Best Movies of 1956 by Director
2320
40
Robert Aldrich
Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Eddie Albert, Robert Strauss
Drama / War / Action
USA
English
766
11
Michael Anderson
David Niven, Cantinflas, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley, Ronald Squire, Noel Coward
Adventure / Comedy / Romance / Family
USA
English
2703
64
Joseph Anthony
Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman
Romance / Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2701
63
Claude Autant-Lara
Jean Gabin, Bourvil, Jeannette Batti, Georgette Anys, Robert Arnoux
Comedy / Drama
France / Italy
French
2606
53
Erik Balling
Poul Reichhardt, Astrid Villaume, Gunnar Lauring
Family / Drama
Denmark
Danish
2427
48
Juan Antonio Bardem
Betsy Blair, José Suárez, Yves Massard
Drama / Romance
Spain / France
Spanish
2662
59
Robbins Barstow, Meg Barstow
Mary Barstow, David Barstow, Daniel Barstow, Robbins Barstow, Meg Barstow
Documentary / Family
USA
English
2724
66
William Beaudine, Wilfred Jackson
Walt Disney, Leopold Stokowski, Clarence Nash
Animation / Documentary
USA
English
2701
63
Luis García Berlanga
Edmund Gwenn, Valentina Cortese, Franco Fabrizi, Juan Calvo
Comedy
Spain / Italy
Spanish
2629
55
Edward Bernds
Hugh Marlowe, Nancy Gates, Nelson Leigh, Rod Taylor, Shirley Patterson
Sci-Fi
USA
English
2451
50
Budd Boetticher
Randolph Scott, Gail Russell, Lee Marvin, Walter Reed, John Larch, Don 'Red' Barry
Western
USA
English
2246
38
John Boulting
Richard Attenborough, Ronald Adam, Dennis Price, Henry B. Longhurst, Terry-Thomas
Comedy / War
UK
English
2701
63
Vladimir Braun
Dzidra Ritenberga, Arkadi Tolbuzin, Anatoli Ignatyev
Drama / Romance
Soviet Union
Russian
368
5
Robert Bresson
François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod
Adventure / Drama / War
France
French
2344
42
Richard Brooks
Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds, Barry Fitzgerald
Drama
USA
English
2684
61
Michael Cacoyannis
Ellie Lambeti, Dimitris Horn, Eleni Zafiriou, George Foundas
Drama / Romance
Greece
Greek
2724
66
Edward L. Cahn
Mike Connors, Lisa Gaye, Sterling Holloway, Fats Domino, Choker Campbell
Comedy / Drama / Music
USA
English
2682
60
Grigori Chukhraj
Izolda Izvitskaya, Oleg Strizhenov, Nikolai Kryuchkov
War / Drama / Romance
Soviet Union
Russian
2331
41
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Henri-Georges Clouzot, Pablo Picasso
Documentary / Biography
France
French
1423
24
Fielder Cook
Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley, Beatrice Straight, Elizabeth Wilson
Drama
USA
English
1867
32
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Louis Malle
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Alberto Falco, Frederic Duman
Documentary
Italy / France
French
2397
47
George Cukor
Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, Bill Travers, Abraham Sofaer
Drama / Adventure / Romance
USA / UK
English
2724
66
Delmer Daves
Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger, Valerie French, Felicia Farr
Western
USA
English
2636
56
Robert Day, Basil Dearden
Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas, Jill Adams, Raymond Huntley
Comedy / Action / Crime
UK
English
2646
57
Vittorio De Sica
Gabriella Pallotta, Giorgio Listuzzi, Gastone Renzelli
Drama / Romance
Italy / France
Italian
638
9
Cecil B. DeMille
Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter
Drama / Adventure / Religion / Biography / Family / Epic
USA
English
1642
30
José Ferrer
José Ferrer, Dean Jagger, Keenan Wynn, Julie London
Drama
USA
English
14
1
John Ford
John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood
Western / Drama / Epic
USA
English
2724
66
Norman Foster
Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen, Jeff York, Kenneth Tobey, Clem Bevans
Family / Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Western / Action
USA
English
1604
29
Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury
Adventure / Comedy / Musical
USA
English
2629
55
Tay Garnett, Paul Mantz, Andrew Marton, Ted Tetzlaff, Walter Thompson
Lowell Thomas, Paul Mantz
Documentary / History
USA
English
2647
58
Lewis Gilbert
Kenneth More, Muriel Pavlow, Lyndon Brook, Lee Patterson, Alexander Knox
Biography / Drama / War
