1950s movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant 1950s movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out period drama, period piece, talky, interesting, dramatic and realistic films and TV shows about / with runaway, dialogue, storytelling, mentor, friendship, coming of age, catastrophe, culture clash, love and husband wife relationship plots mostly in Drama, Romance and Comedy genres shot in USA, UK, Canada and other countries.
1529
TOP 10 movies tagged as 1950s: Brooklyn (2015), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), The Girl Next Door (2007), Indignation (2016), Ladies in Black (2018), My Life as a Dog (1985), Far from Heaven (2002), The Bookshop (2017), Grease (1978), Quiz Show (1994).
Best films
158K
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland, UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Ellis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.
Style:
touching, sentimental, sweet, romantic, period piece ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, date night
Plot:
immigrant, love and romance, starting over, sex scene, marriage proposal, hopes, immigration, friendship, female protagonist, true love, love affair, homesickness ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, 2010s, year 2015, 1900s ...
Place:
ireland, brooklyn new york city, new york, coney island brooklyn new york city, america ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her colored chauffeur Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters in a time when those ...
Style:
inspirational, sentimental, period piece, emotional, realistic ...
Audience:
kids, family outing, girls' night
Plot:
racism, elderly, civil rights, friendship, old age, master and servant, chauffeur, racial segregation, cemetery, segregation, elevator, gardening ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, 1940s, 70s, year 1989 ...
Place:
atlanta georgia, georgia, southern usa, usa, north america
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
In a quiet suburban town in the summer of 1958, two recently orphaned sisters are placed in the care of their mentally unstable Aunt Ruth. But Ruth's depraved sense of discipline will soon lead to unspeakable acts of abuse and torture that ...
Style:
scary, disturbing, psychological, frightening, bleak ...
Audience:
girls' night, teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
torture, child abuse, rape, sexual abuse, violence, victim, physical abuse, cruelty, helplessness, abuse, childhood, unsettling ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 2007, year 1958
Place:
new jersey, new york, america, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, China, Brazil, Germany
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
In 1951, Marcus Messner, a working-class Jewish student from New Jersey, attends a small Ohio college, where he struggles with anti-Semitism, sexual repression, and the ongoing Korean War.
Style:
intellectual, melancholic, exciting, stylized, social ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
sexual repression, adolescence, existentialism, atheist, lgbtq, coming of age, adaptation, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, father son relationship, husband wife relationship, love, student ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1951, year 2016, 20th century ...
Place:
ohio, new jersey, tokyo
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Adapted from the bestselling novel by Madeleine St John, Ladies in Black is an alluring and tender-hearted comedy drama about the lives of a group of department store employees in 1959 Sydney.
Style:
inspirational, light, atmospheric, captivating, rom com ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens
Plot:
fashion, department store, career, love, love and romance, rise to the top, happy ending, women, post war, workplace, woman, opportunity ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1959
Place:
sydney australia, australia, new zealand
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Country: Sweden
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.
Style:
sentimental, philosophical, realistic, touching, existential ...
Plot:
coming of age, children, boy, tomboy, nude model, female nudity, boxing, childhood, terminal illness, small town, young boy, adolescence ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1985, 20th century
Place:
europe, eastern europe, scandinavia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, France
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.
Style:
sincere, emotional, visually stunning, stylized, depressing ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
couples, homosexuality, infidelity, gay husband, racism, lgbtq, crumbling marriage, housewife, closeted homosexual, forbidden love, gay, divorce ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, 2000s, year 1958, year 2002 ...
Place:
new england, connecticut, usa, miami, baltimore ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Spain, Germany, France
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Set in an small English town in 1959, the story of a woman who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop, a decision which becomes a political minefield.
Style:
period piece, costume drama, captivating, tense, thought provoking ...
Plot:
small town, bookstore, literature, narrow mindedness, widow, independent woman, platonic relationship, death, storekeeper, society, writers, women ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1959
Place:
germany
Is relevant?
324K
Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?
Style:
romantic, sexy, feel good, sentimental, cult classic ...
Audience:
chick flick, kids, teens, girls' night, date night ...
Plot:
high school, opposites attract, coming of age, dancing, dance, makeover, summer romance, teenage love, love story, first love, teenager, teenage girl ...
Time:
1950s, year 1959, year 1978, 20th century, year 1958 ...
Place:
california, australia, los angeles, bronx new york city, usa ...
Is relevant?
77K
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s.
Style:
intellectual, period piece, game show, talky, intense ...
Plot:
greed, investigation, moral dilemma, fame, ethics, television, corruption, advertising, idealism, lawyer, fraud, professor ...
