BEST MOVIES OF THE 1950s

As with our previous polls, please list your top twenty five films of the 1950s in the form of comments below. As ever, the Movie Timeline 1950-1959 on the right sidebar will confirm films of the decade if you’re unsure and be a generally useful source of information (ie. A Bout de Souffle and Peeping Tom do count as 1959, L’Avventura meanwhile doesn’t, and would be 1960). The official announcement of the poll will be made by Sam in the upcoming days, but votes can be cast as of now…I begin my top 50 countdown (of which obviously only the top 25 will count) this morning…Allan

132 Comments »

132 Responses

on February 3, 2009 at 4:12 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Again in no particular order barring perhaps the first one:

1)Seven Samurai (Kurosawa)
2)Seventh Seal (Bergman)
3)Pathar Panchali (S Ray)
4)Vertigo (Hitchcock)
5)Ikiru (Kurosawa)
6)Throne of Blood (Kurosawa)
7)Earrings of Madam De (Ophuls)
8)Wild Strawberries (Bergman)
9)Searchers (Ford)
10)Ordet (Dreyer)
11)La Strada (Fellini)
12)Breathless (Godard)
13)Tokyo Twilight (Ozu)
14)Ugetsu (Mizoguchi)
15)Chikamatsu (Mizoguchi)
16)Sansho (Mizoguchi)
17)Lola Montes (Ophuls)
18)Monica (Bergman)
19)Sound of the Mountain (Naruse)
20)Ashes and Diamonds (Wajda)
21)Music Room (S Ray)
22)Nights of Cabiria (Fellini)
23)Rashomon (Kurosawa)
24)Sawdust and Tinsel (Bergman)
25)Voyage to Italy (Rossellini)

runners up which could frankly be in the top 25 (I am placing them below because I am forced to):

1)North by Northwest (Hitchcock)
2)I Vitelloni (Fellini)
3)Illusion Travels by Streetcar (Bunuel)
4)Tokyo Story (Ozu)
5)Aparajito ( S Ray)
6)World of Apu (S Ray)
7)Bitter Victory (N Ray)
8)Early Summer (Ozu)
9)Hiroshima Mon Amour (Resnais)
10)Lower Depths (Kurosawa)
11)Pickpocket (Bresson)
12)Fires in the Plain (Ichikawa)
13)Magician (Bergman)
14)Rear Window (Hitchcock)
15)Street of Shame (Mizoguchi)
16)Flowing (Naruse)
17)Death of a Cyclist (Bardem)
18)Floating Clouds (Naruse)
19)Sunset Boulevard (Wilder)
20)Limelight (Chaplin)
21)Il Grido (Antonioni)
22)Wages of Fear (Clouzot)
23)Repast (Naruse)
24)Oharu (Mizoguchi)
25)Ace in the Hole (Wilder)
- on September 3, 2012 at 2:41 pm | Reply FerdyonFilms (@FerdyonFilms)
  
  1955
  
  The Ladykillers
  Les Diaboliques
  Pather Panchali
  The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz
  I Live in Fear
  Floating Clouds
  Kiss Me Deadly
  Rififi
  Lola Montes
  Night and Fog
  Oklahoma!
  The Seven Year Itch
  Smiles of a Summer Night
  Love Me or Leave Me
  Marty
  Summertime
  Il bidone
  To Catch a Thief
  Mister Roberts
  New York Confidential
  - on September 3, 2012 at 4:21 pm Sam Juliano
    
    Well Marilyn, this is a terrific and diverse list of films, and I am with you on practically every last one!!!! And I know you have seen many of tyhis group at the Music Box to boot!
on February 3, 2009 at 4:14 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Magnificent list Kaleem!!! And the runner-up listing is equally distinguished. You beat me to the punch, I am compiling my list right now! LOL!
on February 3, 2009 at 5:33 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Thanks very much Sam. In no other list did I regret having to place so many films in the second tier. This is one of the reasons why (and to get back to my old hobby horse!) I find lists so problematic beyond a point.
on February 3, 2009 at 5:45 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

By the way my top 25 has 4 Kurosawas and 4 Bergmans… that almost a third of the list! Then you throw in the 3 Mizoguchis and it’s 45% or so of the list!
on February 3, 2009 at 5:47 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Indeed, Kaleem, I’m having great difficulty with the fact that those iconic names are dominating my own list as well.
on February 3, 2009 at 5:55 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

I think it’s the formidable David Desser who suggests on one of the commentary tracks on the Criterion edition of Seven Samurai that there is more visual artistry in any 4 min segment of Seven Samurai than any other film he has seen. One would be hard pressed to disagree with this even if my own ‘favorite’ Kurosawa remains the ‘twilight’ Kagemusha,
on February 3, 2009 at 5:56 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Sam: Yes it’s an index of their talent and oeuvre. Look at it this way. If we had to put up a list of 25 greatest plays in the English language Shakespeare could occupy probably all of those slots. LOL! Because a play only ‘decent’ for Shakespeare’s standards would be a masterpiece for anyone else!
on February 3, 2009 at 5:58 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Indeed Kaleem, indeed! The Shakespeare point is irrefutable.
on February 3, 2009 at 6:41 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

My Top 25: (compiled with much grief)

1 Sansho Dayu (Mizoguchi, Japan)
2 Tokyo Story (Ozu, Japan)
3 Le Journal d’Un Cure de Campagne (Bresson, France)
4 Vertigo (Hitchcock, USA)
5 Wild Strawberries (Bergman, Sweden)
6 Earrings of Madame de (Ophuls, France)
7 Ben-Hur (Wyler, USA)
8 The Red Balloon (Lamorisee, France)
9 Floating Clouds (Naruse; Japan)
10 The Searchers (Ford, USA)
11 Pather Panchali (Ray; India)
12 Umberto D (De Sica; Italy)
13 A Man Escaped (Bresson; France)
14 The Burmese Harp (Ichikawa, Japan)
15 Richard III (Olivier, UK)
16 Night and the City (Dassin; USA/UK)
17 The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa; Japan)
18 Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, USA)
19 Bonjour Tristesse (Preminger, USA)
20 Twenty-Four Eyes (Kinoshita, Japan)
21 Rear Window (Hitchcock, USA)
22 Singin in the Rain (Donen, Kelly USA)
23 On Dangerous Ground (Ray, USA)
24 Sawdust and Tinsel (Bergman, Sweden)
25 (TIE) Nuit et Broulliard (Resnais, France)
and
Pickpocket (Bresson, France)

Great Films that it killed me to exclude:
Pickpocket (France)
Ikiru (Japan)
Ugetsu (Japan)
Los Olvidados (Mexico) I love the film deeply, but it’s too depressing for me!
Lola Montes (France)
Ordet (Denmark)
The Seventh Seal (Sweden)
The 400 Blows (France)
Rashomon (Japan)
House of the Angel (Argentina)
Breathless (France)
The Music Room (India)
Repast (Japan)
Rififi (France)
I Vitelloni (Italy)
Nights of Cabiria (Italy)
Chickamatsu Monogatari (Japan)
Les Diaboliques (France)
Late Chrysanthemums (Japan)
What’s Opera Doc?
Aparajito (India)
Flowing (Japan)
Limelight (Chaplin)
On the Waterfront
A Streetcar Named Desire
East of Eden
One Froggy Evening
Rebel Without A Cause
Sound of the Mountain (Japan)
Shane
High Noon
Smiles of A Summer Night (Sweden)
Black River (Kobayashi)
The Killing
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
North By Northwest
Night of the Demon
Eyes Without A Face (France)
Horror of Dracula
12 Angry Men
Written on the Wind
Throne of Blood (Japan)
Paths of Glory
Sweet Smell of Success
Ace in the Hole
El (Spain)
Night of the Hunter
The Big Heat
Miss Julie (Sweden)
Breathless (France)
The Magician (Sweden)
Tales of Hoffmann (GB in French)
The Thing
Casque d’Or (France)
Mother (Japan)
Death of a Cyclist (Spain)
La Strada (Italy)
Bob le Flambeur (France)
Duck Amuck
Senso (Italy)
A Japanese Tragedy (Italy)
Le plasir (France)
Band Wagon
An American in Paris
All That Heaven Allows
Il Bidone (Italy)
Fires on the Plain (Japan)
Black Orpheus (Brazil/France)
Ballad of a Soldier (Russia)
Nazarin (Spain)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (France)
Human Condition 1 and 2 (Japan)
Les Amants (France)
Ashes and Diamonds (Poland)
Kanal (Poland)
Empress Yang Kwei-Fei (Japan)
Bad Day at Black Rock
All About Eve
The Asphalt Jungle
Miracle in Milan (Italy)
Night and the City
The Naked City
La Ronde (France)
Bellissima (Italy)
The Man in the White Suit (GB)
A Christmas Carol..a.k.a. Scrooge (GB)
Wagon Master
Summer Interlude (Sweden)
Summer With Monika (Sweden)
Death of a Salesman
The Wrong Man
I Confess
One Summer of Happiness (Sweden)
Street of Shame (Japan)
on February 3, 2009 at 6:42 pm | Reply Joseph "Jon" Lanthier

Great list, Kaleem, even if I find some of it blasphemous (I find both “7th Seal” and “A bout de souffle” egregiously overrated, but that’s me).

There’s no need to get into another length discourse on lists, but your Shakespeare point I think underscores something I noted in my “Gist of Lists” essay about The Beatles — the Bard’s greatness is indisputable, but his approach to drama, and indeed literature, is inseparable from the occidental culture of letters. Imagining drama without Shakespeare is akin to imagining the epic with Homer — it cannot be done, t’would be like imagining a building without the ground floor. I’m not challenging Shakespeare’s towering status, I’m just suggesting that maybe we have a tendency to confuse true mastery at times with the cult of stylistic progenitors. I find it particularly interesting to compare western literature with, say, early Japanese narratives (I did a thesis on this, actually) — that nation’s insularity led them to draw from Matsuo Basho more so than, say, Virgil, when developing their version of fiction prose (you see this all the way up to the cinematic age, where Ozu developed a cadence all his own, allegedly without the benefit of having seen Griffith or Eisenstein). Of course, now it’s all a post-globalized din of promiscuity…(not that I’m knocking it…)
on February 3, 2009 at 7:38 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Let me return the complement and say Sam that your own list is a very fine one as well..
on February 3, 2009 at 7:45 pm | Reply Allan Fish

Sam’s isn’t a list, it’s a pamphlet. And it is a fine one, Ben Turd aside.
on February 3, 2009 at 7:52 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Jon: On Breathless I think this work is a part of our contemporary film grammar in a way few other films are. The Seventh Seal is to my mind one of the most universal films out there. I of course note your dissent and let’s say I love all blasphemers!

