The year 1964 in film involved some significant events, including three highly successful musical films, Mary Poppins,My Fair Lady, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1964 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Events
January 29 – 50-year-old actor Alan Ladd is found dead in bed at his home in Palm Springs, California. An autopsy confirms the cause of death as cerebral edema caused by an acute overdose of "alcohol and three other drugs" His death is ruled accidental. Ladd's final film, The Carpetbaggers, is released in April and, despite mostly negative reviews from critics, becomes a major commercial success.
March 6 – Elvis Presley's 14th motion picture, Kissin' Cousins, is released to theaters.
March 15 - Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton.
June 3 – The animated film Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! is released. Not only it is the first theatrical feature produced by Hanna-Barbera but also the first full-length theatrical animated film based on the animated television program.
July 6 – A Hard Day's Night, the first Beatles film, premieres.
August 27 – The film Mary Poppins is released. Not only is it a massive hit with both critics and audiences, but it also becomes Disney's highest-grossing film of all time. It goes on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews.
October – In Photoplay magazine, Hedda Hopper announces that Sophia Loren and Paul Newman will star in the film version of Arthur Miller's play After the Fall, with Loren in the role that was written about Marilyn Monroe. The film is never made.
Awards
Academy Awards:
Best Picture: My Fair Lady – Warner Bros.
Best Director: George Cukor – My Fair Lady
Best Actor: Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady
Best Actress: Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Ustinov – Topkapi
Best Supporting Actress: Lila Kedrova – Zorba the Greek
Best Foreign Language Film: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Ieri, oggi, domani), directed by Vittorio De Sica, Italy
Golden Globe Awards:
Drama:
Best Picture: Becket
Best Actor: Peter O'Toole – Becket
Best Actress: Anne Bancroft – The Pumpkin Eater
Comedy or Musical:
Best Picture: My Fair Lady
Best Actor: Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady
Best Actress: Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins
Other
Best Supporting Actor: Edmond O'Brien – Seven Days in May
Best Supporting Actress: Agnes Moorehead – Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Best Director: George Cukor – My Fair Lady
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), directed by Jacques Demy, France
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):
Il deserto rosso (The Red Desert), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):
Susuz Yaz (Dry Summer), directed by Ismail Metin, Turkey
1964 film releases
United States unless stated
January–March
January 1964
19 January
Strait-Jacket
22 January
The Comedy of Terrors
Pyro... The Thing Without a Face
Zulu
29 January
Dr. Strangelove
Man's Favorite Sport?
30 January
A Global Affair
Surf Party
February 1964
5 February
Man in the Middle
10 February
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
12 February
Seven Days in May
19 February
Dead Ringer
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
26 February
He Rides Tall
March 1964
6 March
Kissin' Cousins
8 March
The Last Man on Earth (United States/Italy)
11 March
Becket
Mail Order Bride
12 March
A Tiger Walks
18 March
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
The Flesh Eaters
Law of the Lawless
The Pink Panther
19 March
Two Thousand Maniacs!
The World of Henry Orient
25 March
Flight from Ashiya
The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
Muscle Beach Party
26 March
The Fall of the Roman Empire
28 March
The Incredible Mr. Limpet
April–June
April 1964
1 April
The Curse of the Living Corpse
Gunfighters of Casa Grande
3 April
Dark Purpose
5 April
The Best Man
8 April
Paris When It Sizzles
The Strangler
9 April
The Carpetbaggers
14 April
The Quick Gun
21 April
The Chalk Garden
French Dressing
28 April
The Third Secret
Woman of Straw
29 April
Mothra vs. Godzilla (Japan)
May 1964
2 May
The Bargee
The Thin Red Line
6 May
The Visit
11 May
What a Way to Go!
13 May
The Eyes of Annie Jones
14 May
Girl with Green Eyes
19 May
Signpost to Murder
20 May
Black Like Me
The Brass Bottle
Rhino!
