Blue Ribbon Award 1950-1959
by antodimichele | created - 21 Feb 2023 | updated - 21 Feb 2023 | PublicMovies to watch awarded or nominated in the Blue Ribbon Awards in the '50s
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1. Till We Meet Again (1950)
110 min | Drama, History, Romance
The hero Saburo (Okada Eiji) is obstructed by a series of events from meeting Keiko (Kuga Yoshiko), his fiancee.
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Yoshiko Kuga, Eiji Okada, Osamu Takizawa, Akitake Kôno
Votes: 212
2. Repast (1951)
97 min | Drama
Michiyo lives in a small home in Osaka and is not happy with her marriage; all she does is cook and clean for her husband.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Ken Uehara, Setsuko Hara, Yukiko Shimazaki, Yôko Sugi
Votes: 1,815
3. Lightning (1952)
87 min | Drama
Poor, pathetic mother Ose has four children, three daughters and a son, by four different men.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Mitsuko Miura, Kyôko Kagawa, Chieko Murata
Votes: 818
4. Nigorie (1953)
104 min | Drama
Story 1 : "The Thirteenth Night". Seki turns up at her parents' house in the dead of night, where she breaks down and says she cannot continue to live with her husband, a rich man to whom ... See full summary »
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Akiko Tamura, Yatsuko Tan'ami, Ken Mitsuda, Hiroshi Akutagawa
Votes: 173
5. Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)
Not Rated | 156 min | Drama
Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi forms an emotional bond with her pupils and teaches them various virtues, while at the same time worrying about their future.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Itsuo Watanabe, Makoto Miyagawa, Takeo Terashita
Votes: 2,831
6. Floating Clouds (1955)
123 min | Drama, Romance
A tragic social drama set in post war Japan and concerns a lonely woman trying to find purpose and stability in a devastated Tokyo.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori, Mariko Okada, Isao Yamagata
Votes: 3,148
7. Mahiru no ankoku (1956)
122 min | Drama
When an elderly couple is murdered, the police pick up the most likely suspect, a young loner. The authorities force a confession out of the suspect, who then insists that he had a pair of accomplices.
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Kôjirô Kusanagi, Sachiko Hidari, Taketoshi Naitô, Chôko Iida
Votes: 62
8. Rice (1957)
118 min | Drama
The heroes and heroines are all rice farmers, struggling to eke out an existence in an unfriendly world.
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Shinjirô Ebara, Eijirô Tôno, Yûko Mochizuki, Masako Nakamura
Votes: 98
9. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Not Rated | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara
Votes: 42,261
10. Kiku to Isamu (1959)
117 min | Drama
Immediately after the Second World War, sister Kiku and brother Isamu, whose mother was a prostitute and the father was a GI, live with their grandmother in the country. Because their ... See full summary »
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Emiko Takahashi, Tanie Kitabayashi, George Okunoyama, Aiko Asahina
Votes: 91
11. Munekata shimai (1950)
112 min | Drama
Setsuko is unhappily married to Mimura, an engineer with no job and a drinking habit. She's always been in love with Hiroshi, but he left for France years ago without proposing. Now he is ... See full summary »
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Hideko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Sanae Takasugi
Votes: 1,179
12. I Will Buy You (1956)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Sport
A talent scout moves sharply, dead-set on signing a promising athlete to his team.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Keiji Sada, Keiko Kishi, Minoru Ôki, Yûnosuke Itô
Votes: 561
13. The Life of a Horsetrader (1951)
113 min | Drama
Yone (Toshiro Mifune) is a horse trader who lives in a small village on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido. He is a rough-and-tumble type who is prone to getting roaring drunk, ... See full summary »
Director: Keigo Kimura | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Takashi Shimura, Ichirô Sugai
Votes: 81
14. Meoto zenzai (1955)
121 min | Drama
Despite paternal disapproval, the heir of a wealthy family embarks on a relationship with a Geisha.
Director: Shirô Toyoda | Stars: Hisaya Morishige, Chikage Awashima, Yôko Tsukasa, Haruo Tanaka
Votes: 122
15. Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (1957)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
In the last days of the Shogunate, a resourceful grifter seeks to outwit competing prostitutes, rebellious samurai and other inhabitants of a brothel in order to survive the hardened times.
