Film events
- The musical film The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood after several changes of directors, scripts and cast. The film helped make Judy Garland's song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” famous.
- The film The Wizard of Oz premiered in New York. Judy Garland became famous through the film, notably for the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.
- The film “Holiday Inn” had its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in New York. The film introduced the famous song “White Christmas.”
- Chuck Berry, LaVern Baker, Frankie Lymon and Connie Francis began work on the film “Rock, Rock, Rock!”
- Elvis Presley began the first day of filming his first movie, “The Reno Brothers”, later renamed “Love Me Tender”. The drama, set during and shortly after the American Civil War, tells the story of Clint Reno, the youngest of four brothers. Elvis originally had only a supporting role, but after his song “Love Me Tender” was added to the film, the movie was renamed after the song. It was the only Elvis film in which he was not the leading actor. He began work on the film just four days after “Don't Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” reached No. 1 on the U.S. chart. Elvis wanted to continue his film career and gradually created his own film subgenre known as the “Presley Picture”.
- Elvis Presley began filming the movie “Love Me Tender”, originally titled “The Reno Brothers”. It was his first major film role.
- The film “Loving You” starring Elvis Presley premiered in London.
- Bobby Darin signed a six-year film contract with Paramount, which was expected at the time to earn him $1 million. As he transitioned from a teenage idol to a more universal artist, he wanted to move beyond roles aimed solely at teenage audiences and insisted on quality acting and serious filmmaking.
- The film A Private's Affair, starring Sal Mineo, premiered in New York. It also featured the song “The Same Old Army”.
- Elvis Presley was fitted with brown contact lenses for his role as Pacer Burton in the film “Flaming Star,” intended to change his naturally blue eyes to brown. He ultimately did not use them in the film.
- Principal photography began on Elvis Presley's film Flaming Star at Conejo Movie Ranch in Thousand Oaks, California.
- A preview screening of Elvis Presley's film G.I. Blues was held in Dallas, Texas.
- The film “Flaming Star” was released during Elvis Presley’s Hollywood career.
- Connie Francis began work on her acting debut when MGM began filming the movie “Where the Boys Are” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The film became a box-office success, but the planned sequel “Where the Girls Are” was never made.
- The film “Come September,” starring Bobby Darin and his wife Sandra Dee, was released in cinemas.
- Elvis Presley's tenth feature film, "Kid Galahad", premiered in US cinemas. Elvis played an amateur boxer in the film. Gig Young, Lola Albright, Joan Blackman, and Charles Bronson also appeared in the film.
- Film „Beach Party“ s Frankiem Avalonem a Annette Funicello byl uveden v kinech po celých Spojených státech. Hudbu k filmu nahráli Dick Dale And The Del Tones a film do konce roku utržil 1,2 milionu dolarů.
- The Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night, premiered in New York.
- A Hard Day's Night was released in U.S. theaters and became a major film success for The Beatles.
- Following the success of The Beatles film A Hard Day's Night, The Dave Clark Five signed a film deal with Warner Bros. for the project Catch Us If You Can, which was released in the US under the title Having A Wild Weekend and premiered in the UK in July 1965.
- During the filming of “Easy Come, Easy Go,” a freight train collided with a flatcar carrying filmmakers and actors due to faulty signaling. Jan Berry was thrown from the impact and suffered a complicated fracture of his left leg. Director Barry Shear was also seriously injured, and at least 12 to 17 people were injured in total. Paramount Pictures subsequently canceled the project, and the film was never completed.
- Jan Berry broke his leg on the first day of filming “Easy Come, Easy Go,” and several other people were injured. Paramount subsequently canceled the film.
- The Beatles' second film, Help!, premiered in New York, two weeks after its London premiere. The band members were not particularly happy with the film.
- The film Help! premiered in New York. It was the US premiere of The Beatles' second film, which had already been released in London on July 29, 1965. The US release of the album of the same name also took place that day.
- The Beatles' second feature film “Help!” went into wide theatrical release across North America following its London premiere on July 29 and New York premiere on August 11.
- Jerry Lee Lewis was cast as Iago in the film “Catch My Soul”, a rock version of Shakespeare's “Othello”.
- Elvis Presley was released from Speedway and was due to begin two nights of recording at RCA Studio A on Sunset Boulevard. However, because of an accident near Elvis's home in Bel Air, Colonel Parker, fearing negative publicity, sent Elvis and Priscilla to Las Vegas.
- Roy Orbison co-starred with Sheb Wooley in the musical comedy western The Fastest Guitar Alive, his only leading film role. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada. Its bizarre plot portrays Orbison as a Confederate spy who uses a special bullet-firing acoustic guitar to successfully rob the federal mint of its gold, only to be caught off guard when the Civil War ends immediately after the robbery.
- The Beatles filmed a short film for the song “The Long and Winding Road”.
- The film „Alice's Restaurant“, based on Arlo Guthrie's song of the same name, was released in New York and Los Angeles several days after its Boston premiere. It grossed $6.3 million in the U.S. and became the 23rd highest-grossing film of 1969.
- The film “Performance,” starring Mick Jagger, premiered in New York City, United States.
- The sci-fi musical “Toomorrow”, starring newcomer Olivia Newton-John as a pop singer whose group is abducted by aliens, premiered in cinemas. The film was intended to promote the group of the same name, but flopped and directed Newton-John toward a solo career.
