Must-sees of 1961
The titles hereby listed have been selected out of 130 1961-released works seen.
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59 titles
- 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.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.
- 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.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsRita TushinghamDora BryanRobert StephensA pregnant teenage girl must fend for herself when her mother remarries, leaving the girl with only a new male friend for support.
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsHiroyuki NagatoJitsuko YoshimuraMasao MishimaA young hoodlum decides to work for a criminal organization that is tearing itself apart.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraSetsuko HaraYôko TsukasaThe family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.
- DirectorYu Hyun-mokStarsMu-ryong ChoiKim Jin-kyuJeong-suk MoonA pressured accountant, his war veteran brother and their dysfunctional family struggle with integrating into post-War Korean society.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsPaul NewmanJackie GleasonPiper LaurieAn up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDelphine SeyrigGiorgio AlbertazziSacha PitoëffIn a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsRock HudsonKirk DouglasDorothy MaloneAt a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.
- DirectorJacques DemyStarsAnouk AiméeMarc MichelJacques HardenA bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.
- 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.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJeanne MoreauMarcello MastroianniMonica VittiA day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsFranco CittiFranca PasutSilvana CorsiniA pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiraling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsClark GableMarilyn MonroeMontgomery CliftA divorcée falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his romantically independent lifestyle.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsRentarô MikuniAkiko KoyamaYôko MiharaTowards the end of WWII, a black American pilot is captured and imprisoned by rural Japanese villagers, who await official instructions as to how to proceed with their "catch."
- DirectorCurtis HarringtonStarsDennis HopperLinda LawsonGavin MuirA young sailor is attracted to a mysterious mermaid performing at a carnival, but soon suspects that the girl is actually a siren who draws men to their watery deaths during the full moon.
- DirectorMarlon BrandoStarsMarlon 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.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsCliff RobertsonDolores DornBeatrice KayA teenager who witnesses the murder of his father vows to exact revenge on the four mobsters involved in the killing.
- DirectorGiuliano MontaldoStarsEleonora Rossi DragoJacques CharrierFrancisco RabalIn September 1943, young Marco Laudato enlists in the army of the Republic of Salò, even if he is not certain of his reasons. During training he and Elia, an older comrade, become friends. In one of the first retaliatory actions, he is wounded and is almost considered a hero. He is taken to a hospital where he falls in love with Anna, the nurse who takes care of him.
- 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.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsDirk BogardeSylvia SymsDennis PriceA closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
- DirectorValerio ZurliniStarsClaudia CardinaleJacques PerrinLuciana AngiolilloA girl pursues a guy who fooled her, but fascinates his younger brother instead.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsAlan BatesBernard LeeHayley MillsWhen an injured wife murderer takes refuge on a remote Lancashire farm, the owner's three children mistakenly believe him to be the Second Coming of Christ.
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsMarcello MastroianniDaniela RoccaStefania SandrelliA married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and vows to wed her, but with divorce illegal he must concoct a crime of passion to do away with his wife.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames StewartRichard WidmarkShirley JonesA corrupt marshal is pressured by his army friend into negotiating the release of white captives of the Comanches, but finds that their reintegration into society has its consequences.
- DirectorMauro BologniniStarsJean-Paul BelmondoClaudia CardinalePietro GermiThe original Italian is La Viaccia (the name of the family farm which motivates the plot). The death of a wealthy patriarch in 1885 sets off an interfamily power struggle. Son Ferdinando buys out his other relatives in order to gain full control over the dead man's property. But Ferdinando's nephew Amerigo holds out. Amerigo's stance is weakened when he heads for Florence and meets prostitute Bianca.
- DirectorDino RisiStarsAlberto SordiLea MassariFranco FabriziSilvio refuses to fight for the fascists and joins the resistance with Elena. After the war, his vitriolic newspaper articles cause him to be sentenced to imprisonment.
- DirectorJerry LewisStarsJerry LewisHelen TraubelPat StanleyA clueless, recently-single graduate unwittingly takes a job as a servant in a mansion inhabited by dozens of young women.
- DirectorYoshitarô NomuraStarsYoshiko KugaHizuru TakachihoIneko ArimaTeiko's new husband disappears on a business trip. She discovers a pair of mysterious postcards hidden away in a book that may be clues to his fate.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorZenzô MatsuyamaStarsHideko TakamineKeiju KobayashiIzumi HaraA sympathetic portrayal of the suffering of a deaf couple at the hands of a shell shocked postwar society that treats them like wayward children to be at turns pitied or exploited.
