The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.
A reproduction of "America's First Movie Studio", Thomas Edison's Black Maria, is constructed.
May 12 — The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda. The two were married in 1927.
September 29 — A Star is Born premieres and marks Judy Garland's comeback after her termination from her contract at MGM. An astounding success with critics and audiences, A Star is Born not only marked the first time that legendary director George Cukor had made a film musical and film that is in Technicolor and in the anamorphic widescreen format, but also it's been regarded as one of the Garland's best performances in her film career.
November 3 — The movie Godzilla premieres in Japan. It became a huge success and became the first in series of Godzilla movies, the longest running film series in history.
Academy Awards:
Best Picture:
On the Waterfront - Horizon-American, Columbia
Best Director:
Elia Kazan -
On The Waterfront
Best Actor:
Marlon Brando -
On the Waterfront
Best Actress:
Grace Kelly -
The Country Girl
Best Supporting Actor:
Edmond O'Brien -
The Barefoot Contessa
Best Supporting Actress:
Eva Marie Saint -
On The Waterfront
Golden Globe Awards:
Drama:
Best Picture:
On the Waterfront
Best Actor:
Marlon Brando -
On the Waterfront
Best Actress:
Grace Kelly -
The Country Girl
Musical or comedy:
Best Picture:
Carmen Jones
Best Actor:
James Mason -
A Star Is Born
Best Actress:
Judy Garland -
A Star Is Born
Other
Best Director:
Elia Kazan -
On the Waterfront
Best Foreign Film:
Twenty-Four Eyes (
Nijushi no hitomi), Japan
Best Foreign Film:
No Way Back (
Weg Ohne Umkehr), West Germany
Best Foreign Film:
The Lady of the Camellias (
La Mujer de las camelias), Argentina
Best Foreign Film:
Genevieve, United Kingdom
Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival):
Jigokumon 地獄門, (
Gate of Hell), directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa, Japan
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):
Romeo and Juliet (
Romeo e Giulietta), directed by Renato Castellani, Italy / U.K.
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
Hobson's Choice, directed by David Lean, United Kingdom
U.S.A. unless stated
#
3 Ring Circus, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, starring Kirk Douglas and James Mason
A
Aar Paar (This or That), directed by and starring Guru Dutt - (India)
About Mrs. Leslie, starring Shirley Booth
Robinson Crusoe (Aventuras de Robinson Crusoe), directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
L'affaire Maurizius (Il caso Mauritius), directed by Julien Duvivier - (France/Italy)
Alaska Seas, starring Robert Ryan and Jan Sterling
An American in Rome (Un americano a Roma), starring Alberto Sordi - (Italy)
Andha Naal (That Day) - (India)
Animal Farm, an animated film - (GB)
Apache, starring Burt Lancaster
Attila, starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren - (France/Italy)
B
The Back of Beyond - (Australia)
The Barefoot Contessa, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Rossano Brazzi
Beachhead, starring Tony Curtis and Mary Murphy
Beau Brummell, starring Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Ustinov
Beautiful Stranger, aka Twist of Fate, starring Ginger Rogers - (GB/U.S.)
The Belles of St Trinian's, starring Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell and George Cole - (GB)
Betrayed, fourth and final film co-starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner
A Big Family (Bolshaya semya) - (USSR)
The Black Knight, starring Alan Ladd - (GB/U.S.)
