Top Grossing 1956 Movies

1956’s Around The World In 80 Days

This movie page looks at The Top Grossing Movies of 1956.   Currently when you type in the search words….”Top Grossing Movies of 1956″ you do not get much information.   So in an effort to get more information out there…we have decided to unlock our 1956 movie database vault and share the information we have collected over the years.

To make this list a movie had to be made in 1956 (as listed on IMDB.com).  Obviously many movies made in 1955 earned box office dollars in 1956.  On the other side many movies made in 1956 made money in 1957 and later.  This page will looks at 152 Top Grossing Movies of 1956.  The movies are listed in a massive table that shows who starred in the movie, had much the movie grossed when it was released and how that gross means in today’s money.

Obviously this is not all of the 1956 movies…..but since our website is dynamic, ever time we add a 1956 movie….it will automatically be added to this page.

The Ten Commandments (1956) is one of the biggest box office hits of all-time.

Our UMR Top 50 of 1956

Top Grossing Movies of 1956 Can Be Sorted 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Column One gives title of movie and in some cases a link to the trailer
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1956 by the stars or in some cases the director of the movie.
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1956 by domestic actual box office grosses (in millions)
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1956 by domestic adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1956 by critic and audience rating
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1956 by Oscar wins and Oscar nominations
  • Sort Top Grossing Movies of 1956 by it’s Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score
James Dean in 1956’s Giant

1956 Box Office Grosses – Adjusted World Wide

The top 25 earners in World Wide Box Office for 1956

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38 thoughts on “Top Grossing 1956 Movies”

  1. I have seen 58 movies from 1956.

    The highest rated film I’ve seen is Around the World in 80 Days.

    The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is Seven Wonders of the World.

    The lowest rated movie I have seen is The Catered Affair.

    My Favourite films are:

    The King and I
    The Court Jester
    The Teahouse of the August Moon
    High Society
    The Fastest Gun Alive
    While the City Sleeps
    Backlash
    Run For the Sun
    Guys and Dolls
    The Swan

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora…..thanks for stopping by. Tally count…Dan…119, Flora 58, Steve 43, Cogerson 31, Laurent and lowercase bob 21….so you are bring a Silver medal home to Canada. I have heard good things about The Catered Affair….but I have not seen it. I saw Seven Wonders of the World….it was ok…..but very slowly paced. Our your favorites…I have seen #1, #2, #3, #4 and #9. I want to see The Fastest Gun Alive….as well as The Swan….which is an almost forgotten Grace Kelly movie. Good feedback.

      Reply

  2. BRUCE: 1 This review obviously includes all the really important movies that were kicking around that year such as Giant, Ten Commandments, Friendly Persuasion, The King and I and Around the World in 80 Days. However even the middle and bottom of your chart have a host of movies that were a big part of 1956 for me – for example Backlash, The Last Wagon, Bernie Schwartz’s The Square Jungle [which was on a Belfast double bill with Murphy’s To Hell and Back – a 1955 release in the States] , Mature’s The Sharkfighters & Safari, my Rhonda Fleming’s Slightly Scarlet and Virginia Mayo’s Great Day on the Morning. Al always with you this is a very comprehensive review which would be located on no other site.

    2 It was also good too to see 3 of my heroes listed beside each other in your Top 25 earners table – Mumbles, The Duke and Flora’s Canadian idol from Spanish-Scottish descent Charley Bill Stuart. Steve as well should be pleased that Chuck has got onto one of your Top 25 lists.

    3 I was slightly surprised that you didn’t have WW figures for Guys n Dolls and Teahouse as Wikipedia quotes global earning for both and if their figures were applied pro-rata to your adjusted domestic ones those 2 flicks would have a combined adjusted WW gross of $825 million. Perhaps though your own usual sources don’t confirm Wiki’s figures.

    4 Alternatively you’ve already given us around $172 million globally for the 1953 Julius Caesar and perhaps you conclude Joel would never forgive you if you credited a mere 3 films of Mr. M with a whopping $1 billion WW gross! However if I may paraphrase Bogie from Casablanca “We’ll always have Sayonara.” [which WW gross you brought back from your Warners visit.

    5 Indeed Sayonara’s year should be up next [though Variety once listed the bulk of its income as being earned in 1958] but anyway there are now only 2 more 1950s reviews to go. Bit like counting down to Xmas isn’t it? Indeed it would be nice if your viewers could wake up on Christmas morning to find that Santa Bruce had already placed at least one of those two reviews in their stockings! Meanwhile “sufficient onto the day” as I am very much enjoying the 1956 material.

    Reply

    1. Hey Bob
      1. Two more years to go.
      2. Glad you enjoy the movies on the second half of the table…gotta admit…I am not too familiar with many of the movies. It makes me appreciate your comments even more when you are informing me of quality movies.
      3. Yes your favorites did well….but….Yul Brynner’s year was the most impressive….3 movies in the UMR Top 10.
      4. I will have to see what I have for worldwide totals on those 2 Brando movies.
      5. Brando owned the 1950s…..so I am not surprised to see such stout box office numbers for him.
      6. I am betting Sayorna is going to be in the Top 3 of the 1957 page…I imagine we will find out in about a week.
      Good stuff.

      Reply

      1. HI BRUCE 1 Good to know we’ll get a 1957 review this side of Xmas. I can empathize with your isolated feeling over your hero-worship of Judd. On this site I often get the same felling about my own tastes, especially when I read some of the critiques of You Know Whom!! However ignore that snide remark because I’ve actually “come here to praise you”.

