Movies & TV from the 1950s

Enjoying a life of ease in the court of Egypt's pharaoh, Moses (Charlton Heston) discovers his Hebrew heritage and, later, God's expectations of him. He dedicates himself to liberating his people from captivity and -- with the aid of plagues and divine intervention -- manages to lead them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. A greater challenge comes in the form of the golden calf idol, however, and it takes an unforgettable visitation by God on Mount Sinai for Moses' mission to prevail.

When professional photographer J.B. 'Jeff' Jeffries is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, he becomes obsessed with watching the private dramas of his neighbors play out across the courtyard. When he suspects a salesman may have murdered his nagging wife, Jeffries enlists the help of his glamorous socialite girlfriend to investigate the highly suspicious chain of events... Events that ultimately lead to one of the most memorable and gripping endings in all of film history.

After leaving the Army, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis team up to become a top song-and-dance act. They fall for two pretty sisters, Betty and Judy. When the guys follow the girls to Vermont the result is a WHITE CHRISTMAS filled with songs and romance.

Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds in 45th-anniversary restoration of the best-loved Hollywood musical ever-filled with memorable songs, lavish routines and Kelly's fabulous song-and-dance number performed in the rain.

There's a showdown at Rio Bravo when courageous Sheriff John T. Chance throws the brother of evil cattle baron Nathan Burdette in jail for murder. When Burdette's men lay siege to his jailhouse, Chance holds on until the arrival of a U.S. Marshal with the help of his drunken deputy, Dude, cranky old man Stumpy, and the beautiful long-legged Feathers.

This fast-paced thriller stars Cary Grant as a Madison Avenue advertising exec who is mistaken for someone else and kidnapped by a group of international spies, headed by James Mason. After a hair-raising escape, he is framed for a murder he didn't commit and goes on the run with the lovely Eva Marie Saint. Famous for a wild plane attack and a harrowing chase across the faces of Mount Rushmore, this is quintessential Hitchcock.

When the eldest of seven Oregon frontier brothers announces his marriage plans, the others follow his advice and kidnap six beautiful women of their own. It's a rollicking musical delight as the brothers compete for the women's affections with raucous song and dance.

A member of the Jewish nobility living in Jerusalem, Judah Ben-Hur lives a religious life and peacefully opposes the tyrannical occupation of Judea by Rome.

A tired American ex-boxer returns to his native hamlet in Ireland to win the hand of a spirited young woman. He is confronted by strict local customs and the woman's belligerent brother. Set in the verdant Irish countryside, this lively film has beautiful scenery, brilliant repartee, and local charm.

Set among San Francisco's renowned landmarks, James Stewart is brilliant as Scottie Ferguson, an acrophobic detective hired to shadow a friend's suicidal wife, Madeleine. After he saves her from drowning in the bay, Scottie's interest shifts from business to fascination with the icy, alluring blonde. When he finds another woman remarkably like his lost love, the now obsessed detective must unravel the secrets of the past to find the key to his future.

Adaptation of the Pierre Bouelle novel about POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American officers plot to blow up the structure, but the commander of the bridge's construction has different plans.

Audrey Hepburn's portrayal of a modern-day princess, rebelling against the royal obligations, who explores Rome on her own. She meets Gregory Peck, an American newspaperman who, seeking an exclusive story, pretends ignorance of her true identity. But his plan falters as they fall in love. Eddie Albert contributes to the fun as Peck's carefree cameraman pal. Stylishly directed by William Wyler, this romantic comedy ranks as one of the most enjoyable films of all times.

Working together for the 12th time, John Wayne and director John Ford forged The Searchers into an indelible image of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it.

A dutiful robot named Robby speaks 188 languages. An underground lair provides astonishing evidence of a populace a million years more advanced than Earthlings. There are many wonders on Altair-4, but none is greater or more deadly than the human mind. Leslie Nielsen portrays the commander who brings his spacecruiser crew to the green-skied Altair-4 world that's home to Dr. Morbius, his daughter, the remarkable Robby and to a mysterious terror.

This spectacular production features the tremendous pageantry and color of 12th century England and the considerable talents of Danny Kaye. Kaye plays a court jester who becomes involved with outlaws trying to overthrow the king. In between singing, dancing and clowning, he still finds time for some jousting with knights, dangerous duels with swordsmen, and rescuing damsels in distress. A delightful comedy for the whole family.

Dockworker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) had been an up-and-coming boxer until powerful local mob boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) persuaded him to throw a fight. When a longshoreman is murdered before he can testify about Friendly's control of the Hoboken waterfront, Terry teams up with the dead man's sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) and the streetwise priest Father Barry (Karl Malden) to testify himself, against the advice of Friendly's lawyer, Terry's older brother Charley (Rod Steiger).

Gloria Swanson, as Norma Desmond, an aging silent-film queen, and William Holden, as the struggling young screenwriter who is held in thrall by her madness, created two of the screen's most memorable characters in "Sunset Boulevard." Director Billy Wilder's powerful orchestration of the bizarre tale is a true cinematic classic. From the unforgettable opening sequence - a body found floating in a decayed mansion's swimming pool - through the inevitable unfolding of tragic destiny, "Sunset Boulevard" is the definitive statement on the dark and desperate side of Hollywood. Erich von Stroheim as Desmond's discoverer, ex-husband and butler, and Nancy Olson as the bright spot amidst unrelenting ominousness, are equally celebrated for their masterful performances.

Strange thing about this trip is that so much occurs in pairs. When tennis star Guy, who hates his unfaithful wife, meets mysterious Bruno, who hates his father, a playful proposal is made: I'll kill yours, you kill mine. But trouble comes when the plan is actually implemented.

Stewart stars as the good-natured Elwood P. Dowd, whose constant companion is Harvey, a six-foot tall rabbit that only he can see. To his sister, Veta Louise, Elwood's obsession with Harvey has been a thorn in the side of her plans to marry off her daughter. But when Veta Louise decides to put Elwood in a mental hospital, a hilarious mix-up occurs and she finds herself committed instead. It's up to Elwood to straighten out the mess with his kindly philosophy, and his "imaginary" friend.

Chauffeur's daughter Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) returns home from two years in Paris a beautiful young woman, and immediately catches the attention of David (William Holden), the playboy son of her father's rich employers. David woos and wins Sabrina, who has always been in love with him, however their romance is threatened by David's serious older brother, Linus (Humphrey Bogart), who runs the family business and is relying on David to marry an heiress in order for a crucial merger to take place.

Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell), a progressive and independent woman of the 1920s, is left to care for her nephew Patrick (Jan Handzlik/Roger Smith) after his wealthy father dies. Mr. Babcock (Fred Clark), Patrick's assigned executor, objects to Mame's unconventional way of living and tries to force her to send Patrick to prep school. As Mame and Patrick grow closer, Mr. Babcock tries to discipline Patrick and threatens to separate the two if Mame does not comply with his wishes.

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stewart) takes the case of Army Lt. Manion (Ben Gazzara), who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife (Lee Remick) claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick (Brooks West) and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C. Scott) to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner (Kathryn Grant), who's hiding a dark secret.

Thrilling performances by Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Burl Ives make this adaptation of Tennessee Williams' story about a wealthy plantation owner succumbing to cancer one of the most acclaimed movies in history.

In 1949, an American writer of westerns, Holly Martins, arrives in post-war Vienna to visit his old friend Harry Lime. On arrival, he learns that his friend has been killed in a street accident, and when he meets Calloway, chief of the British Military Police in Vienna, he is informed that Lime was in fact a black marketer wanted by the police. He decides to prove Harry's innocence, but is Harry really dead?