The following events in film occurred in the year 1951.
Top-grossing films United States
The top ten 1951 released films by box office gross in the United States are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1951 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 Quo VadisMGM $11,143,000. 2Show Boat $5,293,000 3 David and Bathsheba 20th Century Fox $4,720,000 4 The Great Caruso MGM $4,309,000 5 A Streetcar Named Desire Warner Bros. $4,250,000 6 The African Queen United Artists $4,100,000 7 That's My Boy Paramount $3,800,000 8 An American in Paris MGM $3,750,000 9 A Place in the SunParamount $3,500,000 10 At War with the Army $3,300,000
International The highest-grossing 1951 films in countries outside of North America.
Country Title Studio Gross France Samson and Delilah Paramount Pictures 7,116,442 admissions India Awaara R. K. Films $4,830,000 Italy Anna Lux Film 8,965,624 admissions Japan The Tale of Genji Daiei Kyoto Soviet Union In Peaceful Time Dovzhenko Film Studios $1,470,000 United Kingdom The Great Caruso Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 12,400,000 admissions
Worldwide gross The following table lists known worldwide gross figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1951. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1951. This list also includes gross revenue from later re-releases.
Title Worldwide gross Country Awaara $30,660,000 India Quo Vadis $30,028,513 United States
Events February 15 – new management takes over at United Artists with Arthur B. Krim, Robert Benjamin and Matty Fox now in charge. April – French magazine Cahiers du cinéma is first published. July 26 – Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland premieres; while a disappointment at first and hardly released in theaters, it would later become one of the biggest cult classics in the animation medium as well as make millions in television viewings and subsequent releases on home video. September 10 – Rashomon wins the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, bringing worldwide attention to Japanese film. September – The House Un-American Activities Committee investigation into Communism in the film industry starts to wind up after four years. They report in February 1952 that Hollywood has not done enough against Communist employees and hearings and blacklisting continues. December 14 – Raj Kapoor's first blockbuster movie, Awaara is released in India. December 29 – The Wilhelm scream, one of the most frequently-used stock sound effects, makes its first use in the film Distant Drums. The scream would not get its name until The Charge at Feather River in 1953.
Awards Category/Organization 9th Golden Globe AwardsFebruary 21, 1952 24th Academy AwardsMarch 20, 1952 Drama Comedy or Musical Best Film A Place in the Sun An American in Paris Best Director László BenedekDeath of a Salesman George StevensA Place in the Sun Best Actor Fredric MarchDeath of a Salesman Danny KayeOn the Riviera Humphrey BogartThe African Queen Best Actress Jane WymanThe Blue Veil June AllysonToo Young to Kiss Vivien LeighA Streetcar Named Desire Best Supporting Actor Peter UstinovQuo Vadis Karl MaldenA Streetcar Named Desire Best Supporting Actress Kim HunterA Streetcar Named Desire Best Screenplay, Adapted Robert BucknerBright Victory Michael Wilson and Harry BrownA Place in the Sun Best Screenplay, Original Alan Jay LernerAn American in Paris
Top ten money making stars
The Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll was published by Quigley Publishing Company based on a poll of U.S. movie theater owners who were asked to name who they felt were the previous year's top 10 moneymaking stars.
RankActor/Actress1.John Wayne2.Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis3.Betty Grable4.Bud Abbott and Lou Costello5.Bing Crosby6.Bob Hope7.Randolph Scott8.Gary Cooper9.Doris Day10.Spencer Tracy
They also published a Western stars poll which Roy Rogers topped for the ninth year running.
RankActor/Actress1.Roy Rogers2.Gene Autry3.Tim Holt4.Charles Starrett5.Rex Allen6.Wild Bill Elliott7.Smiley Burnette8.Allan Lane9.Dale Evans10.Gabby Hayes
Notable films released in 1951 United States release unless stated
The 13th Letter, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Linda Darnell and Charles Boyer
A Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Ace in the Hole (a.k.a. The Big Carnival), directed by Billy Wilder, starring Kirk Douglas and Jan Sterling Across the Wide Missouri, starring Clark Gable The African Queen, directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart (Oscar for best actor) and Katharine Hepburn – (GB/US) Air Cadet, starring Gail Russell and Stephen McNally Alice in Wonderland, an animated film by Walt Disney Along the Great Divide, starring Kirk Douglas An American in Paris, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron (Oscar for best picture) Angels in the Outfield, starring Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh Anna, starring Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone and Vittorio Gassman – (Italy) Another Man's Poison, directed by Irving Rapper, starring Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Emlyn Williams and Anthony Steel – (GB) Apache Drums, starring Stephen McNally and Coleen Gray Appointment with Danger, starring Alan Ladd, with future Dragnet (series) co-stars Jack Webb and Harry Morgan Appointment with Venus, starring Glynis Johns and David Niven – (U.K.) As Young as You Feel, starring Monty Woolley Atoll K, starring Laurel and Hardy in their final film Awaara (Tramp), directed by and starring Raj Kapoor – (India) The Axe of Wandsbek (Das Beil von Wandsbek) – (East Germany)
B Badal (Cloud), starring Madhubala and Prem Nath – (India) Baazi (Gamble), starring Dev Anand – (India) Bedtime for Bonzo, starring Ronald Reagan (with a chimpanzee) Bellissima, directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Anna Magnani – (Italy) Blackmailed, starring Mai Zetterling and Dirk Bogarde – (GB) The Blue Veil, starring Jane Wyman Bright Victory, starring Arthur Kennedy The Browning Version, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Michael Redgrave and Jean Kent – (GB) Bullfighter and the Lady, starring Robert Stack and Joy Page
