October 14 – Legendary Australian-born actor Errol Flynn dies of a heart attack in Vancouver, Canada at the age of 50.October 7 – Rock Hudson, who is later voted top in the Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll for the year, appears in Pillow Talk alongside Doris Day for the first time.September 30 – The film of Mise Éire, made by George Morrison for Gael Linn, is premiered to close the Cork Film Festival, the first feature-length Irish language film.August 4 – The Big Fisherman is the first film released in Super Panavision 70.Levine promotes the release of Hercules in the United States starring Steve Reeves which popularizes the sword and sandals genre. July – Les Cousins, another film of the French New Wave, wins the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival.Yates, founder of Republic Pictures, sells his controlling stake in the company. This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut, and the return of film rights after 30 years. June 7 – A contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions is signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over a seven-year period.June 4 – The Three Stooges release their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters.

April 30 – François Truffaut's The 400 Blows opens the 1959 Cannes Film Festival bringing international attention to the French New Wave.

However, it would eventually gain a cult following and is now considered one of Disney's great classics. It initially ends up losing money for the studio due to its high production costs.

January 29 – Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty premieres, their most expensive film to date and the first animated film to be shot in Super Technirama 70.

January 23 – Republic Pictures releases its last production, Plunderers of Painted Flats.The top ten 1959 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

See also: List of 1959 box office number-one films in the United States

Swords and sandals 3 money cheat