Best Movies of 1952 by Rank
9
1
Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen
Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell
Musical / Comedy / Romance / Family
USA
English
54
2
Akira Kurosawa
Takashi Shimura, Shinichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka, Minoru Chiaki, Miki Odagiri
Drama
Japan
Japanese
108
3
Fred Zinnemann
Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly
Thriller / Western
USA
English
173
4
René Clément
Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey, Amédée, Laurence Badie
Drama / War
France
French
252
5
John Ford
John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, Ward Bond
Drama / Romance / Comedy
USA
English
293
6
Vittorio De Sica
Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova, Elena Rea
Drama
Italy
Italian
425
7
Vincente Minnelli
Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas
Drama / Film-Noir
USA
English
449
8
Jean Renoir
Anna Magnani, Odoardo Spadaro, Nada Fiorelli, Dante
Comedy / Drama / Romance / Adventure
France / Italy
English
525
9
Roberto Rossellini
Ingrid Bergman, Alexander Knox, Ettore Giannini, Giulietta Masina
Drama
Italy
Italian
800
10
Charles Chaplin
Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce, Buster Keaton
Comedy / Drama / Family
USA
English
841
11
John Huston
José Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon
Drama / Biography / Period Film
UK
English
848
12
Kenji Mizoguchi
Kinuyo Tanaka, Tsukie Matsuura, Ichirô Sugai
Drama / Period Film
Japan
Japanese
950
13
Elia Kazan
Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn, Joseph Wiseman
Drama / Biography
USA
English
1027
14
Daniel Mann
Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, Terry Moore, Richard Jaeckel
Drama
USA
English
1054
15
Jacques Becker
Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Claude Dauphin
Crime / Drama / Romance / Period Film
France
French
1064
16
Cecil B. DeMille
Betty Hutton, Charlton Heston, Cornel Wilde, James Stewart
Drama / Family / Romance / Adventure
USA
English
1171
17
Orson Welles
Orson Welles, Micheál MacLiammóir
Drama / Period Film
USA / Italy / France / Morocco
English
1311
18
Luis Buñuel
Dan O'Herlihy, Felipe de Alba, Jaime Fernández, Chel López
Adventure / Drama
Mexico
English
1488
19
Howard Hawks
Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt
Western / Adventure
USA
English
1535
20
Otto Preminger
Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall
Drama / Film-Noir / Crime
USA
English
1564
21
Fritz Lang
Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer, Gloria Henry, William Frawley
Drama / Western / Crime / Thriller
USA
English
1704
23
Richard Fleischer
Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White, Gordon Gebert
Crime / Film-Noir / Drama / Thriller / Detective / Cult
USA
English
1746
24
Richard Fleischer
Charles Boyer, Louis Jourdan, Marsha Hunt, Kurt Kasznar
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
1878
25
Alexander Mackendrick, Fred F. Sears
Phyllis Calvert, Jack Hawkins, Terence Morgan, Mandy Miller
Drama
UK
English
1937
26
David Lean
Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick
Drama / Action / Adventure
UK
English
1960
27
Nicholas Ray
Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Kennedy, Arthur Hunnicutt
Action / Drama / Western
USA
English
1971
28
Richard Thorpe
Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
Adventure / Drama / Romance
UK / USA
English
2021
29
Henry King
Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Hildegard Knef
Adventure / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2039
30
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie, Walter Hampden
Drama / Thriller / Spy / War
USA
English
2041
31
Frank Tashlin
Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers, Trigger
Action / Comedy / Western / Romance
USA
English
2052
32
William Wyler
Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, Miriam Hopkins, Eddie Albert
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2080
33
George Cukor
Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Aldo Ray, William Ching, Sammy White
Comedy / Romance / Sports
USA
English
2106
34
Max Ophüls
Claude Dauphin, Gaby Morlay, Madeleine Renaud, Ginette Leclerc
Comedy / Drama / Romance
France
French
2176
35
René Clair
Gérard Philipe, Martine Carol, Gina Lollobrigida, Magali Vendeuil
Comedy / Fantasy / Romance
France / Italy
French
2226
36
Merian C. Cooper, Gunther von Fritsch, Ernest B. Schoedsack, Michael Todd Jr.
