10 Best Movie Casts of the ’50s, Ranked

The 1950s was far back enough in time that most people associated with the film industry at that time (and earlier) have long since retired or passed away, but the films they made live on. It’s one of the things driven home in Babylon, among all the partying, bad behavior, and generally alarming stuff, and it really does ring true.

To focus on the 1950s, though, it was a time toward the end of what’s considered Hollywood’s Golden Age, and a decade that saw television being a genuine competitor for the general public’s time and attention. So, lots of movies in the 1950s went big, and plenty of them had star-studded/attention-grabbing casts. The most noteworthy in that regard are covered below, with such films having numerous well-known people giving largely compelling performances.

10

‘North by Northwest’ (1959)

Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason

There are plenty of Alfred Hitchcock movies that stand out because of their casts, even if the director was legendary enough to the point that he was often the main star (and no, not because of his cameos). North by Northwest is one of his greatest films without a doubt, taking a “wrong man” premise and getting wild with it, in turn working as an action/adventure movie, a thriller, and something of a comedy, too.

The cast is really just the icing on top, but still worth noting, with North by Northwest starring the likes of Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau. Everyone’s well-cast here, the film moves at a brisk pace, and the set pieces rank among the best Hitchcock ever helmed, so it’s a winning movie all around.

9

‘Witness for the Prosecution’ (1957)

Starring: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton

Charles Laughton was much more prolific as an actor than a director… unsurprisingly, considering he famously only directed one movie (which was a classic, at least). Witness for the Prosecution was one of his best-known films as an actor, and he was joined here by Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Elsa Lanchester (his wife), and John Williams (no, not the composer).

As for the plot of Witness for the Prosecution? It’s not too surprisingly a courtroom drama, and one that revolves around a highly-publicized murder trial that initially appears surprising and unusual, and only becomes more so with every revelation. On top of having a great cast, there was also a remarkable director helming the whole thing: Billy Wilder, who made his fair share of exceptional movies throughout the 1950s.

8

‘Mister Roberts’ (1955)

Starring: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell

John Ford made numerous classic American movies, with Mister Roberts being one of the most famous that didn’t star Ford’s frequent collaborator, John Wayne. But you don’t really notice Wayne’s absence in this comedic war film, considering the four top-billed actors here are Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon.

All are powerhouse actors on their own, and more than capable of helming a film as the only real star, so seeing them all within the one movie is perhaps the most obvious reason to check out Mister Roberts. The rest of the film is also quite good, it should be noted, with it taking place during World War II but emphasizing the tedium some soldiers felt when not in active combat, and exploring such a thing in a way that was usually funny, but occasionally a little more dramatic, too.

7

‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)

Starring: Toshirō Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba

To take a little break from Hollywood, here’s a Japanese movie that has a remarkable cast, alongside remarkable everything else: Seven Samurai. Okay, that’s putting things a little clunkily, but Seven Samurai has earned the stellar reputation it has and then some, being a quintessential action/epic movie about a town hiring a collection of warriors to defend itself from bandit attacks.

Every character here is well-cast and well-realized, which is what you come to expect after watching a handful of Akira Kurosawa movies, sure… but even then, the acting still stands out here. It’s hard to resist a movie that sees both Toshirō Mifune and Takashi Shimura at their best, after all, and even more impressive that there’s also so much more to talk about beyond the acting when it comes to Seven Samurai.

6

‘Rio Bravo’ (1959)

Starring: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson

Okay, so there was a mention before of John Ford movies that didn’t star John Wayne, and here’s the inverse: a John Wayne movie that wasn’t directed by John Ford: Rio Bravo. This is also pretty easily definable as one of the best Westerns of the 1950s, telling a straightforward and exciting story about an unlikely band of people getting together to combat a gang of criminals trying to take one of their own from a jail cell.

Wayne’s the undeniable star here, but he’s supported by an immense cast that also includes Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, and Walter Brennan, among others. Pretty much everyone gets a chance to shine, and all the actors play a role in making Rio Bravo entertaining and still oddly fresh in its style, even all these decades later.

