Best Movies of 1951 by Director
1664
21
Anthony Asquith
Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Nigel Patrick, Ronald Howard
Drama
UK
English
2719
53
Joseph Barbera, William Hanna
Animation / Family / Short / Comedy
USA
English
2628
45
Juan Antonio Bardem, Luis García Berlanga
Fernando Fernán Gómez, Elvira Quintillá
Comedy
Spain
Spanish
2719
53
Charles Barton
Donald O'Connor, Helena Carter, Will Geer, John Emery, Stanley Logan
Comedy / Adventure / Musical
USA
English
754
11
László Benedek
Fredric March, Mildred Dunnock, Kevin McCarthy, Cameron Mitchell
Drama
USA
English
2719
53
Edward Bernds
Scotty Beckett, Jimmy Lydon, Don Beddoe, Gordon Jones, Patti Brady, Susan Morrow
Comedy / Comic
USA
English
2719
53
Edward Bernds
Scotty Beckett, Jimmy Lydon, Susan Morrow, Don Beddoe, Patti Brady
Comedy / Comic
USA
English
2719
53
Curtis Bernhardt
Humphrey Bogart, Märta Torén, Lee J. Cobb, Everett Sloane
Drama / Action / Romance
USA
English
2591
43
Budd Boetticher
Robert Stack, Joy Page, Gilbert Roland, Virginia Grey, John Hubbard, Katy Jurado
Drama / Romance / Action / Sports
USA
English
2628
45
Nitin Bose
Nargis, Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Nimmi, Baby Tabassum, Jal Merchant, Parikshit
Musical / Romance / Drama
India
Hindi
1923
26
John Boulting
Robert Donat, Margaret Johnston, Maria Schell, Renée Asherson
Biography / Drama
UK
English
118
2
Robert Bresson
Claude Laydu, Jean Riveyre, André Guibert, Rachel Bérendt
Drama / Religion
France
French
2661
48
Cab Calloway, Zulme Calloway
Cab Calloway, Zulme Calloway
Documentary / Music
USA
English
2162
30
Robert Cannon
Marvin Miller
Animation / Short / Family / Comedy
USA
English
2719
53
Edward F. Cline, Arthur Hilton
Buster Keaton, Dorothy Ford, Harold Goodwin, Marcia Mae Jones, Eleanor Keaton
Comedy
USA
English
2646
47
Maurice Cloche, Ralph Smart
Vittorio Manunta, Denis O'Dea, Nerio Bernardi, Roberto Adamina, Mimo Billi
Drama
UK
English
346
6
Charles Crichton
Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sid James, Alfie Bass
Comedy / Crime / Caper
UK
English
2461
39
John Cromwell, Nicholas Ray, Mel Ferrer
Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Talman, Ray Collins
Crime / Film-Noir / Drama / Gangster
USA
English
2542
42
Michael Curtiz
Doris Day, Danny Thomas, Frank Lovejoy, Patrice Wymore
Musical / Comedy / Biography
USA
English
2628
45
Frederick De Cordova
Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, Walter Slezak, Lucille Barkley, Jesse White
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
1071
13
Vittorio De Sica
Emma Gramatica, Francesco Golisano
Drama / Fantasy / Comedy
Italy
Italian
2719
53
Roy Del Ruth
Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Billy Gray, Jack Smith, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp
Comedy / Musical / Romance
USA
English
2131
29
Stanley Donen
Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill, Keenan Wynn
Comedy / Musical / Romance
USA
English
2456
38
Gordon Douglas
Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart, Philip Carey, James Millican, Richard Webb
Drama / Film-Noir
USA
English
2719
53
John Farrow, Richard Fleischer
Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Tim Holt, Charles McGraw
Crime / Film-Noir / Thriller / Drama
USA
English
2007
27
Samuel Fuller
Gene Evans, Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie, James Edwards
Drama / War
USA
English
2706
51
Göran Gentele
Ingrid Thulin, Per Oscarsson, Gunvor Pontén, Jarl Kulle, Arne Ragneborn
Comedy
Sweden
Swedish
2277
34
Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway
Family / Animation / Musical / Fantasy / Comedy
USA
English
1538
18
Henry Hathaway
Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Barbara Bel Geddes, Debra Paget
Film-Noir / Thriller / Drama
USA
English
2628
45