Time:
1950s, 20th century, 50s, year 1957, year 1994 ...
Place:
new york, usa, washington d.c., boston
Is relevant?
24K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Set in 1959, Diner shows how five young men resist their adulthood and seek refuge in their beloved Diner. The mundane, childish, and titillating details of their lives are shared. But the golden moments pass, and the men shoulder their ...
Style:
humorous, melancholic, sentimental, touching, semi serious ...
Audience:
teens, boys' night, date night
Plot:
friendship, food, coming of age, diner, gambling debt, christmas, love and romance, adulthood, adolescence vs adulthood, couples, youth, introspection ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1959, year 1982, 20th century
Place:
baltimore, maryland, usa, new jersey
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
In 1957, a son and mother flee the East and an abusive boyfriend to find a new life, and end up in Seattle, where the mother meets a polite garage mechanic. The boy continually gets into trouble by hanging out with the wrong crowd. The mom marries ...
Style:
depressing, period piece, realistic, touching, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
coming of age, child abuse, small town, childhood, single parent, husband wife relationship, dysfunctional family, domestic violence, homosexual, biopic, stepfather stepson relationship, abusive stepfather ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1993, 90s, 20th century ...
Place:
seattle, washington state, salt lake city utah, washington d.c., usa ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
When David Greene receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man ...
Style:
emotional, talky, intense, serious, sincere ...
Audience:
teens, family outing, girls' night, kids
Plot:
high school, coming of age, friendship, preparatory school, anti semitism, american football, justice, boarding school life, prejudice, judaism, working class, youth ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, 20th century, year 1992, 80s
Place:
israel, massachusetts, harvard university, usa, boston
Is relevant?
143K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's ...
Style:
touching, retro, humorous, teen, clever ...
Audience:
date night, teens, kids, teen fantasy, teen drama
Plot:
small town, coming of age, time travel, alternate reality, adolescence, parallel world, satire, utopia, siblings relations, fantasy world, small town life, american dream ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, 90s, future, year 1998 ...
Place:
america, france, paris france
Is relevant?
2.2M
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 175 min.
Story:
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the ...
Style:
serious, captivating, atmospheric, epic, dramatic ...
Audience:
boys' night, manly, chick flick, adult
Plot:
mafia, organized crime, gangster, revenge, crime family, betrayal, mob boss, wedding, greed, pride and honor, cosa nostra, violence ...
Time:
1950s, 1940s, 20th century, 50s, year 1972 ...
Place:
italy, new york, bronx new york city, manhattan new york city, sicily ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Based on the true story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain, Mike Newell's Dance With a Stranger (1985) concentrates on Ellis's (Richardson) short-lived relationship with motor-racing driver David Blakely (Rupert Everett).
Style:
independent film, disturbing, neo noir, touching, realistic ...
Plot:
obsession, single mother, true crime, nightclub, revenge, jealousy, abusive relationship, execution, murder, death sentence, women, death penalty ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1985, 20th century, 1920s
Place:
england, europe, london, california, tokyo
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Spain
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story:
In 1950s Spain, the heir to a fashion house romances a beautiful seamstress who works for the company, despite the objections of his family.
Style:
romantic, sincere, stylized, emotional, captivating ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
dressmaker, impossible love, fashion, seamstress, male female relationship, true love, haute couture, love, society, fashion designer, empire fashion, businessman ...
Time:
1950s, 60s, 20th century, 50s
Place:
spain, europe, new mexico
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, China
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
Renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover.
Style:
period piece, sentimental, costume drama, suspense, psychological ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
fashion show, seamstress, fashion, masochism, fashion designer, brother sister relationship, wedding, dressmaker, lady, dysfunctional relationship, food, wedding dress ...
Time:
1950s, 2010s, year 2017, post world war two, 50s
Place:
london, alps
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
Style:
neo noir, tense, suspense, captivating, atmospheric ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
corruption, police corruption, organized crime, police, murder, police detective, twists and turns, murder mystery, police brutality, justice, shootout, gunfight ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1997, 90s, 20th century ...
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, arizona, persia ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his ...
Style:
philosophical, artsy, surreal, atmospheric, visually stunning ...
Audience:
teens, family outing
Plot:
childhood, philosophy, spirituality, existentialism, coming of age, death, father son relationship, hopes, parenthood, religion, grief, family relations ...
Time:
1950s, year 2011, prehistory, 20th century, 50s ...
Place:
texas, southern usa, america, usa, china
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: China, Italy, UK, France
Duration: 163 min.
Story:
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation ...
Style:
epic, breathtaking, political, visually appealing, visually stunning ...
