100 or 101 Best Movies of the 1950s Survey

[Leslie Dame]

1. Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa)
2. Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
3. Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujirō Ozu)
4. Sunset Boulevard (1950, Billy Wilder)
5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952, Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen)
6. Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa)
7. Rear Window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)
8. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, David Lean)
9. On the Waterfront (1954, Elia Kazan)
10. Some Like It Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)
11. La Strada (1954, Federico Fellini)
12. The Night of the Hunter (1955, Charles Laughton)
13. Paths of Glory (1957, Stanley Kubrick)
14. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Elia Kazan)
15. The Searchers (1956, John Ford)
16. Wild Strawberries (1957, Ingmar Bergman)
17. Ben-Hur (1959, William Wyler)
18. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955, Ingmar Bergman)
19. High Noon (1952, Fred Zinnemann)
20. Throne of Blood (1957, Akira Kurosawa)
21. Roman Holiday (1953, William Wyler)
22. The 400 Blows (1959, François Truffaut)
23. Forbidden Planet (1956, Fred M. Wilcox)
24. All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
25. Touch of Evil (1958, Orson Welles)

[TV2693]

The 50's(other than the 80's) was the most repressive decade in American filmmaking, although world cinema was up to a lot of good stuff.

That damn hays code held back so many filmmakers you can smell it even in Hitchcock's 50's films. Hitchcock and other filmmakers had to hint or glance at more subversive and daring things going on in their films instead of exploring them.

Still, I put the 50's behind the 30's and 40's as the top three decades in film.

Even the antiseptic 80's is preferred here other than the 60's(for the most part) and definitely the 90's.

[merlinjones]

Originally Posted by TV2693

The 50's(other than the 80's) was the most repressive decade in American filmmaking, although world cinema was up to a lot of good stuff. That damn hays code held back so many filmmakers you can smell it even in Hitchcock's 50's films. Hitchcock and other filmmakers had to hint or glance at more subversive and daring things going on in their films instead of exploring them....[/B].

One could argue that the code actually made filmmakers more artful in their use of symbolism and subtext rather than obvious dialogue. By the 50's there was a lot of heavy subject matter happening between the lines, and kind of delightful to decode: A Streetcar Names Desire, Sunset Boulevard, Rebel Without a Cause, Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly Last Summer, Baby Doll, Rear Window, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ben Hur...etc.

[TV2693]

Originally Posted by merlinjones

One could argue that the code actually made filmmakers more artful in their use of symbolism and subtext rather than obvious dialogue. By the 50's there was a lot of heavy subject matter happening between the lines, and kind of delightful to decode: A Streetcar Names Desire, Sunset Boulevard, Rebel Without a Cause, Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly Last Summer, Baby Doll, Rear Window, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ben Hur...etc.

You raise a good point, Body Snatchers was sanitized a bit with the reframing of the story and the reworked ending to make it optimistic. On the sci-fi channel. they used to air the version without the reframing and the original ending of it fading out on Mccarthy on the highway--better and more fluid.

But even the sanitized version is a very strong film.

I feel hypocritical because even in spite of my belief, on a lot of days the 50's is right behind the 30's and 40's as my top 3 decades in film. I don't usually include 1910's and 1920's because films were quite different from 30's on.

[stlcards]

1) Vertigo
2) The Big Heat
3) Rear Window
4) Rio Bravo
5) Ben Hur
6) To Catch A Thief
7) North By Northwest
8) Sunset Boulevard
9) The Searchers
10) Touch Of Evil
11) Singin' In The Rain
12) High Noon
13) Don't Bother To Knock
14) Marty
15) In A Lonely Place
16) Dial M For Murder
17) The Asphalt Jungle
18) Sabrina
19) Niagara
20) Shane
21) The Man Who Knew Too Much
22) White Christmas
23) Crime Wave
24) How To Marry A Millionaire
25) Son Of Paleface

Honorable Mention:

Roman Holiday
Hondo
The Big Combo
The Bridge On The River Kwai
Anatomy Of A Murder
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
Dark City
Kiss Me Deadly
Johnny Guitar
Forbidden Planet

[peacekeeper]

1. The Seventh Seal (1957)
2. The Wages of Fear (1953)
3. The 400 Blows (1959)
4. North by Northwest (1959)
5. Rear Window (1954)
6. Touch of Evil (1958)
7. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
8. The Killing (1956)
9. Vertigo (1958)
10. Wild Strawberries (1957)
11. 12 Angry Men (1957)
12. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
13. On the Waterfront (1954)
14. Rififi (1955)
15. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
16. Seven Samurai (1954)
17. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
18. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
19. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
20. A Man Escaped (1956)
21. Paths of Glory (1957)
22. The Searchers (1956)
23. Strangers on a Train (1951)
24. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
25. Diabolique (1955)

[Cpt. Feeney]

Originally Posted by TV2693

films were quite different from 30's on.

