100 or 101 Best Movies of the 1950s Survey

[SelwynMcGinty]

Other decade threads are still live, but there's no time like the present to re-evaluate and discuss the Cinema of the 1950s!

Once again, it seems prudent to implement a weighted system - this time, participants are asked to list their
Top 25 of theatrical releases between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1959.

The counting will be as follows:
25 points for the #1 choice, 24 points for the #2 spot, 23 for #3, etc. down the line. The #25 selection will be afforded 2 points, in order to distinguish it from the Honorable Mentions.

If you'd like to list some Honorable Mentions past 25 selections, please do so -
each title past the 25th will be awarded 1 point.

If indicated that there's no particular order, each selection will be awarded 7 points.

Don't imagine this will be tallied any time soon, so there's plenty of chances to change titles and lists.

Of course, any comments, thoughts, suggestions, questions or any discourse regarding Cinema of the great 1950s or anything else are encouraged and appreciated.

As always... thank you to everyone and cheers!

Starting off (this order may be subject to change in the coming days):

1. Seven Samurai
2. Ikiru
3. Hiroshima mon amour
4. Sunset Blvd.
5. Rashomon
6. The Wages of Fear
7. Paths of Glory
8. Nights of Cabiria
9. The Bridge on the River Kwai
10. In a Lonely Place
11. Pather Panchali
12. Los Olvidados
13. Gate of Hell
14. Ugetsu
15. Imitation of Life
16. Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
17. The Seventh Seal
18. Sansho the Bailiff
19. The Earrings of Madame de...
20. Big Deal on Madonna Street
21. The Lavender Hill Mob
22. North by Northwest
23. Seven Men from Now
24. A Bucket of Blood
25. Some Came Running

Honorable Mentions: Wild Strawberries, 12 Angry Men, La Strada, Throne of Blood, Lola Montes, The Killing, East of Eden, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Harvey, Glen or Glenda, Plan 9 from Outer Space, The Wrong Man, On Dangerous Ground, The Girl Can't Help It, A Face in the Crowd, Odds Against Tomorrow, Sweet Smell of Success, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Executive Suite, Party Girl, Shadows, Murder by Contract, Kansas City Confidential, and probably dozens more....

[AKORIS]

excuse me.... I will NOT be ignored on these lists!

[Cremildo]

01. Diary of a Country Priest
02. The Searchers
03. Limelight
04. Throne of Blood
05. The Seventh Seal
07. Hiroshima mon amour
07. Giant
08. A Streetcar Named Desire
09. Sunset Boulevard
10. On the Waterfront
11. The Nun's Story
12. Rashomon
13. Marty
14. Night and Fog
15. Rear Window
16. A Man Escaped
17. Nights of Cabiria
18. The Hidden Fortress
19. Summer Interlude
20. The Bad and the Beautiful
21. Sabrina
22. The King and I
23. Ordet
24. Ugetsu
25. The Country Girl

Honorable mention: Summer with Monika

[Cpt. Feeney]

Great, let's keep on rollin' (the 1920's is where I'll drop off. not sure if I've even seen 25 from that decade).

[Beckford]

Had my list of 50's faves all ready in case you went there. Once we get into the 40's and 50's you're in my home territory. So please forgive the length of the honorable mentions. It could have gone on a lot longer.

