1950s

  • Evelyn Lambart & Norman McLaren – Begone Dull Care AKA A Phantasy in Colors (1950)

    1941-1950AnimationCanadaEvelyn LambartNorman McLarenShort Film

    Abstract images drawn directly onto the film are accompanied by three pieces of jazz performed by the Oscar Peterson trio.Read More »

  • Guru Dutt – Pyaasa (1957)

    1951-1960DramaGuru DuttIndiaMusical

    Vijay writes unpopular poems about the destitute and poor. Ridiculed by his brothers and scorned by publishers, Vijay finds encouragement in a woman, Gulabo, who helps him to try and get his poems published.Read More »

  • Keisuke Kinoshita – Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki aka She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955)

    1951-1960AsianDramaJapanKeisuke Kinoshita

    Criterion’s title for this film is “You Were Like a Wild Chrysanthemum.”

    From the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s “Films of Keisuke Kinoshita” program notes:

    Quote:
    Masao (Ozu regular Chishu Ryu) returns to his hometown after a successful career in business; the visit prompt memories of the time right before he left to study, when as a young man he fell in love with Tamiko, a beautiful, high-spirited young woman who also loved him but whom he was forbidden to marry as his family—and especially his mother—already had plans for him. Kinoshita brilliantly captures the flush of young love, played out against stunning landscapes—a love made all the more poignant as we know it will remain unrequited. Film scholar Donald Richie called it “one of the most nostalgically beautiful of Kinoshita’s films.”Read More »

  • Hiroshi Shimizu – Haha no omokage AKA Image of a Mother (1959)

    1951-1960DramaHiroshi ShimizuJapan

    Quote:
    Michio Segawa, whose father is a water bus driver, lives with his father since his mother died, but he doesn’t feel lonely because he has a beloved carrier pigeon called Dede. Soon, Michio gets a new mother. His new mother brings along her younger sister, Emiko. The house suddenly becomes lively, and Michio’s mother is kind to him, but Michio feels strange. When Emiko is on his father’s lap, he can no longer go to his father to get his gloves fixed right away when they get torn, as he used to do. His father also scolds him strangely.Read More »

  • Kaneto Shindô – Gin shinju AKA Love is Lost (1956)

    1951-1960DramaJapanKaneto ShindôRomance

    Quote:
    Based on the novel by Torahiko Tamiya.
    Kiichi and Sakie, a couple who ran a barbershop, and their cousin, Shutaro. However, the war forced Kiichi and Jutaro to go off to war. Kiichi’s death is reported to Sakie, and she is reunited with her cousin, who has been demobilized. The two embraced each other with the hope of starting anew, and three years passed. Then, Kiichi suddenly returned.Read More »

  • Yasuzô Masumura – Kyojin to gangu AKA Giants and Toys (1958)

    Japan1951-1960ComedyDramaYasuzô Masumura

    Giants and Toys is a sharp and snappy corporate satire revolving around the ruthless machinations of a group of admen working in the confectionary industry.

    As a new recruit to the marketing department of World Caramel, fresh-faced graduate Nishi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi) is eager to impress his ambitious and hard-nosed boss Goda (Black Test Car’s Hideo Takamatsu), even if it strains his relationships with his college friend Yokoyama (Koichi Fujiyama) and budding love interest Masami (Michiko Ono), who work at the rival companies of Giant and Apollo. With World’s lead over its competitors slipping badly, the two spot a chance to get back in the race in the shape of the pretty but unsophisticated 18-year-old, Kyoko (Hitomi Nozoe).Read More »

  • Jacques Pinoteau – Le triporteur AKA The Tricyclist (1957)

    1951-1960ComedyFranceJacques Pinoteau

    Antoine Peyralout is baker Mouillefarine’s tricycle delivery man. Comical and stuttering, Antoine shows more interest in the local soccer team than in professional integrity. A wedding cake pays the price for it and the young man is dismissed. Not dispirited in the least, Antoine decides to go to Nice, where his favorite team will play the final of the Cup. On his merry (and eventful) way, he has the opportunity to save a pretty camper, Popeline, with whom he falls in love. Once in Nice, he discovers that Dabek, the brilliant goal-keeper is not up to his task following bad news…Read More »

  • Jacques Tourneur – Night of the Demon (1957)

    1951-1960HorrorJacques TourneurThrillerUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis:
    Dr. John Holden ventures to London to attend a paranormal psychology symposium with the intention to expose devil cult leader Julian Karswell. Holden is a skeptic and does not believe in Karswell’s power. Nonetheless, he accepts an invitation to stay at Karswell’s estate, along with Joanna Harrington, niece of Holden’s confidant who was electrocuted in a bizarre automobile accident. Karswell secretly slips a parchment into Holden’s papers that might possibly be a death curse. Recurring strange events finally strike fear into Holden, who believes that his only hope is to pass the parchment back to Karswell to break the demonic curse. Read More »

  • Liviu Ciulei – Valurile Dunarii AKA The Danube Waves (1959)

    1951-1960DramaLiviu CiuleiRomaniaThriller

    IMDb wrote:
    Mihai leads members of the local resistance movement in an attack on a barge carrying weapons and ammunition for the Nazis in this World War II.Read More »

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