Hollywood faced a major problem in the 1950s. The industry feared and despised Television but it could not ignore it. Box office receipts were hit badly and Sam Goldwyn summed the situation up thus; "Why should people go and pay money to see bad films when they can stay at home and see bad television for nothing?"

At first the studios tried to fight back - by forbidding their contract players to appear on TV - but with little effect. After all, TV did not need movie stars - It made its own. Hollywood's final solution was 'the gimmick'. The first idea was to make it easier to see films, which led to a craze of building drive-in cinemas. Then it started to make movies bigger, if not better . . .

CinemaScope (a wide-screen process using a single lens) was pioneered by 20th Century Fox in 1953 with the biblical epic, The Robe. During the decade, Hollywood also introduced stereophonic sound and (with less success) 3-D.

Hollywood studios eventually realised they were not going to beat Television so they had to find a way of living alongside it, and by 1958 every major studio had sold its entire pre-1948 output to TV companies.

The 1950s was a period of great transition for the British film industry. In the previous decade, British movie makers had held their own on the world stage and had developed a very British visual style. But in the 50s they experienced difficulties coming to terms with American innovations such as CinemaScope, Eastmancolor and VistaAvision.

This is by no means an attempt at an exhaustive listing of movies from the 50s. It is a recollection of some of the movies which are either personal favourites, or which are particularly representative of the era (without necessarily being critically acclaimed).

¤ Abbott & Costello In The Foreign Legion ¤ Abbott & Costello Meet The Invisible Man (1951) ¤ Abbott & Costello Meet Captain Kidd ¤ Abbott & Costello Go To Mars ¤ Abbott & Costello Meet Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde ¤ Abbott & Costello Meet The Keystone Kops ¤ Abbott & Costello Meet The Mummy ¤ Across The Bridge ¤ The Admirable Crichton (1957) ¤ The African Queen (1951) ¤ Al Capone ¤ Alexander The Great ¤ Alice In Wonderland (1951) ¤ All About Eve (1950) ¤ All That Heaven Allows ¤ An Affair To Remember (1957)

¤ An American In Paris (1951) ¤ Anastasia (1956) ¤ Anatomy of a Murder (1959) ¤ Angel Face ¤ The Angry Red Planet ¤ Animal Farm (1954) ¤ Annie Get Your Gun (1950) ¤ Apache ¤ Around The World In Eighty Days (1956) ¤ Artists And Models ¤ As Long As They're Happy ¤ The Asphalt Jungle (1950) ¤ Attack! ¤ Attack of the Crab Monsters ¤ Attack Of The 50Ft Woman ¤ Attack Of The Puppet People ¤ Auntie Mame (1958)

¤ Baby Doll ¤ The Bad And The Beautiful (1952) ¤ Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) ¤ The Band Wagon (1953) ¤ The Barefoot Contessa (1954) ¤ Beat The Devil ¤ Bedtime For Bonzo ¤ The Belles of St Trinian's (1954) ¤ Ben-Hur (1959) ¤ Bend Of The River ¤ The Bigamist ¤ The Big Carnival ¤ The Big Country (1958)

¤ The Big Heat (1953) ¤ The Big Sky ¤ Bigger Than Life ¤ The Blackboard Jungle ¤ Black Orpheus ¤ The Blob (1958) ¤ Born Yesterday (1950) ¤ The Brave One ¤ The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) ¤ Brigadoon (1954) ¤ Broken Arrow (1950) ¤ Bus Stop (1956)

¤ The Caine Mutiny (1954) ¤ Captain Horatio Hornblower RN (1951) ¤ Carmen Jones ¤ Carousel (1956) ¤ Carry On Sergeant ¤ Carry On Teacher ¤ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958) ¤ Chase A Crooked Shadow

¤ Cheaper By The Dozen (1950) ¤ Cinderella (1950) ¤ The Colditz Story ¤ The Conqueror ¤ The Court Jester (1956) ¤ Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) ¤ The Cruel Sea

¤ The Dam Busters (1954) ¤ The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) ¤ The Defiant Ones (1958) ¤ The Desert Fox

¤ Dial M For Murder (1954) ¤ The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) ¤ Dracula (1958)

¤ Earth vs. the Flying Saucers ¤ East Of Eden (1955)

¤ The Enemy Below (1957) ¤ Europa '51

¤ The Fly (1958) ¤ Forbidden Planet (1956) ¤ Forty Guns

¤ From Here To Eternity (1953) ¤ Funny Face (1957)

¤ The Geisha Boy ¤ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) ¤ Giant (1956) ¤ Gigi (1958) ¤ The Glenn Miller Story (1953)

¤ Godzilla, King Of The Monsters ¤ The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)  ¤ Gunfight At The OK Corral ¤ The Gunfighter (1950) ¤ Guys And Dolls (1955)

