32nd Academy Awards
by luisgmosalinasc | created - 09 Mar 2022 | updated - 09 Mar 2022 | PublicAll nominated films
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1. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,818 | Gross: $74.70M
Winner - Best Motion Picture Winner - Best Director for William Wyler Winner - Charlton Heston Winner - Best Supporting Actor for Hugh Griffith Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Karl Tunberg Winner - Best Dramatic of Comedy Score for Miklós Rózsa Winner - Best Sound Recording for Franklin Milton Winner - Best Art Direction, Color Winner - Best Cinematography, Color for Robert L. Surtees Winner - Best Costume Design, Color for Elizabeth Haffenden Winner - Best Film Editing for Ralph E. Winters and John D. Dunning Winner - Best Special Effects for A. Arnold Gillespie, Robert MacDonald and Milo Lory
2. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Not Rated | 161 min | Drama, Mystery
An upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell
Votes: 71,397 | Gross: $11.90M
Nominated - Best Motion Picture Nominated - Best Actor for James Stewart Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Arthur O'Connell Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for George C. Scott Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Wendell Mayes Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Sam Leavitt Nominated - Best Film Editing for Louis R. Loeffler
3. Room at the Top (1958)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Romance
An ambitious young accountant plots to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter despite falling in love with a married older woman.
Director: Jack Clayton | Stars: Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears, Donald Wolfit
Votes: 7,333
Nominated - Best Motion Picture Nominated - Best Director for Jack Clayton Nominated - Best Actor for Laurence Harvey Winner - Best Actress for Simone Signoret Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Hermione Baddeley Winner - Best Adapted Screenplay for Neil Paterson
4. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Approved | 180 min | Biography, Drama, Family
During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters, Joseph Schildkraut, Richard Beymer
Votes: 13,698 | Gross: $5.01M
Nominated - Best Motion Picture Nominated - Best Director for George Stevens Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Ed Wynn Winner - Best Supporting Actress for Shelley Winters Nominated - Best Dramatic or Comedy Score for Alfred Newman Winner - Best Art Direction, Black and White Winner - Best Cinematography, Black and White for William C. Mellor Nominated - Best Costume Design, Black and White for Charles LeMaire and Mary Wills
5. The Nun's Story (1959)
Approved | 149 min | Drama
After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft
Votes: 11,709 | Gross: $12.80M
Nominated - Best Motion Picture Nominated - Best Director for Fred Zinnemann Nominated - Best Actress for Audrey Hepburn Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert Anderson Nominated - Best Dramatic or Comedy Score for Franz Waxman Nominated - Best Sound Recording for George Groves Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Franz Planer Nominated - Best Film Editing for Walter Thompson
6. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,719 | Gross: $25.00M
Nominated - Best Director for Billy Wilder Nominated - Best Actor for Jack Lemmon Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Charles Lang, Jr. Winner - Best Costume Design, Black and White for Orry-Kelly
7. The Last Angry Man (1959)
Approved | 100 min | Drama
An aspiring journalist's story of his aged uncle doctor leads to the uncle's life being profiled on TV.
