1961 — Year in Review
Fritz Golden Superlatives
La Dolce Vita (dir: Federico Fellini; US Release Date)
The Innocents (dir: Jack Clayton)
L’Avventura (dir: Michelangelo Antonioni; US Release Date)
Breathless (dir: Jean-Luc Godard; US Release Date)
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity & Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (dir: Masaki Kobayashi)
Yojimbo (dir: Akira Kurosawa)
Splendor in the Grass (dir: Elia Kazan)
A Woman Is a Woman (dir: Jean-Luc Godard)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (dir: Blake Edwards)
The Hustler (dir: Robert Rossen)
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): 101 Dalmatians (dir: Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman and Clyde Geronimi), Black Sunday (dir: Mario Bava; US Release Date), The Children’s Hour (dir: William Wyler), The Misfits (dir: John Huston), One Eyed Jacks (dir: Marlon Brando), One, Two, Three (dir: Billy Wilder), Through a Glass Darkly (dir: Ingmar Bergman), West Side Story (dir: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins), and Whistle Down the Wind (dir: Bryan Forbes)
Best Picture: La Dolce Vita
Director: Federico Fellini Producers: Guiseppe Amato, Angelo Rizzoli
US Distributor: Astor Pictures
Federico Fellini on the set of La Dolce Vita
Best Director:
Federico Fellini, La Dolce Vita
2. Michelangelo Antonioni, L'Avventura
3. Jack Clayton, The Innocents
4. Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless AND A Woman Is a Woman
5. Eliza Kazan, Splendor in the Grass
Paul Newman in Robert Rossen’s The Hustler
Best Actor:
Paul Newman, The Hustler
2. Sidney Poitier, A Raisin in the Sun
3. Toshiro Mifune, Yojimbo
4. James Cagney, One, Two, Three
5. Marcello Mastroianni, La Dolce Vita
Natalie Wood in Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass
Best Actress:
Natalie Wood, Splendor in the Grass
2. Jean Seberg, Breathless
3. Deborah Kerr, The Innocents
4. Marilyn Monroe, The Misfits
5. Piper Laurie, The Hustler
Eli Wallach and Marilyn Monroe in John Huston’s The Misfits
Best Supporting Actor:
Eli Wallach, The Misfits
2. Jackie Gleason, The Hustler
3. Pat Hingle, Splendor in the Grass
4. Martin Stephens, The Innocents
5. Michael Redgrave, The Innocents
Rita Moreno in Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story
Best Supporting Actress:
Rita Moreno, West Side Story
2. Ruby Dee, A Raisin in the Sun
3. Miriam Hopkins, The Children's Hour
4. Barbara Loden, Splendor in the Grass
5. Judy Garland, Judgement at Nuremberg
Toshiro Mifune in Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo
Best Original Screenplay:
Yojimbo — Akira Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima
2. Splendor in the Grass — William Inge
3. Breathless — Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut
4. A Woman Is a Woman — Jean-Luc Godard
5. Through a Glass Darkly — Ingmar Bergman
Deborah Kerr and Pamela Franklin in Jack Clayton’s The Innocents
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Innocents — Truman Capote and William Archibald
2. Breakfast at Tiffany's — George Axelrod
3. The Hustler — Sydney Carroll and Robert Rossen
4. West Side Story — Ernest Lehman
5. One, Two, Three — Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond
Deborah Kerr in Jack Clayton’s The Innocents
Best Cinematography:
The Innocents — Freddie Francis
2. L'Avventura — Aldo Scavarda
3. A Woman is a Woman — Raoul Coutard
4. West Side Story — Daniel L. Fapp
5. La Dolce Vita — Othello Martelli
Anouke Aimee and Marcello Mastroianni in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita
Best Film Editing:
La Dolce Vita — Leo Catozzo
2. West Side Story — Thomas Stanford
3. Yojimbo — Akira Kurosawa
4. The Innocents — James Clark
5. Breakfast at Tiffany’s — Howard Smith
Noëlle Adam, Shirley Ann Field, and Adam Faith in Edmond T. Greville’s Beat Girl
Best Original Score:
Beat Girl — John Barry
2. Breakfast at Tiffany's — Henry Mancini
3. The Innocents — Georges Auric
4. Yojimbo — Masuru Sato
5. The Guns of Navarone — Dimitri Tiomkin
Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno in Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story
Best Production Design:
West Side Story — Boris Leven and Victor Gangelin
2. The Children’s Hour – Fernando Carrere and Edward G. Boyle
3. The Hustler — Harry Horner and Gene Callahan
4. El Cid — Veniero Colasanti, John Moore, Veniero Colasanti, and John Moore
5. King of Kings — Georges Wakhevitch and Enrique Alarcon
Audrey Hepburn and Jose-Luis de Viallonga in Blake Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Best Costume Design:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s — Edith Head
2. West Side Story — Irene Sharaff
3. La Dolce Vita — Piero Gherardi
4. Yojimbo – Yoshiro Muraki
5. The Misfits — Jean Louis
Best Visual Effects:
The Guns of Navarone
Best Sound:
The Guns of Navarone
Best Ensamble Cast:
The Innocents
Orson Welles’ Best First Feature:
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless
Best Ensemble Cast:
The Innocents (dir: Jack Clayton; in alphabetical order): Isla Cameron, Pamela Franklin, Megs Jenkins, Clytie Jessop, Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave, Martin Stevens, and Peter Wyngarde
Orson Welles' Best First Feature Award:
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless
RECAP
W I N S :
The Innocents — 3, La Dolce Vita — 3,
The Guns of Navarone — 2, West Side Story — 2, Beat Girl — 1, Breakfast at Tiffany’s — 1, Breathless — 1, The Hustler — 1, The Misfits — 1, Splendor in the Grass — 1, Yojimbo — 1
M U L T I P L E
N O M I N A T I O N S :
The Innocents — 9,
The Hustler — 6, La Dolce Vita — 6, Splendor in the Grass — 6, Yojimbo — 6, Breakfast at Tiffany’s — 5, A Woman Is a Woman — 5, Breathless — 4, The Guns of Navarone — 3, L’Avventura — 3, The Misfits — 3, The Children’s Hour — 2, One, Two, Three — 2, A Raisin in the Sun — 2
the year-end project:
2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960, 1959, 1958, 1957, 1956, 1955, 1954, 1953, 1952, 1951, 1950, 1940 - 1949, 1930 - 1939, 1920 - 1929 + Superlatives Index