Oscar Nominated Movies from 1961
by mtatzgern | created - 11 Dec 2019 | updated - 11 Dec 2019 | PublicFeature films nominated for the 34th Academy Awards
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1. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,147 | Gross: $43.66M
2. 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: 2,654 | Gross: $10.00M
3. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Not Rated | 158 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A team of Allied saboteurs is 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: 55,363 | Gross: $28.90M
4. 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: 86,768 | Gross: $8.28M
5. 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: 85,411
6. The Mark (1961)
Approved | 127 min | Drama
A man who served prison time for intent to molest a child tries to build a new life with the help of a sympathetic psychiatrist.
Director: Guy Green | Stars: Maria Schell, Stuart Whitman, Rod Steiger, Brenda de Banzie
Votes: 993
7. Two Women (1960)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, War
In WWII Italy, a widow and her lonely daughter seek distance between themselves and the horrors of war.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raf Vallone, Eleonora Brown
Votes: 12,421
8. 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: 192,058
9. Summer and Smoke (1961)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Romance
A plain, repressed spinster falls for a dashing young medical student who prefers the wilder life, until it's too late.
Director: Peter Glenville | Stars: Laurence Harvey, Geraldine Page, Rita Moreno, Una Merkel
Votes: 2,079
10. Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama, Romance
The love of high school sweethearts Deanie and Bud is weighed down by the oppressive expectations of their parents and society in smalltown Kansas in 1928, threatening the future of their relationship.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle, Audrey Christie
Votes: 22,636 | Gross: $8.72M
11. 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: 7,957 | Gross: $5.45M
12. 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: 18,387
13. 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: 2,980
14. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Not Rated | 174 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 78,168 | Gross: $19.52M
15. Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Romance, War
Young Russian soldier Alyosha earns a medal, but asks to visit his mother instead. His journey recounts various kinds of love during wartime.
Director: Grigoriy Chukhray | Stars: Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova, Nikolay Kryuchkov
Votes: 11,283
16. General Della Rovere (1959)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama, War
Bardone, a petty con man, is arrested by the Gestapo and coerced into impersonating a partisan leader in order to expose another resistance organizer.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Vittorio De Sica, Hannes Messemer, Sandra Milo, Giovanna Ralli
Votes: 3,677
17. 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: 8,757 | Gross: $16.94M
18. Flower Drum Song (1961)
Approved | 133 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A young woman arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown from Hong Kong with the intention of marrying a rakish nightclub owner, unaware he is involved with one of his singers.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, Jack Soo
Votes: 3,707 | Gross: $10.90M
19. A Majority of One (1961)
Approved | 156 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A gentle love story about a Japanese businessman and widower, and a Brooklyn widow. But before a happy ending can ensue, they must learn again the lessons of tolerance, kindness, and forgiveness.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Rosalind Russell, Alec Guinness, Ray Danton, Madlyn Rhue
Votes: 1,163
20. One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Not Rated | 141 min | Drama, Western
After robbing a Mexican bank, Dad Longworth takes the loot and leaves his partner Rio to be captured, but Rio escapes and searches for Dad in California.
Director: Marlon Brando | Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Pina Pellicer, Katy Jurado
Votes: 13,262 | Gross: $9.37M
21. The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
A college professor invents an anti-gravity substance which a corrupt businessman wants for himself.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk
Votes: 9,274 | Gross: $25.38M
22. 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: 22,953
23. 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: 15,668 | Gross: $26.62M
24. Claudelle Inglish (1961)
Approved | 99 min | Drama
In Georgia, the young and attractive daughter of poor farmers is forced by her mother to ditch her young boyfriend in order to marry an old rich neighbor but the girl rebels by becoming the town's harlot.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Diane McBain, Arthur Kennedy, Will Hutchins, Constance Ford
Votes: 393
25. 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: 131,292
26. Babes in Toyland (1961)
Approved | 106 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Mary Contrary is set to marry Tom Piper when he is kidnapped by Roderigo and Gonzorgo, two goons working for the evil Barnaby who wants to marry Mary for her inheritance.
Director: Jack Donohue | Stars: Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, Ed Wynn
Votes: 4,812 | Gross: $10.22M
27. Back Street (1961)
Passed | 107 min | Drama, Romance
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: 1,290
28. 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: 23,959
29. Bachelor in Paradise (1961)
Not Rated | 109 min | Comedy, Romance
A bachelor author of sleazy books moves to a family-oriented subdivision where he becomes an unofficial relationship advisor to unhappy local housewives, to the dismay of their respective husbands who suspect him of sexual misconduct.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige, Jim Hutton
Votes: 1,888
30. Town Without Pity (1961)
Approved | 105 min | Crime, Drama
Four American soldiers stationed near a German village face death in the rape of a local girl, and are defended by outside counsel Major Steve Garrett.
Director: Gottfried Reinhardt | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Barbara Rütting, Christine Kaufmann, E.G. Marshall
Votes: 1,980
31. Khovanschina (1959)
130 min | Drama, Musical
An opera about the Moscow uprising of 1682. Reacting against Westernization, boyar Ivan Khovansky raises a rebellion against regent Sofia Alekseyevna and the two young Tsars Peter I and Ivan V.
Director: Vera Stroyeva | Stars: Aleksey Krivchenya, Anton Grigoryev, Aleksei Maslennikov, Daniel Bedrosyan
Votes: 60
32. Paris Blues (1961)
Approved | 98 min | Drama, Music, Romance
During the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong
Votes: 3,958 | Gross: $1.30M
33. Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
Recently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Lars Passgård
Votes: 27,372
34. Harry and the Butler (1961)
105 min | Comedy, Family
Set in the late fifties in Denmark the poor junk yard assistant Harry inherits some money. He decides to use the money to hire a butler. The butler isn't too keen on the job at first, but ... See full summary »
Director: Bent Christensen | Stars: Osvald Helmuth, Ebbe Rode, Gunnar Lauring, Henning Moritzen
Votes: 501
35. Immortal Love (1961)
103 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman is forced by circumstance into a loveless marriage while still in love with another. This episodic tale follows their story through three decades of bitter conflict which engulfs their children and those around them.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Keiji Sada, Tatsuya Nakadai, Nobuko Otowa
Votes: 624
36. The Important Man (1961)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
Animas Trujano is a colorful but irresponsible Indian in a small Mexican village. He hopes above all things someday to be chosen mayordomio of his village, a place of great honor usually ... See full summary »
Director: Ismael Rodríguez | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Columba Domínguez, Flor Silvestre, Pepe Romay
Votes: 730
37. Placido (1961)
85 min | Comedy, Drama
In a small Spanish town, a group of old ladies decides to celebrate Christmas Eve with a "seat a poor man at your table" dinner: each wealthy household of the town will have a homeless ... See full summary »
Director: Luis García Berlanga | Stars: Cassen, José Luis López Vázquez, Elvira Quintillá, Manuel Alexandre
Votes: 3,768
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