Henry Hathaway
James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke, Jessica Tandy, Luther Adler, Everett Sloane
Action / Biography / Drama / War
USA
English
2719
53
Henry Hathaway
Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger, Edgar Buchanan
Western
USA
English
2719
53
Stuart Heisler
Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Doris Day, Steve Cochran, Hugh Sanders
Drama / Crime
USA
English
221
4
Alfred Hitchcock
Farley Granger, Robert Walker
Thriller / Film-Noir / Drama / Crime
USA
English
2719
53
John Hubley
Thurl Ravenscroft, Annette Warren
Animation / Short / Musical / Comedy
USA
English
1799
24
Brian Desmond Hurst
Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Michael Hordern
Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Period Film / Family
UK
English
262
5
John Huston
Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn
Adventure / Romance / War / Comedy
UK / USA
English
1140
15
John Huston
Audie Murphy, Andy Devine, Robert Easton, Douglas Dick
War / History / Epic
USA
English
2646
47
Pat Jackson
Googie Withers, James Donald, Godfrey Tearle, Petula Clark, Jean Anderson
Drama
UK
English
2776
56
Raj Kapoor
Prithviraj Kapoor, Nargis, Raj Kapoor, K.N. Singh
Drama / Family / Musical / Romance
India
Hindi
113
1
Elia Kazan
Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Rudy Bond
Drama
USA
English
2446
37
Henry King
Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Raymond Massey, Kieron Moore
Drama / Romance / History / Religion / Epic
USA
English
1597
19
Zoltan Korda
Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier, Charles Carson, Joyce Carey
Drama
UK / South Africa
English
2613
44
Akira Kurosawa
Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura
Drama
Japan
Japanese
2699
50
Georges Lacombe
Jean Gabin, Simone Valère, Gérard Oury
Drama
France
French
2690
49
Jean-Paul Le Chanois
Bernard Blier, Danièle Delorme, Pierre Trabaud, Arlette Marchal
Comedy / Drama
France
French
2591
43
Mitchell Leisen
Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins, Thelma Ritter, Jan Sterling
Comedy
USA
English
1468
17
Mervyn LeRoy
Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, Peter Ustinov, Patricia Laffan
Drama / Epic / History / Religion
USA
English
2719
53
Henry Levin
Edmond O'Brien, Lizabeth Scott, Terry Moore, Alexander Knox, Griff Barnett
Crime / Thriller / Film-Noir / Drama
USA
English
1790
23
Albert Lewin
James Mason, Ava Gardner, Nigel Patrick, Sheila Sim, Harold Warrender
Drama / Mystery / Romance / Fantasy
UK
English
2690
49
Leopold Lindtberg, Elizabeth Montagu
Viveca Lindfors, Ralph Meeker, Yossi Yadin, Michael Medwin, Albert Dinan
Drama
Switzerland
English
1807
25
Anatole Litvak
Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill, Oskar Werner
Drama / War / Thriller / Spy / Action
USA
English
2541
41
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre, Karl John, Helmuth Rudolph, Johanna Hofer, Renate Mannhardt
Drama / Thriller / War / Crime / Film-Noir
West Germany
German
2352
36
Joseph Losey
Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell, Katherine Warren, Emerson Treacy
Crime / Film-Noir / Thriller / Drama
USA
English
2541
41
Joseph Losey
David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel, Luther Adler, Steve Brodie
Drama / Film-Noir / Thriller / Crime
USA
English
2719
53
Arthur Lubin
Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley, Elsie Holmes
Comedy / Family / Sports / Drama
USA
English
803
12
Alexander Mackendrick
Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Michael Gough
Comedy / Sci-Fi / Drama
UK
English
2276
33
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain, Finlay Currie, Hume Cronyn, Walter Slezak
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2751
54
Anthony Mann
Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson
