Zach’s Favorite Films of the 1950s

1959

1. RIO BRAVO (Howard Hawks, USA)
2. SLEEPING BEAUTY (Clyde Geronimi, Wolfgang Reitherman, Les Clark, and Eric Larson, USA)
3. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
4. ANATOMY OF A MURDER (Otto Preminger, USA)
5. WINDOW WATER BABY MOVING (Stan Brakhage, USA)
6. RIDE LONESOME (Budd Boetticher, USA)
7. THE 400 BLOWS (François Truffaut, France)
8. HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (Alain Resnais, France/Japan)
9. GOOD MORNING (Yasujirō Ozu, Japan)
10. DAY OF THE OUTLAW (André De Toth, USA)
11. PICKPOCKET (Robert Bresson, France)
12. IMITATION OF LIFE (Douglas Sirk, USA)
13. FLOATING WEEDS (Yasujirō Ozu, Japan)
14. PICNIC ON THE GRASS (Jean Renoir, France)

1958

1. VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
2. ANTICIPATION OF THE NIGHT (Stan Brakhage, USA)
3. MON ONCLE (Jacques Tati, France/Italy)
4. IVAN THE TERRIBLE, PART II: THE BOYARS’ PLOT (Sergei Eisenstein, USSR)
5. EQUINOX FLOWER (Yasujirō Ozu, Japan)
6. GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARD (John Ford, USA)
7. WIND ACROSS THE EVERGLADES (Nicholas Ray, USA)
8. UNE VIE (Alexandre Astruc, France)
9. THE LINEUP (Don Siegel, USA)
10. BONJOUR TRISTESSE (Otto Preminger, USA)
11. GLASS (Bert Haanstra, Netherlands)
12. MAN OF THE WEST (Anthony Mann, USA)
13. TOUCH OF EVIL (Orson Welles, USA)
14. BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE (Budd Boetticher, USA)
15. SCHWECHATER (Peter Kubelka, Austria)
16. BRIDGES-GO-ROUND (Shirley Clarke, USA)
17. THE LAST HURRAH (John Ford, USA)
18. THE FLY (Kurt Neumann, USA)
19. ASHES AND DIAMONDS (Andrzej Wajda, Poland)

• CAIRO STATION (Youssef Chahine, Egypt)
• THE MAGICIAN (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden)
• SOME CAME RUNNING (Vincente Minnelli, USA)
• THE VIKINGS (Richard Fleischer, USA)

1957

1. PYAASA (Guru Dutt, India)
2. THE TALL T (Budd Boetticher, USA)
3. MEN IN WAR (Anthony Mann, USA)
4. THREE PICK-UP MEN FOR HERRICK (Melvin Van Peebles, USA)
5. TIME WITHOUT PITY (Joseph Losey, UK)
6. THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (Jack Arnold, USA)
7. SUNLIGHT (Melvin Van Peebles, USA)
8. THE TARNISHED ANGELS (Douglas Sirk, USA)
9. SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (Alexander Mackendrick, USA)
10. NIGHT OF THE DEMON (Jacques Tourneur, UK)
11. THRONE OF BLOOD (Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
12. INTERLUDE (Douglas Sirk, USA)

• RUN OF THE ARROW (Samuel Fuller, USA)
• PATHS OF GLORY (Stanley Kubrick, USA)
• WILD STRAWBERRIES (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden)

1956

1. THE SEARCHERS (John Ford, USA)
2. A MAN ESCAPED (Robert Bresson, France)
3. WRITTEN ON THE WIND (Douglas Sirk, USA)
4. TEA AND SYMPATHY (Vincente Minnelli, USA)
5. THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
6. WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (Fritz Lang, USA)
7. NIGHTFALL (Jacques Tourneur, USA)
8. SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (Budd Boetticher, USA)
9. THE WRONG MAN (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
10. FLOWING (Mikio Naruse, Japan)
11. THE KILLING (Stanley Kubrick, USA)
12. SUZAKI PARADISE: GREAT LIGHT (Yuzo Kawashima, Japan)
13. BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (Fritz Lang, USA)
14. CARNIVAL NIGHT (Eldar Ryazanov, USSR)
15. GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING (Jacques Tourneur, USA)
16. THE REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER (Raoul Walsh, USA)
17. THE MYSTERY OF PICASSO (Henri-Georges Clouzot, France)

• BIGGER THAN LIFE (Nicholas Ray, USA)
• FORBIDDEN PLANET (Fred M. Wilcox, USA)

1955

1. FLOATING CLOUDS (Mikio Naruse, Japan)
2. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Charles Laughton, USA)
3. NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais, France)
4. ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (Douglas Sirk, USA)
5. WICHITA (Jacques Tourneur, USA)
6. THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ (Luis Buñuel, Mexico)
7. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (Nicholas Ray, USA)
8. THE LONG GRAY LINE (John Ford, USA)
9. TO CATCH A THIEF (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
10. THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (Anthony Mann, USA)
11. THE WONDER RING (Stan Brakhage, USA)
12. HOUSE OF BAMBOO (Samuel Fuller, USA)
13. PATHER PANCHALI (Satyajit Ray, India)
14. TIGHT SPOT (Phil Karlson, USA)
15. AFRIQUE SUR SEINE (Mamamou Sarr and Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, France)
16. CRASHOUT (Lewis R. Foster, USA)
17. KISS ME DEADLY (Robert Aldrich, USA)
18. BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (John Sturges, USA)
19. STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (Jacques Tourneur, USA)

