1954 in film

Years in film
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2020s 2020

The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.

Events

• A reproduction of "America's First Movie Studio", Thomas Edison's Black Maria, is constructed.
• May 12 — The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda. The two were married in 1927.
• September 29 — A Star is Born premieres and marks Judy Garland's comeback after her termination from her contract at MGM. An astounding success with critics and audiences, A Star is Born not only marked the first time that legendary director George Cukor had made a film musical and film that is in Technicolor and in the anamorphic widescreen format, but also it's been regarded as one of the Garland's best performances in her film career.
• November 3 — The movie Godzilla premieres in Japan. It became a huge success and became the first in series of Godzilla movies, the longest running film series in history.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: On the Waterfront - Horizon-American, Columbia

Best Director: Elia Kazan - On The Waterfront

Best Actor: Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront

Best Actress: Grace Kelly - The Country Girl

Best Supporting Actor: Edmond O'Brien - The Barefoot Contessa

Best Supporting Actress: Eva Marie Saint - On The Waterfront

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: On the Waterfront

Best Actor: Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront

Best Actress: Grace Kelly - The Country Girl

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Carmen Jones

Best Actor: James Mason - A Star Is Born

Best Actress: Judy Garland - A Star Is Born

Other

Best Director: Elia Kazan - On the Waterfront

Best Foreign Film: Twenty-Four Eyes (Nijushi no hitomi), Japan

Best Foreign Film: No Way Back (Weg Ohne Umkehr), West Germany

Best Foreign Film: The Lady of the Camellias (La Mujer de las camelias), Argentina

Best Foreign Film: Genevieve, United Kingdom

Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival):

Jigokumon 地獄門, (Gate of Hell), directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa, Japan

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Romeo and Juliet (Romeo e Giulietta), directed by Renato Castellani, Italy / U.K.

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Hobson's Choice, directed by David Lean, United Kingdom

Top ten money making stars

Notable films released in 1954

U.S.A. unless stated

#

• 3 Ring Circus, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, starring Kirk Douglas and James Mason

A

• Aar Paar (This or That), directed by and starring Guru Dutt - (India)
• About Mrs. Leslie, starring Shirley Booth
• Robinson Crusoe (Aventuras de Robinson Crusoe), directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
• L'affaire Maurizius (Il caso Mauritius), directed by Julien Duvivier - (France/Italy)
• Alaska Seas, starring Robert Ryan and Jan Sterling
• An American in Rome (Un americano a Roma), starring Alberto Sordi - (Italy)
• Andha Naal (That Day) - (India)
• Animal Farm, an animated film - (GB)
• Apache, starring Burt Lancaster
• Attila, starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren - (France/Italy)

B

• The Back of Beyond - (Australia)
• The Barefoot Contessa, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Rossano Brazzi
• Beachhead, starring Tony Curtis and Mary Murphy
• Beau Brummell, starring Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Ustinov
• Beautiful Stranger, aka Twist of Fate, starring Ginger Rogers - (GB/U.S.)
• The Belles of St Trinian's, starring Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell and George Cole - (GB)
• Betrayed, fourth and final film co-starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner
• A Big Family (Bolshaya semya) - (USSR)
• The Black Knight, starring Alan Ladd - (GB/U.S.)
• The Black Shield of Falworth, starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh
• Black Tuesday, starring Edward G. Robinson and Peter Graves
• Black Widow, starring Ginger Rogers, Gene Tierney, Peggy Ann Garner, Van Heflin, George Raft
• Boot Polish - (India)
• Boris Godunov - (USSR)
• The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters, starring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and Ellen Corby
• Bread, Love and Jealousy (Pane, Amore e Gelosia), starring Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida - (Italy)
• The Bridges at Toko-Ri, directed by Mark Robson, starring William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney
• Brigadoon, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Van Johnson
• Broken Lance, starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, Katy Jurado

