The year 1964 in film involved some significant events, including three highly successful musical films, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1964 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1964 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 Mary Poppins Buena Vista $31,000,000 2My Fair Lady Warner Bros. $30,000,000 3Goldfinger United Artists $22,500,000 4 The Carpetbaggers Paramount $15,500,000 5From Russia With Love United Artists $9,200,000 6A Shot in the Dark $6,748,000Top 20 Films of 1964 by Domestic Revenue 7 What a Way to Go! 20th Century Fox $6,100,000"Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. 8The Unsinkable Molly Brown MGM $6,040,000 9The Pink Panther United Artists $5,935,000 10A Hard Day's Night $5,800,000
Events January 29 – 50-year-old actor Alan Ladd is found dead in bed at his home in Palm Springs, California. An autopsy confirms the cause of death as cerebral edema caused by an acute overdose of "alcohol and three other drugs" His death is ruled accidental. Ladd's final film, The Carpetbaggers, is released in April and, despite mostly negative reviews from critics, becomes a major commercial success. March 6 – Elvis Presley's 14th motion picture, Kissin' Cousins, is released to theaters. March 15 - Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton. June 3 – The animated film Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! is released. Not only it is the first theatrical feature produced by Hanna-Barbera but also the first full-length theatrical animated film based on the animated television program. July 6 – A Hard Day's Night, the first Beatles film, premieres. August 27 – The film Mary Poppins is released. Not only is it a massive hit with both critics and audiences, but it also becomes Disney's highest-grossing film of all time. It goes on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews. October – In Photoplay magazine, Hedda Hopper announces that Sophia Loren and Paul Newman will star in the film version of Arthur Miller's play After the Fall, with Loren in the role that was written about Marilyn Monroe. The film is never made.
Awards Academy Awards:
Best Picture: My Fair Lady – Warner Bros. Best Director: George Cukor – My Fair Lady Best Actor: Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady Best Actress: Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins Best Supporting Actor: Peter Ustinov – Topkapi Best Supporting Actress: Lila Kedrova – Zorba the Greek Best Foreign Language Film: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Ieri, oggi, domani), directed by Vittorio De Sica, Italy
Golden Globe Awards:
Drama: Best Picture: Becket Best Actor: Peter O'Toole – Becket Best Actress: Anne Bancroft – The Pumpkin Eater
Comedy or Musical: Best Picture: My Fair Lady Best Actor: Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady Best Actress: Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins
Other Best Supporting Actor: Edmond O'Brien – Seven Days in May Best Supporting Actress: Agnes Moorehead – Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Best Director: George Cukor – My Fair Lady
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), directed by Jacques Demy, France
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival): Il deserto rosso (The Red Desert), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): Susuz Yaz (Dry Summer), directed by Ismail Metin, Turkey
1964 film releases United States unless stated
January–March January 1964 19 January Strait-Jacket 22 January The Comedy of Terrors Pyro... The Thing Without a Face Zulu 29 January Dr. Strangelove Man's Favorite Sport? 30 January A Global Affair Surf Party February 1964 5 February Man in the Middle 10 February The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies 12 February Seven Days in May 19 February Dead Ringer Les Parapluies de Cherbourg 26 February He Rides Tall March 1964 6 March Kissin' Cousins 8 March The Last Man on Earth (United States/Italy) 11 March Becket Mail Order Bride 12 March A Tiger Walks 18 March 7 Faces of Dr. Lao The Flesh Eaters Law of the Lawless The Pink Panther 19 March Two Thousand Maniacs! The World of Henry Orient 25 March Flight from Ashiya The Misadventures of Merlin Jones Muscle Beach Party 26 March The Fall of the Roman Empire 28 March The Incredible Mr. Limpet
April–June April 1964 1 April The Curse of the Living Corpse Gunfighters of Casa Grande 3 April Dark Purpose 5 April The Best Man 8 April Paris When It Sizzles The Strangler 9 April The Carpetbaggers 14 April The Quick Gun 21 April The Chalk Garden French Dressing 28 April The Third Secret Woman of Straw 29 April Mothra vs. Godzilla (Japan) May 1964 2 May The Bargee The Thin Red Line 6 May The Visit 11 May What a Way to Go! 13 May The Eyes of Annie Jones 14 May Girl with Green Eyes 19 May Signpost to Murder 20 May Black Like Me The Brass Bottle Rhino! Viva Las Vegas 27 May A Distant Trumpet From Russia with Love 29 May 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt June 1964 1 June The Horror of Party Beach The New Interns 3 June For Those Who Think Young Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! Honeymoon Hotel 4 June 633 Squadron The Three Lives of Thomasina 10 June Advance to the Rear Bedtime Story McHale's Navy Wild and Wonderful 11 June The Unsinkable Molly Brown 17 June Robinson Crusoe on Mars 23 June A Shot in the Dark The Young Lovers 24 June Flipper's New Adventure The Masque of the Red Death Robin and the 7 Hoods 25 June Circus World 26 June The Cavern
July–September July 1964 2 July The Moon-Spinners The Pawnbroker 3 July Island of the Blue Dolphins 6 July A Hard Day's Night 7 July The Killers 8 July Lady in a Cage 22 July Bikini Beach Good Neighbor Sam Marnie Shock Treatment 29 July Carry On Spying One Potato, Two Potato August 1964 5 August Ride the Wild Surf 6 August The Night of the Iguana 11 August Crooks in Cloisters Dogora (Japan) 12 August A House Is Not a Home The Patsy 14 August Behold a Pale Horse 16 August Diary of a Bachelor 26 August The Beauty Jungle I'd Rather Be Rich 27 August Mary Poppins September 1964 2 September The 7th Dawn Bullet for a Badman The Comedy Man Topkapi 4 September The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Italy) 11 September Lorna 12 September A Fistful of Dollars (Italy) 16 September The Secret Invasion 18 September Goldfinger 19 September Nothing but a Man 25 September Fanny Hill 27 September Lilith
