The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones. Important films released this year included Seven Samurai, On the Waterfront, and Rear Window.
Top-grossing films United States
The top ten 1954 released films by box office gross in the United States are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1954 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 White ChristmasParamount $12,000,000 2 The Caine Mutiny Columbia $8,700,000 320,000 Leagues Under the Sea Buena Vista $8,000,000 4 The Glenn Miller StoryUniversal $7,600,000 5 The Country GirlParamount $6,500,000 6 The High and the MightyA Star Is BornWarner Bros. $6,100,000 7 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers MGM $5,526,000. 8Rear Window Paramount $5,300,000 9Magnificent Obsession Universal $5,200,000 10There's No Business Like Show Business 20th Century Fox $5,103,555
International International market Film Studio Revenue Admissions Production country France Royal Affairs in Versailles Cocinor 6,986,788 France West Germany From Here to Eternity Columbia Pictures 13,000,000 United States India Nagin Filmistan India Italy Ulysses Lux Film 13,170,322 Italy Japan What Is Your Name? Part 3 Shochiku Japan Soviet Union Awaara R. K. Films $16,970,000 100,000,000 India Spain Quo Vadis Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 3,721,532 United States United Kingdom Doctor in the House Rank Organisation 12,200,000 United Kingdom
Events 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 marks the first time that legendary director George Cukor has made a film musical or a film in Technicolor and in anamorphic widescreen format, but also becomes regarded as one of Garland's best performances in her film career. November 3 — The film Godzilla premieres in Japan. It becomes a huge success and the first in the Godzilla film franchise, the longest running film series in history.
Awards Category/Organization 12th Golden Globe AwardsFebruary 24, 1955 27th Academy AwardsMarch 30, 1955 Drama Comedy or Musical Best Film On the Waterfront Carmen Jones On the Waterfront Best Director Elia KazanOn the Waterfront Best Actor Marlon BrandoOn the Waterfront James MasonA Star Is Born Marlon BrandoOn the Waterfront Best Actress Grace KellyThe Country Girl Judy GarlandA Star Is Born Grace KellyThe Country Girl Best Supporting Actor Edmond O'BrienThe Barefoot Contessa Best Supporting Actress Jan SterlingThe High and the Mighty Eva Marie SaintOn the Waterfront Best Screenplay, Adapted Ernest LehmanSabrina George SeatonThe Country Girl Best Screenplay, Original Budd SchulbergOn the Waterfront Best Foreign Language Film GenevieveThe Lady of the CamelliasNo Way BackTwenty-Four Eyes Gate of Hell
Top ten money-making stars Exhibitors selected the following as the Top Ten Money Making Stars of the Year in Quigley Publishing Company's annual poll. John Wayne became the first actor to regain the number one spot after losing that position.
RankActor/Actress1.John Wayne2.Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis3.Gary Cooper4.James Stewart5.Marilyn Monroe6.Alan Ladd7.William Holden8.Bing Crosby9.Jane Wyman10.Marlon Brando
Top Western stars
The poll also revealed the top Western stars.
RankActor/Actress1.Roy Rogers2.Gene Autry3.Rex Allen4.Wild Bill Elliott5.Gabby Hayes
Notable films released in 1954 United States 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) Alaska Seas, starring Robert Ryan and Jan Sterling Amar (Immortal), starring Madhubala, Nimmi and Dilip Kumar – (India) 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 Bahut Din Huwe, starring Madhubala – (India) 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 Cadet Rousselle, directed by André Hunebelle, starring François Périer and Dany Robin – (France) 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 – (United States/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) Gorilla at Large, directed by Harmon Jones, starring Cameron Mitchell, Anne Bancroft and Raymond Burr 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 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
J 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 King Richard and the Crusaders, starring Rex Harrison and Virginia Mayo Knock on Wood, starring Danny Kaye
L 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 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) The Mad Magician, directed by John Brahm, starring Vincent Price and Mary Murphy Magnificent Obsession, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson The Million Pound Note, starring Gregory Peck – (GB)
N 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 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 On Trial (L'affaire Maurizius; Il caso Mauritius), directed by Julien Duvivier – (France/Italy) The Outcast, starring John Derek
P 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