11. The Ladykillers
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Crime
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Actors: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Katie Johnson
Plot: Five criminals, led by the erudite Professor Marcus, plan a daring
daylight heist of gold bullion while posing as classical musicians for
octogenarian Mrs. Wilberforce, Marcus' landlady. The heist is pulled off
without a hitch, but Mrs. Wilberforce soon deduces the quintet's
involvement in it, and demands that they return the money and then turn
themselves in. Not too keen on this idea, the five criminals resolve to
'do in' the old lady. Killing a sweet, defenseless old widow in cold
blood, though, turns out to be a lot harder than the criminals first
anticipated.
12. Forbidden Planet
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Actors: Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Warren Stevens, Richard Anderson, Robby the Robot
Plot: A space crew travels to a distant planet when it is silence for unknown
reasons. When they arrive only two survivors and a robot are left while
neither of them understands what has happened how what caused the
disappearances until a terrifying secret is discovered.
13. Moby Dick
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Adventure/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: John Huston
Actors: Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, James Robertson Justice, Harry Andrews, Friedrich von Ledebur
Plot: Herman Melville's epic story comes to the big screen as Captain Ahab's obsession with hunting the while whale who claimed his leg will threaten his crew, his ship, his life and his sanity.
14. Rififi ( Rififi chez les hommes, Du )
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Crime/Mystery
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Jules Dassin
Actors: Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Pierre Grasset, Janine Darcey, Magali Noël, Robert Manuel
Plot: A group of aspiring men plan the perfect rip off on paper when human error
causes it to go wrong.
15. The Man Who Knew Too Much
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Adventure/Mystery
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie, Bernard Miles, Daniel Gélin, Ralph Truman
Plot: An American doctor and former singer are traveling with their young son in Marrakesh when the doctor witnesses a murder. Shortly thereafter, their son is kidnapped and taken to London. As the couple attempts to save their boy, a fiendish plot extending far beyond them is revealed.
16. Friendly Persuasion
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Western
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: William Wyler
Actors: Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins, Robert Middleton, Peter Mark Richman, Richard Eyer
Plot: In 1862 a Quaker family must reconcile their religion's opposition to violence and war with the advance of the Civil War that will force them to act.
17. Baby Doll
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Elia Kazan
Actors: Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock, Lonny Chapman, Eades Hogue
18. The Harder They Fall
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Sport
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Mark Robson
Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling, Mike Lane, Max Baer, Harold J. Stone
Plot: Eddie Willis, a sports journalist finds himself out of a job when his paper folds, but a fight promoter hires him to be the PR man for a fighter out of Argentina. The fighter has no talent, but Eddie knows how the game is played and sets up a series of rigged fights in order to make his man a contender for the heavyweight champion (and a hefty gate profit). Yet when a fighter dies in the ring, he begins to doubt his plan.
19. The Wrong Man
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone, John Heldabrand, Doreen Lang
Plot: Based upon the actual case of Emmanuel Balestrero, this unusually dark Hitchcock film chronicles the ordeal of NYC musician mistaken for an armed robber. As his case moves through the faltering criminal justice system and he he tries to prove his innocence, his wife has a nervous breakdown.
20. The King and I
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Adventure/Drama
MPAA Rating: G
Director: Walter Lang
Actors: Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Rita Moreno, Martin Benson, Terry Saunders, Rex Thompson
Plot: A musical based on the story of a widow who takes a job as governess to the king of Siam's children.