¤ Hans Christian Andersen ¤ The Happiest Days Of Your Life ¤ The Harder They Fall ¤ Harvey (1950) ¤ Hell Drivers

¤ High Noon (1952) ¤ High School Confidential ¤ High Society (1956) ¤ House Of Wax (1953)

¤ I Married A Monster From Outer Space ¤ I Was A Teenage Werewolf ¤ I'm All Right Jack (1959) ¤ The Importance Of Being Earnest (1952) ¤ In A Lonely Place (1950)

¤ The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) ¤ Intruder In The Dust ¤ Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956)

¤ Jail Bait ¤ Jailhouse Rock (1957) ¤ Johnny Guitar (1954)

¤ Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (1959) ¤ Julius Caesar (1953) ¤ Jumping for Joy (1956)

¤ The Kidnappers ¤ The Killing (1956) ¤ Kim ¤ The King and I (1956)

¤ King Richard And The Crusaders ¤ King Solomon's Mines (1950) ¤ Kiss Me Deadly (1955) ¤ Kiss Me Kate

¤ Lady and The Tramp (1955) ¤ The Ladykillers (1955) ¤ La Strada ¤ Last Train From Gun Hill ¤ The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) ¤ Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon)

¤ The Left-Handed Gun ¤ The Little Kidnappers ¤ Look Back In Anger ¤ Love Me Or Leave Me ¤ Love Me Tender ¤ Lost In Alaska

¤ Machine Gun Kelly ¤ The Man From Laramie ¤ The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit ¤ The Man In The White Suit (1951) ¤ Man Of The West ¤ The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

¤ The Man With The Golden Arm ¤ Marty (1955) ¤ The Men ¤ Mister Roberts (1955) ¤ Moby Dick (1956) ¤ The Mouse That Roared (1959)

¤ The Naked Spur ¤ Night Of The Hunter (1955) ¤ North By Northwest (1959)

¤ Oklahoma! (1955) ¤ Old Yeller (1957) ¤ On The Beach (1959)

¤ On The Waterfront (1954) ¤ One Good Turn ¤ Operation Petticoat (1959)

¤ The Pajama Game ¤ Pal Joey ¤ Pandora and The Flying Dutchman ¤ Paths Of Glory (1957) ¤ Peter Pan (1953) ¤ Picnic (1955)

¤ Pickpocket ¤ Pickup On South Street ¤ Pillow Talk (1959) ¤ A Place In The Sun (1951) ¤ Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) ¤ Porgy & Bess

¤ The Quiet Man (1952) ¤ Quo Vadis (1951)

¤ Reach For The Sky ¤ Rear Window (1954) ¤ Rebel Without A Cause (1955) ¤ The Red Badge Of Courage ¤ Reform School Girl ¤ Ride Lonesome ¤ Rio Bravo (1959) ¤ Rio Grande (1950) ¤ The Road To Bali

¤ The Robe ¤ Robot Monster ¤ Rock Around The Clock ¤ The Rocket Man ¤ Roman Holiday (1953) ¤ Room At The Top ¤ Run Of The Arrow

¤ School For Scoundrels ¤ The Searchers (1956) ¤ Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) ¤ The Seven Samurai ¤ The Seven Year Itch (1955) ¤ The Seventh Seal ¤ Shadows ¤ The Shaggy Dog ¤ Shane (1953) ¤ Show Boat (1951) ¤ Silver Lode ¤ Singin' In The Rain (1952) ¤ Sleeping Beauty (1959) ¤ Solomon And Sheba

¤ Some Like It Hot (1959) ¤ Son Of Paleface ¤ South Pacific (1958) ¤ Stalag 17 (1953) ¤ A Star Is Born (1954) ¤ The Story Of Mankind ¤ Strangers On A Train (1951) ¤ A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) ¤ Suddenly ¤ Suddenly Last Summer (1959) ¤ The Sundowners ¤ Sunset Boulevard (1950) ¤ Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

¤ Tarantula ¤ The Ten Commandments (1956) ¤ Them! (1954) ¤ Tiger Bay ¤ To Catch A Thief (1955)

¤ Tom Brown's Schooldays ¤ Touch Of Evil ¤ Treasure Island (1950)

¤ Vertigo (1958) ¤ The Vikings (1958)

¤ War and Peace (1956) ¤ The War Of The Worlds (1953) ¤ When World's Collide (1951) ¤ White Christmas (1954)

¤ The Wild One (1953) ¤ Winchester '73 ¤ Written On The Wind (1956) ¤ The Wrong Man (1956)

¤ The Young and The Damned (1950)

¤ Zero Hour!

¤ 12 Angry Men (1957) ¤ 1984 ¤ 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)

¤ The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T ¤ The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (1958)