Best of 1950s
Sort by:
Showing 18 items
Decade:
Rating:
List Type:
12 Angry Men (1957)
Directors: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman
Story: A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.
Log Lady's rating:
The 400 Blows (1959)
Directors: Francois Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy, Guy Decomble
Story: Story of a misunderstood young adolescent who left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Log Lady's rating:
Diabolique (1955)
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Cast: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel
Story: The wife of a cruel headmaster and his mistress conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, his body disappears, and strange events begin to plague the two women.
Log Lady's rating:
Directors: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Cast: Nikolai Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Zharov
Story: As Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate their Tsar.
Log Lady's rating:
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Directors: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Ralph Meeker, Albet Dekker, Paul Stewart, Marian Carr
Story: A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit."
+
The Big Knife (1955)
Log Lady's rating:
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Director: Charles Laughton
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason
Story: A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
Log Lady's rating:
On the Waterfront (1954)
Directors: Elia Kazan
Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Story: An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.
+
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Log Lady's rating:
Orpheus (1950)
Directors: Jean Cocteau
Cast: Jean Marais, Francois Périer, María Casares, Marie Déa
Story: Orphee is a poet who becomes obsessed with Death (the Princess). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice, is killed by the Princess' henchmen and Orphee goes after her into the Underworld.
Log Lady's rating:
Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr
Story: A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
+
Vertigo (1958)
Log Lady's rating:
Directors: Albert Lamorisse
Cast: Pascal Lamorisse, Georges Sellier, Vladimir Popov, René Marion
Story: A red balloon with a life of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.
Log Lady's rating:
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Directors: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Max von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bibi Andersson
Story: A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
+
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), Wild Strawberries (1957)
Log Lady's rating:
Directors: Billy Wilder
Cast: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Joe E. Brown
Story: When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
+
Ace in the Hole (1951), Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Log Lady's rating:
Directors: Federico Fellini
Cast: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani
Story: A carefree girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
Log Lady's rating:
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Directors: Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner
Story: Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
Log Lady's rating:
Only one film per director is featured. The other noteworthy ones from this same era are listed under that featured film.
Story synopses from IMDB.
Story synopses from IMDB.