Looking for some 50s film recommendations
So I love me some older films. Last year I came here and asked for 60s recommendations and got some amazing movie recs. Now I want some from the 50s.
Ones I enjoyed so far are films like:
- Rear Window
- Sunset Boulevard
- Vertigo
- Scrooge (or A Christmas Carol the one with Alastair Sim)
- Stalag 17
The only ones I've seen I'm a bit just kind of eh on are Titfield Thunderbolt and Blood of Dracula. I haven't seen anything I think is outright bad though.
Edit to add movies I've seen that people brought up:
- On the Waterfront
- Giant
- Strangers on a Train
- North by Northwest
22 replies
Thanks for the recs everyone! I actually went to my local retro store to see what they had and picked some of these up!
Reviewing media I've tagged '1950s' on NeoDB & rated highly:
More:
Bicycles Thieves (48)
Some I haven't seen mentioned:
Edit: was heading out earlier. Here are some more:
Some Like It Hot is a good one
Many good movies have been mentioned here already, but I'm quite surprised that no-one yet has mentioned these:
North by Northwest is an absolute classic. I remember watching it in a high school film class, but I don't think it really hit me till I rewatched it much later.
hate to beat a dead stewart but, harvey?
From my own viewing experience, these are my recommendations that I did not see yet in the thread:
Macbeth in feudal Japan.
Heist movie, early Kubrick
Some early sci-fi. Superior to the Keanu Reeves remake.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Giant (1956)
A pair of James Dean roles. Unbelievable, raw talent.
Un peu de film noir.
Goes well with Dr. Strangelove (1962) and Fail-Safe (1962).
Previously mentioned, and I can't help but include:
Vertigo
Rashomon
Edit: comments and a revision below.
Giant feels like a “big screen” movie, even when you watch it on a tv. If there’s a theater near you that shows vintage movies on a large e screen, I’d ask them if they ever show this one.
Giant was one I watched expecting a kind of alright film, but came out of it just in love with everything. It's the only James Dean movie I've seen, but I have a few on my watchlist. Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, Letter to Jane, and Has Anybody Seen My Gal.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
On the waterfront
Brando just out there setting a bar never to be surpassed
Love this one! I'll edit my post to mention it.
First time I ever watched it, I kinda expected to be underwhelmed. One of those movies you hear about so much that it can't actually be that good, right?
Blew me away. Plot and pacing were very good, and the acting was one of the best performances I've ever seen.
A touch of evil, that opening sequence is fantastic
The creature from the black lagoon and the incredible shrinking man are both classic 50s horror movies along with the original version of the fly, the blob, and the thing. The lost skeleton of cadavera is a pretty funny parody of the style too.
The day the earth stood still for some 50s sci-fi, and Hitchcock hits his prime in the mid to late 50s for suspense
Casablanca
A truly great movie, but from 1942, almost an entire decade too old for this question.
I remember enjoying Strangers on a Train (1951).
Yeah I'm working my way through Hitchcock's filmography and really enjoyed this one. One of the most suspenseful films I've seen I think.
There's a very well known remake of this movie under a different title. Odds are that you've already seen the remake, so surely you'll find it somewhat familiar.