1953

Academy winner From Here to Eternity poster

From Here to Eternity

Composite 71.89

Should have won Tokyo Story poster

Tokyo Story

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The Academy's ballot

🏆From Here to Eternity#771.89 🎬Roman Holiday#277.92 🎬Shane#971.6 🎬Julius Caesar#1666.92 🎬The Robe#1864.88

Your #1 was Tokyo Story (#1).

The full slate

Tokyo Story (1953)

⭐ Top-rated🏛️ All-time great

Composite 77.97

Dir. Yasujirō Ozu · Chishū Ryū · Chieko Higashiyama · Setsuko Hara · Haruko Sugimura

IMDb 8.1 (77,952 votes) · TMDB 8.2

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

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Roman Holiday (1953)

🎬 Nominee⭐ Top-rated💰 Box office #6

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Dir. William Wyler · Audrey Hepburn · Gregory Peck · Eddie Albert · Hartley Power

IMDb 8.0 (157,694 votes) · TMDB 7.9

Overwhelmed by her suffocating schedule, touring European princess Ann takes off for a night while in Rome. When a sedative she took from her doctor kicks in, however, she falls asleep on a park bench and is found by an American reporter, Joe Bradley, who takes her back to his apartment for safety. At work the next morning, Joe finds out Ann's regal identity and bets his editor he can get exclusive interview with her, but romance soon gets in the way.

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The Wages of Fear (1953)

⭐ Top-rated🏛️ All-time great

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Dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot · Yves Montand · Charles Vanel · Peter van Eyck · Folco Lulli

IMDb 8.1 (73,660 votes) · TMDB 8.009

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

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Stalag 17 (1953)

⭐ Top-rated💰 Box office #7

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Dir. Billy Wilder · William Holden · Robert Strauss · Don Taylor · Otto Preminger

IMDb 7.9 (60,200 votes) · TMDB 7.681

After two American prisoners are killed by guards in the act of escaping from a German POW camp in World War II, barracks black marketeer J.J. Sefton is suspected of being an informer.

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Ugetsu (1953)

⭐ Top-rated

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Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi · Machiko Kyō · Mitsuko Mito · Kinuyo Tanaka · Masayuki Mori

IMDb 8.1 (28,322 votes) · TMDB 8.0

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

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The Big Heat (1953)

⭐ Top-rated

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Dir. Fritz Lang · Glenn Ford · Gloria Grahame · Jocelyn Brando · Alexander Scourby

IMDb 7.9 (32,719 votes) · TMDB 7.7

After the suspicious suicide of a fellow cop, tough homicide detective Dave Bannion takes the law into his own hands when he sets out to smash a vicious crime syndicate.

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From Here to Eternity (1953)

🏆 Winner⭐ Top-rated💰 Box office #3

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Dir. Fred Zinnemann · Burt Lancaster · Montgomery Clift · Deborah Kerr · Donna Reed

IMDb 7.6 (54,451 votes) · TMDB 7.3

In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.

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I Vitelloni (1953)

⭐ Top-rated

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Dir. Federico Fellini · Franco Interlenghi · Alberto Sordi · Franco Fabrizi · Leopoldo Trieste

IMDb 7.8 (23,274 votes) · TMDB 7.7

Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto, the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women, to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.

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Shane (1953)

🎬 Nominee⭐ Top-rated💰 Box office #5

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Dir. George Stevens · Alan Ladd · Jean Arthur · Van Heflin · Brandon De Wilde

IMDb 7.6 (47,831 votes) · TMDB 7.3

A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.

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#10

Peter Pan (1953)

⭐ Top-rated💰 Box office #1

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Dir. Clyde Geronimi · Bobby Driscoll · Kathryn Beaumont · Hans Conried · Bill Thompson

IMDb 7.2 (166,035 votes) · TMDB 7.191

Leaving the safety of their nursery behind, Wendy, Michael and John follow Peter Pan to a magical world where childhood lasts forever. But while in Neverland, the kids must face Captain Hook and foil his attempts to get rid of Peter for good.

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#11

Pickup on South Street (1953)

⭐ Top-rated

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Dir. Samuel Fuller · Richard Widmark · Jean Peters · Thelma Ritter · Murvyn Vye

IMDb 7.6 (17,827 votes) · TMDB 7.4

In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.

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#12

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

⭐ Top-rated💰 Box office #8

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Dir. Howard Hawks · Jane Russell · Marilyn Monroe · Charles Coburn · Elliott Reid

IMDb 7.1 (46,419 votes) · TMDB 7.334

Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much to the disapproval of Gus' rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw, Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone, a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.

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#13

The Earrings of Madame De... (1953)

⭐ Top-rated

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Dir. Max Ophüls · Charles Boyer · Danielle Darrieux · Vittorio De Sica · Jean Debucourt

IMDb 7.8 (12,170 votes) · TMDB 7.5

In late 19th century France, the Countess Louise, wife of a wealthy general, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off her secret debts, then claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, and her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.

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#14

Summer with Monika (1953)

⭐ Top-rated

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Dir. Ingmar Bergman · Harriet Andersson · Lars Ekborg · Dagmar Ebbesen · Åke Fridell

IMDb 7.5 (17,776 votes) · TMDB 7.3

One summer day, two teens begin a reckless affair and abandon their families to be with one another.

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#15

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953)

⭐ Top-rated

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Dir. Jacques Tati · Jacques Tati · Nathalie Pascaud · Louis Pérault · Micheline Rolla

IMDb 7.3 (21,991 votes) · TMDB 6.9

Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort, where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s masterpiece of gentle slapstick is a series of effortlessly well-choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers; it was the first entry in the Hulot series and the film that launched its maker to international stardom.

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#16

Julius Caesar (1953)

🎬 Nominee

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Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz · Marlon Brando · James Mason · John Gielgud · Louis Calhern

IMDb 7.2 (14,164 votes) · TMDB 7.08

The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but both have sorely underestimated Mark Antony.

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#17

House of Wax (1953)

💰 Box office #4

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Dir. André de Toth · Vincent Price · Frank Lovejoy · Phyllis Kirk · Carolyn Jones

IMDb 7.0 (22,610 votes) · TMDB 6.9

A sculptor opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures, but quickly runs into trouble when his business partner demands the exhibits become more extreme in order to increase profits.

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#18

The Robe (1953)

🎬 Nominee💰 Box office #2

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Dir. Henry Koster · Richard Burton · Jean Simmons · Victor Mature · Richard Boone

IMDb 6.7 (12,967 votes) · TMDB 6.85

Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.

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#19

Titanic (1953)

💰 Box office #10

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Dir. Jean Negulesco · Clifton Webb · Barbara Stanwyck · Robert Wagner · Audrey Dalton

IMDb 7.0 (8,222 votes) · TMDB 6.6

Unhappily married, Julia Sturges decides to go to America with her two children on the Titanic. Her husband, Richard also arranges passage on the luxury liner so as to have custody of their two children. All this fades to insignificance once the ship hits an iceberg.

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#20

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

💰 Box office #9

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Dir. Eugène Lourié · Paul Hubschmid · Paula Raymond · Cecil Kellaway · Kenneth Tobey

IMDb 6.6 (9,708 votes) · TMDB 6.6

The controlled explosion of an atomic bomb in the Arctic Circle awakens a frozen dinosaur that will wreak havoc in New York City.

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How scoring works: films are ranked by a composite of a weighted (Bayesian) IMDb rating — the same method as the IMDb Top 250, so a high score from few voters can't outrank a strong score from many — blended with TMDB. Box office is a tiebreaker and a badge, never part of the score. Raw IMDb ratings and vote counts are shown on each card.