Best Thriller Movies of 1957

Dan Evans, a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade, a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.

The crew of the American destroyer escort, the USS Haynes, detects a German U-Boat—resulting in a prolonged, deadly battle of wits.

American professor John Holden arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover that the colleague he was supposed to meet was killed in a freak accident the day before. It turns out that the deceased had been investigating a cult lead by Dr. Julian Karswell. Though a skeptic, Holden is suspicious of the devil-worshiping Karswell. Following a trail of mysterious manuscripts, Holden enters a world that makes him question his faith in science.

Having lost his horse in a bet, Pat Brennan hitches a ride with a stagecoach carrying newlyweds, Willard and Doretta Mims. At the next station the coach and its passengers fall into the hands of a trio of outlaws headed by a man named Usher. When Usher learns that Doretta is the daughter of a rich copper-mine owner, he decides to hold her for ransom. Tension builds over the next 24 hours as Usher awaits a response to his demands and as a romantic attachment grows between Brennan and Doretta.

An ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company swindling money.

In 1950s Canada, during a commercial flight, the pilots and some passengers suffer food poisoning, thus forcing an ex-WW2 fighter pilot to try to land the airliner in heavy fog.

Eddie Rico, the erstwhile bookkeeper for a big Mafia boss, is now making a living as an honest merchant in Florida with his family. Things go sour when the police start a search for his syndicate-linked brothers who are on the lam after a big hit, forcing Eddie to get involved with the Mafia again.

A murderous thief on the run with stolen loot forces a poor rancher to guide him across the desert into Mexico. Accompanying them is the rancher's wife, who happens to be the killer's former girlfriend.

Burglar Nat Harbin and his two associates set their sights on wealthy spiritualist Sister Sarah, who has inherited a fortune -- including a renowned emerald necklace -- from a Philadelphia financier. Using Nat's female ward, Gladden, to pose as an admirer and case the mansion where the woman lives, they set up a perfect break-in. Things get complicated afterwards.

This is one of David Hemming's earliest performances in the cinema: the star actor was just 15 when he portrayed a teenager who determines to clear a black friend on the run who is accused of murder.

A small town doctor mistakenly ingests an experimental drug made from the blood of vampire bats which transforms the kindly medic into a bloodthirsty monster.

Simon Lute ekes out a modest living chartering his skiff to tourists and guiding them through the labyrinthine bayou.

An American ex-GI takes a job as a truck driver to support his British war bride Connie. It isn't long, however, before Harry is blackmailed into joining a smuggling operation run by a conniving criminal.

An evil alien brain, bent on world domination, takes over the body of an atomic scientist, while a "good" alien brain inhabits the body of the scientist's dog and waits for an opportunity to defeat the evil brain.

A con artist moves into a small town to spearhead a payroll robbery.

A novelist and his wife go to stay at a cottage owned by a painter whose wife has just died.

The calving of an Arctic iceberg releases a giant praying mantis, trapped in suspended animation since prehistoric times. It first attacks military outposts to eat their occupants, then makes its way to the warmer latitudes of Washington and New York. A paleontologist works together with military units to try to kill it.

A gang of four would-be robbers plans to steal a fortune in currency hidden aboard the "Flying Scotsman" in a railroad stateroom by cutting through the wall of the adjacent stateroom, but find themselves up against numerous unexpected drawbacks, including interference by their fellow passengers.

After WW2, a Los Angeles crime ring uses a complex scheme, involving a freight ship, a junkie, and a corrupt health officer, to smuggle drugs into the USA.

Near the end of the French phase of the Vietnam War, a group of mercenaries are recruited to travel through enemy territory to the Chinese border.

George Nader plays a reporter whose career is ruined by liquor. A comeback opportunity presents itself when Nader is a bystander at the arrest of a well-known criminal.

The moving story of four young men struggling against overwhelming odds to remain honest. When their crooked employer shorts their earnings; they turn to crime, their first theft ending in tragedy.

A boy is accidentally locked in a bank vault. With less than 10 hours of oxygen left in the vault, it becomes a race to save the boy.

A suspected diamond smuggler returns to Istanbul and finds the lady love he thought was dead...or does he?

