So I love me some older films. Last year I came here and asked for 60s recommendations and got some amazing movie recs. Now I want some from the 50s.
Ones I enjoyed so far are films like:
- Rear Window
- Sunset Boulevard
- Vertigo
- Scrooge (or A Christmas Carol the one with Alastair Sim)
- Stalag 17
The only ones I’ve seen I’m a bit just kind of eh on are Titfield Thunderbolt and Blood of Dracula. I haven’t seen anything I think is outright bad though.
Edit to add movies I’ve seen that people brought up:
- On the Waterfront
- Giant
- Strangers on a Train
- North by Northwest
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- 12 Angry Men
- The Ladykillers
- Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday
- Seven Samurai
- Wages of Fear
- Rashomon
- Invasion of the Bodysnatchers
- The African Queen
- Les Diaboliques
- Mon Oncle
- The Seventh Seal
- Forbidden Planet
- Harvey
- Singin’ In The Rain
Many good movies have been mentioned here already, but I’m quite surprised that no-one yet has mentioned these:
- High Noon (1952)
- Roman Holiday (1953)
- Sabrina (1954)
- Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)
- Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
- Touch of Evil (1958)
- Vertigo (1958)
- North by Northwest (1959)
North by Northwest is an absolute classic. I remember watching it in a high school film class, but I don’t think it really hit me till I rewatched it much later.
Reviewing media I’ve tagged ‘1950s’ on NeoDB & rated highly:
- Devil Girl From Mars (1954) scifi
- Les Diaboliques (1955) thriller
- Forbidden Planet (1956) scifi
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) musical comedy
- ゴジラ Godzilla (1954) scifi
- In a Lonely Place (1950) thriller
- The Ladykillers (1955) crime comedy
- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) crime comedy
- Singin’ in the Rain (1952) musical about Hollywood itself
- I soliti ignoti (1958) crime comedy
- Stalag 17 (1953) POW drama
- 蜘蛛巣城 Throne of Blood (1957) drama & intrigue
More:
Bicycles Thieves (48)
Some Like It Hot is a good one
Some I haven’t seen mentioned:
- The Night of the Hunter
- Ikiru
- Paths of Glory
- Los Olvidados
- El
- The Apu Trilogy
- Sansho the Bailiff
- Nights of Cabiria
Edit: was heading out earlier. Here are some more:
- The 400 Blows
- Tokyo Story
- Wild Strawberries
- Ordet
- The Sweet Smell of Success
- Johnny Guitar
- A Man Escaped
- Pickpocket
- Hiroshima Mon Amour
- Ugetsu
- The Cranes are Flying
- The Bridge Over River Kwai
- High Noon
- Rio Bravo
- The Searchers
From my own viewing experience, these are my recommendations that I did not see yet in the thread:
- Throne of Blood (1957)
Macbeth in feudal Japan.
- The Killing (1956)
Heist movie, early Kubrick
Some early sci-fi. Superior to the Keanu Reeves remake.
-
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
-
Giant (1956)
A pair of James Dean roles. Unbelievable, raw talent.
- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Un peu de film noir.
- On the Beach (1959)
Goes well with Dr. Strangelove (1962) and Fail-Safe (1962).
Previously mentioned, and I can’t help but include:
-
Vertigo
-
Rashomon
Edit: comments and a revision below.
- Paths of Glory (1957) — someone beat me by an hour.
Giant feels line a “big screen” movie, even when you watch it on a tv. If there’s a theater near you that shows vintage movies on a large e screen, I’d ask them if they ever show this one.
Giant was one I watched expecting a kind of alright film, but came out of it just in love with everything. It’s the only James Dean movie I’ve seen, but I have a few on my watchlist. Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, Letter to Jane, and Has Anybody Seen My Gal.
A touch of evil, that opening sequence is fantastic
The creature from the black lagoon and the incredible shrinking man are both classic 50s horror movies along with the original version of the fly, the blob, and the thing. The lost skeleton of cadavera is a pretty funny parody of the style too.
The day the earth stood still for some 50s sci-fi, and Hitchcock hits his prime in the mid to late 50s for suspense
The Day the Earth Stood Still
hate to beat a dead stewart but, harvey?
On the waterfront
Brando just out there setting a bar never to be surpassed
Love this one! I’ll edit my post to mention it.
First time I ever watched it, I kinda expected to be underwhelmed. One of those movies you hear about so much that it can’t actually be that good, right?
Blew me away. Plot and pacing were very good, and the acting was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.
Casablanca
Casablanca
A truly great movie, but from 1942, almost an entire decade too old for this question.
I remember enjoying Strangers on a Train (1951).
Yeah I’m working my way through Hitchcock’s filmography and really enjoyed this one. One of the most suspenseful films I’ve seen I think.
- Zero Hour! (1957)
There’s a very well known remake of this movie under a different title. Odds are that you’ve already seen the remake, so surely you’ll find it somewhat familiar.
