1952 Movies
Take a nostalgic look back at the top movies of 1952, celebrating the films, directors and actors that defined the year and left a lasting legacy in the world of entertainment.
High Noon
Directed by: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges
Country: United States of America
Outline: A 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.
The Quiet Man
Directed by: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond
Country: United States of America
Outline: A retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love.
Moulin Rouge
Directed by: John Huston
Starring: José Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon, Claude Nollier
Country: United States of America
Outline: Fictional account of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Hans Christian Andersen
Directed by: Charles Vidor
Starring: Danny Kaye, Farley Granger, Zizi Jeanmaire, Joseph Walsh
Country: United States of America
Outline: The opening scene of the movie describes it best: "Once upon a time there lived in Denmark a great storyteller named Hans Christian Andersen. This is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about the great spinner of fairy tales."
Ivanhoe
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Starring: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
Country: United States of America
Outline: A knight seeks to free the captive King Richard and put him back on the throne.
Sailor Beware
Directed by: Hal Walker
Starring: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Corinne Calvet, Marion Marshall
Outline: Although allergic to kissing girls, Seaman Melvin Jones, through a fluke TV appearance, gets the undeserved reputation of a great kisser dubbed "Mr. Temptation" and is pursued by amorous young females.
Jumping Jacks
Directed by: Norman Taurog
Starring: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Mona Freeman, Don DeFore
Outline: Nightclub comic Hap Smith assumes the identity of another soldier so he can tour army bases in a revue with his ex-partner Chuck Allen.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Directed by: Henry King, Roy Ward Baker
Starring: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Hildegard Knef
Country: United States of America
Outline: Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilamanjaro.
Singin' in the Rain
Directed by: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen
Country: United States of America
Outline: A silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.
Ikiru
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka
Country: United States of America
Outline: A bureaucrat tries to find a meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
The Life of Riley
Directed by: Abby Berlin
Starring: William Bendix
Country: United States of America
Outline: Riley worked in an aircraft plant in California, but viewers usually saw him at home, cheerfully disrupting life with his malapropisms and ill timed intervention into minor problems. His ...
Mister Peepers
Written by: David Swift
Starring: Wally Cox, Marion Lorne, Tony Randall, Patricia Benoit
Country: United States of America
Outline: Wally Cox as Mr. Peepers played a shy science teacher at "Jefferson Junior High". Mr. Peepers was always facing problems, but never outwitted.
Our Miss Brooks
Directed by: Al Lewis
Starring: Eve Arden, Gale Gordon, Jane Morgan, Robert Rockwell
Country: United States of America
Outline: Miss Brooks teaches English at Madison High, rents a room from Mrs. Davis, gets rides to school with student Walter, fights with Principal Conklin, and tries to snag shy biology teacher ...
Limelight
Directed by: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce, Buster Keaton
Country: United States of America
Outline: A fading comedian and a suicidally despondent ballet dancer must look to each other to find meaning and hope in their lives.
Forbidden Games
Directed by: René Clément
Starring: Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey, Amédée, Laurence Badie
Country: United States of America
Outline: A young French girl orphaned in a Nazi air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.
The Bad and the Beautiful
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Starring: Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell
Country: United States of America
Outline: An unscrupulous movie producer uses an actress, a director and a writer to achieve success.
5 Fingers
Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie, Walter Hampden
Country: United States of America
Outline: During WWII the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans while trying to romance a refugee Polish countess.
The Narrow Margin
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White, Gordon Gebert
Country: United States of America
Outline: A woman planning to testify against the mob must be protected against their assassins on the train trip from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Come Back, Little Sheba
Directed by: Daniel Mann
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, Terry Moore, Richard Jaeckel
Country: United States of America
Outline: An emotionally remote recovering alcoholic and his dowdy, unambitious wife face a personal crisis when they take in an attractive lodger.
Death Valley Days
Starring: Stanley Andrews
Country: United States of America
Outline: Western stories and legends based, and filmed, in and around Death Valley, California. One of the longest-running Western series, originating on radio in the 1930s. The continuing sponsor was "20 Mule Team" Borax, a product formerly mined in Death Valley.
Four Star Playhouse
Directed by: Tay Garnett
Starring: David Niven, Dick Powell, Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino
Country: United States of America
Outline: This show featured four rotating stars, Charles Boyer, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Dick Powell in individual episodes consisting of everything from comedy to drama.
The Overcoat
Directed by: Alberto Lattuada
Starring: Renato Rascel, Yvonne Sanson, Giulio Stival, Ettore Mattia
Outline: Based on Nikolai Gogol's story with the location changed from Russia to Italy and the time changed to the present (1952), the story is about a poor city-hall clerk (Renato Rascel) whose ...
Scaramouche
Directed by: George Sidney
Starring: Stewart Granger, Janet Leigh, Eleanor Parker, Mel Ferrer
Country: United States of America
Outline: In France during the late 18th Century, a man sets out to avenge the death of his friend at the hands of a master swordsman.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Directed by: Anthony Asquith
Starring: Michael Redgrave, Richard Wattis, Michael Denison, Walter Hudd
Country: United States of America
Outline: When Algernon discovers that his friend, Ernest, has created a fictional brother for whenever he needs a reason to escape dull country life, Algernon poses as the brother, resulting in ever increasing confusion.
Sudden Fear
Directed by: David Miller
Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett
Country: United States of America
Outline: After an ambitious actor insinuates himself into the life of a wealthy middle-aged playwright and marries her, he plots with his mistress to murder her.
What happened in 1952?
Discover what the world looked like in 1952: