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; French paratroopers march in Algiers in the beginning of the Algerian War, 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 January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959.
In the Western world, the 1950s were a decade known for experimentation with new styles and culture. Following World War II and the austerity years of the post-war period, the 1950s were a time of comparative prosperity, which influenced fashion and the concept of glamour. Hairstylists invented new hairstyles for wealthy patrons. Influential hairstylists of the period include Sydney Guilaroff, Alexandre of Paris and Raymond Bessone, who took French hair fashion to Hollywood, New York and London, popularising the pickle cut, the pixie cut and bouffant hairstyles.
The American film industry and the popular music industry influenced hairstyles around the world, both in mainstream fashion and teenage sub-culture. With the advent of the rock music industry, teenage culture and fashion became increasingly significant and distinctive from mainstream fashion, with American style being imitated in Europe, Asia, Australasia and South America. Teenage girls around the world wore their hair in ponytails while teenage boys wore crew cuts, the more rebellious among them favouring "greaser" comb-backs. (Full article...)
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Missamma (transl. Miss Madam) is a 1955 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by L. V. Prasad. It was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani on Vijaya Productions banner. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Savitri, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Jamuna. The script was adapted by Chakrapani from Rabindranath Maitra's Bengali play Manmoyee Girls' School. It revolves around two unemployed people — M. T. Rao and Mary — who pose as a married couple to obtain employment in a high school founded by Gopalam, a zamindar. As Rao and Mary fall in love, Gopalam's nephew A. K. Raju learns that Mary is Gopalam's missing elder daughter Mahalakshmi; she is unaware of her true identity.
Production began in early 1954 with P. Bhanumathi cast as the female lead, though she would eventually be replaced by Savitri. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil as Missiamma, with an altered cast. Principal photography ended that December; filming was delayed because of Bhanumathi's exit after filming a few reels, and the difficulty of managing two casts simultaneously. C. P. Jambulingam and Kalyanam edited the film; Marcus Bartley was the cinematographer, and S. Rajeswara Rao composed the music. Missamma focused on social issues such as unemployment, corruption, and freedom of worship. (Full article...)
Central Studios initially planned on creating a film based on the Parasakthi play and T. S. Natarajan's play En Thangai; however, the idea was dropped after Natarajan objected. The film rights of Parasakthi were later bought by P. A. Perumal of National Pictures, with the patronage of A. V. Meiyappan. The soundtrack was composed by R. Sudarsanam, cinematography was handled by S. Maruti Rao, and Panju edited the film under the alias "Panjabi". Filming began in mid-1950, but took over two years to complete (Full article...)
Devadasu is a 1953 Indian romance film directed by Vedantam Raghavayya and produced by D. L. Narayana for Vinodha Pictures. Chakrapani wrote the script based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel, Devdas. C. R. Subbaraman composed the film's music. The film was edited by P. V. Narayanan, while B. S. Ranga provided the cinematography.
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 his failure to win Parvati, Devadas turns into a drunkard, and the rest of the film is about whether or not Devadas meets Parvati again. (Full article...)
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Nadodi Mannan (transl. The Vagabond and the King) is a 1958 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film directed by M. G. Ramachandran in his debut as a filmmaker. He stars in dual roles alongside P. Bhanumathi, M. N. Rajam and B. Saroja Devi. P. S. Veerappa, M. N. Nambiar, M. G. Chakrapani, T. K. Balachandran and Chandrababu play supporting roles. The film revolves around a king being replaced by a look-alike after getting abducted on the eve of his coronation. The look-alike begins to implement social and economic reforms to uplift the poor which irks the kingdom's high priest, who has kidnapped the very person the look-alike resembles. The rest of the film shows how the look-alike saves the man he impersonates and defeats the high priest.
Made on a budget of ₹1.8 million, Ramachandran co-produced the film with Chakrapani and R. M. Veerappan under the banner of Em.Gee.Yar Pictures. C. Kuppusami, K. Srinivasan, and P. Neelakantan were in charge of the screenplay. Kannadasan and Ravindar undertook the responsibility of writing the dialogues. The cinematography was handled by G. K. Ramu while K. Perumal and C. P. Jambulingam did the editing. S. M. Subbaiah Naidu and N. S. Balakrishnan composed the film's soundtrack and score. Songs from the soundtrack like "Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey", "Thadukkathey", "Summa Kedandha", and "Senthamizhe" became popular hits. (Full article...)
The title is taken from the painting Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe by Édouard Manet. The female lead in Picnic on the Grass was the first major role for Rouvel, who due to an unusual contract would not appear in another film until 1963. Filming took place around Renoir's childhood home in Provence, and inspiration came from the impressionist paintings of his father, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The filming technique was influenced by live television and involved multiple cameras and direct audio recording. (Full article...)
Presley later indicated that of all the characters 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...)
