1963 in film

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

Events

• February 20 – The classic epic western How the West Was Won premieres in the United States. It is an instant success with both audiences and critics and becomes the biggest moneymaker for MGM since Ben-Hur.
• June 12 – Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton, premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City. Its staggering production costs nearly bankrupted Twentieth Century Fox and the adulterous affair between Taylor and Burton made the publicity even worse. Cleopatra marked the only instance that a film would be the highest-grossing film of a year while still losing money, thus establishing it as, at the time, the biggest box office disaster in cinema history. The film's terrible reception harmed the reputation of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had an esteemed career for directing classics like A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, Julius Caesar, The Barefoot Contessa, Guys and Dolls, and Suddenly Last Summer. It effectively destroyed the career of its well-known producer Walter Wanger, who never worked in Hollywood or on another film again; he died five years later at the age of 74 of a heart attack. Much of the blame of the film's failures could be pointed at Taylor's super-diva personality, her health issues, her and Burton's adulterous affair, and the studio's inadequate management. It wouldn't be until two years later that Rodgers and Hammerstein's adaptation of The Sound of Music would help rescue Fox from bankruptcy by becoming one of the highest-grossing motion pictures of all time.
• November 7 – The classic comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premieres and it boasts one of the finest all-star ensemble casts ever, easily the most impressive for a comedy. It is also the first comedy film ever directed by Stanley Kramer, best known for directing serious human drama films on controversial subjects like The Defiant Ones, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
• December 25 – Walt Disney's production of The Sword in the Stone premieres. It is the second adaptation of T. H. White's The Once and Future King after the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical Camelot, the first cinematic adaptation of the novel, and the 13th film adaptation of the legend of King Arthur.

  Awards

Notable films released in 1963

#

• 8½, directed by Federico Fellini, starring Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée -- Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film –
• 55 Days at Peking, starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven

  A

• An Actor's Revenge, directed by Kon Ichikawa –
• Al Nasser Salah Ad-Din, directed by Youssef Chahine –
• All the Way Home, starring Jean Simmons, Robert Preston, Ronnie Claire Edwards
• Alone on the Pacific, directed by Kon Ichikawa –
• America, America by Elia Kazan
• Any Number Can Win, starring Jean Gabin and Alain Delon –
• Atragon, directed by Ishirō Honda –

  B

• The Bakery Girl of Monceau, directed by Éric Rohmer, starring Barbet Schroeder –
• The Balcony, starring Shelley Winters, Peter Falk, Leonard Nimoy
• Bandini, directed by Bimal Roy, starring Ashok Kumar –
• Barren Lives –
• Bay of Angels, directed by Jacques Demy, starring Jeanne Moreau –
• Beach Party, directed by William Asher, starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Bob Cummings, Dorothy Malone
• The Big City, directed by Satyajit Ray –
• Billy Liar, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie –
• The Birds, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy
• Bitter Harvest, starring Janet Munro –
• Black Sabbath, starring Boris Karloff –
• Blood Feast, directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
• Il Boom, directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring Alberto Sordi –
• Bushido, Samurai Saga Golden Bear winner –
• Bye Bye Birdie, starring Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Bobby Rydell, Maureen Stapleton, Paul Lynde

  C

• Call Me Bwana, directed by Gordon Douglas, starring Bob Hope, Anita Ekberg, Edie Adams
• Captain Newman, M.D., directed by David Miller, starring Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Bobby Darin, Eddie Albert, Angie Dickinson
• Captain Sindbad
• The Carabineers, directed by Jean-Luc Godard –
• Carbide and Sorrel –
• The Cardinal, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Tom Tryon, Carol Lynley, Romy Schneider, John Huston
• The Caretaker, starring Alan Bates and Robert Shaw –
• The Caretakers, starring Joan Crawford, Robert Stack, Polly Bergen
• Carry On Cabby, starring Sid James and Hattie Jacques –
• Carry On Jack, starring Kenneth Williams and Bernard Cribbins –
• The Cassandra Cat –
• Chair de poule, directed by Julien Duvivier –
• Charade, directed by Stanley Donen, starring Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy, James Coburn
• A Child Is Waiting, starring Judy Garland and Burt Lancaster
• Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton –
• Codine –
• Come Blow Your Horn, starring Frank Sinatra, Tony Bill, Barbara Rush, Jill St. John
• Come Fly With Me, starring Pamela Tiffin, Lois Nettleton, Dolores Hart
• The Conjugal Bed, starring Ugo Tognazzi –
• Contempt,, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, Michel Piccoli –
• The Courtship of Eddie's Father, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Glenn Ford, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, Dina Merrill, Ron Howard
• Critic's Choice, starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
• The Cry –

