Best Picture 1959
by logandarko | created - 20 Mar 2011 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicFilms I've seen from best to worst
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1. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 346,320 | Gross: $13.28M
2. Imitation of Life (1959)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
Director: Douglas Sirk | Stars: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner
Votes: 18,227 | Gross: $13.99M
3. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (II) (1959)
Not Rated | 181 min | Drama, History, War
As a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Kokinji Katsura, Jun Tatara
Votes: 7,507
4. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (I) (1959)
Not Rated | 208 min | Drama, History, War
A Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima
Votes: 9,363
5. The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959)
101 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In Eschnapur, a local Maharajah and a German architect fall in-love with the same temple dancer.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Debra Paget, Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyer, Claus Holm
Votes: 3,220
6. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Not Rated | 161 min | Drama, Mystery
An upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell
Votes: 71,373 | Gross: $11.90M
7. The 400 Blows (1959)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble
Votes: 128,117
8. Floating Weeds (1959)
Not Rated | 119 min | Drama
The head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Haruko Sugimura, Ayako Wakao
Votes: 8,982
9. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Approved | 180 min | Biography, Drama, Family
During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters, Joseph Schildkraut, Richard Beymer
Votes: 13,696 | Gross: $5.01M
10. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
A French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas, Pierre Barbaud
Votes: 35,905 | Gross: $0.09M
11. The World of Apu (1959)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
This final installment in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy follows Apu's life as an orphaned adult aspiring to be a writer.
Director: Satyajit Ray | Stars: Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Alok Chakravarty, Swapan Mukherjee
Votes: 16,761 | Gross: $0.02M
12. Room at the Top (1958)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Romance
An ambitious young accountant plots to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter despite falling in love with a married older woman.
Director: Jack Clayton | Stars: Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears, Donald Wolfit
Votes: 7,331
13. Sapphire (1959)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The murder of a young woman in London exposes deep racial tensions and prejudices inherent in the area.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Nigel Patrick, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig, Paul Massie
Votes: 2,310
14. Violent Summer (1959)
98 min | Drama, Romance, War
Summer 1943: The war is in full swing in southern Italy. Together with friends, Carlo enjoys a carefree summer in youthful naïveté. He falls in love with Roberta, whose husband was killed in the war.
Director: Valerio Zurlini | Stars: Eleonora Rossi Drago, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Lilla Brignone, Raf Mattioli
Votes: 1,881
15. The Indian Tomb (1959)
102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A German architect runs away with the maharajah of Eschnapur's fiancee but is caught and thrown in the dungeon, while his relatives arrive from Europe looking for him and the maharajah's brother is scheming to usurp the throne.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Debra Paget, Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyer, Claus Holm
Votes: 2,942
16. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Albert Dekker
Votes: 17,219 | Gross: $13.90M
17. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,659 | Gross: $25.00M
18. Pickpocket (1959)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama
Michel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel's ailing mother.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Dolly Scal
Votes: 25,371
19. The Snow Flurry (1959)
78 min | Drama
A flashback story of a young man, from his disgraced birth, his harsh life and his forbidden love, until when broken-hearted, can break out in search of a place where to live means more than being alive.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Keiko Kishi, Ineko Arima, Yoshiko Kuga, Yûsuke Kawazu
Votes: 195
20. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
G | 75 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
After being snubbed by the royal family, a malevolent fairy places a curse on a princess which only a prince can break, along with the help of three good fairies.
Directors: Les Clark, Clyde Geronimi, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske | Stars: Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton
Votes: 160,962 | Gross: $51.60M
21. Night Train (1959)
99 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Jerzy enters a train set for the Baltic coast. He seems to be on the run from something - as does the strange woman with whom he must share a sleeping compartment.
Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz | Stars: Lucyna Winnicka, Leon Niemczyk, Teresa Szmigielówna, Zbigniew Cybulski
Votes: 3,627
22. The Facts of Murder (1959)
115 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective and his team attempt to solve two crimes committed within a day of each other in neighboring apartment rooms.
Director: Pietro Germi | Stars: Pietro Germi, Claudia Cardinale, Franco Fabrizi, Cristina Gaioni
Votes: 1,495
23. Odd Obsession (1959)
107 min | Comedy, Drama
A man getting on in years sets out to find a way to resurrect his flagging virility.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Ganjirô Nakamura, Junko Kanô, Tatsuya Nakadai
Votes: 1,003
24. Marie-Octobre (1959)
90 min | Drama, Mystery
Fifteen years after WWII, a group of ex-resistance fighters are brought together by Marie-Octobre, so that the former members of the network can finally relive one fateful night and find out who betrayed their murdered leader, Castille.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Danielle Darrieux, Bernard Blier, Robert Dalban, Paul Frankeur
Votes: 1,403
25. Libel (1959)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Mystery
A shell-shocked World War II veteran with memory problems is accused of being an impostor by a former comrade.
Director: Anthony Asquith | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Massie, Robert Morley
Votes: 1,599
26. Chance Meeting (1959)
95 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1950s London, Dutch painter Jan Van Rooyen has an affair with a rich married Frenchwoman who is supposedly murdered, resulting in Van Rooyen becoming Scotland Yard's prime suspect.
