Tag Archives: 1950s

Ferry to Hong Kong (1959) Lewis Gilbert, Curd Jürgens, Orson Welles, Sylvia Syms, Action, Adventure, Drama

Ferry to Hong Kong (1959)
Mark Conrad, a habitual drunk and troublemaker with a shady past, is expelled by Hong Kong police after one too many bar fights. He’s sent to Macao on the Fa Tsan, a ferry owned by Captain Hart. Conrad’s papers are out of order and Macao refuses him entry. Unable to go ashore, Conrad is a permanent passenger on the ferry with Hart, who detests him. It’s all one long, lazy voyage for Conrad until one fateful trip when an encounter with a typhoon and pirates forces Conrad to choose between an aimless drifter’s life and becoming a man again.
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Secret of the Incas (1954) Jerry Hopper, Charlton Heston, Robert Young, Nicole Maurey, Adventure

Secret of the Incas (1954)
An Inca legend says the Inca Empire was destroyed by the gods when a gold and jeweled star burst was stolen from the Temple of the Sun centuries ago, and the ancient civilization will spring anew when the treasure is returned. The natives want it but so does Harry Steele, an American adventurer of slightly-shady ways who wants it for personal gain, as does his adversary, a grizzled old man even more into skulduggery than Steele. The latter teams up with Elena Antonescu, an Iron Curtain refugee fleeing from the MKVD. She can help him get a plane and he can help her escape Peru for the relative safety of Mexico.
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Counterspy / Undercover Agent (1953) Vernon Sewell, Dermot Walsh, Hazel Court, Hermione Baddeley, Drama

Undercover Agent (1953)
An auditor comes into possession of an envelope containing prints and drawings which the British government is anxious to obtain and also a great many other people, all of whom try to get them from him by any means. He escapes many of the traps set for him by the villains, but is finally captured and is tied to an operating table where the gang leader is set to do some scalpel work on him.
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The Bridge / Die Brücke (1959) Bernhard Wickim, Folker Bohnet, Fritz Wepper, Michael Hinz, Drama, War

The Bridge (1959)
Bernhard Wicki’s astonishing The Bridge was the first major antiwar film to come out of Germany after World War II, as well as the nation’s first postwar film to be widely shown internationally, even securing an Oscar nomination. Set near the end of the conflict, it follows a group of teenage boys in a small town as they contend with everyday matters like school, girls, and parents, before enlisting as soldiers and being forced to defend their home turf in a confused, terrifying battle. This expressively shot, emotionally bruising drama dared to humanize young German soldiers at a historically tender moment, and proved influential for the coming generation of New German Cinema auteurs.
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Cette sacrée gamine / That Naughty Girl (1956) Michel Boisrond, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Bretonnière, Françoise Fabian, Comedy, Musical, Romance

That Naughty Girl
In Paris, when the owner of the nightclub Mississippi in Pigalle Paul Latour is wanted by the police accused of distribution of forged dollars in his club, he asks his protégée and lead attraction of Mississippi Jean Clery to protect his beloved daughter Brigitte. Jean is engaged of the psychoanalyst Lily and brings the wild and rebel Brigitte from her conservative boarding school to his fancy apartment while Paul travels to Lausanne to meet a friend to clear his name. While waiting for the return of Paul, Brigitte turns Paul’s life upside down and they fall in love for each other. But the Parisian police and the counterfeit ring are chasing Brigitte, but Jean, his butler Jerome and his friends protect the girl.
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Four Guns to the Border / Shadow Valley (1954) Richard Carlson, Rory Calhoun, Colleen Miller, George Nader, Western

Four Guns to the Border
At a desert inn, Cully’s outlaw gang meet former associate Simon Bhumer, now planning to retire on a farm with his wild, luscious daughter Lolly. On a stormy night, Cully and Lolly almost have an affair, broken up by Simon who still has a fast draw. But later, as the gang heads for the border after a bank robbery, they encounter the Bhumers and a band of renegade Apaches. It’s soon a question of who is pursuing whom.
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Young at Heart (1954) Gordon Douglas, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Gig Young, Drama, Romance, Musical