My Personal Favorites

1. GUN CRAZY(‘50-Joseph H. Lewis) Peggy Cummins, John Dall
2. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS(‘51-Vincente Minnelli) Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron,
3. THE BAND WAGON(‘53-Vincente Minnelli) Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse
4. CALAMITY JANE(‘53-David Butler) Doris Day, Howard Keel
5. DANGEROUS WHEN WET(’53-Charles Walters) Esther Williams
6. SHANE(‘53-George Stevens) Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Brandon de Wilde
7. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER(’55-Charles Laughton) Robert Mitchum
8. THE BELLE OF NEW YORK(‘52-Charles Walters) Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen
9. ROCKETSHIP X-M(‘50-Kurt Neumann) Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen
10. BACK FROM ETERNITY(’56-John Farrow) Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg
11. OTHELLO(‘52-Orson Welles) Orson Welles, Michael MacLiammoir
12. THUNDER IN THE EAST(‘53-Charles Vidor) Alan Ladd, Deborah Kerr
13. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS(’56-Cecil B. De Mille) Charlton Heston
14. THE SEARCHERS(’56-John Ford) John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter
15. DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK(’52-Roy Ward Baker) Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark
16. SEVEN MEN FROM NOW(’56-Budd Boetticher) Randolph Scott
17. THE VIKINGS(’58-Richard Fleischer) Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis
18. RIVER OF NO RETURN(’54-Otto Preminger) Marilyn Monroe, Robert Mitchum
19. THIS ISLAND EARTH(55-Joseph M. Newman) Faith Domergue, Jeff Morrow
20. GIVE A GIRL A BREAK(‘53-Stanley Donen) Marge & Gower Champion, Debbie Reynolds
21. JIVARO(‘54-Edward Ludwig) Fernando Lamas, Rhonda Fleming
22. WESTWARD THE WOMEN(‘51-William Wellman) Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel
23. CAGED!('50-John Cromwell) Eleanor Parker, Hope Emerson
24. IL LADRO DI VENEZIA('50-John Brahm) Maria Montez, Paul Christian
25. LAND OF THE PHARAOHS('55-Howard Hawks) Jack Hawkins, Joan Collins

