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v t e

The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1953 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Events

• January 16 – A new Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. is incorporated following a Consent Judgment to divest their Stanley Warner Theaters.
• February 5 – Walt Disney's production of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, starring Bobby Driscoll and Kathryn Beaumont, premieres to astounding acclaim from critics and audiences and quickly becomes one of the most beloved Disney films.
• April 29 – This Is Cinerama opens in Los Angeles.
• July 1 – Stalag 17, directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, premieres and is considered by the critics and audiences to be one of the greatest WWII Prisoner of War films ever made. Holden wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film.
• August 5 – Fred Zinnemann's romantic and war masterpiece From Here to Eternity, starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Reed, premieres.
• August 27 – William Wyler's immortal romantic tale of Roman Holiday, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, premieres and propels Hepburn to super stardom.
• September 16 – Religious epic The Robe, starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons, debuts as the first widescreen anamorphic film in cinema history, filmed in CinemaScope grossing a record $36,000 for a single theatre in its first day. It went on to gross a record (for a single theater) $264,428 in its first week.
• November 21 – Monogram Pictures, which had stopped releasing pictures under that banner from the start of the year, changes its name to Allied Artists Pictures Corporation.

Awards

Notable films released in 1953

United States unless stated

#

• 99 River Street, starring John Payne and Evelyn Keyes
• The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, starring Tommy Rettig, screenplay by Dr. Seuss

A

• Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
• Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• Act of Love (Un acte d'amour), starring Kirk Douglas – (US/France)
• The Actress, starring Spencer Tracy and Jean Simmons
• Albert R.N., directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Anthony Steel, Jack Warner, Robert Beatty, William Sylvester – (GB)
• The All-American, starring Tony Curtis
• All I Desire, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• All the Brothers Were Valiant, starring Ann Blyth
• Anarkali – (India)
• Appointment in Honduras, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Ann Sheridan and Glenn Ford
• Arrowhead, starring Charlton Heston and Jack Palance

B

• Baaz, directed by and starring Guru Dutt – (India)
• The Band Wagon, starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchanan, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant
• The Bandit of Brazil (O Cangaceiro) – (Brazil)
• Barabbas, directed by Alf Sjöberg – (Sweden)
• The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, starring Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway
• Beat the Devil, directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida – (Italy/GB/US)
• The Beggar's Opera, starring Laurence Olivier and Dorothy Tutin – (GB)
• Belinsky – (U.S.S.R.)
• Ben and Me, featuring the voices of Sterling Holloway and Charles Ruggles
• Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, starring Robert Wagner
• Bienvenido Mr. Marshall, directed by Luis García Berlanga, starring Fernando Rey – (Spain)
• The Big Heat, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin
• Big Leaguer, starring Edward G. Robinson
• The Bigamist, directed by and starring Ida Lupino, with Joan Fontaine, Edmond O'Brien
• Black Ermine – (Argentina)
• Blowing Wild, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck
• The Blue Gardenia, starring Anne Baxter and Raymond Burr
• A Blueprint for Murder, starring Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters
• Bread, Love and Dreams (Pane, amore e fantasia), starring Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida – (Italy)
• Bright Road, the first feature-film appearance of Harry Belafonte (US)
• The Brute (El Bruto), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Pedro Armendáriz and Katy Jurado – (Mexico)
• By the Light of the Silvery Moon, starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

C

• The Caddy, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Calamity Jane, starring Doris Day
• Call Me Madam, starring Ethel Merman
• The Captain's Paradise, starring Alec Guinness – (GB)
• Cease Fire
• The Charge at Feather River, starring Guy Madison
• City Beneath the Sea, starring Robert Ryan, Anthony Quinn, Mala Powers
• City That Never Sleeps, starring Gig Young, William Talman, Paula Raymond, Mala Powers
• The Clown, starring Red Skelton
• Confidentially Connie, starring Van Johnson and Janet Leigh
• The Conquest of Everest – (documentary) – (GB)
• The Cruel Sea, starring Jack Hawkins and Denholm Elliott – (GB)
• Cry of the Hunted, starring Vittorio Gassman, Barry Sullivan, Polly Bergen

