50's Movies on Parade

It is kind of amazing the classic movies that came out in the decade of the 50’s.  I’m sure there were a lot of duds too but you don’t seem to hear about those.  There were movies on social issues and teens like The Blackboard Jungle; as well as movies about issues between men and women in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; international classics like Seven Samurai and the French classic The Red Balloon.  Who can forget the Spaceman Klaatu, who came to save the human race in The Day The Earth Stood Still? And then there was Marilyn Monroe.  Some of her best movies came out in the 50’s, including Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch, which is the iconic movie where she lets her skirt fly up.  She was beautiful.  

The 50’s also saw some great Hitchcock movies, including 

Dial M for Murder and my personal favorite, Rear Window.  I loved it when the Castle TV show did a spoof on it.  It’s a must see when Becket comes in wearing one of those Grace Kelly evening gowns.  Classic! 

If you like spoofs, who hasn’t done a spoof on the classic 50’s movie 12 Angry Men.  When I served on a jury recently, I couldn’t help thinking about Henry Fonda in that movie.  Then there is Charlton Heston in his roll of a lifetime Ben Hur.  What an actor!  What an epic movie.  Not to forget about Hepburn and Bogart in The African Queen. 

There were tons of family friendly movies that also were epic in the 50’s.  Disney was in rare form with classics such as:  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,  Dumbo,  Lady and the Tramp, and Bambi.  It was an age of the classic musicals and an emerging TV heroes.  I love the 50s.