TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1950s


1959
1. THE 400 BLOWS (François Truffaut)
2. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Alfred Hitchcock)
3. ANATOMY OF A MURDER (Otto Preminger)
4. RIO BRAVO (Howard Hawks)
5. RIDE LONESOME (Budd Boetticher)
6. SOME LIKE IT HOT (Billy Wilder)
7. ROOM AT THE TOP (Jack Clayton)
8. HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR (Alain Resnais)
9. PICKPOCKET (Robert Bresson)
10. WARLOCK (Edward Dmytryk)

Honorable Mention
EYES WITHOUT A FACE, THE HORSE SOLDIERS, IMITATION OF LIFE, and THE WORLD OF APU

Notable Shorts
ALL THE BOYS ARE CALLED PATRICK (Jean-luc Godard)

1958
1. VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. TOUCH OF EVIL (Orson Welles)
3. HIDDEN FORTRESS (Akira Kurosawa)
4. MAN OF THE WEST (Anthony Mann)
5. BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE (Budd Boetticher)
6. THE MUSIC ROOM (Satyajit Ray)
7. TERROR IN A TEXAS TOWN (Joseph H. Lewis)
8. PARTY GIRL (Nicholas Ray)
9. THE MAGICIAN (Ingmar Bergman)
10. ASHES AND DIAMONDS (Andrezj Wadja)

Honorable Mention
SOME CAME RUNNING

Notable Shorts
A Movie (Bruce Conner), LE CHANT DU STYRENE (Alain Resnais)

1957
1. SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (Alexander Mackendrick)
2. PATHS OF GLORY (Stanley Kubrick)
3. THE TALL T (Budd Boetticher)
4. THRONE OF BLOOD (Akira Kurosawa)
5. BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (David Lean)
6. THE SEVENTH SEAL (Ingmar Bergman)
7. THE CRANES ARE FLYING (Mikhail Kalatozov)
8. WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? (Frank Tashlin)
9. A FACE IN THE CROWD (Elia Kazan)
10.12 ANGRY MEN (Sidney Lumet)

Honorable Mention
DECISION AT SUNDOWN, ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS, NIGHT OF THE DEMON, NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, WILD STRAWBERRIES, WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, and WRITTEN ON THE WIND.

Notable Shorts
LES MISTONS (François Truffaut)

1956
1. A MAN ESCAPED (Robert Bresson)
2. THE SEARCHERS (John Ford)
3. THE MYSTERY OF PICASSO (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
4. SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (Budd Boetticher)
5. THE COURT JESTER (Melvin Frank and Norman Panama)
6. THE WRONG MAN (Alfred Hitchcock)
7. BIGGER THAN LIFE (Nicholas Ray)
8. THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT (Frank Tashlin)
9. FRIENDLY PERSUASION (William Wyler)
10. APARAJITO (Satyajit Ray)

Honorable Mention
THE HARDER THEY FALL, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, and THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

1955
1. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (Nicholas Ray)
2. BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (John Sturges)
3. THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (Anthony Mann)
4. THE FAR COUNTRY (Anthony Mann)
5. ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (Douglas Sirk)
6. LOLA MONTES (Max Ophüls)
7. RUN FOR COVER (Nicholas Ray)
8. DIABOLIQUE (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
9. TO CATCH A THIEF (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. BOB LE FLAMBEUR (Jean-Pierre Melville)

Honorable Mention
THE BIG COMBO, KISS ME DEADLY, THE LADYKILLERS, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, OKLAHOMA! SMILES ON A SUMMER NIGHT, and TROUBLE WITH HARRY.

Notable Shorts
BLINKITY BLANK (Norman McLaren), NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais)

1954
1. THE SEVEN SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa)
2. ON THE WATERFRONT (Elia Kazan)
3. REAR WINDOW (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray)
5. RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 (Don Siegel)
6. TRACK OF THE CAT (William A. Wellman)
7. A STAR IS BORN (George Cukor)
8. CRIME WAVE (Andre De Toth)
9. VERA CRUZ (Robert Aldrich)
10. DIAL M FOR MURDER (Alfred Hitchcock)

Honorable Mention
HOBSON'S CHOICE, SABRINA, and SUDDENLY

1953
1. PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (Samuel Fuller)
2. WAGES OF FEAR (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
3. THE BIG HEAT (Fritz Lang)
4. THE NAKED SPUR (Anthony Mann)
5. THE BAND WAGON (Vincente Minnelli)
6. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (Howard Hawks)
7. STALAG 17 (Billy WIlder)
8. MADAME DE... (Max Ophuls)
9. THE MAN BETWEEN (Carol Reed)
10. TOKYO STORY (Yasujiro Ozu)

Honorable Mention
THE MAN FROM ALAMO

Notable Shorts
DUCK AMUCK (Chuck Jones), DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24 1/2TH CENTURY (Chuck Jones), EAUX D'ARTIFACE (Kenneth Anger)

1952
1. IKIRU (Akira Kurosawa)
2. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (Stanely Donen and Gene Kelly)
3. THE NARROW MARGIN (Richard Fleischer)
4. UMBERTO D. (Vittorio de Sica)
5. SON OF PALEFACE (Frank Tashlin)
6. BEND OF THE RIVER (Anthony Mann)
7. THE LUSTY MEN (Nicholas Ray)
8. THE CRIMSON PIRATE (Robert Siodmak)
9. MOULIN ROUGE (John Huston)
10. THE BIG SKY (Howard Hawks)

Honorable Mention
FIVE FINGERS, HIGH NOON, KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL, and RANCHO NOTORIOUS

Notable Shorts
RABBIT SEASONING (Chuck Jones)

1951
1. STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. SUSANA (Luis Bunuel)
3. ACE IN THE HOLE (Billy Wilder)
4. THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (Charles Chricton)
5. THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (Christian Nimby)
6. ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Clyde Geronimi)
7. THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT (Alexander Mackindrick)
8. PEOPLE WILL TALK (Joesph L. Maniewicz)
9. TALES OF HOFFMAN (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
10. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Robert Wise)

Honorable Mention
MAN IN THE SADDLE

Notable Shorts
DRIP-ALONG DAFFY (Chuck Jones), PEN POINT PERCUSSION (Norman McLaren)

Most Overrated
THE AFRICAN QUEEN

1950
1. SUNSET BOULEVARD (Billy Wilder)
2. IN A LONELY PLACE (Nicholas Ray)
3. STARS IN MY CROWN (Jaques Tourneur)
4. WINCHESTER '73 (Anthony Mann)
5. THE FURIES (Anthony Mann)
6. RASHOMON (Akira Kurosawa)
7. ALL ABOUT EVE (Joesph L. Maniewicz)
8. PANIC IN THE STREETS (Elia Kazan)
9. THE GUNFIGHTER (Henry King)
10. LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES (John-Pierre Melville)

Honorable Mention
ASPHALT JUNGLE, DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST, THE FLAME AND THE ARROW, and SIDE STREET

Most Overrated
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