The Best Films Ever Made - Top 100 - 1950s
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100 titles
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.9,14
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.8,88
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaChikage AwashimaA Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.8,83
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.8,83
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsTatsuya NakadaiMichiyo AratamaKokinji KatsuraAs a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals.8,81
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames MasonA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.8,79
- DirectorStanley DonenGene KellyStarsGene KellyDonald O'ConnorDebbie ReynoldsA silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.8,77
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKirk DouglasRalph MeekerAdolphe MenjouAfter a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.8,73
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.8,71
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.8,68
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsCarlo BattistiMaria Pia CasilioLina GennariAn elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.8,62
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsGiulietta MasinaFrançois PérierFranca MarziA waifish prostitute wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak.8,60
- DirectorElia KazanStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenLee J. CobbAn ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.8,59
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.8,59
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.8,59
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.8,58
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAnthony QuinnGiulietta MasinaRichard BasehartA care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.8,56
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.8,56
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.8,54
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsKirk DouglasJan SterlingRobert ArthurA frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.8,53
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenDon TaylorOtto PremingerAfter two Americans are killed while escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in World War II, the barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.8,53
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.8,53
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsBette DavisAnne BaxterGeorge SandersA seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.8,51
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsSergey BondarchukPavel BoriskinZinaida KirienkoA Soviet soldier, Andrei Sokolov, has been separated from his family by World War II. Suffering in German captivity, he dreams of meeting his darlings after the victory. But cruel fate turned out otherwise.8,50
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsJeanne MoreauMaurice RonetGeorges PoujoulyA self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.8,48
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsRentarô MikuniShôji YasuiTatsuya MihashiA conscience-driven Japanese soldier traumatized by the events of WWII adopts the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk.8,46
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraChishû RyûChikage AwashimaA family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans.8,46
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.8,41
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsSterling HaydenLouis CalhernJean HagenA major heist goes off as planned, but then double crosses, bad luck and solid police work cause everything to unravel.8,40
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraNobuo KanekoShin'ichi HimoriA bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.8,39
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAlberto SordiFranco FabriziFranco InterlenghiA character study of five young men at crucial turning points in their lives in a small town in Italy.8,39
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsSterling HaydenColeen GrayVince EdwardsCrook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.8,38
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraIneko ArimaChishû RyûTwo sisters find out the existence of their long-lost mother, but the younger cannot take the truth of being abandoned as a child.8,37
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJudy GarlandJames MasonJack CarsonA film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.8,33
- DirectorJuan Antonio BardemStarsLucia BosèAlberto ClosasBruna CorràA couple having an affair strike a bicyclist with their car and do not offer aid out of fear of their relationship being exposed.8,33
- DirectorElia KazanStarsAndy GriffithPatricia NealAnthony FranciosaA female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star.8,33
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinClaire BloomNigel BruceA fading comedian and a suicidally despondent ballet dancer must look to each other to find purpose and hope in their lives.8,33
- DirectorElia KazanStarsVivien LeighMarlon BrandoKim HunterDisturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.8,31
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsHumphrey BogartAudrey HepburnWilliam HoldenA playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.8,30
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJean ServaisCarl MöhnerRobert ManuelFour men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...8,28
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsEmma GramaticaFrancesco GolisanoPaolo StoppaAn open-hearted, unrelentingly energetic orphan struggles to make the best of his life on the streets of Milan.8,28
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsEleanor ParkerAgnes MooreheadEllen CorbyA gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?8,28
- DirectorGrigoriy ChukhrayStarsVladimir IvashovZhanna ProkhorenkoAntonina MaksimovaYoung Russian soldier Alyosha earns a medal, but asks to visit his mother instead. His journey recounts various kinds of love during wartime.8,28
