Top, L-R: U.S. Marines engaged in street fighting during the Korean War, circa late September 1950; The first polio vaccine is developed by Jonas Salk.
Centre, L-R: US tests its first thermonuclear bomb with code name Ivy Mike in 1952. A 1954 thermonuclear test, code named Castle Romeo, is shown here; In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista in the Cuban Revolution, resulting in the creation of the first communist government in the Western hemisphere; Elvis Presley becomes the leading figure of rock and roll in the mid-1950s.
Bottom, L-R: Smoke rises from oil tanks on Port Said following the invasion of Egypt as part of the Suez Crisis in late 1956; The Hungarian flag with the Communist coat of arms cut out during the Hungarian Revolution, 1957; The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth, in October 1957.
The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the "'50s", among other variants) was a decade that began on 1 January 1950, and ended on 31 December 1959.
The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, designating the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
... that Sandra Caron changed her name to avoid associations with a woman once described as "the most highly paid woman in British show business in the 1950s and 1960s"?
... that Greek communists defended the Right against the socialist prime minister's attacks during the 1985 parliamentary election, even though they had been persecuted by the Right in the 1950s?
... that a group of 25 women disfigured by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima traveled to the United States in the 1950s to receive reconstructive surgery?
Executive producer Iwao Mori instructed producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to immediately commence production on a second Godzilla film, fearing to lose the momentum of the first film's success. Oda was chosen to direct the film as Ishirō Honda was busy directing Lovetide. (Full article...)
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La Strada (English: "The Road") is a 1954 Italian road tragedy film directed by Federico Fellini and co-written by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film tells the story of Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), a simple-minded young woman bought from her mother by Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a brutish strongman who takes her with him on the road.
Fellini described La Strada as "a complete catalogue of my entire mythological world, a dangerous representation of my identity that was undertaken with no precedent whatsoever". As a result, the film demanded more time and effort than any of his other works, before or later. The development process was long and tortuous; there were problems during production, including insecure financial backing, problematic casting, and numerous delays. Finally, just before the production completed shooting, Fellini suffered a nervous breakdown that required medical treatment so that he could complete principal photography. Initial critical reaction was harsh, and the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival was the occasion of a bitter controversy that escalated into a public brawl between Fellini's supporters and detractors. (Full article...)
Presley later indicated that of all the characters that he portrayed throughout his acting career, the role of Danny Fisher in King Creole was his favorite. To make the film, Presley was granted a 60-day deferment from January to March 1958 for beginning his military service. Location shooting in New Orleans was delayed several times by crowds of fans attracted by the stars, particularly Presley. (Full article...)
Tiga Dara (Indonesian for Three Maidens) is a 1957 Indonesian musicaldrama film starring Chitra Dewi, Mieke Wijaya, and Indriati Iskak. Directed by Usmar Ismail for Perfini, the film follows three sisters who live with their father and grandmother. When the eldest sister, Nunung, shows no interest in marrying, her family tries unsuccessfully to find a husband for her. Nunung initially rejects the advances of a young man named Toto, who instead dates her younger sister. However, when he becomes jealous and travels from Jakarta to Bandung to profess his love, she agrees to marry him.
Produced using government credit and written in an attempt to cover Perfini's outstanding debts, Tiga Dara was intended to be commercial despite Ismail's disapproval of such works. After it was released on 24 August 1957, the film was an immense popular success, launching the careers of its stars, earning the highest box office returns of any Perfini film, and being screened in first-class cinemas. However, even though Tiga Dara was shown at the 1959 Venice Film Festival and received Best Musical Arrangement at the 1960 Indonesian Film Week, Ismail considered it a compromise of his initial vision for Perfini. (Full article...)
The plot follows the conflicts of the Varner family after ambitious drifter Ben Quick (Newman) arrives in their small Mississippi town. Will Varner (Welles), the patriarch, has doubts about his son, Jody (Franciosa) and sees Ben as a better choice to inherit his position. Will tries to push Ben and his daughter Clara (Woodward) into marriage. (Full article...)
The film's storyline concerns a newlywed woman who believes she is being haunted by the ghost of her new husband's previous wife. The simplistic musical score centres on the dies irae. (Full article...)
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Darah dan Doa ([daˈrahˈdandoˈa]; Indonesian for Blood and Prayer, released internationally as The Long March) is a 1950 Indonesian war film directed and produced by Usmar Ismail, telling the story of the Siliwangi Division and its leader Captain Sudarto on a march to West Java. Following Ismail's Dutch-produced Tjitra (1949), Darah dan Doa is often cited as the first 'Indonesian' film, and the film's first day of shooting– 30March– is celebrated in Indonesia as National Film Day.
Produced on a budget of 350,000 rupiah and intended to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival, financial difficulties led production of Darah dan Doa to almost stop before the director received financial backing. After raising controversy for its subject material, the film underwent censorship and was finally released to commercial failure. Retrospective analysis has, however, been more positive, and Ismail has been dubbed the "father of Indonesian film". (Full article...)
Malliswari is a 1951 Indian Telugu-language historical romance film produced and directed by B. N. Reddi under his banner Vauhini Studios. P. Bhanumathi and N. T. Rama Rao star as a couple– Nagaraju and Malliswari– who are separated by Malliswari's greedy mother. Malliswari is sent to the king's palace according to the custom of "Rani Vasam", a tradition during the Vijayanagara Empire wherein young women were fetched to the palace with an offering of gold and jewellery to their parents. The rest of the film focuses on the consequences faced by Nagaraju when he, against all rules, surreptitiously enters the palace to meet Malliswari.
