The 40 most popular 1950s history movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Ben-Hur
1959 · 3h 32m · US
In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.


The Ten Commandments
1956 · 3h 40m · US
Escaping death, a Hebrew infant is raised in a royal household to become a prince. Upon discovery of his true heritage, Moses embarks on a personal quest to reclaim his destiny as the leader and liberator of the Hebrew people.


The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957 · 2h 42m · UK
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.


The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
1959 · 3h 24m · JP
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts and moves with his newlywed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.


The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
1959 · 2h 58m · JP
Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.


Night and Fog
1956 · 32m · FR
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.


Throne of Blood
1957 · 1h 48m · JP
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.


Houdini
1953 · 1h 46m · US
By the early 1900s, the extraordinary Houdini earned an international reputation for his theatrical tricks and daring feats of extrication from shackles, ropes, handcuffs and... Scotland Yard's jails.


Napoleon
1955 · 3h 10m · FR
The film follows the life of Napoleon from his early life in Corsica to his death at Saint Helena. The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles, and sites of Napoleonic battles including Austerlitz and Waterloo.


Hiroshima Mon Amour
1959 · 1h 32m · FR
The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.


The King and I
1956 · 2h 13m · US
Widowed Welsh mother Anna Leonowens becomes a governess and English tutor to the wives and many children of the stubborn King Mongkut of Siam. Anna and the King have a clash of personalities as she works to teach the royal family about the English language, customs and etiquette, and rushes to prepare a party for a group of European diplomats who must change their opinions about the King.


The Vikings
1958 · 1h 55m · US
Einar, brutal son of the viking Ragnar and future heir to his throne, tangles with clever slave Eric, for the hand of a beautiful English maiden.


Yankee Buccaneer
1952 · 1h 26m · US
A United States Navy ship in the first half of the 19th century, under the command of Captain David Porter, is expecting to put ashore after a year on the seas; but the arrival of one of Porter's ex-students, the willful and independent Lieutenant David Farragut, brings a new mission: to disguise the ship and crew as a pirate ship and help the Navy locate the criminals who have been robbing America's merchant fleet. But as Farragut's disobedience threatens the safety of the crew, they stumble upon an international conspiracy.


Jeromín
1953 · 1h 35m · ES
In the biography of John of Austria the Spanish hero of Flanders, brother of Philip II, as an argument, the tape is a praise of Spain Emperor Charles V and the values of Franco.


Helen of Troy
1956 · 2h 1m · US
Prince Paris of Troy, shipwrecked on a mission to the king of Sparta, meets and falls for Queen Helen before he knows who she is. Rudely received by the royal Greeks, he must flee...but fate and their mutual passions lead him to take Helen along. This gives the Greeks just the excuse they need for much-desired war.


The Diary of Anne Frank
1959 · 2h 59m · US
The true, harrowing story of a young Jewish girl who, with her family and their friends, is forced into hiding in an attic in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.


Quo Vadis
1951 · 2h 54m · US
After fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.


The Kaiser's Lackey
1951 · 1h 49m
Diederich Heßling is scared of everything and everyone. But as he grows up, he comes to realize that he has to offer his services to the powers-that-be if he wants to wield power himself. His life motto now runs: bow to those at the top and tread on those below. In this way, he always succeeds: as a student in a duel-fighting student fraternity and as a businessman in a paper factory. He cajoles the obese district administrative president Von Wulkow and wins his favor. He slanders his financial rivals and hatches a plot with the social democrats in the town council. On his honeymoon with his rich wife Guste, he finally finds a chance to do his beloved Kaiser a favor. And when a memorial to the Kaiser is unveiled in the town where Diederich lives and works, he delivers the address. He stands behind the lectern in the pouring rain, saluting his Kaiser. The crowd is dispersed. Everything is laid in ruins...


The Man Who Never Was
1956 · 1h 43m · UK
The true story of a British effort to trick the Germans into weakening Sicily's defenses before the 1943 attack. A dead soldier is dressed as a British officer and outfitted with faked papers showing that the Allies were intending to invade occupied Greece. His body is put into the sea where it will ultimately drift ashore and the papers be passed along to German Intelligence.


War and Peace
1956 · 3h 28m · IT
The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.


Der Klosterjäger
1953 · DE
The huntsman of a Bavarian monastery falls in love with a beautiful girl and convinces the provost to make his steward delay her brother's feudal due arrears.


The Vampire of Santiago
1955 · 1h 45m · AR
In seventeenth century's Chile a woman kills her lover because she wants to conquer a priest.