Lowell Thomas
Documentary
USA
English
2253
37
Carol Reed
Ralph Richardson, Trevor Howard, Robert Morley, Wendy Hiller, Kerima
Drama / Adventure
UK
English
2264
38
Walter Lang
Susan Hayward, Rory Calhoun, David Wayne, Thelma Ritter
Drama / Musical / Biography
USA
English
2349
39
Howard Hawks
Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe
Comedy / Sci-Fi
USA
English
2409
41
George Sidney
Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer, Henry Wilcoxon
Adventure / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2442
42
Anthony Asquith
Michael Redgrave, Richard Wattis, Michael Denison, Walter Hudd
Comedy / Drama / Romance
UK
English
2476
43
Julien Duvivier
Fernandel, Gino Cervi, Vera Talchi, Franco Interlenghi
Comedy / Drama
France / Italy
Italian
2481
44
Leo McCarey
Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, Dean Jagger
Drama / Spy / Action
USA
English
2496
45
Fritz Lang
Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Paul Douglas, Marilyn Monroe
Drama / Film-Noir
USA
English
2500
46
Charles Vidor
Danny Kaye, Farley Granger, Zizi Jeanmaire, Joseph Walsh, Philip Tonge
Biography / Family / Musical / Drama / Fantasy
USA
English
2515
47
Fred Zinnemann
Ethel Waters, Julie Harris, Brandon De Wilde, Arthur Franz, Nancy Gates
Drama
USA
English
2546
48
Renato Castellani
Maria Fiore, Vincenzo Musolino, Filomena Russo
Drama / Comedy / Romance
Italy
Italian
2559
49
Russell Rouse
Ray Milland, Martin Gabel, Harry Bronson, Rita Vale
Crime / Film-Noir / Drama / Thriller / Spy
USA
English
2569
50
Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, James Whitmore, Larry Keating
Action / Drama / History
USA
English
2572
51
André Cayatte
Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin
Drama
France / Italy
French
2581
52
George Cukor
Judy Holliday, Aldo Ray, Madge Kennedy, Sheila Bond
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2608
54
Robert Siodmak
Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, Eva Bartok, Torin Thatcher, James Hayter
Action / Adventure / Comedy
USA
English
2608
54
Kozaburo Yoshimura
Yumiko Miyagino, Mitsuko Miura, Yuko Tsumura, Kinuyo Tanaka, Jukichi Uno
Drama
Japan
Japanese
2608
54
Stuart Heisler
Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood, Warner Anderson, Minor Watson
Drama
USA
English
2692
55
Luis García Berlanga
José Isbert, Lolita Sevilla, Alberto Romea, Manolo Morán
Comedy
Spain
Spanish
2692
55
Arch Oboler
Robert Stack, Barbara Britton, Nigel Bruce, Ramsay Hill, Paul McVey, Hope Miller
Adventure / Action / Drama
USA
English
2692
55
Ronald Neame
Alec Guinness, Glynis Johns, Valerie Hobson, Petula Clark, Edward Chapman
Comedy / Drama / Crime
UK
English
2692
55
Christian-Jaque
Gérard Philipe, Gina Lollobrigida, Marcel Herrand, Olivier Hussenot
Adventure / Comedy / Romance / War
Italy / France
French
2692
55
Henry Koster
Olivia de Havilland, Richard Burton, Audrey Dalton, Ronald Squire, George Dolenz
Mystery / Romance / Drama / Period Film
USA
English
2692
55
Vladimir Petrov
Igor Gorbachyov, Yuri Tolubeyev, Anastasiya Georgiyevskaya, Tamara Nosova
Comedy
Soviet Union
Russian
2692
55
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Sergei Lukyanov, Natalya Medvedeva, Nikolai Timofeyev, Anatoli Chemodurov
Drama
Soviet Union
Russian
2692
55
Aleksander Ford
Czeslaw Wollejko, Zbigniew Lobodzinski, J. Nieweglowski, Jerzy Duszynski