- DirectorElia KazanStarsJames DeanRaymond MasseyJulie HarrisTwo brothers in 1910s California struggle to maintain their strict, Bible-toting father's favor as an old secret about their long-absent mother comes to light.8,27
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsHumphrey BogartGloria GrahameFrank LovejoyA potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.8,27
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsElizabeth TaylorKatharine HepburnMontgomery CliftA surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.8,26
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsErnesto AlonsoMiroslavaRita MacedoThe delirious journey of a mentally disordered man, who is obsessed with committing the perfect crime.8,25
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsSoumitra ChatterjeeSharmila TagoreAlok ChakravartyThis final installment in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy follows Apu's life as an orphaned adult aspiring to be a writer.8,23
- DirectorGrigoriy ChukhrayStarsIzolda IzvitskayaOleg StrizhenovNikolay KryuchkovAn unexpected romance occurs for a female Red Army sniper and a White Army officer.8,23
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJohn WayneDean MartinRicky NelsonA small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.8,23
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsHideko TakamineItsuo WatanabeMakoto MiyagawaSchoolteacher Hisako Oishi forms an emotional bond with her pupils and teaches them various virtues, while at the same time worrying about their future.8,23
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsUlla JacobssonEva DahlbeckHarriet AnderssonIn Sweden at the turn of the century, members of the upper class and their servants find themselves in a romantic tangle that they try to work out amidst jealousy and heartbreak.8,21
- DirectorNikos KoundourosStarsDinos IliopoulosMargarita PapageorgiouGiannis ArgyrisA peaceful, frightened little man is mistakenly identified as "the dragon", a notorious criminal at large. He briefly and reluctantly rules the underworld until they realize their mistake.8,20
- DirectorAlbert LamorisseStarsPascal LamorisseSabine LamorisseGeorges SellierA red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.8,18
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsÅke GrönbergHarriet AnderssonHasse EkmanThe complicated relationships between a circus ringmaster, his estranged wife and his lover.8,17
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsRaf ValloneElena VarziSaro UrzìThe story of a group of Sicilian miners and their families, and their hardships as they decide to illegally cross the border to France.8,17
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraMachiko KyôHaruko SugimuraThe head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.8,15
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsKeiji SadaYoshiko KugaChishû RyûTwo boys begin a silence strike to press their parents into buying them a television set.8,15
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsKenneth MoreRonald AllenRobert AyresOn her maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.8,13
- DirectorRonald NeameStarsAlec GuinnessKay WalshRenee HoustonAn ill-behaved, lovably scruffy painter, Gulley Jimson, searches for a perfect canvas, determined to let nothing come between himself and the realization of his exalted vision.8,12
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsPietro GermiLuisa Della NoceSylva KoscinaThe railroad engineer Andrea Marcocci has been working with his partner and friend Gigi Liverani for thirty years and feels happy and proud of his work, drinking wine after hours with his friends in a bar owned by the former railroad man Ugo. Andrea is married to Sara, and his young son Sandro is very close to him; however, Andrea has issues with his unemployed son Marcello and with his pregnant daughter Giulia, whose boyfriend Renato Borghi was forced to marry her. After a suicide crosses the tracks of his train in a curve, Andrea feels deeply affected by the accident and almost collides with another train. The railroad company investigates the accident and steps Andrea down from his position. The domestic life of Andrea is also affected by his aggressive behavior and Marcello and Giulia leave home. Later Andrea also leaves home and starts to drink until the day Sandro visits him in a bar.8,12
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsShin SaburiMichiyo KogureKôji TsurutaA childless middle-aged couple faces a marital crisis.8,11
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBurt LancasterTony CurtisSusan HarrisonPowerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.8,10
- DirectorMorton DaCostaStarsRosalind RussellForrest TuckerCoral BrowneAn orphan goes to live with his free-spirited aunt. Conflict ensues when the executor of his father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle.8,09
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKazuo HasegawaKyôko KagawaEitarô ShindôIshun is a wealthy but unsympathetic master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.8,07
- DirectorHideo SekigawaStarsIsuzu YamadaEiji OkadaYoshi KatôBrilliant and extremely realistic retelling of the day in Hiroshima that the bomb dropped and following days.8,06
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsTeresa IzewskaTadeusz JanczarWienczyslaw GlinskiIn 1944, during the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, Polish Lieutenant Zadra and his resistance fighters use Warsaw's sewer system to escape the German encirclement.8,05
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsArturo de CórdovaDelia GarcésAurora WalkerA husband's suave exterior unravels after his marriage, and he unleashes his paranoid and volatile temper on his wife, which escalates to more dangerous and unpredictable tantrums.8,04
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsBurt LancasterMontgomery CliftDeborah KerrAt a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.8,03
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsVittorio De SicaHannes MessemerSandra MiloBardone, a petty con man, is arrested by the Gestapo and coerced into impersonating a partisan leader in order to expose another resistance organizer.8,03