  D

• The Damned, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Macdonald Carey –
• The Day and the Hour, directed by René Clément, starring Simone Signoret and Stuart Whitman –
• Dementia 13, directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• Diamond Head, starring Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, France Nuyen, George Chakiris, James Darren
• Diary of a Madman, starring Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack, Elaine Devry
• Il diavolo, starring Alberto Sordi, Golden Bear winner –
• Dil Ek Mandir –
• Donovan's Reef, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin
• Drama of the Lark –
• Un drôle de paroissien, starring Bourvil –

  E

• El Dorado, directed by Menahem Golan, starring Topol –
• Empress Wu Tse-Tien –
• The Empty Canvas, starring Bette Davis and Horst Buchholz –
• The Engagement, directed by Ermanno Olmi –
• The Executioner, directed by Luis García Berlanga, starring Nino Manfredi –
• Evil Eye, directed by Mario Bava Starring John Saxon, Letícia Román -

  F

• Father Came Too!, starring James Robertson Justice and Leslie Phillips –
• The Fire Within, directed by Louis Malle –
• Flaming Creatures, directed by Jack Smith
• Flipper, starring Chuck Connors and Luke Halpin
• Follow the Boys, starring Connie Francis, Paula Prentiss, Dany Robin, Janis Paige
• For Love or Money, starring Kirk Douglas and Mitzi Gaynor
• 4 for Texas, starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ursula Andress, Anita Ekberg
• From Russia with Love, the second James Bond film, starring Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Pedro Armendáriz, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya –
• Fun in Acapulco, starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress

  G

• A Gathering of Eagles, starring Rock Hudson
• Gidget Goes to Rome, starring Cindy Carol
• The Girl Hunters, starring Mickey Spillane, with Lloyd Nolan, Shirley Eaton
• The Girl Who Knew Too Much, directed by Mario Bava –
• Le glaive et la balance, starring Anthony Perkins –
• The Great Escape, directed by John Sturges, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough, David McCallum, Donald Pleasence
• The Green Years –

  H

• Hands Over the City, directed by Francesco Rosi, starring Rod Steiger – Golden Lion winner –
• The Haunted Palace, directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price
• The Haunting, directed by Robert Wise, starring Julie Harris –
• Heavens Above!, directed by the Boulting brothers, starring Peter Sellers –
• High and Low, directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune –
• The Hook, starring Kirk Douglas
• The Householder, directed by James Ivory, starring Shashi Kapoor and Leela Naidu –
• How to Be Loved, starring Zbigniew Cybulski –
• Hud, directed by Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Patricia Neal, Brandon deWilde, Melvyn Douglas

  I

• I Could Go On Singing, starring Judy Garland and Dirk Bogarde –
• Ikarie XB-1 –
• L'Immortelle –
• In the Cool of the Day, starring Peter Finch, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury
• The Incredible Journey
• The Insect Woman, directed by Shohei Imamura -
• Irma la Douce, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine
• Island of Love, starring Robert Preston and Walter Matthau
• It Happened at the World's Fair, starring Elvis Presley
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Dorothy Provine, Edie Adams, Dick Shawn and many more
• Ivan's Childhood originally Ivanovo detstvo, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, starring Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, and Evgeniy Zharikov. Country: Soviet Union.

  J

• Jason and the Argonauts, starring Todd Armstrong –
• Johnny Cool, starring Henry Silva and Elizabeth Montgomery
• Judex, directed by Georges Franju –

  K

• Kanto Wanderer –
• Kings of the Sun, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Yul Brynner and George Chakiris

  L

• Ladies Who Do, starring Harry H. Corbett, Robert Morley and Peggy Mount –
• Ladybug Ladybug, directed by Frank Perry
• The Leopard, directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon – Palme d'Or winner –
• Like Two Drops of Water, directed by Fons Rademakers –
• Lilies of the Field, directed by Ralph Nelson, starring Sidney Poitier
• The List of Adrian Messenger, directed by John Huston, starring George C. Scott
• Lord of the Flies, directed by Peter Brook –
• The Love Eterne –
• Love Is a Ball, starring Glenn Ford, Hope Lange, Charles Boyer, Ricardo Montalbán
• Love with the Proper Stranger, starring Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen

  M

• The Man from the Diner's Club, directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Danny Kaye
• Mary, Mary, starring Debbie Reynolds, Diane McBain and Barry Nelson
• Matango, directed by Ishirō Honda –
• Mathias Sandorf
• A Matter of Choice, directed by Vernon Sewell, starring Anthony Steel –
• McLintock!, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara
• The Mind Benders, starring Dirk Bogarde and Mary Ure –
• Miracle of the White Stallions, starring Robert Taylor, Lilli Palmer, Eddie Albert
• I mostri, directed by Dino Risi –
• Mother of the Bride –
• Move Over, Darling, starring Doris Day, James Garner, Polly Bergen, Chuck Connors
• Mujhe Jeene Do, starring Sunil Dutt –
• Muriel, directed by Alain Resnais, starring Delphine Seyrig –
• My Six Loves, starring Debbie Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, David Janssen

  N

• Naked Among Wolves –
• Nartanasala, starring N. T. Rama Rao and Savitri –
• A New Kind of Love, starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
• Nine Hours to Rama, directed by Mark Robson, starring Horst Buchholz, Diane Baker, José Ferrer –
• Not on Your Life, directed by Luis García Berlanga, starring Nino Manfredi –
• Nunca pasa nada, directed by Juan Antonio Bardem –
• The Nutty Professor, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis, with Stella Stevens

  O

• Operation Bikini, starring Tab Hunter, Frankie Avalon, Gary Crosby
• Optimistic Tragedy –
• The Organizer, directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Marcello Mastroianni –

  P

• PT 109, starring Cliff Robertson as John F. Kennedy
• Papa's Delicate Condition, starring Jackie Gleason
• The Paper Man –
• Paranoiac, starring Janette Scott and Oliver Reed –
• Passenger –
• The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine
• Pour la suite du monde –
• The Prize, starring Paul Newman and Elke Sommer
• Promises! Promises!, starring Jayne Mansfield
• The Punch and Judy Man, starring Tony Hancock –

  R

• La Ragazza di Bube, starring Claudia Cardinale and George Chakiris –
• Rampage, starring Robert Mitchum and Elsa Martinelli
• The Raven, directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff
• Raven's End, directed by Bo Widerberg –
• The Red Lanterns –
• The Running Man, directed by Carol Reed, starring Laurence Harvey, Alan Bates, Lee Remick –

  S

• The Sadist
• Saladin the Victorious, directed by Youssef Chahine -
• Sammy Going South, directed by Alexander Mackendrick –
• The Servant, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, James Fox –
• Shock Corridor, directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Peter Breck and Constance Towers
• The Silence, directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Ingrid Thulin –
• Sodom and Gomorrah, starring Stewart Granger, Anouk Aimée, Pier Angeli
• Soldier in the Rain, starring Steve McQueen and Jackie Gleason
• Son of Flubber, starring Fred MacMurray
• Sparrows Can't Sing, starring Barbara Windsor and Roy Kinnear –
• Spencer's Mountain, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara
• The Stripper, starring Joanne Woodward, Richard Beymer, Claire Trevor, Gypsy Rose Lee
• Stolen Hours, starring Susan Hayward and Diane Baker
• Summer Holiday, starring Cliff Richard, Lauri Peters and The Shadows –
• Summer Magic, starring Dorothy McGuire, Hayley Mills, Deborah Walley
• Sunday in New York, starring Jane Fonda, Rod Taylor, Cliff Robertson, Robert Culp
• Sunshine in a Net –
• Suzanne's Career, directed by Éric Rohmer –
• The Sword in the Stone – an animated Disney film

  T

• Taj Mahal –
• Take Her, She's Mine, starring James Stewart, Sandra Dee, Audrey Meadows
• Tammy and the Doctor, starring Sandra Dee and Peter Fonda
• Los Tarantos –
• This Sporting Life, directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Richard Harris and Rachel Roberts –
• The Thrill of It All, directed by Norman Jewison, starring Doris Day and James Garner
• A Ticklish Affair, directed by George Sidney, starring Shirley Jones and Gig Young
• Tom Jones, directed by Tony Richardson, starring Albert Finney and Susannah York—winner 4 Oscars, 3 Golden Globes and 3 BAFTAs –
• Les Tontons flingueurs, starring Lino Ventura –
• Torpedo Bay, starring James Mason and Lilli Palmer –
• Toys in the Attic, directed by George Roy Hill, starring Dean Martin, Geraldine Page, Wendy Hiller, Gene Tierney, Yvette Mimieux
• Twilight of Honor, starring Richard Chamberlain