Adventure / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Period Film / Detective
USA
English
2690
49
Arne Mattsson
Edvin Adolphson, Ulla Jacobsson, John Elfström, Folke Sundquist, Erik Hell
Drama / Romance
Sweden
Swedish
2646
47
Gian Carlo Menotti
Marie Powers, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Leopoldo Savona, Belva Kibler, Beverly Dame
Drama / Film-Noir / Musical
Italy / USA
English
205
3
Vincente Minnelli
Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, Nina Foch
Musical / Romance
USA
English
2708
52
Vincente Minnelli
Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2760
55
Kenji Mizoguchi
Kinuyo Tanaka, Nobuko Otowa, Yuji Hori, Kiyoko Hirai, Reiko Kondo
Drama
Japan
Japanese
1182
16
Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks
Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite
Horror / Sci-Fi
USA
English
2719
53
Arch Oboler
William Phipps, Susan Douglas Rubes, James Anderson, Charles Lampkin, Earl Lee
Drama / Horror / Sci-Fi / Action
USA
English
1705
22
Yasujiro Ozu
Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake, Ichirô Sugai
Drama / Romance
Japan
Japanese
2719
53
Robert Parrish
Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, William Conrad, Regis Toomey
Crime / Drama / Film-Noir / Thriller
USA
English
2591
43
Gordon Parry
John Howard Davies, Robert Newton, Diana Wynyard, Hermione Baddeley
Drama / Period Film
UK
English
2751
54
Leo C. Popkin, Russell Rouse
Richard Rober, Gwendolyn Laster, Maidie Norman, George Hamilton
Drama / Film-Noir
USA
English
1612
20
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Moira Shearer, Robert Rounseville, Ludmilla Tchérina
Adventure / Romance / Fantasy / Musical
UK
English
661
9
Jean Renoir
Nora Swinburne, Patricia Walters, Esmond Knight, Arthur Shields, Suprova Mukerjee
Drama / Romance
France / India / USA
English
2250
31
Mark Robson
Arthur Kennedy, Peggy Dow, Julie Adams, James Edwards
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2446
37
George Sidney
Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion
Drama / Musical / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
2066
28
Alf Sjöberg
Anita Björk, Ulf Palme, Märta Dorff, Lissi Alandh
Drama / Period Film
Sweden
Swedish
2661
48
Frank Stauffacher
Vincent Price
Experimental / Documentary / Short
USA
English
372
7
George Stevens
Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor
Drama / Film-Noir / Romance
USA
English
2259
32
Richard Thorpe
Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Richard Hageman
Biography / Drama / Music
USA
English
2501
40
Luchino Visconti
Anna Magnani, Walter Chiari, Tina Apicella, Gastone Renzelli
Drama
Italy
Italian
2628
45
Hal Walker
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Mona Freeman, Don DeFore, Robert Strauss, Leif Erickson
Comedy / Musical / Romance / Adventure
USA
English
2456
38
Raoul Walsh
Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty, Moultrie Kelsall, Terence Morgan
Action / Adventure / Drama / War
UK / USA
English
2645
46
Harry Watt
Anthony Steel, Dinah Sheridan, Harold Warrender, Meredith Edwards
Drama / Adventure
UK
English
464
8
Billy Wilder
Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall, Frank Cady
Drama / Film-Noir / Comedy
USA
English
2294
35
Bretaigne Windust, Raoul Walsh
Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane, Roy Roberts
Drama / Crime / Film-Noir / Gangster
USA
English
667
10
Robert Wise
Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal
Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Family
USA
English
1091
14
William Wyler
Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell
Crime / Drama / Film-Noir / Detective
USA
English
2699
50
Fred Zinnemann
Pier Angeli, John Ericson, Patricia Collinge, Richard Bishop
Drama
USA
English
