This is a list of films which placed number one at the weekly box office in the United States during 1956 per Varietys 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.
| Week ending | Film | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guys and Dolls | |||
| 2 | [1] | |||
| 3 | Guys and Dolls grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. | [2] | ||
| 4 | Guys and Dolls grossed $276,000 from 24 key cities. | [3] | ||
| 5 | Helen of Troy | Helen of Troy grossed more than $323,000 from 11 key cities. | [4] | |
| 6 | The Benny Goodman Story | [5] | ||
| 7 | [6] | |||
| 8 | Picnic | Picnic reached number one in its 11th week of release. | [7] | |
| 9 | [8] | |||
| 10 | [9] | |||
| 11 | [10] | |||
| 12 | [11] | |||
| 13 | Carousel | Carousel reached number one in its sixth week of release. | [12] | |
| 14 | Alexander the Great | Alexander the Great grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. | [13] | |
| 15 | Carousel | Carousel returned to number one in its eighth week of release. | [14] | |
| 16 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | [15] | ||
| 17 | The Swan | The Swan grossed $356,000 from the cities sampled. | [16] | |
| 18 | [17] | |||
| 19 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit returned to number one in its fourth week of release. | [18] | |
| 20 | The Revolt of Mamie Stover | The Revolt of Mamie Stover grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. | [19] | |
| 21 | The Man Who Knew Too Much | [20] | ||
| 22 | [21] | |||
| 23 | The Searchers | The Searchers reached number one in its second week of release. | [22] | |
| 24 | [23] | |||
| 25 | Bhowani Junction | Bhowani Junction reached number one in its seventh week of release. | [24] | |
| 26 | The Catered Affair | The Catered Affair reached number one in its second week of release. | [25] | |
| 27 | Trapeze | Trapeze earned $555,000 from 21 key cities in its fifth week of release. | [26] | |
| 28 | [27] | |||
| 29 | The King and I | The King and I reached number one in its third week of release. | [28] | |
| 30 | [29] | |||
| 31 | [30] | |||
| 32 | The King and I grossed $400,000 from 23 key cities. | [31] | ||
| 33 | High Society | High Society reached number one in its fourth week of release. | [32] | |
| 34 | [33] | |||
| 35 | [34] | |||
| 36 | [35] | |||
| 37 | [36] | |||
| 38 | High Society grossed $300,000 from the cities sampled. | [37] | ||
| 39 | [38] | |||
| 40 | Tea and Sympathy | Tea and Sympathy grossed $436,000 from the cities sampled. | [39] | |
| 41 | War and Peace | War and Peace reached number one in its seventh week of release. | [40] | |
| 42 | War and Peace grossed more than $316,000 from 16 key cities. | [41] | ||
| 43 | War and Peace grossed more than $318,000 from 21 key cities. | [42] | ||
| 44 | [43] | |||
| 45 | Giant | Giant grossed more than $400,000 from 10 key cities. | [44] | |
| 46 | Giant grossed $600,000 from the cities sampled. | [45] | ||
| 47 | Giant grossed more than $660,000 from the cities sampled. | [46] | ||
| 48 | Giant grossed more than $600,000 from 20 key cities. | [47] | ||
| 49 | Giant grossed $445,000 from the cities sampled. | [48] | ||
| 50 | [49] | |||
| 51 | The Ten Commandments | The Ten Commandments reached number one in its sixth week of release. | [50] | |
| 52 | [51] |
The highest-grossing films during the calendar year based on theatrical rentals were as follows:
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Rental[52] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | $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 | $4,800,000 | |