The best movies of 1956

My favorite movies of 1956 were made in the Soviet Union. This came as a surprise to me. For some reason, I associated the USSR with cold, empty art movies, but these aren’t. They’re like Hollywood movies from an alternate universe, just as ambitious, but more sentimental. I hope this Khrushchev guy stays around for a while:

Ilya Muromets

Spring on Zarechnaya Street

Karnavalnaya Noch

The Forty-First

Also, average westerns got noticably better that year:

The Burning Hills

The Searchers

Three Violent People

Sci-fi began to find its bearings:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

X: The Unknown

Forbidden Planet

Earth vs the Flying Saucers

James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando played some very odd roles:

Giant

Teahouse of the August Moon

Bus Stop

Powell & Pressburger returned to form:

The Battle of the River Plate

The Germans told us that we shouldn’t blindly trust authority:

The Captain from Köpenick

Spencer Tracy was one of the few classic stars still worth watching:

The Mountain

Hollywood took revenge on the communist hunters:

Storm Center

And we got the first(?) child psychopath:

The Bad Seed

Next up: 1957, with about 700 movies. Fortunately I have a fast-forward button.