Best Movies of 1959

The highest-rated films from 1959 according to MovieMagicScore. Rankings based purely on what viewers actually think.

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Some Like It Hot

1959 · 3,856 ratings

In Prohibition-era Chicago, musicians Joe and Jerry witness a mob hit, and flee the state in an all-female band disguised as Josephine and Daphne, but further complications set in.

8.1

North by Northwest

1959 · 4,718 ratings

Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

8.0

The 400 Blows

1959 · 2,243 ratings

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

8.0

Ben-Hur

1959 · 3,117 ratings

In ancient Judea, a Jewish aristocrat opposing Roman occupation of his homeland reunites with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander — setting in motion a saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge, and faith.

7.9

Night and Fog

1959 · 530 ratings

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

8.2

Anatomy of a Murder

1959 · 1,091 ratings

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

7.8

Rio Bravo

1959 · 1,211 ratings

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

7.8

Hiroshima Mon Amour

1959 · 876 ratings

The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.

7.7

The Great War

1959 · 362 ratings

Italy, 1916. Oreste Jacovacci and Giovanni Busacca are called, as all the Italian youths, to serve the army in the WWI. They both try in every way to avoid serving the army.

8.1

#10

The Human Condition I: No Greater Love

1959 · 307 ratings

After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts and moves with his newlywed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.

8.2

#11

Apur Sansar

1959 · 261 ratings

Apu, now a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer, is invited to join an old college friend on a trip up-country to a village wedding.

8.1

#12

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

1959 · 207 ratings

Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.

8.2

#13

Good Morning

1959 · 301 ratings

A lighthearted take on director Yasujiro Ozu’s perennial theme of the challenges of intergenerational relationships, Good Morning tells the story of two young boys who stop speaking in protest after their parents refuse to buy a television set. Ozu weaves a wealth of subtle gags through a family portrait as rich as those of his dramatic films, mocking the foibles of the adult world through the eyes of his child protagonists. Shot in stunning color and set in a suburb of Tokyo where housewives gossip about the neighbors’ new washing machine and unemployed husbands look for work as door-to-door salesmen, this charming comedy refashions Ozu’s own silent classic I Was Born, But . . . to gently satirize consumerism in postwar Japan.

7.7

#14

Ballad of a Soldier

1959 · 209 ratings

During World War II, earnest young Russian soldier Alyosha Skvortsov is rewarded with a short leave of absence for performing a heroic deed on the battlefield. Feeling homesick, he decides to visit his mother. Due to his kindhearted nature, however, Alyosha is repeatedly sidetracked by his efforts to help those he encounters, including a lovely girl named Shura. In his tour of a country devastated by war, he struggles to keep hope alive.

7.9

#15

Pickpocket

1959 · 541 ratings

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

7.3

#16

Imitation of Life

1959 · 301 ratings

In 1940s New York, a white widow who dreams of being on Broadway has a chance encounter with a black single mother, who becomes her maid.

7.4

#17

Operation Petticoat

1959 · 393 ratings

A World War II submarine commander finds himself stuck with a damaged sub, a con-man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.

7.2

#18

Sube y baja

1959 · 102 ratings

It is the story of a sportsman who is a little bit dumber than most people but nevertheless he succeeds in getting a job at a sports article saler's. Having this job is the beginning of a lot of funny problems he causes due to his dumbness.

8.1

#19

Suddenly, Last Summer

1959 · 297 ratings

The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth.

7.3

#20

Sleeping Beauty

1959 · 5,344 ratings

Cursed to die by the evil fairy Maleficent when she was a baby, Princess Aurora is sent into hiding under protection from three good fairies. As she grows up far away, Maleficent becomes increasingly determined to seal the princess's fate.

6.9

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About 1959 Movies

These are the best-rated movies released in 1959 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 1959 memorable in cinema based on the collective opinion of movie lovers worldwide.

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