On Shakespeare I think the point you raise is a significant one. ‘Shakespeare’ is not just an author or even the ‘name’ for an oeuvre but also a ‘history’. In other words so much of Western ‘literature’ since Shakespeare has moved in the Bard’s wake (not just drama of course but also poetry and the novel..) that one does get into a circle of meaning in some sense when the rules that are used to judge plays good or bad for example operate entirely within this ‘post-Shakespeare’ history. ‘Shakespeare’ is simply an ‘event’ that ‘enframes’. There is perhaps not a possibility of stepping outside this frame, at least not now. Much as ‘Homer’ was once the frame for all manner of letters in the ancient world.

At the same time following this logic of the ‘event’ I think we can nonetheless assert the very same works as more seminal than any others even if the terms of our criticism must decidedly change. So critiquing say Thomas Hardy can be a matter of ‘aesthetics’ in a way that cannot be then applied to Shakespeare who possibly engenders such an ‘aesthetics’.

I think the question you’re raising is one of ‘historicity’. And of course it’s a valid one. But again I’d submit that our notions of ‘aesthetics’ or criticism collapse more easily before such a recognition than does the ‘event’ itself.”that which we call a rose…”!

‘Mastery’ therefore could also consist of inventing a ‘form’ that dominates more than any other. To put it another way the ‘universal’ value of Shakespeare has a great deal to do with the history of colonialism but this still does not answer the question of why it was precisely Shakespeare and not say John Webster who became as dominant. There must be something about the Shakespearean ‘text’ that makes it uniquely capable of being transplanted in very different contexts. I think this is one way of describing a ‘richer’ text.. one where the set of contexts is less easily (if at all) exhausted..

Not sure if I completely follow the Japanese example. The founding event for that country’s literature is the Tale of Genji. But in the colonial, post-colonial period Shakespeare became extremely important. I don’t think (though my understanding of this is very imperfect) that Japanese literature of the last century or more has really operated outside the orbit of the ‘West’.

But again getting back to the original point I am very thrilled to hear of your dissent on those two films. Because I think we need a lot more of such thinking. There is always too much of a tendency to simply repeat the ‘canonical’ in these matters.
on February 3, 2009 at 8:48 pm | Reply Joseph "Jon" Lanthier

Jon: On Breathless I think this work is a part of our contemporary film grammar in a way few other films are.

In that sense I would disagree…but it’s a film I find more rewarding from a historical perspective than an aesthetic one.

At the same time following this logic of the ‘event’ I think we can nonetheless assert the very same works as more seminal than any others even if the terms of our criticism must decidedly change. So critiquing say Thomas Hardy can be a matter of ‘aesthetics’ in a way that cannot be then applied to Shakespeare who possibly engenders such an ‘aesthetics’.

Indeed, it’s almost redundant to do so. Although I think the problem is far more complex and widespread than a simple comment can cover. Do we not judge or critique most works by an ever-elusive, internal rubric that has been fashioned from prior recognition or perception of aesthetic value? In other words, is it fair for me to dislike “Breathless” because it does not achieve the same goals as “A Story of Floating Weeds”? One would never make such an assertion, and yet I think works of art — particularly by masters such as Shakespeare — influence not only their aesthetic descendants but the critical apparati for experiencing and assessing those descendants. Long story short, in order to have opinions about art you have to have ideals, and I find the sources and nature of those ideals endlessly intriguing, since they often times seem curiously arbitrary.

‘Mastery’ therefore could also consist of inventing a ‘form’ that dominates more than any other. To put it another way the ‘universal’ value of Shakespeare has a great deal to do with the history of colonialism but this still does not answer the question of why it was precisely Shakespeare and not say John Webster who became as dominant.

I was thinking of this even as I wrote my last post. In other instances we could even replace the word “mastery” with “branding,” when it comes to twentieth century art and the popularity of a particular school of thought or discipline (ie, is it truly “good” or it just so ubiquitous and influential, etc).

There must be something about the Shakespearean ‘text’ that makes it uniquely capable of being transplanted in very different contexts. I think this is one way of describing a ‘richer’ text.. one where the set of contexts is less easily (if at all) exhausted..

Again, this is the enigma of the paradigmatic ideal mentioned earlier. I would never argue that Shakespeare’s status is undeserved and you make an excellent case for his universality and the ease with which he influences others. But, as our era is so far removed from the Elizabethan one I wonder if

Not sure if I completely follow the Japanese example. The founding event for that country’s literature is the Tale of Genji. But in the colonial, post-colonial period Shakespeare became extremely important. I don’t think (though my understanding of this is very imperfect) that Japanese literature of the last century or more has really operated outside the orbit of the ‘West’.

I would not argue any of this, and perhaps I was being too glib, but to better elucidate…. The Tale of Genji would be more akin to the Japanese Beowulf, let’s say. I was attempting to find a more suitable Shakespearean parallel in the sense of an author of an instantly recognizable and influential form or mode: thus Basho, who was one of the founders of the classic haiku approach and worked in the period directly following Shakespeare’s. However, this is also viewing Japanese literature through a fairly occidental prism, since forms such as tanka are probably viewed as more classically indigenous but rarely practiced outside of Japan (to my knowledge). But, Basho’s haiku might be considered similar to Shakespeare’s sonnets in the sense that other cultures have appreciated and appropriated these efforts far more so than any of their contemporaries.

Getting back to my original point, prior to the colonial era and the industrial expansion following greater contact with the west you see Japanese literature on a parallel but markedly distinct path from ours. If Genji is again analogous to Beowulf (not in style or form, etc but in a broad historical sense) that we can trace a trajectory from there (and contemporary works by Sei Shonagon, etc) through the poetic forms, Noh theatre, Kabuki, and Yomihon literature (of which Ugetsu was an exemplar): all of which was invented by looking backward at traditions ignorant of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, or metaphysical poetry, or epistolary novels such as Pamela, etc. My only argument — and it isn’t even an argument, more of a quizzical observation — is that in order to fully comprehend the notion of literature without Shakespeare or Homer it’s necessary to examine literary cultures with their own isolated ideals. This is impossible now aside from in a retrospective sense (and I’m not even sure when Homer was translated into Japanese…), but you see what I’m getting at. I for one find literary works alien to our own paradigm refreshing, although it’s difficult not to fetishize.
on February 3, 2009 at 8:54 pm | Reply Joseph "Jon" Lanthier

Sorry, in the very first comment above “disagree” should read “agree” — typing too swiftly for my own good!
on February 3, 2009 at 10:46 pm | Reply Tony D'Ambra

I am certainly out of my depth here, but is not the focus rather narrow? What about Euripides, Aristophanes, Pirandello, Chekhov, the heritage of China, India etc… ?

Further, to what extent is aesthetics of this order really relevant to the cinematic experience? Cinema is ‘seeing’ within a closed frame and thus primarily a visual experience and the most humble among us can enter the experience equally with the most accomplished. Indeed, I feel the less intellectual baggage we carry into the cinema the better.

Btw, my list will contain a lot more American movies.
on February 3, 2009 at 11:00 pm | Reply Joseph "Jon" Lanthier

Thanks for the perspective, Tony. I had forgotten how I got on this subject.

is not the focus rather narrow? What about Euripides, Aristophanes, Pirandello, Chekhov, the heritage of China, India etc… ?

Of course, of course…conversations that attempt to encompass the entirety of world literature are bound to resemble argumentative swiss cheese. I was merely using the example of the western world vs. Japan — a particularly isolated country with a textual heritage reaching back about to the time of ancient Rome — to make the point that aesthetic values are always to some degree informed by cultural milestones…influence that is probably insuperable. Why I needed all that space to state this point is a mystery.

Further, to what extent is aesthetics of this order really relevant to the cinematic experience?

It’s not…this is a self-indulgent aside, my apologies.

Cinema is ’seeing’ within a closed frame and thus primarily a visual experience and the most humble among us can enter the experience equally with the most accomplished. Indeed, I feel the less intellectual baggage we carry into the cinema the better.

I agree — I think cinema is similarly encumbered by tradition, but I think all art is and should be an equalizing, democratic experience…films have an intellectual component but they enter and inhabit us viscerally. Anyone can partake in and appreciate this.

Btw, my list will contain a lot more American movies.

Thanks goodness! I look forward to it…
on February 3, 2009 at 11:12 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Speaking of “American” movies, I inexplicably left off five of these in my ‘runner-up’ list, which I will soon remedy. Jenny Bee, who adores the first of these, reminded me of that one.

A Face in the Crowd (Kazan)
The King and I (Lang)
Marty (D. Mann)
Harvey (Kostner)
A Star is Born (Cukor)

All five are excellent in one way or another, even if they don’t quite make the Top 25 for me.
on February 3, 2009 at 11:19 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

“Indeed, it’s almost redundant to do so. Although I think the problem is far more complex and widespread than a simple comment can cover. Do we not judge or critique most works by an ever-elusive, internal rubric that has been fashioned from prior recognition or perception of aesthetic value? In other words, is it fair for me to dislike “Breathless” because it does not achieve the same goals as “A Story of Floating Weeds”?”

Well this gets into some more complicated questions. For example one might want to examine the origin of a term such as ‘aesthetics’. One would for example be able to trace it to Kant using at least one obvious genealogy. But what happened before Kant? Can ‘aesthetics’ be used as a general signature for the ‘valuing’ of an artistic work (in other words for ‘criticism’ in general) or do we immediately encounter pitfalls when we try to apply such a notion retrospectively.

We are always within the framework of a ‘theory’ or a ‘philosophy’ whether we realize it or not. Which is why one is right to be ‘vigilant’ to all such assumptions. At the same time there is something about the ‘event’ in art that transcends any such ‘normal’ categories of thought. In other words not everything that happens in art is reducible to a ‘thinking’ of it even if we are never free to simply disengage from ‘thought’.

But such interrogation never really invalidates a rigorous thought. We become more alert to the ‘framework’ but the value of the thought still holds. As an example to clarify this further, we do not live in Homer’s age and hence it is extremely hard for us to understand that entire system of thought associated with the ‘greek’, irrespective of the ‘periodization’ followed within such a matrix. It is hard for everyone to be a scholar and really launch that kind of linguistic excavation (even this can never be enough). As we go down the ages we find it easier for works closer to our own and yet some of these problems persist. The Elizabethan age assuredly had a very different set of values. But the art work is such because even as it belongs to a ‘world’ (which world as Heidegger usefully reminds us can never be replicated.. hence the loss of a world closes off a dimension of that art work forever) there is something else about it that ensures ‘readibility’ across the ages (though Heidegger again was always suspicious of art that became simply the other side of ‘culture’ as he saw it..).

Agree completely with your final paragraph on Japanese works and the point you’re trying to make.
on February 3, 2009 at 11:24 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Tony: I think cinema is exactly like any other art form to the extent that there is nothing about it that escapes notions of aesthetics or any such ‘thinking’ of art.

The ‘seeing’ introduces a different set of problems when we think of how cinema works or our reception of it or what have you. But each art form has unique problems to the same degree. Of course ‘seeing’ is something that painting, architecture, sculpture, photography also partake of.

