Good Movies of 1954

On the Waterfront - Directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Steiger, Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb. Though on the surface a story of New York Longshoreman, the Union and the mob it was more about Elia Kazan responding to the criticism he suffered for being an informant for the McCarthy driven House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. It created a life long spat with playwright Arthur Miller who wrote the story and was replaced. The movie not only survived the political turmoil but won 8 major academy awards. The politics of On the Waterfront

The Caine Mutiny - Directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson and Fred MacMurray. The two major roles reverse as Bogart plays the hated Navy Commander obsessed with those strawberries but gains our empathy as he falls apart in the courtroom swirling those steel balls in his hand, while we come to dislike the righteous Fred MacMurry for destroying the sick man. The Caine Mutiny.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - The first sci-fi movie from the Jules Vern classic by Walt Disney. Starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas and Peter Lorre. A wale of a tale undersea adventure with the giant squid stealing the show. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

La Strada (The Road) - Italian film directed by Federico Fellini and starring his wife Giulietta Masina as the witless girl in the clutches of carnival brute Anthony Quinn. Also starring Richard Basehart. Giulietta Masina gives one of the most emotional performances in film. Released in the United States until 1956 where it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. La Strada

The Barefoot Contessa - Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Humphrey Bogart and the beautiful Ava Gardner. Loosely based upon the story of Latin star Maria Vargas who changed her name to Rita Hayworth. Edmond O'Brien won the Supporting Actor. The Barefoot Contessa.

New Movies 1954

Entertainment News 1954

New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio married actress Marilyn Monroe in San Francisco. 274 days later Monroe filed for divorce claiming mental cruelty. Other than DiMaggio slapping her around, the issue was when Seven Year Itch director Billy Wilder made a media spectacle of the famous grate updraft scene in New York with a jealous angry DiMaggio present. The Wrong Marriage.

Debuts:

Paul Newman
Eva Marie Saint
Godzilla

Academy Awards 1954

Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando

Picture: "ON THE WATERFRONT", "The Caine Mutiny", "The Country Girl", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "Three Coins in the Fountain"

Actor: MARLON BRANDO in "On The Waterfront", Humphrey Bogart in "The Caine Mutiny", Bing Crosby in "The Country Girl", James Mason in "A Star Is Born", Dan O'Herlihy in "Adventures of Robinson Crusoe"

Actress: GRACE KELLY in "The Country Girl", Dorothy Dandridge in "Carmen Jones", Judy Garland in "A Star Is Born", Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina", Jane Wyman in "Magnificent Obsession"

Supporting Actor: EDMOND O'BRIEN in "The Barefoot Contessa", Lee J. Cobb in "On The Waterfront", Karl Malden in "On The Waterfront", Rod Steiger in "On The Waterfront", Tom Tully in "The Caine Mutiny"

Supporting Actress: EVA MARIE SAINT in "On The Waterfront", Nina Foch in "Executive Suite", Katy Jurado in "Broken Lance", Jan Sterling in "The High and the Mighty", Claire Trevor in "The High and the Mighty"

Director: ELIA KAZAN for "On The Waterfront", Alfred Hitchcock for "Rear Window", George Seaton for "The Country Girl", William Wellman for "The High and the Mighty", Billy Wilder for "Sabrina"

Top Box Office 1954

White Christmas Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen

1. White Christmas / Leagues Under the Sea
2. Rear Window
3. Carmen Jones
4. The Caine Mutiny
5. The Country Girl
6. The Barefoot Contessa
7. A Star is Born
8. Magnificent Obsession
9. The Long, Long Trailer
10. On the Waterfront

B Movies

Godzilla - A Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Radiation from atomic bomb testing spawned Godzilla who destroyed Tokyo dispatched by a magic anti-oxygen bomb. It was not until 1956 that the movie came to the United States renamed Godzilla, King of the Monsters, dubbed in English and heavily edited with inserts of Raymond Burr who even then was bigger than Godzilla. Godzilla

Creature from the Black Lagoon - Low budget monster movie directed by Jack Arnold and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. An Amazon gill man absconds with the pretty girl. Originally released in 3D. Creature from the Black Lagoon

Them! - A well acted and received monster film of irratiated giant ants that move from the Arizona desert to the sewers of Los Angles. Directed by Gordon Douglas and starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon and James Arness. Nominated for an Oscar in Special Effects. THEM!