In the first decade after the fallout of World War II, the global movie industry hadn’t missed a step. But which of them are actually the greatest?
Throughout the middle of the 20th century, the art of filmmaking evolved through the refinement of the commercial studio style. At the same time, progressive experimentations, like electronic music scoring to widespread adoption of Technicolor and widescreen panorama, took the medium to the next level. While all of that was happening, movie stars grew more accustomed to being the sole reasons why the public went to see movies in the first place.
The arena of cinema expanded throughout the 1950s, too. While American-made Hollywood pictures enjoyed cultural and commercial dominance, movies from other parts of the world – Japan, Sweden, Italy, France, and elsewhere – began entering the conversation.
While the prevailing image of the 1950s may be of wholesome American values, the greatest movies to come out of those years were anything but. Amid Communist witch hunts, the beginning of the Cold War, and the atrocities committed and endured during World War II, the best movies of the 1950s are steeped in paranoia, psychological obsession, and foolish bravery against insurmountable odds. But there was singing and dancing, too.
To prove just how atmospherically diverse the 1950s actually were, here are some of the best movies of the decade.