In terms of accessibility I think this too does not set cinema apart. We can certainly ‘see’ those other art forms I mentioned. But similarly we can ‘read’ a lot of literature, listen to a lot of music etc. Within each art form there are certain works that perhaps require greater ‘preparation’ on the part of the reader and cinema is not exempt from this either. We can watch The Greatest Show on Earth (incidentally a film I’ve always loved in the manner in which I’ve also loved Hatari) in a more ‘general’ way. But it would be much harder to do the same with certain Antonioni works.
on February 3, 2009 at 11:32 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

“but I think all art is and should be an equalizing, democratic experience”

Jon, I am troubled by this formulation. For one it seems to introduce a specific political project into the arts. But it also implies the notion of ‘transparent’ art, which would be equally accessible to everyone. I tend to think it’s the opposite. Art is precisely that which is not democratic. Not in the sense of being opposed to the latter but by belonging to an order that is entirely ‘other’ to democracy. Or any other political system for that matter. Yes, each art belongs to a world. There can be certain art forms that evolve more in certain historical eras. The novel for example is a democratic form in ways in which poetry isn’t. Certainly cinema can be called a very ‘democratic’ art also (though I think this makes cinema very hard to understand in some ways.. also the nature of the medium involves its own very special set of ‘dangers’). But even here we are required as ‘receivers’ of the art to be often trained in specific ways. I would even go so far as to say that in many ways ‘art’ belongs to a whole structure of the ‘elitist’ (which is not be confused with elitism in a socio-economic sense). To put it yet another way ‘art’ is that which cannot be circumscribed by any such political conditions. Of course I use ‘art’ only provisionally here. This word itself is rather more ‘obvious’ than it should be. Much like the word ‘literature’.
on February 3, 2009 at 11:38 pm | Reply Ed Howard

Here’s my top 25 list, which incidentally contains two films not listed in the big 1950s chronology here — apparently the avant-garde is mostly missing from that list. This is also weighted much more heavily towards Hollywood than the other lists here so far; the 30s-50s were great decades for Tinseltown.

1. Bonjour Tristesse (Preminger)
2. Rear Window (Hitchcock)
3. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
4. Kiss Me Deadly (Aldrich)
5. North By Northwest (Hitchcock)
6. Flowing (Naruse)
7. Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
8. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)
9. Equinox Flower (Ozu)
10. Touch of Evil (Welles)
11. A Man Escaped (Bresson)
12. Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones)
13. The Man From Laramie (Anthony Mann)
14. Hiroshima Mon Amour (Resnais)
15. Anatomy of a Murder (Preminger)
16. Written on the Wind (Sirk)
17. Baby Doll (Kazan)
18. A Movie (Bruce Connor)
19. Rififi (Dassin)
20. Rio Bravo (Hawks)
21. Giants and Toys (Masumura)
22. Cat’s Cradle (Brakhage)
23. Night and Fog (Resnais)
24. Breathless (Godard)
25. Fires on the Plain (Ichikawa)

And a few runners-up. This is by no means a complete list of films I could’ve included, only the last small batch to get culled from the final list:

The Gunfighter (Henry King)
The Way to Shadow Garden (Brakhage)
Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray)
The Trouble With Harry (Hitchcock)
Saint Joan (Preminger)
The Tall T (Boetticher)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (Jack Arnold)
Man of the West (Anthony Mann)
Good Morning (Ozu)
Window Water Baby Moving (Brakhage)
Rashomon (Kurosawa)
High Noon (Fred Zinnemann)
Sound of the Mountain (Naruse)
on February 3, 2009 at 11:46 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

So how do these fit into the equation here?

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
-John Keats

Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable; what it is or what it means can never be said.
-George Santayana
on February 3, 2009 at 11:47 pm | Reply Tony D'Ambra

“You know, we just used so many metaphors I forgot what the hell we were talking about. ”
– Oscar to Felix in The Odd Couple II (1998)
on February 3, 2009 at 11:51 pm | Reply Tony D'Ambra

As for Antonioni, Kaleem, the only honest response is to fall asleep…
on February 4, 2009 at 12:11 am | Reply Tony D'Ambra

And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
on February 4, 2009 at 12:13 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Ah Tony, Keats again!

You have exquisite taste, sir!
on February 4, 2009 at 12:20 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Please –everyone–go back a few posts and read ED HOWARD’s Top 25 and honorable mention list!!!

We are all graced to have this man’s participation in this poll as he is simply incomparable in many ways–he writes review-after-fantastic-review over at ONLY THE CINEMA, which is on our blogroll–and he is one of the most brilliant writers out there!!! I can’t say how thrilled how I am to have him post–and wow look at that personalized list!!!

Thank you very much for this Ed!!!
on February 4, 2009 at 12:29 am | Reply Joseph "Jon" Lanthier

Indeed, Ed, I’m sorry your list had to come in the midst of my hijack.

Great to see Brakhage on there!
on February 4, 2009 at 2:28 am | Reply Sam Juliano

God no Jon, you and Kaleem have been utterly brillliant here, no hijacking taken.
on February 4, 2009 at 3:16 am | Reply Kaleem Hasan

“As for Antonioni, Kaleem, the only honest response is to fall asleep…”

LOL!
on February 4, 2009 at 7:55 am | Reply Allan Fish

Some excellent points are made here, but God are they like diamonds in the snow drift. Most of this is about as relevant to 1950s cinema as a sock filled with sand is relevant to Renaissance painting. Why not let’s bring in a study of mathematics in ancient Egyptian, the analysis of Geoffrey Boycott’s “none shall pass” forward defensive”, the teachings of René Descartes, the fruitless search for the square root of -1, the deciphering of Linear A or the life and times of Wat Tyler. It’s not cinema, it’s a contest in seeing who can seem more intellectual. Sam may always give any visitor a rim job even if they turn up to fart, but Christ, let’s get back to movies. This whole discussion has been about as exciting as watching Warhol’s The Chelsea Girls over and over on a loop.
on February 4, 2009 at 1:09 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Well Allan, that’s YOUR opinion. I am fascinated by such discussion, and any other that is launched here on these threads.

I am honored that these gentleman have graced our thread with their incomparable knowledge and talent.
on February 4, 2009 at 1:11 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

“Sam may always give any visitor a rim job even if they turn up to fart, but Christ, let’s get back to movies.”

Your grade for public relations is, as always, an “F.”

And the above discussion was very much an outgrowth of movies!
on February 4, 2009 at 1:14 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Sam: that is extremely kind of you and as always too generous.

Allan’s crabby response is par for the course!
on February 4, 2009 at 1:21 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

The question is: why this anxiety to ‘police’ discussions? Circumscribe them? Imagine only one kind of ‘pure’ discussion that can take place on cinema? But a whole other set of questions is also raised? Does cinema have nothing to do with a literary archive? A philosophical one? A classical music one? Couldn’t then a discussion on films use any one (or all) of these correspondences to ‘enrich’ one’s understanding of a film? But even if one finds this ‘illegitimate’ what of all the directors who proceed from such “intellectual” positions? How does one understand an Antonioni? A Kieslowski? A Godard? Just a whole galaxy of names. Why did for example Antonioni select Barcelona and Gaudi as one of the major sites for the Passenger? What of directors who take their cues from ‘painting’?

For those who do find such an approach not only ‘obvious’ as I do but stimulating as well I would recommend Joseph’s very fine blog. The discussions are always interesting.
on February 4, 2009 at 2:18 pm | Reply jennybee

Allan, I fear you too flippantly dismiss as superfluous to this discussion of 1950s cinema the subtle, if wide-ranging, geopolitical and influences brought about by the gradual cultural paradigm shift in 14th to 17th century Europe , which credited by scholars or no, quite inarguably was due in large part to the inherent and ubiquitous sexual symbolism of said socks full of sand.

And don’t get me started on the relevance of Linear A and Wat Tyler. You so don’t want to get me going on that tired old rant again.

: )

Thanks for making me laugh.
on February 4, 2009 at 2:34 pm | Reply Frank A.

………lol Sam, Kaleem and Jenny Bee: Yeah Allan, why don’t you tell us what you are really thinking?
I would venture to speculate that if you were the sole moderator of this blog, people would flee the site, never to return.
Very good lists; I am presently doing mine, and hope to have it ready later today…………
on February 4, 2009 at 2:54 pm | Reply Allan Fish

Allan’s crabby response is par for the course – just like your butt-licking “Sam, too kind as always”, enough to give the most hardend soul, the creeps, and if I had a quid for every time said I’d buy out Roman Abramovich. Go home Uriah and hijack yourself an obituary column.

Thanks, jennybee, for at least giving a response worthy of such far-reaching but entirely redundant conversation as was provided by the site’s resident cloud-dweller.

As for cries of F for public relations, rather that than an A++++++++++++ (with a suck off to go with the ass lick)

Sycophancy just makes me puke! The insincerity of it all.

Frank: you’re probably right, but then again, I wouldn’t set up a blog…
on February 4, 2009 at 3:21 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Looks like Allan is having a very bad day today, as he has spewed out out enough venom for a dozen of the most poisonous pythons.

To be against “syncophancy” as you confidently call it is one matter, to question my own sincerity in issuing it is quite something else, as it’s it undermines my character.

You are free to be as miserable and as resentful of discussion either you are uninterested in, or don’t care to engage in, but it would be best for all concerned that you keep those sentiments to yourself.

One day you will learn that kindness and kind remarks will get you much further than your “burn all bridges” philosophy.
on February 4, 2009 at 3:28 pm | Reply Frank A.

Hey Sam, here’s my list:

1 Sweet Smell of Success
2 The Day the Earth Stood Still
3 The 400 Blows
4 Singin in the Rain
5 Sunset Boulevard
6 A Streetcar Named Desire
7 Ugetsu
8 The Searchers
9 Rear Window
10 A Place in the Sun
11 Bad Day at Black Rock
12 High Noon
13 Breathless
14 Vertigo
15 On the Waterfront
16 The Robe
17 Bridge on the River Kwai
18 Witness For the Prosecution
19 Forbidden Planet
20 The Seventh Seal
21 Marty
22 All About Eve
23 The African Queen
24 Strangers on a Train
25 Pickpocket
on February 4, 2009 at 3:55 pm | Reply Joseph "Jon" Lanthier

You know, Allan…as sensitive as I am to criticism of any kind, if one reads betwixt the lines your comments really aren’t all that vituperative.

Some excellent points are made here, but God are they like diamonds in the snow drift.

The fact that there are diamonds at all in text written hastily (in my case), and mostly as an attempted antidote for day job ennui, is rather encouraging.

And thanks to Kaleem for recommending my awkwardly gestating personal blog.

Sam, you are as always a consummate host, among the most hospitable online. I do agree with Allan in the sense that perhaps this particular thread was the inappropriate forum for such discussion, since it was designed to house folks’ 1950’s top 25 lists. I promise to be more cognizant of such details in the future.
on February 4, 2009 at 4:05 pm | Reply Bill H.