UK
English
2724
66
Charles F. Haas
Tim Considine, Tommy Kirk, Carole Ann Campbell, Russ Conway, Mort Mills
Family / Comedy / Drama / Music / Serial
USA
English
2724
66
Jack Hannah
Walt Disney, Kirk Douglas, Ollie Johnston, Ward Kimball, Oliver Wallace
Animation / Action / Adventure / Drama / Family / Fantasy / Western / Documentary
USA
English
2724
66
Jack Hannah
James MacDonald, Clarence Nash
Animation / Family / Comedy / Documentary / Serial
USA
English
1075
19
Alfred Hitchcock
Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold Stone
Drama / Crime / Film-Noir
USA
English
1527
25
Alfred Hitchcock
James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie, Bernard Miles, Ralph Truman
Adventure / Thriller / Drama
USA
English
2629
55
Ishirô Honda
Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata, Akio Kobori, Yasuko Nakata
Drama / Horror / Sci-Fi / Action
Japan
Japanese
1564
27
John Huston
Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, James Robertson Justice
Adventure / Drama
UK
English
458
6
Kon Ichikawa
Rentaro Mikuni, Shôji Yasui, Jun Hamamura
Drama / War
Japan
Japanese
2302
39
Hiroshi Inagaki
Koji Tsuruta, Toshirô Mifune, Kaoru Yachigusa, Michiko Saga, Mariko Okada
Action / Adventure / Biography / Drama / History
Japan
Japanese
2385
46
Nunnally Johnson
Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Marisa Pavan, Lee J. Cobb
Drama
USA
English
2606
53
Helmut Käutner
Heinz Rühmann, Martin Held, Hannelore Schroth
Comedy / Drama / Action
West Germany
German
2647
58
Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Zygmunt Kestowicz, Ignacy Machowski, Wieslaw Golas, Stanislaw Mikulski
Mystery / Thriller / Drama / Spy / Detective
Poland
Polish
2782
68
Yuzo Kawashima
Michiyo Aratama, Yukiko Todoroki, Seizaburô Kawazu
Drama / Comedy
Japan
Japanese
2684
61
Yoshiro Kawazu
Hiroshi Akutagawa, Yatsuko Tan'ami, Minoru Ohki, Chishu Ryu, Koji Shitara
unknown
Japan
Japanese
969
16
Elia Kazan
Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock
Drama / Comedy
USA
English
2691
62
Gene Kelly, Joseph Barbera, William Hanna
Gene Kelly, Igor Youskevitch, Claire Sombert, Tamara Toumanova, Diana Adams
Animation / Fantasy / Music / Musical
USA
English
1419
23
Henry King
Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Ruick, Claramae Turner
Musical / Romance / Fantasy
USA
English
2684
61
Keisuke Kinoshita
Katsuo Nakamura, Sadako Sawamura, Noriko Arita, Akira Ishihama, Yoshiko Kuga
Drama
Japan
Japanese
754
10
Stanley Kubrick
Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen
Crime / Drama / Thriller / Film-Noir / Gangster
USA
English
2646
57
Albert Lamorisse
Pascal Lamorisse, Sabine Lamorisse, Georges Sellier
Family / Fantasy / Short / Experimental / Adventure
France
French
2377
45
Fritz Lang
Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff
Drama / Film-Noir / Thriller
USA
English
2782
68
Fritz Lang
Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz
Crime / Film-Noir / Drama
USA
English
887
14
Walter Lang
Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner
Musical / Comedy / Family / Adventure / Romance / Drama
USA
English
2647
58
Jack Lee
Virginia McKenna, Peter Finch, Kenji Takagi, Kenji Takaki, Tran Van Khe
Crime / Drama / War
UK
English
2209
37
Mervyn LeRoy
Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, Eileen Heckart, Evelyn Varden
Drama / Horror / Thriller / Crime
USA
English
1204
20
Anatole Litvak
Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes, Akim Tamiroff
Drama / Period Film
USA
English
1579
28
Daniel Mann
Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Machiko Kyô, Eddie Albert
Comedy / Drama / Romance / War
USA
English
568
8
Jean-Pierre Melville
Isabelle Corey, Roger Duchesne, Daniel Cauchy, Howard Vernon, Guy Decomble
Crime / Drama / Caper / Gangster / Film-Noir / Detective
France
French
2703
64
David Miller
June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan
Musical / Romance / Comedy
USA
English
825
12
Vincente Minnelli, George Cukor
Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald
Drama / Period Film / Biography
USA
English
2460
51
Vincente Minnelli
Deborah Kerr, John Kerr, Leif Erickson, Edward Andrews, Darryl Hickman
Drama
USA
English
2373
44
