1959 Academy Awards – Directing Winner and Nominees

Gigi

Vincente Minnelli

Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship, but it may not stay platonic for long.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Richard Brooks

I Want to Live!

Robert Wise

The Defiant Ones

Stanley Kramer

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Mark Robson