        2 In 1949 the debonair Jeffrey Lynn and the gorgeous Martha Scott made a film together called Strange Bargain. Fast forward until 1987 and an episode of Angela Lansbury’s TV series Murder She Wrote linked one of Angela’s contemporary mysteries to the situation of the Lynn/Scott couple way back in 1949 and Martha and Jeffrey reprised the now-elderly exact same couple of 38 years ago. Appropriately but bitter-sweetly the episode was called “The Days dwindle Down.”

        3 And what’s all this gotta do with you? The write-up in my TV guide mentioned that Lynn had been the star of the 1951 Home Town Story which had been an early MM vehicle. It was a 61 minute long B movie in which Marilyn had a very minor role so I didn’t think I would have much joy tracking down a gross for it but decided to check your MM update any way – and lo and behold! there its adjusted gross was at the bottom of her table. I HAD vaguely heard of Monroe and Home Town Story but had not picked up your little nugget on my earlier scrutiny of your MM update or I would have congratulated you – so belated congratulations!

        ADDITIONAL TRIVIA from the 1950s onward Lynn and Scott performed mainly on TV and/ or took minor parts on the big screen. Jeffrey was in Liz Taylor’s Butterfield 8 and Sinatra’s Tony Rome. Martha did better with supporting parts in Chuck’s 10 Commandments and Ben Hur and Bogie’s Desperate Hours [the one Tracy withdrew from as he wouldn’t take second billing and Bogie wouldn’t yield the top spot]. Ironically as we’ve just been discussing it, Martha also had a small role in Sayonara. In both Ben Hur and 10 Commandments Martha played Chuck’s mother. I’m sure Steve would have taken up acting and appeared in drag if he could have got those 2 parts!

        Reply

  3. 1956 one of my favorite movie years – The Ten Commandments, Forbidden Planet, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Searchers!

    I’ve seen 43 of the 150 films listed. As well as the films mentioned previously other favorites include – The Court Jester, Love Me Tender, Earth vs The Flying Saucers, The King and I, High Society and Around the World in 80 Days.

    Looking at my movie files I have 73 films from the year 1956.

    Looking at the worldwide box office you have listed Forbidden Planet grossing $150m worldwide adjusted, which is pretty impressive. I had always thought it was a box office disappointment for MGM, it was pricey for a sci-fi movie back then. It only grossed about $4m in the US.

    The Ten Commandments was a massive success, I assume $2.7bn also includes successful reruns. Avatar grossed about that much a few years ago.

    Another epic movie page Bruce. A big vote up!

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve
      1. Thanks for the visit and comment.
      2. Tally count- you 43, me 31 and Laurent and lowercase bob 21.
      3. I have seen all of your favorites except for Elvis’ Love Me Tender.
      4. My thoughts on High Society? “Give me The Philadelphia Story to block”….some old Hollywood Squares lingo.
      5. The Ten Commandments box office success was simply one of the greatest of all-time. DeMille went out on a high note for sure.
      6. $150 million is good for Forbidden Planet….but if it cost a lot to produce…then the $150 might not have been enough to make it profitable….especially with studio accountants doing their magic.
      Good stuff.

      Reply

      1. Bruce, when I was young I liked High Society more than Philadelphia Story. I enjoyed the songs, the color, and Grace Kelly was very pretty. But as I grew older I found myself watching Philadelphia Story a lot more, and it eventually became my preferred version.

        Forbidden Planet was quite expensive for MGM and Robby the Robot must have cost a bit to design and construct, one of the most iconic robots in movie history. He was used again in The Invisible Boy, released a year later. That movie is available as a bonus extra on the Forbidden Planet Blu-ray and DVD.

        Reply

  4. wow! over 50 good movies ,and my birth year. my favorites: the searchers, man in the grey flannel suit, giant, around the world in 80 days, Anastasia. I have more to watch only seen 21. thank you.

    Reply

    1. Hey bob cox…glad we got a page done on your birth year. Tally count so far. Cogerson 31, bob and Laurent 21. I have seen all of your favorites and like them. The diamond in the rough would be the Randolph Scott/Lee Marvin western Seven Men From Now….that would be an excellent 22nd 1956 movie to watch. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on 1956 movies.

      Reply

  5. Hey Bruce,

    Another a great job ! I discover that I saw fewer 1956 films than in previous years. I would have thought otherwise. I’ve seen 21. I really liked Man Who Knew Too Much, Blacklash, Last Wagon (Yes, I love Richard Widmark), and Body Snatchers (cult movie).
    But my favorites are easily Moby Dick and Searchers. Two masterpieces.

    In France, these two films were successful, but less than the Hitchcock film. 80 days Around The World was a big hit too, of course, but much less than in the US proportionally.

    By cons War and Peace was a huge success since more than 6 million viewers have seen. It is still one of the 200 biggest hits since 1945.

    But it’s nothing compared to the Ten Commandments which is simply one of the 20 biggest hits since 1945 in France.

    Reply

    2. Hey Laurent….pretty soon we will have a page from 1936 to 1959. Just two more years to go. Interesting that you have seen less as the years get more current. I have seen 31 of these movies. Glad your two favorites ended up get ranked high…both in the Top 20. One of my favorites is Seven Men From Now…..not nearly as famous as The Searchers but still a good western. Thanks for all the stats from France. Good stuff!

      Reply

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