Year by year: 1954
by cafg-0 | created - 06 Nov 2016 | updated - 8 months ago | PublicThe top 40 films of 1954 (in order)
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1. Rear Window (1954)
PG | 112 min | Mystery, Thriller
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 449,515 | Gross: $36.76M
2. On the Waterfront (1954)
Approved | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Votes: 143,818 | Gross: $9.60M
3. The Earrings of Madame De... (1953)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Romance
When an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Vittorio De Sica, Jean Debucourt
Votes: 9,001
4. Le Plaisir (1952)
Not Rated | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three separate stories about the same thing: le plaisir (pleasure).
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Jean Gabin, Danielle Darrieux, Simone Simon, Claude Dauphin
Votes: 4,331
5. A Star Is Born (1954)
Passed | 154 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford
Votes: 16,203 | Gross: $14.93M
6. Johnny Guitar (1954)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Western
After helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady
Votes: 15,890
7. Senso (1954)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama, History, Romance
An Italian Countess is allied with Nationalists during the Italian-Austrian war of unification. However, she risks betraying their cause when she falls in love with an Austrian Lieutenant.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Farley Granger, Alida Valli, Massimo Girotti, Heinz Moog
Votes: 6,260 | Gross: $0.03M
8. Dial M for Murder (1954)
PG | 105 min | Crime, Thriller
A former tennis player tries to arrange his wife's murder after learning of her affair.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams
Votes: 160,617 | Gross: $0.01M
9. Journey to Italy (1954)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama, Romance
An unhappily married couple attempts to find direction and insight while vacationing in Naples.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban, Anna Proclemer
Votes: 9,272
10. Sabrina (1954)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden
Votes: 60,134
11. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama
In medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô
Votes: 14,770
12. Hobson's Choice (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Henry Hobson (Charles Laughton) is a successful bootmaker, a widower and a tyrannical father of three daughters. The girls each want to leave their father by getting married, but Henry refuses because marriage traditions require him to pay out settlements.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda de Banzie, Daphne Anderson
Votes: 6,672
13. The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Not Rated | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
This is the life of a Hollywood movie star named Maria, as told by writer/director Harry et al, from being discovered in Madrid, Spain, until her funeral in Italy.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Marius Goring
Votes: 9,934
14. Gate of Hell (1953)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama, History
A samurai pursues a married lady-in-waiting.
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Kazuo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata, Yatarô Kurokawa
Votes: 3,301
15. The Country Girl (1954)
Unrated | 104 min | Drama, Music
A director hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife, who he believes is the cause of all the man's problems.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden, Anthony Ross
Votes: 5,484
16. The Caine Mutiny (1954)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama, War
When a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes the ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray
Votes: 24,612 | Gross: $21.75M
17. Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Romance
A rich playboy whose recklessness inadvertently causes the death of a prominent doctor tries to make amends to his widow, and falls for her in the process.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Otto Kruger
Votes: 6,167
18. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Approved | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 21,557 | Gross: $9.40M
19. Executive Suite (1954)
Passed | 104 min | Drama
When the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice presidents vie to see who will replace him.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, June Allyson, Fredric March
Votes: 3,677
20. Lovers, Happy Lovers! (1954)
Approved | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A philanderer fakes suicide with unexpected consequences.
Director: René Clément | Stars: Gérard Philipe, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood, Margaret Johnston
Votes: 391
21. Genevieve (1953)
Approved | 86 min | Comedy
Two British couples pit their vintage automobiles against each other in an exciting cross-country race.