D

• Dangerous Crossing, starring Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie
• Dangerous When Wet, starring Esther Williams
• Decameron Nights, starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan
• The Desert Rats, starring Richard Burton and James Mason
• Desperate Moment, starring Dirk Bogarde and Mai Zetterling – (GB)
• Devdas – (India)
• Do Bigha Zamin (Two Acres of Land), directed by Bimal Roy – (India)
• Donovan's Brain, starring Lew Ayres and Nancy Davis
• Down Among the Sheltering Palms, starring Mitzi Gaynor, Gloria DeHaven, Jane Greer
• Dream Wife, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr

E

• Él (Him), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Arturo de Córdova – (Mexico)
• The Earrings of Madame de..., directed by Max Ophüls, starring Charles Boyer – (France/Italy)
• East of Sumatra, starring Anthony Quinn and Jeff Chandler
• Easy to Love, starring Esther Williams
• Easy Years (Anni facili), directed by Luigi Zampa – (Italy)
• The Eddie Cantor Story, starring Keefe Brasselle
• Entotsu no mieru basho (The Four Chimneys) – (Japan)
• Esa pareja feliz (That Happy Couple), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga – (Spain)
• Escape By Night, starring Bonar Colleano and Sid James – (GB)
• Escape from Fort Bravo, directed by John Sturges, starring William Holden, Eleanor Parker, John Forsythe

F

• Fair Wind to Java, starring Fred MacMurray and Vera Ralston
• The Farmer Takes a Wife, starring Betty Grable
• Fast Company, starring Howard Keel and Polly Bergen
• Fear and Desire, directed by Stanley Kubrick
• The Final Test, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Jack Warner (GB)
• Folly to Be Wise, directed by Frank Launder, starring Alastair Sim – (GB)
• Footpath, starring Dilip Kumar – (India)
• From Here to Eternity, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed – winner of 8 Oscars

G

• Gate of Hell (Jigokumon) – (Japan)
• A Geisha (Gion Bayashi), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
• Genevieve, starring Dinah Sheridan, John Gregson, Kay Kendall – (GB)
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe
• The Girl Next Door, starring June Haver and Dan Dailey
• The Girl Who Had Everything, starring Elizabeth Taylor, William Powell, Fernando Lamas, Gig Young
• Give a Girl a Break, directed by Stanley Donen, starring Debbie Reynolds, Marge Champion, Gower Champion
• The Glass Wall, starring Vittorio Gassman and Gloria Grahame
• The Golden Blade, starring Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie
• The Great Adventure (Det stora äventyret), directed by Arne Sucksdorff – (Sweden)
• The Great Sioux Uprising, starring Jeff Chandler
• Gun Fury, starring Rock Hudson and Donna Reed

H

• The Heart of the Matter, starring Trevor Howard – (GB)
• The Hitch-Hiker, directed by Ida Lupino, starring Edmond O'Brien and William Talman
• Hondo, starring John Wayne and Geraldine Page in her film debut
• Houdini, starring (husband and wife) Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh
• House of Wax, starring Vincent Price
• How to Marry a Millionaire, starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall (Grable, Fox's top star of the 1940s, with Monroe, Fox's top star of the 1950s)

I

• I Confess, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Montgomery Clift and Anne Baxter
• The I Don't Care Girl, starring Mitzi Gaynor
• I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
• I, the Jury, starring Biff Elliot and Peggie Castle
• Inferno, starring Robert Ryan
• Interim, directed by Stan Brakhage, short film (25 ½ minutes); music by James Tenney)
• The Intruder, starring Jack Hawkins – (GB)
• Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?, starring Bonar Colleano and Diana Dors – (GB)
• Island in the Sky, starring John Wayne
• It Came from Outer Space, directed by Jack Arnold, starring Richard Carlson

