A list of American films released in 1956
Around the World in 80 Days won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blazing the Overland Trail | Spencer Bennet | Lee Roberts | Serial | Columbia |
Perils of the Wilderness | Spencer Bennet | Evelyn Anderson, Dennis Moore | Serial | Columbia |
Seven Wonders of the World | Tay Garnett & others | Lowell Thomas | Documentary | |
Forbidden Planet is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story by Allen Adler and Irving Block. It stars Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, and Leslie Nielsen. Shot in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope, it is considered one of the great science fiction films of the 1950s, a precursor of contemporary science fiction cinema. The characters and isolated setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the plot contains certain happenings analogous to the play, leading many to consider it a loose adaptation.
Flash Gordon is a 1936 superhero serial film. Presented in 13 chapters, it is the first screen adventure for Flash Gordon, the comic-strip character created by Alex Raymond in 1934. It presents the story of Gordon's visit to the planet Mongo and his encounters with the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton, Priscilla Lawson and Frank Shannon portray the film's central characters. In 1996, Flash Gordon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Beginning of the End is a 1957 American science fiction film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars Peter Graves, Peggie Castle, and Morris Ankrum. An agricultural scientist, played by Graves, successfully grows gigantic vegetables using radiation. Unfortunately, the vegetables are eaten by locusts, which quickly grow to a gigantic size and attack the nearby city of Chicago. Beginning of the End is generally known for its "atrocious" special effects, "and yet," writes reviewer Bill Warren, "there is something almost compellingly watchable about this goofy little movie".
Mesa of Lost Women is a 1953 American low-budget black-and-white science fiction film directed by Herbert Tevos and Ron Ormond from a screenplay by Tevos and Orville H. Hampton, who is given on-screen credit only for their dialogue supervision.
Teenage Zombies is a 1959 science fiction horror film written, produced, edited and directed by Jerry Warren, and starring Katherine Victor, Don Sullivan, Chuck Niles and Warren's then-wife and production manager Brianne Murphy. Warren wrote the screenplay under his pen name Jacques Lecoutier. Film historian Bill Warren wrote "This dreadful, leaden and depressingly cheap film does have one unusual aspect... it was actually made by Jerry Warren in its entirety."
Faith Marie Domergue was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age 16 by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes's RKO Radio Pictures and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller Vendetta, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950.
Revenge of the Creature is a 1955 3D monster film directed by Jack Arnold and produced and distributed by Universal-International. A sequel to the previous year's Creature from the Black Lagoon, it is the only 3D film released in 1955. Produced by William Alland, the film stars John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield and Nestor Paiva. The Creature was played by Tom Hennesy on land, and once again, portrayed by Ricou Browning underwater. It marked an early role for Clint Eastwood, in his film debut.
The Strange World of Planet X is an independently made 1958 British science fiction horror film, produced by George Maynard and John Bash, directed by Gilbert Gunn, that stars Forrest Tucker and Gaby André. The film was distributed in the UK in February, 1958 by Eros Films. It was released in the US on July 7, 1958 by Distributors Corporation of America as a double feature with The Crawling Eye, also starring Tucker.
The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues is a 1955 independently made, American, black-and-white, science-fiction monster film, produced by Jack Milner and Dan Milner, that stars Kent Taylor and Cathy Downs.
Space-Men is a 1960 Italian science fiction film directed by Antonio Margheriti. The film stars Rik Van Nutter and co-stars Gabriella Farinon, David Montresor, Archie Savage, and Alain Dijon. The film was released in the United States in 1961 by American International Pictures.
The Werewolf is a 1956 American horror science fiction film directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Don Megowan and Joyce Holden.
The She-Creature, or The She Creature, is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction horror film, released by American International Pictures from a script by Lou Rusoff. It was produced by Alex Gordon, directed by Edward L. Cahn, and stars Chester Morris, Marla English and Tom Conway, and casting Frieda Inescort and El Brendel in smaller roles. The producers hired Marla English because they thought she bore a strong resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor.
Creature with the Atom Brain is a 1955 American zombie horror science fiction film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Richard Denning.
Curucu, Beast of the Amazon is a 1956 American adventure/monster film, directed and written by Curt Siodmak and starring John Bromfield, Beverly Garland and Tom Payne. The title creature is pronounced "Koo-Ruh-SOO". The film was distributed in the United States as a double feature with The Mole People.
Man Beast is a 1956 American horror film directed and produced by Jerry Warren. It was Warren's first directorial effort and the first film distributed by his Associated Producers, Inc. The film is about a young woman who persuades some mountain climbers to trek up to the Himalayas to attempt to find her missing brother, who hasn't been heard from since he went there on an earlier expedition to find the Abominable Snowman. A mysterious guide befriends them, but winds up actually in league with the Yetis who inhabit the mountains, and he secretly works against the explorers behind their backs, killing them off one by one.
George Frances Carey Sawaya was an American actor and stuntman. He was best known for playing the role of Detective Lopez on Jack Webb's Dragnet.