Director: Henry Cornelius | Stars: Dinah Sheridan, John Gregson, Kay Kendall, Kenneth More
Votes: 2,836
22. Human Desire (1954)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
A Korean War vet returns to his job as a railroad engineer and becomes involved in an affair with a co-worker's wife following a murder on a train where they meet.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan
Votes: 4,550
23. Broken Lance (1954)
Approved | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
The saga of the Devereaux rancher family, set in 1880's Arizona.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark
Votes: 3,477
24. Robinson Crusoe (1954)
Approved | 90 min | Adventure, Drama
The classic story of Robinson Crusoe, a man who is dragged to a desert island after a shipwreck.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Dan O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernández, Felipe de Alba, Chel López
Votes: 3,651
25. Bread, Love and Dreams (1953)
90 min | Comedy, Romance
When a veteran marshal is sent to a small town, he quickly falls for two women: a midwife and an earthy young woman nicknamed "Frisky".
Director: Luigi Comencini | Stars: Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, Marisa Merlini, Virgilio Riento
Votes: 1,350
26. Godzilla (1954)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur-like beast.
Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi
Votes: 30,297 | Gross: $2.42M
27. Vera Cruz (1954)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Western
During the Mexican Rebellion of 1866, an unsavory group of American adventurers are hired by the forces of Emporer Maximilian to escort a countess to Vera Cruz.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Denise Darcel, Cesar Romero
Votes: 9,239
28. Carmen Jones (1954)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Contemporary version of the Bizet opera, with new lyrics and an African-American cast.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James
Votes: 4,690
29. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
G | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre
Votes: 29,869 | Gross: $28.20M
30. Salt of the Earth (1954)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, History
Mexican workers at a Zinc mine call a general strike. It is only through the solidarity of the workers, and importantly the indomitable resolve of their wives, mothers and daughters, that they eventually triumph.
Director: Herbert J. Biberman | Stars: Juan Chacón, Rosaura Revueltas, Will Geer, David Bauer
Votes: 3,173
31. The Naked Jungle (1954)
Approved | 95 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
The Leiningen South American cocoa plantation is threatened by a 2-mile-wide, 20-mile-long column of army ants.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Charlton Heston, Eleanor Parker, Abraham Sofaer, William Conrad
Votes: 3,648
32. The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
Approved | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Biography of bandleader Glenn Miller from his beginnings to his death over the English Channel in December 1944.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, June Allyson, Harry Morgan, Charles Drake
Votes: 8,089
33. The River and Death (1954)
91 min | Drama
In a backward village where members of two rival families have kept killing each other for generations, a young doctor is expected to avenge his father.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Columba Domínguez, Miguel Torruco, Joaquín Cordero, Jaime Fernández
Votes: 741
34. Them! (1954)
Not Rated | 94 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
Votes: 20,149
35. Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953)
Not Rated | 63 min | Drama, Romance
Prior to leaving by train for Paris, a married American woman tries to break off her affair with a young Italian in Rome's Stazione Termini.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, Gino Cervi, Richard Beymer
Votes: 2,551
36. Night People (1954)
Approved | 93 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery
During the Cold War, an American soldier is abducted in West Berlin, sparking a recovery effort led by Colonel Steve Van Dyke.
Director: Nunnally Johnson | Stars: Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Anita Björk, Rita Gam
Votes: 1,053
37. Illusion Travels by Streetcar (1954)
82 min | Comedy, Adventure, Drama
Confronted with the unfortunate news that their favorite Streetcar, no. 133, is going to be decommissioned, two Municipal Transit workers get drunk and decide to "take 'er for one last spin".
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Lilia Prado, Carlos Navarro, Fernando Soto, Agustín Isunza
Votes: 1,376
38. Garden of Evil (1954)
Not Rated | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A trio of American adventurers marooned in rural Mexico are recruited by a beautiful woman to rescue her husband trapped in a cave in Apache territory.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark, Hugh Marlowe
Votes: 3,151
39. Brigadoon (1954)
Passed | 108 min | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
Two Americans on a hunting trip in Scotland become lost. They encounter a small village, not on the map, called Brigadoon, in which people harbor a mysterious secret, and behave as if they were still living two hundred years in the past.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart
Votes: 7,676
40. The Far Country (1954)
Passed | 97 min | Action, Romance, Western
A self-minded adventurer locks horns with a crooked lawman while driving cattle to Dawson.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet, Walter Brennan
Votes: 6,884
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