Director: Yûzô Kawashima | Stars: Furankî Sakai, Sachiko Hidari, Yôko Minamida, Yûjirô Ishihara
Votes: 1,326
16. Conflagration (1958)
99 min | Drama
Goichi Mizoguchi, an aspiring Buddhist monk who became involved in the temple that was owned by his father, through a series of flashbacks, framed as a police interrogation, Mizoguchi ... See full summary »
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Raizô Ichikawa, Ganjirô Nakamura, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôichi Funaki
Votes: 949
17. My Second Brother (1959)
101 min | Drama
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Hiroyuki Nagato, Kayo Matsuo, Takeshi Okimura, Akiko Maeda
Votes: 262
18. Early Summer (1951)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama, Romance
A family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Chishû Ryû, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake
Votes: 9,682
19. Epitome (1953)
131 min | Drama
Shusei Tokuda's starkly realistic novel about a poor girl pressed into becoming a geisha was forcefully adapted by Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba). When Ginko (Nobuko Otowa, Shindo's wife) falls in... See full summary »
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Nobuko Otowa, Sumiko Hidaka, Isuzu Yamada, Sô Yamamura
Votes: 120
20. The Garden of Women (1954)
141 min | Drama
A student at a woman's university takes a controversial action against the school's old-fashioned doctrines.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Mieko Takamine, Hideko Takamine, Keiko Kishi, Yoshiko Kuga
Votes: 243
21. Flowing (1956)
117 min | Drama
Otsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mothers trade in the late days of Geisha. But Otsuta ... See full summary »
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Isuzu Yamada, Hideko Takamine, Mariko Okada
Votes: 1,189
22. Shirasagi (1958)
97 min | Drama
The story follows Oshino, a geisha who is trying to start a new life with a lover who is a painter. However, her past filled with debts and pimps catches up to her.
Director: Teinosuke Kinugasa | Stars: Fujiko Yamamoto, Keizô Kawasaki, Yosuke Irie, Shûji Sano
Votes: 22
23. Equinox Flower (1958)
118 min | Comedy, Drama
A businessman clashes with his elder daughter over her choice of a husband.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Shin Saburi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Ineko Arima, Yoshiko Kuga
Votes: 4,859
24. Fires on the Plain (1959)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, War
In the closing days of WWII, remnants of the Japanese army in Leyte are abandoned by their command and face certain death by starvation.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Eiji Funakoshi, Mantarô Ushio, Yoshihiro Hamaguchi, Osamu Takizawa
Votes: 5,322
25. Odd Obsession (1959)
107 min | Comedy, Drama
A man getting on in years sets out to find a way to resurrect his flagging virility.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Machiko Kyô, Ganjirô Nakamura, Junko Kanô, Tatsuya Nakadai
Votes: 1,003
26. Hi no ataru sakamichi (1958)
214 min | Drama, Romance
A college aged woman arrives in Tokyo to study while finding work at the wealthy Tashiro family home as a tutor of the daughter, while the two brothers vie for her attention.
Director: Tomotaka Tasaka | Stars: Yûjirô Ishihara, Mie Kitahara, Izumi Ashikawa, Tamio Kawaji
Votes: 59
27. Jun'ai monogatari (1957)
133 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Junai Monogatari is about two poor youths, Mitsuko and Kando, rebelling against society in various ways, who are desperately trying to be together despite tortuous circumstances.
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Shinjirô Ebara, Hitomi Nakahara, Eiji Okada, Isao Kimura
Votes: 75
28. A Story from Chikamatsu (1954)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Ishun is a wealthy but unsympathetic master printer who has wrongly accused his wife and best employee of being lovers. To escape punishment, the accused run away together, but Ishun is certain to be ruined if word gets out.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyôko Kagawa, Eitarô Shindô, Eitarô Ozawa
Votes: 4,949
29. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (II) (1959)
Not Rated | 181 min | Drama, History, War
As a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Kokinji Katsura, Jun Tatara
Votes: 7,507
30. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (I) (1959)
Not Rated | 208 min | Drama, History, War
A Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima
Votes: 9,363
31. Farewell to Dream (1956)
78 min | Drama
The conflicting dreams of the members of a Japanese family are threatened by a continuing series of misfortunes.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Shinji Tanaka, Yûko Mochizuki, Takahiro Tamura, Yoshiko Kuga
Votes: 247
32. Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
101 min | Drama
What is the life of a Geisha like once her beauty has faded and she has retired? Kin has saved her money, and has become a wealthy money-lender, spending her days cold-heartedly collecting ... See full summary »
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Haruko Sugimura, Ken Uehara, Sadako Sawamura, Chikako Hosokawa
Votes: 1,194
33. The Lower Depths (1957)
Not Rated | 137 min | Drama
In a Japanese slum, various residents play out their lives, dreaming of better things or settling for their lot. Among them is a man who pines for a young woman but is stymied by her deceptive family.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Kyôko Kagawa, Ganjirô Nakamura
Votes: 5,950
34. Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji (1955)
Not Rated | 94 min | Adventure, Drama
A samurai travels to Edo with his two servants. On their way, they meet many people and encounter great injustice.