Director: Daniel Mann | Stars: Paul Muni, David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Luther Adler
Votes: 1,027
Nominated - Best Actor for Paul Muni Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White
8. Pillow Talk (1959)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
An interior decorator and a playboy songwriter share a telephone party line and size each other up.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 19,190 | Gross: $18.75M
Nominated - Best Actress for Doris Day Nominated - Best Supporting Actress Winner - Best Original Screenplay for Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin Nominated - Best Dramatic or Comedy Score for Frank DeVol Nominated - Best Art Direction, Color
9. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Albert Dekker
Votes: 17,226 | Gross: $13.90M
Nominated - Best Actress for Katharine Hepburn Nominated - Best Actress for Elizabeth Taylor Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White
10. The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Drama
A promising lawyer tries to handle his social and professional problems while climbing the ranks in Philadelphia.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith
Votes: 4,274
Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Robert Vaughn Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Harry Stradling, Sr. Nominated - Best Costume Design, Black and White for Howard Shoup
11. Imitation of Life (1959)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner
Votes: 18,227 | Gross: $13.99M
Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Susan Kohner Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Juanita Moore
12. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 346,369 | Gross: $13.28M
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Ernest Lehman Nominated - Best Art Direction, Color Nominated - Best Film Editing for George Tomasini
13. The 400 Blows (1959)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble
Votes: 128,138
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for François Truffaut and Marcel Moussy
14. Operation Petticoat (1959)
Approved | 124 min | Comedy, Romance, War
During World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien, Dina Merrill
Votes: 15,883 | Gross: $23.30M
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Paul King, Joseph J. Stone, Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin
15. Wild Strawberries (1957)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Romance
After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Victor Sjöström, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand
Votes: 115,067
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Ingmar Bergman
16. Black Orpheus (1959)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Director: Marcel Camus | Stars: Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira, Léa Garcia
Votes: 12,269
Winner - Best Foreign Language Film (France)
17. The Bridge (1959)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, History, War
In 1945, Germany is being overrun, and nobody is left to fight but teenagers.
Director: Bernhard Wicki | Stars: Volker Bohnet, Fritz Wepper, Michael Hinz, Frank Glaubrecht
Votes: 8,661
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (Germany)
18. Village by the River (1958)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama
An independent-thinking doctor in a rural community with his own ideas of how medicine should be practiced begins to find himself ostracized from the community after one of his patients commits suicide.
Director: Fons Rademakers | Stars: Max Croiset, Mary Dresselhuys, Bernard Droog, Jan Retèl
Votes: 429
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (Netherlands)
19. The Great War (1959)
Approved | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The Italian Army fought against the Austrians during World War I.
Director: Mario Monicelli | Stars: Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, Bernard Blier, Folco Lulli
Votes: 4,610
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (Italy)
20. Boy of Two Worlds (1959)
G | 93 min | Family, Drama
Young boy whose father was from Denmark and mother from a tropical island must live with his paternal aunt in Denmark. His skin color becomes an issue right away and he decides to escape and live in the forest.
Director: Astrid Henning-Jensen | Stars: Edvin Adolphson, Jimmy Sterman, Asbjørn Andersen, Ninja Tholstrup
Votes: 183
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (Denmark)
21. Serengeti (1959)
85 min | Documentary
The borders of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania were initially drawn without considering the herds of grass-eating wild animals. The recording of seasonal animal movements by the ... See full summary »
Director: Bernhard Grzimek | Stars: Bernhard Grzimek, Holger Hagen, Hermann Rockmann
Votes: 432
Winner - Best Documentary Feature
22. The Race for Space (1959 TV Movie)
55 min | Documentary
The history of the beginning of man's reach for space travel. Some previously classified American and Russia footage is inter-spliced with Mike Wallace interviewing people about their first-hand experiences.
Director: David L. Wolper | Stars: Esther Goddard, Holger N. Toftoy, Mike Wallace
Votes: 58
Nominated - Best Documentary Feature
23. Glass (1958)
11 min | Documentary, Short
Documentary about Dutch glass production in the 50s.
Director: Bert Haanstra
Votes: 1,149
Winner - Best Documentary Short
24. Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)
Approved | 27 min | Animation, Short, Family
Donald's goes on an adventure in which it is explained how mathematics can be useful in real life. Through this journey it is shown how numbers are more than graphs and charts, they are geometry, music and magical living things.
Directors: Les Clark, Joshua Meador, Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske, Norman Ferguson, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Hannah, Wilfred Jackson, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Jane Fowler, Paul Frees, Clarence Nash, Roman Yanez
Votes: 2,462
Nominated - Best Documentary Short
25. From Generation to Generation (1959)
12 min | Documentary, Short
This film illustrates the basic facts of human reproduction shown through the lives of a young farm couple with one child.
