1957

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ bylaws denied eligibility for Oscar nominations or consideration to artists who were blacklisted. This practice was abandoned in early 1959.  The Caribbean romance film Island in the Sun was noted as groundbreaking for its two inter-racial romances and first Hollywood inter-racial screen kiss.

RKO Radio Pictures which had suffered hard times for years under the ownership of millionaire Howard Hughes ceased production of feature films altogether in 1957. Humphrey Bogart died at the age of 57 of cancer.  Horror film director James Whale died at the age of 67 due to suicide by drowning in his own swimming pool.  US comic actor Oliver Hardy, the more corpulent half of the Laurel and Hardy team, died at the age of 65 from the effects of strokes.

Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called out the National Guard of the United States to prevent African-American students from enrolling in Little Rock Central High School. Thereafter, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage into the school for the “Little Rock Nine”.

The Ford Motor Company introduced the notoriously unpopular Edsel on what the company proclaimed as “E Day”.  Wham-O Company first produced the considerably more popular Frisbee.

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year was Nikita Kruschev.  Eugene O’Neill received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Long Days Journey into Night.  No prize was awarded for literature.  Elvis Presley dominated the Billboard Charts, with “All Shook Up” spending eight weeks at number one.

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. It followed up with Sputnik 2, with the first animal to orbit the Earth (a dog named Laika) on board.  There was no technology available to return poor Laika home, a fact that greatly troubled the child protagonist of the 1985 Swedish film My Life As a Dog. The first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite failed when its Vanguard rocket blew up on the launch pad.

The Treaty of Rome (Patto di Roma) established the European Economic Community (EEC; predecessor of the European Union) between Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

In Indonesia, Sukarno announced the nationalization of 246 Dutch businesses and expelled all 326,000 Dutch nationals.  Mao Zedong admitted that 800,000 “class enemies” had been executed in China between 1949 and 1954.  Ghana became the first sub-saharan African nation to declare independence from European colonization.

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I have previously reviewed ; ; ; Throne of Blood; ; and  on this site.  The list of 1957 releases I will choose from is here.

Montage of the Oscar Winners

Montage of nominees for major Oscars