It all came together in the late 30s, and for me, on top of that, the pastel shades of the early color processes, in films like Jesse James and Drums Along the Mohawk, represent the peak of visuals in film. I want more of it, but there is no more. It's precious, it's rare.

I still prefer the 70s overall, when writers were given free rein in Hollywood, directors too, and we had a great meeting between off-center aesthetics and star charisma.

My third fav era would be the 50s, but largely for the Japanese contributions, when they built on what Hollywood had developed, adding their own inherent sense of craft, to become the leading light in cinema for a while.

[TV2693]

Originally Posted by Cpt. Feeney

It all came together in the late 30s, and for me, on top of that, the pastel shades of the early color processes, in films like Jesse James and Drums Along the Mohawk, represent the peak of visuals in film. I want more of it, but there is no more. It's precious, it's rare.

I still prefer the 70s overall, when writers were given free rein in Hollywood, directors too, and we had a great meeting between off-center aesthetics and star charisma.

My third fav era would be the 50s, but largely for the Japanese contributions, when they built on what Hollywood had developed, adding their own inherent sense of craft, to become the leading light in cinema for a while.

The 30's was a great decade for film in every way. World cinema in the 50's and 60's were almost incomparable to other decades for more artsy types of films.

The 70's and the 40's are tied in my book for the decade of best American filmmaking. The 40's particularly for comedies and crime/thrillers.

One genre of film, the musical, I can't determine which decade from the 30's, 40's, and 50's is the best. Embarrassment of riches in all three decades.

[AKORIS]

Selwyn...when do you plan to tally these lists? Seems like you've set yourself for an enormous amount of work..........

[moreorless]

Originally Posted by merlinjones

One could argue that the code actually made filmmakers more artful in their use of symbolism and subtext rather than obvious dialogue. By the 50's there was a lot of heavy subject matter happening between the lines, and kind of delightful to decode: A Streetcar Names Desire, Sunset Boulevard, Rebel Without a Cause, Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly Last Summer, Baby Doll, Rear Window, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ben Hur...etc.

You could argue someone like Hitchcock worked within the conservative setting I spose but honestly I would struggle to claim that 50's Hollywood is more subtle than say the Japanese new wave. I don't think its just the Hayes code personally but the whole "Hollywood style" which grew up post code era of larger than life performances and suppression of stronger emotion, it tends to be viewed as simply a stage in the evolution of cinema but I would argue it was a deliberate choice, more subtle and dramatic performances had existed for decades prior to that but I think the idea of steering up the emotions of the public too greatly was frowned on.

[Grethiwha]

1. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
2. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
3. Ikiru
4. Sansho the Bailiff
5. Seven Samurai
6. Tokyo Story
7. I Live in Fear
8. The Hidden Fortress
9. Ugetsu
10. Ace in the Hole
11. Throne of Blood
12. Rashomon
13. Sunset Boulevard
14. Hiroshima
15. Some Like It Hot
16. The Rickshaw Man
17. The Life of Oharu
18. The Ballad of Narayama
19. The Burmese Harp
20. Endless Desire
21. Sincere Heart
22. North by Northwest
23. Strangers on a Train
24. The Idiot (1951)
25. The Night of the Hunter

[ophone]

1) Le salaire de la peur [Wages of Fear] (1953: Henri-Georges Clouzot)
2) 12 Angry Men (1957: Sidney Lumet)
3) Paths of Glory (1957: Stanley Kubrick)
4) Bob le flambeur (1956: Jean-Pierre Melville)
5) Les 400 coups [The 400 Blows] (1959: François Truffaut)
6) La strada (1954: Federico Fellini)
7) Die Brücke [The Bridge] (1959: Bernhard Wicki)
8) Les diaboliques [Diabolique] (1955: Henri-Georges Clouzot)
9) The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957: David Lean)
10) Ascenseur pour l'échafaud [Elevator to the Gallows] (1958: Louis Malle)
11) North by Northwest (1959: Alfred Hitchcock)
12) Jeux interdits [Forbidden Games] (1952: René Clément)
13) Le notti di Cabiria [Nights of Cabiria] (1957: Federico Fellini)
14) Rear Window (1954: Alfred Hitchcock)
15) Lust for Life (1956: Vincente Minnelli)
16) The Ladykillers (1955: Alexander Mackendrick)
17) Ben-Hur (1959: William Wyler)
18) The African Queen (1951: John Huston)
19) La traversée de Paris [Four Bags Full] (1956: Claude Autant-Lara)
20) Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam [The Devil Strikes at Night] (1957: Robert Sidomak)
21) Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot [Monsieur Hulot's Holiday] (1953: Jacques Tati)
22) 七人の侍 [Seven Samurai] (1954: Akira Kurosawa)
23) Moby Dick (1956: John Huston)
24) Il bidone [The Swindle] (1955: Federico Fellini)
25) Roman Holiday (1953: William Wyler)