Honorable mention (chronological)
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE(‘50-John Huston)
GONE TO EARTH(’50-Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
LAST HOLIDAY(’50-Henry Cass)
MYSTERY STREET(‘50-John Sturges)
NO WAY OUT(’50-Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
PRELUDE TO FAME(’50-Fergus McDonell)
SHADOW ON THE WALL(’50-Patrick Jackson)
STROMBOLI(’50-Roberto Rossellini)
SUNSET BOULEVARD(’50-Billy Wilder)
THREE LITTLE WORDS(’50-Richard Thorpe)
TREASURE ISLAND('50-Byron Haskin)
TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE(’50-Roy Rowland)
WAGON MASTER(‘50-John Ford)
WHERE DANGER LIVES(‘50-John Farrow)
WINCHESTER ‘73(‘50-Anthony Mann)
ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN(’51-Charles Lamont)
THE LAST OUTPOST(‘51-Lewis R. Foster)
DETECTIVE STORY(‘51-William Wyler)
FLAME OF ARABY('51-Charles Lamont)
POOL OF LONDON(’51-Basil Dearden)
THE PROWLER('51-Joseph Losey)
THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE(’51-John Huston)
RICH, YOUNG AND PRETTY(’51-Norman Taurog)
STORM WARNING(’51-Stuart Heisler)
AARON SLICK FROM PUNKIN CRICK(Paramount-Claude Binyon)
ALADDIN AND HIS LAMP(’52-Lew Landers)
THE BRIGAND(’52-Phil Karlson)
BWANA DEVIL(’52-Arch Oboler)
HIGH NOON('52-Fred Zinnemann)
RED PLANET MARS(’52-Harry Horner)
EVERYTHING I HAVE IS YOURS(’52-Robert Z. Leonard)
FORBIDDEN GAMES(’52-Rene Clement)
HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY GAL/(’52-Douglas Sirk)
HONG KONG(’52-Lewis R. Foster)
HUNTED(‘52-Charles Crichton)
LA REGINA DI SABA(’52-Pietro Francisci)
LE PLAISIR(’52-Max Ophuls)
THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING('52-Fred Zinnemann)
THE MERRY WIDOW(’52-Curtis Bernhardt)
THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD(‘52-Ken Annakin)
ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS(’53-Charles Lamont)
THE BIG HEAT('53-Fritz Lang)
THE DIAMOND QUEEN('53-John Brahm)
THE FARMER TAKES A WIFE(‘53-Henry Levin)
LA RED(‘53-Emilio Rodriguez)
MEET MR. LUCIFER(’53-Anthony Pelissier)
NEVER LET ME GO(‘53-Delmer Daves)
NIAGARA(‘53-Henry Hathaway)
SERPENT OF THE NILE(‘53-William Castle)
THE SQUARE RING(’53-Basil Dearden)
TITANIC(‘53-Jean Negulesco)
UGETSU MONOGATARI('53-Kenji Mizoguchi)
THE BATTLE OF ROGUE RIVER(’54-William Castle)
ELEPHANT WALK('54-William Dieterle)
FAST AND LOOSE(’54-Gordon Parry)
THE GOOD DIE YOUNG(’54-Lewis Gilbert)
THE SILVER CHALICE(’54-Victor Saville)
LA STRADA(’54-Federico Fellini)
THE NAKED JUNGLE(’54-Byron Haskin)
SECRET OF THE INCAS(’54-Jerry Hopper)
THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS(’54-Walter Lang)
THE BIG COMBO('55-Joseph H. Lewis)
CAST A DARK SHADOW(’55-Lewis Gilbert)
JUPITER’S DARLING(’55-George Sidney)
OKLAHOMA!('55-Fred Zinnemann)
THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT(’55-Val Guest)
THREE FOR THE SHOW(’55-Henry Levin)
THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US(’56-John Sherwood)
DECISION AT SUNDOWN(’56-Budd Boetticher)
GERVAISE(’56-Rene Clement)
HELEN OF TROY(’56-Robert Wise)
THE KILLING('56-Stanley Kubrick)
THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS(’56-Raoul Walsh)
TIME TABLE(’56-Mark Stevens)
THE BLACK SCORPION('57-Edward Ludwig)
BOY ON A DOLPHIN(’57-Jean Negulesco)
THE BURGLAR('57-Paul Wendkos)
GUNSIGHT RIDGE(’57-Francis D. Lyon)
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN(’57-Jack Arnold)
LET’S BE HAPPY(’57-Henry Levin)
THE MONOLITH MONSTERS(’57-John Sherwood)
NIGHT OF THE DEMON('57-Jacques Tourneur)
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY(’57-Roy Ward Baker)
ROBBERY UNDER ARMS(’57-Jack Lee)
ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN(’58-Nathan Juran)
THE BIG COUNTRY(’58-William Wyler)
BONJOUR TRISTESSE(’58-Otto Preminger)
THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN(’58-Paul Wendkos)
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS(’58-Louis Malle)
THE GIRL MOST LIKELY(’58-Mitchell Leisen)
I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE(’58-Gene Fowler Jr)
MURDER BY CONTRACT(’58-Irving Lerner)
TOUCH OF EVIL(’58-Orson Welles)
VERTIGO(’58-Alfred Hitchcock)
BEN-HUR(’59-William Wyler)
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH(’59-Henry Levin)
LE LEGIONI DI CLEOPATRA(’59-Vittorio Cottafavi)
MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT(’59-Delbert Mann)
NO NAME ON THE BULLET(’59-Jack Arnold)
RIDE LONESOME(’59-Budd Boetticher)

[Cpt. Feeney]

1.Street of Shame - Kenji Mizoguchi
2.The Searchers - John Ford
3.A Streetcar Named Desire - Elia Kazan
4.The World of Apu - Satyajit Ray
5.Pather Panchali - Satyajit Ray

6.The Gunfighter - Henry King
7.Throne of Blood - Akira Kurosawa
8.Imitation of Life - Douglas Sirk
9.Seven Samurai - Akira Kurosawa
10.Hobson’s Choice - David Lean

11.Man of the West - Anthony Mann
12.Written on the Wind - Douglas Sirk
13.Les Diaboliques - Henri-Georges Clouzot
14.Le Plaisir - Max Ophuls
15.The Far Country - Anthony Mann

16.Night and the City - Jules Dassin
17.Lust for Life - Vincente Minnelli
18.Strangers on a Train - Alfred Hitchcock
19.The Human Condition I - Masaki Kobayashi
20.Touch of Evil - Orson Welles

21.Baby Doll - Elia Kazan
22.Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock
23.Sweet Smell of Success - Alexander McKendrick
24.The Hitch-hiker - Ida Lupino
25.The Harder they Fall - Mark Robson

[merlinjones]

