Cinema 1958: You Must Remember This–Movies, Stars, Events

Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1958 as a Movie Year

Highest-Grossing Films of 1958

Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals

1 South Pacific 20th Century Fox $16,300,000
2 Auntie Mame Warner Bros. $9,100,000
3 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof MGM $7,660,000
4 No Time for Sergeants, Warner Bros. $7,500,000
5 Gigi MGM $6,500,000
6 The Vikings United Artists $6,000,000
7 The Young Lions 20th Century Fox $4,480,000
8 The Inn of the Sixth Happiness $4,400,000
9 Some Came Running MGM $4,245,000
10 Indiscreet Warner Bros. $3,600,000

Events
January 29 –

Ascenseur pour l’échafaud, by Louis Malle, early French New Wave; improvised soundtrack by Miles Davis.

Le Beau Serge is credited as the first French New Wave feature.

February 16 – In the Money by William Beaudine, the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began in 1946.

February 27 –

Harry Cohn, founder of Columbia Pictures and one of last movie moguls, dies.

The second installment of Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible is officially released, after being shelved for political reasons. The last of Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible trilogy as the director died during production on Part III.

April – Samuel J. Briskin left MGM and rejoined Columbia later becoming vice president and general manager of the studio.

April 22 –

Sol C. Siegel became head of studio operations at MGM.

May 15 –

Gigi, one of last classic MGM musicals, directed by Minnelli, produced by Arthur Freed, written by Alan Jay Lerner, released to critical and commercial success. This Best Picture Oscar winner would become the highest-grossing musical ever made by MGM, until That’s Entertainment! in 1974.

May 17 – Joseph E. Levine presented 1954’s Attila in exploitation saturation booking in the US earning rentals of $2 million.

August 31 – Carry on Sergeant, first film in the popular British Carry On series

October –

Universal Pictures sold the Universal lot to Music Corporation of America for $11.25 million and leased it back for $1 million a year.

November 15 –

During production of Solomon and Sheba in Madrid, actor Tyrone Power dies of heart attack. Production of film halted, it was finished in 1959. Power is replaced by Yul Brynner.

December 16 –

MCA Inc. acquires the Universal Pictures studio lot for $11 million, and would later acquire the whole studio.

Awards
31st Academy Awards April 6, 1959

Best Film: Gigi (Musical)
Best Director: Vincente Minnelli, Gigi
Best Actor: David Niven, Separate Tables Danny Kaye

Best Actress: Susan Hayward, I Want to Live!

Best Supporting Actor Burl Ives, The Big Country
Best Supporting Actress: Wendy Hiller, Separate Tables
Best Foreign Language Film: Mon Oncle

Notable films released in 1958

Ambush at Cimarron Pass, starring Scott Brady, Clint Eastwood
And Quiet Flows the Don (Tikhiy Don) – (U.S.S.R.)
Andy Hardy Comes Home, starring Mickey Rooney
Another Time, Another Place, starring Lana Turner and Sean Connery –UK

Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu, starring N. T. Rama Rao – (India)
Arms and the Man (Helden) – (West Germany)
Ash Wednesday (Miércoles de ceniza), starring María Félix, Arturo de Córdova (Mexico)
Ashes and Diamonds, Andrzej Wajda, starring Zbigniew Cybulski – (Poland)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, starring Allison Hayes
Auntie Mame, starring Rosalind Russell, Coral Browne, Forrest Tucker

The Ballad of Narayama (Narayama Bushiko) – (Japan)

The Barbarian and the Geisha, starring John Wayne and Eiko Ando

Le Beau Serge (Handsome Serge), Claude Chabrol – (France)
Bell, Book and Candle, starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon
The Big Country, William Wyler, starring Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker
Big Deal on Madonna Street, starring Vittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale, Mastroianni – (Italy)

The Black Orchid, starring Sophia Loren, Anthony Quinn
The Blob, starring Steve McQueen

Bonjour Tristesse, Preminger, starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Jean Seberg
The Bonnie Parker Story, starring Dorothy Provine

The Bravados, starring Gregory Peck, Joan Collins
Brink of Life (Nära livet), Ingmar Bergman, starring Eva Dahlbeck, Ingrid Thulin – (Sweden)
The Brothers Karamazov, Richard Brooks, starring Yul Brynner, Maria Schell, Lee J. Cobb, Claire Bloom
The Buccaneer, Anthony Quinn, starring Yul Brynner, Claire Bloom
Buchanan Rides Alone, Budd Boetticher, starring Randolph Scott, Craig Stevens

C
Cairo Station (Bab el Hadid), directed by Youssef Chahine – (Egypt)

Carry On Sergeant,first in the Carry-On film series, Gerald Thomas, starring William Hartnell, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor – (Britain)

The Castle of the Monsters (El Castillo de los Monstruos) – (Mexico)

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Richard Brooks, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson

A Certain Smile, starring Rossano Brazzi and Joan Fontaine

Chase a Crooked Shadow, starring Richard Todd, Anne Baxter – (Britain)

The Colossus of New York, starring Ross Martin and Mala Powers
Cowboy, starring Glenn Ford, Jack Lemmon