No honorable mentions this time. After Letterboxd the 1950s are my second favourite film decade, but I still have serious gaps concerning them.

[moreorless]

1.Ugetsu
2.Hiroshima Mon Amour
3.Floating Clouds
4.The Wages of Fear
5.Sancho the Baliff
6.A Man Escaped
7.Seven Samurai
8.Floating Weeds
9.The Bridge on the River Kwai
10.Paths of Glory
11.The Life of Oharu
12.The 400 Blows
13.Pickpocket
14.Tokyo Story
15.The Cranes Are Flying
16.Les Diaboliques
17.Ikiru
18.The Human Condition 1
19.Night of the Hunter
20.Vertigo
21.The Seventh Seal
22.Rashimon
23.Diary of a COuntry Preist
24.The Ladykillers
25.Rear Window

HM

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Mr Hulot's Holiday
The Human Condition 2
Night of the Demon
The Forbidden Planet
The Hidden Fortress
Sunset Boulevard
Throne of Blood
Nights of Cabiria
Touch of Evil

[principehomura]

01) Sleeping Beauty (C. Geronimi, 1959)
02) I Soliti Ignoti (M. Monicelli, 1958)
03) The Seventh Seal (I. Bergman, 1957)
04) Limelight (C. Chalin, 1952)
05) Lola Montès (M. Ophuls, 1955)
06) Smiles of a Summer Night (I. Bergman, 1955)
07) The Cranes Are Flying (M. Kalatozov, 1957)
08) Sunset Boulevard (B. Wilder, 1950)
09) Madame de... (M. Ophuls, 1953)
10) 12 Angry Men (S. Lumet, 1957)
11) Seven Samurai (A. Kurosawa, 1954)
12) Guardie e Ladri (M. Monicelli, 1951)
13) Le Notti di Cabiria (F. Fellini, 1957)
14) The Big Country (W. Wyler, 1958)
15) Witness for the Prosecution (B. Wilder, 1957)
16) Ordet (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1955)
17) Senso (L. Visconti, 1954)
18) Rashomon (A. Kurosawa, 1950)
19) Throne of Blood (A. Kurosawa, 1957)
20) All About Eve (J. L. Mankiewicz, 1950)
21) La Strada (F. Fellini, 1954)
22) Wild Strawberries (I. Bergman, 1957)
23) The Hidden Fortress (A. Kurosawa, 1958)
24) The Searcher (J. Ford, 1956)
25) Lady and the Tramp (C. Geronimi, 1955)

[SelwynMcGinty]

As always, with these surveys, I'm pleasantly surprised at the diversity and the breadth of selections.

once again, in the spirit of camaraderie and the love of cinema, here's the latest Leaderboard - -

1. Seven Samurai (1954, directed by Akira Kurosawa) 209 points
2. Sunset Blvd. (1950, Billy Wilder) 173
3. Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock) 166
4. Rear Window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock) 152
5. 12 Angry Men (1957, Sidney Lumet) 131
6. Hiroshima mon amour (1959, Alain Resnais) 121
7. The Searchers (1956, John Ford) 114
8. The Wages of Fear (1953, Henri-Georges Clouzot) 97
9. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, David Lean) 95
9. Strangers on a Train (1951, Alfred Hitchcock) 95
10. Roman Holiday (1953, William Wyler) 84

11. Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujiro Ozu) 81
12. North by Northwest (1959, Alfred Hitchcock) 80
12. Ugetsu (1953, Kenji Mizoguchi) 80
13. Touch of Evil (1958, Orson Welles) 75
14. The Seventh Seal (1957, Ingmar Bergman) 73
15. Sansho the Bailiff (1954, Kenji Mizoguchi) 69
16. The Night of the Hunter (1955, Charles Laughton) 68
17. Ace in the Hole (1951, Billy Wilder) 67
18. Les Diaboliques (1955, Henri-Georges Clouzot) 65
19. Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa) 64
20. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959, Masaki Kobayashi) 63