J

• Jennifer, starring Ida Lupino and Howard Duff
• Jeopardy, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker
• Julius Caesar, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr

K

• The Kidnappers, starring Jon Whiteley – (GB)
• King of the Khyber Rifles, starring Tyrone Power
• Kiss Me Kate, starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, released in 2-D and 3-D

L

• The Lady Without Camelias (La signora senza camelie), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni – (Italy)
• The Landowner's Daughter (Sinhá Moça), starring Anselmo Duarte – (Brazil)
• Lagu Kenangan (L. Inata [id]), starring Titien Sumarni and AN Alcaff (Indonesia)
• Latin Lovers, starring Lana Turner
• Law and Order, a western starring Ronald Reagan
• The Lawless Breed, starring Rock Hudson
• Lili, starring Leslie Caron
• The Limping Man, starring Lloyd Bridges – (GB)
• A Lion Is in the Streets, starring James Cagney, Barbara Hale, Anne Francis
• Little Boy Lost, starring Bing Crosby
• Little Fugitive
• The Living Desert, winner of Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
• Love in the City (L'Amore in Città), an anthology film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Dino Risi, Federico Fellini and others – (Italy)
• Love Letter (Koibumi) – (Japan)

M

• Malta Story, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlow – (GB)
• Man in the Attic, starring Jack Palance and Constance Smith
• The Man Between, starring James Mason and Claire Bloom – (GB)
• Man in the Dark, starring Edmond O'Brien and Audrey Totter
• Man on a Tightrope, starring Fredric March and Gloria Grahame
• Martin Luther – (US/West Germany)
• The Master of Ballantrae, directed by William Keighley, starring Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel, Beatrice Campbell – (U.K.)
• Meet Me at the Fair, starring Dan Dailey and Diana Lynn
• Miss Sadie Thompson, starring Rita Hayworth
• The Mississippi Gambler, starring Tyrone Power and Piper Laurie
• Mogambo, starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly (remake of 1932's Red Dust which starred Gable with Jean Harlow)
• Money from Home, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot), directed by and starring Jacques Tati – (France)
• La montaña sin ley
• The Moon Is Blue, first U.S. movie to use the words "pregnant" and "virgin", directed by Otto Preminger, starring William Holden, David Niven, Maggie McNamara
• The Moonlighter, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray

N

• The Naked Spur, starring James Stewart, Robert Ryan and Janet Leigh
• The Net, directed by Anthony Asquith – (GB)
• Niagara, starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten
• No Way Back (Weg Ohne Umkehr) – (West Germany)

P

• Patita, starring Dev Anand and Usha Kiran – (India)
• Peter Pan, a Walt Disney animation featuring the voice of Bobby Driscoll
• The Phantom Stockman, starring Chips Rafferty – (Australia)
• Pickup on South Street, directed by Sam Fuller, starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter
• Plunder of the Sun, starring Glenn Ford
• Pony Express, starring Charlton Heston (as Buffalo Bill)
• The President's Lady (Charlton Heston's first turn at Andrew Jackson before The Buccaneer)

R

• Remains to Be Seen, starring June Allyson and Van Johnson
• Report News (Reportaje), starring Arturo de Córdova and Dolores del Río – (Mexico)
• Return to Paradise, starring Gary Cooper
• Ride, Vaquero!, starring Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner
• The Robe, the first movie filmed in CinemaScope, starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons
• Rogue's March, starring Peter Lawford, Janice Rule
• Roman Holiday, directed by William Wyler, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in her Oscar-winning first leading role
• Rosanna (La Red) – (Mexico)

