Best of the 50s: My 100 Favorite Films of the Decade
I haven't seen a lot of the great foreign films of this decade.
List activity
26 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
100 titles
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
- 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.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAnthony QuinnGiulietta MasinaRichard BasehartA care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
- 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.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJames StewartLee RemickBen GazzaraAn upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudAlbert RémyClaire MaurierA young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
- 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.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartKatharine HepburnRobert MorleyIn WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsFarley GrangerRobert WalkerRuth RomanA psychopathic man tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star to agree to his theory that two strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to kill the other's most-hated person.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsAlec GuinnessMaureen O'HaraBurl IvesJim Wormold, who is a vacuum cleaner salesman, participates as an Agent in the British Secret Service. But he soon realizes that his plans by lying are going to get him into trouble.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsBurt LancasterKirk DouglasRhonda FlemingLawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
- 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.
- DirectorAlbert LamorisseStarsPascal LamorisseSabine LamorisseGeorges SellierA red balloon with a mind of its own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsRobert MitchumDeborah KerrDuring World War II, an American marine and an Irish nun form an unlikely friendship after being stranded on a South Pacific island. They find comfort in one another while hoping for a rescue, as they try to avoid capture by the Japanese.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJean ServaisCarl MöhnerRobert ManuelFour men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsSterling HaydenColeen GrayVince EdwardsCrook Johnny Clay assembles a five-man team to plan and execute a daring racetrack robbery.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessPeter SellersCecil ParkerFive oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsKevin McCarthyDana WynterLarry GatesA small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFrank SinatraKim NovakEleanor ParkerA junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
- 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.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames DeanNatalie WoodSal MineoA rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsYves MontandCharles VanelPeter van EyckIn a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartRuth RomanCorinne CalvetA self-minded adventurer locks horns with a crooked lawman while driving cattle to Dawson.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsGlenn FordGloria GrahameJocelyn BrandoTough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraBarry FitzgeraldA retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in 1920s Ireland, where he falls for a spirited redhead whose brother is contemptuous of their union.
- 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.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBarbara StanwyckRobert RyanPaul DouglasMae Doyle comes back to her hometown a cynical woman. Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. Mae marries Jerry and has a baby; she is happy but restless, drawn to Jerry's friend Earl.
- 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.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsAlec GuinnessStanley HollowaySidney JamesA meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eiffel Towers.
- 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.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRichard BasehartValentina CorteseWilliam LundiganConcentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder after she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJudy HollidayWilliam HoldenBroderick CrawfordA tycoon hires a tutor to teach his lover proper etiquette, with unexpected results.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharlton HestonLizabeth ScottViveca LindforsGamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them.
- 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.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartShelley WintersDan DuryeaA cowboy's obsession with a stolen rifle leads to a bullet-ridden odyssey through the American West.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsRichard WidmarkPaul DouglasBarbara Bel GeddesA doctor and a policeman in New Orleans have only 48 hours to locate a killer infected with pneumonic plague.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsRichard WidmarkGene TierneyGoogie WithersA small-time grifter and nightclub tout takes advantage of some fortuitous circumstances and tries to become a big-time player as a wrestling promoter.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsEdmond O'BrienPamela BrittonLuther AdlerFrank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckHugh MarloweGary MerrillA tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantGrace KellyJessie Royce LandisA retired jewel thief sets out to prove his innocence after being suspected of returning to his former occupation.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsJane RussellMarilyn MonroeCharles CoburnShowgirls Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw travel to Paris, pursued by a private detective hired by the suspicious father of Lorelei's fiancé, as well as a rich, enamored old man and many other doting admirers.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantGinger RogersMarilyn MonroeA chemist finds his personal and professional life turned upside down when one of his chimpanzees finds the fountain of youth.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsMartine CarolPeter UstinovAnton WalbrookWhen she is reduced to appearing in a circus, a notorious beauty thinks back on her past loves.
- DirectorJohn FarrowRichard FleischerStarsRobert MitchumJane RussellVincent PriceA deported gangster's plan to re-enter the USA involves skulduggery at a Mexican resort, and gambler Dan Milner is caught in the middle.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFrançois LeterrierCharles Le ClaincheMaurice BeerblockA captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsAndy GriffithPatricia NealAnthony FranciosaA female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRay MillandGrace KellyRobert CummingsA former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.
- DirectorJohn FordMervyn LeRoyJoshua LoganStarsHenry FondaJames CagneyWilliam PowellIn the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.
