#129 – Twenty-Four Eyes, (二十四の瞳), 1954, Keisuke Kinoshita
Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi struggles to imbue her students with a positive view of the world and their place in it, despite the fact that she knows full well that most of them will die in the war.
#326 – On the Waterfront, 1954, Elia Kazan
Terry Malloy dreams about being a prize fighter, while tending his pigeons and running errands at the docks for Johnny Friendly, the corrupt boss of the dockers union. Terry witnesses a murder by two of Johnny’s thugs, and later meets the dead man’s sister and feels responsible for his death. She introduces him to Father Barry, who tries to force him to provide information for the courts that will smash the dock racketeers.
#385 – Godzilla, (ゴジラ), 1954, Ishirō Honda
Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships explode and are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by paleontologist Professor Kyohei Yemani soon discover something more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#402 – La Strada, 1954, Federico Fellini
When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband’s coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
#606 – Johnny Guitar, 1954, Nicholas Ray
On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin’ Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna’s establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man’s death, Emma Small, Vienna’s rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna’s saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.
#907 – Senso, 1954, Luchino Visconti
A troubled and neurotic Italian Countess betrays her entire country for a self-destructive love affair with an Austrian Lieutenant.
#936 – A Star Is Born, 1954, George Cukor
A movie star helps a young singer/actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 