Best 50s Movies Ranked – List Obsession

Last Updated on 12 June 2024

The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 300 best movies made in the 1950s.

I found17 different ranked lists online of “best” or “favorite 50s movies” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 17 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.

Greatest-50s-Movies-Viewing-Checklist Download

Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Rear Window (1954)
Vertigo (1958)
Seven Samurai (1954)
North by Northwest (1959)
Paths of Glory (1957)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
All About Eve (1950)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Rashomon (1950)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Ikiru (1952)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Searchers (1956)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
High Noon (1952)
The 400 Blows (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Roman Holiday (1953)
A Man Escaped (1956)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Umberto D. (1952)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Ugetsu (1953)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
Ordet (1955)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Diabolique (1955)
Rififi (1955)
The Young and the Damned (1950)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Shane (1953)
The Killing (1956)
La strada (1954)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
The African Queen (1951)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
The World of Apu (1959)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Godzilla (1954)
East of Eden (1955)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
The Cranes Are Flying (1957)
The Big Heat (1953)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Limelight (1952)
My Uncle (1958)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
A Star Is Born (1954)
Harvey (1950)
Forbidden Games (1952)
Sabrina (1954)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Cinderella (1950)
Marty (1955)
A Night to Remember (1958)
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Aparajito (1956)
Giant (1956)
The Big Country (1958)
An American in Paris (1951)
Imitation of Life (1959)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
The Earrings of Madame De… (1953)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Born Yesterday (1950)
Orpheus (1950)
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Pickpocket (1959)
Night and the City (1950)
Othello (1951)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
The Ladykillers (1955)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
An Affair to Remember (1957)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
Julius Caesar (1953)
The Wild One (1953)
Funny Face (1957)
I Vitelloni (1953)
Black Orpheus (1959)
The King and I (1956)
Winchester ’73 (1950)
Our Man in Havana (1959)
A Christmas Carol (1951)
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Night and Fog (1956)
Floating Weeds (1959)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Bob the Gambler (1956)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Summer with Monika (1953)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Father of the Bride (1950)
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
House of Wax (1953)
Kanal (1957)
The River (1951)
Nazarin (1959)
Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars’ Plot (1958)
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
The Man in the White Suit (1951)
Gigi (1958)
Gun Crazy (1950)
Welcome Mr. Marshall (1953)
Shadows (1958)
The Magician (1958)
Good Morning (1959)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
Voyage to Italy (1954)
Peter Pan (1953)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Moby Dick (1956)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Life of Oharu (1952)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Lola Montès (1955)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Early Summer (1951)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
Fires on the Plain (1959)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Rio Grande (1950)
Lust for Life (1956)
Old Yeller (1957)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
The Court Jester (1955)
The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
The Mummy (1959)
The Great War (1959)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Mister Roberts (1955)
White Christmas (1954)
The Nun’s Story (1959)
Written on the Wind (1956)
Curse of the Demon (1957)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Journey to Italy (1954)
Bigger Than Life (1956)
The Gunfighter (1950)
Death of a Cyclist (1955)
Quo Vadis (1951)
Angel Face (1952)
The Naked Spur (1953)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Operation Pacific (1951)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Auntie Mame (1958)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Them! (1954)
The Fly (1958)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
Mother India (1957)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
The Man from Laramie (1955)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
Niagara (1953)
The Bad Seed (1956)
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Vera Cruz (1954)
Ivanhoe (1952)
Thirst (1957)
Casque d’Or (1952)
Miracle in Milan (1951)
Duck Amuck (1953)
Room at the Top (1958)
The Vikings (1958)
Stromboli (1950)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Tokyo Twilight (1957)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
The Red Balloon (1956)
A Story from Chikamatsu (1954)
Europa ’51 (1952)
Broken Arrow (1950)
I Want to Live! (1958)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
What’s Opera, Doc? (1957)
Street of Shame (1956)
The Desperate Hours (1955)
El (1953)
Picnic (1955)
The Burmese Harp (1956)
Richard III (1955)
The Music Room (1958)
I Confess (1953)
King Solomon’s Mines (1950)
…And God Created Woman (1956)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
On the Beach (1959)
War and Peace (1956)
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
Run Silent Run Deep (1958)
We’re No Angels (1955)
Bus Stop (1956)
Some Came Running (1958)
Killer’s Kiss (1955)
Confidential Report (1955)
Moulin Rouge (1952)
Porgy and Bess (1959)
Stage Fright (1950)
Baby Doll (1956)
The Dam Busters (1955)
High Society (1956)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
The Blob (1958)
La Ronde (1950)
Operation Petticoat (1959)
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
Monkey Business (1952)
Animal Farm (1954)
Senso (1954)
Summer Interlude (1951)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
Man of the West (1958)
The Narrow Margin (1952)
Bend of the River (1952)
Detective Story (1951)
The Steel Helmet (1951)
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Cairo Station (1958)
Main Street (1956)
The Big Sky (1952)
The Eternal Breasts (1955)
The Harder They Fall (1956)
Houseboat (1958)
Invention for Destruction (1958)
Pelli Chesi Choodu (1952)
The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
Munekata kyôdai (1950)
Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
Equinox Flower (1958)
The Ogre of Athens (1956)
La Pointe Courte (1955)
The Bridge (1959)
Early Spring (1956)
The Crimson Pirate (1952)
It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958)
General Della Rovere (1959)
The Browning Version (1951)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
Human Desire (1954)
Sound of the Mountain (1954)
Mother (1952)
While the City Sleeps (1956)
Miss Oyu (1951)
The Terrible Children (1950)
Treasure Island (1950)
Show Boat (1951)
The Tingler (1959)
Awaara (1951)