Director: Francis Thompson
Votes: 24
Nominated - Best Documentary Short
26. The Golden Fish (1959)
Approved | 19 min | Short
Similar in design and technique to "The Red Baloon", and winner of the 1959 International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, this is the story of a boy who has a goldfish as a pet, ... See full summary »
Director: Edmond Séchan | Stars: Louis Paul, Gilbert Hugues, Jean-Marie Maillols
Votes: 146
Winner - Best Live Action Short
27. Between the Tides (1958)
20 min | Documentary, Short
A look at the wildlife living on the seashore in the UK.
Director: Ralph Keene | Star: Stephen Murray
Votes: 54
Nominated - Best Live Action Short
28. Mysteries of the Deep (1959)
Approved | 24 min | Family, Documentary, Short
In this Oscar®-nominated short, a submerged reef is the home of many strange creatures. We see mating, birth, and development of the young into adults, with the laws of nature being fulfilled as the battle for survival goes continually on.
Star: Winston Hibler
Votes: 90
Nominated - Best Live Action Short
29. The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959)
10 min | Short, Comedy
There is no plot as such. This is a slapstick comedy. It shows a lots of gags.
Directors: Richard Lester, Peter Sellers | Stars: Richard Lester, Peter Sellers, Dick Bentley, Mario Fabrizi
Votes: 832
Nominated - Best Live Action Short
30. Skyscraper (1959)
20 min | Documentary, Short
A documentary short subject about the construction of a new skyscraper in late 1950s Manhattan, the Tishman building on prestigious Fifth Avenue.
Directors: Shirley Clarke, Wheaton Galentine, Irving Jacoby, D.A. Pennebaker, Willard Van Dyke
Votes: 256
Nominated - Best Live Action Short
31. Moonbird (1959)
10 min | Animation, Comedy, Short
Two boys go outside at night to capture a bird.
Director: John Hubley | Stars: Mark Hubley, Ray Hubley
Votes: 747
Winner - Best Animated Short
32. Mexicali Shmoes (1959)
7 min | Family, Animation, Short
A pair of not-too-bright Mexican cats, one shorter-tempered than the other, decide to chase Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all Mexico. And when their schemes - involving use of ... See full summary »
Director: Friz Freleng | Stars: Mel Blanc, Tom Holland
Votes: 607
Nominated - Best Animated Short
33. Noah's Ark (1959)
Approved | 19 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Noah gets the word: build an ark in seven days. His sons cut the necessary trees in three days, and much furious sawing and hammering follows. But there's no rest, as they need to round up ... See full summary »
Director: Bill Justice | Stars: Jerome Courtland, Jeanne Bruns, James MacDonald, Paul Frees
Votes: 355
Nominated - Best Animated Short
34. The Violinist (1959)
8 min | Animation, Short
Harry is a violinist who loves to play, but without feeling. When he is told that he plays terribly he tries to change how he plays, learning a very important lesson.
Director: Ernest Pintoff | Star: Carl Reiner
Votes: 122
Nominated - Best Animated Short
35. On the Beach (1959)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
Votes: 14,425 | Gross: $11.00M
Nominated - Best Dramatic or Comedy Score for Ernest Gold Nominated - Best Film Editing for Frederic Knudtson
36. Porgy and Bess (1959)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly- if only everyone else would allow them to.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey
Votes: 1,917
Winner - Best Musical Score for André Previn and Ken Darby Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Gordon E. Sawyer and Fred Hynes Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Leon Shamroy Nominated - Best Costume Design, Color for Irene Sharaff
37. Li'l Abner (1959)
Approved | 114 min | Comedy, Musical, Family
As Sadie Hawkins Day approaches, Daisy Mae hopes to win the hand of Li'l Abner by catching him in the traditional race.
Director: Melvin Frank | Stars: Leslie Parrish, Stubby Kaye, Peter Palmer, Howard St. John
Votes: 1,496
Nominated - Best Musical Score for Nelson Riddle and Joseph J. Lilley
38. Say One for Me (1959)
120 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Father Conroy (Crosby) has a parish which serves the acting and performance community. When one of his parishoners gets too sick to work, his daughter Holly (Reynolds) finds a job working ... See full summary »
Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Debbie Reynolds, Bing Crosby, Robert Wagner, Ray Walston
Votes: 351
Nominated - Best Musical Score for Lionel Newman
39. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
G | 75 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
After being snubbed by the royal family, a malevolent fairy places a curse on a princess which only a prince can break, along with the help of three good fairies.