- The film “Super Fly” was released in theaters along with Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack, which became an important landmark in soul music.
- The film American Graffiti premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.
- Byla uvedena filmová adaptace rockového muzikálu „Jesus Christ Superstar“ z roku 1971.
- George Lucas's film American Graffiti premiered in theaters. Set in 1962, the story sparked a wave of nostalgia for music from the 1950s and early 1960s and helped revive interest in older recordings.
- The film “Electra Glide in Blue”, starring Robert Blake, Billy Greenbush and Mitch Ryan and featuring several members of the group Chicago, premiered in New York. The film was produced and directed by James William Guercio, manager and producer of Chicago.
- Elvis Presley screened several films at General Cinemas in Whitehaven, including “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
- The film “Rock & Roll High School,” starring the Ramones, premiered in New York.
- The futuristic satirical film Americathon premiered in Los Angeles, starring Meat Loaf. The soundtrack featured songs by The Beach Boys, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello.
- John Lennon and Bob Dylan were associated with the documentary Eat the Document, which was broadcast on PBS. The film contained footage from Dylan's 1966 British tour.
- The film „Rock & Roll High School“, starring the Ramones, premiered in New York. The title song became one of their classic tracks and the film gained cult status.
- Animovaný sci-fi film „Heavy Metal“ měl premiéru. Jeho soundtrack obsahoval skladby interpretů včetně Sammyho Hagara, Devo, Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Journey a Black Sabbath a film se později stal kultovní klasikou.
- The film “Pink Floyd The Wall,” starring Bob Geldof, premiered in theaters in New York. Roger Waters wrote it as a companion project to Pink Floyd's self-titled double album.
- George Strait made his film debut in “The Soldier”, where he sang his song “Fool Hearted Memory” in a honky-tonk during the outbreak of a fight. The song later became the first of his 44 country No. 1 hits.
- The film “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence”, starring David Bowie, premiered in New York.
- The film "Purple Rain" starring Prince was released in cinemas across the United Kingdom, including special late-night previews. The film grossed more than $80 million worldwide and became a cult classic.
- The film “Stand by Me” was released in theaters. It is based on Stephen King's novella “The Body”, but director Rob Reiner decided to name the film after the famous song to emphasize the story of friendship and avoid making the title sound like a horror film.
- Madonna appeared in the film "Shanghai Surprise", which flopped at the box office and was harshly rejected by critics. The film was produced by George Harrison's HandMade Films, and Harrison said of Madonna that she had no sense of humor, which was unfortunate for a comedy.
- The film “Who's That Girl,” starring Madonna, premiered in New York.
- Film „Back to the Beach“ byl uveden v kinech po celých Spojených státech a po 24 letech znovu spojil Frankieho Avalona a Annette Funicello. Film utržil 13 milionů dolarů.
- The film “Dirty Dancing” was released in US cinemas. In November, its soundtrack reached No. 1 in America, where it sold more than 11 million copies.
- The film Wild at Heart was released in North America. Nicolas Cage portrayed a character who was partly inspired by Elvis Presley.
- The film was released in limited distribution in the US. All four members of The Corrs appeared in minor roles, including the youngest, Andrea, in a speaking role as Sharon Rabbitte. During the film's auditions, The Corrs met future manager John Hughes, who helped them refine their sound and eventually helped the group secure a contract with Atlantic Records for their debut album Forgiven, Not Forgotten.
- The film “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man” was released in U.S. cinemas. The film featured the song “The Bigger They Come” by Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott, their first collaboration since they had been members of Humble Pie 20 years earlier.
- Jimmy Page and Robert Plant filmed the concert film No Quarter, documenting their reunion.
- The film Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, premiered in US theaters. Its soundtrack reached No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart, driven by Coolio's lead single “Gangsta's Paradise.”
- The film “She's The One”, featuring a soundtrack by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, was released in cinemas. Jennifer Aniston and Edward Burns, who appeared in the film, also appeared in the video for the song “Walls”.
- The film “Studio 54” about the legendary New York nightclub premiered. Ryan Phillippe and Mike Myers, who portrayed one of the club’s owners, starred in the film.
- The film “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” about singer Frankie Lymon, frontman of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, was released in theaters. Named after his famous song, the film was a biographical musical drama starring Larenz Tate, Halle Berry, and Vivica A. Fox.
- The film “Detroit Rock City,” produced by KISS, received its nationwide theatrical release in the United States.
- The film Detroit Rock City premiered in US cinemas. The story follows four young KISS fans trying to attend their favorite band's concert; the film was inspired by KISS and its fans and recalled the reunion of KISS's original lineup at the time.
- The film “Coyote Ugly” premiered in U.S. theaters.
- Status Quo filmed a cameo appearance for the British television series Coronation Street, where they were set to play themselves in three episodes.
- The film Sparkle, in which Jordin Sparks portrayed an aspiring singer and Whitney Houston played her mother, was released in theaters. It was Whitney Houston's final film.
- Cinemas across the UK handed out earplugs to parents accompanying their children to the film One Direction: This Is Us 3D. The accompanying adults could therefore enjoy the film without worrying about the expected loud screaming and cheering in the theaters.