The Black Shield of Falworth, starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh
Black Tuesday, starring Edward G. Robinson and Peter Graves
Black Widow, starring Ginger Rogers, Gene Tierney, Peggy Ann Garner, Van Heflin, George Raft
Boot Polish - (India)
Boris Godunov - (USSR)
The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters, starring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and Ellen Corby
Bread, Love and Jealousy (Pane, Amore e Gelosia), starring Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida - (Italy)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri, directed by Mark Robson, starring William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney
Brigadoon, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Van Johnson
Broken Lance, starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, Katy Jurado
C
The Caine Mutiny, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, José Ferrer, Robert Francis, May Wynn, E. G. Marshall
Canaris, directed by Alfred Weidenmann - (West Germany)
Carmen Jones, starring Dorothy Dandridge (first African-American to be Oscar-nominated for Best Actress)
Casanova's Big Night, starring Bob Hope
Chronicle of Poor Lovers (Cronache di poveri amanti) - (Italy)
Circus Fandango - (Norway)
The Country Girl, directed by George Seaton, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden
Creature from the Black Lagoon, directed by Jack Arnold
Crime Wave, directed by André de Toth, starring Sterling Hayden and Phyllis Kirk
Crossed Swords ([Il Maestro di Don Giovanni]), starring Errol Flynn and Gina Lollobrigida - (U.S.A./Italy)
The Crucified Lovers (Chikamatsu Monogatari), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Kazuo Hasegawa - (Japan)
D
Dangerous Mission, starring Victor Mature and Piper Laurie
Deep in My Heart, directed by Stanley Donen, starring José Ferrer and Merle Oberon
Demetrius and the Gladiators, starring Victor Mature and Susan Hayward
Désirée, starring Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons
Dial M for Murder, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ray Milland, Robert Cummings, Grace Kelly
Doctor in the House, starring Dirk Bogarde, first of "Doctor" series - (GB)
Down Three Dark Streets, starring Broderick Crawford and Ruth Roman
Drive a Crooked Road, starring Mickey Rooney and Dianne Foster
Drum Beat, directed by Delmer Daves, starring Alan Ladd
E
The Egyptian, starring Jean Simmons, Gene Tierney, Victor Mature, Bella Darvi, Edmund Purdom
Eight O'Clock Walk, starring Richard Attenborough and Cathy O'Donnell - (GB)
Elephant Walk, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch
Executive Suite, starring William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, June Allyson, Fredric March, Louis Calhern, Walter Pidgeon, Nina Foch
F
The Far Country, directed by Anthony Mann, starring James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Walter Brennan
Father Brown, starring Alec Guinness - (GB)
Fear (La Paura), directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman - (West Germany/Italy)
Five Boys from Barska Street (Piątka z ulicy Barskiej) - (Poland)
Flame and the Flesh, starring Lana Turner
French Cancan, starring Jean Gabin - (France/Italy)
The French Line, starring Jane Russell
G
Garden of Evil, starring Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark
The Glenn Miller Story, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson
Godzilla (Gojira), directed by Ishirō Honda - (Japan)
The Gold of Naples (L'oro di Napoli), directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring Silvana Mangano and Sophia Loren - (Italy)
The Good Die Young, directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Stanley Baker and Laurence Harvey - (GB)
H
Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy, a Stop motion animated film
Happy Ever After, starring David Niven and Yvonne De Carlo - (GB)
Hell and High Water, directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Richard Widmark
Hell Below Zero, starring Alan Ladd
Hell's Half Acre, starring Evelyn Keyes and Wendell Corey
The High and the Mighty, starring John Wayne, Robert Stack, Laraine Day, Claire Trevor, Phil Harris
Highway Dragnet, starring Richard Conte and Joan Bennett
Hobson's Choice, directed by David Lean, starring Charles Laughton and John Mills - (GB)
The House Across the Lake, aka Heat Wave, starring Alex Nicol and Hillary Brooke - (GB)
Human Desire, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford
I-J
Illusion Travels by Streetcar (La ilusión viaja en tranvía), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Lilia Prado - (Mexico)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, directed by Kenneth Anger
An Inspector Calls, with Alastair Sim, based on the J. B. Priestley play - (GB)
It Should Happen to You, starring Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon
Jagriti (The Awakening) - (India)
Johnny Guitar, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge
Journey to Italy (Viaggio in Italia), directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders - (France/Italy)
K-L
King Richard and the Crusaders, starring Rex Harrison and Virginia Mayo
Knock on Wood, starring Danny Kaye
The Lady of the Camellias (La Mujer de las camelias) - (Argentina)
The Last Bridge (Die Letzte Brücke), starring Maria Schell and Bernhard Wicki - (Austria)
Late Chrysanthemums (bangiku), directed by Mikio Naruse - (Japan)
A Lesson in Love (En lektion i kärlek), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Eva Dahlbeck and Gunnar Björnstrand - (Sweden)
A Life at Stake, starring Angela Lansbury
Liliomfi - (Hungary)
Living It Up, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
The Long, Long Trailer, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
The Long Wait, starring Anthony Quinn
Loophole, starring Barry Sullivan and Dorothy Malone
M-N
Mad About Men, starring Glynis Johns and Margaret Rutherford - (U.K.)