The Cry Baby Killer, Roger Corman, Jack Nicholson in film debut
Cry Terror!, starring James Mason, Inger Stevens, Rod Steiger, Angie Dickinson

D
Damn Yankees, George Abbott and Stanley Donen, starring Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston

Darby’s Rangers, directed by William Wellman, starring James Garner

The Deep Six, starring Alan Ladd, Dianne Foster, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

The Defiant Ones, Stanley Kramer, starring Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier
Desire (Touha) – (Czechoslovakia)
Desire Under the Elms, starring Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Burl Ives

The Doctor’s Dilemma, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Dirk Bogarde (Britain)
Dracula, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing – (Britain)
Dunkirk, starring John Mills and Richard Attenborough – (Britain)

E
Édes Anna, directed by Zoltán Fábri – (Hungary)
Elevator to the Gallows, Louis Malle, starring Jeanne Moreau – (France)

Endless Desire (Hateshinaki yokubo), directed by Shōhei Imamura – (Japan)
Equinox Flower (Higanbana), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)

F
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (Czechoslovakia)
Fanfare – (Netherlands)
Flood Tide, starring George Nader and Cornell Borchers

The Fly, starring Vincent Price
Fort Massacre, starring Joel McCrea
From Hell to Texas, starring Don Murray, Diane Varsi, Dennis Hopper

G
The Geisha Boy, starring Jerry Lewis
Giants and Toys (Kyojin to gangu) – (Japan)

Gigi, Minnelli, starring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier

God’s Little Acre, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray
The Goddess, starring Kim Stanley
Goha, starring Omar Sharif – (France/Tunisia)
Gunman’s Walk, starring Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Kathryn Grant

H
H8 – (Yugoslavia)
The H-Man, directed by Ishirō Honda – (Japan)
Harry Black, starring Stewart Granger and Barbara Rush – (UK/US)
Hercules (Le fatiche di Ercole), starring Steve Reeves – (Italy)
The Hidden Fortress (Kakushi toride no san akunin), Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune – (Japan)
High School Confidential, starring Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, Mamie Van Doren
The Horse’s Mouth, starring Alec Guinness – (Britain)
Houseboat, starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren

I Accuse!, directed by and starring José Ferrer – (Britain)
I Want to Live!, starring Susan Hayward (winner of Best Actress Oscar)
I Was Monty’s Double, starring M. E. Clifton James and John Mills – (Britain)
Ice Cold in Alex, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring John Mills, Sylvia Syms (Britain)
The Idiot – (USSR)
Imitation General, George Marshall, starring Glenn Ford, Red Buttons
In Case of Adversity (En Cas de Malheur), starring Jean Gabin, Brigitte Bardot (France)
In the Money, starring the Bowery Boys
Indiscreet, starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman – (Britain)

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Mark Robson, starring Ingrid Bergman, Curd Jürgens, Robert Donat

It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Edward L. Cahn, starring Marshall Thompson, Paul Langton and Ray Corrigan as the monster of the title

Ivan the Terrible, Part Two (Ivan Grozniy), Eisenstein, starring Nikolay Cherkasov – (U.S.S.R.)

J
Jalsaghar (The Music Room), directed by Satyajit Ray – (India)

Jamila, the Algerian, Youssef Chahine, starring Magda, Salah Zulfikar (Egypt)

The Key, starring William Holden, Sophia Loren, based on Jan de Hartog novel (Britain)
King Creole, Michael Curtiz, starring Elvis Presley, Dean Jagger, Vic Morrow

L
Lafayette Escadrille, WWI film starring Tab Hunter, with early Clint Eastwood

The Last Hurrah, starring Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter

The Left Handed Gun, starring Paul Newman

Lonelyhearts, starring Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan, Myrna Loy, Maureen Stapleton

The Long, Hot Summer, Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, Tony Franciosa, Lee Remick

The Lovers (Les amants), Louis Malle, starring Jeanne Moreau, Alain Cuny (France)
The Lovers of Montparnasse (Les Amants de Montparnasse), Jacques Becker and Max Ophüls – (France)

M
Machine-Gun Kelly, starring Charles Bronson, Susan Cabot, Morey Amsterdam

Mädchen in Uniform (Girls in Uniform), starring Lilli Palmer, Romy Schneider (West Germany) (Lesbian)

The Magician (Ansiktet), Ingmar Bergman, starring Max von Sydow (Sweden)
Maigret Sets a Trap (film) (Maigret tend un piège), Jean Gabin – (France)
The Man Inside, starring Jack Palance and Anita Ekberg – (Britain)
A Man of Straw, directed by and starring Pietro Germi – (Italy)
Man of the West, Anthony Mann, starring Gary Cooper, Lee J. Cobb, Julie London
Marjorie Morningstar, starring Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly
The Matchmaker, starring Shirley MacLaine
Me and the Colonel, starring Danny Kaye
Merry Andrew, starring Danny Kaye
Les Misérables, starring Jean Gabin – (France)
Mon Oncle, directed by and starring Jacques Tati – (France)
Monster on the Campus, directed by Jack Arnold
Murder by Contract, starring Vince Edwards

N
The Naked Maja, starring Ava Gardner, Anthony Franciosa (Italy/France/U.S.)