Top 25 Films of the 50’s:

1. Singin in the Rain
2. Paths of Glory
3. The Seven Samurai
4. Wild Strawberries
5. Rear Window
6. The Killing
7. 12 Angry Men
8. Sweet Smell of Success
9. Written on the Wind
10. Sansho the Bailiff
11. Vertigo
12. Rebel Without A Cause
13. High Noon
14. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
15. Ben-Hur
16. In A Lonely Place
17. Night of the Demon
18. Breathless
19. Umberto D
20. Eyes Without A Face
21. North by Northwest
22.Tokyo Story
23. A Streetcar Named Desire
24. The 400 Blows
25. Shane
on February 4, 2009 at 4:29 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Again, Jon, you grace us with your humility and graciousnessness, traits that rarely inform a scholar such as yourself.

No thread at the site is restricted to just the matter at hand; in fact it’s the ‘extensions’ that really heighten and intensity the discourse.
on February 4, 2009 at 5:52 pm | Reply Bobby McCartney

I’ll have to agree with Mr. Howard that there are plenty of Hollywood films of quality to fill a list for this decade. Of course, for foreign-film lovers it’s somewhat of a bonanza too. The best way to go about it would be a balance, but I’ll promise that most of my own list will be occupied by American movies.
on February 4, 2009 at 7:18 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

On another note the lists so far have been great..
on February 4, 2009 at 9:13 pm | Reply Peter

I must admit it’s nerve-wracking to compose these lists, but it’s exciting to see how the die will rest. I think the 50’s are a crucial decade in cinema, and many have different ideas as to what should be called out for excellence. I have begun to list some of my own choices. Most interesting ballots thus far.
on February 4, 2009 at 9:56 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Thanks very much Peter for this and your past efforts. We have all greatly benefited from your vast knowledge and love for movies. Likewise, we have also appreciated Sue’s decade lists as well.
on February 4, 2009 at 10:58 pm | Reply Peter

Here you go Sam.

1 – Touch of Evil (Welles)
2 – Nights of Cabiria (Fellini)
3 – North by Northwest (Hitchcock)
4 – Sweet Smell of Success (Mackendrick)
5 – Limelight (Chaplin)
6 – The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa)
7 – Rio Bravo (Hawks)
8 – Night of the Hunter (Laughton)
9 – The Big Heat (Lang)
10 – Tokyo Story (Ozu)
11 – Forbidden Games (Clement)
12 – Vertigo (Hitchcock)
13 – Paths of Glory (Kubrick)
14 – Singin in the Rain (Kelly)
15 – Night and Fog (Resnais)
16 – Wild Strawberries (Bergman)
17 – High Noon (Zinnemann)
18 – Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel)
19 – A Face in the Crowd (Kazan)
20 – Lavender Hill Mob (Crichton)
21 – Sunset Boulevard (Wilder)
22 – La Strada (Fellini)
23 – The Searchers (Ford)
24 – Rear Window (Hitchcock)
25 – Kanal (Wajda)
on February 5, 2009 at 12:09 am | Reply Ari

Here’s mine:

1. Sweet Smell of Success
2. I Vitelloni
3. Early Summer
4. Paths of Glory
5. The Seventh Seal
6. Sansho the Bailiff
7. Earrings of Madame de…
8. Virgin Spring
9. Seven Samurai
10. Nights of Cabiria
11. The Searchers
12. Burmese Harp
13. Casque d’Or
14. Ace in the Hole
15. Hiroshima Mon Amour
16. African Queen
17. Othello
18. Night and the City
19. Rear Window
20. Shadows
21. The Big Combo
22. Bad and the Beautiful
23. In a Lonely Place
24. Roman Holiday
25. Elevator to the Gallows
on February 5, 2009 at 12:58 am | Reply Tony D'Ambra

Great to see The Big Combo in your list. I was thinking only I (and perhaps Dcd) would include it.
on February 5, 2009 at 1:21 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Yeah Tony, THE BIG COMBO deserves to be named on these lists–as it is an essentail noir–and a very good film. It’s exclusion from my own list is yet another reason why I’m not satisfied with it. (my list)

Ari, you again show with this list (as you did with your 40’s ballot) your all-encompassing and versatile appreciation of cinema. What can I say? My hats off to you.
on February 5, 2009 at 2:41 am | Reply Bobby McCartney

Thanks for the help in gathering the master list!

1 Vertigo
2 Sunset Boulevard
3 Invasion of the Body Snatchers
4 Bridge on the River Kwai
5 Singin in the Rain
6 Ben-Hur
7 East of Eden
8 Giant
9 The 400 Blows
10 Strangers on a Train
11 All That Heaven Allows
12 I Confess
13 A Streetcar Named Desire
14 Paths of Glory
15 An American in Paris
16 A Place in the Sun
17 Wild Strawberries
18 Sweet Smell of Success
19 The Searchers
20 The Tales of Hoffman
21 A Christmas Carol
22 The Ten Commandments
23 Diary of a Country Priest
24 Kiss Me Deadly
25 Night of the Hunter
on February 5, 2009 at 4:07 am | Reply Lucille Juliano

Lucille’s list:

1 The Ten Commandments
2 Singin in the Rain
3 The King and I
4 Ben-Hur
5 The Searchers
6 Nights of Cabiria
7 The African Queen
8 Some Like It Hot
9 A Star is Born
10 Vertigo
11 A Streetcar Named Desire
12 A Place in the Sun
13 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
14 Wild Strawberries
15 Invasion of the Body Snatchers
16 The Robe
17 East of Eden
18 Diary of a Country Priest
19 Harvey
20 High Noon
21 All About Eve
22 Rio Bravo
23 Rear Window
24 Oklahoma
25 Bridge on the River Kwai
11
on February 5, 2009 at 5:04 am | Reply David H. Schleicher

Dave Schleicher’s List:

1. Rear Window (Hitchcock)
2. Night of the Hunter (Laughton)
3. Paths of Glory (Kubrick)
4. Twelve Angry Men (Lumet)
5. Forbidden Games (Clement)
6. A Streetcar Named Desire (Kazan)
7. Vertigo (Hitchcock)
8. Wages of Fear (Clouzot)
9. Touch of Evil (Welles)
10. The Seventh Seal (Bergman)
11. Les Diaboliques (Clouzot)
12. Sunset Blvd (Wilder)
13. Night and Fog (Resnais)
14. Ordet (Dreyer)
15. The 400 Blows (Truffaut)
16. North by Northwest (Hitchcock)
17. The Big Heat (Lang)
18. Anatomy of a Murder (Preminger)

And I’m spent. Sorry, I didn’t want to just include filler with films I really didn’t feel anything for. Sadly, I don’t seem to have the same breadth of knowledge about films from this era as other posters. Hmmm…I certainly show my bias towards thrillers here as well.
on February 5, 2009 at 7:27 am | Reply Ari

Thanks, Sam.

Yeah, “Big Combo” is one of my favorite noirs, and I’m a huge huuuuge Richard Conte fan in general. Picking 25 from the 50s is really difficult. 50s, 60s and 70s are my favorite periods in film history. Too many great films.
on February 5, 2009 at 1:09 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

David: We are all honored here at your post; I agree that a full list with filler is inferior to the rock-solid passionate listing you’ve provided. As far as “bias” well I can say I gravitate toward the ‘darker’ pieces. We do have our favorites genres…your list is terrific!

Ari: I agree this period is simply overloaded. Your list is utterly extraordinary as others who were reading it last night conveyed to me.

Bobby: Nice work there, do didn’t do badly at all, so you needn’t have been concerned.
on February 5, 2009 at 10:42 pm | Reply Douglas T. McCartney

top 25:

1 On The Waterfront
2 Rebel Without A Cause
3 The Caine Mutiny
4 The African Queen
5 A Streetcar Named Desire
6 Rear Window
7 The Wild One
8 East of Eden
9 Marty
10 Blackboard Jungle
11 Stalag 17
12 Strangers on a Train
13 Paths of Glory
14 Forbidden Planet
15 Man With the Golden Arm
16 The Wrong Man
17 12 Angry Men
18 Bridge on the River Kwai
19 A Night to Remember
20 Land of the Pharoahs
21 Ben-Hur
22 The Big Combo
23 It Came From Outer Space
24 Invasion of the Body Snatchers
25 High Noon

Runner-Up:

The Searchers
on February 6, 2009 at 4:07 am | Reply darkcitydame

Tony said, “Great to see The Big Combo in your list. I was thinking only I (and perhaps Dcd) would include it.”

Right you are!…Tony, when it comes to me including the 1955 film The Big Combo on my list….

….Now, I digress somewhat…Because I recently purchased a lobby card which feature 3 of the main characters, from the 1955 film The Big Combo well not the main characters, but 3 of the supporting characters ** on the card 2 years ago from a fellow “noiraholic”.

(**Jean Wallace(Susan Lowell), Lee Van Cleef (Fante) and Earl Holliman(Mingo).

(Who would invest in a card if they didn’t like the film… right?…Well, some people may invest in cards and posters for “The Hunt,” or with the hopes that the value increases etc, etc, etc…but not me, I invested in this film memorabilia because I “pretty much” like the 1955 film “The Big Combo.” )

Therefore, this film will “probably” end up on my list or my “runner’-up list. (Shrug shoulders) Who Know?!?

Dcd 😉
on February 7, 2009 at 1:52 am | Reply Angelo D'Arminio

In all the submissions thus far, I have not seen a single mention of the film I am about to place at number one for the decade of the Fifties. I am amazed by that fact.

So here’s the “Question of the day”

Am I the only one who remembers it? ..or.. Am I the only one who liked it?
on February 7, 2009 at 1:52 am | Reply Angelo D'Arminio

1 FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
2 A CHRISTMAS CAROL
3 THE QUIET MAN
4 THE CAINE MUTINY
5 MARTY
6 THE SEARCHERS
7 BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
8 12 ANGRY MEN
9 ON THE WATERFRONT
10 TITANIC
11 PAY OR DIE
12 MISTER ROBERTS
13 A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
14 BEN-HUR
15 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
16 STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
17 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
18 VERTIGO
19 THE MAGNIFICENT YANKEE
20 ANATOMY OF A MURDER
21 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
22 PATHS OF GLORY
23 REAR WINDOW
24 THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE
25 WRITTEN ON THE WIND
on February 7, 2009 at 2:00 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Solid list there Angelo!

I wouldn’t throw in the towel yet on FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. The voting has only just begun!!!
on February 7, 2009 at 2:02 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Dark City Dame:

I love your BIG COMBO message above!!!

Looks like you are torn on it!!!

I look forward to your list!
on February 7, 2009 at 10:59 am | Reply Allan Fish

Oh God, Angelo’s back. Mediocrity alert!

Oh, and Angelo, old boy, Pay or Die was 1960…
on February 7, 2009 at 12:41 pm | Reply Angelo D'Arminio

So good to hear from you Allan.
on February 8, 2009 at 6:57 pm | Reply Joe

This was not an easy task, and it’s tough to favor either the Hollywood fare, or the audacious films from abroad. I think I went with both….

