1959 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020

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

Events

• June 4 - The Three Stooges release their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.
• September 18 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx marries his second wife, Barbara Blakely.
• 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.
• November 18 - William Wyler's film Ben-Hur premieres at Loews Theater in New York City.
• Sammy Davis, Jr. and May Britt start dating.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)

Awards

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

U.S.A. unless stated

#

• 4D Man, starring Robert Lansing and Lee Meriwether
• The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, starring Lou Costello and Dorothy Provine
• The 39 Steps, starring Kenneth More - (Britain)
• The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups), directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud - (France)

A

• The Adventures of Buratino (Priklyucheniya Buratino) - (USSR)
• Al Capone, starring Rod Steiger
• Alias Jesse James, starring Bob Hope
• The Alligator People, starring Beverly Garland
• Anari, starring Raj Kapoor - (India)
• Anatomy of a Murder, directed by Otto Preminger, starring James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, Arthur O'Connell, Kathryn Grant, George C. Scott
• The Angry Hills, starring Robert Mitchum and Gia Scala
• The Angry Red Planet (aka Invasion of Mars), starring Gerald Mohr
• Apur Sansar, directed by Satyajit Ray (India)
• Argument About Basia (Awantura o Basię) - (Poland)

B

• Bad Girls Don't Cry (La notte brava), starring Rosanna Schiaffino - (Italy)
• Ballad of a Soldier (Ballada o soldate), directed by Grigory Chukhray - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Bat, starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead
• Battle Beyond the Sun (Nebo zovet) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Battle in Outer Space, directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)
• The Battle of the Sexes, starring Peter Sellers - (Britain)
• The Beat Generation, starring Steve Cochran and Mamie Van Doren
• Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler, starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins - winner of 11 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Globes
• The Best of Everything, starring Hope Lange, Diane Baker, Suzy Parker, Stephen Boyd, Joan Crawford
• The Big Circus, starring Victor Mature, Rhonda Fleming, Red Buttons, Gilbert Roland, Kathryn Grant
• The Big Fisherman, starring Howard Keel
• The Big Operator, starring Mickey Rooney, Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren
• The Birth of Japan (Nippon Tanjō), starring Toshiro Mifune - (Japan)
• Black Orpheus, directed by Marcel Camus - winner of Palme d'Or, Golden Globe, Oscar and Bafta - (Brazil/France/Italy)
• Blessings of the Land (Biyaya ng lupa), starring Rosa Rosal - (Philippines)
• Breakout, starring Hazel Court
• The Bridge (Die Brücke), directed by Bernhard Wicki - (West Germany)
• A Bucket of Blood, directed by Roger Corman
• But Not for Me, directed by Walter Lang, starring Clark Gable, Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb

C

• The Captain's Table, starring John Gregson and Peggy Cummins - (Britain)
• Career, starring Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Anthony Franciosa
• Carlton-Browne of the F.O., starring Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, John Le Mesurier - (Britain)
• Carry On Nurse, starring Shirley Eaton and Kenneth Connor - (Britain)
• Carry On Teacher, starring Kenneth Connor and Leslie Phillips - (Britain)
• The Chasers (Jakten) - (Norway)
• Come Dance with Me, starring Brigitte Bardot - (France/Italy)
• Compulsion, starring Orson Welles, Bradford Dillman, Dean Stockwell, Diane Varsi, E. G. Marshall
• Court Martial (Kriegsgericht) - (West Germany)
• Les Cousins, directed by Claude Chabrol - (France)
• The Crimson Kimono, directed by Samuel Fuller, starring James Shigeta
• La Cucaracha (aka The Soldiers of Pancho Villa), starring María Félix and Dolores del Río - (Mexico)

D

• Danger Within, starring Richard Todd, Bernard Lee, Richard Attenborough - (Britain)
• Darby O'Gill and the Little People, starring Sean Connery
• Date With Death, starring Gerald Mohr
• Day of the Outlaw, starring Robert Ryan, Tina Louise, Burl Ives
• The Death Ship (Das Totenschiff), starring Horst Buchholz - (West Germany)
• Destiny of a Man (Sudba cheloveka), directed by Sergei Bondarchuk - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Devil's Disciple, starring Laurence Olivier, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas - (U.S./Britain)
• The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by George Stevens, starring Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters, Richard Beymer, Diane Baker, Ed Wynn
• Dil Deke Dekho, starring Shammi Kapoor - (India)
• Donald in Mathmagic Land (short subject)
• Don't Give Up The Ship, starring Jerry Lewis
• Dust on the Brain (Støv på hjernen) - (Norway)

E-F

• Expresso Bongo, starring Laurence Harvey and Cliff Richard - (Britain)
• The FBI Story, starring James Stewart
• Face of a Fugitive, starring Fred MacMurray
• The Facts of Murder (Un maledetto imbroglio), directed by and starring Pietro Germi with Claudia Cardinale - (Italy)
• La fièvre monte à El Pao (Fever Mounts at El Pao), directed by Luis Buñuel - (France/Mexico)
• Fires on the Plain (Nobi), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
• The Five Pennies, starring Danny Kaye
• Floating Weeds (Ukikusa), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• Follow a Star, starring Norman Wisdom, Ron Moody, Hattie Jacques - (Britain)
• The Fugitive Kind, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward

G

• The Gazebo, starring Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner
• Il Generale della Rovere, directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• Gidget, starring Sandra Dee
• Girls Town, starring Mamie Van Doren
• Good Morning (Ohayō), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• La grande guerra (The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Alberto Sordi and Vittorio Gassman - (Italy)
• The Gunfight at Dodge City, starring Joel McCrea

H

• The Hanging Tree, directed by Delmer Daves, starring Gary Cooper, Karl Malden, George C. Scott
• The Hangman, starring Robert Taylor and Tina Louise
• Hannibal, starring Victor Mature and Rita Gam
• Happy Anniversary, starring David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor
• The Heart of a Man, starring Frankie Vaughan and Anne Heywood - (Britain)
• Hiroshima Mon Amour, directed by Alain Resnais - (France/Japan)
• A Hole in the Head, starring Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Carolyn Jones, Eddie Hodges
• Holiday for Lovers, starring Jane Wyman, Clifton Webb, Jill St. John
• A Home for Tanya (Otchiy dom) - (USSR)
• Honeymoon (Luna de miel), directed by Michael Powell - (Britain/Spain)
• The Horse Soldiers, starring John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers
• The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee - (Britain)
• House on Haunted Hill, starring Vincent Price

I

• Il Vedovo, directed by Dino Risi - (Italy)
• I'm All Right Jack, directed by the Boulting Brothers, starring Peter Sellers and Ian Carmichael - (Britain)
• Imitation of Life, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner, Juanita Moore
• The Immoral Mr. Teas, directed by Russ Meyer
• It Happened to Jane, starring Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs
• It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford

J

• The Jazz Singer, a television film starring Jerry Lewis
• Jet Over the Atlantic, starring Guy Madison and Virginia Mayo
• Jet Storm, starring Richard Attenborough, Stanley Baker, Diane Cilento, Mai Zetterling - (Britain)
• John Paul Jones, starring Robert Stack
• The Journey, starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr
• Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring James Mason and Pat Boone

K-L

• Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers), directed by and starring Guru Dutt - (India)
• Kapò, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, starring Susan Strasberg - (Italy/France/Yugoslavia)
• Killers of Kilimanjaro, starring Robert Taylor, Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey
• The Last Angry Man, starring Paul Muni
• Last Train from Gun Hill, starring Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman
• The Law (La Legge), starring Gina Lollobrigida and Yves Montand - (Italy)
• El Lazarillo de Tormes, winner of Golden Bear - (Spain)
• Le Signe du Lion, directed by Éric Rohmer - (France)
• The Legend of Tom Dooley, starring Michael Landon
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses, directed by Roger Vadim, starring Jeanne Moreau - (France)
• Letter Never Sent (Neotpravlennoye pismo) - (USSR)
• Libel, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Dirk Bogarde and Olivia de Havilland - (Britain)
• Li'l Abner, directed by Melvin Frank, starring Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish, Stella Stevens, Julie Newmar, Stubby Kaye
• Look Back in Anger, directed by Tony Richardson, starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom - (Britain)

M

• Magic Boy (Shōnen Sarutobi Sasuke) - Japanese animated film
• Make Mine a Million, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Arthur Askey and Sid James - (Britain)
• The Man in the Net, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Alan Ladd and Carolyn Jones
• The Man Who Could Cheat Death, starring Anton Diffring and Hazel Court
• Marked for Murder, starring Keith Andes and Hazel Court
• The Master and His Servants (Herren og hans tjenere) - (Norway)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sen noci svatojánské), an animated puppet film by Jiří Trnka - (Czechoslovakia)
• The Miracle, starring Carroll Baker and Roger Moore
• Mise Éire - (Ireland)
• The Mouse That Roared, starring Peter Sellers and Jean Seberg - (Britain)
• The Mummy, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee - (Britain)
• My Second Brother, directed by Shōhei Imamura - (Japan)

N

• Nazarín, directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
• Never So Few, starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen
• Night Train (Pociąg) - (Poland)
• The Nightingale's Prayer (Doaa al-Karawan) - (Egypt)
• No Name on the Bullet, starring Audie Murphy
• North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
• North West Frontier, aka Flame Over India, starring Kenneth More and Lauren Bacall - (Britain)
• The Nun's Story, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Audrey Hepburn

O

• Odd Obsession (Kagi), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
• Odds Against Tomorrow, starring Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan
• On the Beach, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
• Operation Petticoat, starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis
• Our Man in Havana, directed by Carol Reed, starring Alec Guinness, Maureen O'Hara, Noël Coward, Ernie Kovacs - (Britain)
• The Overcoat (Shinel) - (USSR)

