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The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.

Events [link]

• The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.
• September 18 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx marries his second wife, Barbara Blakely.
• November 18 - William Wyler's film Ben-Hur premieres at Loews Theater in New York City.
• Sammy Davis, Jr. and May Britt start dating.
• The film of Mise Éire, made by George Morrison for Gael Linn, is premiered at the Cork Film Festival, the first feature-length Irish language film.

Top grossing films (U.S.) [link]

(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)

Awards [link]

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Ben-Hur - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Best Director: William Wyler - Ben-Hur

Best Actor: Charlton Heston - Ben-Hur

Best Actress: Simone Signoret - Room at the Top

Best Supporting Actor: Hugh Griffith - Ben-Hur

Best Supporting Actress: Shelley Winters - The Diary of Anne Frank

Best Foreign Language Film: Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), directed by Marcel Camus, Brazil / France / Italy

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Ben-Hur

Best Actor: Anthony Franciosa - Career

Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor - Suddenly, Last Summer

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture (tie): Some Like It Hot

Best Picture (tie): Porgy and Bess

Best Actor: Jack Lemmon - Some Like It Hot

Best Actress: Marilyn Monroe - Some Like It Hot

Other

Best Director: William Wyler - Ben-Hur

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), directed by Marcel Camus, France

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Il Generale della Rovere (General della Rovere), directed by Roberto Rosselini, Italy / France

La grande guerra (The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, Italy / France

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Les Cousins (The Cousins), directed by Claude Chabrol, France

Films released in 1959 [link]

U.S.A. unless stated

• 4D Man
• The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, starring Lou Costello and Dorothy Provine
• The 39 Steps - (U.K.)
• The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups), directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud - (France)

A

• Al Capone, starring Rod Steiger
• Anari, starring Raj Kapoor - (India)
• Anatomy of a Murder, directed by Otto Preminger, starring James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, George C. Scott
• The Angry Hills, starring Robert Mitchum and Gia Scala
• The Angry Red Planet
• The Atomic Submarine
• Atrocities of the Orient (Re-release of 1948 film Beast of The East.)
• Attack of the Giant Leeches

B

• Ballad of a Soldier (Ballada o soldate), directed by Grigori Chukhrai - (U.S.S.R.)
• Battle Beyond the Sun (Nebo zovet) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Battle in Outer Space, directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)
• The Battle of the Sexes, starring Peter Sellers - (U.K.)
• The Beat Generation, starring Steve Cochran and Mamie Van Doren
• Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler, starring Charlton Heston - winner of 11 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Globes
• The Best of Everything, starring Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Joan Crawford
• The Big Fisherman
• The Big Operator, starring Mickey Rooney, Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Doren
• The Birth of Japan (Nippon Tanjō) - (Japan)
• Black Orpheus, directed by Marcel Camus - winner of Palme d'Or, Golden Globe, Oscar and Bafta - (Brazil/France/Italy)
• The Bridge (Die Brücke), directed by Bernhard Wicki - (West Germany)
• A Bucket of Blood, directed by Roger Corman

C

• Career, starring Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Anthony Franciosa
• Carlton-Browne of the F.O., starring Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, John Le Mesurier - (U.K.)
• Carry On Nurse - (U.K.)
• Carry On Teacher - (U.K.)
• La Casa del Terror - (Mexico)
• Come Dance with Me, starring Brigitte Bardot - (France/Italy)
• Compulsion, starring Orson Welles, Bradford Dillman, Dean Stockwell
• Les Cousins, directed by Claude Chabrol - (France)
• The Crimson Kimono, directed by Samuel Fuller, starring James Shigeta
• La Cucaracha, starring Dolores del Río - (Mexico)