C

• The Caine Mutiny, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, José Ferrer, Robert Francis, May Wynn, E. G. Marshall
• Canaris, directed by Alfred Weidenmann - (West Germany)
• Carmen Jones, starring Dorothy Dandridge (first African-American to be Oscar-nominated for Best Actress)
• Casanova's Big Night, starring Bob Hope
• Chronicle of Poor Lovers (Cronache di poveri amanti) - (Italy)
• Circus Fandango - (Norway)
• The Country Girl, directed by George Seaton, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden
• Creature from the Black Lagoon, directed by Jack Arnold
• Crime Wave, directed by André de Toth, starring Sterling Hayden and Phyllis Kirk
• Crossed Swords ([Il Maestro di Don Giovanni]), starring Errol Flynn and Gina Lollobrigida - (U.S.A./Italy)
• The Crucified Lovers (Chikamatsu Monogatari), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Kazuo Hasegawa - (Japan)

D

• Dangerous Mission, starring Victor Mature and Piper Laurie
• Deep in My Heart, directed by Stanley Donen, starring José Ferrer and Merle Oberon
• Demetrius and the Gladiators, starring Victor Mature and Susan Hayward
• Désirée, starring Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons
• Dial M for Murder, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ray Milland, Robert Cummings, Grace Kelly
• Doctor in the House, starring Dirk Bogarde, first of "Doctor" series - (GB)
• Down Three Dark Streets, starring Broderick Crawford and Ruth Roman
• Drive a Crooked Road, starring Mickey Rooney and Dianne Foster
• Drum Beat, directed by Delmer Daves, starring Alan Ladd

E

• The Egyptian, starring Jean Simmons, Gene Tierney, Victor Mature, Bella Darvi, Edmund Purdom
• Eight O'Clock Walk, starring Richard Attenborough and Cathy O'Donnell - (GB)
• Elephant Walk, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch
• Executive Suite, starring William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, June Allyson, Fredric March, Louis Calhern, Walter Pidgeon, Nina Foch

F

• The Far Country, directed by Anthony Mann, starring James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Walter Brennan
• Father Brown, starring Alec Guinness - (GB)
• Fear (La Paura), directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman - (West Germany/Italy)
• Five Boys from Barska Street (Piątka z ulicy Barskiej) - (Poland)
• Flame and the Flesh, starring Lana Turner
• French Cancan, starring Jean Gabin - (France/Italy)
• The French Line, starring Jane Russell

G

• Garden of Evil, starring Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark
• The Glenn Miller Story, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson
• Godzilla (Gojira), directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)
• The Gold of Naples (L'oro di Napoli), directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring Silvana Mangano and Sophia Loren - (Italy)
• The Good Die Young, directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Stanley Baker and Laurence Harvey - (GB)

H

• Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy, a Stop motion animated film
• Happy Ever After, starring David Niven and Yvonne De Carlo - (GB)
• Hell and High Water, directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Richard Widmark
• Hell Below Zero, starring Alan Ladd
• Hell's Half Acre, starring Evelyn Keyes and Wendell Corey
• The High and the Mighty, starring John Wayne, Robert Stack, Laraine Day, Claire Trevor, Phil Harris
• Highway Dragnet, starring Richard Conte and Joan Bennett
• Hobson's Choice, directed by David Lean, starring Charles Laughton and John Mills - (GB)
• The House Across the Lake, aka Heat Wave, starring Alex Nicol and Hillary Brooke - (GB)
• Human Desire, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford

I-J

• Illusion Travels by Streetcar (La ilusión viaja en tranvía), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Lilia Prado - (Mexico)
• Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, directed by Kenneth Anger
• An Inspector Calls, with Alastair Sim, based on the J. B. Priestley play - (GB)
• It Should Happen to You, starring Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon
• Jagriti (The Awakening) - (India)
• Johnny Guitar, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge
• Journey to Italy (Viaggio in Italia), directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders - (France/Italy)

K-L

• King Richard and the Crusaders, starring Rex Harrison and Virginia Mayo
• Knock on Wood, starring Danny Kaye
• The Lady of the Camellias (La Mujer de las camelias) - (Argentina)
• The Last Bridge (Die Letzte Brücke), starring Maria Schell and Bernhard Wicki - (Austria)
• Late Chrysanthemums (bangiku), directed by Mikio Naruse - (Japan)
• A Lesson in Love (En lektion i kärlek), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Eva Dahlbeck and Gunnar Björnstrand - (Sweden)
• A Life at Stake, starring Angela Lansbury
• Liliomfi - (Hungary)
• Living It Up, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• The Long, Long Trailer, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
• The Long Wait, starring Anthony Quinn
• Loophole, starring Barry Sullivan and Dorothy Malone

