Best movies of 1961
List activity
7.8K views
• 47 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
36 titles
- DirectorJerome RobbinsRobert WiseStarsNatalie WoodGeorge ChakirisRichard BeymerTwo youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.8/10
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsAudrey HepburnGeorge PeppardPatricia NealA 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.8/10
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsClark GableMarilyn MonroeMontgomery CliftA divorcée falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his romantically independent lifestyle.8/10
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsLeon NiemczykJolanta UmeckaZygmunt MalanowiczA couple pick up a hitchhiker on the way to their yacht. The husband invites the young man to come along for their day's sailing. As the voyage progresses, the antagonism between the two men grows. A violent confrontation is inevitable.7.5/10
- DirectorClyde GeronimiHamilton LuskeWolfgang ReithermanStarsRod TaylorBetty Lou GersonJ. Pat O'MalleyWhen a litter of Dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the owners must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.8/10
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.7.5/10
- DirectorStanislaw RózewiczStarsHenryk HryniewiczBeata BarszczewskaAndrzej BanaszewskiThree episodes dealing with the harsh situation of children at the time of war. They stay at orphanages, wait for their parents to come back, help the soldiers, hide in the forests and do their best to survive.7.5/10
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkFictionalized depiction of the 1947 Judges' Trial, the third of twelve trials of Nazi war criminals conducted by the American occupying forces in Nuremberg, Germany, in which former judges of Nazi Germany were tried for their actions.7/10
- DirectorErmanno OlmiStarsSandro PanseriLoredana DettoCorrado AprileBursting with big dreams and plans, an Italian teen goes to Milan to work in a big impersonal corporate office, where he becomes disillusioned and drained of all his individualism.7/10
- DirectorElia KazanStarsNatalie WoodWarren BeattyPat HingleThe 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.7/10
- DirectorJerzy KawalerowiczStarsLucyna WinnickaMieczyslaw VoitAnna CiepielewskaA priest is sent to a small parish in the Polish countryside which is believed to be under demonic possession and there he finds his own temptations awaiting.7/10
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsPaul NewmanJackie GleasonPiper LaurieAn up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.7/10
- DirectorGuy GreenStarsMaria SchellStuart WhitmanRod SteigerA man who served prison time for intent to molest a child tries to build a new life with the help of a sympathetic psychiatrist.7/10
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsAudrey HepburnShirley MacLaineJames GarnerA rebellious student at a girls' school accuses two teachers of lesbianism.7/10
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.7/10
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsSidney PoitierClaudia McNeilRuby DeeA substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.7/10
- DirectorMarlon BrandoStanley KubrickStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenPina PellicerAfter robbing a bank in Mexico, Dad Longworth absconds with the loot leaving his partner Rio to be captured by the Rurales. Rio escapes prison but struggles with his conflicting desires to love Dad's stepdaughter Louise and to get revenge.7/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonGunnar BjörnstrandMax von SydowRecently 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.7/10
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJeanne MoreauMarcello MastroianniMonica VittiA day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.7/10
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDelphine SeyrigGiorgio AlbertazziSacha PitoëffIn a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.7/10
- DirectorKazimierz KutzStarsJanina TraczykównaAndrzej MayDanuta SzaflarskaDuring second world war, an ingenious station master of a remote Polish railway station uses all his intelligence to save the lives of passengers.7/10
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsRock HudsonDoris DayTony RandallA 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.7/10
- DirectorAllen BaronStarsAllen BaronMolly McCarthyLarry TuckerA hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York, but a special girl from his past and a gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.7/10
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsBetty SchneiderGiani EspositoFrançoise PrévostAnne Goupil is a literature student in Paris in 1957. Her elder brother, Pierre, takes her to a friend's party where the guests include Philip Kaufman, an expatriate American escaping McCarthyism, and Gerard Lenz, a theatre director who arrives with the mysterious woman Terry. The talk at the party is about the apparent suicide of their friend Juan, a Spanish activist who had recently broken up with Terry. Philip warns Anne that the forces that killed Juan will soon do the same to Gerard. Gerard is trying to rehearse Shakespeare's "Pericles", although he has no financial backing. Anne takes a part in the play to help Gerard, and to try to discover why Juan died.7/10
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanJoanne WoodwardSidney PoitierDuring the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.7/10