Best Thriller Movies of 1958

When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border, Mexican drug enforcement agent Miguel Vargas begins his investigation, along with American police captain Hank Quinlan. When Vargas begins to suspect that Quinlan and his shady partner, Menzies, are planting evidence to frame an innocent man, his investigations into their possible corruption quickly put himself and his new bride, Susie, in jeopardy.

In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.

Claude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer. His next target, a woman, is the most difficult.

On the Italian coast, writer Paul Decker has grown unhappy in his marriage and executes what appears to be a perfect murder of his wife. While Paul is believed to be writing a book in France, his stepdaughter, Candy, suspects him of murdering her mother, as well as her father years before. With the police unwilling to investigate any further, Candy sets out to confirm her suspicions and take Paul down herself.

Unrepentant Tennessee moonshine runner Luke Doolin (Robert Mitchum) makes dangerous high-speed deliveries for his liquor-producing father, Vernon (Trevor Bardette), but won't let his younger brother Robin (James Mitchum) join the family business. Under pressure from both out-of-town gangster Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon), who wants a piece of the local action, and Treasury agent Barrett (Gene Barry), who wants to destroy the moonshine business, Luke fights for his fast-fading way of life.

Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.

A mad bomber holds an innocent family hostage.

An 1840s British surgeon, experiments with anesthetic gases in an effort to make surgery pain-free. While doing so, his demonstration before a panel of his peers ends in a horrific mishap with his patient awakening under the knife; he is forced to leave his position in disgrace. To complicate matters, he becomes addicted to the gases and gets involved with a gang of criminals, led by Black Ben and his henchman Resurrection Joe.

A newly appointed cemetery chairman believes that, merely by inserting a black plot-marking pin into a wall-sized map of the cemetery, he can cause the deaths of that plot's owner.

Aliens from Outer Space are slowly switching places with real humans -- one of the first being a young man about to get married. Slowly, his new wife realizes something is wrong, and her suspicions are confirmed when her husband's odd behaviour begins to show up in other townspeople.

A tough kid comes to a new high school and begins muscling his way into the drug scene. This is a typical morality play of the era, filled with a naive view of drugs, nihilistic beat poetry, and some incredible '50s slang.

After his wife and her blind sister have died under his care, a doctor's small daughter is kidnapped and reported as buried alive, and he is given just five hours to find and rescue her.

A grounded American fighter pilot is switched to espionage on a special job in which he must kill a small-time Paris lawyer suspected of double-crossing France by selling out radio operators to the Nazis.

A man framed for murder escapes from prison during a flood and helps a young woman in distress.

A professional thief is sprung from prison with the assistance of a new partner who wants to know where he's hid his loot.

Wartime thriller with film noir elements based on a true story as written in A.P. Scotland's autobiography "The London Cage". The plot has greatly exaggerated the actual events of A.P. Scotland's experiences, including the addition of a fictional love interest.

Passengers struggle to survive after their plane crashes on a remote island. Director Richard Wilson's 1958 drama stars Esther Williams, Jeff Chandler and Rosanna Podesta.

Jim Burton, chronic alcoholic, is cared for by Ellen, his incredibly patient, sexy, hard-working wife. A doctor's warning that Jim could become mentally ill strikes enough fear into him that he really wants to cure himself...but can't. One night, he meets William Tobin, a fellow drunk, and finds that he helps himself by trying to help Tobin. Thus is born, amid setbacks, a group resembling Alcoholics Anonymous.

A Korean War veteran returns to Washington D.C. only to discover his business partner had died and their public-research business sold, so he works there undercover to find out the truth.

Remake of "To Have and Have Not" based on Hemingway short story. Plot reset to early days of Cuban revolution. A charter boat skipper gets entangled in gunrunning scheme to get money to pay off debts. Sort of a sea-going film noir with bad girl, smarmy villain, and the "innocent" drawn into wrong side of law by circumstances.

The manager (Stephen McNally) of a rocket-fuel plant deals with a worker (Vic Morrow) threatening to blow himself up.

