The 50 Biggest Hits of the '50s

   I've compiled a list of the 50 biggest moneymakers from 1950-59. You won't find information like this anywhere else. Charlton Heston was the box office champ, and his iconic chariot race was the decade's biggest attraction. Six Best Picture winners, four Disney flicks, two Hitchcocks, two Marilyn Monroes, two Marlon Brandos and a whole lot of stuff that doesn't even get shown on TCM, were among the top ticket-sellers of the Truman/Eisenhower administrations. I expect you to see them all before the end of the year.

1. "Ben-Hur"(1959).....................................................................................$73 million
2. "Rear Window"(1954)…………………..…..……….....…..………………$37 million
3. "White Christmas"(1954).......................................................................$30 million
4. "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"(1954).................................................$28 million
5. "Demetrius and the Gladiators"(1954)..................................................$26 million
6. "Sleeping Beauty"(1959).........................................................................$22 million
7. "The Caine Mutiny"(1954).....................................................................$22 million
8. "The Ten Commandments"(1956).........................................................$18 million
9. "The Robe"(1953)....................................................................................$17 million
10. "The Bridge on the River Kwai"(1957)...............................................$17 million
11. "South Pacific"(1958)...........................................................................$16 million
12. Around the World in 80 Days"(1956).................................................$16 million
13. "Peyton Place"(1957)...........................................................................$16 million
14. "The Greatest Show on Earth"(1952)................................................$14 million
15. "North by Northwest"(1959)...............................................................$13 million
16. "From Here to Eternity"(1953)...........................................................$12 million
17. "Giant"(1956)........................................................................................$12 million
18. "Quo Vadis"(1951)......….......................................................................$12 million
19. "Vera Cruz"(1954)......….........................................................................$11 million
20. "Sayonara"(1957).....................................................................................$10 million
21. "Some Like It Hot"(1959).......................................................................$10 million
22. "Old Yeller"(1957)....................................................................................$10 million
23. "Cinderella"(1950)...................................................................................$10 million
24. "Cinerama Holiday"(1955).....................................................................$10 million
25. "King Solomon's Mines"(1950)...............................................................$10 million
26. "Carmen Jones"(1954).....................…....................................................$10 million
27. "Pillow Talk"(1959)...........................…....................................................$9 million
28. "Imitation of Life"(1959).........................................................................$9 million
29. "Auntie Mame"(1958).............................................................................$9 million
30. "The King and I"(1956)..........................................................................$8 million
31. "The Bad and the Beautiful"(1952).......................................................$8 million
32. "All About Eve"(1950)...........................................................................$8 million
33. "Shane"(1953).........................................................................................$8 million
34. "The Country Girl"(1954).....................................................................$8 million
35. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"(1958).............................................................$8 million
36. "Anne Get Your Gun"(1950)................................................................$8 million
37. "How to Marry a Millionaire"(1953)....................................................$7 million
38. "Trapeze"(1956)...................................................................................$7 million
39. "No Time for Sergeants"(1958)...........................................................$7 million
40. "The Barefoot Contessa"(1954)..........................................................$7 million
41. "Alice in Wonderland"(1951).............................................................$7 million
42. "Not as a Stranger"(1955)..................................................................$7 million
43. "Oklahoma!"(1955)............................................................................$7 million
44. "The Curse of Frankenstein"(1957)...................................................$7 million
45. "Guys and Dolls"(1955)....................................................................$7 million
46. "The Country Girl"(1954)................................................................$7 million
47. "Peter Pan"(1953).............................................................................$7 million
48. "A Star Is Born"(1954).....................................................................$7 million
49. "The High and the Mighty"(1954)..................................................$7 million
50. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"(1952)................................................$7 million

*2,016 movies were released in the 1950s. But who's counting?