P

• Paigham, directed by S. S. Vasan, starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Raaj Kumar, B. Saroja Devi - (India)
• Pickpocket, directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
• Pillow Talk, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson
• El Pisito (The Little Apartment), directed bt Marco Ferreri - (Spain)
• Plan 9 from Outer Space, directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr., starring Tor Johnson, Vampira, Bela Lugosi
• Porgy and Bess, a musical directed by Otto Preminger, starring Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier, music by George and Ira Gershwin
• Pork Chop Hill, starring Gregory Peck

Q-R

• The Rest Is Silence (Der Rest ist Schweigen), starring Hardy Krüger - (West Germany)
• Ride Lonesome, starring Randolph Scott
• Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson
• The Rookie, starring Julie Newmar, Tommy Noonan, Peter Marshall
• Room at the Top, directed by Jack Clayton, starring Simone Signoret and Laurence Harvey - (Britain)
• The Roots of Heaven, directed by John Huston, starring Errol Flynn, Trevor Howard, Juliette Gréco, Eddie Albert, Orson Welles

S

• Sampo (The Day the Earth Froze) - (U.S.S.R./Finland)
• Sapphire, directed by Basil Dearden - (Britain)
• Say One for Me, starring Bing Crosby, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner
• The Scapegoat, starring Alec Guinness and Bette Davis - (Britain)
• Serious Charge, starring Anthony Quayle - (Britain)
• Shadows, directed by John Cassavetes
• The Shaggy Dog, starring Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen, Tommy Kirk
• The Shakedown, starring Donald Pleasence and Hazel Court
• Shake Hands with the Devil, starring James Cagney - (U.S.A./Ireland)
• Sleeping Beauty (Walt Disney animation)
• Solomon and Sheba, starring Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida
• Some Like It Hot, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien, George Raft
• SOS Pacific, starring Richard Attenborough - (Britain)
• The Sound and the Fury, starring Yul Brynner and Joanne Woodward
• Stars (Sterne) - (East Germany/Bulgaria)
• A Stranger in My Arms, starring Jeff Chandler, June Allyson, Mary Astor, Sandra Dee
• Suddenly, Last Summer, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn
• A Summer Place, starring Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee

T

• Tarzan's Greatest Adventure, directed by John Guillermin, starring Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, Sean Connery
• Telegrame - (Romania)
• Ten Seconds to Hell, directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Jack Palance
• Terror Is a Man, starring Francis Lederer - (U.S./Philippines)
• That Kind of Woman, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Sophia Loren and Tab Hunter
• The Giant Behemoth, starring Gene Evans and André Morell
• There Will Be No Leave Today (Segodnya uvolneniya ne budet), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky - (USSR)
• These Thousand Hills, starring Richard Egan, Don Murray, Lee Remick
• They Came to Cordura, starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin, Richard Conte, Dick York, Tab Hunter
• Third Man on the Mountain, starring Michael Rennie
• Tiger Bay, starring John Mills and Hayley Mills - (Britain)
• The Tingler, starring Vincent Price
• Tommy the Toreador, starring Tommy Steele - (Britain)
• Too Many Crooks, starring Terry-Thomas and George Cole - (Britain)
• Train Without a Timetable (Vlak bez voznog reda) - (Yugoslavia)
• The Trap, starring Richard Widmark, Lee J. Cobb, Earl Holliman, Tina Louise

U-V

• 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

• 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

• 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

Short film series

• 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

• January 5 – Clancy Brown, American actor & voice actor
• January 17 - Momoe Yamaguchi, former Japanese actress & singer
• January 22 - Linda Blair, American actress
• February 2 - Laine Mägi, Estonian actress & 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 & comedian
• March 7 - Donna Murphy, actress & singer
• March 8 - Aidan Quinn, Irish/American actor
• March 15 - Renny Harlin, Finnish director & producer
• March 18
  • Irene Cara, American actress & singer
  • Luc Besson, French director & producer
• March 22 - Matthew Modine, American actor
• March 23 - Catherine Keener, American actress
• April 15 - Emma Thompson, English actress
• April 17 - Sean Bean, English actor
• April 20 - Clint Howard, American actor
• June 11 - Hugh Laurie, English actor
• June 22 - Wayne Federman, American actor & comedian
• June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
• July 26 - Kevin Spacey, American actor
• August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, American actress
• August 14 - Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
• August 29 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
• September 23 - Jason Alexander, American actor
• October 21 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
• November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
• November 19 - Allison Janney, 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

• January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, 77, American director and producer, The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Show on Earth
• 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
• 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 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 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
• 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 23 - Gerda Lundequist, 88, Swedish actress, Gosta Berlings Saga
• 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 25 - Gérard Philipe, 36, French actor, Fan-Fan the Tulip, Beauties of the Night
• December 24 - Edmund Goulding, 68, American director, Grand Hotel, The Razor's Edge

Film debuts

• James Coburn - Ride Lonesome
• Mia Farrow - John Paul Jones
• Richard Harris - Shake Hands with the Devil
• Martin Landau - Pork Chop Hill
• Martin Scorsese - Vesuvius VI
• George C. Scott - The Hanging Tree
• Steven Spielberg - The Lost Guy