1950s in film
From Free net encyclopedia
Films of the 1950s were of a broad scope and wide variety. As a result of the coming of television, the studios and companies sought to put audiences back in theaters. Using the strength of film production, they used a more broad and vast scope in presenting their films through widescreen and big-approach methods, such as Cinemascope, VistaVision, and Cinerama as well as gimmicks like 3-D film. Big production and spectacle films perfect for this gained popularity with the many historic and fantasy epics like The Robe, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, The Ten Commandments, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, and Ben-Hur. These big-scoped films thrived internationally too such as Russian fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko's mythological epics, Sadko, Ilya Muromets, and Sampo and Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's historic Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and The Hidden Fortress. Toshiro Mifune who starred in those Kurosawa films also starred in the color spectacle Samurai Trilogy.
This spectacle approach coupled with Cold War paranoia, a renewed interest in science from the atomic bomb, as well as increased interest in the mysteries of outer space and other forteana lent itself well to what this film decade is most well-known for, science fiction. The science fiction genre had its golden age during this decade with such notable films as The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing from Another World, The War of the Worlds, It Came from Outer Space, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Them!, This Island Earth, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, and Forbidden Planet. Companies such as American International Pictures, Japan's Toho, and Britain's Hammer Film Productions were created to solely produce films of the fantastique genres.
The decade was just as adept at character and realistic films. The highly noted actors, James Stewart, John Wayne, and Marlon Brando were at the peak of their popularity. Stewart starring in Winchester '73 and Wayne starring in John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy and The Searchers revitalized the western. Brando mastered versatile roles in films such as A Streetcar Named Desire, The Wild One, Julius Caesar, On the Waterfront, Guys and Dolls, The Teahouse of the August Moon, and Sayonara.
The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock was at the peak of his craft with films such as Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, and North by Northwest with James Stewart starring in all but two.
List of 1950s films
Films made in the 1950s include:
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- The Abominable Snowman (1957)
- Ace in the Hole (1951)
- The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1954)
- The African Queen (1951)
- All About Eve (1950)
- The Alligator People (1959)
- The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)
- Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
- Angels in the Outfield (1951)
- Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)
- Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
- Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
B
- The Battle of the River Plate (1959)
- The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
- Ben-Hur (1959)
- The Blob (1958)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955)
- A Bucket of Blood (1959)
C
- The Caine Mutiny (1954)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
D
- Daddy-O (1958)
- Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- The Deadly Mantis (1957)
- Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954)
- Destination Moon (1950)
- Les Diaboliques (1954)
- Dial M for Murder (1954)
- Dracula (1958)
E
- Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
- The Enemy Below (1957)
F
- A Face in the Crowd (1957)
- The Flying Leathernecks (1951)
- The Flying Saucer (1950)
- Forbidden Planet (1956)
- The 400 Blows (1959)
- The Frogmen (1951)
G
- Girls Town (1959)
- Godzilla (1954)
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)
- Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
- Guys and Dolls (1955)
H
- Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
- Harvey (1950)
- The Hidden Fortress (1959)
- A Hill in Korea (1956)
- High Noon (1952)
- The Horse Soldiers (1959)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
- House of Bamboo (1955)
- House of Wax (1953)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956)
I
- I Vampiri (1957)
- It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
- Ikiru (1952)
- I'm All Right Jack (1959)
- The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
- Invaders from Mars (1953)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- Invasion U.S.A. (1952)
- It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
- It Came from Outer Space (1953)
- It Conquered the World (1956)
J
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
- Julius Caesar (1953)
K
- The Killing (1956)
- King Solomon's Mines (1950)
- Kronos (1957)
L
- The Ladykillers (1955)
- Lust for Life (1956)
M
- A Man Escaped (1956)
- The Man from Laramie (1955)
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
- The Mole People (1956)
- The Monolith Monsters (1957)
- The Mummy (1959)
- The Mysterians (1957)
N
- Night of the Hunter (1955)
- Nights of Cabiria (1957)
- North by Northwest (1959)
O
- Los olvidados (1950)
- On the Waterfront (1954)
- One Froggy Evening (1955)
- Ordet (1955)
P
- Pather Pachali (1955)
- Paths of Glory (1957)
- Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Q
- The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
- Quatermass 2 (1957)
R
- Rashomon (1950)
- Rear Window (1954)
- The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
- Return of the Fly (1959)
- Revenge of the Creature (1955)
- Rififi (1955)
- Rio Bravo (1959)
- Rio Grande (1950)
- The Robe (1953)
- Robin Hood Daffy (1958)
- Rocketship X-M (1950)
- Rodan (1956)
- Roman Holiday (1953)
S
- Sampo (1959)
- Samurai I : Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
- Samurai II : Duel At Ichijoji Temple (1955)
- Samurai III : Duel At Ganryu Island (1956)
- Sayonara (1957)
- The Searchers (1956)
- The Seven Samurai (1954)
- The Seventh Seal (1957)
- The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
- Singin' in the Rain (1952)
- Some Like It Hot (1959)
- Space Invasion of Lapland (1959)
- Stalag 17 (1953)
- The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952)
- La Strada (1954)
- The Strange World of Planet X (1957)
- Strangers on a Train (1951)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Sunset Blvd. (1950)
- Swamp Women (1955)
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
T
- Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959)
- The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
- The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)
- The Ten Commandments (1956)
- Them! (1954)
- The Thing from Another World (1951)
- This Island Earth (1955)
- Throne of Blood (1957)
- To Catch a Thief (1955)
- To Hell and Back (1955)
- Tokyo Story (1953)
- Touch of Evil (1958)
- The Trollenberg Terror (1958)
- 12 Angry Men (1957)
- 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
U
- Ugetsu (1953)
- Umberto D. (1952)
- The Unknown Soldier (1955)
V
- Vertigo (1958)
- Viva Zapata! (1952)
W
- Wages of Fear (1953)
- The War of the Worlds (1953)
- The Warlock (1959)
- What's Opera, Doc? (1957)
- When Worlds Collide (1951)
- The Wild One (1953)
- Wild Strawberries 1957
- Winchester '73 (1950)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
X
- X the Unknown (1956)
Y
- The Young Lions (1958)
Z
- Zarak (1956)
- Zero Hour! (1957)