Best Crime movies of 1961

Actors : Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris,

Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.

Actors : Sylvia Syms, Anthony Nicholls, Dirk Bogarde, Dennis Price,
Directors : Basil Dearden,

The death of a young man leads to the discovery of a blackmail plot against a number of gay men in 1960s London.

Actors : James Robertson Justice, Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavlow, Margaret Rutherford,
Directors : George Pollock,

When Miss Marple reports witnessing a murder through the window of a passing train, the police dismiss her as a dotty spinster when no trace of the crime can be found.

Actors : Alan Bates, Bernard Lee, Diane Clare, Norman Bird,
Directors : Bryan Forbes,

When an injured wife murderer takes refuge on a remote Lancashire farm, the owners three children mistakenly believe him to be the Second Coming of Christ.

Actors : Burt Lancaster, Edward Andrews, Vivian Nathan, Dina Merrill,
Directors : John Frankenheimer,

A district attorney investigates the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy. He begins to discover that the facts in the case aren't ...

Actors : Allen Baron, Molly McCarthy, Peter Clune, Larry Tucker,
Directors : Allen Baron,

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past, and a fat gun dealer with pet rats, each gets in his way.

Actors : Dolores Dorn, Beatrice Kay, Paul Dubov, Cliff Robertson,
Directors : Samuel Fuller,

Fourteen-year-old Tolly Devlin sees four hoods beat his father to death. Twenty years later, the killers have risen to the top of the crime syndicate and Tolly has a plan for revenge.

Actors : Christine Kaufmann, Barbara Rütting, E.G. Marshall, Kirk Douglas,
Directors : Gottfried Reinhardt,

Four American soldiers stationed near a German village face death in the rape of a local girl and are defended by outside counsel Major Steve Garrett.

Actors : Hiroyuki Nagato, Masao Mishima, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Tetsurô Tanba,
Directors : Shôhei Imamura,

A young hoodlum decides to work for a criminal organization that is tearing itself apart.

Actors : Joel Rinne, Leo Jokela, Matti Ranin, Elina Salo,
Directors : Matti Kassila,

A rich widow is found dead of gas poisoning in her flat in Helsinki. First the death is thought to be an accident, but lieutenant Palmu notices that the murderer has made a mistake, and ...

Actors : Bernard Blier, Martine Carol, Jean Gabin, Françoise Rosay,
Directors : Gilles Grangier,

"Le Dabe" retired many years ago and now he lives in the Tropics where he owns stables and horses. He is a very rich man. He was the king of all money counterfeiters. He is contacted from ...

Actors : Deborah Kerr, Gary Cooper, Eric Portman, Diane Cilento,
Directors : Michael Anderson,

Five years after George Radcliffe was the chief witness in a high profile murder case, his wife receives a blackmailing letter accusing him of the crime.

Actors : Richard Vernon, Peter Cushing, André Morell, Norman Bird,
Directors : Quentin Lawrence,

A charming but ruthless criminal holds the family of a bank manager hostage as part of a cold-blooded plan to steal 97,000 pounds.

Actors : Pamela Mason, Cay Forester, Donald Woods, Johnny Cash,
Directors : Bill Karn,

Originally released in 1961 as Five Minutes to Live, this low-budget crime drama was later re-released as Door-to-Door Maniac. Fred narrates the film in flashback, detailing a suburban bank...

Actors : Micheline Presle, Marcello Mastroianni, Salvo Randone, Cristina Gaioni,
Directors : Elio Petri,

Alfredo Martelli is picked up by the police in his apartment without justification. In the precinct, he slowly discovers what is the investigation about as we find out details about his life.

Actors : Karin Baal, Wolfgang Lukschy, Dieter Borsche, Joachim Fuchsberger,
Directors : Alfred Vohrer,

Wealthy, heavily insured men are being murdered at an alarming rate. Scotland Yard investigates and finds clues that lead to a ring of blind men, led by a mysterious "reverend."

Actors : Sean Connery, John Gregson, Herbert Lom, Alfred Marks,
Directors : John Lemont,

A small time thief is recruited by a mobster to help with the racketeering. He doesn't like the job, but with the mob on his back, a femme fatale in his bed and a sick friend to care for, he will have to keep all his wits about him.

Actors : David Janssen, Frank Gorshin, Joel Marston, Joyce Taylor,
Directors : Andrew L. Stone,

In the 1960s Oregon, two sheriff deputies arrest three teenagers for robbery but are overpowered and taken hostage while forest fires rage all around them.

Actors : William Lucas, Billie Whitelaw, Françoise Prévost, Michael Craig,
Directors : Sidney Hayers,

A vicious gang of crooks plan to steal the wages of a local factory, but their carefully laid plans go wrong, when the factory employs an armoured van to carry the cash. The gang still go ...

Actors : Sabine Sesselmann, Penelope Horner, William Lucas, Joachim Fuchsberger,
Directors : Ákos Ráthonyi,

A Chinese detective breaks up a drug smuggling ring and tries to find the "Daffodil Killer." The drug smugglers had devised the ingenious method of smuggling heroin from Hong Kong in the stems of daffodils.