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Best Movies of the 1950s

by kevandasc • Created 4 years ago • Modified 1 week ago
Mostly movies with a few tv shows sprinkled in
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  • 1 - 250
  • 619 titles
  • Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief (1955)

    1. To Catch a Thief

    19551h 46mPG82Metascore
    7.4 (84K)
    A retired jewel thief sets out to prove his innocence after being suspected of returning to his former occupation.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantGrace KellyJessie Royce Landis
  • Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Eva Marie Saint, and Philip Ober in North by Northwest (1959)

    2. North by Northwest

    19592h 16mApproved98Metascore
    8.3 (363K)
    A 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.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantEva Marie SaintJames Mason
  • Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train (1951)

    3. Strangers on a Train

    19511h 41mPG88Metascore
    7.9 (146K)
    A psychopath 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.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsFarley GrangerRobert WalkerRuth Roman
  • Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald, and Victor McLaglen in The Quiet Man (1952)

    4. The Quiet Man

    19522h 9mApproved85Metascore
    7.7 (45K)
    A 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.
    DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraBarry Fitzgerald
  • Grace Kelly and Anthony Dawson in Dial M for Murder (1954)

    5. Dial M for Murder

    19541h 45mPG75Metascore
    8.2 (200K)
    A London playboy plots the perfect murder of his rich, unfaithful Wife.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRay MillandGrace KellyRobert Cummings
    Hitchcock made several classics in the 50s
  • A Christmas Carol (1951)

    6. A Christmas Carol

    19511h 26mApproved
    8.1 (28K)
    Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.
    DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsAlastair SimJack WarnerKathleen Harrison
  • Grace Kelly, James Stewart, Georgine Darcy, Judith Evelyn, and Harry Landers in Rear Window (1954)

    7. Rear Window

    19541h 52mPG100Metascore
    8.5 (552K)
    A bored photographer recovering from a broken leg passes the time by watching his neighbors and begins to suspect one of them of murder.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell Corey
  • Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden in Sabrina (1954)

    8. Sabrina

    19541h 53mApproved72Metascore
    7.6 (74K)
    After her return from school in Paris, a playboy finally takes notice of his family's chauffeur's daughter, who's long had a crush on him, but he questions his more serious brother's motives when he warns against getting involved with her.
    DirectorBilly WilderStarsHumphrey BogartAudrey HepburnWilliam Holden
  • Forbidden Planet (1956)

    9. Forbidden Planet

    19561h 38mG80Metascore
    7.5 (56K)
    A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.
    DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsWalter PidgeonAnne FrancisLeslie Nielsen
  • Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

    10. Witness for the Prosecution

    19571h 56mApproved76Metascore
    8.4 (152K)
    A veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
    DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles Laughton
  • Vertigo (1958)

    11. Vertigo

    19582h 8mPG100Metascore
    8.2 (449K)
    A 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 StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel Geddes
  • Ben-Hur (1959)

    12. Ben-Hur

    19593h 32mG90Metascore
    8.1 (265K)
    A Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, but it's not long before he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
    DirectorWilliam WylerStarsCharlton HestonJack HawkinsStephen Boyd
  • Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Anne Baxter, Yul Brynner, John Carradine, Yvonne De Carlo, John Derek, and Vincent Price in The Ten Commandments (1956)

    13. The Ten Commandments

    19563h 40mG
    7.9 (82K)
    Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
    DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsCharlton HestonYul BrynnerAnne Baxter
  • June Foray, Kathryn Beaumont, Tony Butala, Candy Candido, Paul Collins, Hans Conried, Bobby Driscoll, Robert Ellis, Connie Hilton, Margaret Kerry, Tommy Luske, John Wilder, Jeffrey Silver, and Stuffy Singer in Peter Pan (1953)

    14. Peter Pan

    19531h 17mG76Metascore
    7.3 (161K)
    Wendy and her brothers are whisked away to the magical world of Neverland with the hero of their stories, Peter Pan.
    DirectorsClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonHamilton LuskeStarsBobby DriscollKathryn BeaumontHans Conried
  • I Confess (1953)

    15. I Confess

    19531h 35mApproved68Metascore
    7.2 (25K)
    A priest, who comes under suspicion for murder, cannot clear his name without breaking the seal of the confessional.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMontgomery CliftAnne BaxterKarl Malden
  • Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

    16. Creature from the Black Lagoon

    19541h 19mG68Metascore
    6.9 (37K)
    A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.
    DirectorJack ArnoldStarsRichard CarlsonJulie AdamsRichard Denning
  • House of Wax (1953)

    17. House of Wax

    19531h 28mPG68Metascore
    7.0 (21K)
    An associate burns down a wax museum with the owner inside, but he survives only to become vengeful and murderous.
    DirectorAndré De TothStarsVincent PriceFrank LovejoyPhyllis Kirk
  • Marlene Dietrich, Richard Todd, Michael Wilding, and Jane Wyman in Stage Fright (1950)

    18. Stage Fright

    19501h 51mApproved62Metascore
    7.0 (17K)
    A struggling actress tries to help a friend prove his innocence after he's accused of murdering the husband of a high-society entertainer.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMarlene DietrichJane WymanRichard Todd
  • Father of the Bride (1950)

    19. Father of the Bride

    19501h 32mApproved76Metascore
    7.1 (13K)
    The father of a young woman deals with the emotional pain of her getting married, along with the financial and organizational trouble of arranging the wedding.
    DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsSpencer TracyJoan BennettElizabeth Taylor
  • Father's Little Dividend (1951)

    20. Father's Little Dividend

    19511h 22mNot Rated77Metascore
    6.5 (4.5K)
    Shortly after coming to terms with his daughter's marriage, a father faces the prospect of becoming a grandfather.
    DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsSpencer TracyJoan BennettElizabeth Taylor
  • Gary Cooper, Lloyd Bridges, Lee Van Cleef, Katy Jurado, Ian MacDonald, Robert J. Wilke, and Sheb Wooley in High Noon (1952)

    21. High Noon

    19521h 25mPG89Metascore
    7.9 (114K)
    A 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.
    DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas Mitchell
  • Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen (1951)

    22. The African Queen

    19511h 45mPG91Metascore
    7.7 (87K)
    In 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.
    DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartKatharine HepburnRobert Morley
  • John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter, and Vera Miles in The Searchers (1956)

    23. The Searchers

    19561h 59mApproved94Metascore
    7.8 (101K)
    An 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.
    DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera Miles
  • Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, and Ava Gardner in Mogambo (1953)

    24. Mogambo

    19531h 56mApproved
    6.6 (9.6K)
    On a Kenyan safari, white hunter Victor Marswell has a love triangle with seductive American socialite Eloise Kelly and anthropologist Donald Nordley's cheating wife Linda.
    DirectorJohn FordStarsClark GableGrace KellyAva Gardner
  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

    25. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

    19542h 7mG83Metascore
    7.2 (39K)
    A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.
    DirectorRichard FleischerStarsKirk DouglasJames MasonPaul Lukas

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