1. The Killing
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Crime
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Actors: Sterling Hayden, Vince Edwards, Coleen Gray, Jay C. Flippen, Elisha Cook Jr., Marie Windsor
Plot: A group of men try to knock off a horse track in an elaborate plan to make them all rich when something goes wrong.
2. The Searchers
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Western
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: John Ford
Actors: John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, John Qualen, Ward Bond
Plot: A civil war veteran searchers for years for his niece who was possibly
captured by Indians as the inspiration for his motivation is in question.
3. The Ten Commandments
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Actors: Charlton Heston, Anne Baxter, Yul Brynner, Nina Foch, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo
Plot: One of Charlton Hesston's great roles as Moses along side Yul Brynner as Ramsey. An epic tale of Moses being cast away by the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramese and trying to fulfill his destiny of freeing the Jews from bondage.
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi/Horror
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Don Siegel
Actors: Dana Wynter , Kevin McCarthy, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones, Jean Willes, Kenneth Patterson
Plot: Taking place in a rural setting, a Doctor discovers Pods that may be taking the place of humans, duplicating his friends and family.
5. Attack
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Robert Aldrich
Actors: Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel, Buddy Ebsen
Plot: In the waning days of WWII a National Guard Infantry Company is given the
mission of setting up artillery observation posts in key areas. Lieutenant
Costa knows that his captain, Cooney, has only achieved his position due
to his connections and doubts his leadership ability. Costa and his men
are sent out but after running into trouble, Cooney refuses to reinforce
them. Suffering heavy losses, Costa plots revenge.
6. Giant
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: G
Director: George Stevens
Actors: Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Carroll Baker
Plot: Texas cattle rancher's life is covered in the ups and downs of the industry, romance, work and all things associated with life in the days of the old west.
7. Unvanquished, The ( Aparajito )
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Bengali
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Satyajit Ray
Actors: Karuna Bannerjee, Smaran Ghosal, Kanu Bannerjee
Plot: A young man and his mother live in small Bengali village with his uncle. Enrolling in a local school, he excels and soon finds himself graduating with a scholarship to a college in Calcutta. Though she wants the best for her son, the mother also fears being left alone.
8. The Bad Seed
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Horror
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Actors: Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, Eileen Heckart, Evelyn Varden, William Hopper
Plot: A mother is forced to deal with the most terrifying thing a mother can deal with in this daring film based off of a popular play. Set in the 1950's, in a society where little girls are brought up to be cute and polite young ladies, a little, "harmless" girl named Rhoda raises suspicion when a boy in her class mysteriously drowns after beating her in a penmanship contest.
The medal he won went missing and Rhoda is the center of attention. No one suspects that she is to blame for the boy's death, but her the janitor at the building she lives in. Her mother also has to come to terms with the fact that her daughter might be a "Bad Seed" who lacks a soul and kills to get what she wants. Is Rhoda innocent or is she a bad seed?
9. Samurai 3: Duel on Ganryu Island aka Bushido ( Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima )
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Adventure/Biography
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Actors: Koji Tsuruta, Toshirô Mifune, Kaoru Yachigusa, Mariko Okada, Daisuke Katô, Michiko Saga
Plot: The Conclusion of the definitive Samurai trilogy, in which the ultimate warrior Musashi Miyamoto finds his true love, battles his nemesis, and continues along the path of the warrior.
10. Red Balloon, The ( ballon rouge, Le )
Year of Release: 1956
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Fantasy/Family
MPAA Rating: G
Director: Albert Lamorisse
Actors: Pascal Lamorisse, René Marion, Sabine Lamorisse, Georges Sellier, Vladimir Popov, Paul Perey
Plot: The only short film to win an Oscar outside the short film category (for Best Original Screenplay) - this near silent film tells the story of a boy on the streets of Paris, and the seemingly sentient red balloon that follows him.
