FYS The Fifties

Some films of the 1950s – this list is not comprehensive – for History Lab #6 you can use ANY movie released in that decade, but here are some suggestions to whet your appetite. The links go to that film’s page on IMDB (the Internet Movie Database)

Best of the Best
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
East of Eden (1955)
Giant (1956)
Twelve Angry Men (1957)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
All About Eve (1950)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
The Defiant Ones (1958)

Alfred Hitchcock Classics
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Vertigo (1958)
Rear Window (1954)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
To Catch a Thief (1955)

Romantic Comedies
Seven Year Itch (1955)
Some Like it Hot (1959)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Father of the Bride (1950)

Blockbusters (Bible Sandal Flicks)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Ten Commandments (1956)
Quo Vadis (1951)
The Robe (1953)

“Social Problem” Films
Blackboard Jungle (1955) – inner-city schools, rock’n’roll
Imitation of Life (1959) – mixed-race “passing” across the color line
The Wild One (1953) – motorcycle gangs
From Here to Eternity (1953) – marital infidelity
The Desperate Hours (1955) – crime/ gangsterism

AntiCommunist Films
Red Snow (1952)
Big Jim McLain (1952)
I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951)
My Son John (1952)

Westerns
Shane (1953)
High Noon (1952)
The Searchers (1956)
The Big Country (1958)
River of No Return (1954)

War Movies
The African Queen (1951)
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
The Enemy Below (1957)
The Desert Rats (1953)

Monster/Sci-Fi
Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
THEM! (1954)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)
The Fly (1958)
The Blob (1958)
On the Beach (1959)