Peter Chance suffers a blow to the head and wakes up with amnesia in a luxurious home, where a doctor and several women tell him he's a missing heir who's inherited millions. But Peter soon suspects something is not quite right with their story. He sets out to learn the truth before he's forced to sign a document that purportedly finalizes the transfer of the estate. This drama is based on Hugh Wheeler's novel Puzzle for Fiends.

Jaded movie star Vanessa Windsor, saved from a studio accident by handsome extra Chris Farley, pursues him, and soon he's the 'caretaker' of her beach house. Vanessa's sexy, alcoholic adult daughter Penny accidentally meets Chris, who rescues her from an 'octopus' boyfriend. Before you know it, Chris is involved with both mother and daughter, and his only way out is to take a job in a Mexican picture about man-eating orchids...

Members of the 87th Precinct search for a cop killer who has already murdered two of their own.

While resisting pressure from his upper-class wife to take a higher-paying job in London, a Montreal physician prepares to carry out brain surgery on a Latin American president. They don't suspect that a trio of assassins is also waiting, for their chance to carry out a political assassination on the operating table.

A physicist finds himself drawn into an investigation to track down a spy at his research station.

A psychopathic young beachcomber pretends to befriend a mother and two daughters living at their summer home.

A teenager finds her wayward sister running with thieves in San Francisco.

A blonde night club dancer is being stalked. Will anyone believe her?

A convicted murderer uses an ancient curse to take his revenge on those responsible for sending him to prison.

A police shrink tries to identify and capture an elusive mugger that scars his female victims before stealing their purse.

Pursued by detectives, Johnny Walters leaves the city to visit his family in a small California town. Among the household: his dead brother's luscious widow Helen, who soon is attracted to him. Ominous events and conflicting evidence leave Helen suspicious, but uncertain about her brother-in-law as tension builds...

A nightclub operator (Mara Corday), her sister (Barbara Bostock), a beautician (Lita Milan) and two other women rob a payroll.

Lamont Cranston, aka The Shadow, investigates the murder of a New Orleans bandleader.

US Army Officer Dan Adams, blinded during the war, is framed for a diamond smuggling rap. Upon regaining his sight, Adams goes after the real thieves in an effort to clear his name. In order to trap the wily criminals, Adams pretends that he's still bereft of his vision.

An undercover U.S. agent searches for an Arab ruler's son kidnapped by communists in Hong Kong.

Orphan turns bad, finds redemption with some help from boyhood pal. This movie is of interest because of the presence of a young Steve McQueen, the leading man being John Drew Barrymore, father of the more famous Drew, and for being based on a novel by Harold Robbins, famous for steamy writing in his day.

A jewel thief finds himself a target when a smuggled cigarette case made from a stolen new metal falls into his hands.

Newlyweds Eric and Jenni Whitlock retire to his desolate mansion, where Eric's first wife Marianne died from a mysterious freak accident. Jenni, who has a history of mental illness, begins to see strange things including a mysterious skull, which may or may not be a product of her imagination.

A couple driving through a rural location discover that the police and judge of the town of Robertsville are more intent on extorting money from them than being honest servants of the people.

A husband gets locked in a secure office with the body of his beautiful young mistress, who he has just murdered.

William Botibol is a compulsive gambler. While on a cruise he enters a betting pool to guess the number of miles the ship will travel in the course of 24 hours. William thinks he has figured out a way to guarantee he will win the bet.

Two brothers, one wanted for murder, are shipwrecked on an island inhabited by nubile young women who have amassed a valuable cache of pearls.

Louisiana's governor asks war hero Francis C. Grevemberg (Keith Andes) to lead the state police against corruption.

A pretty, sheltered teenager falls for a boy from the wrong side of town.

The Secret Service abducts a "rocket scientist" to better protect him against gangsters acting for Chinese agents.

This 1958 filmed version of Verdi's masterful Otello stars Mario Del Monaco, perhaps the greatest Otello of the 21st century, as the tragic moor who is consumed by jealousy thanks to the machinations of the villainous Jago.

After spending the weekend with her daughter, Mrs. Ellis takes her child to the bus depot. When she returns home, she finds her furniture rearranged and three strangers insisting that they own the house.