Kenji Mizoguchi
Machiko Kyô, Aiko Mimasu, Ayako Wakao, Michiyo Kogure, Kumeko Urabe
Drama
Japan
Japanese
2582
52
Mikio Naruse
Kinuyo Tanaka, Isuzu Yamada, Hideko Takamine, Mariko Okada, Haruko Sugimura
Drama
Japan
Japanese
2356
43
Ronald Neame
Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng, Josephine Griffin
War / Drama / Spy
UK
English
2647
58
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Ian Hunter, Jack Gwillim, Bernard Lee
Action / Adventure / War / Drama
UK
English
2100
35
Richard Quine
Judy Holliday, John Williams, Paul Douglas, Fred Clark
Comedy
USA
English
2629
55
Irving Rapper
Michel Ray, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Elsa Cárdenas, Carlos Navarro, Joi Lansing
Drama / Family
USA
English
1406
21
Nicholas Ray
James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon
Drama
USA
English
114
2
Satyajit Ray
Pinaki Sengupta, Smaran Ghosal, Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee
Drama
India
Bengali
2183
36
Carol Reed
Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida, Katy Jurado, Thomas Gomez
Drama / Romance / Action
USA
English
2684
61
Gottfried Reinhardt
Hans Albers, Annemarie Düringer, Martin Held
Drama / Romance
West Germany
German
2691
62
Gottfried Reinhardt
Hans Albers, Annemarie Düringer, Martin Held, Hannelore Schroth
Drama / Romance
West Germany
German
2757
67
Jean Renoir
Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer, Jean Richard
Drama / Comedy / Romance / Period Film
Italy / France
French
1950
34
Mark Robson
Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling, Mike Lane, Max Baer
Drama / Film-Noir / Sports / Crime / Gangster
USA
English
2712
65
Robert Rossen
Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Danielle Darrieux, Barry Jones
Biography / Drama / Epic / History
USA / Spain
English
2712
65
Roy Rowland
Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Agnes Moorehead, Lili Darvas, Jim Backus
Comedy / Romance / Musical
USA
English
2610
54
George Sidney
Tyrone Power, Kim Novak, Rex Thompson, James Whitmore
Drama / Music / Biography
USA
English
212
3
Don Siegel
Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones
Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Cult
USA
English
2782
68
Douglas Sirk
Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett, William Reynolds
Drama
USA
English
2662
59
Harry Smith
Short / Animation / Experimental
USA
English (Silent)
1415
22
Frank Tashlin
Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O'Brien, Julie London
Comedy / Music / Crime
USA
English
2724
66
Frank Tashlin
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Pat Crowley, Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, Anita Ekberg
Comedy
USA
English
2724
66
Norman Taurog
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lori Nelson, Jeff Morrow, Jackie Loughery
Comedy / Western / Musical
USA
English
2647
58
J. Lee Thompson
Diana Dors, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig, Marie Ney, Olga Lindo, Joan Miller
Drama / Crime
UK
English
2724
66
unknown
Elvis Presley, Ed Sullivan, John Byner, Carol Burnett, Priscilla Presley
Documentary / Music
USA
English
2629
55
Roger Vadim
Brigitte Bardot, Curd Jürgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jane Marken
Drama / Romance
France / Italy
French
2691
62
Ladislao Vajda
Pablito Calvo, Antonio Vico, José Marco Davó, Juan Calvo
Drama
Spain / Italy
Spanish
2444
49
Carlos Velo
Luis Procuna, Consuelo Procuna, Ángel Procuna
Documentary / Drama
Mexico
Spanish
1048
18
King Vidor
Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Vittorio Gassman, Herbert Lom
Drama / Romance / War / Epic / History
Italy / USA
English
1911
33
Charles Walters
Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, John Lund, Louis Calhern
Comedy / Musical / Romance
USA
English
2629
55
Robert D. Webb
Elvis Presley, Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Robert Middleton, William Campbell
Drama / Musical / Romance / Western
USA
English
897
15
Fred M. Wilcox
Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens
Drama / Sci-Fi / Adventure / Action / Cult
USA
English
1769
31
Robert Wise
Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart
Drama / Sports / Biography
USA
English
