1. The Third Man
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Carol Reed
Actors: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard, Alida Valli, Ernst Deutsch
Plot: Supposedly, Harry Lime has died in a car accident. Previously he had invited one of his closest friends to join him. His friend now must find out if the story is true and the mystery behind it.
2. Bicycle Thieves ( Ladri di biciclette )
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 3.3 out of 4 stars
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Actors: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Gino Saltamerenda, Vittorio Antonucci, Giulio Chiari
Plot: An unemployed man of 2 years is finally given a job which requires a bicycle. He pawns his way to receive a bicycle only to have it stolen on his first day of work.
3. The Heiress
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Romance/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: William Wyler
Actors: Montgomery Clift, Olivia de Havilland, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins, Vanessa Brown, Betty Linley
Plot: In this adaptation of Henry James' Washington Square, mousy heiress
Catherine, beaten down by her domineering father, falls in love with a
handsome young stranger. But her father fears the young man may be a
fortune hunter, and attempts to thwart their romance. The experience that
follows produces a side of Catherine no one imagined.
4. Late Spring ( Banshun )
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Yasujirô Ozu
Actors: Chishû Ryû, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji Tsukioka, Haruko Sugimura, Hohi Aoki, Jun Usami
Plot: A young woman cares for her father, a widower. While those around her try to convince her to get married, she is happy where she is in life and doesn't want to leave her father.
5. White Heat
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Raoul Walsh
Actors: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly, Steve Cochran, John Archer
Plot: A criminal, who escapes from prison, leads a gang to commit another robbery. But, his new friend is actually an undercover cop.
6. All the King's Men
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Robert Rosse
Actors: Broderick Crawford, Joanne Dru, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, John Derek, Will Wright
Plot: A "hick" from a small town is double crossed into thinking he is running for mayor when his campaign help finally informs him he is only there to split the vote. He takes vengeance and finally speaks his mind. Once he wins an election he will stop at nothing to give what he believes to be right to his people all the while instilling corruption and bribery in virtually every aspect of the law and the government.
7. Stray Dog ( Nora inu )
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Sengoku, Fumiko Honma
Plot: A post war (WW2) look at Tokyo, Japan through the events surrounding a police detective, searching for a killer, and his stolen gun.
8. Adam's Rib
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: George Cukor
Actors: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell, David Wayne, Jean Hagen
Plot: A happily married, middle aged husband and wife strain their marriage while serving as trial attorneys on opposite sides of the same headline-making attempted murder marital case (he as the prosecutor, she as the defender).
9. Sands of Iwo Jima
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Allan Dwan
Actors: John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara, Forrest Tucker, Wally Cassell, James Brown
Plot: A group of marines get trained and sent to the island of Iwo Jima to fight
in WW2.
10. Battleground
Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: War/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: William A. Wellman
Actors: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Jerome Courtland
Plot: Just outside Bastogne - WWII - a group of Americans, low on supplies and constantly bombarded by German propaganda, must somehow find the will to go on. With think fog preventing air support and making it difficult to track anything, the men battle their own selves as much as the enemy.