Rio Bravo

Release Date

April 4, 1959

Runtime

141 Minutes

Director

Howard Hawks

Writers

Jules Furthman, Leigh Brackett, B.H. McCampbell

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5

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952)

Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds

What can be said about Singin’ in the Rain that hasn’t already been said? It’s probably a common pick for the title of “best musical of all time,” and is great enough that it’s genuinely up there with the best films of all time, full stop, and regardless of genre. It’s the ultimate movie about filmmaking, too, finding humor and heart in a story about Hollywood’s transition from silent cinema to talkies.

It’s the film for which Gene Kelly is best remembered, and that’s saying something, considering how big of a star he was. Also great are Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Cyd Charisse, and Rita Moreno (in a small role; she’d later star in West Side Story, among other big musicals). Singin’ in the Rain is charmingly written, directed, and acted, being pretty hard to fault on most fronts, really.

4

‘Sunset Boulevard’ (1950)

Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim

Released a little while before Singin’ in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard also unpacks Hollywood and silent cinema, but in a more cynical way. It’s kind of a drama, but it’s also darkly funny at times, following the chaotic events that unfold when a struggling screenwriter crosses paths with an actress who still pines for her glory days, and has convinced herself it’s time to mount some sort of grand comeback.

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond is the standout here, but you also can’t overlook others here, like William Holden, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, and Fred Clark. Also, there are some cameos that are admittedly easier to overlook; namely, a few legends of silent cinema playing themselves, most notably Buster Keaton, whose silent films can largely stand toe-to-toe with Charlie Chaplin’s.

3

‘On the Waterfront’ (1954)

Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb

If a movie stars Marlon Brando, then it’s pretty much guaranteed to contain at least some good acting as a result (well, 9 times out of 10). This is the case for On the Waterfront, but Brando is far from the only actor giving a career-best performance here, since the film also has Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, and Rod Steiger in absolutely top form.

Narratively, On the Waterfront works as a drama, a crime film, and something of a romance movie all at once, with its story centered on standing up to corruption and dealing with the consequences that can come from doing the right thing. It’s all very raw and quite naturalistic for a movie from 1954, and that’s largely thanks to the acting; most of the performances here prevent On the Waterfront from wading into melodramatic or soap opera-like territory.

On The Waterfront

Release Date

June 22, 1954

Runtime

108 Minutes

Director

Elia Kazan

Writers

Budd Schulberg

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2

‘The Ten Commandments’ (1956)

Starring: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter

Like Jurassic Park (well, according to its mastermind), The Ten Commandments spared no expense, being one of the most epic of all the Hollywood epics. The approach taken was fitting, though, considering the story here is one of the biggest and most eventful found in the entire Bible: that of the Book of Exodus, focusing on Moses and starting when he was a child, then continuing on to the role he played when it came to those titular commandments (indeed, all 10 of them).

Starring as Moses was Charlton Heston, and then, as far as the rest of the cast goes, there are too many people to mention them all… but an assortment includes Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Debra Paget, Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, and John Carradine. The Ten Commandments definitely has room for a large cast, too, considering its beefy runtime of three hours and 40 minutes.

The Ten Commandments

Release Date

October 5, 1956

Runtime

220 Minutes

Director

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers

Jeanie Macpherson, Dorothy Clarke Wilson, A.E. Southon, Æneas MacKenzie, Jesse Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss

1

‘Giant’ (1956)

Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean

Though James Dean’s tragically short life meant he only starred in a small number of movies, those movies are all classics, and Giant – his final one overall – is easily his biggest. It’s so big that Dean’s really only one part of a massive cast, stealing many scenes but not all of them, which feels kind of odd to say about an actor as magnetic as he was.

But he does have to share the screen with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, and Rod Taylor, among others, so maybe that isn’t the strangest thing in the world after all. Also, as an epic, Giant is pretty great and frequently visually stunning, working immensely well as an unconventional Western of sorts.

Giant

Release Date

November 24, 1956

Runtime

201 minutes

Director

George Stevens

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  Elizabeth Taylor

  Leslie Lynnton Benedict

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  Rock Hudson

  Jordan Bick Benedict Jr.

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  Carroll Baker

  Luz Benedict II

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