1) Cinderella
2) The Ten Commandments
3) Sunset Boulevard
4) Ben Hur
5) Sleeping Beauty
6) A Streetcar Named Desire
7) Strangers on a Train
8) North by Northwest
9) The Big Country
10) A Star is Born
11) Rear Window
12) A Face in the Crowd
13) Singin' in the Rain
14) Lady and the Tramp
15) Invasion of the Body Snatchers
16) Peter Pan
17) Alice in Wonderland
18) Darby O'Gill and the Little People
19) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
20) The Bridge on the River Kwai
21) A Christmas Carol
22) Treasure Island
23) Old Yeller
24) Night of the Hunter
25) The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Vertigo
The African Queen
All About Eve
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Third Man on the Mountain
The Blob
The Shaggy Dog
The Bad Seed
High Noon
The Searchers
Giant
East of Eden
To Catch a Thief
Forbidden Planet
Animal Farm

[REPULSION-65]

1. Rear Window (1954)
2. Vertigo (1958)
3. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
4. Some Like it Hot (1959)
5. North by Northwest (1959)
6. Dial M for Murder (1954)
7. Roman Holiday (1954)
8. All About Eve (1950)
9. Rio Bravo (1959)
10. Touch of Evil (1958)

11. Ben-Hur (1959)
12. Ace in the Hole (1951)
13. Gun Crazy (1950)
14. Strangers on a Train (1951)
15. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
16. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
17. Pickup on South Street (1953)
18. 12 Angry Men (1957)
19. Diabolique (1955)
20. The Searchers (1956)

21. On the Waterfront (1954)
22. The Big Heat (1953)
23. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
24. Horror of Dracula (1958)
25. Paths of Glory (1957)

[SelwynMcGinty]

@Beckford, I respectfully agree that we've glided into your neighborhood, and I was very interested in poring over your list.

Its been years since I've seen Gun Crazy, and I need to see it again, as well as the V. Minnelli powerhouse films on your Top 3. Need to see Caged and Rocketship XM again, too.

Anthony Mann! Just as interesting and painterly (that's a word, right?) as John Ford, for my money. I also feel that Mann was kind of a precursor to the "revisionist" Westerns of later years.

Liked all the HM's and was tickled pink to see a couple of Abbott and Costello selections, right there among the Budd Boetticher classics.

gonna throw even more HM's into the pile, would be curious what ya think -

50 - The Men, The Furies, Destination Moon, Where the Sidewalk Ends

51 - Quo Vadis, The Prowler, The Steel Helmet, When Worlds Collide

52 - Clash by Night, Angel Face, Phone Call from a Stranger, The Star

53 - How to Marry a Millionaire, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Salome (Rita Hayworth/Judith Anderson)

54 - Johnny Guitar, Magnificent Obsession, Vera Cruz

55 - We're No Angels, The Left Hand of God

56 - Bigger than Life, The Bad Seed, And God Created Woman, The Harder They Fall, Written on the Wind

57 - Across the Bridge, Forty Guns, Valerie

58 - Lonelyhearts, The Defiant Ones, King Creole, The Long, Hot Summer

59 - The Young Philadelphians, Pillow Talk, Solomon and Sheba, Anatomy of a Murder

[Beckford]

@Selwyn McGinty
Enjoyed reading your 50’s feedback.
As I said, my honorable mention list could have gone on much longer.
And if it had, would definitely include many of the extra titles you cited.

I’ll address your year by year suggestions.

1950
“Destination Moon” was too nuts and bolts for me; and though it had a bigger budget, it lacked the imaginative space opera sweep of “Rocketship X-M”.
I loved “The Furies” a lot when I first saw it. Somehow subsequent viewings have cooled my enthusiasm a bit. It’s beautiful looking and 50’s Stanwyck is my favorite Stanwyck. But – for me - the Anthony Mann western of 1950 has got to be “Winchester ‘73”.
“Where The Sidewalk Ends” is a really excellent film noir – and Dana Andrews’ performance in it holds a place of honor in his magnificent gallery of work.
I first saw Brando’s “The Men” when it was inappropriately included in a Saturday Matinee I saw as a kid in the mid-50’s. You can imagine how much of a downer this was for a theater full of fun seeking kids. I’m afraid that memory alone is enough to keep it it permanently off any list of favorites I’d ever put together