1 Earrings of Madame De
2 Sunset Boulevard
3 Umberto D
4 Anatomy of a Murder
5 Sansho the Bailiff
6 Vertigo
7 Sweet Smell of Success
8 Rear Window
9 Ben-Hur
10 On The Waterfront
11 From Here to Eternity
12 The Day the Earth Stood Still
13 The Searchers
14 Pickpocket
15 Tokyo Story
16 The Seventh Seal
17 The Big Combo
18 Witness For the Prosecution
19 A Streetcar Named Desire
20 Touch of Evil
21 Singin in the Rain
22 Marty
23 All About Eve
24 La Strada
25 Bridge on the River Kwai
on February 8, 2009 at 9:22 pm | Reply Mike B.

Great to see you again Sam. I wish I would have called you before the last poll. Anyway, as always I am the big fan of widescreen spectaculars as you long have known.

1 Ben-Hur
2 The Seven Samurai
3 The Searchers
4 An American in Paris
5 High Noon
6 Singin in the Rain
7 Tokyo Story
8 Written on the Wind
9 Pather Panchali
10 Strangers on a Train
11 Breathless
12 The Robe
13 Ugetsu
14 The Seventh Seal
15 Rear Window
16 Vertigo
17 Sunset Boulevard
18 The Ten Commandments
19 12 Angry Men
20 Wild Strawberries
21 Limelight
22 On the Waterfront
23 Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
24 The Greatest Show on Earth
25 Touch of Evil
on February 10, 2009 at 4:03 pm | Reply Wendymoon

What a great decade! Here’s my list:

1-Some Like it Hot (US…Billy Wilder)
2-Twelve Angry Men (US…Sidney Lumet)
3-An American in Paris (US…Vincente Minnelli)
4-North by Northwest (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
5-Singin’ in the Rain (US…Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly)
6-Father of the Bride (US…Vincente Minnelli)
7-Born Yesterday (US…George Cukor)
8-Sunset Boulevard (US…Billy Wilder)
9-The African Queen (UK…John Huston)
10-Rear Window (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
11-A Streetcar Named Desire (US…Elia Kazan)
12-Marty (US…Delbert Mann)
13-Anatomy of a Murder (US…Otto Preminger)
14-All About Eve (US…Joseph L.Mankiewicz)
15-Stalag 17 (US…Billy Wilder)
16-The Bridge on the River Kwai (UK/US…David Lean)
17-On the Waterfront (US…Elia Kazan)
18-Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (US…Richard Brooks)
19-The Man in the White Suit (UK…Alexander Mackendrick)
20-From Here to Eternity (US…Fred Zinnemann)
21-Oklahoma! (US…Fred Zinnemann)
22-The Day the Earth Stood Still (US…Robert Wise)
23-A Star is Born (US…George Cukor)
24-A Place in the Sun (US…George Stevens)
25-Roman Holiday (US…William Wyler)

And while I couldn’t quite justify putting them in the list over any full-length movies, these have to be three of the best cartoons ever, not just of the 1950s:

One Froggy Evening (US…Chuck Jones)
What’s Opera, Doc? (US…Chuck Jones)
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (US…Chuck Jones)
on February 10, 2009 at 7:54 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Hello “WendyMoon” and thank you so very much for this fantastic and painstakingly composed listing!!! You both know your stuff and have a particularly fantastic appreciation of American cinema which will provide as a counterpoint for some of the foreign-heavy lists that have been turned in!

And your cartoon runner-ups are great as well.

Your yeoman effort here is very much appreciated and cherished!
on February 10, 2009 at 9:42 pm | Reply Kaleem Hasan

Though I wouldn’t put it on a top films list I have forever had the greatest weakness for From Here to Eternity.
on February 11, 2009 at 12:27 am | Reply Wendymoon

Thanks Sam, I was just thinking I need to watch more foreign films! But I’m glad to share my list of love for American movies from one of my favorite decades.
on February 11, 2009 at 12:30 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Wendy, I tried leaving a comment under the Capra piece you wrote, but apparently your settings ar etoo restrictive. It kept asking me for a google password.

In any case, I will add you to our blogroll tonight. Thanks again.
on February 11, 2009 at 12:34 am | Reply Wendymoon

Sorry about the comment thing Sam, I changed my settings after being bothered by spam. But I’ve made it now so you should be able to leave your thoughts — I welcome them.

And thanks for adding me to your list! 🙂
on February 11, 2009 at 1:48 am | Reply Dennis Polifroni

After a long absence from the ‘local scene’ longtime movie fanatic Dennis Polifroni is back in circulation, and he dictated his Top 25 on Tuesday evening. Polifroni is a lover of classic films, foreign-language cinema and animation, and we have spent many hours over the years discussing and sharing notes.
Polifroni states that “while I have an equal love for foreign and domestic films of this period” I find that the 1950’s is a particularly interesting decade in cinema, due in large measure to the many “firsts” from directors who would go on to major careers. He goes on to say: “Although the beginning influences of Kurosawa, Kazan,Truffaut, and Cassavetes among others are evident, this particular decade piques my interest more than others due to the emergence of Stanley Kubrick, who I consider my absolute favorite film director of all-time, as well as my choice as the most influential of them all. His ‘Paths of Glory’ which I have listed at #6, is the first evidence of the emergence of a cinematic genius, and this film his first undisputed masterwork. Like the emotional core of my #1 film, Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ Kubrick floats to the surface emotionally through a sea of technical and visual brilliance.
As to the other films on the list, the choices are either ‘personal favorites’ or films I hold in high-esteem for their visual, sociological and technical prowess.” “I hope the list will be met with acceptance, and I look forward to commenting on a more regular basis in the upcoming weeks and months. I really have enjoyed the site, and to everyone, I wish continued success with all this great work.”

1 Vertigo
2 Wild Strawberries
3 Sansho the Bailiff
4 Rashomon
5 Le Journal d’Un Cure de Campagne
6 Paths of Glory
7 Nights of Cabiria
8 The 400 Blows
9 East of Eden
10 Umberto D
11 Singin in the Rain
12 The Earrings of Madame de
13 Touch of Evil
14 Richard III
15 Shadows
16 Aparajito
17 The Searchers
18 Sunset Boulevard
19 Tales of Hoffmann
20 A Place in the Sun
21 The Killing
22 On the Waterfront
23 Night of the Hunter
24 Rear Window
25 The Day the Earth Stood Still
on February 11, 2009 at 8:57 pm | Reply Frank Gallo

Sam, as per our mail exchange, I wanted to reiterate that I agree with Mr. Ed Howard, a previous voter who named Preminger’s “Bonjour Tristesse” as his no. 1 film. I did not place it on top, but close to it. I know you have not seen the film yet, but look forward to your view.
Also, I want to commend you for your passionate “defense” of Wyler’s “Ben-Hur”, which I thought enough of to name on my own list, although not nearly as high.
As to the raging argument concerning American and foreign-language cinema in the 50’s, I can say I fall in the middle. I can see both points of contention, and my list reflects this. I want to again thank you for your hospitality in providing DVD copies of several films I re-watched. It’s been fun.

Here is my Top 25 presentation:

1 The Night of the Hunter (Laughton)
2 I Vitelloni (Fellini)
3 Bonjour Tristesse (Preminger)
4 A Man Escaped (Bresson)
5 Ace in the Hole (Wilder)
6 Tokyo Story (Ozu)
7 Night and Fog (Resnais)
8 Rear Window (Hitchcock)
9 Written on the Wind (Sirk)
10 Twelve Angry Men (Lumet)
11 Paths of Glory (Kubrick)
12 Earrings of Madame De (Ophuls)
13 The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa)
14 The Big Heat (Lang)
15 The Searchers (Ford)
16 Vertigo (Hitchcock)
17 Rebel Without A Cause (Ray)
18 Sweet Smell of Success (Mackendrick)
19 Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi)
20 Anatomy of a Murder (Preminger)
21 Ben-Hur (Wyler)
22 The Magician (Bergman)
23 Singin in the Rain (Kelly)
24 Sunset Boulevard (Wilder)
25 Breathless (Godard)
on February 11, 2009 at 9:04 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Frank, that was fantastic stuff there!

Thanks for the comprehensive lead-in, and yes, I’ll admit I’ve been most intrigued about Mr. Howard’s annointment of the Preminger as his #1, ever since his listing apeared on this thread. Actually, I should have the film in my possession within a day or do, and will check it out immediately. If I find that it belongs on the list, I will revise to include it at whatever position I feel it warrants. If not, I’ll leave everything status quo.
Thanks very much for your compliments regarding the Wyler, and thrilled you at least thought enough of it to include in your listing, especially with the competition here.
I am always appreciative for your dedication and kindness.
on February 12, 2009 at 8:47 pm | Reply David Noack

Hello Sam! As promised, here’s my list. A few points: I don’t want to disappoint you, in view of your impressive defense of ‘Ben-Hur’ but I can’t in good conscience include it in such a shortlist. I like the film well enough, but not above the ones I’ve chosen. Still, I admire your passion for it. And it is possible that I have seen a film that you haven’t? The above acknowledgement of the Otto Preminger film ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ brings this fact to the forefront. It is a very good movie, and I myself I have included it. I hope you get a chance to see it. I got ya!

I think you know what my Number One will be-

1 Ace in the Hole
2 North by Northwest
3 Tokyo Story
4 High Noon
5 Umberto D
6 Rear Window
7 Bonjour Tristesse
8 Vertigo
9 Ordet
10 An American in Paris
11 Diary of a Country Prist
12 Wild Strawberries
13 Earrings of Madame de
14 I Vitteloni
15 A Man Escaped
16 Sweet Smell of Success
17 The Seven Samurai
18 Singin in the rain
19 The Searchers
20 The Day the Earth Stood Still
21 The Seventh Seal
22 Rope
23 Sansho the Bailiff
24 Breathless
25 Bridge on the River Kwai
on February 12, 2009 at 9:07 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

David: I assure you there are quite a number of other films I have not seen besides BONJOUR TRISTESSE!!! I have made a conscious effort over the years to see all the essential films, and have been particularly successful with foreign cinema. But as Tony D’Ambra and Alexander Coleman have uncovered in a number of instances, I need to see a number of noirs and B-westerns. And there’s more. I’ll admit that I have no good reason for having missed/avoided the Preminger, but this week I’ll check it out. As I said to Frank, if I really respond to it, it may make my list, which is easy on wordpress to revise with minimal effort. If it’s not my cup of tea, everything will remain.

And I quite understand the situation with BEN-HUR. It’s enough for me that you do like the film. 25 is too little to include everything as I lamentably found out while composing my own list.

