House on Haunted Hill (1959)

House on Haunted Hill (1959)

[5] Vincent Price headlines as a millionairre who offers $10,000 to five people if they'll spend the night with him and his wife in their haunted hilltop mansion. The house is the site of countless murders and is supposed to be haunted…
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

[7] The residents of a small California town are slowly being replaced by otherworldly "pod people" and it's up to Kevin McCarthy and Carolyn Jones to warn the rest of the world about the invasion. This original film version is a modestly-budgeted…
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

[6] An army rocket returning from Venus crash lands in the Mediterranean, releasing a Venusian creature that wreaks havoc in Italy. This matinee monster movie is better than most of its kind. The first thirty minutes are surprisingly strong, building mystery and…
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

[5] This monster romp was the first solo effort by effects wizard Ray Harryhausen. All the stop-motion animation has the usual Harryhausen charm, including a famous scene where the dinosaur rages down Wall Street and chomps on a policeman. Unfortunately, there's not…
Paths of Glory (1957)

Paths of Glory (1957)

[8] To say this movie is an expose on the horrors of war is an understatement and an oversimplification. War is just a backdrop, and the indictment is a broader one of man's inhumanity to man. What makes Paths of Glory different…
Tea and Sympathy (1956)

Tea and Sympathy (1956)

[6] Vincente Minnelli sheds a bright light on gender politics in this story of a bullied teenager who finds solace with his college housemaster's wife. It is fascinating to watch a film deal with mysogyny and homophobia at a time when these…
Monkey Business (1952)

Monkey Business (1952)

[7] The ever-versatile Howard Hawks (Rio Bravo, Bringing Up Baby) returns to screwball comedy with Monkey Business, pairing Cary Grant with Ginger Rogers as a couple whose marriage is put to the test when they take a 'fountain of youth' potion that…
Panic in the Streets (1950)

Panic in the Streets (1950)

[6] Elia Kazan makes a concerted effort to be less 'theatrical' and more 'cinematic' with Panic in the Streets, a New Orleans thriller about a policeman and a doctor searching the streets for a killer infected with pneumonic plague. Richard Widmark plays…
A Summer Place (1959)

A Summer Place (1959)

[6] A bold film for its time, A Summer Place deals with sexual awakening and reawakening. Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue play the teenaged lovers; Richard Egan and Dorothy McGuire play the adulterous middle-aged ones. The first forty-five minutes of the story…
The Searchers (1956)

The Searchers (1956)

[7] John Ford reteams with frequent leading man John Wayne in what is often considered one of the best Hollywood westerns ever made. Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a loner returning home from the Civil War. After his brother's family is murdered by…