The Naked Sea. The saga of a tuna clipper: a fish story with some spectacular truth in it (TIME, Jan. 23).
The Night My Number Came Up. Thirteen people are caught in a dream that starts to come true: a low-voltage shocker from Britain, with crackling good performances by Michael Redgrave, George Rose (TIME, Jan. 2).
The Man with the Golden Arm. Nelson Algren’s tale of a hot dealer who deals himself a cold card: heroin. A powerful story in which Frank Sinatra is unforgettable (TIME, Dec. 26).
The Rose Tattoo. Anna Magnani, in her first Hollywood film, gets the year’s loudest laughs as she demonstrates why Italian ham is a delicacy (TIME, Dec. 19).
Umberto D. A man walks the plank of old age, and the Italian realist cinema dies with a gentle curse: Vittorio De Sica’s most careful film (TIME, Dec. 12).
Diabolique. A wonderful little horror comic in French—with a moral: you can lead a corpse to water, but you can’t make it sink (TIME, Dec. 5).
Guys and Dolls. Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine in Samuel Goldwyn’s $5,000,000 version of the Broadway musical. It’s a beaut, but Sam made the prints too long (TIME, Nov. 14).
The Big Knife. Clifford Odets gums away at some sour grapes, and spits the seeds at Hollywood; with Jack Palance, Ida Lupino (TIME, Oct. 24).
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Cybersecurity Experts Are Sounding the Alarm on DOGE
- Meet the 2025 Women of the Year
- The Harsh Truth About Disability Inclusion
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Michelle Zauner Stares Down the Darkness
Contact us at letters@time.com