50s war films
by dmkuehn | created - 17 Jan 2019 | updated - 8 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Deep Six (1958)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, War
Called to active duty during World War II, U.S. Navy Reserve lieutenant Alec Austin struggles to do his military duties while observing his Quaker beliefs, to the dismay of his comrades.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Alan Ladd, Dianne Foster, William Bendix, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 530
2. Bitter Victory (1957)
Approved | 82 min | Drama, War
A commander receives a citation for an attack on Erwin Rommel's headquarters, which is actually undeserved, as the commander is unfit for his job. On top of that, unbeknownst to him, his wife is having an affair with one of his officers.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Richard Burton, Curd Jürgens, Ruth Roman, Raymond Pellegrin
Votes: 2,292
3. Five Gates to Hell (1959)
Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Drama, War
A small group of Red Cross doctors and nurses are held captive by Chinese guerrillas in Vietnam.
Director: James Clavell | Stars: Dolores Michaels, Patricia Owens, Neville Brand, Ken Scott
Votes: 226
4. Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
Approved | 130 min | Adventure, Drama, War
During World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: John Mills, Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, Harry Andrews
Votes: 6,615
5. The Hunters (1958)
Approved | 108 min | Action, Drama, Romance
In 1952, during the Korean War, two American pilots become bitter enemies over the same woman but must shelf their personal feud when confronted by deadly Chinese MIG fighter jets in battle.
Director: Dick Powell | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Richard Egan, May Britt
Votes: 1,655
6. Kings Go Forth (1958)
Approved | 109 min | Action, Drama, Romance
Toward the end of World War II, two American soldiers fighting in Southern France become romantically involved with a young, American woman. Her background will reveal more about them than her.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Leora Dana
Votes: 1,810
7. Never So Few (1959)
Approved | 125 min | Drama, War
During WW2, the American OSS mounts covert operations with the native Kachin against the Japanese army in the jungles of Burma.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen
Votes: 3,420
8. Dunkirk (1958)
Approved | 135 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of the British Expeditionary Force's 1940 retreat to the beaches of France and the extraordinary seaborne evacuation that saved it from utter destruction by Nazi Germany.
Director: Leslie Norman | Stars: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart
Votes: 3,525
9. China Venture (1953)
Approved | 83 min | Adventure, Drama, War
During WW2, an American commando team is sent to rescue the prisoner of a warlord in Japanese-occupied China.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Barry Sullivan, Jocelyn Brando, Leo Gordon
Votes: 156
10. Red Ball Express (1952)
Approved | 83 min | Action, Drama, War
Story of the military truck drivers who kept the Allied armies supplied in Europe during World War II.
Director: Budd Boetticher | Stars: Jeff Chandler, Alex Nicol, Charles Drake, Judith Braun
Votes: 811
11. Take the High Ground! (1953)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, War
In 1953, at Fort Bliss, Texas, two former Korean War combat veterans work as drill sergeants and fall in love with the same woman.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, Elaine Stewart, Carleton Carpenter
Votes: 1,110
12. Thunder in the East (1952)
Approved | 97 min | Drama, War
In a remote region of post-independence India, the love of a blind British woman pricks the conscience of an arms dealer.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Alan Ladd, Deborah Kerr, Charles Boyer, Corinne Calvet
Votes: 411
13. Escape to Burma (1955)
TV-PG | 87 min | Adventure
A fugitive in British Burma hides on a teak plantation, thanks to a mutual attraction with owner Gwen Moore.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, David Farrar, Murvyn Vye
Votes: 696
14. Hell and High Water (1954)
Approved | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During the Cold War, a scientific team refits a Japanese submarine and hires an ex-Navy officer to find a secret Chinese atomic island base and prevent a Communist plot against America that could trigger WW3.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Cameron Mitchell
Votes: 2,236
15. Time Limit (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Drama, War
During the Korean War former prisoner of war, Major Harry Cargill admits to having collaborated with the enemy but military investigator Colonel William Edwards wants the details.