David: Thank You for all the time you spent in putting together this excellent list!
on February 12, 2009 at 11:12 pm | Reply Tony D'Ambra

I can’t in all honesty post a definitive list for the 1950s as there are too many gaps in my memory of or exposure to films of this very prolific period. What I have done is to compile a non-voting alphabetical list of films that I would have considered – I hope all that makes sense – anyway:

12 Angry Men (1957)
The 400 Blows (1950)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
All About Eve
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
And God Created Woman (1956)
The Asphalt jungle (1950)
Beat the Devil (1953)
Bellissima (1951)
The Big Combo (1955)
Big Deal on Maddona Street (1958)
The Big Heat (1953)
Black Orpheus (1959)
Breathless (1959)
DOA (1950)
Europa 51 (1952)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
I Vitelloni (1953)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
La Strada (1954)
Los Olivados (1950)
Miracle in Milan (1950)
Night and the City (1950)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
On Dangerous Ground (1952)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Rashomon (1950)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Rififi (1955)
Room at the Top (1958)
The Seven Samurai (1954)
Shane (1953)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Them! (1954)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Umberto D (1952)
Viaggio In Italia (1953)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
The Wild One (1953)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
on February 12, 2009 at 11:15 pm | Reply Tony D'Ambra

Sorry All About Eve is 1950 and strange but WordPress translates (195x) viz 1958 where x is an 8 as a smiley…
on February 12, 2009 at 11:21 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Tony: This is a fabulous listing of films, certainly th eequal of any submitted thus far! You sell yourself short–but what else is new?–especially since the versatility of the list showcases an excellent blend of American and foreign-language cinema. We may still be able to tabulate the choices you made uses a compromised point system for this ballot. i will ask Angelo to come up with a system for it.

Let’s face it–everyone has “gaps” so to speak. Virtually every ballot submitted so far was done so with an incomplete exposure, how little or how small.

As I said, your’s is up with the best of them! And you have embraced noir in an impressive way as well, without slighting all that needed to be addressed.

And, yes I see wordpress has some gliches! LOL!
on February 12, 2009 at 11:26 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

One of Tony’s choices, ON DANGEROUS GROUND contains one of the 3 or 4 greatest scores in the entire history of the cinema by Bernard Herrmann. Great stuff!
on February 12, 2009 at 11:39 pm | Reply Tony D'Ambra

Yes Sam, for me Herrmann’s score for On Dangerous Grounds is the most memorable of all noirs, though Miklós Rózsa work on The The Asphalt Jungle comes very close.
on February 12, 2009 at 11:43 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Ah…..yes….Tony….Rozsa again, and quite agreed with you there! masterfully atmospheric work!
on February 13, 2009 at 12:19 am | Reply Henry Killat

my best movies of the 1950’s

1 – Shane
2 – From Here To Eternity
3 – Marty
4 – Singin in the Rain
5 – The Ten Commandments
6 – Ben-Hur
7 – Written on the Wind
8 – An American in Paris
9 – All About Eve
10- La Strada
11 – The Searchers
12 – On the Waterfront
13 – Bridge on the River Kwai
14 – Ace in the Hole
15 Oklahoma
16 A Place in the Sun
17 A Streetcar Named Desire
18 Sweet Smelll of Success
19 Nights of Cabiria
20 Rear Window
21 The Country Girl
22 The Seventh Seal
23 The African Queen
24 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
25 Around the World in 80 Days
on February 13, 2009 at 2:41 am | Reply Sam Juliano

A very fine list there Henry, and once again I appreciate you taking the time to compose it. You hav eseveral there that haven’t been getting much support, sadly.
on February 14, 2009 at 4:30 pm | Reply David H. Schleicher

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m surprised no one has mentioned Jean Renoir’s THE RIVER (1951).

Had I remembered to, I might have included it on my list, though the fact that it slipped my mind might speak to the impression it left. It’s one of those films I thought I enjoyed (or better yet, thought I was supposed to enjoy and remember) but perhaps it wasn’t as great as I wanted to remember it being?

Also, much thanks to those who have mentioned ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS and ON DANGEROUS GROUND. These are two films that seem right up my alley and have found their way to the top of my Netflix queue.

Great lists all around! Plenty to ponder and recommend here.
on February 14, 2009 at 5:07 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Hello David!

Oh I also like THE RIVER, David, and I can well understand you wanted to acknowledge it. It’s is absolutely gorgeous to look at of course. Perhaps, some may tend to consider it minor Renoir, but it is rightly championed by many. My favorite Renoirs are RULES OF THE GAME, LA GRANDE ILLUSION, LA CHIENNE and the grossly overlooked masterpiece UNE PARTIE DE CAMPAGNE. I also love BONDU SAVED FROM DROWING, which is also a wonderful Criterion DVD.
There is presently a fantastic review up on LA GRANDE ILLUSION by Ed Howard over at Only the Cinema, which is on our blogroll.

Davis, I join with you in praise both the Malle and ON DANGEROUS GROUND.(mentioned by our own Tony D’Ambra) As I previously stated, the score to the film is ravishing among other elements, as is the Malle.

Thanks again for enlightening this discourse. I feel like popping in my Criterion DVD of THE RIVER right now! LOL! Yes, I must say we have been graced with some fantastic lists for this poll, including your own.
on February 16, 2009 at 8:08 pm | Reply bobby j

One movie per director, first masterpiece giev precendance over later one (hence Welle’s ‘Othello’ instead of ‘Touch of Evil’, Wilder’s ‘Sunset’ instead of ‘Some Like it Hot’, Kazan’s ‘Streetcar’ over ‘On the Waterfront’)

1950

La Ronde (Fr)
Sunset Boulevard

1951

The African Queen
Detective Story
The Lavender Hill Mob (GB)
Othello (US/Fr)
Rashomon (Japan)
A Streetcar Named Desire

1952

High Noon
Singin’ in the Rain

1953

Genevieve (GB)
Hobson’s Choice (GB)
Shane

1955

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Marty
The Night of the Hunter
The Red Balloon (Fr)

1956

Forbidden Planet

1957

The Incredible Shrinking Man
Mother India (India)
Paths of Glory
The Seventh Seal (Swd)
Sweet Smell of Success
Twelve Angry Men

1959

Ballad of a Soldier (USSR)

Three cartoons that I would have loved to have included….

The Tale Tell Heart
Duck Amuck
One Froggy Morning

And the “Best” Ten Tv Shows

1951 – 1959 Dragnet (276 Episodes x25mins, NBC)
1953 ——– The Quatermass Serials (22 Episodes, 18x30mins, 4x50mins, BBC, ITV)
1955 – 1959 You’ll Never Get Rich (aka ‘Bilko’) (143 Episodes x25mins, CBS)
1955 – 1962 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (268 Episodes x 25mins, CBS, NBC)
1955 ——– The Honeymooners (39 Episodes x25mins, CBS)
1956 – 1960 Playhouse 90 (134 Episodes x90mins, CBS) – Requiem for a Heavyweight
1956 – 1961 Hancock’s Half Hour (63 Episodes x25mins, BBC1, 39 Exist)
1958 – 1963 Naked City (138 Episodes, 39 x25mins, 99 x50mins, ABC)
1959 – 1963 The Untouchables (118 Episodes x50mins, ABC)
1959 – 1964 The Twilight Zone (156 Episodes, 17x50mind, 139x25mins, CBS)
on February 16, 2009 at 8:31 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Bobby J:

Fantastic list once again! I am especially thrilled at your inclusion of THE TELL TALE HEART among the shorts, as that masterpieces has been seen by few, and unjustly appreciated by even less. Of course, your movie choices again show you as someone who knows his stuff, and has exquisite taste. As always it is a treat to have you here at WitD.
on February 16, 2009 at 8:35 pm | Reply wondersinthedark

Great TV list, bobbyj, can’t really disagree with it. I’d have the BBC 1984 from 1954, but that’s about it.
on February 16, 2009 at 8:41 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Although THE TWILIGHT ZONE is popular everywhere Bobby, I am thrileld an dmost pleased that THE HONEYMOONERS is appreciated to a supreme level in the U.K.

Among anthology series with me the original OUTER LIMITS and BORIS KARLOFF’S THRILLER would make this list.
on February 22, 2009 at 8:31 pm | Reply Louis Aveta

Louis Aveta, the world’s biggest John Wayne fan, brought his list over to me, today, on Oscar night.

1 The Searchers
2 On The Waterfront
3 The African Queen
4 Rear Window
5 Paths of Glory
6 The Ten Commandments
7 North by Northwest
8 Gun Man of the Streets
9 Sunset Boulevard
10 Alice in Wonderland
11 Singin in the Rain
12 Rio Grande
13 The Quiet Man
14 From Here to Eternity
15 Trouble Along the Way
16 The Horse Soldiers
17 Twelve Angry Men
18 Ben-Hur
19 The Last Wagon
20 The Tall Men
21 Rock Island Trail
22 Wagon Master
23 Arizona Manhunt
24 The Thing
25 Vertigo

7
on February 22, 2009 at 8:38 pm | Reply Mary Aveta

Mary Aveta’s List:

1 The Searchers
2 The African Queen
3 Around the World in 80 days
4 Singin in the Rain
5 Shane
6 The Thing
7 East of Eden
8 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
9 Cinderella
10. An American in Paris
11 Bridge on the River Kwai
12 Paths of Glory
13 From Here to Eternity
14 Sunset Boulevard
15 Vertigo
16 North by Northwest
17 Rear Window
18 Hondo
19 The Quiet Man
20 Ben-Hur
21 The Ten Commandments
22 Broken Arrow
23 Duck Dodgers (Looney Tunes)
24. Alice in Wonderland
25 Sleeeping Beauty
on February 24, 2009 at 4:19 pm | Reply Sue

Sam, here’s Sue’s list, which I promised weeks ago:

1 Shane
2 All That Heaven Allows
3 Umberto D
4 The 400 Blows
5 An American in Paris
6 Night of the Hunter
7 Bonjour Tristesse
8 Rear Window
9 Tokyo Story
10 Written on the Wind
11 A Streetcar Named Desire
12 Earrings of Madame De
13 All About Eve
14 Sweet Smell of Success
15 Marty
16 Twelve Angry Men
17 Singin in the Rain
18 Ten Commandments
19 Sweet Smell of Success
20 High Noon
21 On the Waterfront
22 Vertigo
23 Wild Strawberries
24 Sunset Boulevard
25 La Strada
on February 27, 2009 at 2:58 am | Reply Andrei Scala

1. THE SEARCHERS
2. A CHRISTMAS CAROL
3. THE SEVENTH SEAL
4. DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST
5. PATHS OF GLORY
6. SEVEN SAMMURAI
7. BEN HUR
8. UMBERTO D
9. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
10. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
11. ALL ABOUT EVE
12. SUNSET BOULEVARD
13. A MAN ESCAPED
14. RASHOMON
15. THE THING
16. WILD STRAWBERRIES
17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN
18. STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
19. THEM!
20. THE KILLING
21. THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
22. A PLACE IN THE SUN
23. MR. ROBERTS
24. MARTY
25. BROKEN ARROW
on February 27, 2009 at 3:44 am | Reply DeeDee (Dcd..."The Noirista")

Hi! Sam Juliano,

I know that I should know this info(rmation), but for some unknown reason I don’t know this info(rmation.) But, when is the last day for readers to post their top 25 films?

Dcd 😉
on February 27, 2009 at 3:54 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Hello Dee Dee!

Actually, Dee Dee, you still have 25 more days to vote. When Allan’s countdown reaches Number 1, then we will close the voting. So figure you have a bit over three weeks to go.

I do look forward to your ballot!