D

• Danger Within, starring Richard Todd, Bernard Lee, Richard Attenborough - (U.K.)
• Darby O'Gill and the Little People
• Date with Death
• Day of the Outlaw, starring Robert Ryan and Burl Ives
• Destiny of a Man (Sudba cheloveka), directed by Sergei Bondarchuk - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Devil's Disciple, starring Laurence Olivier, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas - (U.S./U.K.)
• The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by George Stevens, starring Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters, Richard Beymer, Diane Baker, Ed Wynn
• Dil Deke Dekho - (India)
• A Doll's House, starring Julie Harris and Christopher Plummer
• Donald in Mathmagic Land (short subject)
• Don't Give Up The Ship, starring Jerry Lewis

E-F

• Expresso Bongo, starring Laurence Harvey and Cliff Richard - (U.K.)
• The FBI Story, starring James Stewart
• Face of a Fugitive, starring Fred MacMurray
• The Facts of Murder, directed by and starring Pietro Germi with Claudia Cardinale - (Italy)
• Fires on the Plain (Nobi), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
• The Five Pennies, starring Danny Kaye
• Floating Weeds (Ukikusa), directed by Yasujiro Ozu - (Japan)
• Follow a Star, starring Norman Wisdom, Ron Moody, Hattie Jacques - (U.K.)
• The Fugitive Kind, starring Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward

G-H

• The Gazebo, starring Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner
• Il Generale della Rovere, directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• Gidget, starring Sandra Dee
• Girls Town, starring Mamie Van Doren
• Good Morning (Ohayō), directed by Yasujiro Ozu - (Japan)
• La grande guerra (The Great War), directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Alberto Sordi and Vittorio Gassman - (Italy)
• The Hanging Tree, starring Gary Cooper
• Happy Anniversary
• Hercules and the Queen of Lydia (aka Ercole e la regina di Lidia and Hercules Unchained) - (Italy)
• Hiroshima Mon Amour, directed by Alain Resnais - (France/Japan)
• A Hole in the Head, starring Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson
• The Horse Soldiers
• The Hound of the Baskervilles starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee - (U.K.)
• House on Haunted Hill, starring Vincent Price

I-J

• I'm Alright Jack, directed by the Boulting Brothers, starring Peter Sellers and Ian Carmichael - (U.K.)
• Imitation of Life, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner, Juanita Moore
• It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford
• The Jazz Singer
• John Paul Jones
• Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring James Mason and Pat Boone

K-L

• Kaagaz Ke Phool, directed by and starring Guru Dutt - (India)
• Kapò, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, starring Susan Strasberg - (Italy/France/Yugoslavia)
• Killer Shrews
• The Last Angry Man, starring Paul Muni
• Last Train from Gun Hill, starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn
• El Lazarillo de Tormes, winner of Golden Bear - (Spain)
• The Legend of Tom Dooley
• Libel directed by Anthony Asquith (U.K.)
• Li'l Abner, starring Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish, Stella Stevens, Stubby Kaye
• Look Back in Anger, directed by Tony Richardson, starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom - (U.K.)

M-N

• Magic Boy (Shōnen Sarutobi Sasuke) - Japanese animated film
• Make Mine a Million, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Arthur Askey and Sid James (U.K.)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sen noci svatojánské), an animated puppet film by Jiří Trnka - (Czechoslovakia)
• The Miracle
• Mise Éire - (Ireland)
• The Mouse That Roared, starring Peter Sellers and Jean Seberg - (U.K.)
• The Mummy - (U.K.)
• My Second Brother, directed by Shohei Imamura - (Japan)
• Nazarin, directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
• Never So Few, starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Steve McQueen
• Night Train (Pociąg) - (Poland)
• No Name on the Bullet, starring Audie Murphy
• North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
• North West Frontier, starring Kenneth More and Lauren Bacall - (U.K.)
• The Nun's Story, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Audrey Hepburn