  U

• The Ugly American, starring Marlon Brando
• Uncle Vanya, starring Michael Redgrave, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright –
• Under the Yum Yum Tree, starring Jack Lemmon, Dean Jones, Carol Lynley, Edie Adams

  V

• The Victors, starring George Peppard, George Hamilton, Vince Edwards, Romy Schneider, Jeanne Moreau –
• La visita, starring Sandra Milo –
• The V.I.P.s, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith, Louis Jourdan, Margaret Rutherford, Orson Welles –

  W

• Walking the Streets of Moscow –
• The Wheeler Dealers, starring James Garner and Lee Remick
• Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?, starring Dean Martin, Carol Burnett, Elizabeth Montgomery, Jill St. John
• Who's Minding the Store?, starring Jerry Lewis, Agnes Moorehead, Jill St. John
• Winter Light, directed by Ingmar Bergman –
• Wives and Lovers, starring Janet Leigh, Shelley Winters, Martha Hyer
• The Wrong Arm of the Law, starring Peter Sellers –

  X

• , directed by Roger Corman, starring Ray Milland

  Y

• The Yellow Canary, starring Pat Boone
• Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni – Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film –
• Yoso, directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa –
• Young Aphrodites –
• Youth of the Beast, directed by Seijun Suzuki –

  Z

Short Film Series

• Looney Tunes
• Terrytoons
• Merrie Melodies
• Yosemite Sam
• Speedy Gonzales

  Births

• January 4 - Dave Foley, Canadian actor and comedian
• January 14 - Steven Soderbergh, US director
• February 12 - John Michael Higgins, actor
• February 17
• *Michael Jordan, US basketball player and occasional actor
• *Larry the Cable Guy, American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, singer and radio personality
• February 21 - William Baldwin, actor
• March 18 - Vanessa L. Williams, actress, singer and beauty queen
• March 20 - David Thewlis, English actor
• March 27 - Quentin Tarantino, director
• April 17 - Joel Murray, actor
• April 18 - Conan O'Brien, television entertainer and talk show host
• April 26 - Jet Li, actor
• May 11 - Natasha Richardson, actress
• May 25 - Mike Myers, Canadian actor
• June 6 - Jason Isaacs, English thespian
• June 9 - Johnny Depp, US actor
• June 10 - Jeanne Tripplehorn, US actress
• June 12 - Tim DeKay, actor & producer
• June 15 - Helen Hunt, US actress and director
• June 17 - Greg Kinnear, American actor, producer and television personality
• July 2 - Mark Kermode, English critic
• July 29 - Alexandra Paul, US actress
• July 30 - Lisa Kudrow, US actress
• August 1 - Demián Bichir, Mexican-American actor
• August 5 - Mark Strong, English actor
• August 7 - Harold Perrineau, US actor
• August 13 - Sridevi, Indian actress
• August 14 - Emmanuelle Béart, French actress
• September 19 - Dan Povenmire, animator and voice actor
• October 6 - Elisabeth Shue, US actress
• October 12 - Dave Legeno, actor
• October 31 - Rob Schneider, actor and comedian
• November 5 - Tatum O'Neal, US actress
• November 20 - Ming-Na Wen, American actress
• November 27
• *Vladimir Mashkov, Russian actor
• *Fisher Stevens, US actor
• December 15 - Helen Slater, US actress
• December 16 - Benjamin Bratt, American actor, producer and activist
• December 18 - Brad Pitt, actor
• December 19
• *Jennifer Beals, actress
• *Til Schweiger, actor