C Callaway Went Thataway, starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel Call Me Mister, starring Betty Grable Captain Horatio Hornblower, starring Gregory Peck – (GB) Cattle Drive, starring Joel McCrea, Dean Stockwell and Chill Wills Cause for Alarm!, starring Loretta Young and Barry Sullivan China Corsair, starring Jon Hall Circle of Danger, starring Ray Milland – (GB) The Clouded Yellow, starring Trevor Howard and Jean Simmons – (GB) Come Fill the Cup, starring James Cagney and Gig Young Comin' Round The Mountain, starring Abbott and Costello Cops and Robbers (Guardie e ladri), directed by Mario Monicelli – (Italy) Cry Danger, starring Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming Cry, the Beloved Country, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Sidney Poitier – (GB)
D Darling, How Could You!, starring Joan Fontaine Daughter of Deceit (La hija del engaño), directed by Luis Buñuel – (Mexico) David and Bathsheba, starring Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Robert Wise, starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal Death of a Salesman, starring Fredric March Deburau, directed by Sacha Guitry – (France) Decision Before Dawn, starring Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill and Oskar Werner Deedar, starring Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Nargis – (India) The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, starring James Mason Detective Story, starring Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Lee Grant, Horace McMahon, and George Macready Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un curé de campagne), directed by Robert Bresson – (France) Distant Drums, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Gary Cooper Double Dynamite, starring Jane Russell, Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx Dream of a Cossack (Kavalier zolotoy zvezdy), starring Sergei Bondarchuk – (U.S.S.R.) Daar Doer in Die Bosveld (Far Away in the Bushveld), starring Jamie Uys – (South Africa)
E Early Summer (Bakushū), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan) Encore, starring Nigel Patrick and Kay Walsh – (GB) The Enforcer (Murder, Inc.), starring Humphrey Bogart and Zero Mostel
F FBI Girl, starring Audrey Totter and Cesar Romero The Family Secret, starring John Derek and Lee J. Cobb Father's Little Dividend, starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor The Fighting Seventh (a.k.a. Little Big Horn), starring Lloyd Bridges Flying Leathernecks, starring John Wayne and Robert Ryan Follow the Sun, starring Glenn Ford (as Ben Hogan) The Forbidden Christ (Il Cristo proibito), starring Raf Vallone – (Italy) Fort Worth, starring Randolph Scott Four in a Jeep (Die Vier im Jeep), starring Ralph Meeker and Viveca Lindfors – (Switzerland) Fourteen Hours, starring Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Jeffrey Hunter and Grace Kelly The Frogmen, starring Richard Widmark and Dana Andrews Furrows (Surcos) – (Spain)
G Go for Broke!, starring Van Johnson Golden Girl, starring Mitzi Gaynor, Dale Robertson, Dennis Day The Golden Horde, starring Ann Blyth Goodbye My Fancy, starring Joan Crawford and Robert Young The Great Caruso, starring Mario Lanza The Great Missouri Raid, starring Wendell Corey The Groom Wore Spurs, starring Ginger Rogers Grounds for Marriage, starring Kathryn Grayson and Van Johnson The Guy Who Came Back, starring Paul Douglas
H Half Angel, starring Loretta Young Happy Go Lovely, starring David Niven and Vera-Ellen – (GB) He Ran All the Way, starring John Garfield and Shelley Winters Here Comes the Groom, directed by Frank Capra, starring Bing Crosby His Kind of Woman, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price and Raymond Burr Hollywood Story, starring Richard Conte and Julie Adams The House in Montevideo (Das Haus in Montevideo) – (West Germany) The House on Telegraph Hill, starring Richard Basehart
I I Can Get It for You Wholesale, starring Susan Hayward I'll Never Forget You I'll See You in My Dreams I Want You, directed by Mark Robson, starring Dana Andrews The Idiot (Hakuchi), directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan) Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison, starring Steve Cochran
J Jim Thorpe – All-American, starring Burt Lancaster Journey Into Light, directed by Stuart Heisler, starring Sterling Hayden Juliette, or Key of Dreams (Juliette ou La clef des songes), directed by Marcel Carné – (France)
K Kind Lady, directed by John Sturges, starring Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Keenan Wynn, Angela Lansbury Kon-Tiki, a documentary directed by and starring Thor Heyerdahl – (Norway)
L The Last Outpost, starring Ronald Reagan Laughter in Paradise, starring Alastair Sim – (GB) The Lavender Hill Mob, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sid James and Alfie Bass, with an early appearance by Audrey Hepburn – (GB) The Lemon Drop Kid, starring Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, William Frawley and Tor Johnson Let's Go Crazy, starring Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers – (GB) Leva på 'Hoppet', starring Ingrid Thulin – (Sweden) Lightning Strikes Twice, starring Ruth Roman and Mercedes McCambridge Little Egypt, starring Rhonda Fleming and Mark Stevens The Long Dark Hall, starring Rex Harrison – (GB) Lost Continent, starring Cesar Romero Love Nest, starring June Haver and Marilyn Monroe Lullaby of Broadway
M The Magic Box, starring Robert Donat, a biopic of William Friese-Greene – (GB) The Man with a Cloak, starring Joseph Cotten Malliswari, starring N.T. Rama Rao – (India) The Man in the White Suit, directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Michael Gough and Ernest Thesiger – (GB) The Man With the Twisted Lip (British TV movie) a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Richard M. Grey, starring John Longden as Sherlock Holmes and Campbell Singer as Watson The Mating Season, starring Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins and Thelma Ritter The Medium, starring Marie Powers – (Italy)