Must-sees of 1954
by vitale-daniele | created - 24 Dec 2012 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicThe titles hereby listed have been selected out of 92 1954-released works seen.
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1. A Story from Chikamatsu (1954)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Ishun is a wealthy but unsympathetic master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô, Eitarô Ozawa
Votes: 4,947
2. Sound of the Mountain (1954)
Approved | 95 min | Drama
An ingratiating bride develops warm ties to her father-in-law while her cold husband blithely slights her for another woman.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Sô Yamamura, Ken Uehara, Yôko Sugi
Votes: 2,146
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama
Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki
Votes: 366,843 | Gross: $0.27M
4. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama
In medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô
Votes: 18,229
5. Senso (1954)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama, Romance, War
An Italian Countess is allied with Nationalists during the Italian-Austrian war of unification. However, she risks betraying their cause when she falls in love with an Austrian lieutenant.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Farley Granger, Alida Valli, Massimo Girotti, Heinz Moog
Votes: 7,522 | Gross: $0.03M
6. On the Waterfront (1954)
Approved | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Votes: 164,907 | Gross: $9.60M
7. Rear Window (1954)
PG | 112 min | Mystery, Thriller
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 522,092 | Gross: $36.76M
8. Hobson's Choice (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Widower Henry Hobson refuses to let his three daughters get married because he doesn't want to pay settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda de Banzie, Daphne Anderson
Votes: 8,803
9. Journey to Italy (1954)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Romance
An unhappily married couple attempts to find direction and insight while vacationing in Naples.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban, Anna Proclemer
Votes: 12,250
10. Dial M for Murder (1954)
PG | 105 min | Crime, Thriller
A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams
Votes: 188,803 | Gross: $0.01M
11. The Road (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani
Votes: 66,586
12. Touchez pas au grisbi (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama
An aging, world-weary gangster is double-crossed and forced out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped and their stash of eight stolen gold bars demanded as ransom.
Director: Jacques Becker | Stars: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Dora Doll, Vittorio Sanipoli
Votes: 8,545 | Gross: $0.13M
13. Apache (1954)
Passed | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Refusing to let himself be re-settled on a Florida reservation, Massai, an Apache warrior, escapes his captors and returns to his homeland to become a peaceful farmer.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Jean Peters, John McIntire, Charles Bronson
Votes: 4,900 | Gross: $6.00M
14. Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
101 min | Drama
What is the life of a Geisha like once her beauty has faded and she has retired? Kin has saved her money, and has become a wealthy money-lender, spending her days cold-heartedly collecting ... See full summary »
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Haruko Sugimura, Ken Uehara, Sadako Sawamura, Chikako Hosokawa
Votes: 1,194
15. An Inn at Osaka (1954)
122 min | Drama
An Inn at Osaka, rarely seen outside Japan, follows the story of an insurance company executive from Tokyo, Mr. Mito, who is demoted to the Osaka office. He takes a room at a small inn and tries to rebuild his life.
Director: Heinosuke Gosho | Stars: Shûji Sano, Nobuko Otowa, Mitsuko Mito, Hiroko Kawasaki
Votes: 295
16. A Star Is Born (1954)
Passed | 154 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford
Votes: 19,676 | Gross: $14.93M
17. Sabrina (1954)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden
Votes: 70,341
18. Riviera (1954)
102 min | Comedy, Drama
Annamaria, an ex-prostitute, takes her young daughter from convent school with her on a summer vacation. She introduces herself like a widow just to be accepted by people in the Italy of ... See full summary »
Director: Alberto Lattuada | Stars: Martine Carol, Raf Vallone, Mario Carotenuto, Carlo Romano
Votes: 289
19. The Country Girl (1954)
Unrated | 104 min | Drama, Music
A director hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife, who he believes is the cause of all the man's problems.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden, Anthony Ross
Votes: 6,672
20. Vera Cruz (1954)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
During the Mexican Rebellion of 1866, an unsavory group of American adventurers are hired by the forces of Emporer Maximilian to escort a countess to Vera Cruz.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Denise Darcel, Cesar Romero
Votes: 11,326
21. Johnny Guitar (1954)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Western
After helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady
Votes: 19,744
22. River of No Return (1954)
Approved | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The titular river unites a farmer recently released from prison, his young son, and an ambitious saloon singer. In order to survive, each must be purged of anger, and each must learn to understand and care for the others.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Jean Negulesco | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe, Rory Calhoun, Tommy Rettig
Votes: 12,996
23. Godzilla (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi
Votes: 39,654 | Gross: $2.42M
24. An Inspector Calls (1954)
Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A wealthy family is visited by a police inspector, who questions the family about the suicide of a young working-class woman.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Alastair Sim, Arthur Young, Olga Lindo, Brian Worth
Votes: 5,241
25. The Red and the Black (1954)
205 min | Drama, Romance
It's no holds barred for Julian in pursuit of upward mobility. Although expected to channel career aspirations into the Church of the post- Napoleonic era, his intensely romantic liaisons propel him forward at a pace he cannot control.