Madame X (I Agnostos)Madame X (1954 film) - (Greece)
Maddalena - (Italy)
The Maggie, directed by Alexander Mackendrick - (GB)
Magnificent Obsession, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson
The Million Pound Note, starring Gregory Peck - (GB)
Nagin, starring Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar - (India)
Naked Alibi, starring Sterling Hayden and Gloria Grahame
The Naked Jungle, starring Eleanor Parker and Charlton Heston
Neelakuyil (The Blue Cuckoo) - (India)
Night People, directed by Nunnally Johnson, starring Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Buddy Ebsen
Nothing But Trouble (Aldri annet enn bråk) - (Norway)
O-P
On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando with Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger—winner of eight Oscars
The Outcast, starring John Derek
Phantom of the Rue Morgue, starring Karl Malden, Patricia Medina, Merv Griffin
Phffft, starring Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak
Pride of the Blue Grass, starring Lloyd Bridges and Vera Miles
Prince Valiant, starring Robert Wagner, James Mason, Janet Leigh
Prisoner of War, starring Ronald Reagan
Private Hell 36, directed by Don Siegel, starring Ida Lupino
Pushover, starring Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak (in her film debut)
Q-R
Radio Cab Murder, directed by Vernon Sewell, starring Jimmy Hanley and Lana Morris - (GB)
The Raid, starring Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Lee Marvin
Rear Window, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr
Red Garters, directed by George Marshall, starring Rosemary Clooney
Return to Treasure Island, starring Tab Hunter
Riot in Cell Block 11, directed by Don Siegel, starring Neville Brand
River of No Return, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe
Robinson Crusoe, starring Dan O'Herlihy
Rogue Cop, starring Robert Taylor and Janet Leigh
Romeo and Juliet, starring Laurence Harvey - (Italy/GB)
S
Sabrina, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden
Salt of the Earth, starring Rosaura Revueltas and Will Geer
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (Miyamoto Musashi), directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, starring Toshiro Mifune - (Japan)
Sansho the Bailiff (Sanshō Dayũ), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Kinuyo Tanaka - (Japan)
Saskatchewan, starring Alan Ladd
The Sea Shall Not Have Them, directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Michael Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Steel, Nigel Patrick - (GB)
Secret of the Incas, starring Charlton Heston
The Seekers, starring Jack Hawkins and Glynis Johns - (GB)
Senso, directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Alida Valli and Farley Granger - (Italy)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, directed by Stanley Donen, starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel
Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai), directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura - (Japan)
She Couldn't Say No, starring Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons
Shield for Murder, starring Edmond O'Brien
The Silver Chalice, starring Paul Newman (in his film debut)
Silver Lode, starring Dan Duryea
Sira` Fi al-Wadi (Struggle in the Valley), directed by Youssef Chahine - (Egypt)
Sitting Bull, starring Dale Robertson and J. Carrol Naish
Sound of the Mountain (Yama no Oto), directed by Mikio Naruse - (Japan)
A Star Is Born, directed by George Cukor, starring Judy Garland and James Mason, musical remake of 1937 film
Star of India, starring Cornel Wilde and Herbert Lom - (GB)
La strada (The Road), directed by Federico Fellini, starring Anthony Quinn - (Italy)
Suddenly, starring Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden
Supir Istimewa, directed by Rempo Urip and starring MS Priyadi and Ermina Zaenah (Indonesia)
Susan Slept Here, starring Debbie Reynolds and Dick Powell
T-V
Tanganyika, starring Van Heflin and Ruth Roman
Taza, Son of Cochise, starring Rock Hudson
Them!, starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
There's No Business Like Show Business, starring Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Marilyn Monroe
They Who Dare, starring Dirk Bogarde - (GB)
Three Coins in the Fountain, starring Jean Peters, Dorothy McGuire, Maggie McNamara
Three Young Texans, starring Jeffrey Hunter, Mitzi Gaynor, Keefe Brasselle
Too Bad She's Bad (Peccato che sia una canaglia), starring Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
Top Banana, starring Phil Silvers
Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands Off the Loot), starring Jean Gabin - (France/Italy)
Track of the Cat, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright
Twenty-Four Eyes (Nijū-shi no Hitomi) - (Japan)
Twist of Fate, starring Ginger Rogers
Vera Cruz, starring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster
W-Z
The Weak and the Wicked, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Glynis Johns and Diana Dors - (GB)
West of Zanzibar (1954 film), directed by Harry Watt, starring Anthony Steel, Sheila Sim, Edric Connor & Orlando Martins - (U.K.)