1951
“When Worlds Collide” offers much more of the fanciful sweep I like in my 50’s sci fi. Not as perfectly tailored to my tastes as “Rocketship X-M”. But still a winner
War films are not my favorite genre so it’s an uphill climb for one of them to fully land for me but “The Steel Helmet”’s definitely a good one.
One genre I love is sword & sandal/peplum. So it’s always a disappointment for me when one of them winds up boring me. That’s how I’ve always felt about “Quo Vadis”. All that money spent and the script just sticks in my craw.
“The Prowler” is one of the great film noirs and I’ll have to amend my HM list to include it.
Evelyn Keyes’ performance remains one of the decade’s (and the genre’s) most emotionally devastating

1952
“Clash By Night” is top drawer Stanwyck. And it doesn’t hurt to have Paul Douglas and Marilyn Monroe around for extra fireworks.
“Phone Call from a Stranger” leaves me cold.
I remembered Bette Davis as being terrific in “The Star” but a recent reviewing has lowered my estimation of both performance and film. Like her much better in the previous year’s “Another Man’s Poison” which most sources seem to write off.
I like nothing about “Angel Face” right down to the fact that Jean Simmons’ hairstyle is so unflattering to her. So many people whose opinions I respect love this picture. For me it remains just another Howard Hughes mess.

1953
I enjoy “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” (for one thing, it features Jane Russell’s pinnacle performance). And Marilyn’s fine. She’s also good in the same year’s “How to Marry a Millionaire” but nothing else in that endlessly stretched out comedy is.
I prefer “Niagara” to either of them.
For me “Salome” represents one of the absolute nadirs of the peplum genre. A dreadful mishmash of phony reverence (made worse by Alan Badel’s awful performance) and timid attempts at lasciviousness. Rita Hayworth’s far too old to play “Salome” (she seems like a tired nightclub hostess) and her Dance of the Seven Veils delivers zilch. Columbia used leftover sets and costumes from “Salome” to make Rhonda Fleming’s modestly budgeted and much more entertaining “Serpent of the Nile”. Even low-rent Lippert – spending peanuts as usual – offered better value than “Salome” with Paulette Goddard’s Poverty Row opus “Sins of Jezebel”

1954
Always want to like “Vera Cruz” more than I do. The ingredients seem to be there but they never quite pan out for me. Am not a fan of Douglas Sirk’s 50’s melodramas so “Magnificent Obsession"’s a no go for me. I think I’d like “Johnny Guitar” better if Joan Crawford weren’t in it. The rest of the cast works for me – especially a blazing Mercedes McCambridge. I might have preferred a Stanwyck “Johnny Guitar”.

1955
“We’re No Angels” and “The Left Hand of God”. No interest in seeing either again. Once was more than enough.

1956
I really enjoyed two of your ’56 suggestions, both of which feature magnificent leading performances. Director Nicholas Ray swings for the fences in “Bigger Than Life” and James Mason delivers enthralling work. “And God Created Woman”’s only flaw is a cop-out final scene. Otherwise it’s completely exhilarating. Bardot's performance is mesmerizing – and overwhelmingly original.

1957
I was crazy about Anita Ekberg as a kid but never cared much for “Valerie”. Much preferred her in the previous year’s “Back from Eternity”(her finest hour), “Hollywood or Bust” and “Zarak”.
I do like “Forty Guns”, which crackles with Sam Fuller energy. I’m normally not a Dean Jagger fan but sometimes he delivers big-time – and “Forty Guns” represents one of those occasions.
Had never heard of “Across the Bridge”. Had to look it up. A Rod Steiger noir from the 50’s? Will definitely check it out.

1958
“The Long Hot Summer” is kind of a mixed bag. But it does have my favorite Paul Newman performance. I think he sizzles in it.
“King Creole” is certainly one of the better Elvis movies but if I had to choose his best it would be between “Loving You” and “Jailhouse Rock” (both from ’57). “Jailhouse” is probably the better movie – with the better Elvis performance. But – for some reason – I’m fonder of “Loving You”.
“The Defiant One’s’ got its heart in the right place but it’s never fully hooked me.
No love in this quarter for “Lonelyhearts”.