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Madhumati is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. But they face challenges in their relationship finally leading to a paranormal consequence. The film was ranked 11th in the Outlook Magazine's 25 leading Indian directors' poll for selecting Bollywood's greatest films in 2003.
Madhumati was filmed in various Indian locations, including Ranikhet, Ghorakhal, Vaitarna Dam and Aarey Milk Colony. The soundtrack album was composed by Salil Chowdhury and the lyrics were written by Shailendra. The film was released on 12 September 1958. It earned ₹40 million in India and became the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, and one of the most commercially successful and influential Indian films of its time. It received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised the technicality, soundtrack, and performance of the cast. (Full article...)
The film began production in February 1956, as director Corman wanted to shoot one final film in six days before a change in union contracts meant that actors were limited to working only five days a week. Filming of Gunslinger was marred by several inconveniences; rain caused the filming location to become muddy, and the two lead actresses were both injured on set. Eventually, Gunslinger was released to mixed reviews, and, in 1993, was featured in a fifth-season episode of the film-mocking comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. (Full article...)
The film tells the story of powerful and sleazy newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker (portrayed by Lancaster and based on Walter Winchell) who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems unworthy of her. (Full article...)
Godzilla entered production after a Japanese-Indonesian co-production collapsed. Tsuburaya originally proposed for a giant octopus before the filmmakers decided on a dinosaur-inspired creature. Godzilla pioneered a form of special effects called suitmation in which a stunt performer wearing a suit interacts with miniature sets. Principal photography ran 51 days, and special effects photography ran 71 days. (Full article...)
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...)
The film is loosely based on the story of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, the 18th-century South Indian king who rebelled against the East India Company. It was an adaptation of the play of the same name by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy which featured Sivaji Ganesan as the title character, and premiered in August 1957. Principal photography began in October the same year, and took place mainly in Jaipur and Madras (now Chennai) until late 1958. This was the first full-length Tamil film released in Technicolor. (Full article...)
Nasser's popularity in Egypt and the Arab world skyrocketed after his nationalization of the Suez Canal Company and his political victory in the subsequent Suez Crisis, known in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression. Calls for pan-Arab unity under his leadership increased, culminating with the formation of the United Arab Republic with Syria from 1958 to 1961. In 1962, Nasser began a series of major socialist measures and modernization reforms in Egypt. Despite setbacks to his pan-Arabist cause, by 1963 Nasser's supporters gained power in several Arab countries, but he became embroiled in the North Yemen Civil War, and eventually the much larger Arab Cold War. He began his second presidential term in March 1965 after his political opponents were banned from running. Following Egypt's defeat by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967, Nasser resigned, but he returned to office after popular demonstrations called for his reinstatement. By 1968, Nasser had appointed himself prime minister, launched the War of Attrition to regain the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula, began a process of depoliticizing the military, and issued a set of political liberalization reforms. After the conclusion of the 1970 Arab League summit, Nasser suffered a heart attack and died. His funeral in Cairo drew five to six million mourners, and prompted an outpouring of grief across the Arab world. (Full article...)
Image 2Harry Belafonte in 1954, whose breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. (from 1950s)
Image 3Top, L-R: U.S. Marines engaged in street fighting during the Korean War, c. 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; In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista in the Cuban Revolution, which results in the creation of the first and only communist government in the Western Hemisphere; Elvis Presley becomes the leading figure of the newly popular music genre of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. Bottom, L-R: Smoke rises from oil tanks on Port Said following the invasion of Egypt by Israel, United Kingdom and France as part of the Suez Crisis in late 1956; The Hungarian Revolution of 1956; The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, in October 1957. This starts the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. (from 1950s)
Image 6The jukebox was particularly popular in the 1950s, and was used as entertainment in public establishments such as diners and malt/soda shops. (from 1950s)
Image 7In the 1950s lengthy poodle skirts were popular with women, as were leather jackets with men. Pictured is a 1950s leather jacket label. (from 1950s)
Image 10Israeli troops preparing for combat in the Sinai peninsula during the Suez Crisis. (from 1950s)
Image 11Francis Crick and James Watson discover the spiral structure of DNA (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 13Liz Taylor in the 1950s, a fashion icon of the era (from 1950s)
Image 19An American family watching television together in 1958. (from 1950s)
Image 20The 1950s was the beginning period of rapid television ownership. In their infancy, television screens existed in many forms, including round. (from 1950s)
Image 21Pez candies were released in the 1950s, and became well known in pop culture. (from 1950s)
Image 29Leading figures of the Nepali Congress and King Tribhuvan (from 1950s)
Image 30The creation and expansion of many multinational restaurant chains still in existence today, including the likes of McDonald's (as a franchise), IHOP, Pizza Hut and Burger King, all occurred in the 1950s. (from 1950s)
Image 32Elvis 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)
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