The following is a list of American films released in 1953.
Donald O'Connor and Frederic March co-hosted the 26th Academy Awards ceremony on March 25, 1954, held at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. This was the ceremony's second year of being telecast, with viewership at an estimated 43,000,000.
The winner of the Best Motion Picture category was Columbia Pictures's From Here to Eternity. All of the big winners that year were black and white films.
The 11th Golden Globe Awards also honored the best films of 1953. That year, no award was given for Best Picture: Musical or Comedy.
Spencer Tracy won the Golden Globe for Best Actor - Motion Picture - Drama, for The Actress, while David Niven won Best Actor - Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for The Moon is Blue. Audrey Hpeburn won Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama for Roman Holiday, while Ethel Merman won for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Call Me Madam. The Robe won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture.
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T |
Roy Rowland |
Tommy Rettig, Mary Healy |
Musical Fantasy |
Only film written by Dr. Seuss |
| 99 River Street |
Phil Karlson |
John Payne, Evelyn Keyes |
Film noir |
|
| Abbott and Costello Go to Mars |
Charles Lamont |
Abbott and Costello |
Science Fiction |
|
| Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
Charles Lamont |
Abbott and Costello |
Comedy,Horror |
|
| The Actress |
George Cukor |
Jean Simmons, Spencer Tracy, Teresa Wright |
Drama |
Based on life of Ruth Gordon |
| All My Babies |
George C. Stoney |
|
Educational |
|
| All the Brothers Were Valiant |
Richard Thorpe |
Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger |
Adventure |
Re-make of the 1923 version. |
| Arrowhead |
Charles Marquis Warren |
Charlton Heston, Jack Palance, Katy Jurado |
Adventure |
|
| Baby Butch |
|
|
Animated |
|
| The Bad and the Beautiful |
Vincente Minnelli |
Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame |
Drama |
|
| The Band Wagon |
Vincente Minnelli |
Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Jack Buchanan |
Musical |
|
| Battle Circus |
John Huston |
Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson, Keenan Wynn |
Drama |
|
| The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms |
Eugene Lourie |
Paula Raymond |
Science Fiction |
|
| Beat the Devil |
John Huston |
Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lorre |
Comedy |
|
| Ben and Me |
Hamilton Luske |
|
Animation |
|
| The Big Heat |
Fritz Lang |
Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin |
Film noir |
|
| Big Leaguer |
Robert Aldrich |
Edward G. Robinson, Vera-Ellen |
Romantic-Comedy |
|
| The Blue Gardenia |
Fritz Lang |
Ann Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr |
Film noir |
|
| Bully for Bugs |
Chuck Jones |
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| By the Light of the Silvery Moon |
David Butler |
Doris Day, Gordon MacRae |
Musical |
Sequel to On Moonlight Bay |
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| Dance Hall Racket |
Phil Tucker |
Lenny Bruce |
Drama |
|
| Dangerous Crossing |
Joseph M. Newman |
Jeanne Crain, Michael Rennie |
Mystery |
Based on the the play Cabin B-13. |
| The Desert Song |
H. Bruce Humberstone |
Kathryn Grayson, Gordon MacRae |
Musical |
Based on the operetta The Desert Song. |
| Designs on Jerry |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animation |
|
| Destination Gobi |
Robert Wise |
Richard Widmark, Don Taylor |
Drama |
|
| Don's Fountain of Youth |
Jack Hannah |
|
Animation |
|
| Donovan's Brain |
Felix E. Feist |
Lew Ayres, Nancy Davis |
Horror |
Davis later became Nancy Reagan |
| Dream Wife |
Sidney Sheldon |
Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr |
Comedy |
|
| Duck Dodgers |
|
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| Duck! Rabbit! Duck! |
|
Looney Tunes |
Animation |
|
| The Farmer Takes a Wife |
Henry Levin |
Betty Grable |
Musical comedy |
Remake of 1934 play and 1935 film |
| Fear and Desire |
Stanley Kubrick |
Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky |
Drama |
|
| Four Sided Triangle |
Terence Fisher |
Stephen Murray |
Drama |
|