Thank You!

Sam
on February 27, 2009 at 3:55 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Andrei: Great list!

Did Louie Aveta make a campaign stop???

LOL!!! Just kidding.

I know how much you have loved THE SEARCHERS through your life.
on February 27, 2009 at 4:01 am | Reply DeeDee (Dcd..."The Noirista")

Hi! Sam Juliano,
Thanks, For the information…
Oh!…So, in the end, it all comes down to Allan Fish’s countdown!
Gotcha!

Dcd 😉
on February 27, 2009 at 4:09 am | Reply Carol Ippolito

my top choices:

1 Strangers on a Train
2 Rear Window
3 Earrings of Madame de
4 Wild Strawberries
5 Sansho the Bailiff
6 The Red Balloon
7 East of Eden
8 Shane
9 Vertigo
10 A Christmas Carol
11 Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
12 Twelve Angry Men
13 Nights of Cabiria
14 Bonjour Tristesse
15 A Streetcar named desire
16 Singin in the Rain
17 All About Eve
18 Sunset Boulevard
19 Three Faces of Eve
20 On the Waterfront
21 Anatomy of a Murder
22 Harvey
23 An American in Paris
24 Written on the Wind
25 The Thing
on March 5, 2009 at 7:33 pm | Reply Dave Pasquino

Here they are:

1 Shane
2 Ordet
3 The Big Heat
4 Night of the Demon
5 Sweet Smell of Success
6 A Face in the Crowd
7 I Vittelloni
8 Tokyo Story
9 Seven Samurai
10 Rear Window
11 High Noon
12 The Asphalt Jungle
13 Vertigo
14 Night and the City
15 Panic in the Streets
16 On the Waterfriont
17 Paths of Glory
18 3:10 to Yuma
19 Touch of Evil
20 Twelve Angry Men
21 Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
22 Invasion of the Body snatchers
23 Black Orpheus
24 400 Blows
25 A Streetcar Named Desire
on March 10, 2009 at 8:06 pm | Reply John R.

ok, the drum roll……

1 Tokyo Story
2 I Vitelloni
3 Ace in the Hole
4 Ordet
5 Night and Fog
6 Touch of Evil
7 Sansho the Bailiff
8 Night of the Hunter
9 Wild Strawberries
10 Diary of a Country Priest
11 Sweet Smell of Success
12 Rear Window
13 Earrings of Madame De
14 The Red Balloon
15 On the Waterfront
16 Breathless
17 Vertigo
18 Kiss Me Deadly
19 A Man Escaped
20 Night of the Demon
21 Singin in the Rain
22 The Caine Mutiny
23 In a Lonely Place
24 Anatomy of a Murder
25 Twelve Angry Men
on March 11, 2009 at 4:04 pm | Reply DeeDee ("The Noirista")

Hi WitD readers,
Since I just compiled a list of my favorite Hitchcock films, I decided why stop…so here goes my top 25 fav(orite) films of 1950….

1. All About Eve (US…Joseph L.Mankiewicz)
2. The Wrong Man (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
3. Twelve Angry Men (US…Sidney Lumet)
4. Bonjour Tristesse (US…Otto Preminger)
5. Sunset Boulevard (US…Billy Wilder)
6. An American in Paris (US…Vincente Minnelli)
7. The Day the Earth Stood Still (US…Robert Wise)
8. Strangers on a Train (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
9. Limelight (UK…Charles Chaplin)
10. Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (France…Jacques Tati) Rick, from over there At Coosa Creek Cinema introduced me to Jacques Tati…
11. The Killing (US…Stanley Kubrick)
12. Singin’ in the Rain (US…Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly)
13. The Big Heat (US…Fritz Lang)
14. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (US…Don Siegel)
15. Stalag 17 (US…Billy Wilder)
16. Les Diaboliques (France…Henri-Georges Clouzot)
17. Rear Window (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
18. La Strada (Italy…Federico Fellini)
19. Funny Face (US…Stanley Donen)
20. Kiss Me Deadly (US…Robert Aldrich)
21. Nuit et Brouillard (France…Alain Resnais)
22. The Phenix City Story (US…Phil Karlson)
Sam Juliano, this film is included with Alexander’s “mother lode” of films that I just sent to you yesterday.
23. Rebel without a Cause (US…Nicholas Ray)
24. Summertime (US/UK…David Lean)
25. Lift to the Scaffold (France…Louis Malle)

Deedee 😉
on March 11, 2009 at 4:14 pm | Reply DeeDee ("The Noirista")

Hi! WitD readers,
Nuit et Brouillard (France…Alain Resnais)

I must admit that I haven’t watched the film
Nuit et Brouillard yet, but I’am quite sure it will still be on my list of top 25 after I view this film.

Tks,
Dcd 😉
on March 11, 2009 at 4:19 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Dee Dee:

This is a fantastic, accomplished and authoritative list with much diversity. I do very much appreciate THE PHOENIX CITY STORY, which is a film I do not own, nor have I ever seen it.

I must say I am very surprised that VERTIGO didn’t make your final cut, but Hitch is certainly very well represented.

It’s a list full of undeniably great films, and we are thrilled to have it.
on March 11, 2009 at 4:21 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

John R:

You have always told me that this list would be difficult to put together, but you’d never have deduced that after seeing some of the masterpieces you list. Your knowledge of cinema is far better than you give yourself credit for.

Outstanding and comprehensive, my good friend!
on March 11, 2009 at 4:38 pm | Reply DeeDee ("The Noirista")

Hi! Sam Juliano,
Sam said, “I must say I am very surprised that VERTIGO didn’t make your final cut, but Hitch is certainly very well represented.”

There could be a couple of reasons that I didn’t list Vertigo on my list Sam Juliano…
First of all, I just listed Vertigo as one of my favorite films under the Hitchcock (Rear Window) thread…or it could have been a “slight” oversight on my behalf.
I really believe it was the “latter” instead of, the “former.”

Take care!
Dcd 😉
on March 11, 2009 at 7:49 pm | Reply Nancy B.

Sam, Nancy finally completed her list. I must say it’s a pretty fine one too.

1 Riffifi
2 Limelight
3 Les Diaboliques
4 The Red Balloon
5 Bonjour Tristesse
6 Written on the Wind
7 Bellissima
8 East of Eden
9 The Band Wagon
10 Wild Strawberries
11 Pickpocket
12 All About Eve
13 Rear Window
14 A Christmas Carol
15 Sansho the Bailiff
16 Earrings of Madame de
17 Tokyo Story
18 Nights of Cabiria
19 Breathless
20 Casque d’Or
21 North by Northwest
22 A Streetcar Names Desire
23 Tales of Hoffmann
24 Baby Doll
25 The 400 Blows
on March 14, 2009 at 7:14 pm | Reply J. Raffaele

Finally completed this:

1 Wages of Fear
2 Curse of the Demon
3 Night and the City
4 A Man Escaped
5 Richard III
6 The Thing
7 Night and Fog
8 High Noon
9 Sansho the Bailiff
10 Bonjour Tristesse
11 Rear Window
12 Earrings of Madame De
13 The Magician
14 Senso
15 Vertigo
16 Twelve Angry Men
17 On the Waterfront
18 Ben-Hur
19 Eyes Without A Face
20 Diary of a Country Priest
21 The Seven samurai
22 Pather Panchali
23 Hiroshima Mon Amour
24 Harvey
25 Singin in the Rain
on March 23, 2009 at 9:59 am | Reply Ibetolis

This was not easy, how to whittle this fine decade down to 25 films was far more arduous, and much less fun, than I had anticipated.

I’m still not happy with the list, however; please note, some glaring omissions are not always down to ruthless cutting but to a simple matter of not having seen some widely renowned classics.

Anyway, that’s enough dilly-dally, here’s the list.

1 – Sansho Dayu
2 – Vertigo
3 – Ikiru
4 – The Killing
5 – A Man Escaped
6 – Singin’ in the Rain
7 – The Night of the Hunter
8 – High Noon
9 – Sunset Bld.
10 – Rashomon
11 – Umberto D
12 – Rear Window
13 – Pather Pinchali
14 – Seven Samurai
15 – A Bout de Souffle
16 – Touch of Evil
17 – Paths of Glory
18 – Wages of Fear
19 – Sweet Smell of Success
20 – Wild Strawberries
21 – Night of the Demon
22 – Some Like it Hot
23 – Rio Bravo
24 – Anatomy of a Murder
25 – Eyes Without a Face
on March 23, 2009 at 12:50 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Ibetolis:

All of us here at Wonders in the Dark are eternally grateful for your painstaking attention to this admittedly arduous endeavor.

Your end result is truly magnificent, as you have certainly tabbed some of the cinematic treasures we are all in unison with. It’s wonderful to see your love for Japanese cinema in full flourish.

As Dee Dee would say: “Merci Beaucoup!”
on March 24, 2009 at 2:00 pm | Reply Jeff Farnsworth

It seems I have favored French cinema, but I tried to diversify my choices. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to make this compilation. I can’t say how many times I changed my mind, but in the end I’m happy with it. If you ask me the same question next week, you might get different answers.

1 Night and Fog
2 Wages of Fear
3 Tokyo Story
4 Rebel Without A Cause
5 Strangers on a Train
6 Paths of Glory
7 Bonjour Tristesse
8 Earrings of Madame de
9 Sansho the Bailiff
10 Night of the Hunter
11 Ikiru
12 I Vitelloni
13 Written on the Wind
14 Singin in the Rain
15 Night and the City
16 Sweet Smell of Success
17 High Noon
18 On the Waterfront
19 Wild Strawberries
20 Rear Window
21 Sunset Boulevard
22 Twelve Angry Men
23 In A Lonely Place
24 The Seventh Seal
25 Umberto D
on March 24, 2009 at 5:07 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

That’s quite a list there Jeff.

I owe you big time for that my friend.
on March 24, 2009 at 6:41 pm | Reply Bill Riley

Here she goes Sam!

1 ORDET
2 A CHRISTMAS CAROL
3 UGETSU
4 A MAN ESCAPED
5 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
6 EARRINGS OF MADAME DE
7 BABY DOLL
8 TOKYO STORY
9 NIGHT AND FOG
10 VERTIGO
11 IKIRU
12 THE SEARCHERS
13 SINGIN IN THE RAIN
14 SANSHO THE BAILIFF
15 LIMELIGHT
16 REAR WINDOW
17 THE BIG HEAT
18 DRACULA (1958)
19 HIGH NOON
20 THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD
21 THE RED BALLOON
22 DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST
23 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
24 SUNSET BOULEVARD
25 SEVEN SAMURAI
on March 24, 2009 at 7:57 pm | Reply Anthony Esposito

1 Night of the Demon
2 Seven Samurai
3 On the Waterfront
4 High Noon
5 Ugetsu
6 The Day the Earth Stood Still
7 Ordet
8 Ben-Hur
9 Sweet Smell of Success
10 Vertigo
11 Rear Window
12 The Seventh Seal
13 A Man Escaped
14 Wages of Fear
15 Rebel Without A Cause
16 Bridge on the River Kwai
17 Sunset Boulevard
18 An American in Paris
19 The Searchers
20 From Here to Eternity
21 Night and Fog
22 Rashomon
23 Anatomy of a Murder
24 Twelve Angy Men
25 Marty
on March 24, 2009 at 8:21 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Odd that both of you guys love Ordet and Ugetsu. That’s a strange combination, but no complaints here. They are both masterpieces.

