Decision Before Dawn. A semidocumentary spy melodrama on a grand scale, picturing the physical and spiritual chaos of Germany on the eve of defeat in World War II (TIME, Dec. 24).
Miracle in Milan. A comic masterpiece of fantasy by Italy’s Director Vittorio (The Bicycle Thief) De Sica (TIME, Dec.
17).
Quo Vadis. The costliest ($6,500,000) movie ever made, a colossal melodramatic spectacle about Christianity v. paganism in Nero’s Rome; with 30,000 extras, 63 lions, Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr (TIME, Nov. 19).
The Browning Version. Britain’s Michael Redgrave, as a Mr. Chips-in-reverse, in Playwright Terence Rattigan’s story of an unloved master on his way out of an English public school (TIME, Nov. 12).
Detective Story. Broadway Playwright Sidney Kingsley’s account of a day in a Manhattan detective squad room becomes an even better movie as filmed by Director William Wyler; with Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker (TIME, Oct. 29).
The Lavender Hill Mob. Alec Guinness, as an engaging master criminal, in a superior British concoction of wit and farce (TIME, Oct. 15).
An American in Paris. A buoyant, imaginative musical; with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron (TIME, Oct. 8).
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