| From Here to Eternity |
Fred Zinnemann |
Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed |
Drama |
Academy Award: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor |
| Gentlemen Prefer Blondes |
Howard Hawks |
Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell |
Musical comedy |
Based on the 1949 Broadway show |
| The Girls of Pleasure Island |
F. Hugh Herbert |
Don Taylor, Elsa Lanchester |
Comedy |
|
| Give a Girl a Break |
Stanley Donen |
Debbie Reynolds |
Musical comedy |
|
| The Glass Wall |
Maxwell Shane |
Vittorio Gassman, Gloria Grahame |
Drama |
|
| Glen or Glenda |
Ed Wood |
Dolores Fuller |
Drama |
|
| The Glenn Miller Story |
Anthony Mann |
June Allyson, Jimmy Stewart |
Biographical |
Based on life of Glenn Miller |
| The Golden Coach |
Jean Renoir |
Anna Magnani |
Drama |
France |
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| The Heart of the Matter |
George O'Ferrall |
Trevor Howard |
Drama |
Based on novel by Graham Greene |
| The Hitch-Hiker |
Ida Lupino |
Edmond O'Brien, William Talman |
Thriller |
|
| Hondo |
John Farrow |
John Wayne, Geraldine Page |
Western |
|
| Houdini |
George Marshall |
Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh |
Biographical |
|
| House of Wax |
Andre De Toth |
Vincent Price |
Horror |
|
| How to Marry a Millionaire |
Jean Negulesco |
Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, William Powell |
Comedy |
|
| I Confess |
Alfred Hitchcock |
Montgomery Clift |
Drama |
|
| I Love Lucy |
Edward Sedgwick |
Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz |
Comedy |
Feature-length version of TV show |
| I, the Jury |
Harry Essex |
Biff Elliot |
Drama |
Based on book by Mickey Spillane |
| Inferno |
Roy Ward Baker |
Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming |
Thriller |
|
| Invaders from Mars |
William Cameron Menzies |
Helena Carter |
Science Fiction |
|
| Island in the Sky |
William Wellman |
John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, James Arness |
Drama |
|
| It Came from Outer Space |
Jack Arnold |
Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush |
Science Fiction |
|
| Jeopardy |
John Sturges |
Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan |
Thriller |
|
| Johann Mouse |
|
|
|
|
| Julius Caesar |
Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
Marlon Brando, James Mason |
Drama |
|
| Jungle Drums of Africa |
Fred C. Brannon |
Phyllis Coates |
Adventure |
12-part serial |
| Kansas Pacific |
Ray Nazarro |
Sterling Hayden |
Western |
|
| Kiss Me, Kate |
George Sidney |
Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller |
Musical |
Based on 1948 Broadway show |
| Knights of the Round Table |
Richard Thorpe |
Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner |
Adventure |
|
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| Let's All Go to the Lobby |
|
|
|
|
| Let's Do It Again |
Alexander Hall |
Jane Wyman, Ray Milland |
Musical comedy |
|
| Life with Tom |
Hanna Barbera |
Tom and Jerry |
Animated |
|
| Lili |
Charles Walters |
Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer |
|
Academy Award for Best Original Score |
| The Limping Man |
Cy Endfield |
Lloyd Bridges |
Drama |
|
| A Lion Is in the Streets |
Raoul Walsh |
James Cagney |
Drama |
|
| Little Boy Lost |
George Seaton |
Bing Crosby |
Drama |
|
| Little Fugitive |
3 directors |
Richie Andrusco |
Drama |
|
| The Living Desert |
|
|
Documentary |
Academy Award: Best Documentary |
| The Lost Planet |
Spencer Bennet |
Judd Holdren |
Science Fiction |
|
| Malta Story |
Brian Desmond Hurst |
Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins |
War |
|
| Man in the Attic |
Hugo Fregonese |
Jack Palance |
Drama |
|
| Man in the Dark |
Lew Landers |
Edmund O'Brien |
Thriller |
Remake of 1936 film Man Who Lived Twice |
| Mesa of Lost Women |
Ron Ormond, Herb Tevis |
Jackie Coogan |
Science Fiction |
|
| The Million Pound Note |
Ronald Neame |
Gregory Peck |
Comedy |
|
| Mogambo |
John Ford |
Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly |
Adventure |
|
| Money from Home |
George Marshall |
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis |
Comedy |
|
| The Moon Is Blue |
Otto Preminger |
William Holden, David Niven, Maggie McNamara |
Romantic comedy |
|