O-P

• Odd Obsession (Kagi), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
• Odds Against Tomorrow, starring Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan
• On the Beach, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
• Operation Petticoat, starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis
• Our Man in Havana, starring Alec Guinness and Ernie Kovacs - (U.K.)
• Paigham, directed by S. S. Vasan, starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Raaj Kumar and B. Saroja Devi - (India)
• Paper Flowers (Kaagaz Ke Phool) - (India)
• Pickpocket, directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
• Pillow Talk, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson
• Plan 9 from Outer Space'', directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. Starring Tor Johnson, Vampira, Bela Lugosi
• Porgy and Bess, a musical directed by Otto Preminger, starring Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier, music by George and Ira Gershwin
• Pork Chop Hill, starring Gregory Peck

Q-R

• Ride Lonesome
• Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson
• Room at the Top, directed by Jack Clayton, starring Simone Signoret and Laurence Harvey - (U.K.)

S

• Sampo (The Day the Earth Froze) - (U.S.S.R./Finland)
• Sapphire, directed by Basil Dearden - (U.K.)
• Serious Charge - (U.K.)
• Shadows, directed by John Cassavetes
• The Shaggy Dog
• Shake Hands with the Devil, starring James Cagney - (U.S.A./Ireland)
• Sleeping Beauty (Walt Disney animation)
• Solomon and Sheba, starring Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida
• Some Like It Hot, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
• SOS Pacific - (U.K.)
• Suddenly, Last Summer, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn

T-V

• Terror Is a Man - (U.S./Philippines)
• Third Man on the Mountain
• Tiger Bay, starring John Mills and Hayley Mills - (U.K.)
• Tommy the Toreador - (U.K.)
• Violent Summer (Estate violenta) - (Italy/France)

W-Z

• Warlock, starring Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Anthony Quinn
• When the Woman Butts In (Kam čert nemůže) - (Czechoslovakia)
• Wild Strawberries (U.S. release)
• The World, the Flesh and the Devil, starring Harry Belafonte and Inger Stevens
• The World of Apu (Apur Sansar), directed by Satyajit Ray - (India)
• The Wreck of the Mary Deare - (U.K./U.S.)

• Yesterday's Enemy, directed by Val Guest, starring Stanley Baker - (U.K.)
• The Young Philadelphians, starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Brian Keith, Robert Vaughn

Short Film Series [link]

• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Births [link]

• January 22 - Linda Blair, American actress
• February 22 - Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
• March 6 - Tom Arnold, American actor & comedian
• March 8 - Aidan Quinn, Irish/American actor
• March 15 - Renny Harlin, Finnish director & producer
• March 18 - Luc Besson, French director & producer
  • Irene Cara, American actress & singer
• March 22 - Matthew Modine, American actor
• March 23 - Catherine Keener, American actress
• April 15 - Emma Thompson, English actress
• April 17 - Sean Bean, English actor
• June 11 - Hugh Laurie, English actor
• June 22 - Wayne Federman, American actor & comedian
• June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor
• July 26 - Kevin Spacey, American actor
• August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, American actress
• August 14 - Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
• August 29 - Rebecca De Mornay, American actress
• October 21 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
• November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
• November 19 - Allison Janney, American actress
• November 28 - Judd Nelson, American actor
• December 13 - Johnny Whitaker, American actor
• December 29 - Patricia Clarkson, American actress
• December 31 - Val Kilmer, American actor

Deaths [link]

• January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, American director & producer
• February 1 - Madame Sul-Te-Wan, actress
• February 4 - Una O'Connor, actress
• March 3 - Lou Costello, comedian and actor, half of Abbott and Costello comedy team
• February 5 - Gwili Andre, actress
• June 16 - George Reeves, actor (Superman)
• June 18 - Ethel Barrymore, actress
• August 6 - Preston Sturges, American director
• October 14 - Errol Flynn, actor
• October 23 - Gerda Lundequist, actress
• November 20 – Sylvia Lopez, European actress
• November 25 - Gérard Philipe, French actor

Film Debuts [link]

• James Coburn
• Mia Farrow
• Richard Harris
• Martin Landau
• George C. Scott
• Liv Ullmann