My Favorite Movies of 1961
by Girgisbond | created - 06 Jul 2013 | updated - 3 weeks ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Approved | 179 min | Drama, War
In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich
Votes: 76,308
2. The Hustler (1961)
Not Rated | 134 min | Drama, Sport
An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott
Votes: 81,102 | Gross: $8.28M
3. A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Approved | 128 min | Drama
A substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands
Votes: 8,502
4. One, Two, Three (1961)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy
In West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis
Votes: 21,056
5. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Votes: 177,328
6. The Children's Hour (1961)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Romance
A rebellious student at a girls' school accuses two teachers of lesbianism.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Miriam Hopkins
Votes: 16,304
7. Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama, Romance
A fragile Kansas girl's love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie
Votes: 20,835 | Gross: $8.72M
8. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Not Rated | 158 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A team of Allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held Greek island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: David Niven, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle
Votes: 50,339 | Gross: $28.90M
9. El Cid (1961)
Approved | 182 min | Biography, Drama, History
The fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, Raf Vallone, Geneviève Page
Votes: 14,292 | Gross: $26.62M
10. Lover Come Back (1961)
Approved | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A series of misunderstandings leaves an advertising executive with a campaign for a product which has not yet been invented, while he romances his rival in the guise of its inventor.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Edie Adams
Votes: 7,895 | Gross: $16.94M
11. The Parent Trap (1961)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.
Director: David Swift | Stars: Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 21,327
12. The Young Savages (1961)
Not Rated | 103 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A district attorney investigates three white teenagers accused of murdering a blind Puerto Rican kid.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Dina Merrill, Edward Andrews, Vivian Nathan
Votes: 2,556
13. King of Kings (1961)
PG-13 | 168 min | Biography, Drama
The temporary physical life of the Biblical Savior, Jesus Christ.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Ron Randell
Votes: 8,024 | Gross: $14.48M
14. Barabbas (1961)
Approved | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
Barabbas, the criminal that the Jewish leaders induced the populace to vote to set free, so that Christ could be crucified, is haunted by the image of Jesus for the rest of his life.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Silvana Mangano, Arthur Kennedy, Katy Jurado
Votes: 6,369 | Gross: $6.32M
15. Two Rode Together (1961)
Passed | 109 min | Western
A corrupt marshal is pressured by his army friend into negotiating the release of white captives of the Comanches, but finds that their reintegration into society has its consequences.
Director: John Ford | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Shirley Jones, Linda Cristal
Votes: 6,153
16. The Comancheros (1961)
Approved | 107 min | Western
Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves dealing with the Comanches known as Comancheros.
Directors: Michael Curtiz, John Wayne | Stars: John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Ina Balin, Nehemiah Persoff
Votes: 9,093
17. Posse from Hell (1961)
Approved | 88 min | Western
Banner Cole is a tough sheriff's deputy who forms a small posse to go after 4 death cell escapees who killed the sheriff , along with 3 other men, and kidnapped a woman with rape in mind.
Director: Herbert Coleman | Stars: Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Zohra Lampert, Vic Morrow
Votes: 1,107
18. Francis of Assisi (1961)
Not Rated | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 13th century Italy, Francis Bernardone, the son of an Assisi merchant, renounces a promising army career in favor of a monastic life and starts his own religious order, sanctioned by the Pope.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Bradford Dillman, Dolores Hart, Stuart Whitman, Cecil Kellaway
Votes: 993
19. Wild in the Country (1961)
Not Rated | 114 min | Drama, Musical
A troubled young man discovers that he has a knack for writing when a counselor encourages him to pursue a literary career.
Director: Philip Dunne | Stars: Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins
Votes: 1,734
20. Return to Peyton Place (1961)
Approved | 123 min | Drama
The residents of Peyton Place are not happy when its most famous resident, Alison Mackenzie, writes a "shocking" novel detailing the sinful secrets of the town.
Director: José Ferrer | Stars: Carol Lynley, Jeff Chandler, Eleanor Parker, Mary Astor
Votes: 895
21. Parrish (1961)
Passed | 138 min | Drama
In the Connecticut River Valley, Parrish McLean and his mother are newly employed by the Sala Post tobacco farm that is engaged in a competition war with the neighboring Judd Raike tobacco corporation.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Troy Donahue, Karl Malden, Dean Jagger
Votes: 1,100
22. The Sky Above, the Mud Below (1961)
92 min | Documentary
In September, 1959, six Europeans leave Cook's Bay on the southern coast of Dutch New Guinea, now West Papua or Irian Jaya, to trek north to the far side of the island. The journey (450 ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau | Stars: Gerard Delloye, Tony Saulnier, Herve de Maigret, William Dexter
Votes: 229
AKA - The Sky Above, The Mud Below
23. The Tartars (1961)
Not Rated | 83 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Tartan and Viking forces clash in what is modern-day Russia.
Directors: Richard Thorpe, Ferdinando Baldi | Stars: Victor Mature, Orson Welles, Liana Orfei, Arnoldo FoÃ
Votes: 434
AKA - The Tartars
24. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
Approved | 103 min | Drama, Romance
An aging actress travels to Rome with her husband; after he suddenly dies during the flight, she begins a passionate affair with a young gigolo.