21. Ikiru (1952, Akira Kurosawa) 61
22. The 400 Blows (1959, Francois Truffaut) 60
22. Paths of Glory (1957, Stanley Kubrick) 60
22. Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson) 60
23. Ben-Hur (1959, William Wyler) 57
24. The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille) 56
25. All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) 55
26. Throne of Blood (1957, Akira Kurosawa) 54
27. A Man Escaped (1956, Robert Bresson) 52
28. Anatomy of a Murder (1959, Otto Preminger) 49
29. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955, Ingmar Bergman) 47
30. In a Lonely Place (1950, Nicholas Ray) 46

31. The Big Country (1958, William Wyler) 42
31. Singin’ in the Rain (1952, Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly) 42
31. Wild Strawberries (1957, Ingmar Bergman) 42
32. High Noon (1952, Fred Zinnemann) 41
32. Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks) 41
33. The Caine Mutiny (1954, Edward Dmytryk) 40
33. Giant (1956, George Stevens) 40
33. Pather Panchali (1955, Satyajit Ray) 40
34. The Far Country (1954, Anthony Mann) 39
34. La Strada (1954, Federico Fellini) 39
34. To Catch a Thief (1955, Alfred Hitchcock) 39
35. Limelight (1952, Charlie Chaplin) 38
36. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Elia Kazan) 37
37. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, Don Siegel) 36
38. The Asphalt Jungle (1950, John Huston) 35
38. Godzilla (1954, Ishiro Honda) 35
38. Ordet (1955, Carl Theodor Dreyer) 35
39. The Big Heat (1953, Fritz Lang) 34
39. Imitation of Life (1959, Douglas Sirk) 34
39. Seven Men from Now (1956, Budd Boetticher) 34
40. The Bad Seed (1956, Mervyn LeRoy) 33
40. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954, Jack Arnold) 33
40. The Cranes Are Flying (1957, Mikhail Kalatozov) 33
40. Diary of a Country Priest (1951, Robert Bresson) 33
40. Don’t Bother to Knock (1952, Roy Baker) 33
40. Dracula (1958, Terence Fisher) 33
40. The Hidden Fortress (1958, Akira Kurosawa) 33
40. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959, Masaki Kobayashi) 33
40. The War of the Worlds (1953, Byron Haskin) 33

still plenty of time to make selections and changes. Thanks to everyone for participating in this journey, and Cheers!

[RFK]

1 Seven Samurai
2 Sunset Blvd.
3 A Night to Remember
4 The Wages of Fear
5 Los Olvidados
6 Touch of Evil
7 The Earrings of Madame de...
8 Invasion of the Body Snatchers
9 The Girl Can't Help It
10 Forbidden Games
11 Umberto D
12 The Searchers
13 Rear Window
14 A Man Escaped
15 Journey to the Center of the Earth
16 Baby Doll
17 Singin' in the Rain
18 A Christmas Carol
19 A Star is Born
20 Night of the Hunter
21 Rashomon
22 Horror of Dracula
23 Diary of a Country Priest
24 Bad Day at Black Rock
25 Gun Crazy

[Skylath]

1. The War of the Worlds (1953)
2.) Bend of the River (1952)
3.) Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
4.) Vertigo (1958)
5.) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
6.) Ben-Hur (1959)
7.) Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
8.) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
9.) The Furies (1950)
10.) The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
11.) House of Wax (1953)
12.) I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
13.) Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
14.) Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
15.) Kansas City Confidential (1952)
16. ) Sunset Boulevard (1950)
17.) Vera Cruz (1954)
18.) The Big Country (1958)
19.) In a Lonely Place (1950)
20.) The Far Country (1954)
21.) Winchester '73 (1950)
22.) No Highway in the Sky (1951)
23.) The Ten Commandments (1956)
24.) The African Queen (1951)
25.) To Hell and Back (1955)

[Rayjg]

All That Heaven Allows
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Good Morning
Ivan the Terrible Part II
The Ladykillers
The Magician
Madame de…
Mr. Arkadin
The Music Room
My Son John
The Night of the Hunter
Othello (Welles)
Paths of Glory
The Red Badge of Courage
Rio Grande
Robinson Crusoe (Bunuel)
Rock-a-bye Baby
La Ronde
Singin’ in the Rain
Strangers on a Train
Sunset Boulevard
Touch of Evil
Ugetsu
Vertigo
The White Sheik