The year 1953 in film involved some significant events, most notably the release of the first film released in CinemaScope, The Robe. Other releases in the United States included the hit films Peter Pan and From Here to Eternity.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1953 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1953 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 The Robe 20th Century Fox $17,500,000 2 From Here to Eternity Columbia $12,200,000 3 Shane Paramount $8,000,000 4 How to Marry a Millionaire 20th Century Fox $7,300,000 5 Peter Pan RKO/Walt Disney $6,000,000 6 House of Wax Warner Bros. $5,500,000 7Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 20th Century Fox $5,100,000 8 Salome Columbia $4,750,000 9 MogamboMGM $4,576,000. 10 Knights of the Round Table $4,518,000
Events January 16 – A new Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. is incorporated following a Consent Judgment to divest their Warner Bros. Theatres. Stanley Warner Theatres is incorporated the following January 30 to take on the theatre chain now independent of Warner Bros. 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. This is the last Disney animated movie released in partnership with RKO Pictures, becoming the last ever smash hit movie of the later company before it bankrupted in 1959. February 25 – Jacques Tati's film Les Vacances de M. Hulot is released in France, introducing the gauche character of Monsieur Hulot. 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 romantic comedy Roman Holiday, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, is premièred 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 Category/Organization 11th Golden Globe AwardsJanuary 22, 1954 26th Academy AwardsMarch 25, 1954 Drama Comedy or Musical Best Film The Robe From Here to Eternity Best Director Fred ZinnemannFrom Here to Eternity Best Actor Spencer TracyThe Actress David NivenThe Moon Is Blue William HoldenStalag 17 Best Actress Audrey HepburnRoman Holiday Ethel MermanCall Me Madam Audrey HepburnRoman Holiday Best Supporting Actor Frank SinatraFrom Here to Eternity Best Supporting Actress Grace KellyMogambo Donna ReedFrom Here to Eternity Best Screenplay, Adapted Helen DeutschLili Daniel TaradashFrom Here to Eternity Best Screenplay, Original Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Richard L. BreenTitanic
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 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 Él (Him), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Arturo de Córdova – (Mexico) 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, 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 Invaders from Mars, directed by William Cameron Menzies
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 (), 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