In the modern day era, extra folks are watching films at household. That tends to make this a good time to catch up on critical cinema classics in your household theater, with timeless, esteemed films readily offered across digital platforms and apps. Several of the greatest international and Hollywood films in history are from the 1950s decade.

The 1950s saw the height of the golden age of Hollywood and the studio method. Revolutionary filmmaking and industrial hits intersected. Quite a few of the decade’s finest hold up as essential entertainment for film buffs as effectively as extra casual audiences. These are have to-see genre-defining films that continue to be influential in the business right now.

13 ‘Vertigo’ (1958)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Just after a Very best Image win for Rebecca in the 1940s, Alfred Hitchcock‘s profession flourished in Hollywood. The ’50s saw the release of quite a few of his greatest and most well known performs, which includes Strangers on a Train, Rear Window and North by Northwest.

Initially a essential and industrial disappointment, the thematically dark and artistically vibrant Vertigo stars Jimmy Stewart against kind as a toxic private eye in a spiraling, destructive net of obsession with a mysterious blonde (Kim Novak). It really is now regarded as Hitchcock’s finest, beating Citizen Kane for the honor of greatest film ever created in Sight &amp Sound’s 2012 critics’ poll.

Vertigo

A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his private demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly lovely lady he has been hired to trail, who might be deeply disturbed.

Release Date

Could 28, 1958

Cast

James Stewart , Kim Novak , Barbara Bel Geddes , Tom Helmore , Henry Jones , Raymond Bailey

Runtime

128

Primary Genre

Mystery

Writers

Alec Coppel , Samuel A. Taylor , Pierre Boileau , Thomas Narcejac , Maxwell Anderson

Tagline

Alfred Hitchcock engulfs you in a whirlpool of terror and tension

12 ’12 Angry Men’ (1957)

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Henry Fonda plays heroic Juror eight in Sidney Lumet‘s life-affirming legal drama, 12 Angry Males, which is a masterpiece centered on the trial of an inner-city teen suspected of murder. Juror 8’s compassion casts doubts upon a previously apathetic trial, and a chaotic however believed-provoking debate ensues amongst the effectively-written characters.

The legacy and accomplishment of 12 Angry Males is tough to overstate. Restricted practically totally to a single set with astounding performances and revolutionary camera function that tends to make it relentlessly compelling, the image is universal in its understanding of distinctive personalities struggling to discover popular ground and get along.

12 Angry Males

Release Date

August 17, 1997

Runtime

117

11 ‘Some Like It Hot’ (1959)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder‘s irreverent sex comedy stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as struggling musicians who cross-dress in hiding just after witnessing a crime. Some Like it Hot co-stars an entertaining and hilarious Marilyn Monroe as the lovesick singer and ukulele strummer Sugar Kane.

A huge hit with critics and at the box workplace, Some Like It Hot primarily served a death blow to old Hollywood’s code of censorship, with uncommonly frank depictions of taboo subjects. Often cited as the greatest comedy ever created, Some Like it Hot is a reference point for Wilder’s mastery across practically all genres.

Some Like It Hot

Just after two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as girls, but additional complications set in.

Release Date

March 19, 1959

Director

Billy Wilder

Runtime

121 minutes

Primary Genre

Comedy

Writers

Billy Wilder , I.A.L. Diamond , Robert Thoeren

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ten ‘The Searchers’ (1956)

Directed by John Ford

A powerful contender for greatest American Western ever created, John Ford‘s epic stars John Wayne as a Civil War vet who returns household only to quickly discover that an individual has abducted members of his brother’s loved ones. The revered Western follows his search for his kidnapped niece (Natalie Wood), which quickly leads him deep into Comanche territory.

In addition to vibrant colour filmmaking and widescreen vistas that nevertheless pop, The Searchers is an ever-timely, ahead-of-its-time appear at bigotry, and the weight of retribution. It should really be deemed critical viewing for any fan of Westerns.

The Searchers

An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-lengthy journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches just after the rest of his brother’s loved ones is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.

