Favorite Movies of the 1950s

Below is a list of my favorite movies released during the 1950s:


FAVORITE MOVIES OF THE 1950s



1. "Some Like It Hot" (1959) - Billy Wilder directed and co-wrote with I.A.L. Diamond this superb comedy about two struggling musicians who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and try to find a way out of the city before they are found and killed by the mob. The only job that will pay their way is an all girl band so the two dress up as women. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon star in this classic comedy.





2. "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) - Here is another classic directed by Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the script with Charles Brackett; in which a hack Hollywood screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity. Co-written by Charles Brackett, the film starred Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Sroheim and Nancy Olson.





3. "The Searchers" (1956) - John Ford directed this Western classic about a Civil War veteran who spends years searching for a young niece captured by the Commanches. As the years wear on, his young companion finds his motivation increasingly questionable. John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Harry Carey Jr. and Natalie Wood starred.





4. "Gigi" (1958) - Vincente Minelli directed this Oscar-winning musical adaptation of Collette's story about a rich playboy, weary of the conventions of turn-of-the-century Parisian society, who enjoys a platonic friendship with a youthful courtesan-in-training. Leslie Caron, Louis Jordan, Hermioine Gingold, Isabel Jeans, Eva Gabor and Maurice Chevalier starred.





5. "King Solomon's Mines" (1950) - Stewart Granger starred in this Oscar-nominated adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's novel about hunter/guide Allan Quartermain who helps a married woman search for her missing husband in the unexplored regions of East Africa. Deborah Kerr and Richard Carlson co-starred.





6. "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) - Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly co-directed this classic musical about Hollywood's transition to sound in the late 1920s. Kelly co-starred with Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor and Jean Hagen.





7. "Friendly Persuasion" (1956) - William Wyler directed this adaptation of Jessamyn West's novel about a pacifist Quaker family in Indiana during the Civil War. Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire and Anthony Perkins starred.





8. "The Big Country" (1958) - Again, William Wyler filmed another adaptation of a novel; namely of Donald Hamilton's story about a feud between two ranchers in 1870s Texas. Gregory Peck is the Easterner who finds himself caught in the middle. Jean Simmons, Charlton Heston, Carroll Baker, Chuck Connors, Charles Bickford and Oscar winner Burl Ives co-starred.





9. "Pillow Talk" (1959) - Rock Hudson and Doris Day starred in this Oscar winning comedy about a New York playboy and a decorator who share a telephone line and despise each other. But then he has fun by romancing her with his voice disguised. Tony Randall and Thelma Ritter co-starred.





10. "Written on the Wind" (1956) - Douglas Sirk directed this adaptation of Robert Wilder's novel about a New York secretary who marries a wealthy alcoholic playboy and ends up regretting it. Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall starred. Oscar nominee Robert Stack and Oscar winner Dorothy Malone portrayed the bad seeds of a wealthy Texas oil family.