Viva Las Vegas
27 May
A Distant Trumpet
From Russia with Love
29 May
3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt
June 1964
1 June
The Horror of Party Beach
The New Interns
3 June
For Those Who Think Young
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
Honeymoon Hotel
4 June
633 Squadron
The Three Lives of Thomasina
10 June
Advance to the Rear
Bedtime Story
McHale's Navy
Wild and Wonderful
11 June
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
17 June
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
23 June
A Shot in the Dark
The Young Lovers
24 June
Flipper's New Adventure
The Masque of the Red Death
Robin and the 7 Hoods
25 June
Circus World
26 June
The Cavern
July–September
July 1964
2 July
The Moon-Spinners
The Pawnbroker
3 July
Island of the Blue Dolphins
6 July
A Hard Day's Night
7 July
The Killers
8 July
Lady in a Cage
22 July
Bikini Beach
Good Neighbor Sam
Marnie
Shock Treatment
29 July
Carry On Spying
One Potato, Two Potato
August 1964
5 August
Ride the Wild Surf
6 August
The Night of the Iguana
11 August
Crooks in Cloisters
Dogora (Japan)
12 August
A House Is Not a Home
The Patsy
14 August
Behold a Pale Horse
16 August
Diary of a Bachelor
26 August
The Beauty Jungle
I'd Rather Be Rich
27 August
Mary Poppins
September 1964
2 September
The 7th Dawn
Bullet for a Badman
The Comedy Man
Topkapi
4 September
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Italy)
11 September
Lorna
12 September
A Fistful of Dollars (Italy)
16 September
The Secret Invasion
18 September
Goldfinger
19 September
Nothing but a Man
25 September
Fanny Hill
27 September
Lilith
October–December
October 1964
3 October
Cheyenne Autumn
7 October
Fail-Safe
8 October
The Outrage
11 October
Blood on the Arrow
The System
14 October
Invitation to a Gunfighter
Send Me No Flowers
20 October
The Black Torment
24 October
The Lively Set
27 October
The Americanization of Emily
28 October
Rio Conchos
29 October
The Naked Kiss
The Time Travelers
The Train
November 1964
2 November
Where Love Has Gone
4 November
Kitten with a Whip
Youngblood Hawke
Your Cheatin' Heart
5 November
Flight to Fury
8 November
Fate Is the Hunter
9 November
My Fair Lady
10 November
Roustabout
Stage to Thunder Rock
11 November
Pajama Party
15 November
Back Door to Hell
18 November
Goodbye Charlie
21 November
Four Days in November
25 November
Ensign Pulver
26 November
Apache Rifles
27 November
Looking for Love
December 1964
3 December
Dear Heart
4 December
Kisses for My President
10 December
Carry On Cleo
Father Goose
The Golden Head
12 December
Raiders from Beneath the Sea
16 December
The Disorderly Orderly
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Zorba the Greek
18 December
Emil and the Detectives
Get Yourself a College Girl
20 December
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (Japan)
22 December
Kiss Me, Stupid
25 December
The Pleasure Seekers
Sex and the Single Girl
28 December
Carol for Another Christmas
30 December
The Night Walker
Notable films released in 1964
United States unless stated
#
3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, starring Mamie Van Doren and Tommy Noonan
7 Faces of Dr. Lao, starring Tony Randall, Barbara Eden and Arthur O'Connell, with special effects by George Pal
The 7th Dawn, starring William Holden and Susannah York
633 Squadron, starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris and Maria Perschy – (U.K.)
A
Adobe and Mirror, directed by Ebrahim Golestan, starring Mohammad Ali Keshavarz, Jamshid Mashayekhi and Pari Saberi (Iran)
Advance to the Rear, directed by George Marshall, starring Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens and Melvyn Douglas
Adventures of Zatoichi (Zatōichi sekisho-yaburi), directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda – (Japan)
Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens
The Alive and the Dead (Zhivye i myortvye) – (U.S.S.R.)
All These Women (För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
The Americanization of Emily, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring James Garner and Julie Andrews
Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise, directed by André Cayatte – (France)
Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc, directed by André Cayatte – (France)
The Ape Woman (La donna scimmia), starring Ugo Tognazzi and Annie Girardot – (Italy/France)
Assassination (Ansatu) – (Japan)
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma) – (Brazil)
Atentát – (Czechoslovakia)
A Trip to the Moon
Ayee Milan Ki Bela – (India)
B
Back Door to Hell, starring Jimmie Rodgers and Jack Nicholson
Backfire (Échappement libre), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg – (France)
Ballad in Blue, directed by Paul Henreid and starring Ray Charles
Band of Outsiders (Bande à part), directed by Jean-Luc Godard – (France)
The Bargee, starring Harry H. Corbett and Eric Sykes – (U.K.)
The Beauty Jungle, starring Ian Hendry – (U.K.)
Becket, directed by Peter Glenville, starring Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton – (U.K./U.S.)
Bedtime Story, starring Marlon Brando, David Niven and Shirley Jones
Before the Revolution (Prima della rivoluzione), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci – (Italy)
Behold a Pale Horse, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif
Belarmino, a Cinema Novo docufiction – (Portugal)
The Best Man, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, written by Gore Vidal, starring Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson
Bikini Beach, starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Martha Hyer and Don Rickles
Black God, White Devil (Deus e o Diabo na terra do sol) – (Brazil)
Black Like Me, starring James Whitmore and Roscoe Lee Browne
Black Peter (Cerný Petr), directed by Miloš Forman – (Czechoslovakia)
The Black Torment, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis – (U.K.)