Young at Heart (1954)
When Alex enters the lives of the musical Tuttle family, each of the three daughters falls for him. He is charming, good looking and personable. Laurie and Alex seem made for each other and become engaged. When Barney comes into the picture to help Alex with some musical arrangements matters become complicated. He is seen as a challenge by Laurie, who can’t believe anyone could be as cynical, and she is more than a match for his gloomy outlook on life.
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The War of the Worlds (1953) Byron Haskin, Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Sci-fi, Action

The War of the Worlds (1953)
Earth is under attack in the chilling Cold War classic “The War of the Worlds” (1953). In one of the greatest science fiction films of all time, invaders from another world target a small California town with autonomous probes and laser disintegration rays. A terrifying vision of an America under siege based on the novel by H.G. Wells starring Gene Barry, Ann Robinson and Les Tremayne and featuring Academy Award-winning special effects.
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High Noon (1952) Fred Zinnemann, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Western

High Noon (1952)
On the day he gets married and hangs up his badge, lawman Will Kane is told that a man he sent to prison years before, Frank Miller, is returning on the noon train to exact his revenge. Having initially decided to leave with his new spouse, Will decides he must go back and face Miller. However, when he seeks the help of the townspeople he has protected for so long, they turn their backs on him. It seems Kane may have to face Miller alone, as well as the rest of Miller’s gang, who are waiting for him at the station…
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Bigger Than Life (1956) Nicholas Ray, James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Drama

Bigger Than Life (1956)
Schoolteacher and family man Ed Avery, who’s been suffering bouts of severe pain and even blackouts, is hospitalized with what’s diagnosed as a rare inflammation of the arteries. Told by doctors that he probably has only months to live, Ed agrees to an experimental treatment: doses of the hormone cortisone. Ed makes a remarkable recovery, and returns home to his wife, Lou, and their son, Richie. He must keep taking cortisone tablets regularly to prevent a recurrence of his illness. But the “miracle” cure turns into its own nightmare as Ed starts to abuse the tablets, causing him to experience increasingly wild mood swings.
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Against All Flags (1952) George Sherman, Errol Flynn, Maureen O’Hara, Anthony Quinn, Action, Adventure, Drama

Against All Flags (1952)
In 1700, the pirates of Madagascar menace the India trade; British officer Brian Hawke has himself cashiered, flogged, and set adrift to infiltrate the pirate “republic.” There, Hawke meets lovely Spitfire Stevens, a pirate captain in her own right, and the sparks begin to fly; but wooing a pirate poses unique problems. Especially after he rescues adoring young Princess Patma from a captured ship. Meanwhile, Hawke’s secret mission proceeds to an action-packed climax.
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Neokonchennaya povest / Unfinished Story (1956) Fridrikh Ermler, Elina Bystritskaya, Sergey Bondarchuk, Sofiya Giatsintova, Drama, Romance

Unfinished Story (1956)
The local doctor Yelizaveta Maximovna sees and restores to health lots and lots of patients. The talented shipbuilder Yershov afflicted by the misfortune of leg paralysis proves to be the most “difficult” one yet. Consistently trying out various treatment courses she strives to help Yershov, who falls in love with his physician. Yershov’s mother and Doctor Aganin, who is in love with Yelizaveta Maximovna, put obstacles in the path of their happiness…
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Richard III (1955) Laurence Olivier, Cedric Hardwicke, Nicholas Hannen, Biography, Drama, History, War

Richard III (1955)
Richard’s military skills have helped to put his older brother Edward on the throne of England. But jealousy and resentment cause Richard to seek the crown for himself, and he conceives a lengthy and carefully calculated plan using deception, manipulation, and outright murder to achieve his goal. His plotting soon has tumultuous consequences, both for himself and for England.
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