A list of American films released in 1951.
Danny Kaye hosted the 24th Academy Awards ceremony on held at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The winner of the Best Motion Picture category was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's An American in Paris.
The other four nominated pictures were Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis, and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Vivien Leigh won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Leigh had also played Blanche in the London stage production that had been directed by her then-husband Laurence Olivier. Other Best Actress nominees that year were Katharine Hepburn for The African Queen (Hepburn's 5th Best Actress Nomination), Eleanor Parker for Detective Story, Shelley Winters for A Place in the Sun, and Jane Wyman for The Blue Veil.
Humphrey Bogart won his only Oscar for his portrayal of Charlie Allnut in The African Queen. Other Best Actor nominees for that year were Marlon Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire, Montgomery Clift for A Place in the Sun, Arthur Kennedy for Bright Victory, and Fredric March for Death of a Salesman.
The 9th Golden Globe Awards also honored the best films of 1951. That year's Golden Globes also marked the first time that the Best Picture category was split into Musical or Comedy, or Drama. A Place in the Sun won Best Motion Picture - Drama, while An American in Paris won Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Fredric March won Best Actor, Drama, for Death of a Salesman, while Danny Kaye won Best Actor, Musical or Comedy, for On the Riviera. Jane Wyman won Best Actress, Drama, for her role in The Blue Veil, while June Allyson won Best Actress, Musical or Comedy, for Too Young to Kiss.
1951 also saw the film debut of Grace Kelly and Carroll Baker.
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 13th Letter | 20th Century Fox | |||
| Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man | Universal | |||
| Abilene Trail | Western | Monogram | ||
| According to Mrs. Hoyle | Comedy crime | Monogram | ||
| Ace in the Hole | Drama | Paramount | ||
| Across the Wide Missouri | Western | MGM | ||
| Adventures of Captain Fabian | Adventure | Republic | ||
| The African Queen | Adventure | Academy Award for Bogart | ||
| Air Cadet | Drama | Universal | ||
| Al Jennings of Oklahoma | Western | Columbia | ||
| Alice in Wonderland | Animation | Walt Disney | ||
| Along the Great Divide | Warner Bros. | |||
| An American in Paris | Musical | MGM. Academy Award for Best Picture | ||
| Angels in the Outfield | Sports, Comedy | MGM | ||
| Anne of the Indies | Adventure | 20th Century Fox | ||
| Apache Drums | Western | Universal | ||
| Appointment with Danger | Paramount | |||
| Arizona Manhunt | Western | Republic | ||
| As Young as You Feel | 20th Century Fox. Cameo by Marilyn Monroe | |||
| As You Were | Comedy | Lippert Pictures | ||
| width=25% | Title | width=12% | Director | width=30% | Cast | width=10% | Genre | width=24% | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badman's Gold | Robert Emmett Tansey | Western | Eagle-Lion | ||||||
| Bannerline | Drama | MGM | |||||||
| The Barefoot Mailman | Earl McEvoy | Comedy | Columbia | ||||||
| The Basketball Fix | Felix E. Feist | Drama | Realart | ||||||
| Bedtime for Bonzo | Universal | ||||||||
| Behave Yourself! | George Beck | Comedy | RKO | ||||||
| Belle Le Grand | Western | Republic | |||||||
| Best of the Badmen | Western | RKO | |||||||
| The Big Gusher | Adventure | Columbia | |||||||
| The Big Night | United Artists | ||||||||
| Bird of Paradise | Drama | 20th Century Fox | |||||||
| Blazing Bullets | Western | Monogram | |||||||
| Blue Blood | Sports | Monogram | |||||||
| The Blue Veil | Drama | RKO | |||||||
| Bonanza Town | Western | Columbia | |||||||
| Bowery Battalion | Comedy | Monogram | |||||||
| The Brave Bulls | Drama | Columbia. Based on the 1949 novel | |||||||
| Bride of the Gorilla | Independent | ||||||||
| Bright Victory | Drama | Universal. Based on Lights Out by Baynard Kendrick | |||||||
| Buckaroo Sheriff of Texas | Western | Republic | |||||||
| Bullfighter and the Lady | Drama | Republic | |||||||
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Best Is Yet to Come | - | Exploitation | ||
| The Big Lie | War | Cold War propaganda | ||
| Day of the Fight | First picture directed by Kubrick | |||
| Flying Padre | Fred Stadmueller | Documentary | Kubrick's second film | |
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serial | ||||
| Don Daredevil Rides Again | Serial | |||
| Government Agents vs Phantom Legion | Serial | 12-chapter serial | ||
| Mysterious Island | Serial | Based on the Jules Verne novel | ||
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby Sitters Jitters | ||||
| Ballot Box Bunny | Animation | |||
| A Bear For Punishment | Animation | |||
| Big Top Bunny | Animation | |||
| A Bone for a Bone | Animation | |||
| Bunny Hugged | Animation | Remake of the short Rabbit Punch | ||
| Casanova Cat | Animation | |||
| Cat Napping | Animation | |||
| Cheese Chasers | Animation | |||
| Chow Hound | Animation | |||
| Cruise Cat | Animation | |||
| Destination Meatball | Animation | |||
| Don't Throw That Knife | ||||
| Drip-Along Daffy | Animation | |||
| Duck and Cover | Anthony Rizzo | |||
| The Flying Cat | Animation | |||
| French Rarebit | Animation | |||
| Gerald McBoing-Boing | Robert Cannon | Animation | Academy Award Best Animated Short | |
| His Mouse Friday | Animation | |||
| Hula-La-La | ||||
| Jerry and Jumbo | Animation | |||
| Jerry and the Goldfish | Animation | |||
| Just Ducky | Animation | |||
| Lambert the Sheepish Lion | Animated | 8 minutes | ||
| Merry Mavericks | Three Stooges | |||
| Nit-Witty Kitty | Animation | |||
| No Smoking | Animation | |||
| Pest Man Wins | ||||
| The Prize Pest | Animation | Final screwball Daffy Duck cartoon | ||
| Rabbit Fire | Animation | |||
| Scrambled Brains | ||||
| Sleepy-Time Tom | Animation | |||
| Slicked-up Pup | Animation | |||
| Three Arabian Nuts | ||||
| The Tooth Will Out | ||||
| The Wearing of the Grin | ||||