Director: Karl Malden | Stars: Richard Widmark, Richard Basehart, Dolores Michaels, June Lockhart
Votes: 1,254
16. Halls of Montezuma (1951)
Approved | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A company of Marines races against the clock to find a Japanese rocket base.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Reginald Gardiner, Robert Wagner
Votes: 2,955
17. Destination Gobi (1953)
Approved | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In 1944, US Navy specialists run a weather station in the Gobi desert where they are harassed by Japanese warplanes but aided by local Mongol nomads.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Richard Widmark, Don Taylor, Max Showalter, Murvyn Vye
Votes: 1,131
18. Flying Leathernecks (1951)
Approved | 102 min | Action, Drama, War
Major Kirby leads The Wildcats squadron into the historic WWII battle of Guadalcanal.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Janis Carter
Votes: 5,520
19. The Proud and Profane (1956)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Romance, War
In the Pacific during WWII, a Roman Catholic widow falls for a tough lieutenant colonel.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: William Holden, Deborah Kerr, Thelma Ritter, Dewey Martin
Votes: 654
20. Strategic Air Command (1955)
Approved | 112 min | Action, Drama, War
An ex-pilot and current baseballer is recalled into the U.S. Air Force and assumes an increasingly important role in Cold War deterrence.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Lovejoy, Barry Sullivan
Votes: 4,083
21. Fear and Desire (1952)
Not Rated | 62 min | Drama, Thriller, War
Four soldiers trapped behind enemy lines must confront their fears and desires.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Frank Silvera, Kenneth Harp, Paul Mazursky, Stephen Coit
Votes: 13,730
22. The Man Who Never Was (1956)
Approved | 103 min | Drama, War
In order to fool the Germans into thinking the Allied invasion of Sicily will take place elsewhere, British Military Intelligence comes up with a cunning ruse.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng, Josephine Griffin
Votes: 5,787
23. Fixed Bayonets! (1951)
Not Rated | 92 min | Action, Drama, War
The story of a platoon during the Korean War. One by one Corporal Denno's superiors are killed until it comes to the point where he must try to take command responsibility.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Richard Basehart, Gene Evans, Michael O'Shea, Richard Hylton
Votes: 2,113
24. The Lost Man (1951)
98 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
German scientist murders his fiancée during World War II when he learns that she has been selling the results of his secret research to the enemy.
Director: Peter Lorre | Stars: Peter Lorre, Karl John, Helmuth Rudolph, Johanna Hofer
Votes: 1,161
25. Breakthrough (1950)
Approved | 91 min | Drama, War
An American infantry unit, from its pre-invasion training to combat in Europe.
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: David Brian, John Agar, Frank Lovejoy, William Campbell
Votes: 438
26. Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
Not Rated | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During the Napoleonic wars, a British Navy Captain has adventures in Central American waters.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty, Moultrie Kelsall
Votes: 7,514
27. One Minute to Zero (1952)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, War
During the early days of the Korean War, U.S. Army colonel Steve Janowski is one of the military advisers training the South Korean army and he's tasked with evacuating American civilians from the war zone.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth, William Talman, Charles McGraw
Votes: 833
28. Tripoli (1950)
Passed | 95 min | Action, Adventure, History
In 1805, the United States battles the pirates of Tripoli as the Marines fight to raise the American flag
Director: Will Price | Stars: John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, Howard Da Silva, Phillip Reed
Votes: 517
29. Hell's Horizon (1955)
Approved | 80 min | Action, Drama, Romance
Interaction among men of a bombing squadron during the Korean War.
Director: Tom Gries | Stars: John Ireland, Marla English, Bill Williams, Hugh Beaumont
Votes: 137
30. Men in War (1957)
Approved | 102 min | Action, Drama, War
During the Korean War, a battle-worn lieutenant and his platoon are behind enemy lines, and have orders to march to Hill 465 for possible relief.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Robert Keith, Phillip Pine
Votes: 2,999
31. Hold Back the Night (1956)
80 min | Drama, War
A Marine officer tells his squad the story behind a bottle of liquor that he always keeps with him but never drinks from.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: John Payne, Mona Freeman, Peter Graves, Chuck Connors
Votes: 182
32. Hondo (1953)
PG | 83 min | Drama, Romance, War
Army dispatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and young son living in the midst of warring Apaches and becomes their protector.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate
Votes: 12,422
33. Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Approved | 97 min | Drama, War
During the Korean War peace talks, U.S. troops fight to retake a hill from the Communist Chinese forces.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard
Votes: 5,278 | Gross: $4.02M
Tell Your Friends