S

• Salome, starring Rita Hayworth
• Sawdust and Tinsel (Gycklarnas afton), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
• Scared Stiff, starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott and Carmen Miranda
• Sea Devils, starring Rock Hudson and Yvonne De Carlo – (GB/US)
• Seminole, starring Rock Hudson and Anthony Quinn
• Shane, directed by George Stevens, starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur (in her final film role), Brandon de Wilde, Ben Johnson, Jack Palance
• Siamo Donne (We, the Women), starring Alida Valli and Ingrid Bergman – (Italy)
• Small Town Girl, starring Jane Powell and Ann Miller
• So Big, directed by Robert Wise, starring Jane Wyman, Sterling Hayden, Steve Forrest
• So This Is Love, starring Kathryn Grayson and Merv Griffin
• South Sea Woman, starring Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo
• Split Second, starring Alexis Smith and Jan Sterling
• Stalag 17, directed by Billy Wilder, starring William Holden (in his Oscar-winning role), Don Taylor, Harvey Lembeck, Robert Strauss, Otto Preminger, Peter Graves
• Stars of the Russian Ballet (Mastera russkogo baleta), starring Galina Ulanova – (USSR)
• The State Department Store (Állami Áruház) – (Hungary)
• The Steel Lady, starring Rod Cameron and Tab Hunter
• The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan, starring Robert Morley and Maurice Evans – (GB)
• The Story of Little Muck (Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck) – (East Germany)
• The Story of Three Loves, trilogy starring James Mason, Leslie Caron, Kirk Douglas
• Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Harriet Andersson – (Sweden)
• The Sun Shines Bright, directed by John Ford, starring Charles Winninger

T

• Take Me to Town, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Ann Sheridan and Sterling Hayden
• Take the High Ground!, starring Richard Widmark and Karl Malden
• Thérèse Raquin, directed by Marcel Carné, starring Simone Signoret – (France)
• Three Perfect Wives (Las Tres perfectas casadas), starring Arturo de Córdova – (Mexico)
• Thunder Over the Plains, starring Randolph Scott
• Titanic, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb, Thelma Ritter, Brian Aherne, Robert Wagner
• The Titfield Thunderbolt, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Stanley Holloway – (GB)
• Tokyo Story (Tōkyō Monogatari), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
• Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom
• Torch Song, starring Joan Crawford
• Treasure of the Golden Condor, directed by Delmer Daves, starring Cornel Wilde
• Trouble Along the Way, starring John Wayne
• Trouble in Store, starring Norman Wisdom – (GB)
• Tumbleweed, starring Audie Murphy
• Twice Upon a Time, directed by Emeric Pressburger – (GB)

U

• Ugetsu Monogatari, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)

V

• The Vanquished (I Vinti), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni – (Italy)
• I Vitelloni, directed by Federico Fellini – (France/Italy)

W

• The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Yves Montand – winner of Golden Bear and Palme d'Or awards – (France)
• Walking My Baby Back Home, starring Janet Leigh and Donald O'Connor
• War Arrow, starring Maureen O'Hara and Jeff Chandler
• The War of the Worlds, starring Gene Barry
• White Lightning, starring Stanley Clements and Steve Brodie
• White Mane (Crin Blanc, Cheval Sauvage) – (France)
• White Witch Doctor, starring Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward
• The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando

Y

• Young Bess, starring Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton

Serials

• Canadian Mounties vs Atomic Invaders, starring Bill Henry
• The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd, starring Richard Crane
• Jungle Drums of Africa, starring Clayton Moore and Phyllis Coates
• The Lost Planet, starring Judd Holdren

Short film series

• Mickey Mouse (1928)-(1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Donald Duck (1934)-(1956)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Goofy (1939)-(1953)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Bugs Bunny (1940)-(1962)
• Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Sylvester the Cat (1944–1966)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)

