Author’s Note: I apparently did this in July of 2009 but didn’t list my top ten favorites. It simply had my favorite film and then a few honorable mentions that would have been in the top five.
I started a series of lists that rank my top ten favorite movies by decade. It began in the 1920s and will be working toward the new millennium.
To compile this list, I took my ranked films from IMDb, which I grade after every movie viewing, and sorted them from highest to lowest. Then, looking at each movie in each decade I came up with my favorite ten.
I have included some honorable mentions to show what the top ten were up against. We will continue with the 1950s.
1950s
Honorable Mentions: All About Eve (1950), Winchester ’73 (1950), High Noon (1952), Shane (1953), Sabrina (1954), Blackboard Jungle (1955), Diabolique (1955), 12 Angry Men (1957), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Paths of Glory (1957), and Vertigo (1958)
10. Cinderella (1950) – Due to World War II and low box office returns, this was the first feature-length, full-bodied animation film in nearly a decade from Walt Disney Studios, which was heavily in debt and had not had a big hit since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Cinderella is considered the last of the “golden age” of Disney animations that spanned the 1930s and 40s. The generous profits from this film, along with additional money made from record sales, music publishing, and other merchandise, gave Disney a resurgence of cash flow to proceed with new films, both animated and live action, establish his own distribution company, enter television production, and begin building Disneyland. Cinderella received three Academy Award nominations, all in the sound and song categories. At the inaugural Berlin International Film Festival, it won the Golden Bear (Music Film) award and the Big Bronze Plate award. The AFI included Cinderella among its 10 Top 10 Animated films, ranking ninth.
9. Rear Window (1954) – Some viewers are bored by the single set, slow-moving story, however, those fascinated by Rear Window are not alone, as the film received four Oscar nominations, was ranked 42nd and 48th on AFI’s 100 Movies and 100 Movies Anniversary lists, was universally praised by critics, and in 1997 was included in the United States National Film Registry. As the movie is all about voyeurism, Hitchcock’s film exquisitely display’s the human need to look in on other people’s lives, ignoring what is going on right in their own home. With the explosion of Facebook and Twitter, the insatiable need to make a connection with others without ever becoming involved is a successor to Hitchcock’s feature of a man and his camera looking out into an apartment building courtyard. Rear Window uses a natural soundtrack, with diegetic sounds and music stemming from James Stewart’s neighboring apartments. Along with the 100 Movies wins, the AFI also included Rear Window in its 100 Thrills and 10 Top 10 Mystery lists.
8. Seven Samurai (1954) – Possibly better known to American audiences in remakes such as The Magnificent Seven or A Bug’s Life, the idea of recruiting individuals with special skills to perform a specific task was originally seen on the Japanese screen in Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Seven Samurai. The now-common plot element introduced in this film can be seen in popular American cinema, such as The Guns of Navarone, Ocean’s Eleven, and The Dirty Dozen. Seven Samurai is described as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, making it on Sight & Sound’s list of the 10 greatest films of all time in 1982 and the directors’ top ten film in 1992 and 2003 polls. It was also ranked number one in Empire magazine’s The 100 Best Films of World Cinema in 2010. Winner of the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, the film was also honored with several nominations and wins for acting and directing at the British Academy Film Awards, Jussi Awards, and Mainichi Film Awards. Seven Samurai received two Academy Award nominations as well.
7. Sleeping Beauty (1959) – The final fairy tale animated feature produced by Walt Disney himself and the last of Disney’s features to use hand-inked cels, Sleeping Beauty was initially a financial failure, resulting in the first annual loss in a decade and leading to massive layoffs in the animation department. It took nearly a decade to get the movie made, with story work beginning eight years prior to its theatrical release and voice recordings taking place seven years before as well. The film was initially met with mixed reviews, most critics claiming poor character development, but with the unique stylized design of the artwork and lavish musical score have resulted in a sustained interest in the movie and ultimately it is now one of the most praised animated features ever made. Sleeping Beauty was nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy for its soundtrack, but lost at both ceremonies.
6. The Killing (1956) – Where Seven Samurai set up the concept of showing the audience the process of hiring a group of mercenaries to do a job, Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing showcased a heist picture from several different viewpoints and the precise planning and undertaking it takes to pull off a multi-million dollar robbery, much like the number one movie for this decade's list. Like many movies considered classics of their genre and decade, this one was a disappointment at the box office. However, The Killing showed off the talent Kubrick had as a director, cinematographer, and storyteller, giving audiences a glimpse into what was to come later in his career. Critics respected the picture, praising Kubrick as the next great director with skills that hadn’t been seen since Orson Welles. The only major award nomination for The Killing was at the BAFTAs for Best Film from any Source, but its legacy has influenced many, including Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.
5. Sunset Boulevard (1950) – One of the most well written film noirs, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard is an absorbing movie with an unforgettable leading lady and countless memorable quotes. Told through William Holden’s character, unsuccessful screenwriter Joe Gillis, about his meeting and subsequent tumultuous relationship with former silent-film star Norma Desmond, the film is a disturbed showcase of Desmond’s fantasy world where she believes a comeback to Hollywood stardom is near. Sunset Boulevard was an instant success, nominated for 11 Academy Award nominations, winning three, was included in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, and saw its inclusion in the top 20 greatest films by the American Film Institute in its 100 Movies and 100 Movies Anniversary lists, at 12 and 16 respectively. It is highly regarded as the greatest movie about Hollywood ever made.
4. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) – Another movie about Hollywood, this one takes a much more comedic and light-hearted tone of Tinseltown. Tackling the period of time when films transitioned from silent to talkies, Singin’ in the Rain has become known as one of the greatest musicals to ever be made, but it was not originally accepted so pleasantly. Co-director and star Gene Kelly’s dance number to the titular song with an umbrella in the rainy streets has become an iconic moment in film history, recognized by even those who have not seen the movie. The film received two Academy Award nominations for Supporting Actor and Original Music Score, a Golden Globe for Donald O’Connor’s performance, and recognition for best written American musical at the Writers Guild of America. Singin’ in the Rain has twice appeared on Sight & Sound’s list of the 10 best films of all time. The film was among the United States Library of Congress’s first 25 films chosen for the newly established National Film Registry. The American Film Institute included the musical among its 100 Movies, 100 Laughs, 100 Passions, 100 Songs (three times), 100 Musicals, and 100 Movies Anniversary lists.
3. On the Waterfront (1954) – A tough, gritty look at union violence, corruption, and racketeering among longshoremen in New Jersey, On the Waterfront won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Story. Based on a Pulitzer Prize winning 24-part series in the New York Sun, the film is considered to be the director’s rejoinder to critics for his identifying former Communists in the film industry before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Released to rave reviews from critics, On the Waterfront has since been deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry during its inaugural year and included among many critics top film lists it also made the Vatican’s list of 45 greatest films of all time. AFI included the film among its 100 Movies, 100 Heroes and Villains, 100 Quotes, 100 Film Scores, 100 Cheers, and 100 Movies Anniversary lists.
2. North by Northwest (1959) – My personal favorite of all of Hitchcock’s films, North by Northwest is also one of his most critically favored among the innocent man on the run stories. Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason give commanding performances in this stylish thriller with a finale set amongst one of America’s most historic monuments. Ranking at 98 in Empire magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time, North by Northwest is considered a masterpiece in filmmaking for its themes of deception, mistaken identity, and moral relativism. The movie was nominated for three Academy Awards and won a 1960 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. In 1995, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. Among AFI movie lists, North by Northwest ranked among its 100 Movies, 100 Thrills, 100 Movies Anniversary, and 10 Top 10 Mystery lists.
1. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) – A film noir caper film with a cast who’s most famous member now, Marilyn Monroe, was at the time unknown to audiences follows a group of men planning and executing a jewel robbery. The Asphalt Jungle, directed by John Huston, was nominated for four Academy Awards. Creating a legacy with its style and production, the film is one of the most influential crime films of the decade and presents an impressively staged robbery to be copied for years to come, creating its own subgenre of caper films. The Asphalt Jungle won awards at the Venice Film Festival, National Board of Review, and Edgar Allen Poe Awards, along with nominations at the Golden Globes, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Directors Guild of America, and Writers Guild of America. In 2008, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Included in this list are animated pictures, heist movies, foreign films, and Hollywood movies about Hollywood. The 1950s are the end of the stranglehold Hollywood had on American audiences looking for visual stimulation as television began its competition, resulting in gimmicks and cheap ploys to herd people back into theaters. Big production, spectacle, widescreen techniques, and 3-D became prevalent in moviemaking. the 50s will also be well known for its heightening of interest in science fiction, thanks to Cold War paranoia and a renewed interest in science due to the atomic bomb. The western genre was revitalized and Alfred Hitchcock saw some of his most popular films released in this decade.
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