- DirectorKurt NeumannStarsDavid HedisonPatricia OwensVincent PriceA scientist has a horrific accident when he tries to use his newly invented teleportation device.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsAlan LaddJean ArthurVan HeflinA weary gunfighter in 1880s Wyoming begins to envision a quieter life after befriending a homestead family with a young son who idolizes him, but a smoldering range war forces him to act.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsPaul NewmanPier AngeliEverett SloaneBoxer Rocky Graziano's biopic, based on his autobiography, from childhood to his World Middleweight Championship title win at age 28 in 1947.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsHenry FondaAnthony PerkinsBetsy PalmerA cynical former sheriff turned bounty hunter helps a young, recently appointed acting sheriff with his advice, his experience and his gun.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsPaul NewmanLita MilanJohn DehnerAfter his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsLana TurnerKirk DouglasWalter PidgeonAn unscrupulous movie producer uses an actress, a director and a writer to achieve success.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsMichael RenniePatricia NealHugh MarloweAn alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
- DirectorMichael AndersonJohn FarrowStarsDavid NivenCantinflasFinlay CurrieA Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsRichard WidmarkJean PetersThelma RitterA pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSpencer TracyRobert RyanAnne FrancisA one-armed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsGrant WilliamsRandy StuartApril KentAfter Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsCharlton HestonJack HawkinsStephen BoydAfter a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsRichard BurtonJean SimmonsVictor MatureIn the Roman province of Judea during the 1st century, Roman tribune Marcellus Gallio is ordered to crucify Jesus of Nazareth but is tormented by his guilty conscience afterwards.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsTony CurtisSidney PoitierCara WilliamsTwo chained-together escaped convicts, White and Black, must learn to get along in order to elude capture.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPatricia WaltersNora SwinburneEsmond KnightThe growing pains of three young women contrast with the immutability of the holy Bengal River, around which their daily lives unfold.
- DirectorLaslo BenedekStarsMarlon BrandoMary MurphyRobert KeithTwo rival motorcycle gangs terrorize a small town after one of their leaders is thrown in jail.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsGlenn FordVan HeflinFelicia FarrBroke small-time rancher Dan Evans is hired by the stagecoach line to put big-time captured outlaw leader Ben Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma but Wade's gang tries to free him.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonHamilton LuskeStarsBarbara LuddyLarry RobertsPeggy LeeThe romantic tale of a sheltered uptown Cocker Spaniel dog and a streetwise downtown Mutt.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartRock HudsonArthur KennedyWhen a town boss confiscates homesteaders' supplies after gold is discovered nearby, a tough cowboy risks his life to try and get it to them.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsAlec GuinnessJoan GreenwoodCecil ParkerAn altruistic chemist invents a fabric which resists wear and stain as a boon to humanity, but big business and labor realize it must be suppressed for economic reasons.
- DirectorNicholas RayRobert ParrishStarsSusan HaywardRobert MitchumArthur KennedyRetired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt against the wishes of Merritt's wife who fears the dangers of this rough sport.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsJames StewartWallace FordWilliam H. LynnDue to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane - but he may be wiser than anyone knows.
- 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.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsGene KellyLeslie CaronOscar LevantThree friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGregory PeckAudrey HepburnEddie AlbertA bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
- 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.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsWilliam HoldenNancy OlsonBarry FitzgeraldA sharp-eyed woman spots a man with a gun on a train and her alert to the railroad police helps them in their search for a ruthless gang who have kidnapped a blind heiress.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartJanet LeighRobert RyanA bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsMarilyn MonroeJoseph CottenJean PetersAs two couples are visiting Niagara Falls, tensions between one wife and her husband reach the level of murder.
- DirectorNicholas RayIda LupinoStarsIda LupinoRobert RyanWard BondRough city cop Jim Wilson is disciplined by his captain and is sent upstate, to a snowy mountain town, to help the local sheriff solve a murder case.
- DirectorArthur RipleyStarsRobert MitchumGene BarryJacques AubuchonA veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsWilliam HoldenSophia LorenTrevor HowardDuring World War II, successive tugboat British Captains sent on dangerous salvage missions pass-on the key to a home-port apartment, where a lonely Swiss-Italian young war-widow lives.
- 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.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsErnest BorgnineBetsy BlairEsther MinciottiA middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.
- 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.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsRobert MitchumJean SimmonsMona FreemanAmbulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.