1953

Film Decades: 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • 99 River Street, starring John Payne and Evelyn Keyes
  • The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, starring Tommy Rettig, screenplay by Dr. Seuss
  • Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
  • Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • Act of Love (Un acte d’amour), starring Kirk Douglas – (US/France)
  • The Actress – starring Spencer Tracy and Jean Simmons
  • Albert R.N., directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Anthony Steel, Jack Warner, Robert
  • Beatty, William Sylvester – (GB)
  • The All-American, starring Tony Curtis
  • All I Desire, starring Barbara Stanwyck
  • All the Brothers Were Valiant, starring Ann Blyth
  • Angel Face – directed by Otto Preminger, starring Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons
  • Anarkali – (India)
  • Appointment in Honduras, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Ann Sheridan and Glenn Ford
  • Arrowhead, starring Charlton Heston and Jack Palance
  • Baaz, directed by and starring Guru Dutt – (India)
  • The Band Wagon, starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchanan, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant
  • The Bandit of Brazil (O Cangaceiro) – (Brazil)
  • Barabbas, directed by Alf Sjöberg – (Sweden)
  • The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, starring Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway
  • Beat the Devil – directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida – (Italy/GB/US)
  • The Beggar’s Opera, starring Laurence Olivier and Dorothy Tutin – (GB) Belinsky – (U.S.S.R.)
  • Ben and Me, featuring the voices of Sterling Holloway and Charles Ruggles
  • Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, starring Robert Wagner
  • Bienvenido Mr. Marshall, directed by Luis García Berlanga, starring Fernando Rey – (Spain)
  • The Big Heat – directed by Fritz Lang, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin
  • Big Leaguer, starring Edward G. Robinson
  • The Bigamist – directed by and starring Ida Lupino, with Joan Fontaine, Edmond O’Brien
  • Black Ermine – (Argentina)
  • Blowing Wild / starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck
  • The Blue Gardenia – starring Anne Baxter and Raymond Burr
  • A Blueprint for Murder, starring Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters
  • Bread, Love and Dreams (Pane, amore e fantasia) – starring Vittorio De Sica and Gina Lollobrigida – (Italy)
  • The Brute (El Bruto), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Pedro Armendáriz and Katy Jurado – (Mexico)
  • By the Light of the Silvery Moon, starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae
  • The Caddy, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
  • Calamity Jane, starring Doris Day
  • Call Me Madam, starring Ethel Merman
  • The Captain’s Paradise, starring Alec Guinness – (GB)
  • Cease Fire
  • The Charge at Feather River, starring Guy Madison
  • City Beneath the Sea, starring Robert Ryan, Anthony Quinn, Mala Powers
  • City That Never Sleeps, starring Gig Young, William Talman, Paula Raymond, Mala Powers
  • The Clown, starring Red Skelton
  • Confidentially Connie, starring Van Johnson and Janet Leigh
  • The Conquest of Everest – (documentary) – (GB)
  • Conquest of Cochise – directed by William Castle
  • The Cruel Sea, starring Jack Hawkins and Denholm Elliott – (GB)
  • Cry of the Hunted, starring Vittorio Gassman, Barry Sullivan, Polly Bergen
  • Dangerous Crossing, starring Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie
  • Dangerous When Wet, starring Esther Williams
  • Decameron Nights – starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan
  • The Desert Rats, starring Richard Burton and James Mason
  • Desperate Moment, starring Dirk Bogarde and Mai Zetterling – (GB)
  • Devdas – (India)
  • Do Bigha Zamin (Two Acres of Land), directed by Bimal Roy – (India)
  • Donovan’s Brain, starring Lew Ayres and Nancy Davis
  • Down Among the Sheltering Palms, starring Mitzi Gaynor, Gloria DeHaven, Jane Greer
  • Dream Wife – starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr
  • Él (Him), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Arturo de Córdova – (Mexico)
  • The Earrings of Madame de…, directed by Max Ophüls, starring Charles Boyer – (France/Italy)
  • East of Sumatra, starring Anthony Quinn and Jeff Chandler
  • Easy to Love, starring Esther Williams
  • Easy Years (Anni facili), directed by Luigi Zampa – (Italy)
  • The Eddie Cantor Story, starring Keefe Brasselle
  • Entotsu no mieru basho (The Four Chimneys) – (Japan)
  • Esa pareja feliz (That Happy Couple), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga – (Spain)
