Senso, Italy, 1954, 115 min. Starring Alida Valli, Farley Granger. Directed by Luchino Visconti. An Italian countess begins a troubled romance with an Austrian officer, made even more difficult by existing tensions between their two countries owing to the Austrian occupation. Visconti blends love, politics and splendor in a way that was uniquely his.

The Seven Samurai, Japan, 1954, 141 min. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa's sweeping samurai epic is unquestionably a great action picture, but, as befits one of the art form's greatest masters, it is also so much more, the story being driven as much by an examination of Japan's class system and social traditions as it is by battles. This film was remade in America as the classic western The Magnificent Seven, but elements of it have turned up in countless films over the years.

La Strada, Italy, 1954, 104 min. Starring Anthony Quinn, Giuletta Masina, Richard Basehart. Directed by Federico Fellini. A young woman is sold to a traveling performer by her poor family and finds herself at the mercy of his brutal nature. When she meets a kind trapeze artist she rediscovers a joy she had almost forgotten, but is it too late for her? This heart-wrenching drama found Fellini really beginning to come into his own.

On The Waterfront, USA, 1954, 108 min. Starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger. Directed by Elia Kazan. Brando’s performance as an ex-boxer longshoreman who has to decide where his loyalties lie resonates to this day. Some may find it difficult to view the film and not think of the political context of what was happening in the film industry at the time (Kazan had a few years earlier testified before HUAC – something some in Hollywood still haven’t forgiven him for), but the powerful story and Brando's unforgettable performance make it worth the effort.

Lola Montes, France, 1955, 110 min. Starring Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Oskar Werner. Directed by Max Ophüls. Ophüls' final film is the story of the life and many varied loves of the title character, an infamous nineteenth-century courtesan. The director frames the film within the context of a large circus act with Ustinov using his sly persona to good effect as the ringmaster.