My Favorite Movies---1950's list

My ten favorite films of the 1950's scream "favorite men."  Five of my six "beloveds" have at least one film on this list.  William Holden has three, while Robert Ryan, Montgomery Clift, Gary Cooper, and John Garfield each have one (and Clift has a runner-up as well).  Plus, there's Fredric March, Cary Grant, and Rock Hudson.


10.  Born Yesterday

A delightful romantic dramedy starring Judy Holliday, in an Academy Award-winning role, Broderick Crawford, and the incredibly handsome Bill Holden.  Judy Holliday's character here---Billlie Dawn---is one of my favorite female film characters.  (Reviewed HERE)



9.    Pillow Talk

Adorable romantic comedy starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson.  Rock is drop-dead gorgeous here, and his "Rex Stetson" Texas accent puts me in stitches.  (Reviewed HERE)


8.    About Mrs. Leslie

My beloved Robert Ryan stars with Shirley Booth in this tearjerker romantic drama.  While "bad boy" Ryan isn't usually thought of as a romantic leading man, this touching films bears out that he well could have been one.  This is my absolute favorite Robert Ryan film.  (Reviewed HERE)


7.    Ten North Frederick

A total sobber, this romantic drama explores the May-December romance theme.  Starring my beloved Gary Cooper and Suzy Parker, this little-known gem is right up there with Mr. Deeds Goes to Town as my favorite Cooper film.  (Reviewed HERE)


6.    An Affair to Remember

A beautiful, touching Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr romantic drama.  This one always brings me to tears at the very same moment every time.  (Reviewed HERE)

5.    The Breaking Point

My favorite film of my beloved John Garfield, The Breaking Point is the truest film adaption of Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not.  According to Mr. Garfield's biography, Body and Soul: the Story of John Garfield, Mr. Hemingway "thought The Breaking Point was the best screen adaption of any of his novels.  He said that Harry Morgan as written had never become anything beyond an idea, but that John Garfield made Harry a person."   And to think that I very nearly skipped out on this movie because I don't care for the Bogey/Bacall version!!  (Reviewed HERE)

4.    Stalag 17

My darling Bill Holden's Academy Award-winning role.  With barely a woman in this film, this may seem very much like a man's war movie, but I completely and totally love it and can pretty much recite every line verbatim...I've watched it that much.  (Reviewed HERE)


3.    Middle of the Night

A touching romantic drama which explores the May-December romance theme.  Starring Fredric March, in what I think is perhaps the best performance of his career, and Kim Novak.  (Reviewed HERE)


2.    Sunset Boulevard

The favorite film of my beloved William Holden...and one for which I think he ought to have won the Best Actor Academy Award...definitely, his finest hour (and he had man fine hours!).  A romantic drama also starring Gloria Swanson, in an Oscar-nominated performance.  (Reviewed HERE)

and my favorite movie of the 1950's...


1.    A Place in the Sun

Not only my favorite film of the 1950's, but perhaps my favorite film of all-time, A Place in the Sun is a romantic drama, starring my beloved Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, and Shelley Winters.  It is one of those films which I always wish had a different ending than the one it has.  (Reviewed HERE)

Runner-up films for the 1950's are From Here to Eternity,  All About Eve, Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday,  Sabrina, and Singin' in the Rain.

Next up, the 1960's.