The 10 Worst Films of the 1950's

Here is a continued look at the worst movies of the decade. This time we take a look at the ten worst films of the 1950's. As usual I am not going for obvious choices like the slew of bad monster movies or teen dramas. You will not see such titles as "I Was A Teenage Frankenstein" or "Attack of the Crab Monsters" or "High School Confidential." The list includes major movies with top actors and directors.

Here are the top ten films in alphabetical order:

THE CONQUERER (1956) - One of the all time terrible movies is this epic starring John Wayne in his worst performance ever as Genghis Khan (!). This laughably bad epic was produced by Howard Hughes and directed by actor Dick Powell. Powell later claimed that when he first read the script he (wisely) threw it in the wastebasket in his office. When he returned a short time later he found Wayne sitting on the couch reading the script. For whatever reason Wayne was enamored with it and talked Powell into directing and later said, "You don't say 'no' to John Wayne." Unfortunately no one had the guts to tell Wayne he was completely wrong in the role and ended up embarrassing himself to a degree that would have ended many others careers. A sad footnote to the film was that it was shot in Utah near an Atomic bomb testing sight and most of the cast and crew would later contract and die of cancer.

THE EGYPTIAN (1954) - This biblical soap opera is one of the most unintentionally funny movies ever made. The film is slow and ponderous and only comes to life when Bella Darvi, mistress of Daryl F. Zanuck, shows up to spout lines that you can barely understand due to her heavy accent.

A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957) - Ernest Hemingway's beautiful, poetic novel about a romance between a soldier and a nurse in WWI was turned into a heavy handed soap opera with Rock Hudson in the lead and Jennifer Jones (aka Mrs. David O. Selznick) playing a nurse meant to be almost 20 years younger then she was. Selznick's constant interference lead to problems with director John Huston, who was fired mid-production. This dud marked the end of Selznick's career.