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Defining Era
1950 — 1959

THE 1950S

CINEMASCOPE AND THE CRISIS
Television broke the studios' monopoly. Cinema responded with widescreen, color, and the first true auteurs.
1950 — 1959
2,425
Films Catalogued
66.8
Avg Master Score
6.5
Avg IMDb
MICHAEL CURTIZ
Top Director
109
Oscar-Nominated
The Defining Three

ESSENTIAL VIEWING

Top-ranked by master score. If you only saw three films from this decade, these are the three.

No.01
MS95.2
ALFRED HITCHCOCK|1954
REAR WINDOW

“It only takes one witness to spoil the perfect crime.”

No.02
MS95.1
SIDNEY LUMET|1957
12 ANGRY MEN

“It explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite!”

No.03
MS94.3
AKIRA KUROSAWA|1954
SEVEN SAMURAI

“Unmatched for suspense and spectacle!”

Filter the List
2,425/2,425 films
Master Score
Awards
Showing 50 of 2425
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01
Rear Window
1954 · Alfred Hitchcock
95.2
02
12 Angry Men
1957 · Sidney Lumet
95.1
03
Seven Samurai
1954 · Akira Kurosawa
94.3
04
On the Waterfront
1954 · Elia Kazan · 8 Oscars
93.1
05
The Wages of Fear
1953 · Henri-Georges Clouzot
92.6
06
Tokyo Story
1953 · Yasujirô Ozu
92.4
07
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957 · David Lean · 7 Oscars
92.4
08
The 400 Blows
1959 · François Truffaut
92.4
09
Wild Strawberries
1957 · Ingmar Bergman
92.1
10
Sansho the Bailiff
1954 · Kenji Mizoguchi
92.0
11
Ben-Hur
1959 · William Wyler · 11 Oscars
92.0
12
Ugetsu
1953 · Kenji Mizoguchi
91.7
13
The World of Apu
1959 · Satyajit Ray
91.6
14
Pather Panchali
1955 · Satyajit Ray
91.6
15
Godzilla
1954 · Ishirô Honda
91.4
16
Throne of Blood
1957 · Akira Kurosawa
91.4
17
Diabolique
1955 · Henri-Georges Clouzot
91.3
18
Umberto D.
1952 · Vittorio De Sica
91.0
19
The Killing
1956 · Stanley Kubrick
90.8
20
The Young and the Damned
1950 · Luis Buñuel
90.7
21
Aparajito
1956 · Satyajit Ray
90.4
22
The Night of the Hunter
1955 · Charles Laughton
90.3
23
Cinderella
1950 · Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
90.1
24
The Big Heat
1953 · Fritz Lang
90.1
25
All About Eve
1950 · Joseph L. Mankiewicz · 6 Oscars
89.9
26
Ikiru
1952 · Akira Kurosawa
89.8
27
Early Summer
1951 · Yasujirô Ozu
89.8
28
Strangers on a Train
1951 · Alfred Hitchcock
89.6
29
I Vitelloni
1953 · Federico Fellini
89.5
30
From Here to Eternity
1953 · Fred Zinnemann · 8 Oscars
89.5
31
The Searchers
1956 · John Ford
89.4
32
In a Lonely Place
1950 · Nicholas Ray
89.3
33
Elevator to the Gallows
1958 · Louis Malle
89.2
34
A Face in the Crowd
1957 · Elia Kazan
89.2
35
The Caine Mutiny
1954 · Edward Dmytryk
89.2
36
High Noon
1952 · Fred Zinnemann · 4 Oscars
89.0
37
Horror of Dracula
1958 · Terence Fisher
88.8
38
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1956 · Don Siegel
88.5
39
Smiles of a Summer Night
1955 · Ingmar Bergman
88.5
40
The Ladykillers
1955 · Alexander Mackendrick
88.4
41
The Life of Oharu
1952 · Kenji Mizoguchi
88.3
42
The Gunfighter
1950 · Henry King
88.2
43
Rio Bravo
1959 · Howard Hawks
87.9
44
Alice in Wonderland
1951 · Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
87.9
45
Winchester '73
1950 · Anthony Mann
87.9
46
A Christmas Carol
1951 · Brian Desmond Hurst
87.7
47
Peter Pan
1953 · Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
87.7
48
The Burmese Harp
1956 · Kon Ichikawa
87.6
49
Lady and the Tramp
1955 · Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
87.6
50
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
1959 · Masaki Kobayashi
87.5
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THE 1940S
NOIR AND THE WAR

Out of the shadows of wartime came film noir, Welles, and the films that taught Hollywood it could mean something.

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