Director: Joseph Losey | Stars: Hardy Krüger, Stanley Baker, Micheline Presle, John Van Eyssen
Votes: 905
27. Middle of the Night (1959)
Approved | 118 min | Drama
A widowed businessman becomes obsessed with one of his employees, the divorcée Betty Preisser.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Kim Novak, Glenda Farrell, Jan Norris, Lee Grant
Votes: 1,506
28. The Nun's Story (1959)
Approved | 149 min | Drama
After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft
Votes: 11,705 | Gross: $12.80M
29. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Not Rated | 87 min | Horror, Mystery
When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Peter Cushing, André Morell, Christopher Lee, Marla Landi
Votes: 12,388
30. Operation Petticoat (1959)
Approved | 124 min | Comedy, Romance, War
During World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien, Dina Merrill
Votes: 15,882 | Gross: $23.30M
31. 125 rue Montmartre (1959)
85 min | Crime, Drama
Pascal (Lino Ventura) sells newspapers. He is a simple man who one day resting on the banks of the Seine sees a drowning stranger. Pascal saves his life and begins his adventure next to a ... See full summary »
Director: Gilles Grangier | Stars: Lino Ventura, Andréa Parisy, Robert Hirsch, Dora Doll
Votes: 635
32. A Summer Place (1959)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Romance
A self-made businessman rekindles a romance with a former flame while their two teenage children begin a romance of their own with drastic consequences for both couples.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Sandra Dee, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 3,854
33. Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
Approved | 129 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.
Director: Henry Levin | Stars: James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, Diane Baker
Votes: 19,581 | Gross: $10.00M
34. The Mummy (1959)
Unrated | 88 min | Adventure, Horror
In 1895, British archaeologists find and open the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka with nefarious consequences.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Yvonne Furneaux, Eddie Byrne
Votes: 11,009
35. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,766 | Gross: $74.70M
36. Pillow Talk (1959)
Passed | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
An interior decorator and a playboy songwriter share a telephone party line and size each other up.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 19,183 | Gross: $18.75M
37. The Five Pennies (1959)
Approved | 117 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Danny Kaye cuts loose with his trademark musical clowning. Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong plays his horn and croons in that famed gargling-granite voice. Big Band icons Bob Crosby, Ray Anthony and Shelly Manne join the fun.
Director: Melville Shavelson | Stars: Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong, Harry Guardino
Votes: 2,120
38. The Hanging Tree (1959)
Approved | 107 min | Western
Unusual western about a doctor with a dark past, whose life is complicated and ultimately redeemed by a young thief, and a pretty Swiss immigrant whom he nurses back to health.
Directors: Delmer Daves, Karl Malden, Vincent Sherman | Stars: Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Karl Malden, George C. Scott
Votes: 4,756
39. Porgy and Bess (1959)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly- if only everyone else would allow them to.
Directors: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey
Votes: 1,916
40. The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
Approved | 83 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A centenarian artist and scientist in 1890 Paris maintains his youth and health by periodically replacing a gland with that of a living person.
Director: Terence Fisher | Stars: Anton Diffring, Hazel Court, Christopher Lee, Arnold Marlé
Votes: 2,428
41. Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In need of quick money, a fallen former cop recruits a hard-bitten ex-con and a debt-ridden nightclub singer to pull off a bank job. But as the animosity between them boils over, the entire plan threatens to implode.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, Shelley Winters
Votes: 5,565
42. The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)
76 min | Horror
The ghost of a samurai's wife takes revenge on her husband.
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa | Stars: Shigeru Amachi, Noriko Kitazawa, Katsuko Wakasugi, Shuntarô Emi
Votes: 1,819
43. The Scapegoat (1959)
Unrated | 91 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An English schoolteacher meets his lookalike, a French count; and unwillingly swaps identities with him.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Alec Guinness, Bette Davis, Nicole Maurey, Irene Worth
Votes: 2,443
44. Black Orpheus (1959)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Director: Marcel Camus | Stars: Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira, Léa Garcia
Votes: 12,268
45. Mexicali Shmoes (1959)
7 min | Family, Animation, Short
A pair of not-too-bright Mexican cats, one shorter-tempered than the other, decide to chase Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all Mexico. And when their schemes - involving use of ... See full summary »
Director: Friz Freleng | Stars: Mel Blanc, Tom Holland
Votes: 606
46. The Jinx (1959)
85 min | Comedy
Director: Pedro L. Ramírez | Stars: José Luis Ozores, Teresa del Río, Antonio Garisa, Julia Caba Alba
Votes: 72
47. De espaldas a la puerta (1959)
88 min | Crime, Drama
Tonight "The Golden Mouse Trap" is a crime scene sealed by the cops. Who stabbed young newcomer Patricia in the face? Her jealous workmate Lola? The pianist who might know her from before? The slick client with money to burn?