October–December October 1964 3 October Cheyenne Autumn 7 October Fail-Safe 8 October The Outrage 11 October Blood on the Arrow The System 14 October Invitation to a Gunfighter Send Me No Flowers 20 October The Black Torment 24 October The Lively Set 27 October The Americanization of Emily 28 October Rio Conchos 29 October The Naked Kiss The Time Travelers The Train November 1964 2 November Where Love Has Gone 4 November Kitten with a Whip Youngblood Hawke Your Cheatin' Heart 5 November Flight to Fury 8 November Fate Is the Hunter 9 November My Fair Lady 10 November Roustabout Stage to Thunder Rock 11 November Pajama Party 15 November Back Door to Hell 18 November Goodbye Charlie 21 November Four Days in November 25 November Ensign Pulver 26 November Apache Rifles 27 November Looking for Love December 1964 3 December Dear Heart 4 December Kisses for My President 10 December Carry On Cleo Father Goose The Golden Head 12 December Raiders from Beneath the Sea 16 December The Disorderly Orderly Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Zorba the Greek 18 December Emil and the Detectives Get Yourself a College Girl 20 December Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (Japan) 22 December Kiss Me, Stupid 25 December The Pleasure Seekers Sex and the Single Girl 28 December Carol for Another Christmas 30 December The Night Walker
Notable films released in 1964 United States unless stated
# 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, starring Mamie Van Doren and Tommy Noonan 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, starring Tony Randall, Barbara Eden and Arthur O'Connell, with special effects by George Pal The 7th Dawn, starring William Holden and Susannah York 633 Squadron, starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris and Maria Perschy – (U.K.)
A Advance to the Rear, directed by George Marshall, starring Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens and Melvyn Douglas Adventures of Zatoichi (Zatōichi sekisho-yaburi), directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda – (Japan) Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens The Alive and the Dead (Zhivye i myortvye) – (U.S.S.R.) All These Women (För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden) The Americanization of Emily, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring James Garner and Julie Andrews Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise, directed by André Cayatte – (France) Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc, directed by André Cayatte – (France) The Ape Woman (La donna scimmia), starring Ugo Tognazzi and Annie Girardot – (Italy/France) Assassination (Ansatu) – (Japan) At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma) – (Brazil) Atentát – (Czechoslovakia) A Trip to the Moon Ayee Milan Ki Bela – (India)
B Back Door to Hell, starring Jimmie Rodgers and Jack Nicholson Backfire (Échappement libre), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg – (France) Ballad in Blue, directed by Paul Henreid and starring Ray Charles Band of Outsiders (Bande à part), directed by Jean-Luc Godard – (France) The Bargee, starring Harry H. Corbett and Eric Sykes – (U.K.) The Beauty Jungle, starring Ian Hendry – (U.K.) Becket, directed by Peter Glenville, starring Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton – (U.K./U.S.) Bedtime Story, starring Marlon Brando, David Niven and Shirley Jones Before the Revolution (Prima della rivoluzione), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci – (Italy) Behold a Pale Horse, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif Belarmino, a Cinema Novo docufiction – (Portugal) The Best Man, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, written by Gore Vidal, starring Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson Bikini Beach, starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Martha Hyer and Don Rickles Black God, White Devil (Deus e o Diabo na terra do sol) – (Brazil) Black Like Me, starring James Whitmore and Roscoe Lee Browne Black Peter (Cerný Petr), directed by Miloš Forman – (Czechoslovakia) The Black Torment, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis – (U.K.) Blood and Black Lace (6 donne per l'assassino), directed by Mario Bava – (Italy) Blood on the Arrow, directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Dale Robertson and Martha Hyer La bonne soupe (a.k.a. Careless Love), directed by Robert Thomas – (Italy/France) The Brass Bottle, starring Tony Randall, Burl Ives and Barbara Eden Bullet for a Badman, starring Audie Murphy, Darren McGavin and Ruta Lee
C A Carol for Another Christmas, starring Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland The Carpetbaggers, starring George Peppard, Carroll Baker and Elizabeth Ashley Carry On Cleo, starring Sid James and Amanda Barrie – (U.K.) Carry On Jack, starring Kenneth Williams and Bernard Cribbins – (U.K.) Carry On Spying, starring Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor – (U.K.) Castle of Blood (Danza macabra), directed by Antonio Margheriti and Sergio Corbucci – (Italy/France) Castle of the Living Dead (Il castello dei morti vivi), directed by Warren Kiefer – (Italy/France) The Chairman (Predsedatel) – (U.S.S.R.) The Chalk Garden, starring Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills – (U.K.) Charulata, directed by Satyajit Ray – (India) Cheyenne Autumn, directed by John Ford, starring Carroll Baker, Richard Widmark, Edward G. Robinson and Karl Malden Circle of Love (La ronde), directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda – (France) Circus World, starring John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth The Comedy Man, starring Kenneth More and Cecil Parker – (U.K.) The Comedy of Terrors, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone Crooks in Cloisters, starring Ronald Fraser and Barbara Windsor – (U.K.)