The Night Heaven Fell (Les Bijoutiers du Clair de Lune), Roger Vadim, starring Brigitte Bardot (France)
A Night to Remember, Roy Baker, starring Kenneth More – (Britain)
No Time for Sergeants, Mervyn LeRoy, starring Andy Griffith

O
The Old Man and the Sea, based Ernest Hemingway, starring Spencer Tracy

P
Paris Holiday, starring Bob Hope, Anita Ekberg
Party Girl, starring Cyd Charisse and Robert Taylor
The Proud Rebel, starring Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland

Q
A Question of Adultery, Don Chaffey, starring Julie London, Anthony Steel, Basil Sydney, Donald Houston – (U.K.)
Queen of Outer Space, Edward Bernds, starring Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, and Laurie Mitchell.
The Quiet American, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Audie Murphy, Michael Redgrave

Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys!, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Joan Collins
The Reluctant Debutante, starring Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall, Sandra Dee
The Revenge of Frankenstein, starring Peter Cushing – (Britain)
The Rickshaw Man (Muhomatsu no issho), starring Toshiro Mifune – (Japan)
Ride a Crooked Trail, starring Audie Murphy, Gia Scala, Walter Matthau
Rock-A-Bye Baby, starring Jerry Lewis

Run Silent, Run Deep, Robert Wise, starring Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster

Separate Tables, starring Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, David Niven
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, starring Kerwin Mathews
The Sheepman, starring Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, starring Jayne Mansfield, Kenneth More UK
The Sign of Zorro
Sing, Boy, Sing, Henry Ephron, starring Tommy Sands

Some Came Running, Minnelli, starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine
South Pacific, Joshua Logan, starring Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, John Kerr
Stage Struck, starring Henry Fonda and Susan Strasberg

St. Louis Blues, featuring Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald

T
A Tale of Two Cities, starring Dirk Bogarde – (Britain)
Tamango, starring Dorothy Dandridge
The Tarnished Angels, starring Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone
Teacher’s Pet, starring Clark Gable, Doris Day, Gig Young, Mamie Van Doren
Ten North Frederick, starring Gary Cooper, Suzy Parker
Terror in a Texas Town, starring Sterling Hayden

Thunder Road, starring Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Keely Smith
A Time to Love and a Time to Die, starring John Gavin

Touch of Evil, directed by and starring Orson Welles, with Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich
Tread Softly Stranger, starring Diana Dors – (Britain)

The Tunnel of Love, starring Doris Day, Richard Widmark

Vengeance (La venganza), Juan Antonio Bardem, starring Raf Vallone (Spain)

Vertigo, Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak

The Vikings, starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh

Virgin Island, starring John Cassavetes, Virginia Maskell, Sidney Poitier (UK)

W
White Wilderness, a Disney nature film

Y
The Young Lions, Edward Dmytryk, starring Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin

Film series
Carry On series (1958–1992)

Short film series
Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
Terrytoons (1930–1969)
Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
Woody Woodpecker (1940–1972)
Ending this year

Droopy (1943-1958)
Tom and Jerry (1940-1958)

Deaths

January 13 –

Jesse L. Lasky, 77, American producer, Wings, The Cocoanuts

February 15 – William Berke, 54, American director, Dick Tracy, FBI Girl

February 27 – Harry Cohn, 66, co-founder of CBC Sales Association (Columbia Pictures), Platinum Blonde, American Madness

March 22
Mike Todd, 48, American producer, Around the World in 80 Days, This Is Cinerama

Art Cohn, 48, American screenwriter, The Set-Up, Ten Thousand Bedrooms

April 9 – Sol M. Wurtzel, 67, American producer, Charlie Chan in Rio, Bright Eyes

May 19 –

Ronald Colman, 67, British actor, Lost Horizon, Random Harvest
June 6 – Virginia Pearson, 72, American actress, The Phantom of the Opera, The Wizard of Oz

June 9 – Robert Donat, 53, British actor, The 39 Steps, Goodbye, Mr. Chips

November 15 –

Tyrone Power, 44, American actor, Witness for the Prosecution, Mark of Zorro

December 21 –

H. B. Warner, 83, British actor, Lost Horizon, It’s a Wonderful Life

Film Debuts

Claudine Auger – Christine
Steven Berkoff – I Was Monty’s Double
Richard Briers – Girls at Sea
Claudia Cardinale – Goha
Veronica Cartwright – In Love and War
Bradford Dillman – A Certain Smile
Peter Falk – Wind Across the Everglades
Jerry Hardin – Thunder Road
Nigel Hawthorne – Carve Her Name with Pride
Ian Holm – Girls at Sea
Lincoln Kilpatrick – Cop Hater
Don Knotts – No Time for Sergeants

Carol Lynley – The Light in the Forest
Anna Massey – Gideon’s Day

Jack Nicholson – The Cry Baby Killer
Suzanne Pleshette – The Geisha Boy
Christopher Plummer – Stage Struck
Vanessa Redgrave – Behind the Mask

Gena Rowlands – The High Cost of Loving

John Williams (film composer) – Daddy-O