  Deaths

• January 2
• *Dick Powell, 58, American actor, director, Murder, My Sweet, The Bad and the Beautiful
• *Jack Carson, 52, Canadian actor, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Mildred Pierce
• January 6 – Frank Tuttle, 70, American director, This Gun for Hire, Waikiki Wedding
• January 26 – Ole Olsen, 70, American actor and comedian, Hellzapoppin'
• January 28 – John Farrow, 58, Australian director, Hondo, The Big Clock
• February 2 – William Gaxton, 69, American actor and singer, Diamond Horseshoe, The Heat's On
• February 8 – George Dolenz, 55, Hungarian actor, Vendetta, My Cousin Rachel
• February 18 – Monte Blue, 76, American actor, Key Largo, White Shadows in the South Seas
• March 18 – Wanda Hawley, 67, American actress, The Young Rajah, The Midnight Message
• April 4 – Jason Robards Sr., 70, American actor, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Isle of the Dead
• May 6 – Monty Woolley, 74, American actor, The Bishop's Wife, The Man Who Came to Dinner
• May 17 – Daniel Mendaille, French actor, 77, On Trial, Napoléon
• May 19 – Luana Walters, 50, American actress, Mexicali Rose, The Corpse Vanishes
• June 7 – ZaSu Pitts, 69, American actress, Greed, Life with Father
• June 18 – Pedro Armendáriz, 51, Mexican actor, The Fugitive, Fort Apache
• July 10 – John Sutton, 54, Pakistani actor, The Three Musketeers, Captain from Castile
• July 25 – Leota Lane, 59, American singer, actress, Three Hollywood Girls
• August 4 – Tom Keene, 66, American actor, Our Daily Bread, Ghost Valley
• August 14 – Clifford Odets, 57, American playwright and screenwriter, Sweet Smell of Success, None but the Lonely Heart
• August 17 – Richard Barthelmess, 68, American actor, Broken Blossoms, Only Angels Have Wings
• August 25 – Edward L. Cahn, 64, American director, It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Girls in Prison
• October 8 – Grace Darmond, 68, Canadian actress, What Every Woman Wants, The Hope Diamond Mystery
• October 11 – Jean Cocteau, 74, French director and screenwriter, Beauty and the Beast, Orpheus
• October 18 – Constance Worth, 52, Australian actress, China Passage, Meet Boston Blackie
• October 29 – Adolphe Menjou, 73, American actor, Paths of Glory, A Star is Born
• October 31
• * Henry Daniell, 69, British actor, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, The Great Dictator
• * Hans Jacoby, 59, German screenwriter, Reunion in Reno, Champagne for Caesar
• November 1 – Elsa Maxwell, 82, American gossip columnist, Rhapsody in Blue, Stage Door Canteen
• November 15 - Paul Sloane, 70, American director, The Woman Accused, Down to Their Last Yacht
• November 25
• * Jean Brooks, 47, American actress, The Leopard Man, The Seventh Victim
• * Joseph Sweeney, 79, American actor, 12 Angry Men, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit
• November 29 – Charles Schnee, 47, American screenwriter, The Bad and the Beautiful, Red River
• November 30
• *Phil Baker, 67, American comedian and actor, The Gang's All Here, Take It or Leave It
• *Gina Malo, 54, American actress, The Gang Show, All In
• December 2
• *Sabu, 39, Indian actor, Jungle Book, The Thief of Bagdad
• * Mario Zampi, 60, Italian director, The Naked Truth, Five Golden Hours
• December 4 – Robert Hamer, 52, British director, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Dead of Night
• December 5 – Tom London, 74, American actor, Calamity Jane, High Noon
• December 12
• *Yasujirō Ozu, 60, Japanese director and screenwriter, Tokyo Story, Late Spring
• *Barbara Read, 45, Canadian actress, Three Smart Girls, The Shadow Returns

  Film debuts

• Alan Alda – Gone are the Days!
• James Brolin – Take Her, She's Mine
• Mel Brooks – The Critic
• James Caan – Irma la Douce
• William Daniels – Ladybug Ladybug
• Dick Van Dyke – Bye Bye Birdie
• Héctor Elizondo – The Fat Black Pussycat
• Peter Fonda – Tammy and the Doctor
• Teri Garr – Fun in Acapulco
• Christopher Lambert – Who's Minding the Store?
• Geoffrey Lewis – The Fat Black Pussycat
• Estelle Parsons – Ladybug Ladybug
• Kurt Russell – It Happened at the World's Fair
• Lynn Redgrave – Tom Jones
• Donald Sutherland – The World Ten Times Over
• Andrei Tarkovsky - Ivan's Childhood a.k.a. Ivanovo Detstvo