Director: Claude Autant-Lara | Stars: Danielle Darrieux, Gérard Philipe, Antonella Lualdi, Antoine Balpêtré
Votes: 694
26. The Far Country (1954)
Passed | 97 min | Romance, Western
A self-minded adventurer locks horns with a crooked lawman while driving cattle to Dawson.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan
Votes: 8,634
27. The Sleeping Tiger (1954)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Thriller
After a convict breaks in a psychotherapist's home, he agrees to rehabilitation rather than arrest but the therapist's wife becomes infatuated with him.
Director: Joseph Losey | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Alexis Smith, Alexander Knox, Hugh Griffith
Votes: 1,213
28. Miseria e nobiltà (1954)
60 min | Comedy
"Miseria e Nobiltà" tells the story of the humble families of Felice Pasquale and his colleague who are hired by a Marquis who wants to marry the daughter of a rich but simple cook, so they pose as aristocrats.
Director: Mario Mattoli | Stars: Totò, Sophia Loren, Enzo Turco, Dolores Palumbo
Votes: 2,054
29. Them! (1954)
Not Rated | 94 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
Votes: 24,188
30. A Lesson in Love (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a 15-year marriage, the spouses are going to divorce, but suddenly find out that their feelings have not vanished yet.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Björnstrand, Yvonne Lombard, Harriet Andersson
Votes: 3,740
31. Pushover (1954)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An undercover police officer falls for the beautiful moll of a bank robber on the run, and together they plan to double-cross the hood and the cops.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak, Philip Carey, Dorothy Malone
Votes: 4,121
32. The Woman of Rumour (1954)
83 min | Drama, Romance
Hatsuko Umabuchi is a widow who runs a prosperous geisha house in present-day Kyoto. Her daughter Yukiko returns from Tokyo following a failed suicide attempt, after her lover found out ... See full summary »
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Tomoemon Otani, Yoshiko Kuga, Eitarô Shindô
Votes: 1,407
33. Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)
Not Rated | 156 min | Drama
Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi forms an emotional bond with her pupils and teaches them various virtues, while at the same time worrying about their future.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Itsuo Watanabe, Makoto Miyagawa, Takeo Terashita
Votes: 2,829
34. It Should Happen to You (1954)
Approved | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When a young woman with dreams of fame rents a billboard to advertise herself, her life changes overnight.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Peter Lawford, Michael O'Shea
Votes: 4,528 | Gross: $1.40M
35. Bow Bells (1954)
11 min | Documentary, Short
A montage of scenes from East End life set to a soundtrack of music hall songs with appropriate lyrics.
Director: Anthony Simmons
Votes: 31
36. Black Widow (1954)
Approved | 95 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A young writer insinuates herself into the life of a Broadway producer.
Director: Nunnally Johnson | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, Gene Tierney, George Raft
Votes: 3,243
37. Drive a Crooked Road (1954)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An upright car mechanic falls in love with the girlfriend of a gangster. This forces him to participate in the criminal underworld.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Kelly
Votes: 2,015
38. The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
The schoolgirls of St. Trinian's are more interested in racing forms than books; as they try to get rich quick, they are abetted by the headmistress' brother.
Director: Frank Launder | Stars: Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley
Votes: 2,935
39. A Drop Too Much (1954)
14 min | Short, Animation
The tragic tale of a motorcyclist who, happily on his way to meet his fiance, stops at a tavern with disastrous consequences.
Director: Bretislav Pojar
Votes: 128
40. Garden of Evil (1954)
Not Rated | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A trio of American adventurers marooned in rural Mexico are recruited by a beautiful woman to rescue her husband trapped in a cave in Apache territory.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark, Hugh Marlowe
Votes: 3,979
41. Executive Suite (1954)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, Romance
When the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice presidents vie to see who will replace him.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, June Allyson, Fredric March
Votes: 4,586
42. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Approved | 102 min | Musical, Romance, Western
In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 27,100 | Gross: $9.40M
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