Best Movies of 1952

The highest-rated films from 1952 according to MovieMagicScore. Rankings based purely on what viewers actually think.

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Singin' in the Rain

1952 · 3,507 ratings

In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his paranoid screen partner struggle to make the difficult transition to talking pictures.

8.1

Ikiru

1952 · 1,346 ratings

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

8.3

Umberto D.

1952 · 718 ratings

When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.

7.9

High Noon

1952 · 1,512 ratings

Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.

7.7

Limelight

1952 · 565 ratings

A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.

7.9

Forbidden Games

1952 · 334 ratings

Orphaned after a Nazi air raid, Paulette, a young Parisian girl, runs into Michel, an older peasant boy, and the two quickly become close. Together, they try to make sense of the chaotic and crumbling world around them, attempting to cope with death as they create a burial ground for Paulette's deceased pet dog. Eventually, however, Paulette's stay with Michel's family is threatened by the harsh realities of wartime.

7.8

The African Queen

1952 · 1,004 ratings

At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.

7.3

Bellissima

1952 · 238 ratings

Film director Blasetti is looking for a little girl for his new movie. Along with other mothers, Maddelena takes her daughter to Cinecittà, hoping she’ll be selected and become a star. She is ready to sacrifice anything for little Maria.

7.8

The Little World of Don Camillo

1952 · 296 ratings

In a village of the Po valley where the earth is hard and life miserly, the priest and the communist mayor are always fighting to be the head of the community. If in secret, they admired and liked each other, politics still divided them as it is dividing the country. And when the mayor wants his "People's House"; the priest wants his "Garden City" for the poor. Division exist between the richest and the poorest, the pious and the atheists and even between lovers. But if the people are hard as the country, they are good in the bottom of there heart.

7.6

#10

The Quiet Man

1952 · 571 ratings

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

7.3

#11

The Life of Oharu

1952 · 184 ratings

In Edo Period Japan, a noblewoman's banishment for her love affair with a lowly page signals the beginning of her inexorable fall.

7.7

#12

The Bad and the Beautiful

1952 · 274 ratings

Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.

7.3

#13

Casque d'Or

1952 · 197 ratings

At the end of the 19th century, during a ball in Joinville, on the outskirts of Paris, Georges, a former delinquent working as a carpenter, meets Marie, a young woman connected to a criminal gang.

7.3

#14

The White Sheik

1952 · 281 ratings

In Italy, small-town newlyweds Wanda and Ivan Cavalli embark on their honeymoon in the big city of Rome. Ivan dutifully wants to keep appointments with family and church, but Wanda is only interested in meeting her favorite photo-strip star known as "The White Sheik". While Wanda impetuously sneaks away to locate the object of her affections, disconsolate Ivan tries his hardest to keep up appearances with the couple's relatives.

7.2

#15

Rabbit Seasoning

1952 · 162 ratings

Elmer Fudd is hunting both Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny again.

7.4

#16

Neighbours

1952 · 116 ratings

In this Oscar-winning short film, Norman McLaren employs the principles normally used to put drawings or puppets into motion to animate live actors. The story is a parable about two people who come to blows over the possession of a flower.

7.6

#17

Le Plaisir

1952 · 131 ratings

Three stories about the pleasure. The first one is about a man hiding his age behind a mask to keep going to balls and fancying women - pleasure and youth. Then comes the long tale of Mme Tellier taking her girls (whores) to the country for attending her niece's communion - pleasure and purity. And lastly, Jean the painter falling in love with his model - pleasure and death.

7.5

#18

Europe '51

1952 · 145 ratings

A wealthy, self-absorbed Rome socialite is racked by guilt over the death of her young son. As a way of dealing with her grief and finding meaning in her life, she decides to devote her time and money to the city’s poor and sick. Her newfound, single-minded activism leads to conflicts with her husband and questions about her sanity.

7.4

#19

The Narrow Margin

1952 · 157 ratings

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

7.3

#20

Sudden Fear

1952 · 135 ratings

Actor Lester Blaine has all but landed the lead in Myra Hudson's new play when Myra vetoes him because, to her, he doesn't look like a romantic leading man. On a train from New York to San Francisco, Blaine sets out to prove Myra wrong...by romancing her. Is he sincere, or does he have a dark ulterior motive?

7.3

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About 1952 Movies

These are the best-rated movies released in 1952 according to MovieMagicScore. Our ranking system aggregates genuine viewer ratings to give you an honest picture of what audiences actually think about these films.

From blockbusters to indie gems, discover what made 1952 memorable in cinema based on the collective opinion of movie lovers worldwide.

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