  • Escape By Night, starring Bonar Colleano and Sid James – (GB)
  • Escape from Fort Bravo – directed by John Sturges, starring William Holden, Eleanor Parker, John Forsythe
  • Fair Wind to Java, starring Fred MacMurray and Vera Ralston
  • The Farmer Takes a Wife, starring Betty Grable
  • Fast Company, starring Howard Keel and Polly Bergen
  • Fear and Desire – directed by Stanley Kubrick
  • The Final Test, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Jack Warner (GB)
  • Folly to Be Wise, directed by Frank Launder, starring Alastair Sim – (GB)
  • Footpath, starring Dilip Kumar – (India)
  • Fort Ti (3-D) – directed by William Castle
  • From Here to Eternity – directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed
  • Gate of Hell (Jigokumon) – (Japan)
  • A Geisha (Gion Bayashi), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
  • Genevieve, starring Dinah Sheridan, John Gregson, Kay Kendall – (GB)
  • Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – directed by Howard Hawks, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe
  • The Girl Next Door, starring June Haver and Dan Dailey
  • The Girl Who Had Everything, starring Elizabeth Taylor, William Powell, Fernando Lamas, Gig Young
  • Give a Girl a Break – directed by Stanley Donen, starring Debbie Reynolds, Marge Champion, Gower Champion
  • The Glass Wall, starring Vittorio Gassman and Gloria Grahame
  • The Golden Blade, starring Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie
  • The Great Adventure (Det stora äventyret), directed by Arne Sucksdorff – (Sweden)
  • The Great Sioux Uprising, starring Jeff Chandler
  • Gun Fury, starring Rock Hudson and Donna Reed
  • The Heart of the Matter, starring Trevor Howard – (GB)
  • The Hitch-Hiker, directed by Ida Lupino, starring Edmond O’Brien and William Talman
  • Hondo – starring John Wayne and Geraldine Page in her film debut
  • Houdini, starring (husband and wife) Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh
  • House of Wax – starring Vincent Price
  • How to Marry a Millionaire – directed by Jean Negulesco, starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, and William Powell
  • I Confess, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Montgomery Clift and Anne Baxter
  • The I Don’t Care Girl, starring Mitzi Gaynor
  • I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
  • I, the Jury, starring Biff Elliot and Peggie Castle
  • Inferno, starring Robert Ryan
  • Interim, directed by Stan Brakhage, short film (25 ½ minutes); music by James Tenney)
  • The Intruder, starring Jack Hawkins – (GB
  • Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?, starring Bonar Colleano and Diana Dors – (GB)
  • Island in the Sky – starring John Wayne
  • It Came from Outer Space, directed by Jack Arnold, starring Richard Carlson
  • Jennifer, starring Ida Lupino and Howard Duff
  • Jeopardy, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker
  • Julius Caesar – directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr
  • The Kidnappers, starring Jon Whiteley – (GB)
  • King of the Khyber Rifles, starring Tyrone Power
  • Kiss Me Kate, starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, released in 2-D and 3-D
  • The Lady Without Camelias (La signora senza camelie), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni – (Italy)
  • The Landowner’s Daughter (Sinhá Moça), starring Anselmo Duarte – (Brazil)
  • Lagu Kenangan (L. Inata [id]), starring Titien Sumarni and AN Alcaff (Indonesia)
  • Latin Lovers, starring Lana Turner
  • Law and Order, a western starring Ronald Reagan
  • The Lawless Breed, starring Rock Hudson
  • Lili, starring Leslie Caron
  • The Limping Man, starring Lloyd Bridges – (GB)
  • A Lion Is in the Streets, starring James Cagney, Barbara Hale, Anne Francis
  • Little Boy Lost, starring Bing Crosby
  • Little Fugitive
  • The Living Desert, winner of Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
  • Love in the City (L’Amore in Città) – directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Dino Risi, Federico Fellini and others – anthology– (Italy)
  • Love Letter (Koibumi) – (Japan)
  • Malta Story, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlow – (GB)
  • Man in the Attic, starring Jack Palance and Constance Smith
  • The Man Between, starring James Mason and Claire Bloom – (GB)
  • Man in the Dark, starring Edmond O’Brien and Audrey Totter
  • Man on a Tightrope – directed by Elia Kazan, starring Fredric March and Gloria Grahame
  • Martin Luther – (US/West Germany)
  • The Master of Ballantrae – directed by William Keighley, starring Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel, Beatrice Campbell – (U.K.)