| Mouse for Sale |
|
|
|
|
| The Naked Spur |
Anthony Mann |
James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan |
Western |
|
| The Neanderthal Man |
Ewald Andre Dupont |
Robert Shayne, Beverly Garland |
Science Fiction |
|
| Neapolitan Mouse |
|
|
|
|
| Never Let Me Go |
Delmer Daves |
Clark Gable, Gene Tierney |
Adventure |
|
| Niagara |
Henry Hathaway |
Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten |
Thriller |
|
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| O Dreamland |
Lindsay Anderson |
|
Documentary |
|
| One Girl's Confession |
Hugo Haas |
Cleo Moore |
Drama |
|
| Pardon My Backfire |
|
Three Stooges |
Comedy |
|
| Peter Pan |
Clyde Geronimi |
Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont |
|
|
| Pickup on South Street |
Samuel Fuller |
Richard Widmark |
Thriller |
|
| The President's Lady |
Henry Levin |
Susan Hayward, Charlton Heston |
Biopic |
|
| Project Moonbase |
Richard Talmadge |
Ross Ford |
Science Fiction |
|
| Pup on a Picnic |
|
|
|
|
| Puppy Tale |
|
|
|
|
| The Redhead from Wyoming |
Lee Sholem |
Maureen O'Hara |
Western |
|
| Ride, Vaquero! |
John Farrow |
Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner |
Western |
|
| Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue |
Harold French |
Richard Todd |
Adventure |
|
| The Robe |
Henry Koster |
Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature |
Drama |
|
| Robot Monster |
Phil Tucker |
George Nader |
Science Fiction |
|
| Roman Holiday |
William Wyler |
Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck |
Romantic comedy |
Academy Award: Best Actress |
| Salome |
William Dieterle |
Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger |
Drama |
|
| Scared Stiff |
George Marshall |
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis |
Comedy |
|
| The Seafarers |
Stanley Kubrick |
|
|
30-minute short |
| Second Chance |
Rudolph Mate |
Robert Mitchum, Jack Palance |
Thriller |
|
| Serpent of the Nile |
William Castle |
Rhonda Fleming, Raymond Burr |
Adventure |
|
| Shane |
George Stevens |
Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Palance |
Western |
|
| The Simple Things |
|
Mickey Mouse |
Animation |
|
| So Big! |
Robert Wise |
Jane Wyman, Sterling Hayden |
Drama |
|
| Southern Fried Rabbit |
|
|
|
|
| Spaceways |
Terence Fisher |
Howard Duff |
Science Fiction |
|
| Spooks! |
|
|
|
|
| The Stooge |
Norman Taurog |
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis |
Comedy |
|
| Summer with Monika |
|
|
|
|
| The Sword and the Rose |
Ken Annakin |
Glynis Johns, Richard Todd |
Adventure |
|
| Title |
Director |
Cast |
Genre |
Notes |
| Take the High Ground! |
Richard Brooks |
Richard Widmark, Karl Malden |
Drama |
|
| The Tell-Tale Heart |
Ted Parmelee |
|
Animation |
Based on Poe story |
| Terminal Station |
Vittorio De Sica |
Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift |
Drama |
|
| The Magnetic Monster |
Curt Siodmak |
Richard Carlson |
Sci-Fi |
|
| The Missing Mouse |
|
|
|
|
| Thunder Bay |
Anthony Mann |
James Stewart, Dan Duryea |
Drama |
|
| Titanic |
Jean Negulesco |
Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb |
Drama |
|
| Tokyo Story |
|
|
Drama |
Japanese |
| Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom |
|
|
Animated short |
Disney educational film |
| Torch Song |
Charles Walters |
Joan Crawford |
Drama |
|
| Trouble Along the Way |
Michael Curtiz |
John Wayne, Donna Reed |
Comedy |
|
| The Twonky |
Arch Oboler |
Hans Conreid |
Comedy |
|
| Vicki |
Harry Horner |
Jeanne Crain |
Thriller |
|
| The War of the Worlds |
Byron Haskin |
Gene Barry |
Science Fiction |
|
| The Weak and the Wicked |
J. Lee Thompson |
Glynis Johns, Diana Dors |
Drama |
|
| Welcome Mr. Marshall! |
Luis Garcia Berlanga |
Jose Isbert |
|
Spanish film |
| When Knighthood Was in Flower |
Ken Annakin |
Richard Todd, Glynis Johns |
Adventure |
Remake of 1908, 1922 silents |
| White Witch Doctor |
Henry Hathaway |
Robert Mitchum, Susan Hayward |
Adventure |
|
| The Wild One |
Laszlo Benedek |
Marlon Brando, Lee Marvin |
Drama |
|
| Working for Peanuts |
Jack Hannah |
|
Animated |
Chip and Dale cartoon |
| Young Bess |
George Sidney |
Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr |
Drama |
|
[edit] External links