B. N. Reddi had envisioned a film about Sri Krishnadevaraya since his visit to Hampi during the production of his debut film, Vande Mataram (1939). He enlisted Devulapalli Krishnasastri to write the script, drawing inspiration from Butchi Babu's play Rayalavari Karunakruthyamu and Devan Sharar's short story The Emperor and the Slave Girl. B. N. Reddi also incorporated elements from his own childhood to enhance the narrative's authenticity, particularly in the playful interactions between Nagaraju and Malliswari. To ensure historical accuracy, B. N. Reddi consulted Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma, a noted historian and epigraphist. Art director A. K. Shekar devoted nearly two years to designing the sets, meticulously preparing sketches to reflect the period’s aesthetics. The film's music was composed by S. Rajeswara Rao, with cinematography by Adi M. Irani and B. N. Konda Reddy. (Full article...)
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Night of the Blood Beast is a 1958 American science fiction horror film about a team of scientists who are stalked by an alien creature, which implants its embryos in an astronaut's body during a space flight. Produced by exploitation filmmaker Roger Corman and his brother Gene, it was one of the first films directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and was written by first-time screenwriter Martin Varno, who was 21 years old. It starred several actors who had regularly worked with Roger Corman, including Michael Emmet, Ed Nelson, Steve Dunlap, Georgianna Carter and Tyler McVey. Blood Beast was distributed on September 8, 1958 by American International Pictures in the Texas area as a double feature with Corman's She Gods of Shark Reef (1958). The same double feature went into wider release on December 5, 1958 in other markets.
The film focuses on Devadasu and Parvati, who have been in love since childhood. Devadas' father rejects the proposal from Parvati's family. Parvati's father forces her to marry a middle-aged zamindar. Unable to cope with losing Parvati, Devadas turns into a drunkard, and the rest of the film is about whether or not Devadas meets Parvati again. (Full article...)
Production began after the success of Mayabazar (1957), with M. S. Chalapathi Rao and Jagannadham the film's executive producers. Marcus Bartley was the director of photography. S. Rajeswara Rao composed the soundtrack and background score. G. Kalyanasundaram and K. Radhakrishna edited the film, and Madhavapeddi Gokhale and Kaladhar were its art directors. The film is shown almost entirely in black and white, with the exception of a dance sequence filmed in Gevacolor. (Full article...)
Marilyn Monroe (/ˈmærəlɪnmənˈroʊ/MAIR-ə-lin mən-ROH; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926– August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2025) by her death in 1962.
Born in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage before marrying James Dougherty at age sixteen. She was working in a factory during World War II when she met a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career, which led to short-lived film contracts with 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. After roles as a freelancer, she began a longer contract with Fox in 1951, becoming a popular actress with roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business, and in the dramas Clash by Night and Don't Bother to Knock. Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photographs prior to fame, but the story resulted in increased interest in her films. (Full article...)
Image 2Elvis Presley was the best-selling musical artist of the decade. He is considered as the leading figure of the rock and roll and rockabilly movement of the 1950s. (from 1950s)
Image 11An American family watching television together in 1958. (from 1950s)
Image 12Castle Bravo: A 15 megaton hydrogen bomb experiment conducted by the United States in 1954. Photographed 78 miles (125 kilometers) from the explosion epicenter. (from 1950s)
Image 13Francis Crick and James Watson discover the spiral structure of DNA (from 1950s)
Image 25Presidents Eduardo Lonardi and Pedro Aramburu, the first and second leader of the "Revolución Libertadora" dictatorship in Argentina. (from 1950s)
Image 26The world map of military alliances during the Cold War in 1959 (from 1950s)
... that a group of 25 women disfigured by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima traveled to the United States in the 1950s to receive reconstructive surgery?
... that Greek communists defended the Right against the socialist prime minister's attacks during the 1985 parliamentary election, even though they had been persecuted by the Right in the 1950s?
... that Sandra Caron changed her name to avoid associations with a woman once described as "the most highly paid woman in British show business in the 1950s and 1960s"?
... that Nicolae Moromete, who tortured prisoners of the Romanian communist regime in the 1950s, fought the Soviet Union in World WarII?
... that in the 1950s Michel Klein opened one of the first veterinary practices in Paris?
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![Image 1 Theatrical release posterWarning from Space (Japanese: 宇宙人東京に現わる, Hepburn: Uchūjin Tōkyō ni arawaru; lit. 'Spacemen Appear in Tokyo') is a 1956 Japanese science fiction film directed by Koji Shima. It was written by Hideo Oguni based on Gentaro Nakajima [ja]'s novel. In the tokusatsu film's plot, starfish-like aliens "Pairan" (Japanese: パイラ人, Hepburn: Pairajin) disguised as humans travel to Earth to warn of the imminent collision of a rogue planet and Earth. As the planet rapidly accelerates toward Earth, a nuclear device is created at the last minute and destroys the approaching world.Produced and distributed by Daiei Film under Masaichi Nagata, it was the first colored Japanese science fiction film, and was also the nation's first full-scaled science fiction film to feature an extraterrestrial race. The film is also known for its influences on Stanley Kubrick who subsequently directed 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and also predates Daiei's most iconic tokusatsu characters, Gamera and Daimajin. Its special effects director [ja] was Toru Matoba [ja], a notable figure among the tokusatsu genre who contributed in Ultraman-related contents and Spectreman after the 1956 film, and the prominent avant-garde artist Tarō Okamoto was Pairan's designer. (Full article...)](https://mpnr.duckdns.org/en/embed/https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3ABlank.png)
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