1959
Not a fan of any of the ’59 films you mentioned.
I know “Pillow Talk” was a superhit but – for me – Doris Day was shown to fuller advantage in her 1963-1966 period –from “Move Over Darling” to “The Glass Bottom Boat”.
“The Young Philadelphians” just strikes me as bad soap opera. And the makers of “Solomon and Sheba” squandered huge amounts of money only to wind up with an exercise in consistent tedium.
I’ve always found “Anatomy of a Murder” kind of smug and show-offy about its supposed frankness. Lee Remick’s great through. I believe she replaced Lana Turner at the last moment. The role would have been wasted on Lana.

[hasslein]

1. The Court Jester
2. The Ten Commandments
3. Demetrius & the Gladiators
4. The Desperate Hours
5. The Bridge on the River Kwai
6. The Caine Mutiny
7. Scaramouche
8. The Big Country
9. The Night of the Hunter
10. Lil Abner
11. East of Eden
12. Forbidden Planet
13. Ben Hur
14. Giant
15. The Bad Seed
16. Witness for the Prosecution
17. Them
18. Gunfight at the OK Corral
19. Creature from the Black Lagoon
20. Attack of the 50 ft Woman
21. Umberto D
22. Godzilla
23. War of the Worlds
24. Jack & the Beanstalk
25. 7th Voyage Sinbad


* I've never seen it, I've only seen the trailer, I'd really love to see Jane Russell in 3D -
The French Line

[RiotNarita]

1 Sunset Boulevard
2 The Big Country
3 Roman Holiday
4 The Narrow Margin
5 Singin’ in the Rain
6 12 Angry Men
7 Ace in the Hole
8 Rear Window
9 House on Haunted Hill
10 The Asphalt Jungle
11 The Bad and the Beautiful
12 High Noon
13 The Big Heat
14 Les Diaboliques
15 Witness for the Prosecution
16 The Cruel Sea
17 No Name on the Bullet
18 Seven Men from Now
19 Bad Day at Black Rock
20 Touch of Evil
21 The Ladykillers
22 Westward the Women
23 A Night to Remember
24 Pork Chop Hill
25 All About Eve
- A Place in the Sun
- So Long at the Fair
- Stalag 17
- The Tall Target
- Home Before Dark
- Sudden Fear
- The Proud Rebel
- The Bravados

[apricissimus]

My list is very Billy Wilder heavy:

1. All About Eve
2. Stalag 17
3. Anatomy of a Murder
4. Ace in the Hole
5. Imitation of Life
6. Vertigo
7. Bridge on the River Kwai
8. The Ten Commandments
9. Sunset Boulevard
10. Sabrina
11. Paths of Glory
12. Ben Hur
13. Giant
14. The Night of the Hunter
15. All That Heaven Allows
16. The 400 Blows
17. No Man of Her Own
18. From Here to Eternity
19. On the Waterfront
20. Night and the City
21. Rear Window
22. There's Always Tomorrow
23. A Place in the Sun
24. Witness for the Prosecution
25. Love in the Afternoon

[Mothravka]

1. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959, Alain Resnais)
2. Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)
3. A Man Escaped (1956, Robert Bresson)
4. The Music Room (1958, Satyajit Ray)
5. A Geisha (1953, Kenji Mizoguchi)
6. Tokyo Twilight (1957, Yasujirō Ozu)
7. Ordet (1955, Carl Theodor Dreyer)
8. The Wild Geese (1953, Shirō Toyoda)
9. The Noose (1958, Wojciech Jerzy Has)
10. Sansho the Bailiff (1954, Kenji Mizoguchi)
11. The Love of a Woman (1953, Jean Grémillon)
12. Johnny Guitar (1954, Nicholas Ray)
13. Sound of the Mountain (1954, Mikio Naruse)
14. Pather Panchali (1955, Satyajit Ray)
15. The Seventh Seal (1957, Ingmar Bergman)
16. Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa)
17. Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
18. Fires on the Plain (1959, Kon Ichikawa)
19. Image of a Mother (1959, Hiroshi Shimizu)
20. Lightning (1952, Mikio Naruse)
21. Sabrina (1954, Billy Wilder)
22. Touch of Evil (1958, Orson Welles)
23. Elegy of the North 1957, Heinosuke Gosho)
24. The Ballad of Narayama (1958, Keisuke Kinoshita)
25. General Della Rovere (1959, Roberto Rossellini)

[SelwynMcGinty]

@Beckford, thanks so much for taking the time to post a very interesting & informative appraisal of the 50s films I mentioned!