Release Date

Could 26, 1956

Director

John Ford

Cast

John Wayne , Jeffrey Hunter , Vera Miles , Ward Bond , Natalie Wood

Runtime

119 minutes

Primary Genre

Western

Writers

Frank S. Nugent , Alan Le Could

9 ‘Sunset Boulevard’ (1950)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Arguably Hollywood’s greatest-ever film about itself, Billy Wilder’s esteemed noir stars Gloria Swanson as a washed-up silent film star who draws a struggling screenwriter (William Holden) into her globe of madness as she plots a return to the screen. The young screenwriter believes he can use her for his personal ambitions, but quickly finds himself entangled in a messy and hazardous circumstance.

A single of the fairly handful of films with the distinction of becoming nominated in all 4 acting Oscar categories, Sunset Boulevard is an entertaining, artistically adroit black comedy whose truths about the entertainment business nevertheless hold relevance.

eight ‘All About Eve’ (1950)

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Bette Davis‘ all-time most memorable turn is in Joseph L. Mankiewicz‘s backstage dramedy, winner of six Oscars which includes Very best Image. The screen legend stars as stage veteran Margo Channing, who is navigating a midlife crisis as a hungry, ruthless younger star (Anne Baxter) performs her way up the totem pole.

Primarily based on the 1946 brief story “The Wisdom of Eve” by Mary Orr, All About Eve is such a potent function of acting and filmmaking craft that it really is unlikely to ever age. It really is a actually flawless film with a script that ends up on each and every roundup of the finest screenplays, which is a thing that will most likely never ever alter.

All About Eve

A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater close friends.

Release Date

October six, 1950

Director

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Cast

Bette Davis , Anne Baxter , George Sanders , Celeste Holm , Gary Merrill , Hugh Marlowe

Runtime

138

Primary Genre

Drama

Writers

Joseph L. Mankiewicz , Erich Kästner , Mary Orr

Tagline

It really is all about girls…and their guys!

7 ‘Rebel With no a Cause’ (1955)

Directed by Nicholas Ray

A classic account of youthful unrest, Nicholas Ray‘s widescreen drama is 1 of 3 photos that defined James Dean’s legendary, tragically brief profession (along with Giant and East of Eden). Rebel With no a Trigger hit theaters almost a month just after Dean’s fatal auto crash in September 1955.

Dean’s most iconic film co-stars Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. They play a trio of emotionally confused middle-class teens in Los Angeles. Just after the troublemaker, Jim Stark (Dean), arrives in a new town, he desires to begin fresh. This noble target is complex by a friendship that develops amongst him and his classmate Plato (Mineo) and by a crush he types on Judy (Wood), who’s currently in a partnership.

six ‘Godzilla’ (1954)

Directed by Ishirō Honda

Particularly in light of the current inspired excesses of box-workplace hits like 2014’s reboot, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire, and even the awesome if fairly low-fi innovation and excitement of final year’s Godzilla Minus A single), it really is striking how quiet and somber a film began it all.

In Ishirō Honda‘s original Gojira, bomb testing awakens an ancient beast that then sets its sights (and its fire breath) on terrorizing Japan. The handmade really feel of Gojira is extra appealingly retro than dated, and it really is nevertheless a strikingly relevant film fueled by the aftershock of the Second Globe War and increasing international paranoia. It really is a classic monster film it really is a lot extra than that, as well.

Godzilla (1954)

American nuclear weapons testing benefits in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.

Release Date

November three, 1954

Director

Ishirô Honda

Cast

Takashi Shimura , Akihiko Hirata , Akira Takarada , Momoko Kôchi

Runtime

96 minutes

Primary Genre

Sci-Fi

Writers

Takeo Murata , Ishirô Honda , Shigeru Kayama , Tomoyuki Tanaka

five ‘The Evening of the Hunter’ (1955)

Directed by Charles Laughton

A single of the strangest films you happen to be most likely ever to see, and completely 1 of the greatest. A German Expressionism-accented tale of a compact-town serial killer, The Evening of the Hunter‘s singularity and lurid content material repulsed audiences. Charles Laughton‘s filmmaking profession unsurprisingly ended abruptly.

For decades now, The Evening of the Hunter has been re-assessed as a frightening masterpiece.Robert Mitchum‘s false prophet Harry Powell is amongst the most unsettling villains in film history. Reverend Powell is a religious fanatic by means of and by means of, who also takes place to be a ruthless serial killer who stalks girls ahead of working with their sexuality to lure in guys.

