1956

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)

  • 7th Cavalry – directed by Joseph H. Lewis, starring Randolph Scott & Barbara Hale
  • 23 Paces to Baker Street – directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Van Johnson & Vera Miles
  • 1984 – directed by Michael Anderson, starring Edmond O’Brien & Michael Redgrave – UK
  • Accused of Murder, starring Vera Ralston
  • Alexander the Great – directed by Robert Rossen, starring Richard Burton
  • Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves – India
  • The Ambassador’s Daughter – directed by Norman Krasna, starring Olivia de Havilland, Myrna Loy, John Forsythe
  • Anastasia – directed by Anatole Litvak, starring Ingrid Bergman & Yul Brynner
  • And God Created Woman – directed by Roger Vadim, starring Brigitte Bardot – France
  • Aparajito (The Unvanquished), directed by Satyajit Ray – (India)
  • Around the World in 80 Days, directed by Michael Anderson, starring David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine
  • At Gunpoint, starring Fred MacMurray, Walter Brennan, Dorothy Malone
  • Attack! – directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin
  • Autumn Leaves – directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Joan Crawford & Cliff Robertson
  • Away All Boats, starring Jeff Chandler
  • Baby Doll – directed by Elia Kazan, starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Eli Wallach
  • Back from Eternity – directed by John Farrow, starring Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger
  • Backlash – directed by John Sturges, starring Richard Widmark & Donna Reed
  • The Bad Seed – directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Nancy Kelly and Patty McCormack
  • Bandido – directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Robert Mitchum
  • The Battle of the River Plate – directed by Powell & Pressburger, starring John Gregson & Peter Finch – IK
  • Before Sundown (Vor Sonnenuntergang) – (West Germany)
  • Behind the Headlines, starring Paul Carpenter and Hazel Court
  • The Benny Goodman Story, starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed
  • The Best Things in Life Are Free – directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, Sheree North
  • Between Heaven and Hell, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Robert Wagner and Buddy Ebsen
  • Beyond a Reasonable Doubt – directed by Fritz Lang, starring Dana Andrews & Joan Fontaine
  • Bhowani Junction – starring Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger – UK/US
  • Bigger Than Life, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau
  • The Birds and the Bees, starring George Gobel and Mitzi Gaynor
  • The Black Tent – directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Donald Sinden, Anthony Steel, Anna Maria Sandri & Andre Morell – UK
  • Bob the Gambler – directed by Jean-Pierre Melville – France
  • The Bold and the Brave, starring Wendell Corey and Mickey Rooney
  • The Boss, starring John Payne and Doe Avedon
  • The Bottom of the Bottle – directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Van Johnson, Joseph Cotten, Ruth Roman
  • The Brave One, directed by Irving Rapper
  • The Burmese Harp (Biruma no tategoto), directed by Kon Ichikawa – (Japan)
  • The Burning Hills – directed by Stuart Heisler, starring Natalie Wood & Tab Hunter
  • Bus Stop – directed by Joshua Logan, starring Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Arthur O’Connell, Betty Field, Eileen Heckart, Robert Bray, & Hope Lange
  • C.I.D., starring Dev Anand – (India)
  • Calabuch (a.k.a. The Rocket from Calabuch), directed by Luis García Berlanga, starring Edmund Gwenn and Valentina Cortese – (Spain)
  • Calle Mayor – directed by Juan Antonio Bardem, starring Betsy Blair – Spain
  • Carnival Night (Karnavalnaya noch) – (USSR)
  • Carousel – directed by Henry King, starring Shirley Jones & Gordon MacRae
  • The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn – starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Dick Emery – UK – short
  • The Catered Affair – directed by Richard Brooks, starring Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds
  • Checkpoint – directed by Ralph Thomas, starring Anthony Steel, Odile Versois, Stanley Baker & James Robertson Justice – UK
  • Child of Sorrow (Anak dalita) – (Philippines)
