And here we go!
This is the nominations thread for the seventh portion of The Great Movie Tournament (seventh of ten) where we'll nominate and second our favorite movies for the decade of the 1950s (from 1950 to 1959). For our purposes, an eligible film must be a feature narrative film (no short films or documentaries) and its first release date must be between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1959 according to IMDb (sometimes films will premiere at festivals one year but have a wide release the following year; we'll use the IMDb and Wikipedia convention of the year of initial exhibition).
Participation is very much encouraged and extremely welcomed, but please do follow these guidelines for this nomination process (subject to adjustment):
- You can nominate one film per post, and you can nominate another film after one other member has made their nomination.
- You can second one film per post, and you can second another film after one other member has made their second.
- If possible, please include a trailer and/or a scene from the film using Spoiler tags (this version and delete the s in https for YouTube links when embedding a video, making sure to use the full URL from the address bar, not the sharing link).
- Nominations can also be optionally accompanied by year of release and director.
Once 160 nominated films have been seconded, the tournament will begin, following the structure shown below (an overall event overview thread is posted with links to all the polls so members can easily navigate during the tournament). Each poll will be open for 7 days and any tiebreaker polls will be open for 4 days.
- Round 1: 32 groups of 5 titles - top 4 move on
- Round 2: 32 groups of 4 titles - top 2 move on
- Round 3: 16 groups of 4 titles - top 2 move on
- Round 4: 16 groups of 2 titles - top 1 moves on
- Octofinals: 8 groups of 2 titles - top 1 moves on
- Quarterfinals: 4 groups of 2 titles - top 1 moves on
- Semifinals: 2 groups of 2 titles - top 1 moves on
- Final: 1 group of 2 titles - top 1 is the winner
This post will be updated with the list of nominated and seconded titles as they come in. You can also keep up to date with this handy Google Sheet.
Enjoy and have fun!
List of seconded films:
- East of Eden (1955), dir. Elia Kazan
- 12 Angry Men (1957), dir. Sidney Lumet
- Strangers on a Train (1951), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Vertigo (1958), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- On the Waterfront (1954), dir. Elia Kazan
- All About Eve (1950), dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Seven Samurai (1954), dir. Akira Kurosawa
- Rashomon (1950), dir. Akira Kurosawa
- Giant (1956), dir. George Stevens
- The Night of the Hunter (1955), dir. Charles Laughton
- Sunset Boulevard (1950), dir. Billy Wilder
- Some Like It Hot (1959), dir. Billy Wilder
- Rear Window (1954), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Singin' in the Rain (1952), dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
- Rebel Without a Cause (1955), dir. Nicholas Ray
- Ugetsu (1953), dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
- Alice in Wonderland (1951), dir. Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson, and Clyde Geronimi
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), dir. Robert Wise
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), dir. Elia Kazan
- Paths of Glory (1957), dir. Stanley Kubrick
- Stalag 17 (1953), dir. Billy Wilder
- The Seventh Seal (1957), dir. Ingmar Bergman
- Ikiru (1952), dir. Akira Kurosawa
- North by Northwest (1959), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Dial M for Murder (1954), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Tokyo Story (1953), dir. Yasujirō Ozu
- Touch of Evil (1958), dir. Orson Welles
- Forbidden Planet (1956), dir. Fred M. Wilcox
- Cinderella (1950), dir. Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson, and Clyde Geronimi
- La Strada (1954), dir. Federico Fellini
- Calamity Jane (1953), dir. David Butler
- Ace in the Hole (1951), dir. Billy Wilder
- The Wrong Man (1956), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), dir. Jack Arnold
- Rififi (1955), dir. Jules Dassin
- The Searchers (1956), dir. John Ford
- Forbidden Games (1952), dir. René Clément
- Ben-Hur (1959), dir. William Wyler
- To Catch a Thief (1955), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Throne of Blood (1957), dir. Akira Kurosawa
- The Fly (1958), dir. Kurt Neumann
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), dir. Don Siegel
- The Hidden Fortress (1958), dir. Akira Kurosawa
- The Big Heat (1953), dir. Fritz Lang
- The 400 Blows (1959), dir. François Truffaut
- Godzilla (1954), dir. Ishirō Honda
- The Trouble with Harry (1955), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Winchester '73 (1950), dir. Anthony Mann
- The Killing (1956), dir. Stanley Kubrick
- Elevator to the Gallows (1958), dir. Louis Malle
- From Here to Eternity (1953), dir. Fred Zinnemann
- Roman Holiday (1953), dir. William Wyler
- Anatomy of a Murder (1959), dir. Otto Preminger
- Sabrina (1954), dir. Billy Wilder
- Ordet (1955), dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
- High Noon (1952), dir. Fred Zinnemann
- Pickpocket (1959), dir. Robert Bresson
- Night and the City (1950), dir. Jules Dassin
- The Wages of Fear (1953), dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
- The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), dir. Jack Arnold
- Wild Strawberries (1957), dir. Ingmar Bergman
- The Thing from Another World (1951), dir. Christian Nyby
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- Diabolique (1955), dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), dir. Howard Hawks
- The African Queen (1951), dir. John Huston
- The Asphalt Jungle (1950), dir. John Huston
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), dir. David Lean
- Rio Bravo (1959), dir. Howard Hawks
- A Man Escaped (1956), dir. Robert Bresson
- Nights of Cabiria (1957), dir. Federico Fellini
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957), dir. Alexander Mackendrick
- Shane (1953), dir. George Stevens
- A Place in the Sun (1951), dir. George Stevens
- Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), dir. John Sturges
- An American in Paris (1951), dir. Vincente Minnelli
- Stage Fright (1950), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
- The Bad Seed (1956), dir. Mervyn LeRoy
- Floating Weeds (1959), dir. Yasujirō Ozu
- Them! (1954), dir. Gordon Douglas
- Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), dir. Alain Resnais
- House of Wax (1953), dir. André De Toth
- The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), dir. Vincent Minnelli
- A Star Is Born (1954), dir. George Cukor
- Lady and the Tramp (1955), dir. Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson, and Clyde Geronimi
- The Defiant Ones (1958), dir. Stanley Kramer
- Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957), dir. Ed Wood
- Blackboard Jungle (1955), dir. Richard Brooks
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), dir. Richard Brooks
- Glen or Glenda (1953), dir. Ed Wood
- A Face in the Crowd (1957), dir. Elia Kazan
- The Cranes Are Flying (1957), dir. Mikhail Kalatozov
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957), dir. Billy Wilder
- Johnny Guitar (1954), dir. Nicholas Ray
- The King and I (1956), dir. Walter Lang
- An Affair to Remember (1957), dir. Leo McCarey
- The War of the Worlds (1953), dir. Byron Haskin
- Quo Vadis (1951), dir. Mervyn LeRoy
- The Ten Commandments (1956), dir. Cecil B. DeMille
- Harvey (1950), dir. Henry Koster
- Funny Face (1957), dir. Stanley Donen
- King Creole (1958), dir. Michael Curtiz
- Dracula (1958), dir. Terence Fisher
- Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), dir. Robert Wise
- The River (1951), dir. Jean Renoir
- Marty (1955), dir. Delbert Mann
- The Caine Mutiny (1954), dir. Edward Dmytryk
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), dir. Richard Fleischer
- In a Lonely Place (1950), dir. Nicholas Ray
- A Night to Remember (1958), dir. Roy Ward Baker
- The Tingler (1959), dir. William Castle
- The Breaking Point (1950), dir. Michael Curtiz
- The Seven Year Itch (1955), dir. Billy Wilder
- The Blob (1958), dir. Irvin Yeaworth
- House on Haunted Hill (1959), dir. William Castle
- The Earrings of Madame de… (1953), dir. Max Ophüls
- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), dir. Stanley Donen
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), dir. Henry Levin
- Niagara (1953), dir. Henry Hathaway
- King Solomon's Mines (1950), dir. Andrew Marton and Compton Bennett