Director: Tomu Uchida | Stars: Chiezô Kataoka, Ryûnosuke Tsukigata, Chizuru Kitagawa, Yuriko Tashiro
Votes: 956
35. A Geisha (1953)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
A seasoned geisha and her apprentice maiko are forced to give in to their clients' sexual advances to survive.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Michiyo Kogure, Ayako Wakao, Seizaburô Kawazu, Eitarô Shindô
Votes: 2,370
36. Mother (1952)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama
A teenaged girl witnesses her widowed mother's attempt to sustain her family.
Director: Mikio Naruse | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Kyôko Kagawa, Eiji Okada, Akihiko Katayama
Votes: 864
37. Vendetta of a Samurai (1952)
82 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Mataemon Araki, a renowned swordsman, helps a young man find vengeance.
Director: Kazuo Mori | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Yuriko Hamada, Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Katayama
Votes: 283
38. Umi no hanabi (1951)
122 min | Drama, Romance
The Kamiya family struggles to keep the town fishing association from going bankrupt as they deal with a dishonest captain and his degenerate crew.
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Michiyo Kogure, Yôko Katsuragi, Teruko Kishi, Chishû Ryû
Votes: 79
39. Shôri-sha (1957)
97 min | Drama
Intersecting circles of obligation link a former boxer, the youth he vows to make a champion, and the ex-showgirl whose ballet training he funds, in a story balanced between the Ginza ... See full summary »
Director: Umetsugu Inoue | Stars: Yûjirô Ishihara, Keiji Itami, Mie Kitahara, Tatsuya Mihashi
Votes: 31
40. Stolen Desire (1958)
92 min | Comedy
A rumbunctious and ribald tale of a troupe of travelling actors who alternate highlights of kabuki theatre with strip shows.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Osamu Takizawa, Shin'ichi Yanagisawa, Hiroyuki Nagato, Kô Nishimura
Votes: 683
41. Endless Desire (1958)
101 min | Comedy, Crime
Endless Desire is a black comedy on the spoils of war much extended and enhanced by the greed, treachery, laziness, and lust of the postwar decade.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Hiroyuki Nagato, Misako Watanabe, Kô Nishimura, Sanae Nakahara
Votes: 491
42. Rashomon (1950)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura
Votes: 180,546 | Gross: $0.10M
43. A Japanese Tragedy (1953)
116 min | Drama
Alternating in time, between the end of World War II and 1953, Haruko, a widow, does what she can to keep her daughter Utako and son Seiichi safe, fed, and sheltered. By 1953, it's clear ... See full summary »
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Yûko Mochizuki, Yôko Katsuragi, Masami Taura, Keiko Awaji
Votes: 403
44. Sincere Heart (1953)
95 min | Drama, Romance
A young student (Akira Inshihama) falls into a hopeless romantic attraction to an invalid girl (Keiko Awaji) whom he can only see from afar.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Keiko Awaji, Motoji Fujiwara, Chieko Higashiyama, Kentarô Imai
Votes: 230
45. Madame White Snake (1956)
103 min | Fantasy, Romance
Lavish Japanese-Chinese coproduction based on an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a snake goddess in human form.
Director: Shirô Toyoda | Stars: Ryô Ikebe, Shirley Yamaguchi, Kaoru Yachigusa, Kichijirô Ueda
Votes: 129
46. She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955)
100 min | Drama, Romance
An old man, being rowed along a river, sees a field of daisies and thinks back to when he was fifteen. He recalls his time with, and away from, the girl cousin he grew up with and would ... See full summary »
Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Noriko Arita, Chishû Ryû, Haruko Sugimura, Takahiro Tamura
Votes: 459
47. Where Chimneys Are Seen (1953)
108 min | Comedy, Drama
Where Chimneys Are Seen focuses primarily on the interconnected lives of two couples in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Senju, a poor industrial section of Tokyo.
Director: Heinosuke Gosho | Stars: Kinuyo Tanaka, Ken Uehara, Hideko Takamine, Hiroshi Akutagawa
Votes: 326
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