  • Chori Chori, starring Nargis and Raj Kapoor – (India)
  • Comanche, starring Dana Andrews and Linda Cristal
  • Come Next Spring, starring Ann Sheridan and Steve Cochran
  • Congo Crossing – starring Virginia Mayo & Peter Lorre
  • The Conqueror – directed by Dick Powell, starring John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, & Pedro Armendáriz
  • The Court Jester – directed by Melvin Frank & Norman Panama, starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury, & Cecil Parker
  • Crazed Fruit (Kurutta kajitsu), directed by Kō Nakahira – (Japan)
  • Crime Against Joe, starring Julie London
  • Crime in the Streets – directed by Don Siegel, starring James Whitmore, John Cassavetes, & Sal Mineo
  • A Cry in the Night – starring Edmond O’Brien, Natalie Wood, Raymond Burr
  • D-Day the Sixth of June, starring Robert Taylor
  • Dakota Incident, starring Dale Robertson
  • Dance with Me, Henry, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
  • Death in the Garden – directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Simone Signoret & Charles Vanel – France
  • Death of a Scoundrel, starring George Sanders and Zsa Zsa Gabor
  • Diane – starring Lana Turner
  • Donatella, directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Elsa Martinelli – (Italy)
  • Don’t Look Back, My Son (Ne okreći se sine) – (Yugoslavia)
  • The Dragon (O Drakos) – (Greece)
  • Early Spring (Soshun), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
  • Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, starring Hugh Marlowe
  • The Eddy Duchin Story, starring Tyrone Power and Kim Novak
  • Elena and Her Men – starring Ingrid Bergman – France/Italy
  • The Fastest Gun Alive, starring Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford
  • The First Texan, starring Joel McCrea
  • The First Traveling Saleslady – starring Ginger Rogers, Barry Nelson, Carol Channing
  • Forbidden Planet – starring Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis
  • Forever, Darling, starring Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, James Mason
  • Friendly Persuasion – directed by William Wyler, starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins
  • Funtoosh (Funny Man), starring Dev Anand – (India)
  • Gaby, starring Leslie Caron
  • Gervaise, directed by René Clément, starring Maria Schell – (France)
  • Giant, directed by George Stevens, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor, Elsa Cárdenas, & Earl Holliman
  • The Girl Can’t Help It – directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O’Brien, Henry Jones, & Julie London
  • The Girl He Left Behind – directed by David Butler, starring Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, Jim Backus, Alan King, James Garner, & David Janssen
  • A Girl in Black – directed by Michael Cacoyannis – Greece
  • Godzilla, King of the Monsters!- directed by Terry Morse & Ishirō Honda, starring Raymond Burr & Takashi Shimura – Japan/United States
  • Good-bye, My Lady, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Brandon deWilde, Walter Brennan, Phil Harris
  • Great Day in the Morning, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Robert Stack and Virginia Mayo
  • The Great Locomotive Chase, starring Fess Parker and Jeffrey Hunter
  • The Great Man, directed by and starring José Ferrer, with Julie London, Keenan Wynn, Ed Wynn
  • The Green Man, starring Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas – UK
  • Gun the Man Down – directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, starring James Arness and Angie Dickinson
  • Gunslinger – directed by Roger Corman, starring John Ireland & Beverly Garland
  • The Harder They Fall – directed by Mark Robson, starring Humphrey Bogart
  • The Harvest Month (Elokuu) – (Finland)
  • Helen of Troy, starring Rossana Podestà, Stanley Baker
  • High Society – starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, & Grace Kelly
  • Hilda Crane – starring Jean Simmons
  • Hold Back the Night, starring John Payne
  • Hollywood or Bust – directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, & Anita Ekberg
  • Hot Blood – directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Jane Russell & Cornel Wilde
  • The Houston Story – directed by William Castle, starring Barbara Hale & Gene Barry
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Quinn – (France/Italy)