Glad we seem to agree, for the most part. I'm not ashamed to admit I like my share of trash, so I can't really defend Solomon & Sheba, or Salome, heh heh. You captured my attention w/ Sins of Jezebel, I'm gonna track that down!
Always intrigued by Poverty Row pictures.

Your opinion on Anatomy of a Murder made me laugh - I know exactly what you mean! I was mentioning it on the strength of the performances, but the movie is definitely uneven and full of itself. I remember rolling my eyes when they mentioned the word "panties" for the 100th time.
Otto Preminger was such a quirky filmmaker, I almost feel like several of his movies were good in spite of him, if that makes any sense.

Already looking to your 1940s list.

[merlinjones]

I'm the only one who likes Walt Disney's silver age animated features? They are priceless, timeless works of art!

[Juan de Internet]

1. Roman Holiday
2. Gigi
3. Vertigo
4. Seven Samurai
5. To Catch a Thief
   
6. The Searchers
7. Tokyo Twilight
8. Tokyo Story
9. Singin' in the Rain
10. Hiroshima Mon Amour
    
11. Good Morning
12. Early Summer
13. Rio Bravo
14. In a Lonely Place
15. All About Eve
    
16. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
17. The Night of the Hunter
18. Ballad of a Soldier
19. Twenty-Four Eyes
20. The Seventh Seal
    
21. Smiles of a Summer Night
22. Sabrina
23. The Tender Trap
24. Pal Joey
25. Early Spring

Honorable Mentions

• Apur Sansar
• Pather Panchali
• Aparajito
• Sweet Smell of Success
• Floating Weeds
• A Star Is Born
• The Cranes are Flying
• The King and I

[SelwynMcGinty]

Originally Posted by merlinjones

I'm the only one who likes Walt Disney's silver age animated features? They are priceless, timeless works of art!

Interesting point.

For me personally, those Disney films sort of exist in their own universe, I just don't think about them when I'm considering what really affected and moved me when I started caring about classic movies. Maybe there's also some kind of mild psychological backlash vs the Disney marketing behemoth, I dunno.

The craftsmanship of vintage Disney is impressive, of course, but it kinda stops there for me.
Ultimately, no matter what this survey or any other says, these works will always occupy a giant space in the popular culture.

[AKORIS]

01- The War Of The Worlds
02- Creature From The Black Lagoon
03- The Caine Mutiny
04- Strangers On A Train
05- Horror Of Dracula
06- On The Beach
07- Vertigo
08- The Searchers
09- All About Eve
10- In A Lonely Place
11- Sunset Boulevard
12- Wild Strawberries
13- Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
14- Curse Of The Demon
15- North By Northwest
16- The Seventh Seal
17- House Of Wax
18- The Harder They Fall
19- Rear Window
20- Rio Bravo
21- The African Queen
22- The Day The Earth Stood Still
23- The House On Haunted Hill
24- The Big Heat
25-The Narrow Margin

[Gacivory]

1. 12 Angry Men
2. Wild Strawberries
3. Strangers on a Train
4. The Night of the Hunter
5. Ace in The Hole
6. The Killing
7. Seven Samurai
8. A Streetcar Named Desire
9. The Wrong Man
10. On The Waterfront
11. Pickpocket
12. Anatomy of a Murder
13. Night & Fog
14. Giant
15. Godzilla
16. A Man Escaped
17. The Big Heat
18. Ben-Hur
19. High Noon
20. The Curse of Frankenstein
21. Horror of Dracula
22. Rififi
23. The Searchers
24. The Crimson Kimono
25. The Caine Mutiny