11. El Cid
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Adventure/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Anthony Mann
Actors: Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, Raf Vallone, Geneviève Page, John Fraser, Gary Raymond
Plot: Epic film about the Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz (El Cid) - the man who overcame both a family vendetta and palace intrigue - never giving up his code of honor - and managed to protect his country from the invading Moors.
12. 101 Dalmatians
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Family/Animation
MPAA Rating: G
Director: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske
Actors: Rod Taylor, Betty Lou Gerson, Cate Bauer, Ben Wright, Frederick Worlock, Lisa Davis
Plot: A pair of dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita, have a litter of 15 puppies but come under the evil gaze of Cruella De Vil, who wants nothing more than a dalmatian-skin coat. When two dull-witted thugs kidnap the puppies, along with 84 other dalmatians, it's up to the parents to save the day.
13. Human Condition II: Road to Eternity, The ( Ningen no joken II )
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Minoru Chiaki, Keiji Sada, Izumi Hara, Ryohei Uchida
Plot: Continuing the story of Kaji - the soldier finds himself in a unit where the veterans berate him and mistreatment leads one man to suicide and another to defect. With cruelty the order of the day, it ends at the front where his unit is pitted against a Russian tank division - with no hope of winning.
14. Two Women ( ciociara, La )
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Actors: Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown, Carlo Ninchi, Andrea Checchi, Pupella Maggio
Plot: An Italian woman and her teenage daughter are alone in the waning days of WWII. They are trying to survive; trying to find a safe place. They are both raped by allied Moroccan soldiers and left to die.
15. A Raisin in the Sun
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Daniel Petrie
Actors: Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Louis Gossett Jr., Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, John Fiedler
Plot: The patriarch of an African-American family in the middle of the twentieth century dies and leaves ten thousand dollars in life insurance to his family. What they do with it is both tragic and inspirational.
16. Elevator to the Gallows ( Ascenseur pour l'échafaud )
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Louis Malle
Actors: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin, Jean Wall, Elga Andersen
Plot: Julien and his lover Florence - plan to murder her husband - Julien's boss and a powerful man, by staging it as a suicide. Yet one critical error sends Julien to retrieve a key piece of evidence leading to a chain of events that spells doom.
17. Judgment at Nuremberg
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Stanley Kramer
Actors: Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, William Shatner
Plot: After World War II, an American appointed court tries Nazi German judges
on war crimes committed during World War II.
18. Ashes and Diamonds ( Popiól i diament )
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Polish
Genre: Drama/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Actors: Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski, Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumil Kobiela, Stanislaw Milski
19. White Nights ( notti bianche, Le )
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Luchino Visconti
Actors: Marcello Mastroianni, Maria Schell, Jean Marais, Marcella Rovena, Maria Zanoli, Elena Fancera
Plot: A shy clerk befriends a crying woman - awaiting the return of her lover - and he hopes the friendship will turn into romance - but how can he compete with the one love who may or may not return.
20. Kanal
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Polish
Genre: Drama/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Actors: Teresa Izewska, Tadeusz Janczar, Wienczyslaw Glinski, Tadeusz Gwiazdowski, Stanislaw Mikulski, Emil Karewicz