I am deeply gratified to get these stupendous lists. Likewise, I can only say thanks for the time investment.
on March 25, 2009 at 6:19 pm | Reply Allan Fish

Tokyo Story (Japan 1953…Yasujiro Ozu)
Vertigo (US 1958…Alfred Hitchcock)
Sansho Dayu (Japan 1954…Kenji Mizoguchi)
Singin’ in the Rain (US 1952…Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly)
Ikiru (Japan 1952…Akira Kurosawa)
Floating Clouds (Japan 1955…Mikio Naruse)
Ace in the Hole (US 1951…Billy Wilder)
Pickpocket (France 1959…Robert Bresson)
The Searchers (US 1956…John Ford)
Tokyo Twilight (Japan 1957…Yasujiro Ozu)
The Seventh Seal (Sweden 1956…Ingmar Bergman)
Ugetsu Monogatari (Japan 1953…Kenji Mizoguchi)
Sunset Boulevard (US 1950…Billy Wilder)
The Seven Samurai (Japan 1954…Akira Kurosawa)
Madame de… (France 1953…Max Ophuls)
Bob le Flambeur (France 1955…Jean-Pierre Melville)
Rear Window (US 1954…Alfred Hitchcock)
Rio Bravo (US 1959…Howard Hawks)
Pather Panchali (India 1955…Satyajit Ray)
The Night of the Hunter (US 1955…Charles Laughton)
Ballad of a Soldier (Russia 1959…Grigori Chukhrai)
Twenty-Four Eyes (Japan 1954…Keisuke Kinoshita)
Toute la Mémoire du Monde (France 1956…Alain Resnais)
Kiss Me Deadly (US 1955…Robert Aldrich)
Umberto D (Italy 1952…Vittorio de Sica)
on March 25, 2009 at 6:22 pm | Reply Jeff McM

Can someone explain to me the justification behind Peeping Tom and Breathless being considered 1959 titles?
on March 25, 2009 at 6:30 pm | Reply Allan Fish

It’s all about when a film was first shown publicly. A Bout de Souffle and Peeping Tom were both shown publicly for the first time in December 1959. It’s true their general premiere wasn’t until 1960, and many would include both as 1960 films. Another film that falls into the same category is L’Avventura, which although listed for years as 1959, wasn’t shown at all until 1960 so that is listed under 1960.

I wouldn’t blame anyone for including PT or ABDS as 1960, but as I go by first showings of the film, to however few, I go for 1959.

Other examples of first showings being different, but not over decade changes, include The Seventh Seal (first shown in December 1956 but not properly premiered until Cannes 1957) and Bad Day at Black Rock, listed in many areas as a Jan 1955 release, but first shown in New York in the last week of December 1954,

There is another controversy which surrounds Bertolucci’s The Conformist. It was first shown publicly in 1969. It wasn’t premiered until the following summer in 1970, but even the IMDb ghas it right at 1969, and so do I.

It’s not that you are wrong, Jeff, but that our rules go by when we list the film in the Movie Timelines on the right hand menus. That tells readers what years films are believed to be shown.

Another example only came to me yesterday, in that Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai was actually premiered in Paris in December 1947, many months before its 1948 release in the US. I will change the timeline on this accordingly in the upcoming weeks when I do regular updates thereon (films not included before, etc)
on March 28, 2009 at 9:19 pm | Reply R. D. Finch

I am finally ready to name my top-25 of the 1950’s. I haven’t looked at the choices of anyone else yet except, of course, Allan’s–so what you see is a list essentially uninfluenced by the choices of others. Later I’ll return to see what I overlooked and kick myself in the appropriate part of the anatomy! Bear in mind that I have no illusions that this is an objective judgment of quality. This is a purely personal list, which I have arrived at after much thought. I should add that I confined the choices to one film per director to avoid having the list dominated by a handful of masters. I also made an effort to include at least some English-language movies. I have found the whole exercise so stimulating that I have decided to use it as fodder for a post at The Movie Projector, which will probably be my April 6 post. The rankings of the first 10 or so are pretty firm; all the rest are pretty arbitrary–they’re all great. One other caveat–the list is based on movies I’ve actually seen. I haven’t even seen all 50 on Allan’s list, so I make no claim to its being comprehensive. It’s based solely on my own personal film-watching history. Here goes:

1. North by Northwest, Hitchcock
2. Wild Strawberries, Bergman
3. Forbidden Games, Clement
4. Ugetsu, Mizoguchi
5. The Nights of Cabiria, Fellini
6. The Seven Samurai, Kurosawa
7. Floating Weeds, Ozu
8. M. Hulot’s Holiday, Tati
9. Singin’ in the Rain, Kelly/Donen
10. Pather Panchali, Ray
11. Umberto D, de Sica
12. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Siegel
13. Touch of Evil, Welles
14. All About Eve, Mankiewicz
15. Sunset Boulevard, Wilder
16. The Naked Spur, Mann
17. The Earrings of Mme. de, Ophuls
18. The 400 Blows, Truffaut
19. Lust for Life, Minnelli
20. Bob le Flambeur, Melville
21. Los Olvidados, Bunuel
22. The River, Renoir
23. Kiss Me Deadly, Aldrich
24. The Cranes Are Flying, Kalatozov
25. The Ladykillers, Mackendrick
on March 28, 2009 at 10:09 pm | Reply Allan Fish

When 22 of the 25 are films I have included in my book – worth ****½ or ***** – I can’t have anything but praise for this list. For the reckoning, the ones I don’t rate so highly are The Ladykillers (generally excellent but spoilt by Guinness miscast in a role that should have gone to Alastair Sim), The River (pretty, but dramatically rather inert) and Lust for Life (great Douglas performance, but not a great deal else).
on March 29, 2009 at 5:01 am | Reply Sam Juliano

Fabulous fabulous list here R.D.!!!! We are lucky to have it, and we thank you for your painstaking attention to its compilation, and your thorough lead in!!!!
on March 29, 2009 at 6:00 am | Reply R. D. Finch

Thank you, Allan and Sam. My #25, “The Ladykillers” was really a last-minute choice. I went back and forth between it, “Roman Holiday,” and “Summertime.” But I wanted something, just one thing, British, and I wanted one comedy, something conspicuously lacking on my list (and, later, I noticed, on most of them). So that’s how “The Ladykillers” got the #25 spot. Most people I know don’t rate “The River” as highly as I do, but something about it just got to me, and I do have a weakness for movies about childhood. As for “Lust for Life,” I like everything about it. It covers all the important parts of Van Gogh’s life, its pictorial style emulates his paintings of each period, the painstaking set decoration and photography are for me something to behold, and it makes his spiritual and mental torment understandable. It’s been a fun experience, and I still have a few films of the 50’s left to catch up on. Now on to the 60’s, which for me will be an equally challenging decade.
on March 29, 2009 at 7:59 am | Reply Allan Fish

That’s true enough. Just to confirm as much, the day befoore beginning my countdown next week, I will post the films that DIDN’T make the top 50, nos 51-100, which will give people some idea of the problems assessing that particular decade. I don’t think I’ll do it on any future decade, just this one..
on March 30, 2009 at 1:55 am | Reply jennybee

OK, there’s still *so many* I have not yet seen, especially the foreign ones, but they will just have to wait as happy future discoveries for me. Here’s my list, as I’m feeling right now. I ‘spect the order would be different tomorrow, though the top three at least are quite firm.

I can’t believe more of you don’t have A Face in the Crowd on your lists, though. I’m going to have to write that one up sometime. It’s criminally underrated.

1. A Face in the Crowd
2. The Red Balloon
3. Touch of Evil, director’s cut
4. Sunset Boulevard
5. Rear Window
6. Singin’ in the Rain
7. Twelve Angry Men
8. Sansho the Bailiff
9. The Seventh Seal
10. Night and Fog
11. Vertigo
12. All About Eve
13. Rashomon
14. A Streetcar Named Desire, director’s cut
15. Stalag 17
16. The Earrings of Madame de…
17. Tokyo Story
18. The 400 Blows
19. On the Waterfront
20. Rififi
21. The African Queen
22. The Caine Mutiny
23. Night of the Hunter
24. Cinderella
25. Bad Day at Black Rock

Runners Up, alphabetical:

Ace in the Hole
A Christmas Carol
An Affair to Remember
An American in Paris
Ben Hur
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Forbidden Planet
From Here to Eternity
Gigi
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Julius Caesar
Kiss Me Kate
Marty
Mon Oncle
North By Northwest
Oklahoma!
On Dangerous Ground
Nights of Cabiria
Pickpocket
Rebel Without a Cause
Rio Bravo
Rope
Sabrina
Sleeping Beauty
Sweet Smell of Success
The Asphalt Jungle
The Quiet Man
To Catch a Thief
Written on the Wind
on March 30, 2009 at 2:14 am | Reply Sam Juliano

This is a fantastic list Jenny! What makes it even more remarkable is the fact that you REALLY prepared for this for well over a month, revisiting films, seeing a number of others for the first time, and painstakingly compiling what has turned out to be a lineup that ranks with the best submitted at this thread. Your runner-up scroll really shows the kind of preparation you afforded this formidable task.

Your N. 1 choice is indeed a film that deserves far more attention, and you stuck to your guns by naming it at the top. Your list, needless to say is loaded with masterpieces.

Your promotion of the poll for weeks at other sites and your multiple posts in reference to it show the kind of attention you expended here. We are all eternally grateful for it.
on March 30, 2009 at 3:49 am | Reply jennybee

Yes, Sam, 10 of my final 25 were films I discovered this past month thanks to your site (and at least a half-dozen of the runners up, as well).

Thanks to WitD for making my world richer and more cinematic. I love the process of discovering new (old) films about as much as I love anything.
on July 5, 2014 at 1:18 am | Reply Frank Gibbons

Well, five years late, I’ll add my list:

1 – Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
2 – The Searchers (John Ford)
3 – Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)
4 – The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
5 – The Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa)
6 – Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson)
7 – Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
8 – Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)
9 – Wagonmaster (John Ford)
10 – On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan)
11 – Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
12 – The Man From Laramie (Anthony Mann)

Honor Roll:

The Tall T (Budd Boetticher)
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel)
The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut)
Shane (George Stevens)
From Here to Eternity (Fred Zimmermann)
Broken Arrow (Delmar Daves)
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
Attack (Robert Aldrich)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise)
The Gunfighter (Henry King)
Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick)
The Naked Spur (Anthony Mann)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)
on July 5, 2014 at 1:23 am | Reply Frank Gibbons

I could have had a longer honor roll but how could I have left these favorites off of the list:

North By Northwest
I Confess