Director: José Quintero | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Warren Beatty, Coral Browne, Jill St. John
Votes: 2,691
25. Victim (1961)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Anthony Nicholls
Votes: 5,985
26. Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961)
Approved | 90 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
Welcome to Atlantis, where royal guardsmen wear uniforms that could easily be from the wardrobe of Ming the Merciless and some unfortunate slaves are turned into bovine-headed beasts.
Director: George Pal | Stars: Sal Ponti, Joyce Taylor, John Dall, William Smith
Votes: 1,842
27. Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
Approved | 136 min | Comedy, Drama
A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying royalty.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, Hope Lange, Arthur O'Connell
Votes: 7,048 | Gross: $5.45M
28. Blue Hawaii (1961)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Musical
After arriving back in Hawaii from the Army, Chad Gates (Elvis Presley) defies his parents' wishes for him to work at the family business and instead goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency.
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury, Nancy Walters
Votes: 6,197 | Gross: $10.44M
29. Susan Slade (1961)
Not Rated | 116 min | Drama
Premarital sex, secrets, and society. At 17, shy Susan Slade is on her way to California after a ten-year stay at a remote Chilean mine where her father was chief engineer. Onboard ship, ... See full summary »
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Troy Donahue, Dorothy McGuire, Connie Stevens, Lloyd Nolan
Votes: 831
30. Back Street (1961)
Passed | 107 min | Drama
In Lincoln, the ambitious aspirant-designer Rae Smith has an incident with a wolf department store businessman and is rescued by the Marine Paul Saxon. They immediately fall in love with ... See full summary »
Director: David Miller | Stars: Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera Miles, Charles Drake
Votes: 1,157
31. A Thunder of Drums (1961)
Approved | 97 min | Western
The trials and tribulations of bitter veteran Captain Maddocks and argumentative rookie Lieutenant McQuade at a cavalry desert outpost.
Director: Joseph M. Newman | Stars: Richard Boone, George Hamilton, Luana Patten, Arthur O'Connell
Votes: 833
32. Man-Trap (1961)
Unrated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Two Korean War veterans re-unite to pull off a heist at a San Francisco airport but find themselves running for their lives.
Director: Edmond O'Brien | Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Stella Stevens, Elaine Devry
Votes: 212
33. Yojimbo (1961)
Not Rated | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa
Votes: 120,884
34. Ada (1961)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama, Romance
Political drama about a honest but naive gubernatorial candidate who is manipulated by his corrupt campaign manager and is forced to temporarily cede power to his wife, a woman of integrity despite her shameful past.
Director: Daniel Mann | Stars: Susan Hayward, Dean Martin, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ralph Meeker
Votes: 1,030
35. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Not Rated | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, Luana Anders
Votes: 14,334 | Gross: $4.36M
36. Mysterious Island (1961)
Not Rated | 101 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
During the Civil War a group of Union soldiers and two Confederates escape the stockade using a hot air balloon and end up on a strange Pacific island.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill
Votes: 7,428
37. Come September (1961)
Approved | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
Younger generation vs. "older" folks on vacation at an Italian villa.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin
Votes: 3,563 | Gross: $14.17M
38. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When the Earth is threatened by a burning Van Allen Radiation Belt, U.S. Navy Admiral Harriman Nelson plans to shoot a nuclear missile at the Belt, using his experimental atomic submarine, the Seaview.
Director: Irwin Allen | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Peter Lorre
Votes: 6,046
39. Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (1961)
G | 74 min | Adventure, Family
The rugged Canadian wilderness is the backdrop to this story of a dog separated from his owner.
Directors: Jack Couffer, Don Haldane | Stars: Jean Coutu, Émile Genest, Uriel Luft, Robert Rivard
Votes: 456
40. I masnadieri (1961)
85 min | Adventure
The leader of a gang of Spanish mercenaries falls for a beautiful princess.
Director: Mario Bonnard | Stars: Daniela Rocca, Antonio Cifariello, Yvonne Sanson, Livio Lorenzon
Votes: 24
AKA - Rome 1585
41. Fanny (1961)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance
Young Marius dreams of leaving his dull provincial life and seeing the world. When the beautiful Fanny declares her adoration for him, Marius must choose between an adventurous life at sea and the grandest adventure of all: love.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Charles Boyer, Horst Buchholz
Votes: 2,266 | Gross: $10.00M
42. The Ladies Man (1961)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy
A clueless, recently single graduate unwittingly takes a job as a servant in a mansion inhabited by dozens of young women.
Director: Jerry Lewis | Stars: Jerry Lewis, Helen Traubel, Pat Stanley, Kathleen Freeman
Votes: 4,102
43. The Last Sunset (1961)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Romance, Western
At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Joseph Cotten
Votes: 3,229 | Gross: $6.54M
44. The Deadly Companions (1961)
Approved | 93 min | Adventure, Western
An ex-army officer accidentally kills a woman's son and tries to make up for it by escorting the funeral procession through dangerous Indian territory.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran, Chill Wills
Votes: 2,401