A Night to Remember
1958 · 2h 3m · UK
The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.
Underwater Warrior
Underwater Warrior
1958 · 1h 31m · US
Based upon the life of Commander Francic D. Fane (USNR), UnderWater Warrior follows the evolution of the US Navy's Underwater Demolition Unit from its inception near the end of World War II through its acceptance and finally successful utilization in Korea. Landmark underwater camera work makes Underwater Warrior a milestone in cinematic history.


Lady Godiva of Coventry
1955 · 1h 29m · US
Fictionalized account of events leading up the famous nude ride (alas, her hair covers everything) of the militant Saxon lady.


The Robe
1953 · 2h 15m · US
Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.


Solomon and Sheba
1959 · 2h 19m · US
Near death, King David has a vision that his poet son, Solomon, should succeed him, rather than hot-headed Adonijah. Furious, Adonijah departs the court, swearing he will become king. Other rulers are concerned that Solomon's benevolent rule and interest in monotheism will threaten their tyrannical, polytheistic kingdoms. The Queen of Sheba makes an agreement with the Egyptian pharaoh to corrupt Solomon for their mutual benefit.


Katia
1959 · 1h 33m · FR
Tsar Alexandre II meets a young student, Katia. He understands that he loves her and try to send her away but they end up seeing each other again and becomes his mistress. With the help of Katia, Alexandre prepares a liberal constitution, but these reforms make him hostile to the more privileged subjects without satirising the revolutionaries against the regime.


Julius Caesar
1953 · 2h 1m · US
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but both have sorely underestimated Mark Antony.


Lale Devri
1951 · TR
The story tells of the events that befall a man living during the Tulip Era due to his lust for power. Kuyucubaşı Şaban Çelebi purchases a tulip from an Indian merchant that rejuvenates its owner over the years. Dreaming of living for many years thanks to this tulip, Çelebi seeks to have İbrahim Pasha killed and take his place. When news of the rejuvenating tulip spreads, Şaban Çelebi is arrested and brought to the palace. They attempt to seize his tulip, but it is stolen. After being pardoned, Çelebi sets out to find his tulip and the Indian merchant.


Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress
1957 · 1h 49m · AT
After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.


The Outlaw Ballad
1959 · 1h 13m · SU
1830s, Moldavia. The groom Todor fell in love with his master's maid, Yustinia. Having found himself in hard labor, Todor organized an escape and, with a group of like-minded people, took refuge in the codry. So, under the leadership of Ataman Todor Tobultok, the Moldavian rebels, who called themselves haiduks, began to fight against the tyranny of the landowners.


The Battle of the River Plate
1956 · 1h 59m · UK
In the early years of the World War II, the Royal Navy is fighting a desperate battle to keep the Atlantic convoy routes open to supply the British Isles, facing the great danger posed by the many German warships, such as the Admiral Graf Spee, which are scouring the ocean for cargo ships to sink.


David and Bathsheba
1951 · 2h 3m · US
King David enters into an adulterous affair with the beautiful Bathsheba, which has tragic consequences for his family and Israel.


The Great Warrior Skanderbeg
1953 · 2h 3m · AL
A biography of George Kastriot Skanderbeg widely known as Skanderbeg, a 15th-century Albanian lord who defended his land against the Ottoman Empire for more than two decades.


The Fire of Immortality
1956 · 1h 38m · SU
No overview available


Cinci Hoca
1953
No overview available


Alexander the Great
1956 · 2h 16m · ES
An engrossing spectacle set in the 4th-century BC, in which Alexander of Greece leads his troops forth, conquering all of the known world, in the belief that the Greek way of thinking will bring enlightenment to people. The son of the barbaric and ruthless King Philip of Macedonia, Alexander achieved glory in his short but remarkable life.


Lust for Life
1956 · 2h 2m · US
An intense and imaginative artist, revered Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh possesses undeniable talent, but he is plagued by mental problems and frustrations with failure. Supported by his brother, Theo, the tormented Van Gogh eventually leaves Holland for France, where he meets volatile fellow painter Paul Gauguin and struggles to find greater inspiration.


The Fires of Baku
1958 · 1h 28m · SU
Dedicated to the development of the oil industry of Soviet Azerbaijan in the background of the first half of the twentieth century, including their selfless work in strengthening the economic and military might of the USSR.
1950s cinema fought television with everything it had: widescreen formats, colour, and spectacle. Underneath the scale, it was also the decade of Japanese cinema's international breakthrough and the birth of the modern art film.
Historical films reconstruct the past, whether faithfully or as deliberate myth-making. The genre attracts big budgets and big performances, and it reveals as much about the era that produced the film as the one on screen.