• MR. ARKADIN (Orson Welles, France/Spain/Switzerland)
• RIFIFI (Jules Dassin, France)
• THE LAST FRONTIER (Anthony Mann, USA)
• SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden)

1954

1. JOURNEY TO ITALY (Roberto Rossellini, France/Italy)
2. JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray, USA)
3. SANSHO THE BAILIFF (Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan)
4. TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI (Jacques Becker, France/Italy)
5. REAR WINDOW (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
6. A STAR IS BORN (George Cukor, USA)
7. SOUND OF THE MOUNTAIN (Mikio Naruse, Japan)
8. DIAL M FOR MURDER (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
9. THE INAUGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME (Kenneth Anger, USA)
10. GODZILLA (Ishirô Honda, Japan)
11. DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD (Richard Quine, USA)
12. CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (Jack Arnold, USA)
13. IN PARIS PARKS (Shirley Clarke, USA)

• SEVEN SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa, Japan)
• ON THE WATERFRONT (Elia Kazan, USA)

1953

1. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (Howard Hawks, USA)
2. TOKYO STORY (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan)
3. ANGEL FACE (Otto Preminger, USA)
4. MONSIEUR HULOT’S HOLIDAY (Jacques Tati, France)
5. CRIME WAVE (André De Toth, USA)
6. THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT (John Ford, USA)
7. DUCK AMUCK (Chuck Jones, USA)
8. THE BIG HEAT (Fritz Lang, USA)
9. 99 RIVER STREET (Phil Karlson, USA)
10. LILI (Charles Walters, USA)
11. THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (Max Ophüls, France/Italy)
12. THE HITCH-HIKER (Ida Lupino, USA)
13. UGETSU (Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan)
14. SAWDUST AND TINSEL (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden)
15. THE NAKED SPUR (Anthony Mann, USA)
16. PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (Samuel Fuller, USA)
17. THE ELEPHANT WILL NEVER FORGET (John Krish, UK)
18. HOUSE OF WAX (André De Toth, USA)
19. DAYBREAK EXPRESS (D.A. Pennebaker, USA)
20. RUE DE L’ESTRAPADE (Jacques Becker, France)
21. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (Byron Haskin, USA)
22. HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE (Jean Negulesco, USA)

• THE BIGAMIST (Ida Lupino, USA)
• THE GLASS WEB (Jack Arnold, USA)
• INFERNO (Roy Ward Baker, USA)

1952

1. SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (Stanley Donen, USA)
2. THE QUIET MAN (John Ford, USA)
3. ABSTRACT IN CONCRETE (John Arvonio, USA)
4. THE NARROW MARGIN (Richard Fleischer, USA)
5. NEIGHBOURS (Norman McLaren, Canada)
6. CASQUE D’OR (Jacques Becker, France)
7. UMBERTO D. (Vittorio De Sica, Italy)
8. WAY OF A GAUCHO (Jacques Tourneur, USA)
9. THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (Vincente Minnelli, USA)
10. THE LUSTY MEN (Nicholas Ray, USA)

1951

1. ON DANGEROUS GROUND (Nicholas Ray and Ida Lupino, USA)
2. AWAARA (Raj Kapoor, India)
3. APACHE DRUMS (Hugo Fregonese, USA)
4. DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (Robert Bresson, France)
5. REPAST (Mikio Naruse, Japan)
6. THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (Howard Hawks and Christian Nyby, USA)
7. OTHELLO (Orson Welles, France/Italy/Morocco/USA)
8. EDOUARD ET CAROLINE (Jacques Becker, France)
9. THE MOB (Robert Parrish, USA)
10. THE TALL TARGET (Anthony Mann, USA)
11. STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
12. THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT (Alexander Mackendrick, UK)
13. EARLY SUMMER (Yasujirō Ozu, Japan)
14. NATIVE SON (Pierre Chenal, Argentina)
15. NOW IS THE TIME (Norman McLaren, Canada)

1950

1. STARS IN MY CROWN (Jacques Tourneur, USA)
2. IN A LONELY PLACE (Nicholas Ray, USA)
3. STORY OF A LOVE AFFAIR (Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy)
4. WINCHESTER ’73 (Anthony Mann, USA)
5. STAGE FRIGHT (Alfred Hitchcock, USA)
6. WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (Otto Preminger, USA)
7. RIO GRANDE (John Ford, USA)
8. A LIFE OF HER OWN (George Cukor, USA)
9. OUTRAGE (Ida Lupino, USA)
10. ALL ABOUT EVE (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, USA)
11. CINDERELLA (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, USA)
12. WAGON MASTER (John Ford, USA)
13. THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (Felix E. Feist, USA)
14. ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (Richard Fleischer, USA)
15. ONE WAY STREET (Hugo Fregonese, USA)
16. SUMMER STOCK (Charles Walters, USA)
17. THE FLAME AND THE ARROW (Jacques Tourneur, USA)

• RASHOMON (Akira Kurosawa, Japan)