- Tea and Sympathy (1956), dir. Vincente Minnelli
- Houseboat (1958), dir. Melville Shavelson
- On the Beach (1959), dir. Stanley Kramer
- Limelight (1952), dir. Charlie Chaplin
- Imitation of Life (1959), dir. Douglas Sirk
- Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953), dir. Jacques Tati
- Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), dir. Robert Wise
- A Summer Place (1959), dir. Delmer Daves
- Bell, Book and Candle (1958), dir. Richard Quine
- The Red Badge of Courage (1951), dir. John Huston
- Bus Stop (1956), dir. Joshua Logan
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), dir. Nathan H. Juran
- Diary of a Country Priest (1951), dir. Robert Bresson
- A Christmas Carol (1951), dir. Brian Desmond Hurst
- How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), dir. Jean Negulesco
- The Quiet Man (1952), dir. John Ford
- Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- I Want to Live! (1958), dir. Robert Wise
- Written on the Wind (1956), dir. Douglas Sirk
- The Robe (1953), dir. Henry Koster
- Gigi (1958), dir. Vincente Minnelli
- Pather Panchali (1955), dir. Satyajit Ray
- Peter Pan (1953), dir. Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson, and Clyde Geronimi
- All That Heaven Allows (1955), dir. Douglas Sirk
- Kiss Me Deadly (1955), dir. Robert Aldrich
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1953), dir. Charles Lamont
- Umberto D. (1952), dir. Vittorio De Sica
- Sleeping Beauty (1959), dir. Clyde Geronimi, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Les Clark
- Old Yeller (1957), dir. Robert Stevenson
- The Three Faces of Eve (1957), dir. Nunnally Johnson
- South Pacific (1958), dir. Joshua Logan
- White Christmas (1954), dir. Michael Curtiz
- Orpheus (1950), dir. Jean Cocteau
- Gidget (1959), dir. Paul Wendkos
- The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), dir. George Stevens
- Gun Crazy (1950), dir. Joseph H. Lewis
- The Life of Oharu (1952), dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
- Pillow Talk (1959), dir. Michael Gordon
- Oklahoma! (1955), dir. Fred Zinnemann
- Sansho the Bailiff (1954), dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
List of films not seconded:
- Caged (1950), dir. John Cromwell
- Olivia (1951), dir. Jacqueline Audry
- Born Yesterday (1950), dir. George Cukor
- The Long, Long Trailer (1954), dir. Vincente Minnelli
- Scaramouche (1952), dir. George Sidney
- The Bridge (1959), dir. Bernhard Wicki
- Outrage (1950), dir. Ida Lupino
- The Band Wagon (1953), dir. Vincente Minnelli
- Summer Stock (1950), dir. Charles Walters
- Patterns (1956), dir. Fielder Cook
- Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954), dir. Jacques Becker
- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), dir. Charles Crichton
- Los Olvidados (1950), dir. Luis Buñuel
- Dementia (1955), dir. John Parker
- Broken Arrow (1950), dir. Delmer Daves
- No Way Out (1950), dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Ashes and Diamonds (1958), dir. Andrzej Wajda
- Superman and the Mole Men (1951), dir. Lee Sholem
- The Nun's Story (1959), dir. Fred Zinnemann
- Never So Few (1959), dir. John Sturges
- Pickup on South Street (1953), dir. Samuel Fuller
- Stromboli (1950), dir. Roberto Rossellini
- The Mouse That Roared (1959), dir. Jack Arnold
- Baby Doll (1956), dir. Elia Kazan
- Julius Caesar (1953), dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Desk Set (1957), dir. Walter Lang
- The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), dir. Richard Thorpe
- Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), dir. Frank Tashlin
- No Time for Sergeants (1958), dir. Mervyn LeRoy
- The Bigamist (1953), dir. Ida Lupino
- Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), dir. Robert Stevenson
- Home Before Dark (1958), dir. Mervyn LeRoy
- I Vitelloni (1953), dir. Federico Fellini
- Sudden Fear (1952), dir. David Miller
- La Ronde (1950), dir. Max Ophüls
- People Will Talk (1951), dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Separate Tables (1958), dir. Delbert Mann
- Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950), dir. Otto Preminger
- The Tarnished Angels (1957), dir. Douglas Sirk
- Night of the Demon (1957), dir. Jacques Tourneur
- Ivan the Terrible, Part II (1958), dir. Sergei Eisenstein