Directors: Les Clark, Clyde Geronimi, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske | Stars: Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton
Votes: 160,983 | Gross: $51.60M
Nominated - Best Musical Score for George Bruns
40. The Five Pennies (1959)
Approved | 117 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Danny Kaye cuts loose with his trademark musical clowning. Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong plays his horn and croons in that famed gargling-granite voice. Big Band icons Bob Crosby, Ray Anthony and Shelly Manne join the fun.
Director: Melville Shavelson | Stars: Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong, Harry Guardino
Votes: 2,119
Nominated - Best Musical Score for Leith Stevens Nominated - Best Original Song for "The Five Pennies" Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Daniel L. Fapp Nominated - Best Costume Design, Color for Edith Head
41. A Hole in the Head (1959)
Approved | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
Widower Tony is trying to keep a small Miami hotel afloat while raising a 12-year-old son. He's forced to ask his harried brother Mario for help, but he'll only bail Tony out if he quits his bohemian lifestyle and marries a sensible woman.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Carolyn Jones
Votes: 2,850 | Gross: $11.00M
Winner - Best Original Song for "High Hopes"
42. The Best of Everything (1959)
Approved | 121 min | Drama, Romance
An expose of the lives and loves of Madison Avenue working girls and their higher ups.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Suzy Parker, Martha Hyer
Votes: 2,359
Nominated - Best Original Song for "The Best of Everything" Nominated - Best Costume Design, Color for Adele Palmer
43. The Hanging Tree (1959)
Approved | 107 min | Western
Unusual western about a doctor with a dark past, whose life is complicated and ultimately redeemed by a young thief, and a pretty Swiss immigrant whom he nurses back to health.
Directors: Delmer Daves, Karl Malden, Vincent Sherman | Stars: Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Karl Malden, George C. Scott
Votes: 4,756
Nominated - Best Original Song for "The Hanging Tree"
44. The Young Land (1959)
Approved | 89 min | Western
An American gunslinger kills a Mexican man in California immediately after the Mexican-American war. The killer is arrested and put on trial for murder with the Hispanic population waiting to learn of American justice.
Director: Ted Tetzlaff | Stars: Patrick Wayne, Yvonne Craig, Dennis Hopper, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 347
Nominated - Best Original Song for "Strange Are The Ways of Love"
45. Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
Approved | 129 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.
Director: Henry Levin | Stars: James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, Diane Baker
Votes: 19,585 | Gross: $10.00M
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Carlton W. Faulkner Nominated - Best Art Direction, Color Nominated - Best Special Effects for L. B. Abbott, James B. Gordon and Carl Faulkner
46. Libel (1959)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Mystery
A shell-shocked World War II veteran with memory problems is accused of being an impostor by a former comrade.
Director: Anthony Asquith | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Massie, Robert Morley
Votes: 1,599
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for A. W. Watkins
47. Career (1959)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
More than anything in the world, Sam Lawson wants to be a successful actor. Is he willing to sacrifice his wife, happiness and personal reputation to achieve his goal?
Director: Joseph Anthony | Stars: Dean Martin, Anthony Franciosa, Shirley MacLaine, Carolyn Jones
Votes: 708
Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Joseph LaShelle Nominated - Best Costume Design, Black and White for Edith Head
48. The Big Fisherman (1959)
Approved | 180 min | Drama, History
Exploring the life of Peter, from being a successful fisherman to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ and being dependent on Jesus Christ.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Howard Keel, John Saxon, Susan Kohner, Martha Hyer
Votes: 456
Nominated - Best Art Direction, Color Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Lee Garmes Nominated - Best Costume Design, Color for Renie
49. The Gazebo (1959)
Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Thriller
TV writer Elliott Nash buries something under the new gazebo in his suburban backyard. But the nervous man can't let it rest there.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner, John McGiver
Votes: 2,227
Nominated - Best Costume Design, Black and White for Helen Rose
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