Births

• January 30: Steven Zaillian, director
• February 8: Mary Steenburgen, actress
• February 11: Philip Anglim, actor
• February 19: Massimo Troisi, actor (died 1994)
• March 2: Ezra Swerdlow, film producer (died 2018)
• March 4:
  • Scott Hicks, director
  • Agustí Villaronga, Spanish director
• March 16: Isabelle Huppert, French actress
• April 16: Jay O. Sanders, actor
• April 18: Rick Moranis, Canadian actor & comedian
• May 9: Amy Hill, American stand-up comedian, actress and voice actress
• May 16: Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
• May 24: Alfred Molina, British-born American actor
• May 30: Colm Meaney, Irish actor
• June 13: Tim Allen, actor
• June 26: Peng Xiaolian, director (died 2019)
• July 11: Mindy Sterling, actress
• August 11: Hulk Hogan, wrestler
• August 14: James Horner, composer (died 2015)
• August 27: Peter Stormare, Swedish actor
• September 10: Amy Irving, actress
• October 9: Tony Shalhoub, actor
• October 15: Larry Miller, American comedian, actor, news podcaster and columnist
• October 20: Bill Nunn, actor died (2016)
• October 26: Maureen Teefy, actress
• October 31: Michael J. Anderson, actor
• November 3: Kate Capshaw, actress
• November 6: Ron Underwood, director
• November 27: Curtis Armstrong, American actor and singer
• November 28 - Pamela Hayden, American actress and voice actress
• December 6: Tom Hulce, actor
• December 8
  • Kim Basinger, actress
  • Sam Kinison, stand-up comedian (died 1992)
• December 9: John Malkovich, actor
• December 11: Richard Carter, Australian actor and voice-over artist (died 2019)
• December 17: Bill Pullman, actor
• December 23: John Callahan, actor (died 2020)
• December 31: James Remar, actor

Deaths

• February 2: Alan Curtis, 43, American actor, High Sierra, Buck Privates
• February 27: Jessie Coles Grayson, 66, African-American contralto and actress, Cass Timberlane
• March 5: Herman J. Mankiewicz, 55, American screenwriter, Citizen Kane, The Pride of the Yankees, Dinner at Eight, Man of the World
• March 19: Irene Bordoni, 68, Corsican-American actress and singer, Paris, Louisiana Purchase
• April 26: Rian James, 53, American screenwriter, 42nd Street, The Housekeeper's Daughter
• May 30: Dooley Wilson, 67, American actor, Casablanca, Stormy Weather
• June 5: Roland Young, 65, British actor, Topper, Ruggles of Red Gap, The Philadelphia Story, And Then There Were None
• June 30: Vsevolod Pudovkin, Soviet film director (born 1893)
• July 3: Irving Reis, 47, American director, The Big Street, All My Sons
• August 6
  • John Reinhardt, Austrian director, Sofia, Chicago Calling
  • Houseley Stevenson, American actor, Dark Passage, Kidnapped
• August 9: Henri Étiévant, French actor, director (born 1870)
• September 12: Lewis Stone, American actor (born 1879), Andy Hardy film series, The Prisoner of Zenda, Grand Hotel
• October 6: Porter Hall, American actor (born 1888), Double Indemnity, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Going My Way, Miracle on 34th Street
• October 8: Nigel Bruce, British actor (born 1895), Sherlock Holmes film series, Suspicion, Rebecca, The Rains Came, Treasure Island
• October 13: Millard Mitchell, American character actor (born 1903), Singin' in the Rain, Winchester '73, The Gunfighter, The Naked Spur, Twelve O'Clock High
• November 29: Sam De Grasse, Canadian actor (born 1875), Robin Hood, Blind Husbands
• December 29: Violet MacMillan, American actress (born 1887), The Magic Cloak of Oz, Violet's Dreams

Debuts

• Carroll Baker – Easy to Love
• Harry Belafonte – Bright Road
• Stanley Kubrick (director) – Fear and Desire
• Steve McQueen – Girl on the Run
• Geraldine Page – Hondo
• Anthony Perkins – The Actress
• Harry Shearer – Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
• Maureen Stapleton – Main Street to Broadway