20 Films From The 1950s That Everybody Should Watch

2. Rear Window

Chances are that some of you have been wondering why there hasn't been a Hitchcock film on the list yet, so here it is. It'd be easy to fill the whole list with films from the master of suspense, but spot number two is reserved for arguably his best offering of the 1950s. James Stewart, one of the director's many favourite actors, witnesses a murder from his apartment window, which as well as being a superb setup for a film, also bares some relevance to the voyeuristic culture of the era. "We've become a race of Peeping Toms," philosophises Stella, "What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change." Once again comprising of very limited locations, Rear Window is Hitchcock crafting suspense at the very top of his game. The tension throughout is palpable, and the murderous Thorwald's approach at the end of the film has the audience so close to the edge of their seat that they're in danger of falling to the floor. Like so many of Hitchcock's films, Rear Window is a classic 50s thriller... ...but not quite the top must-see film of the decade.