M-N

• Mad About Men, starring Glynis Johns and Margaret Rutherford - (U.K.)
• Madame X (I Agnostos)Madame X (1954 film) - (Greece)
• Maddalena - (Italy)
• The Maggie, directed by Alexander Mackendrick - (GB)
• Magnificent Obsession, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson
• The Million Pound Note, starring Gregory Peck - (GB)
• Nagin, starring Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar - (India)
• Naked Alibi, starring Sterling Hayden and Gloria Grahame
• The Naked Jungle, starring Eleanor Parker and Charlton Heston
• Neelakuyil (The Blue Cuckoo) - (India)
• Night People, directed by Nunnally Johnson, starring Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Buddy Ebsen
• Nothing But Trouble (Aldri annet enn bråk) - (Norway)

O-P

• On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando with Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger—winner of eight Oscars
• The Outcast, starring John Derek
• Phantom of the Rue Morgue, starring Karl Malden, Patricia Medina, Merv Griffin
• Phffft, starring Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak
• Pride of the Blue Grass, starring Lloyd Bridges and Vera Miles
• Prince Valiant, starring Robert Wagner, James Mason, Janet Leigh
• Prisoner of War, starring Ronald Reagan
• Private Hell 36, directed by Don Siegel, starring Ida Lupino
• Pushover, starring Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak (in her film debut)

Q-R

• Radio Cab Murder, directed by Vernon Sewell, starring Jimmy Hanley and Lana Morris - (GB)
• The Raid, starring Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Lee Marvin
• Rear Window, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr
• Red Garters, directed by George Marshall, starring Rosemary Clooney
• Return to Treasure Island, starring Tab Hunter
• Riot in Cell Block 11, directed by Don Siegel, starring Neville Brand
• River of No Return, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe
• Robinson Crusoe, starring Dan O'Herlihy
• Rogue Cop, starring Robert Taylor and Janet Leigh
• Romeo and Juliet, starring Laurence Harvey - (Italy/GB)

S

• Sabrina, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden
• Salt of the Earth, starring Rosaura Revueltas and Will Geer
• Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (Miyamoto Musashi), directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, starring Toshiro Mifune - (Japan)
• Sansho the Bailiff (Sanshō Dayũ), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Kinuyo Tanaka - (Japan)
• Saskatchewan, starring Alan Ladd
• The Sea Shall Not Have Them, directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Michael Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Steel, Nigel Patrick - (GB)
• Secret of the Incas, starring Charlton Heston
• The Seekers, starring Jack Hawkins and Glynis Johns - (GB)
• Senso, directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Alida Valli and Farley Granger - (Italy)
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, directed by Stanley Donen, starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel
• Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai), directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura - (Japan)
• She Couldn't Say No, starring Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons
• Shield for Murder, starring Edmond O'Brien
• The Silver Chalice, starring Paul Newman (in his film debut)
• Silver Lode, starring Dan Duryea
• Sira` Fi al-Wadi (Struggle in the Valley), directed by Youssef Chahine - (Egypt)
• Sitting Bull, starring Dale Robertson and J. Carrol Naish
• Sound of the Mountain (Yama no Oto), directed by Mikio Naruse - (Japan)
• A Star Is Born, directed by George Cukor, starring Judy Garland and James Mason, musical remake of 1937 film
• Star of India, starring Cornel Wilde and Herbert Lom - (GB)
• La strada (The Road), directed by Federico Fellini, starring Anthony Quinn - (Italy)
• Suddenly, starring Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden
• Supir Istimewa, directed by Rempo Urip and starring MS Priyadi and Ermina Zaenah (Indonesia)
• Susan Slept Here, starring Debbie Reynolds and Dick Powell

T-V

• Tanganyika, starring Van Heflin and Ruth Roman
• Taza, Son of Cochise, starring Rock Hudson
• Them!, starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
• There's No Business Like Show Business, starring Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Marilyn Monroe
• They Who Dare, starring Dirk Bogarde - (GB)
• Three Coins in the Fountain, starring Jean Peters, Dorothy McGuire, Maggie McNamara
• Three Young Texans, starring Jeffrey Hunter, Mitzi Gaynor, Keefe Brasselle
• Too Bad She's Bad (Peccato che sia una canaglia), starring Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• Top Banana, starring Phil Silvers
• Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands Off the Loot), starring Jean Gabin - (France/Italy)
• Track of the Cat, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright
• Twenty-Four Eyes (Nijū-shi no Hitomi) - (Japan)
• Twist of Fate, starring Ginger Rogers
• Vera Cruz, starring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster

W-Z

• The Weak and the Wicked, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Glynis Johns and Diana Dors - (GB)
• West of Zanzibar (1954 film), directed by Harry Watt, starring Anthony Steel, Sheila Sim, Edric Connor & Orlando Martins - (U.K.)
• White Christmas, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger
• Windfall in Athens (Kyriakatiko xypnima), directed by Michael Cacoyannis - (Greece)
• Witness to Murder, directed by Roy Rowland, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Merrill, George Sanders
• Woman's World, starring June Allyson, Clifton Webb, Fred MacMurray, Van Heflin, Lauren Bacall, Arlene Dahl
• Wyoming Renegades, starring Phil Carey
• Young at Heart, starring Frank Sinatra and Doris Day
• The Young Lovers, directed by Anthony Asquith - (GB)

Serials

• Gunfighters of the Northwest, starring Clayton Moore and Phyllis Coates
• Man with the Steel Whip, starring Dick Simmons
• Riding with Buffalo Bill
• Trader Tom of the China Seas, starring Harry Lauter and Aline Towne

Short film series

• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
• Chip 'n' Dale (1943–1956)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Barney Bear (1939–1954)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
• Ranger Don (1953–1956)

Births

• January 1 - Helen Wellington-Lloyd, South African-born British artist and actress
• January 6 - Anthony Minghella, English film director and screenwriter (died 2008)
• January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, American actress and television personality
• February 2 - Christie Brinkley, American model and actress
• February 17 - Rene Russo, American actress
• February 18 - John Travolta, American actor
• March 1 - Ron Howard, American director and actor
• March 4 - Catherine O'Hara, Canadian actress
• March 15 - Craig Wasson, American actor
• March 17 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
• March 24 - Robert Carradine, American actor
• April 7 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong-born actor
• April 9 - Dennis Quaid, American actor
• April 16 - Ellen Barkin, American actress
• May 7 - Amy Heckerling, American director
• May 8 - David Keith, American actor and director
• June 14 - Will Patton, American actor
• June 15 - Jim Belushi, American actor
• June 19 - Kathleen Turner, American actress
• June 22 - Chris Lemmon, American actor and author
• June 28 - Alice Krige, South African actress
• August 12 - Sam J. Jones, American actor
• August 16 - James Cameron, Canadian-born director
• August 23 - Jeannie Elias, Canadian actress
• October 9 - Scott Bakula, actor
• October 23 - Ang Lee, Taiwanese director
• November 7 - Kamal Haasan, Indian actor, director, script-writer, producer and singer
• November 19 - Kathleen Quinlan, American actress
• November 29 - Joel Coen, American director, producer and screenwriter
• December 4 - Tony Todd, American actor and producer
• December 18 - Ray Liotta, American actor
• December 28 - Denzel Washington, American actor

Deaths

• January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, 74, English actor, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Christmas in Connecticut, The Mask of Dimitrios
• February 12 - Dziga Vertov, 58, Russian filmmaker, Man with a Movie Camera
• March 30 - Pauline Brunius, 73, Swedish actress, director and screenwriter
• April 10 - Auguste Lumiere, 91, French film pioneer
• July 24 - Effie Shannon, 87, American actress, Sally of the Sawdust
• September 3 - Eugene Pallette, 65, American actor, My Man Godfrey, The Adventures of Robin Hood
• November 15 - Lionel Barrymore, 76, American actor, It's a Wonderful Life, You Can't Take It with You, Key Largo, Captains Courageous, Treasure Island, Grand Hotel
• November 29 - Eero Kilpi, 77, Finnish actor, Anna Liisa
• December 8 - Gladys George, 50, American actress, The Maltese Falcon, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Roaring Twenties, Detective Story, The Hard Way

Film Debuts

• Zbigniew Cybulski - A Generation
• Angie Dickinson - Lucky Me
• Jack Lemmon - It Should Happen to You
• Paul Newman - The Silver Chalice
• Eva Marie Saint - On the Waterfront
• Omar Sharif - Devil of the Sahara
• Godzilla

References