Year

Country

Home

People

Films

Articles

Store

The History of American Cinema: 1953

July - December

8/7 -

Otto Preminger’s The Moon is Blue is released without a Production Code Seal of Approval.   Featuring the use of previously taboo words such as ‘virgin’ and ‘seduce’, the comedy stars William Holden as a womaniser with his sights set on innocent Maggie McNamara. [ADD]

18/7 -

Howard Hawks’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell as a pair of gold-diggers is released.   Monroe memorably performs ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.’ [ADD]

5/8 -

Fred Zinneman’s adaptation of James Jones’ bestselling novel From Here to Eternity is released.   Set in Hawaii in the days before the Japanese attack Pearl Harbour, the film stars Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Ernest Borgnine and – in possibly a career-saving role – Frank Sinatra. [ADD]

27/8 -

William Wyler’s Roman Holiday, filmed on location in the Italian capital, is released.  Newcomer Audrey Hepburn plays the rebellious princess who is shown the sights by newspaperman Gregory Peck when she temporarily escapes the shackles of her heritage. [ADD]

16/9 -

The Robe, the first fiction feature film to be filmed in 20^th Century-Fox’s CinemaScope, premieres at the Roxy Theater in New York.   The stodgy biblical epic, which is directed by Henry Koster, stars Richard Burton, Victor Mature and Jean Simmons. [ADD]

25/9 -

Alfred Hitchcock completes filming his adaptation of the stage play Dial M for Murder, starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings. [ADD]

9/10 -

Mogambo, John Ford’s remake of the 1932 hit Red Dust, is released.   The film stars Clark Gable – who also starred in the original – Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. [ADD]

14/10 -

Glenn Ford plays against type as the embittered cop pursuing the gangster who murdered his wife in Fritz Lang’s powerful thriller, The Big Heat.   Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin also appear in memorable roles. [ADD]

31/10 -

Frank Sinatra announces at a press conference that he and his wife of three years, Ava Gardner, are to divorce. [ADD]

4/11 -

David Butler’s Calamity Jane is released by Warner Bros.   Doris Day stars in the title role, singing such number as ‘The Deadwodd Stage,’ Secret Love’ and ‘The Black Hills of Dakota’ opposite Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickock. [ADD]

5/11 -

Jean Negulesco’s How to Marry a Millionaire, featuring the daunting female trio of Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, is released.   Cameron Mitchell plays the millionaire in question.  [ADD] 

10/11 -

Disney releases The Living Desert, part of the True Life Adventure series.   The film depicts a day in the life of the inhabitants of a desert in south-western America. [ADD]

10/11 -

Disney releases Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom, the first cartoon in CinemaScope. [ADD]

11/11 -

The Screen Actors Guild reports that production is at an all-time low with little hope for immediate improvement due to a preoccupation with new film technology and an increase in overseas production. [ADD]

25/11 -

The Library of Congress in Washington issues two supplementary volumes of its Catalogue of Copyright Entries, a list of all films registered in the States since 1894.   There are now 76,000 titles listed. [ADD]

30/12 -

Laslo Benedek's The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando as the leader of a gang of rowdy bikers, is released.   The film is based on a true incident that took place in 1947 when a gang of 4,000 motorcyclists descended upon the small Californian town of Hollister. [ADD]

– Disney enter into an agreement with United Paramount Theaters (owners of ABC Television) to build an amusement park.  ABC offer Disney $500,000, plus $17 million raised against the collateral of ABC’s property holdings.   In return, ABC will receive a 35% share in Disneyland, a share of concession revenues for 10 years, access to Disney’s animation library, and a weekly one-hour TV show produced by Disney. [ADD]

– RKO ceases film production. [ADD]

– Monogram Studios is renamed Allied Artists. [ADD]

– Donald Duck and Woody Woodpecker both appear in 3D films. [ADD]

Top Ten US Box-Office Stars of 1953

      1.      Gary Cooper

2.      Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis

3.      John Wayne

4.      Alan Ladd

5.      Bing Crosby

6.      Marilyn Monroe

7.      James Stewart

8.      Bob Hope

9.      Susan Hayward

10.  Randolph Scott

 Source: Quigley Poll

Other Key American Films of 1953

Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1953