Future "first couple" Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis made their only joint film appearance in Hellcats of the Navy. Ronnie plays Casey Abbott, commander of a WW2 submarine, while Nancy portrays navy nurse Helen Blair, Abbott's off-and-on girlfriend. During a delicate mission in which his sub is ordered to retrieve a revolutionary new Japanese mine, Abbott is forced to leave frogman Wes Barton (Harry Lauter) behind to save the rest of his crew. But Abbott's second-in-command Don Landon (Eduard Franz) is convincing that Abbott's sacrifice of Barton was due to the fact that the dead man had been amorously pursuing Helen.

Detective Mike Hammer's investigation of a murder puts him in the middle between warring jewel thieves.

Three delinquents murder a prosperous farmer at an isolated farm house. One witness to the crime - the dead man's secretary - is then taken hostage. The other witness - her young son - is thrown into state of shock. Can he recover soon enough to help the police - and his father - rescue his mother before it's too late?

A hitman is found out because he was paid off in traceable stolen money. On the run, he kidnaps the girlfriend of the police detective in charge of his pursuit; she tries to convince him to surrender before it's too late.

A government agent investigates the use of illegal amphetamines among long-haul truck drivers.

In 1942, a cargo ship jammed with British evacuees from Singapore is sunk by a Japanese sub. A small lifeboat carries a beautiful woman, an army officer, a bigoted administrator, and a black seaman. Only the seaman knows the woman is a nun. The men reveal their true selves under the hardships of survival. Told in a too-long flashback frame.

An escaped murderer flees France to England, where he forces an ex-forger, now established as a reputable estate owner, and the forger's daughter who knew nothing of his past, to counterfeit 5-pound notes for mass distribution around the countryside.

Culver is a psychiatrist who uses hypnotism to treat his patients. When Carpenter, a test pilot, comes to see him complaining of blackouts that make his job difficult, Culver tries to mesmerise him into killing his wife.

A melodrama about young adults growing up and facing the pressures of life.

A U.S. lawman busts Copenhagen counterfeiters to help his sister, falsely accused of murder.

In Moscow 1953, four terrified women prisoners are brought before Joseph Stalin, who chooses the beautiful Dasha. He punishes her by shaving off her long hair. Moments later, a plastic surgeon leads Stalin into the operating room and transforms his face so that he is unrecognizable. He vanishes, but OSS agent Steve Anderson searches for him in Europe.

A mental patient with a violent past is released from the institution, against the advice of his doctors, and sent back to his old neighborhood. Was he released too soon?

An absent minded professor invents a pen that will explode on the sound of bells, then leaves it in a taxi

A reporter who needs cash for his son's operation is paid by a smuggler to take a murder rap.

Tough guy fights gangsters and counterfeiters in pre-Castro Cuba.

A woman marries a man for his wealth, then concocts a plan to kill him, take his money, and run off with her lover. Things go wrong when they accidentally kill the wrong person.

Fed up with her wealthy but abusive husband, Tom (Basil Dignam), young English homemaker Laura Wilton (Anne Heywood) conspires with her lover, American Army captain Dave Dillon (Robert Arden), to have her boozy spouse meet an "accidental" demise. But a nosy copper (Denis Shaw) suspects foul play, and soon the lovers' crafty scheme deteriorates into fear, distrust and betrayal. Paul Dickson directs this vintage noir thriller.

Captivated by the actor's physical beauty, an aging spinster pulls up stakes to follow a ventriloquist and his dummy from performance to performance; finally, the man consents to a much-wanted meeting.

Lars Ekborg and Sven Eric Gamble portray bumbling criminals who get involved in a safe-cracking heist.

Shackled prisoner Stephen Fontaine tries to negotiate an escape from Sergeant Rockwell while en route to San Quentin.

A preacher (George Nader) fears for his family (Phyllis Thaxter, Tim Hovey) after killing a teenage burglar whose father seeks revenge.

A married man having an affair visits a friend to establish an alibi for a rendezvous with his girlfriend. His friend is murdered the same night and he is accused of the crime.

A rookie New York cop has to deal with juvenile delinquents, his superiors, and blame for the suicide of a woman who jumped to her death while he was in her apartment.

Band leader Frank Martin is convicted and sentenced to death for murdering the owner of a club in which he had performed. Frank's innocent of the crime, and singer Ruth Chapman can provide him with an alibi. But Ruth is missing, and records show she died years before. As Frank awaits execution, he enlists the help of his heiress girlfriend and his lawyer to clear his name.

An Eastern European escapes to America, where Communist agents try to track him down.