  • Ich suche Dich (I Seek You), starring O.W. Fischer and Anouk Aimée – (West Germany)
  • The Indian Fighter – starring Kirk Douglas & Walter Matthau
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers** – directed by Don Siegel, starring Kevin McCarthy
  • Invitation to the Dance – directed by & starring Gene Kelly
  • It Conquered the World – directed by Roger Corman, starring Peter Graves & Beverly Garland
  • Jagte Raho (Stay Awake), starring Raj Kapoor – (India)
  • Johnny Concho, starring Frank Sinatra
  • Jubal, starring Glenn Ford, Rod Steiger, Ernest Borgnine, Felicia Farr, Charles Bronson
  • Judgement of Coyote
  • Julie – starring Doris Day & Louis Jourdan
  • Kanal, directed by Andrzej Wajda – (Poland)
  • The Killer Is Loose – directed by Budd Boetticher, starring Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey
  • The Killers – directed by Andrei Tarkovsky – short – USSR
  • The Killing – directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Marie Windsor, Vince Edwards
  • The King and Four Queens – starring Clark Gable
  • The King and I – directed by Walter Lang, starring Deborah Kerr & Yul Brynner
  • A Kiss Before Dying – directed by Gerd Oswald, starring Robert Wagner & Joanne Woodward
  • The Last Hunt – directed by Richard Brooks, starring Robert Taylor & Stewart Granger
  • The Last Wagon, starring Richard Widmark
  • The Leech (Shabab emraa) – (Egypt)
  • The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Tom Ewell and Sheree North
  • Lisbon – directed by and starring Ray Milland, with Maureen O’Hara & Claude Rains
  • The Lone Ranger, starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels
  • The Long Arm, starring Jack Hawkins – (GB)
  • Love Me Tender – starring Elvis Presley
  • Lust for Life – directed by Vincente Minnelli & George Cukor (uncredited – supervised one retake), starring Kirk Douglas & Anthony Quinn
  • A Man Escaped (Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut), directed by Robert Bresson – (France)
  • The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit – directed by Nunnally Johnson, starring Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Keenan Wynn, Lee J. Cobb
  • Man on the Tracks (Człowiek na torze) – (Poland)
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart & Doris Day
  • The Man Who Never Was, starring Clifton Webb and Gloria Grahame – UK
  • The Maverick Queen – starring Barbara Stanwyck & Barry Sullivan
  • Meet Me in Las Vegas, starring Cyd Charisse
  • Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta) – (Hungary)
  • Michel Strogoff
  • Miracle in the Rain, starring Jane Wyman
  • Moby Dick – directed by John Huston, starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, Orson Welles
  • Mukh O Mukhosh (The Face and the Mask) – (East Pakistan)
  • Naked Gun starring Mara Corday and Willard Parker
  • Nagareru (Flowing), directed by Mikio Naruse – (Japan)
  • Never Say Goodbye, starring Rock Hudson, David Janssen, Cornell Borchers
  • New Delhi – (India)
  • Old Khottabych – USSR
  • On the Threshold of Space, starring Guy Madison
  • The Opposite Sex – directed by David Miller, starring June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Richards, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood, Joan Blondell, Sam Levene, Dick Shawn, Jim Backus, Bill Goodwin, & Harry James
  • Othello, starring Sergei Bondarchuk – USSR
  • Over-Exposed, starring Cleo Moore
  • Pardners – starring Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis
  • Patterns, starring Van Heflin and Ed Begley
  • Pillars of the Sky, starring Jeff Chandler and Dorothy Malone
  • Please Murder Me – directed by Peter Godfrey, starring Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr, & Dick Foran
  • Poor but Handsome – Italy
  • The Power and the Prize, starring Robert Taylor, Burl Ives, Mary Astor, Cedric Hardwicke, Elisabeth Müller
  • Private’s Progress – directed by John Boulting – starring Ian Carmichael & Richard Attenborough – UK
  • Professor Hannibal – directed by Zoltán Fábri – Hungary
  • The Proud and Profane – directed by George Seaton, starring William Holden & Deborah Kerr
  • The Proud Ones, starring Robert Ryan and Virginia Mayo
  • Qivitoq – Denmark
  • The Rack – directed by Arnold Laven, starring Paul Newman, Edmond O’Brien, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis
  • The Railroad Man (Il Ferroviere), directed by and starring Pietro Germi – (Italy)
  • The Rainmaker – starring Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman, & Cameron Prud’Homme
  • Ransom!, starring Glenn Ford and Donna Reed
  • Reach for the Sky – starring Kenneth More – UK
  • The Red Balloon – directed by Albert Lamorisse – short – France
  • The Road of Life – Mexico
  • Rock Around the Clock, featuring Bill Haley and His Comets
  • Rock, Pretty Baby! – directed by Richard Bartlett, starring Sal Mineo, John Saxon, & Luana Patten
  • Rodan, directed by Ishirō Honda – Japan
  • The Roof – directed by Vittorio De Sica – Italy
  • Run for the Sun, starring Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard, Jane Greer
  • Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island – directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, starring Toshiro Mifune – Japan
  • The Searchers – directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Ken Curtis, Natalie Wood
  • Serenade – directed by Anthony Mann, starring Mario Lanza & Joan Fontaine
  • Seven Men from Now – directed by Budd Boetticher, starring Randolph Scott & Lee Marvin
  • Seven Wonders of the World, a documentary film directed by Tay Garnett and others
  • Seven Years in Tibet – UK
  • The She-Creature, starring Marla English
  • The Silent World – a directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau & Louis Malle – documentary – France
  • Sira` Fi al-Mina (a.k.a. Dark Water) – directed by Youssef Chahine, starring Omar Sharif – Egypt
  • Slightly Scarlet, starring John Payne and Rhonda Fleming
  • The Solid Gold Cadillac, starring Judy Holliday
  • Somebody Up There Likes Me – directed by Robert Wise, starring Paul Newman & Pier Angeli
  • The Spanish Gardener, starring Dirk Bogarde – UK
  • The Square Jungle, starring Tony Curtis and Patricia Crowley
  • Star in the Dust, starring John Agar and Mamie Van Doren
  • Stars in Your Eyes – UK
  • Storm Center – starring Bette Davis & Kim Hunter
  • Street of Shame – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – Japan
  • Tea and Sympathy – directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Deborah Kerr & John Kerr
  • The Teahouse of the August Moon – directed by Daniel Man, starring Marlon Brando & Glenn Ford
  • The Ten Commandments – directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Yvonne De Carlo, Edward G. Robinson, Vincent Price
  • There’s Always Tomorrow – directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett
  • Three Brave Men, starring Ray Milland
  • Time Table, directed by and starring Mark Stevens, with Felicia Farr
  • Toward the Unknown – directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring William Holden & Virginia Leith
  • A Town Like Alice – starring Virginia McKenna & Peter Finch – UK
  • Trapeze, directed by Carol Reed, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida
  • Tribute to a Bad Man – directed by Robert Wise, starring James Cagney, Irene Papas, Stephen McNally, Don Dubbins, Vic Morrow
  • The Twelve Months – USSR
  • Uncle Hyacynth – Spain
  • Uranium Boom – directed by William Castle
  • The Vagabond King – directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Kathryn Grayson, Oreste Kirkop, Rita Moreno, Cedric Hardwicke, Walter Hampden, & Leslie Nielsen
  • Valley of Peace – Yugoslavia
  • I Vampiri – Italy
  • War and Peace – directed by King Vidor, starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Anita Ekberg
  • What a Woman! – starring Sophia Loren, Charles Boyer, & Marcello Mastroianni – Italy
  • While the City Sleeps – directed by Fritz Lang, starring Dana Andrews, Ida Lupino, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Vincent Price
  • Who Done It?, starring Benny Hill – (GB)
  • A Woman’s Devotion, starring Ralph Meeker and Janice Rule
  • Written on the Wind – directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone
  • The Wrong Man – directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Henry Fonda & Vera Miles
  • X the Unknown – starring Dean Jagger & Leo McKern – UK
  • Yield to the Night -starring Diana Dors – UK
  • You Can’t Run Away from It – directed by Dick Powell, starring June Allyson & Jack Lemmon
  • Zarak – directed by Terence Young starring Victor Mature – UK

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