  • Meet Me at the Fair, starring Dan Dailey and Diana Lynn
  • Miss Sadie Thompson – starring Rita Hayworth
  • The Mississippi Gambler, starring Tyrone Power and Piper Laurie
  • Mogambo – directed by John Ford, starring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly (remake of 1932’s Red Dust which starred Gable with Jean Harlow)
  • Money from Home, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
  • Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot), directed by and starring Jacques Tati – (France)
  • La montaña sin ley
  • The Moon Is Blue – directed by Otto Preminger, starring William Holden, David Niven, Maggie McNamara – first U.S. movie to use the words “pregnant” and “virgin”
  • The Moonlighter, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray
  • The Naked Spur – starring James Stewart, Robert Ryan and Janet Leigh
  • The Net, directed by Anthony Asquith – (GB)
  • Niagara – directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten
  • No Way Back (Weg Ohne Umkehr) – (West Germany)
  • Patita, starring Dev Anand and Usha Kiran – (India)
  • Peter Pan, a Walt Disney animation featuring the voice of Bobby Driscoll
  • The Phantom Stockman, starring Chips Rafferty – (Australia)
  • Pickup on South Street – directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter
  • Plunder of the Sun, starring Glenn Ford
  • Pony Express, starring Charlton Heston
  • The President’s Lady
  • Remains to Be Seen, starring June Allyson and Van Johnson
  • Report News (Reportaje), starring Arturo de Córdova and Dolores del Río – (Mexico)
  • Return to Paradise – starring Gary Cooper
  • Ride, Vaquero!, starring Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner
  • The Robe, the first movie filmed in CinemaScope, starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons
  • Rogue’s March, starring Peter Lawford, Janice Rule
  • Roman Holiday – directed by William Wyler, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn
  • Rosanna (La Red) – (Mexico)
  • Salome – starring Rita Hayworth
  • Sawdust and Tinsel (Gycklarnas afton) – directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
  • Scared Stiff, starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott and Carmen Miranda
  • Sea Devils, starring Rock Hudson and Yvonne De Carlo – (GB/US)
  • Seminole, starring Rock Hudson and Anthony Quinn
  • Serpent of the Nile – directed by William Castle
  • Shane, directed by George Stevens, starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur (in her final film role), Brandon de Wilde, Ben Johnson, Jack Palance
  • Siamo Donne (We, the Women), starring Alida Valli and Ingrid Bergman – (Italy)
  • Slaves of Babylon – directed by William Castle
  • Small Town Girl, starring Jane Powell and Ann Miller
  • So Big, directed by Robert Wise, starring Jane Wyman, Sterling Hayden, Steve Forrest
  • So This Is Love, starring Kathryn Grayson and Merv Griffin
  • South Sea Woman, starring Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo
  • Split Second, starring Alexis Smith and Jan Sterling
  • Stalag 17 – directed by Billy Wilder, starring William Holden, Don Taylor, Harvey Lembeck, Robert Strauss, Otto Preminger, Peter Graves
  • Stars of the Russian Ballet (Mastera russkogo baleta), starring Galina Ulanova – (USSR)
  • The State Department Store (Állami Áruház) – (Hungary)
  • The Steel Lady, starring Rod Cameron and Tab Hunter
  • The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan, starring Robert Morley and Maurice Evans – (GB)
  • The Story of Little Muck (Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck) – (East Germany)
  • The Story of Three Loves, trilogy starring James Mason, Leslie Caron, Kirk Douglas
  • Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika) – directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Harriet Andersson – (Sweden)
  • The Sun Shines Bright – directed by John Ford, starring Charles Winninger, Slim Pickens
  • Take Me to Town, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Ann Sheridan and Sterling Hayden
  • Take the High Ground!, starring Richard Widmark and Karl Malden
  • Thérèse Raquin, directed by Marcel Carné, starring Simone Signoret – (France)
  • Three Perfect Wives (Las Tres perfectas casadas), starring Arturo de Córdova – (Mexico)
  • Thunder Over the Plains, starring Randolph Scott
  • Titanic, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb, Thelma Ritter, Brian Aherne, Robert Wagner
  • The Titfield Thunderbolt, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Stanley Holloway – (GB)
  • Tokyo Story (Tōkyō Monogatari), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
  • Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom
  • Torch Song, starring Joan Crawford
  • Treasure of the Golden Condor, directed by Delmer Daves, starring Cornel Wilde
  • Trouble Along the Way – starring John Wayne
  • Trouble in Store, starring Norman Wisdom – (GB)
  • Tumbleweed, starring Audie Murphy
  • Twice Upon a Time, directed by Emeric Pressburger – (GB)
  • Ugetsu Monogatari, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
  • The Vanquished (I Vinti), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni – (Italy)
  • I Vitelloni – directed by Federico Fellini – (France/Italy)
  • The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Yves Montand – (France)
  • Walking My Baby Back Home, starring Janet Leigh and Donald O’Connor
  • War Arrow – starring Maureen O’Hara and Jeff Chandler
  • The War of the Worlds, starring Gene Barry
  • White Lightning, starring Stanley Clements and Steve Brodie
  • White Mane (Crin Blanc, Cheval Sauvage) – (France)
  • White Witch Doctor, starring Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward
  • The Wild One – starring Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Robert Kieth, Lee Marvin
  • Young Bess, starring Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton

Film Decades: 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959