Top 10 Films of 1959
by felipenor | created - 01 Jul 2012 | updated - 15 Jun 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Black Orpheus (1959)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Director: Marcel Camus | Stars: Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira, Léa Garcia
Votes: 12,265
2. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,736 | Gross: $74.70M
3. Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Romance, War
Young Russian soldier Alyosha earns a medal, but asks to visit his mother instead. His journey recounts various kinds of love during wartime.
Director: Grigoriy Chukhray | Stars: Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova, Nikolay Kryuchkov
Votes: 11,289
4. Rio Bravo (1959)
Passed | 141 min | Western
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson
Votes: 68,094 | Gross: $12.54M
5. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,619 | Gross: $25.00M
6. The 400 Blows (1959)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble
Votes: 128,104
7. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Not Rated | 161 min | Drama, Mystery
An upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell
Votes: 71,360 | Gross: $11.90M
8. The Nun's Story (1959)
Approved | 149 min | Drama
After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft
Votes: 11,705 | Gross: $12.80M
9. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 346,296 | Gross: $13.28M
10. Imitation of Life (1959)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner
Votes: 18,226 | Gross: $13.99M
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