1950s

  • Maxwell Shane – The Naked Street (1955)

    1951-1960Film NoirMaxwell ShaneUSA

    Plot
    Roselle Regalzyk (Anne Bancroft) is the naughty but nice little sister of mobster Phil “Regal” (Anthony Quinn). The unwed Roselle has managed to get herself pregnant by Nick Branda (Farley Granger), another convict who is soon on his way to the electric chair. Phil no sooner has Nick sprung so that he can marry Roselle, then Roselle miscarries, making the shotgun wedding unnecessaryRead More »

  • Quentin Lawrence – The Trollenberg Terror (1958)

    1951-1960HorrorQuentin LawrenceSci-FiUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    In the Swiss mountain village of Trollenberg climbers are mysteriously disappearing on the mountainside. A nearby observatory detects a cloud on the mountainside which gives off radioactive readings and never moves. One of two English sisters who form a psychic stage act receives a premonition of great danger associated with the mountain. As the cloud starts to move down the mountain, killing people along the way, the astronomers realize they are dealing with an invasion of aliens who have come from a dying world and have selected the mountainside’s cold as the environment which most resembles their home planet.Read More »

  • Terence Fisher – The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

    1951-1960Hammer FilmsHorrorMysteryTerence FisherUnited Kingdom

    Returning to his family’s manor house on the lonely moors after his father dies under mysterious circumstances, Sir Henry Baskerville is confronted with the mystery of the supernatural hound that supposedly takes revenge upon the Baskerville family. The famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson are brought in to investigate.Read More »

  • Marcel Hanoun – Une simple histoire AKA A Simple Story (1959)

    Drama1951-1960FranceMarcel Hanoun

    Quote:
    A woman arrives in Paris with her little girl to look for work. With limited funds and no luck, they end up penniless, homeless and dependent on the rare kindness of strangers.Read More »

  • Jacqueline Audry – Minne, l’ingenue libertine (1950)

    1951-1960ClassicsDramaFranceJacqueline Audry

    Minne is a very imaginative young lady. She pretends to have had lovers and can’t think of anything better to do other than… to tell Antoine, her husband, the day she marries him. Bad beginning for the couple… As the marriage is not consummated for years, Minne feels frustrated and tries to find elsewhere the carnal knowledge she does not find at home. But Antoine is a kind-hearted man and on the occasion of a trip, a sexual balance is at last found between the two partners.
    – Written by Guy BellingerRead More »

  • John H. Auer – Hell’s Half Acre (1954)

    1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirJohn H. AuerUSA

    Quote:
    A woman who believes her missing husband is in prison in Hawaii on a murder charge travels there to see if it actually is him. However, he escapes before she sees him, when he hears that his current girlfriend has been murdered. The wife searches the slum area of Honolulu known as Hell’s Half Acre for him, he searches for his girlfriend’s killer, and his gangland associates are looking for the two of them.Read More »

  • Charles Vidor – Hans Christian Andersen (1952)

    1951-1960Charles VidorMusicalRomanceUSA

    Synopsis:
    Hans Christian Andersen was Sam Goldwyn’s final production for RKO Radio release, and also the producer’s last Danny Kaye vehicle. The Moss Hart-Myles Connolly screenplay largely disregards the facts concerning Denmark’s great storyteller, opting for a fanciful blend of comedy, fantasy, romance and music. As played by Kaye, Hans Christian Andersen starts out as a small-town cobbler whose gift for spinning fairy tales is keeping the local kids from attending school. Asked to leave town, Hans heads to Copenhagen to seek his fortune as a writer.Read More »

  • Barbro Boman – Det är aldrig för sent (1956)

    1951-1960Barbro BomanDramaSweden

    Quote:
    In the 1950s two films were directed by a woman [in Sweden, the other one being Mimi Pollaks Rätten att älska]. Barbro Boman had worked as a production assistant in the 1940s after which she wrote scripts herself and was also head of Svensk Filmindustri’s script department for a period. She directed two films, of which It’s Never Too Late (Det är aldrig för sent) (1956) was her first. It tells the story of a couple who are planning to divorce. The film is based on flashbacks that recount three generations of women: the main character Görel, her mother and grandmother, and their methods of solving their problems. As a new director, Boman was treated well and the reviewers wished her the best for the future.

    Nordic National Cinemas (1998)Read More »

  • Mario Camerini – Ulisse AKA Ulysses (1954)

    1951-1960EpicFantasyItalyMario Camerini

    In the ancient Greek city of Ithaca, many impatiently await the return of their king Ulysses and his warriors from the Trojan War. Among these, Ulysses’ devoted wife Penelope and his grown son Telemachus. But Ulysses’ return is not eagerly awaited by everyone, especially by his enemies. They openly court Penelope and ask her to give her husband up for dead and re-marry one of the rowdy suitors who have taken up residence in her home since her husband’s departure.Read More »

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