelley Winters |
Film Noir |
Garfield's last picture |
| Here Comes the Groom |
Frank Capra |
Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman |
Musical |
|
| His Kind of Woman |
John Farrow, Richard Fleischer |
Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell |
Film Noir |
|
| His Mouse Friday |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Home Town Story |
Arthur Pierson |
Jeffrey Lynn, Marilyn Monroe |
Drama |
|
| Hula-La-La |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| I Can Get It for You Wholesale |
Michael Gordon |
Susan Hayward, Dan Dailey |
Romance |
|
| I Was a Communist for the FBI |
Gordon Douglas |
Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart |
Film Noir |
|
| I'll See You in My Dreams |
Michael Curtiz |
Doris Day |
Biographical |
Based on the life of Gus Kahn. |
| Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison |
Crane Wilbur |
Steve Cochran, David Brian |
Drama |
Inspired Johnny Cash to write the song |
| Jerry and Jumbo |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Jerry and the Goldfish |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Jim Thorpe -- All-American |
Michael Curtiz |
Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford |
Biographical |
|
| Just Ducky |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Lady Godiva Rides Again |
Frank Launder |
Diana Dors, Alastair Sim |
Comedy |
Joan Collins
s film debut
|
| The Lemon Drop Kid |
Sidney Lanfield |
Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell |
Comedy |
Silver Bells was introduced in this film. Re-make of the 1934 version. |
| Let's Make It Legal |
Richard Sale |
Claudette Colbert, MacDonald Carey |
Comedy |
|
| Lost Continent |
Sam Newfield |
Cesar Romero, Chick Chandler |
Science Fiction |
|
| Love Nest |
Joseph Newman |
June Haver, William Lundigan, Frank Fay and Marilyn Monroe |
Drama |
|
| Lullaby of Broadway |
David Butler |
Doris Day |
Musical |
|
| M |
Joseph Losey |
David Wayne, Howard Da Silva |
Drama |
Remake of the 1931 film |
| The Magnificent Yankee |
John Sturges |
Louis Calhern, Ann Harding |
Biographical |
Based on the life of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. |
| The Man with My Face |
Edward Montagne |
Barry Nelson, Carole Mathews |
Film Noir |
Jack Warden's movie debut |
| The Man with a Cloak |
Fletcher Markle |
Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck |
Drama |
Based on the short story The Gentleman from Paris. |
| The Mating Season |
Mitchell Leisen |
Gene Tierney, John Lund |
Comedy |
|
| Merry Mavericks |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| The Mob |
Robert Parrish |
Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler |
Film Noir |
|
| Mysterious Island |
Spencer Gordon Bennett |
Richard Crane, Marshall Reed |
Serial |
Based on the Jules Verne novel |
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| Nit-Witty Kitty |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| No Smoking |
Jack Kinney |
Goofy |
Animation |
|
| On Moonlight Bay |
Roy Del Ruth |
Doris Day, Gordon MacRae |
Musical |
Followed by By the Light of the Silvery Moon |
| On the Riviera |
Walter Lang |
Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney |
Musical |
Based on the play The Red Cat. |
| Operation Pacific |
George Waggner |
John Wayne, Patricia Neal |
War |
|
| Painting the Clouds with Sunshine |
David Butler |
Dennis Morgan, Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson |
Musical |
Re-make of Gold Diggers of 1933. |
| Payment on Demand |
Curtis Bernhardt |
Bette Davis, Barry Sullivan |
Drama |
Originally titled The Story of a Divorce. |
| Peking Express |
The Story of a Divorce |
Joseph Cotten, Corinne Calvet |
Adventure |
Second re-make of Shanghai Express |
| The People Against O'Hara |
John Sturges |
Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien |
Film Noir |
|
| People Will Talk |
Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain |
Romantic-Comedy |
|
| Pest Man Wins |
Jules White |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| A Place in the Sun |
George Stevens |
Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters |
|
Academy Award: Best Director |
| The Prize Pest |
Robert McKimson |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
The last screwball Daffy Duck cartoon. |
| The Prowler |
Joseph Losey |
Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes |
Film Noir |
|
| Quebec |
George Templeton |
John Drew Barrymore, Corinne Calvet |
Historical Drama |
|
| Rabbit Fire |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| The Racket |
John Cromwell |
Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott |
Film Noir |
Re-make of the 1928 film |
| Rawhide |
Henry Hathaway |
Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward |
Western |
|
| The Red Badge of Courage |
John Huston |
Audie Murphy, Bill Mauldin |
War |
Based on the novel |
| The River |
Jean Renoir |
Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight |
Romance |
|
| Roadblock |
Harold Daniels |
Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon |
Film Noir |
|
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| Scrambled Brains |
Jules White |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| The Secret of Convict Lake |
Michael Gordon |
Glenn Ford, Gene Tierney |
Western |
|
| Show Boat |
George Sidney |
Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner |
Musical |
Based on the musical. |
| Sirocco |
Curtis Bernhardt |
Humphrey Bogart, Märta Torén, Lee J. Cobb |
Film Noir |
Based on the novel Coup de Grace. |
| Sleepy-Time Tom |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Slicked-up Pup |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Smart Alec |
|
|
|
|
| Starlift |
Roy Del Ruth |
Janice Rule, Dick Wesson |
Musical |
|
| The Steel Helmet |
|
|
|
|
| Strangers on a Train |
Alfred Hitchcock |
Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker |
Thriller |
|
| A Streetcar Named Desire |
Elia Kazan |
Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Kim Hunter |
Drama |
Academy Awards: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress |
| Strictly Dishonorable |
Melvin Frank |
Ezio Pinza, Janet Leigh |
Romantic Comedy |
|
| Summer Interlude |
|
|
|
|
| Superman and the Mole Men |
|
|
|
|
| The Tales of Hoffmann |
|
|
|
|
| That's My Boy |
|
|
|
|
| The Flying Cat |
William Hanna
Joseph Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| The Last of Mrs. Cheyney |
|
|
|
|
| The Thing from Another World |
|
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|
| The Man from Planet X |
|
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|
|
| Thunder on the Hill |
|
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|
|
| The Tooth Will Out |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| Two Lost Worlds |
|
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| Two of a Kind |
|
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| Two-Dollar Bettor |
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| The Unknown Man |
|
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| Three Arabian Nuts |
Edward Bernds |
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| Unknown World |
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| Vengeance Valley |
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| The Wearing of the Grin |
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| The Well |
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| When Worlds Collide |
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| You're in the Navy Now |
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| Young Wives' Tale |
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[edit] External links
