MY TOP TEN FAVORITES OF THE 1950's
Call me high brow. Call me low brow. Just don’t call me late for dinner. With any one of these films, I could just as easily plunk down and watch. Some, I invest my attention. Some, I invest my emotion. Some wash over me like whiskey. And some are just good clean fun. These are my favorite films of the 1950’s:
( 1950 ) - “ALL ABOUT EVE” -
( Joseph L. Mankiewicz )
Bette Davis
This movie is perfect...with one exception, Thelma Ritter could have been in it more. No really, the stars aligned to give Bette Davis gives the performance of her career. Great story. Brilliant cast. ( “Sunset Boulevard” is a notch below it. )
1950 Faves: “The Asphalt Jungle” “Born Yesterday” “Caged” “D.O.A.” “Gun Crazy” “In A Lonely Place” “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” “No Way Out” and “Sunset Boulevard.”
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( 1951 ) - “A PLACE IN THE SUN” -
( George Stevens )
Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor
His reach exceeds his grasp. It’s the power of the movies to lead us to root for young beautiful love, over the life of a young woman “in trouble.” ( I’m guilty as charged and you know you had doubts too, come on... )
1951 Faves: “Ace in the Hole” “Anne of the Indies” “Detective Story” “His Kind of Woman” “Pandora & the Flying Dutchman” “A Place in the Sun” “Strangers On A Train” “A Streetcar Named Desire” “The Thing From Another World” and “When Worlds Collide.”
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( 1952 ) - “THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL” -
( Vincente Minnelli )
Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner
Hollywood on Hollywood. Overblown, stereotypes, I love it. Just like we like Hollywood to be. Great title too!
1952 Faves: “Angel Face” “High Noon” “The Marrying Kind” and “The Narrow Margin.”
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( 1953 ) - “NIAGARA” & “A BLUEPRINT FOR MURDER” ( Henry Hathaway & Andrew L. Stone)
Marilyn Monroe and Jean Peters ( Together but separate... )
I can not deny Marilyn. I only wish she had played more baaad girls.
________
Such a close close second, I had to include this in my tip top faves of the fifties. Jean Peters is calculating, steely, no affect...and beautiful. She appeals to my film noir, feminist sensibilities. Her only rival would come sixty years later:
1953 Faves: “Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” “The Big Heat” “I Confess” “It Came From Outer Space” “Mogambo” “On Dangerous Ground” “Pick Up On South Street” “Robot Monster” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”
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( 1954 ) - “THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA” -
( Joseph L. Mankiewicz )
Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner
More Hollywood on Hollywood, only this time, earthy Ava is the focus of it all. Her fate is already written. Even Bogie can’t save her.
1954 Faves: “The Caine Mutiny” “Demetrius & the Gladiator” “Dial M for Murder” “Johnny Guitar” “Magnificent Obsession” “Pushover” and “Rear Window.”
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( 1955 ) - “FEMALE ON THE BEACH” -
( Joseph Pevney )
Joan Crawford, Jeff Chandler, Natalie Schaefer and Cecil Kellaway
It’s a “woman’s picture.” You don’t know HOW much I hate that term, but it fits here...and I love it. It’s an easy movie for me to watch. ...And so is Jeff Chandler as the object.
1955 Faves: “All That Heaven Allows” “Bride o the Monster” “Summertime” “Tarantula” and “Love Me Or Leave Me.”
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( 1956 ) - “WRITTEN ON THE WIND” -
( Douglas Sirk )
Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack
I should have had “Written On the Wind” listed in my section for 1956. How I neglected to add that to my list, ( ha, so busy being a wise-acre about “The Ten Commandments” I guess. ) But I
do know that it is my
favorite film OF 1956. It has all the big emotions:
Jealousy /
Love /
Worship and the ever powerful:
Unrequited.
My other faves of 1956 are: “The Earth vs. The Flying Saucers” “Julie” “The Killing” “A Kiss Before Dying” “The Bad Seed” “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “The Ten Commandments.”
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( 1957 ) - “THE TATTERED DRESS” -
( Jack Arnold )
Jeanne Crain and Jeff Chandler
There’s something lurid about this movie, in a quiet way. Besides, it has Jeff Chandler. Loving “Sweet Smell of Success” but that movies takes commitment and concentration.
1957 Faves: “20 Million Miles to Earth” “The Amazing Colossal Man” “Attack of the Crab Monsters” “Beginning of the End” “Black Scorpions” “A Face in the Crowd” “The Incredible Shrinking Man” “Paths of Glory” and “Sweet Smell of Success.”
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( 1958 ) - “VERTIGO” -
( Alfred Hitchcock )
Kim Novak
The poignant yearning tugs at my heart strings.
1958 Faves: “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” “Bonjour Tristesse” “Screaming Mimi” “Tarnished Angels” “War of the Colossal Beast” and “Witness for the Prosecution.”
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( 1959 ) - “PILLOW TALK” -
( Michael Gordon )
Doris Day and Rock Hudson
This battle of the sexes, is just so much fun, it should be illegal. The stars look gorgeous, the clothes and the sets...well, let’s just say that everything about this film looks as good as its stars. You can’t have a heart and dislike this film. If you do, don’t tell me...
I’m not sure how far the Lists thread will go, but you can include the other two films of the Day - Hudson trilogy among my favorite films for their year.
The stellar acting in
“The Young Philadelphians” makes this one my close second favorite film of 1959.
1959 Faves: “Anatomy of a Murder” “The Giant Behemoth” “The Best of Everything” “Imitation of Life” “Plan 9 From Outer Space” “A Summer Place” “Warlock” and “ Wasp Woman” and “The Young Philadelphians.”
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I've seen these directors' films multiple times:
Jack Arnold -
2, George Cukor -
2, Delmer Daves -
2, Edward Dymytryk -
2, Bert I. Gordon -
3, Alfred Hitchcock -
5, Nathan Juran -
2, Elia Kazan -
2, Eugene Lourie -
2, Joseph L. Mankiewicz -
3, Rudolph Mate -
2, Gerd Oswald -
2, Otto Preminger -
3, Nicholas Ray -
4, Douglas Sirk -
4, Andrew L. Stone -
2, Billy Wilder -
4, Ed Wood -
2.