Best Movies of 1952

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.

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

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.

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.

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

The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.

Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.

The cartoon finds a row of signs saying it's rabbit season ("If you're looking for fun, you don't need a reason. All you need is a gun, it's Rabbit Season!"). Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck again are arguing over which of them is “in season” (it is really Duck Season, as Daffy says in the beginning), while a befuddled Elmer Fudd tries to figure out which animal is telling the truth. Between using sneaky plays-on-words, and dressing himself in women's clothing (including a Lana Turner-style sweater), Bugs manages to escape unscathed, while Daffy repeatedly has his beak blown off, upside-down, and sideways by Elmer.

To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a tense train ride.

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Burt Lancaster plays a pirate with a taste for intrigue and acrobatics who involves himself in the goings on of a revolution in the Caribbean in the late 1700s. A light hearted adventure involving prison breaks, an oddball Scientist, sailing ships, naval fights, and tons of swordplay.

Two men with questionable pasts, Glyn McLyntock and his friend Cole, lead a wagon-train load of homesteaders from Missouri to the Oregon territory...

Jed, an airline pilot, is resting in a hotel when he notices Nell, a young woman babysitting for a wealthy couple. As Jed gets to know Nell better he realises that the woman is not as stable as perhaps she should be.

A bulldog adopts a small cat, but he can't let his owner know.

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.

In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.

During WWII, the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans while trying to romance a refugee Polish countess.

Bugs Bunny is too sound a sleeper to notice that a rainstorm has flooded his rabbit hole and sent his mattress floating downstream toward the castle of an evil scientist who needs a brain for his mechanical monster. Bugs tries to escape and save his brain from the clutches of Rudolph, the scientist's giant orange monster.

The Coyote chases the Road Runner through a maze of mine shafts, with their positions made visible only by the lamps on their helmets.

A mismatched couple's marital problems come to the surface when the husband develops an interest in their pretty boarder.

Wile E. Coyote, genius, announces to Bugs Bunny that he is going to catch him and eat him, and then employs a variety of gadgets and plans in an attempt to do so.

Pluto comes bounding outside to help Mickey get a Christmas tree. Chip 'n Dale see him and make fun of him, but the tree they take refuge in is the one Mickey chops down. They like the decorations, especially the candy canes and Mickey's bowl of mixed nuts. But Pluto spots them and goes after them long before Mickey spots them. Minnie, Donald, and Goofy drop by to sing carols.

Algernon Moncrieff is surprised to discover that his affluent friend -- whom he knows as "Ernest" -- is actually named Jack Worthing. Jack fabricated his alter ego in order to escape his country estate where he takes care of his charge, Cecily Cardew. Cecily believes that Ernest is Jack's wayward brother and is keen on his raffish lifestyle. Algernon, seeing an opportunity, assumes Ernest's identity and sneaks off to woo Cecily.

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?

Disney Legend Sterling Holloway narrates this classic animated short. A mix-up by Mr. Stork finds a little lion cub in the care of a gentle flock of sheep. Doted on by his mother, but teased by the other lambs, Lambert soon grows to become a massive lion, but as shy and gentle as the ewe who raised him. When a hungry wolf begins to stalk the herd, will Lambert find the courage to protect his mama?

After he is rejected by the Great Poochini as an opening act, Mysto the Magician gets his revenge by conducting his next operatic performance.

A tabloid editor assigns a young reporter to solve a murder the editor committed himself.

A down-on-his-luck ex-GI finds himself framed for an armored car robbery. When he's finally released for lack of evidence--after having been beaten up and tortured by the police--he sets out to discover who set him up, and why. The trail leads him into Mexico and a web of hired killers and corrupt cops.

When a 1920s millionaire tests the fiber of his Vermont family, a young lady and her boyfriend feel the repercussions.

With three days before his paper folds, a crusading editor tries to expose a vicious gangster.

Tom, a castle soldier in 16th century France, is assigned to guard the food laid out on a banquet table. Jerry and a smaller mouse companion, two wandering "mouseketeers", make the situation miserable for Tom as they abscond with (and occasionally eat) all the food they can.

An English clergyman's neglect of his grown children, in his zeal to tend to his parishioners, comes to the surface at a Christmas family gathering.

A washed-up movie queen finds romance, but continues to desire a comeback.

When the nephews come to Donald's house in their Halloween costumes he dumps water on them and laughs at his trick. A witch sees this and decides to help the kids. By magic she gives Donald a bad time and the kids finally get their treats.

A charming and ambitious young man finds many ways to raise himself through the ranks in business and social standing - some honest, some not quite so. If he can just manage to avoid a certain very predatory woman...

A viceroy, a nobleman and a bullfighter court a comedy-troupe actress in 16th-century Peru.

Retired rodeo champion Jeff McCloud agrees to mentor novice rodeo contestant Wes Merritt against the wishes of Merritt's wife who fears the dangers of this rough sport.

Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As young and handsome William Green he changed his name to include his first wife's so that it sounded more impressive for the photographic portrait work he was so good at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.

An unexpected bond develops between a fugitive killer and a runaway orphan on an odyssey across England.

Eddie Miller struggles with his hatred of women, he's especially bothered by seeing women with their lovers. He starts a killing spree as a sniper by shooting women from far distances. In an attempt to get caught, he writes an anonymous letter to the police begging them to stop him.

In New York's 1880's newspaper district a dedicated journalist manages to set up his own paper. It is an immediate success but attracts increasing opposition from one of the bigger papers and its newspaper heiress owner.

Carrie's dreams of adventure in the big city are quickly squashed as she discovers all that awaits her there is a bleak life of grueling and poorly paid factory work—that is, until a traveling salesman named Drouet steps into her life and changes her outlook.

Florence and Chet Keefer have had a troublesome marriage. Whilst in the middle of a divorce hearing the judge encourages them to remember the good times they have had hoping that the marriage can be saved.

Born into aristocracy, Toulouse-Lautrec moves to Paris to pursue his art as he hangs out at the Moulin Rouge where he feels like he fits in being a misfit among other misfits. Yet, because of the deformity of his legs from an accident, he believes he is never destined to experience the true love of a woman. But that lack of love in his life may change as he meets two women

An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.

A young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are shaken when he comes face to face with the enigmatic beauty.

Four strangers board a plane and become fast friends, but a catastrophic crash leaves only one survivor. He then sets off on a journey to discover who these people were, but ultimately discovers the devastating truth about himself.

Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critic's acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".