- DirectorBostjan HladnikStarsDusa PockajMiha BalohRado NakrstPeter is the dark brooding type. Leading a vacuous, shapeless life, he longs for the ideal woman, while at the same time, half heartedly continuing with his habitual girlfriend, Marusa , who is considerably older, a fact that Peter is quick to point out. As an ageing actress, struggling for parts in her local theatre, she oozes insecurity and breathes uncertainty. Together, they spend their time in the local restaurant, smoking, drinking and trading verbal blows. "I bet you'll just end up a drunk," she tells Peter each time. Peter just grins and tells her how old she looks. Compounded by a thankless director who soon shows her the door, Marusa finds her identity being squeezed harder and harder against the wall. To escape, Peter and Marusa dream...
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaTamao NakamuraHis ideals challenged by life as a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist faces ever greater tests in his fight for survival.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsIgor FomchenkoVladimir ZamanskiyNatalya ArkhangelskayaSeven-year-old Sasha practices violin every day to satisfy the ambition of his parents. Already withdrawn as a result of his routines, Sasha quickly regains confidence when he accidentally meets and befriends worker Sergei, who works on a steamroller in their upscale Moscow neighborhood.
- DirectorAntonio PietrangeliStarsMarcello MastroianniBelinda LeeSandra MiloSeveral ghosts in an ancient palazzo in Rome join together to save their home from destruction. Mastrianni plays several parts and is hilarious. The other actors are great too.
- DirectorAlfredo GiannettiStarsTomas MilianNino CastelnuovoMadeleine RobinsonThe mental illness that struck young Dario, one of the two children of the Dominici family who lives in a magnificent Roman palace, disrupts the life of all its members.
- DirectorLuciano SalceStarsUgo TognazziGeorges WilsonMireille GranelliThe quest of a Fascist soldier, whose mission is to catch a political enemy during at the end of World War II.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsBurt LancasterDina MerrillEdward AndrewsA district attorney investigates three white teenagers accused of murdering a blind Puerto Rican kid.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsEdward JuddJanet MunroLeo McKernWhen the U.S. and Russia unwittingly test atomic bombs at the same time, it alters the nutation (axis of rotation) of the Earth.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsHideaki NitaniIzumi AshikawaYûji OdakaRyoji, a wanderer, arrives in a remote mountain town, carrying a shotgun and claiming to be a hunter. He quickly becomes embroiled in a web of trouble surrounding the town's mill.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceBarbara SteeleJohn KerrIn the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJames CagneyHorst BuchholzPamela TiffinIn West Berlin during the Cold War, a Coca-Cola executive is given the task of taking care of his boss' socialite daughter.
- DirectorPeter WatkinsStarsMichael RoyJohn NewingStan MercerAn amateur short film which retells the Hungarian revolution of 1956.
- DirectorSeth HoltStarsSusan StrasbergAnn ToddRonald LewisA wheelchair-bound young woman returns to her father's estate after 10 years, and although she's told he's away, she keeps seeing his dead body on the estate.
- 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.
- DirectorCamillo MastrocinqueStarsTotòNino TarantoEstella BlainAntonio is a poor man who must support his daughter, especially providing the tuition for her stay at a prestigious boarding school where she can study dance.
- DirectorGuy DebordStarsGuy DebordCaroline RittenerA theory of Situationism is proposed through shots of Paris, a young woman, newsreel clips, extracts from classic films, photographs and newspaper images
- DirectorToshio MatsumotoStarsHideo KanzeTakeshi KusakaA documentary about traditional weavers of Nishijin.
- DirectorMichael CurtizJohn WayneStarsJohn WayneStuart WhitmanIna BalinTexas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves dealing with the Comanches known as Comancheros.
- DirectorKazuo IkehiroStarsRaizô IchikawaMichiyo AratamaTakashi ShimuraA yakuza man helps attacking a man out of obligation but also promise to take care of his family a he finds out the boss killed the man to get his wife.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsKôji WadaMayumi ShimizuShôichi OzawaA college student takes over the family business in the field of organised crime.
- DirectorYûgo SerikawaTaiji YabushitaStarsYoshiko SakumaJô MizukiKin'ya KitaôjiZushio and his sister Anju are kidnapped and sold to a cruel slave-master. Will they ever be reunited with their mother again?
- DirectorJerry LewisStarsJerry LewisBrian DonlevyHoward McNearA goofy paperhanger is hired to root out a financial inefficiency on a Hollywood studio lot, wreaking havoc as he goes.
- DirectorJaromil JiresStarsVáclav LohniskýVladimír HlavatýSvetla AmortováA Russian prisoner escapes from the Germans, finding shelter with a Czech farmer and his family. A neighbor betrays them and is sentenced by the villagers.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsJean-Paul BelmondoEmmanuelle RivaIrène TuncSet during occupied France, a faithless woman finds herself falling in love with a young priest.
- DirectorJoseph AnthonyStarsDean MartinShirley MacLaineCliff RobertsonTony Ryder takes over his dead uncle's media empire while trying to keep quiet the mysterious circumstances of his death in a Palm Beach hotel room.
- DirectorWitold GierszRed cowboy finds gold in the river. Blue cowboy and Yellow cowboy decide to rob him and set up an ambush.