Plot:
childhood, chinese history, world war two, biopic, revolution, emperor, politics, prison, eunuch, drug addiction, communism, symbolism ...
Time:
1950s, 1930s, 1920s, 1940s, 1900s ...
Place:
china, beijing china, asia, japan, east asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland, USA, UK
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
'Circle Of Friends' is set in 1950's Ireland. The movie focuses on Benny Hogan and her best friend, Eve Malone. The story centers around Benny and Eve as they enter student life at University College, Dublin. Here Benny and Eve ...
Style:
emotional, period piece, sentimental, realistic, sweet ...
Audience:
date night, girls' night, chick flick, teens
Plot:
friendship, coming of age, small town, pregnancy, college, class differences, college life, student, catholic, voice over narration, sexual awakening, heartbreak ...
Time:
1950s, 20th century, 50s, year 1957, year 1949
Place:
ireland, dublin ireland, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A mother takes her two sons on an unusual road trip from New York. Pittsburgh, St. Louis and eventually Hollywood in her quest to find a man to take care of them all.
Style:
realistic, semi serious, captivating, humorous, sincere ...
Plot:
road trip, coming of age, parents and children, obsessive quest, teenage life, siblings relations, starting over, father son relationship, teenager, writers, sarcasm, stepfather stepson relationship ...
Time:
50s, 1950s, year 2009, 20th century, year 1953
Place:
usa, kansas city, los angeles, boston, new york ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
A chronicle of the true top secret U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena in the 1950s and ’60s, known as “Project Blue Book.”
Style:
enigmatic, captivating, exciting, suspenseful, suspense ...
Plot:
ufo, physicist, political conspiracy, alien, state affairs, alien abduction, investigation, alien conspiracy, government agency, paranormal activity, alien contact, space and aliens ...
Time:
50s, 1950s, 20th century, 60s
Place:
usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 144 min.
Story:
Lionel Essrog, a private detective living with Tourette syndrome, ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and best friend — a mystery that carries him from the gin-soaked jazz clubs of Harlem to the slums of Brooklyn to the gilded halls of New ...
Style:
neo noir, enigmatic, period piece, crime drama, detective ...
Audience:
family friendly, date night, adult
Plot:
private detective, murder investigation, interracial romance, politics, conspiracy, social injustice, homicide detective, private investigation, crime investigation, investigation, organized crime, racial segregation ...
Time:
50s, 1950s, year 2019, future, 20th century
Place:
brooklyn new york city, harlem, usa, new york
Is relevant?
143K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
In an American desert town circa 1955, the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
Style:
entertaining, romantic, captivating, humorous, existential ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
astronomy, small town, love, asteroid, desert, alien, arizona desert, diner, military, domestic drama, alien encounter, mechanic ...
Time:
1950s, year 1955
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
It’s 1958 Manhattan and Miriam “Midge” Maisel has everything she’s ever wanted - the perfect husband, kids, and Upper West Side apartment. But when her life suddenly takes a turn and Midge must start over, she discovers a previously unknown ...
Style:
humorous, witty, atmospheric, feel good, captivating ...
Audience:
kids, chick flick
Plot:
jewish family, female protagonist, comedian, stand up comedian, female comedian, career, strong female lead, divorce, husband wife relationship, judaism, feminist, lifestyle change ...
Time:
50s, 1950s, future, 2010s, 60s
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Family
Country: Denmark
Duration: 40 min.
TV show
Story:
The lives of Erik and Anna, students at a nursing school in 1950s Denmark, a time and place where it was not normal for a man to become a nurse.
Style:
captivating, disturbing, psychological, serious, tension ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
hospital, male nurse, male female relationship, nurse, love, workplace, doctor, doctors and patients, gender equality, workplace situations, rivalry, gender roles ...
Time:
1950s, 50s
Place:
denmark
Is relevant?
125K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Style:
depressing, talky, stylized, sentimental, cult classic ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
african american, racism, working class, twists and turns, violent, husband wife relationship, black, greed, character study, family relations, race issues, parenthood ...
Time:
1950s, year 2016, 2010s, 20th century, 1930s ...
Place:
pittsburgh, indiana, pennsylvania, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
In the 1950s, brothers Jacey and Doug Holt, who come from the poorer side of their sleepy Midwestern town, vie for the affections of the wealthy, lovely Abbott sisters. Lady-killer Jacey alternates between Eleanor and Alice, wanting simply to break ...
Style:
sweet, erotic, sincere, period piece, romantic ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
coming of age, obsession, dysfunctional marriage, love, teenage girl, sex scene, adultery, small town, working class, rich and poor, restaurant, library ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, year 1997, 60s, 20th century
Place:
illinois, usa, philadelphia
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
