# List of 1956 box office number-one films in the United States

This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1956 per Variety's weekly National Boxoffice Survey. The results are based on a sample of 20-25 key cities and therefore, any box office amounts quoted may not be the total that the film grossed nationally in the week.

## Number-one films

| † | This implies the highest-grossing movie of the year. |
| # | Week ending | Film | Notes |
| 1 | January 4, 1956 | Guys and Dolls † | |
| 2 | January 11, 1956 | Guys and Dolls † | |
| 3 | January 18, 1956 | Guys and Dolls † | Guys and Dolls grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 4 | January 25, 1956 | Guys and Dolls † | Guys and Dolls grossed $276,000 from 24 key cities. |
| 5 | February 1, 1956 | Helen of Troy | Helen of Troy grossed more than $323,000 from 11 key cities. |
| 6 | February 8, 1956 | The Benny Goodman Story | |
| 7 | February 15, 1956 | The Benny Goodman Story | |
| 8 | February 22, 1956 | Picnic | Picnic reached number one in its 11th week of release. |
| 9 | February 29, 1956 | Picnic | |
| 10 | March 7, 1956 | Picnic | |
| 11 | March 14, 1956 | Picnic | |
| 12 | March 21, 1956 | Picnic | |
| 13 | March 28, 1956 | Carousel | Carousel reached number one in its sixth week of release. |
| 14 | April 4, 1956 | Alexander the Great | Alexander the Great grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 15 | April 11, 1956 | Carousel | Carousel returned to number one in its eighth week of release. |
| 16 | April 18, 1956 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | |
| 17 | April 25, 1956 | The Swan | The Swan grossed $356,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 18 | May 2, 1956 | The Swan | |
| 19 | May 9, 1956 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit returned to number one in its fourth week of release. |
| 20 | May 16, 1956 | The Revolt of Mamie Stover | The Revolt of Mamie Stover grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 21 | May 23, 1956 | The Man Who Knew Too Much | |
| 22 | May 30, 1956 | The Man Who Knew Too Much | |
| 23 | June 6, 1956 | The Searchers | The Searchers reached number one in its second week of release. |
| 24 | June 13, 1956 | The Searchers | |
| 25 | June 20, 1956 | Bhowani Junction | Bhowani Junction reached number one in its seventh week of release. |
| 26 | June 27, 1956 | The Catered Affair | The Catered Affair reached number one in its second week of release. |
| 27 | July 4, 1956 | Trapeze | Trapeze earned $555,000 from 21 key cities in its fifth week of release. |
| 28 | July 11, 1956 | Trapeze | |
| 29 | July 18, 1956 | The King and I | The King and I reached number one in its third week of release. |
| 30 | July 25, 1956 | The King and I | |
| 31 | August 1, 1956 | The King and I | |
| 32 | August 8, 1956 | The King and I | The King and I grossed $400,000 from 23 key cities. |
| 33 | August 15, 1956 | High Society | High Society reached number one in its fourth week of release. |
| 34 | August 22, 1956 | High Society | |
| 35 | August 29, 1956 | High Society | |
| 36 | September 5, 1956 | High Society | |
| 37 | September 12, 1956 | High Society | |
| 38 | September 19, 1956 | High Society | High Society grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 39 | September 26, 1956 | High Society | |
| 40 | October 3, 1956 | Tea and Sympathy | Tea and Sympathy grossed $436,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 41 | October 10, 1956 | War and Peace | War and Peace reached number one in its seventh week of release. |
| 42 | October 17, 1956 | War and Peace | War and Peace grossed more than $316,000 from 16 key cities. |
| 43 | October 24, 1956 | War and Peace | War and Peace grossed more than $318,000 from 21 key cities. |
| 44 | October 31, 1956 | War and Peace | |
| 45 | November 7, 1956 | Giant | Giant grossed more than $400,000 from 10 key cities. |
| 46 | November 14, 1956 | Giant | Giant grossed $600,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 47 | November 21, 1956 | Giant | Giant grossed more than $660,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 48 | November 28, 1956 | Giant | Giant grossed more than $600,000 from 20 key cities. |
| 49 | December 5, 1956 | Giant | Giant grossed $445,000 from the cities sampled. |
| 50 | December 12, 1956 | Giant | |
| 51 | December 19, 1956 | The Ten Commandments | The Ten Commandments reached number one in its sixth week of release. |
| 52 | December 26, 1956 | The Ten Commandments | |

## Highest-grossing films

The highest-grossing films during the calendar year based on theatrical rentals were as follows:
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Rental |
| 1 | Guys and Dolls | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $9,000,000 |
| 2 | The King and I | 20th Century Fox | $8,500,000 |
| 3 | Trapeze | United Artists | $7,500,000 |
| 4 | High Society | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $6,500,000 |
| 5 | I'll Cry Tomorrow | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $6,500,000 |
| 6 | Picnic | Columbia Pictures | $6,300,000 |
| 7 | War and Peace | Paramount Pictures | $6,250,000 |
| 8 | The Eddy Duchin Story | Columbia Pictures | $5,300,000 |
| 9 | Moby Dick | Warner Bros. | $5,200,000 |
| 10 | The Searchers | Warner Bros. | $4,800,000 |