Director: José María Forqué | Stars: Emma Penella, Amelia Bence, Luis Prendes, Elisa Loti
Votes: 48
48. The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)
Not Rated | 105 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A disgraced merchant marine officer elects to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and, as a result, vindicate his good name.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston, Michael Redgrave, Emlyn Williams
Votes: 2,942
49. The Tingler (1959)
Not Rated | 82 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
An obsessed pathologist discovers and captures a parasitic creature that grows when fear grips its host.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn, Darryl Hickman, Patricia Cutts
Votes: 9,468
50. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Approved | 75 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A millionaire offers $10,000 to five people who agree to be locked in a large, spooky, rented house overnight with him and his wife.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal
Votes: 30,850
51. On the Beach (1959)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
Votes: 14,421 | Gross: $11.00M
52. The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
Approved | 70 min | Horror, Mystery
Anthropologist Jonathan Drake believes that the men of his family have been cursed for generations by the native South American tribe he studies. Shortly after his brother, discovers one of the tribe's shrunken heads, he's found murdered.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Eduard Franz, Valerie French, Grant Richards, Henry Daniell
Votes: 1,247
53. The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Drama
A promising lawyer tries to handle his social and professional problems while climbing the ranks in Philadelphia.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith
Votes: 4,275
54. Experiment in Evil (1959 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 95 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Mr. Joly, doctor Cordelier's lawyer, is amazed to discover that his client and friend leaves his possessions to a stranger, Opale, a sadistic criminal. He needs this man to prove that people's behavior can be adjusted at will...
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean-Louis Barrault, Teddy Bilis, Sylviane Margollé, Jean Bertho
Votes: 1,247
55. Jack the Ripper (1959)
Not Rated | 84 min | Crime, Drama, History
A serial killer is murdering women in the Whitechapel district of London. An American policeman is brought in to help Scotland Yard solve the case.
Directors: Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman | Stars: Lee Patterson, Eddie Byrne, Betty McDowall, Ewen Solon
Votes: 963
56. Las dos y media y... veneno (1959)
87 min | Comedy
The old Don Senén has squandered in sprees the inheritance of his niece Begoña rather than manage it. There is still a million pesetas, which will only be delivered after the death of Don ... See full summary »
Director: Mariano Ozores | Stars: José Luis Ozores, Antonio Ozores, Elisa Montés, Fernando Rey
Votes: 47
57. A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Approved | 66 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A dimwitted busboy at a beatnik cafe passes off a cat he accidentally killed and covered in plaster as a sculpture, prompting a demand for more art that compels him to commit murders.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone, Julian Burton
Votes: 7,903
58. ¿Dónde vas, Alfonso XII? (1959)
110 min | Drama
The youth of Prince Alfonso who would become King Alfonso XII of Spain after Queen Isabel II abdication, centered in his love for his cousin María de las Mercedes. Daughter of one of his ... See full summary »
Director: Luis César Amadori | Stars: Vicente Parra, Paquita Rico, Mercedes Vecino, Tomás Blanco
Votes: 120
59. El día de los enamorados (1959)
95 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Four couples are aided in their troubles by Saint Valentine on lover's day. For Conchita's boyfriend football comes first, Manolo is too practical for Luisa, Atenea's beloved is resistant, and Mª José is too rich to find a right man.
Director: Fernando Palacios | Stars: Tony Leblanc, Concha Velasco, Jorge Rigaud, Katia Loritz
Votes: 139
60. The Violinist (1959)
8 min | Animation, Short
Harry is a violinist who loves to play, but without feeling. When he is told that he plays terribly he tries to change how he plays, learning a very important lesson.
Director: Ernest Pintoff | Star: Carl Reiner
Votes: 122
61. The Last Angry Man (1959)
Approved | 100 min | Drama
An aspiring journalist's story of his aged uncle doctor leads to the uncle's life being profiled on TV.
Director: Daniel Mann | Stars: Paul Muni, David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Luther Adler
Votes: 1,026
62. The Bat (1959)
Approved | 80 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A crazed killer known as "The Bat" is on the loose in a mansion full of people.
Director: Crane Wilbur | Stars: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton
Votes: 6,203
63. The Living Coffin (1959)
72 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A cowboy and his sidekick meet a ranching family that is haunted by spirits and vampires.
Director: Fernando Méndez | Stars: Gastón Santos, María Duval, Pedro de Aguillón, Hortensia Santoveña
Votes: 217
64. The Wasp Woman (1959)
Not Rated | 63 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The head of a major cosmetics company experiments on herself with a youth formula made from royal jelly extracted from wasps, but the formula's side effects have deadly consequences.
Director: Roger Corman | Stars: Susan Cabot, Anthony Eisley, Barboura Morris, William Roerick
Votes: 5,476
65. Moonbird (1959)
10 min | Animation, Comedy, Short
Two boys go outside at night to capture a bird.
Director: John Hubley | Stars: Mark Hubley, Ray Hubley
Votes: 746
66. The Black Pit of Dr. M (1959)
Approved | 71 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Two doctors make a pact in which they swear that the first to die will return - if possible - to tell the other how to get a glimpse of the afterlife while still alive.
Director: Fernando Méndez | Stars: Gastón Santos, Rafael Bertrand, Mapita Cortés, Carlos Ancira
Votes: 739
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