The Evening of the Hunter

A self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young youngsters are reluctant to inform him exactly where their genuine dad hid the $ten,000 he’d stolen in a robbery.

Release Date

July 26, 1955

Director

Charles Laughton

Cast

Robert Mitchum , Shelley Winters , Lillian Gish , James Gleason

Runtime

92 Minutes

Primary Genre

Noir

four ‘Ben-Hur’ (1959)

Directed by William Wyler

From the book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, William Wyler‘s massively budgeted epic tells the story of a wrongfully accused Jewish noble whose life parallels the life of Jesus and events of the New Testament. This is star Charlton Heston‘s greatest and most iconic efficiency, and Ben-Hur, well-known for its breathtaking climactic chariot race, set an all-time record for Oscar wins only matched by <em>Titanic </em>and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11 in total).

This is not the only version of Ben-Hur on screen. In addition to a brief film from the silent era, a rather magnificent 1925 function can be readily located on the internet. A half-hearted 2016 remake is, however, hilarious. It bombed.

Ben-Hur

Just after a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman pal in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.

Release Date

November 18, 1959

Director

William Wyler

Cast

Charlton Heston , Jack Hawkins , Haya Harareet , Stephen Boyd , Hugh Griffith , Martha Scott

Runtime

212 minutes

Writers

Lew Wallace , Karl Tunberg , Maxwell Anderson , S.N. Behrman , Christopher Fry , Gore Vidal

Tagline

The Entertainment Practical experience of a Lifetime!

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three ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952)

Directed by Stanley Donen

Though Singin’ in the Rain was deemed a modest results in its day, StanleyDonen‘s splashy Technicolor musical comedy is now oft-cited as the higher point of its genre. Several of the greatest musical numbers ever on film are right here, which includes the title track, Donald O’Connor‘s epically comic “Make ‘Em Laugh,” and the extended “Broadway Melody.”

In the renowned film, Gene Kelly stars as a silent film star adjusting to the business-shaking dawn of the talkies. Kelly plays Don Lockwood, who is frequently cast alongside Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) as a romantic couple. When their most current film is turned into a musical, Lina struggles to discover her voice and is frustrated that the studio has decided to employ aspiring actor Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) to record more than her voice.

Singin’ in the Rain

Release Date

April ten, 1952

Director

Stanley Donen , Gene Kelly

Runtime

103 minutes

two ‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Arguably the greatest and most influential action film of all time, Akira Kurosawa‘s legendary masterpiece chronicles the plight of farmers in feudal Japan, who appear to samurai for defense from bandits as harvest draws close to. This is 1 of the most completely composed motion photos in history, as well-known for its lighting and immaculate camera function as it is for its sharply drawn characters and uniformly fantastic, timeless performances.

The mark of Seven Samurai is apparent in as well quite a few films that followed to count. The film’s likeness to an American Western was noted by critics from the jump, so it only tends to make sense that the most well-known of these films is John Sturges‘ iconic 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven.

Seven Samurai

A poor village beneath attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to assist them defend themselves.

Release Date

April 26, 1954

Director

Akira Kurosawa

Cast

Toshiro Mifune , Takashi Shimura

Runtime

207 minutes

Primary Genre

Drama

Production Enterprise

Toho

1 ‘Roman Holiday’ (1953)

Directed by William Wyler

It really is tough to picture a extra ideal film for Valentine’s Day than William Wyler’s bittersweet rom-com starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, as a princess and the journalist she has a fling with. It begins when Princess Ann escapes her European tour for a evening whilst in Rome exactly where an initially unfortunate occasion quickly turns into a meet-cute when American reporter Joe Bradley (Peck) finds her passed out on a park bench.

Co-written by blacklisted screenwriter Donald Trumbo (his name was removed from the credits till current years), Roman Vacation was a breakthrough for Hepburn, who won the Oscar for Very best Actress. It really is maybe the crown jewel of Hepburn’s storied Hollywood legacy. It really is not possible to discover a extra endearing rom-com than Roman Vacation.

Roman Vacation

A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in like with an American newsman in Rome.

Release Date

August 27, 1953

Director

William Wyler

Runtime

118 minutes

Primary Genre

Romantic Comedy