20 Great Years of Movies, Part 16: 1953

1. The Big Heat (director: Fritz Lang): A phenomenal film noir proving Lang was still on his game - in this film, Gloria Grahame easily overshadowed the rest of the cast with her performance as a disfigured gangster's gal who decides to help the law bring her boyfriend down. To look at recent video releases you'd have almost no idea Glenn Ford is the star of this film - pretty much all the box covers feature Gloria front and center.
2. Angel Face (director: Otto Preminger): Yes, I have a lot of noir on these lists; in my defense, most of the best movies in this period were noir. This one frequently ties with Out of the Past (also starring Robert Mitchum) as noirest of the noirs. It has what must surely be the most in-your-face nihilism of any noir. I'm impressed at how destructive this story is.
3. Roman Holiday (director: William Wyler): At the other end of the scale, a very memorable and charming romantic comedy about a member of royalty who tries to live like a commoner and unexpectedly finds love. It's simply charming.
4. The Band Wagon (director: Vincente Minnelli): So here's an interesting Fred Astaire musical - it has a lot of interesting numbers, particularly the dance sequence inspired by Mickey Spillane's dime novels. That scene alone makes this a departure from any other musical and therefore worth seeking out.
5. Peter Pan (director: Jack Kinney): It's a pity that this film was so racist in regards to Indigenous peoples, because it does have plenty of other great things going for it - fun songs and memorable character designs. If you can get past the racism, it's a quality kids' flick.
6. The Blue Gardenia (director: Fritz Lang): Another great noir from Lang about a woman on the rebound who takes a date with a stranger; the next day, the stranger is dead. A well-meaning reporter joins the hunt for the killer.
7. The Wages of Fear (director: Henri-Georges Clouzot): One of those films I was used to hearing about in hushed tones but no one ever seemed to describe. It turns out it's a thriller about four men transporting volatile cargo across a very rocky road and how it tests each man's strength of will. Quite a good film (the remake, Sorcerer, is an interesting odd duck too).
8. The War of the Worlds (director: Byron Haskin): Aw man, did I love this film as a kid! The Martian machines, although little like those of H. G. Well's novel, were instantly iconic and the Martians themselves really freaked me out. One of the best 1950s science fiction movies.
9. The Robe (director: Henry Koster): This was the film which kicked off the era of Biblical epics (also ridiculously large aspect ratios). It's an interesting premise: whatever happened to the Roman who won Jesus' robe while gambling over his possessions? This, to me, is one of the best of the 50s Biblical epics.
10. House of Wax (director: André De Toth): A fun horror remake of Murders in the Wax Museum with Vincent Price as the villain. I saw this before the remake and I think the reveal of the villain's true condition lands perfectly in each of them!