Top Ten Films

1962 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerA Taste of HoneyA pregnant teenage girl must fend for herself when her mother remarries, leaving the girl with only a new male friend for support.AmazonBilly BuddBilly Budd (Terence Stamp) is an innocent, naive seaman in the British Navy in 1797. When the ship's sadistic master-at-arms is murdered, Billy is accused and tried.AmazonBirdman of AlcatrazA surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert.AmazonLawrence of ArabiaThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.AmazonLong Day's Journey Into NightOver the course of one day in August 1912, the family of ret...

1951 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerA Place in the SunA poor boy gets a job working for his rich uncle and ends up falling in love with two women.AmazonA Streetcar Named DesireDisturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.AmazonAn American in ParisThree friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.AmazonDeath of a SalesmanAn over-the-hill salesman faces a personal turning point when he loses his job and attempts to make peace with his family.AmazonDecision Before DawnAs the US Army approaches Nazi Germany, they recruit German prisoners to spy behind German lines.AmazonDetective StoryOn one day in ...

1952 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films Winner5 FingersDuring WWII the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans while trying to romance a refugee Polish countess.AmazonAbove and BeyondCol. Paul Tibbetts piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in World War 2.AmazonHigh NoonA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at high noon when the gang leader, an outlaw he sent up years ago, arrives on the noon train.AmazonLimelightA fading comedian and a suicidally despondent ballet dancer must look to each other to find purpose and hope in their lives.AmazonMy Son JohnThe Jeffersons are the ideal picture-perfect all-American family in a small t...

1953 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerFrom Here to EternityIn Hawaii in 1941, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second-in-command are falling in love.AmazonJulius CaesarThe growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar, but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.AmazonLiliAn orphaned young woman becomes part of a puppet act and forms a relationship with the anti-social puppeteer.AmazonLittle FugitiveA young boy fears that he shot his older brother, who is only faking. He then runs away to Coney Island, a crowded beach area, and gets money by returning soda bottles for their deposits.AmazonMart...

1954 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films Winner20,000 Leagues Under the SeaA ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.AmazonA Star Is BornA film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.AmazonBeat the DevilOn their way to Africa are a group of rogues who hope to get rich there, and a seemingly innocent British couple. They meet and things happen...AmazonExecutive SuiteWhen the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice presidents vie to see who will replace him.AmazonOn the WaterfrontAn ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.AmazonSabrinaA playbo...

1955 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerA Man Called PeterThe rise of Peter Marshall, from modest Scottish upbringing, to New York seminary, time in Atlanta churches, his marriage, appointment as chaplain of the US Senate, and early death at 46. Based on real events.AmazonBad Day at Black RockA one-armed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.AmazonEast of EdenA wilful young man contends against his brother for the attention of their religious father while reconnecting with his estranged mother and falling for his brother's girlfriend.AmazonMartyA middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.AmazonMister RobertsIn the waning days of...

1956 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerAnastasiaAn opportunistic Russian businessman tries to pass a mysterious impostor as the Grand Duchess Anastasia. But she is so convincing in her performance that even the biggest skeptics believe her.AmazonAround the World in 80 DaysA Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.AmazonBus StopA naive but stubborn cowboy falls in love with a saloon singer and tries to take her away against her will to get married and live on his ranch in Montana.AmazonFriendly PersuasionThe pacifist attitude of a Quaker family is tested as a result of the American Civil War.AmazonLust for LifeThe life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.AmazonMoby DickThe sole survivor of ...

1957 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films Winner12 Angry MenA jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence.AmazonA Farewell to ArmsAn English nurse and an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I fall in love, but the horrors surrounding them test their romance to the limit.AmazonA Hatful of RainA Korean War veteran's morphine addiction wreaks havoc upon his family.AmazonAlbert SchweitzerThis biographical drama/part-time documentary, narrative written by Dr. Albert Schweitzer and spoken by Fredric March, traces the life of Dr. Schweitzer (with actors playing the characters)...AmazonFunny FaceAn impromptu fashion shoot at a book store brings about a new fashion model discovery in the shop clerk.AmazonThe B...

1958 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerCat on a Hot Tin RoofBrick Pollitt (Paul Newman), an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife, Maggie (Dame Elizabeth Taylor). His reunion with his father, Big Daddy (Burl Ives), who is dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories aAmazonGigiWeary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship, but it may not stay platonic for long.AmazonMe and the ColonelJacobowsky, a Jewish refugee, flees from the Nazis with an aristocratic, anti-semitic Polish officer trying to get papers to England. Jurgens learns to appreciate Kaye, despite their ...AmazonSeparate TablesThe stories of several people are told as they stay at a seaside ...

1959 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerAnatomy of a MurderIn a murder trial, the defendant says he suffered temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?AmazonBen-HurWhen a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.AmazonMiddle of the NightA widowed businessman becomes obsessed with one of his employees, the divorcée Betty Preisser.AmazonNorth by NorthwestA New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies.AmazonOn the BeachAfter 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.AmazonSome Like I...