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsJohn GavinLiselotte PulverJock MahoneyOn the Russian front in 1944, German private Ernst Graeber receives a leave and visits his family in Germany but Germany isn't the same country he left behind.8,03
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGregory PeckAudrey HepburnEddie AlbertA bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.8,03
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsAlfonso MejíaRoberto CoboEstela IndaA group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, as the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.8,02
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.8,02
- DirectorFritz LangStarsGlenn FordGloria GrahameJocelyn BrandoTough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.8,02
- DirectorJean CocteauStarsJean MaraisFrançois PérierMaría CasaresA poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld.8,02
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsHayley MillsHorst BuchholzJohn MillsA twelve-year-old tomboy witnesses the murder of a woman by her Polish merchant marine boyfriend, but bonds with him and thwarts the police in their investigation.8,00
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.8,00
- DirectorMario SofficiStarsJuan VerdaguerSusana CamposMaría Luisa RobledoOut of the blue, a meek, old painter begins receiving love letters from Rosaura. This intrigues his fellow boarding house tenants, so they involve themselves into his relationship until one day the mysterious Rosaura appears.7,99
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.7,99
- DirectorBert SternAram AvakianStarsLouis ArmstrongMahalia JacksonChuck BerryThe highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.7,99
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMaj-Britt NilssonBirger MalmstenAlf KjellinA lonely woman recalls her first love thirteen years prior during a brief summer vacation.7,98
- DirectorYoussef ChahineStarsFarid ShawqiHind RustumYoussef ChahineA newspaper salesman at the train station in Cairo develops an unhealthy obsession with a woman who sells refreshments.7,98
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsBette DavisErnest BorgnineDebbie ReynoldsWhen Jane tells her parents that she is getting married to Ralph Halloran, her mother Agnes starts planning an elaborate wedding, even though Jane does not wish it.7,97
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsKen UeharaSetsuko HaraYukiko ShimazakiMichiyo lives in a small home in Osaka and is not happy with her marriage; all she does is cook and clean for her husband.7,96
- DirectorKaneto ShindôStarsNobuko OtowaOsamu TakizawaMasao ShimizuPost war Hiroshima: It's been four years since the last time she visited her hometown. Takako faces the after effects of the A-bomb when she travels around the city to call on old friends.7,96
- DirectorBernhard GrzimekStarsBernhard GrzimekHolger HagenHermann RockmannThe borders of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania were initially drawn without considering the herds of grass-eating wild animals. The recording of seasonal animal movements by the film team at the end of the 1950s forms the framework for action, so that based on this work, new boundaries of the park could be determined in such a way, that the most important animal populations are protected all year round. The beauty of the savannah landscape and the sideways glance at numerous wild animal species living there, some of which were presented to a broader audience for the first time in this film, fill this nature documentary.7,95
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFrançois LeterrierCharles Le ClaincheMaurice BeerblockA captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.7,94
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsJohn MillsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDuring World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.7,94
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsDana AndrewsGene TierneyGary MerrillDet. Sgt. Mark Dixon wants to be something his old man wasn't: a guy on the right side of the law. Will Dixon's vicious nature get the better of him?7,94
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsMachiko KyôAiko MimasuAyako WakaoThe personal tales of various prostitutes who occupy a brothel.7,94
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsNoriko AritaChishû RyûHaruko SugimuraAn old man, being rowed along a river, sees a field of daisies and thinks back to when he was fifteen. He recalls his time with, and away from, the girl cousin he grew up with and would have married, except the family and other pressures got in the way.7,94
- DirectorMartin RittStarsJoanne WoodwardSheree NorthTony RandallIn California, four couples who have bought houses near one another face problems, alcoholism, racism, promiscuity, and discrimination against lack of education, until a tragic event forces them to reassess their lives.7,93
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsHumphrey BogartRod SteigerJan SterlingAn ex-sportswriter is hired by a shady fight promoter to promote his latest find, an unknown but easily exploitable rising star from Argentina.7,92
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames MasonBarbara RushWalter MatthauA seriously-ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a "miracle" drug that begins to affect his sanity.7,91
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsDirk BogardeJon WhiteleyElizabeth SellarsA violent fugitive and a mistreated small boy team up to flee from authority.7,91
- DirectorPhil KarlsonStarsJohn DerekDonna ReedBroderick CrawfordThe editor of an exploitation newspaper commits a murder and assigns his protégé to investigate hoping to divert attention away from himself.7,90
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaYoshiaki HanayagiKyôko KagawaIn medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.7,90
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsKinuyo TanakaTeiji TakahashiYûko MochizukiA kabuki theatre-inflected story about a poor village whose people have to be carried to a nearby mountain to die once they get old.7,90
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsIngrid BergmanAlexander KnoxEttore GianniniA wealthy woman becomes obsessed with humanitarianism when her young son dies after committing suicide.7,88