26. The Seventh Seal (1957)
Ingmar Bergman's 17th film as a director and his finest. Its novelistic in approach and ambition - exploring, as the title would suggest, faith, in particular the Book of Revelations. It's a grand film that wants to explore the meaning of life, which is a theme very few films touch upon anymore. Bergman was a director of great ambition making movies that touched you with a passion rarely seen before or since. Directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, Woody Allen, Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese only had great things to say about the legendary filmmaker. The Seventh Seal is perhaps most well-know for its personification of death in the form of a hooded, pale man and the iconic scene where Death and Max von Sydow's knight play chess. The Seventh Seal is 96 minutes of unforgettable images, expressed through illuminating cinematography. The Seventh Seal solidified Bergman as a world class director and this remains his masterpiece of masterpieces.
25. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai is David Lean's most intellectually challenging and complicated movie as the towering epic tackles more depth than his other work. It's an accomplished work in every sense of the word. It boasts, as all Lean movies do, extraordinary cinematography, great acting and a psychological subtext. It wreaked havoc at the Academy Awards - bringing home seven Oscars - which has somewhat altered popular opinion that it is a more straightforward movie than it actually is. Alec Guinness' role as Colonel Nicholson is his finest in his lengthy and storied career as he descends into absurd madness as the movie progresses. The Bridge on the River Kwai was the first of Lean's legendary epics as he followed up with Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India but the 1957 war epic remains his seminal movie. Sessue Hayakawa's supporting role is not to be overlooked when analysing just how great the movie is. Despite its epic nature and large scale, The Bridge on the River Kwai is a beautifully intimate film, looking into the human mind and is still the greatest example of Lean's talents.
24. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Billy Wilder's screwball comedy ensured Marilyn Monroe's legacy as a superstar and the film itself remains a treasure of the genre, in part due to Monroe's universal popularity. Some Like it Hot is eternally joyful, always managing to create giant laughs no matter how many times it has been seen - you wouldn't expect anything less from a man with Wilder's reputation. Studio bosses thought the movie would stretch the limits of contemporary taste with its mix of cross-dressing and gangsters, but a hilarious script and a star-making turn from Monroe make it an important classic. It's over two hours long but it moves at a great pace - a compliment to its snappy script and enjoyable performances. The comedy occasionally borders on the edges of vulgarity, but the film has a sense of charming mischief about it that reins it in. The jokes are non-stop throughout and it definitely deserves its great legacy.