White Christmas, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger
Windfall in Athens (Kyriakatiko xypnima), directed by Michael Cacoyannis - (Greece)
Witness to Murder, directed by Roy Rowland, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Merrill, George Sanders
Woman's World, starring June Allyson, Clifton Webb, Fred MacMurray, Van Heflin, Lauren Bacall, Arlene Dahl
Wyoming Renegades, starring Phil Carey
Young at Heart, starring Frank Sinatra and Doris Day
The Young Lovers, directed by Anthony Asquith - (GB)
Gunfighters of the Northwest, starring Clayton Moore and Phyllis Coates
Man with the Steel Whip, starring Dick Simmons
Riding with Buffalo Bill
Trader Tom of the China Seas, starring Harry Lauter and Aline Towne
Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
Terrytoons (1930–1964)
Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
Popeye (1933–1957)
The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
Chip 'n' Dale (1943–1956)
Droopy (1943–1958)
Barney Bear (1939–1954)
Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
Speedy Gonzales (1953–1968)
Ranger Don (1953–1956)
January 1 - Helen Wellington-Lloyd, South African-born British artist and actress
January 6 - Anthony Minghella, English film director and screenwriter (died 2008)
January 29 - Oprah Winfrey, American actress and television personality
February 2 - Christie Brinkley, American model and actress
February 17 - Rene Russo, American actress
February 18 - John Travolta, American actor
March 1 - Ron Howard, American director and actor
March 4 - Catherine O'Hara, Canadian actress
March 15 - Craig Wasson, American actor
March 17 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
March 24 - Robert Carradine, American actor
April 7 - Jackie Chan, Hong Kong-born actor
April 9 - Dennis Quaid, American actor
April 16 - Ellen Barkin, American actress
May 7 - Amy Heckerling, American director
May 8 - David Keith, American actor and director
June 14 - Will Patton, American actor
June 15 - Jim Belushi, American actor
June 19 - Kathleen Turner, American actress
June 22 - Chris Lemmon, American actor and author
June 28 - Alice Krige, South African actress
August 12 - Sam J. Jones, American actor
August 13 - Tõnu Kilgas, Estonian actor and singer
August 16 - James Cameron, Canadian-born director
August 23 - Jeannie Elias, Canadian actress
October 9 - Scott Bakula, American actor
October 23 - Ang Lee, Taiwanese director
November 7 - Kamal Haasan, Indian actor, director, script-writer, producer and singer
November 19 - Kathleen Quinlan, American actress
November 29 - Joel Coen, American director, producer and screenwriter
December 4 - Tony Todd, American actor and producer
December 18 - Ray Liotta, American actor
December 28 - Denzel Washington, American actor
January 5 - Lillian Rich, 54, English actress, The Golden Bed, On the Front Page
January 18 - Sydney Greenstreet, 74, English actor, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Christmas in Connecticut, The Mask of Dimitrios
February 9 - Mabel Paige, 73, American actress, Lucky Jordan, Murder, He Says
February 12 - Dziga Vertov, 58, Russian filmmaker, Man with a Movie Camera
February 21 - William K. Howard, 54, American director, The Power and the Glory, Johnny Come Lately
March 8 - John L. Balderston, 64, American screenwriter, The Prisoner of Zenda, Gaslight
March 30 - Pauline Brunius, 73, Swedish actress, director and screenwriter, Charles XII
April 10 - Auguste Lumiere, 91, French film pioneer
April 29 - Joe May, 73, Austrian director, The House of Fear, The Invisible Man Returns
May 3 - Tom Tyler, 50, American actor, Adventures of Captain Marvel, The Phantom
May 17 - Ethel Hill, 56, American screenwriter, The Little Princess, In Old Oklahoma
July 13 - Irving Pichel, 63, American director and actor, The Most Dangerous Game, Santa Fe, Oliver Twist, How Green Was My Valley
July 24 - Effie Shannon, 87, American actress, Sally of the Sawdust
September 3 - Eugene Pallette, 65, American actor, My Man Godfrey, The Adventures of Robin Hood
November 11 - Reinhold Schunzel, 68, German director and actor, The Ice Follies of 1939, Notorious
November 15 - Lionel Barrymore, 76, American actor, It's a Wonderful Life, You Can't Take It with You, Key Largo, Treasure Island, Grand Hotel
November 29 - Eero Kilpi, 77, Finnish actor, Anna Liisa
December 8 - Gladys George, 50, American actress, The Maltese Falcon, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Roaring Twenties, Detective Story
Sean Connery - Lilacs in the Spring
Zbigniew Cybulski - A Generation
Angie Dickinson - Lucky Me
Charles Grodin - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Jack Lemmon - It Should Happen to You
Roger Moore - The Last Time I Saw Paris
Paul Newman - The Silver Chalice
Kim Novak - The French Line
Eva Marie Saint - On the Waterfront
Omar Sharif - Devil of the Sahara
Rod Taylor - King of the Coral Sea
Godzilla