Drama / Music
Poland
Polish
2743
56
Donald Swanson
Tommy Ramokgopa, Harriet Qubeka, Joseph Motuba, David Mnkwanazi, Victor Cwai
Comedy / Crime / Drama
South Africa
English
2758
57
Tex Avery
Daws Butler, Carlos Ramírez
Family / Animation / Comedy / Short / Musical
USA
English
2775
58
Erik Blomberg
Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nissilä, Åke Lindman
Drama / Horror / Fantasy / Romance
Finland
Finnish
2790
59
Philip Leacock
John Gregson, Meg Buchanan, John Rae, Andrew Keir, Fulton Mackay
Drama
UK
English
2790
59
Jean Negulesco
Bette Davis, Shelley Winters, Gary Merrill, Davis Roberts
Drama
USA
English
2791
60
Henry Koster
Clifton Webb, Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, Ruth Hussey
Musical / Drama / Biography
USA
English
2794
61
Federico Fellini
Alberto Sordi, Giulietta Masina, Brunella Bovo, Leopoldo Trieste
Comedy / Drama
Italy
Italian
2799
62
Hugo Fregonese
Millard Mitchell, Gilbert Roland, John Beal, Marshall Thompson, Alf Kjellin
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2809
63
various
Lous Costello, Bud Abbott
Comedy / Documentary
USA
English
2809
63
George Sherman
Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, Alice Kelley, Mildred Natwick
Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2809
63
William Beaudine
Bela Lugosi, Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo, Charlita, Muriel Landers
Comedy / Horror / Sci-Fi / Adventure
USA
English
2809
63
Douglas Sirk
Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn, Gigi Perreau, Lynn Bari
Comedy
USA
English
2809
63
George Franju
Jeanne d'Alcy, François Lallement, André Méliès
Short / Documentary / Biography / Drama
France
French
2809
63
Josef von Sternberg, Nicholas Ray
Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez, Gloria Grahame
Film-Noir / Adventure / Romance / Drama / Crime
USA
English
2809
63
James Sheldon
Wally Cox, Patricia Benoit, Gage Clarke, Norma Crane, Jenny Egan
Comedy
USA
English
2809
63
Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, Henry King, Henry Koster, Jean Negulesco
Charles Laughton, Marilyn Monroe, David Wayne, Richard Widmark, Anne Baxter
Drama / Comedy
USA
English
2809
63
Nicholas Ray, Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Anthony Ross
Crime / Film-Noir / Drama / Detective
USA
English
2809
63
Ken Annakin
Richard Todd, Joan Rice, Peter Finch, James Hayter, James Robertson Justice
Adventure / Family / Crime
USA
English
2809
63
David Miller
Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett, Virginia Huston
Film-Noir / Horror / Thriller / Crime
USA
English
2809
63
various
Gertrude Berg, Eli Mintz, Arlene McQuade, Robert H. Harris, Tom Taylor
Comedy
USA
English
2809
63
Lewis Seiler
Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lovejoy, Eve Miller, James Millican
Biography / Drama / Romance / Sports
USA
English
2809
63
Walter Lantz, various
Mel Blanc, Grace Stafford
Animation / Family / Comedy / Short
USA
English
2809
63
Frederick De Cordova
Jeff Chandler, Scott Brady, Suzan Ball, Joseph Calleia, George Mathews
Adventure
USA
English
2862
65
Vijay Bhatt
Bharat Bhushan, Meena Kumari, Surendra, B.M. Vyas
Drama / Musical
India
Hindi
2862
65
Sidney Salkow
George Montgomery, Helena Carter, Jay Silverheels, Walter Kingsford
Western / Action / Adventure
USA
English