Blood and Black Lace (6 donne per l'assassino), directed by Mario Bava – (Italy)
Blood on the Arrow, directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Dale Robertson and Martha Hyer
La bonne soupe (a.k.a. Careless Love), directed by Robert Thomas – (Italy/France)
The Brass Bottle, starring Tony Randall, Burl Ives and Barbara Eden
Bullet for a Badman, starring Audie Murphy, Darren McGavin and Ruta Lee
C
A Carol for Another Christmas, starring Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland
The Carpetbaggers, starring George Peppard, Carroll Baker and Elizabeth Ashley
Carry On Cleo, starring Sid James and Amanda Barrie – (U.K.)
Carry On Spying, starring Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor – (U.K.)
Castle of Blood (Danza macabra), directed by Antonio Margheriti and Sergio Corbucci – (Italy/France)
Castle of the Living Dead (Il castello dei morti vivi), directed by Warren Kiefer – (Italy/France)
The Chairman (Predsedatel) – (U.S.S.R.)
The Chalk Garden, starring Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills – (U.K.)
Charulata, directed by Satyajit Ray – (India)
Cheyenne Autumn, directed by John Ford, starring Carroll Baker, Richard Widmark, Edward G. Robinson and Karl Malden
Circle of Love (La ronde), directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda – (France)
Circus World, starring John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth
The Comedy Man, starring Kenneth More and Cecil Parker – (U.K.)
The Comedy of Terrors, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone
Crooks in Cloisters, starring Ronald Fraser and Barbara Windsor – (U.K.)
The Curse of the Hidden Vault (Die Gruft mit dem Rätselschloß), directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb – (West Germany)
The Curse of the Living Corpse, produced, written and directed by Del Tenney
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, directed by Michael Carreras – (U.K.)
D
Dark Purpose, starring Shirley Jones
Dead Ringer, starring Bette Davis, Peter Lawford
Dear Heart, directed by Delbert Mann, starring Geraldine Page, Glenn Ford and Angela Lansbury
Dear John (Käre John), directed by Lars-Magnus Lindgren – (Sweden)
Devil Doll, directed by Lindsay Shonteff – (U.K.)
The Devil-Ship Pirates, starring Christopher Lee and Andrew Keir
Diamonds of the Night (Démanty noci), directed by Jan Němec – (Czechoslovakia)
Diary of a Bachelor, directed by Sandy Howard, starring William Traylor, Joe Silver and Dagne Crane
Diary of a Chambermaid (Le journal d'une femme de chambre), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Jeanne Moreau and Michel Piccoli – (France)
The Disorderly Orderly, directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Jerry Lewis and Susan Oliver
A Distant Trumpet, starring Troy Donahue, Suzanne Pleshette and Diane McBain
Dog Eat Dog (Einer frisst den anderen), starring Jayne Mansfield – (West Germany/Italy/Liechtenstein)
Dosti (Friendship), directed by Satyen Bose – (India)
Dr. Crippen, starring Donald Pleasence – (U.K.)
Dr. Sex, directed by Ted V. Mikels
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Peter Sellers (in three roles) and George C. Scott – (U.K.)
Dry Summer (Susuz Yaz), directed by Metin Erksan – (Turkey)
E
The Earth Dies Screaming, starring Willard Parker, Virginia Field and Dennis Price – (U.K.)
East of Sudan, starring Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms and Jenny Agutter – (U.K.)
Empire, directed by Andy Warhol
Ensign Pulver, a sequel to Mister Roberts, starring Robert Walker Jr. and Burl Ives
El extraño viaje (The Strange Voyage), directed by Fernando Fernán Gómez – (Spain)
The Evil of Frankenstein, directed by Freddie Francis – (U.K.)
The Evil Stairs (마의 계단, Ma-ui gyedan), directed by Lee Man-hee – (South Korea)
The Eyes of Annie Jones, starring Richard Conte and Francesca Annis – (U.K.)
F
Face of the Screaming Werewolf, starring Lon Chaney – (Mexico/U.S.)
Fail-Safe, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy and Walter Matthau
The Fall of the Roman Empire, starring Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd and Alec Guinness
Fanny Hill, directed by Russ Meyer – (West Germany/U.S.)
Fantômas, starring Jean Marais – (France)
Fate Is the Hunter, starring Glenn Ford, Rod Taylor and Suzanne Pleshette
Father Came Too!, starring James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter – (U.K.)
Father Goose, starring Cary Grant, Leslie Caron and Trevor Howard
Father of a Soldier (Jariskats'is mama), directed by Revaz Chkheidze – (Georgia)
The Fifth Horseman Is Fear (A Paty Jezdec je Strach), directed by Zbyněk Brynych – (Czechoslovakia)