It's no accident that the 50s were the decade in which the cinematic medium itself became the object of moviemakers' interest. Probably no other decade since the invention of the Talkies saw such radical changes in the forms of cinematic narrative. Technical innovations expanded the power of the medium. Old genres such as the Western went into decline, while Science Fiction experienced a brief but intense blossoming. The productive rivalry with TV brought various other technological novelties to the cinema: stereo sound, for instance, and 3D movies.

50. Mister Roberts John Ford
49. All That Heaven Allows Douglas Sirk
48. The Defiant Ones Stanley Kramer
47. Smiles Of A Summer Night Ingmar Bergman
46. The Incredible Shrinking Man Jack Arnold
45. The African Queen John Huston
44. The Day The Earth Stood Still Robert Wise
43. Funny Face Stanley Donen
42. An American In Paris Vincente Minnelli
41. Creature From The Black Lagoon Jack Arnold
40. Elevator To The Gallows Louis Malle
39. Giant George Stevens
38. A Star Is Born George Cukor
37. Ivanhoe Richard Thorpe
36. Ashes And Diamonds Andrzej Wajda
35. BenHur William Wyler
34. High Noon Fred Zinnemann
33. All About Eve Joseph L. Mankiewicz
32. Johnny Guitar Nicholas Ray
31. The Wages Of Fear Henri Georges Clouzot
30. Monsieur Hulot's Holiday Jacques Tati
29. The Night Of The Hunter Charles Laughton
28. The Cranes Are Flying Mikhail Kalatozov
27. Sweet Smell Of Success Alexander Mackendrick
26. Touch Of Evil Orson Welles
25. The Bridge On The River Kwai David Lean
24. Rebel Without A Cause Nicholas Ray
23. The 400 Blows Francois Truffaut
22. 12 Angry Men Sidney Lumet
21. Roman Holiday William Wyler
20. Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock
19. On The Waterfront Elia Kazan
18. Anatomy Of A Murder Otto Preminger
17. Some Like It Hot Billy Wilder
16. East Of Eden Elia Kazan
15. Los Olvidados Luis Bunuel
14. Shane George Stevens
13. North By Northwest Alfred Hitchcock
12. Ugetsu Kenji Mizoguchi
11. Paths Of Glory Stanley Kubrick
10. Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder
09. Sansho The Bailiff Kenji Mizoguchi
08. In A Lonely Place Nicholas Ray
07. Singin' In The Rain Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen
06. Pather Panchali Satyajit Ray
05. The Searchers John Ford
04. Pickpocket Robert Bresson
03. Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa
02. Tokyo Story Yasujiro Ozu
01. Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock