1950's Science-Fiction Timeline



The following is a chronological guide to science-fiction in the 1950s, a shopping list for those just starting out on this fantastic odyssey. Those titles highlighted in blue indicate films that I consider important, either for reasons of influence and generic development, commercial succcess, or sheer entertainment value. As with any list of this nature there may be some titles I have overlooked. If this is the case I'd like to call on the limitless knowledge of my esteemed readership to let me know, and I will be only too glad to add the titles. Also if there are films that are not highlighted that you believe deserve recognition, please feel free to leave a comment briefly explaining why, and I'll be sure to make the change.

1950

Destination Moon (Irving Picher, USA)

Flying Saucer, The (Mikel Conrad, USA)

Prehistoric Women (Gregg G. Tallas, USA)

Rocketship X-M (Kurt Neumann, USA)

1951

Day the Earth Stood Still, The (Robert Wise, USA)
Five (Arch Oboler, USA)
Flight to Mars (Lesley Selander, USA)
Lost Continent (Sam Newfield, USA)
Lost Planet Airmen (Fred C. Brannon, USA)
Man from Planet X, The (Edgar G. Ulmer, USA)
Thing from Another World, The (Christian Nyby, USA)
Two Lost Worlds (Norman Dawn, USA)
Unknown World (Terry O. Morse, USA)
When Worlds Collide (Rudolph Maté, USA)

1952

Captive Women (Stuart Gilmore, USA)
Red Planet Mars (Harry Horner, USA)
Untamed Women (W. Merle Connell, USA)

1953
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The (Eugene Lourié, USA)
Cat-Women of the Moon (Arthur Hilton, USA)
Donvan's Brain (Felix E. Feist, USA)
Four Sided Triangle (Terence Fisher, UK)
Invaders from Mars (William Cameron Menzies, USA)
It Came from Outer Space (Jack Arnold, USA)
Magnetic Monster, The (Curt Siodmak, USA)
Mesa of Lost Women (Ron Ormond and Herbert Tevos, USA)
Neanderthal Man, The (Ewald André Dupont, USA)
Phantom from Space (W. Lee Wilder, USA)
Port Sinister (Harold Daniels, USA)
Project Moonbase (Richard Talmadge, USA)
Robot Monster (Phil Tucker, USA)
Spaceways (Terence Fisher, UK)
Twonky, The (Arch Oboler, USA) 
War of the Worlds, The (Byron Haskin, USA)

1954

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Richard Fleischer, USA)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (Jack Arnold, USA)
Devil Girl from Mars (David MacDonald, UK)
Gojira (Ishiro Honda, Japan)
Gog (Herbert L. Strock, USA)
Killers from Space (W. Lee Wilder, USA)
Monster from the Ocean Floor (Wyott Ordung, USA)
Riders to the Stars (Richard Carlson, USA)
Snow Creature, The (W. Lee Wilder, USA)
Stranger from Venus (Bob Balaban, USA)
Target Earth (Sherman A. Rose, USA)
Them! (Gordon Douglas, USA)
Tobor the Great (Lee Sholem, USA)

1955

Beast with a Million Eyes, The (David Kramarsky, USA)
Bride of the Monster (Edward D. Wood Jr, USA)
Conquest of Space (Byron Haskin, USA)
Creature with the Atom Brain (Edward L. Cahn, USA)
Godzilla Raids Again (Motoyoshi Oda, Japan)
It Came from Beneath the Sea (Robert Gordon, USA)
King Dinosaur (Bert I. Gordon, USA)
Monster Snowman (Ishiro Honda, Japan)
Quatermass Xperiment, The (Val Guest, UK)
Revenge of the Creature (Jack Arnold, USA)
Tarantula (Jack Arnold, USA)
This Island Earth (Joseph Newman, USA)

1956

1984 (Michael Anderson, UK)
Black Sleep, The (Reginald Le Borg, USA)
Beast of Hollow Mountain, The (Edward Nassour and Ismael Rodriguez, USA)
Creature Walks Among Us, The (John Sherwood, USA)
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (Fred F. Sears, USA)
Day the World Ended (Roger Corman, USA)
Fire Maidens of Outer Space (Cy Roth, USA)
Forbidden Planet (Fred Wilcox, USA)
Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Ishiro Honda and Terry O. Morse, USA/Japan)
Indestructible Man (Jack Pollexfen, USA)
It Conquered the World (Roger Corman, USA)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, USA)
Man Beast (Jerry Warren, 1956)
Man Who Turned to Stone, The (László Kardos, USA)
Mole People, The (Virgil W. Vogel, USA)
Phantom from 10,000 Leagues, The (Dan Milner, USA)
Rodan (Ishiro Honda, Japan)
She-Creature, The (Edward L. Cahn, USA)
Warning from Space (Koji Shima, Japan)
World Without End (Edward Bernds, USA)
X: The Unknown (Leslie Norman, UK)

1957

27th Day, The (William Asher, USA)
20 Million Miles to Earth (Nathan Juran, USA)
Abominable Snowman, The (Val Guest, 1957)
Amazing Colossal Man, The (Bert I. Gordon, USA)
Astounding She Monster, The (Ronald V. Ashcroft, USA)
Attack of the Crab Monsters (Roger Corman, USA)
Beginning of the End (Bert I. Gordon, USA)
Black Scorpion, The (Edward Ludwig, USA)
Brain from Planet Arous, The (Nathan Juran, USA)
Cyclops, The (Bert I. Gordon, USA)
Deadly Mantis, The (Nathan Juran, USA)
From Hell It Came (Dan Milner, USA)
Giant Claw, The (Fred F. Sears, USA)
Incredible Shrinking Man, The (Jack Arnold, USA)
Invisible Boy, The (Herman Hoffman, USA)
Kronos (Kurt Neumann, USA)
Land Unknown, The (Virgil W. Vogel, USA)
Monolith Monsters, The (John Sherwood, USA)
Monster that Challenged the World, The (Arnold Laven, USA)
Mysterians, The (Ishiro Honda, Japan)
Night the World Exploded, The (Fred F. Sears, USA)
Not of this Earth (Roger Corman, USA)
Quatermass 2 (Val Guest, UK)
She Devil (Kurt Neumann, USA)
Unearthly, The (Boris Petroff, USA)
Unknown Terror, The (Charles Marquis Warren, USA)

1958

Attack of the Puppet People (Bert I. Gordon, USA)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (Nathan Juran, USA)
Blob, The (Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr, USA)
Brain Eaters, The (Bruno VeSota, USA)
Colossus of New York, The (Eugene Lourié, USA)
Day the Sky Exploded, The (Paolo Heusch, Italy/France)
Earth vs. The Spider (Bert I. Gordon, USA)
Electronic Monster, The (Montgomery Tully and David Paltenghi, UK)
Fabulous World of Jules Verne, The (Karel Zeman, Czechoslovakia)
Fiend Without a Face (Arthur Crabtree, UK)
Fly, The (Kurt Neumann, USA)
Frankenstein - 1970 (Howard W. Koch, USA)
H-Man, The (Ishiro Honda, Japan)
Half Human (Ishiro Honda and Kenneth G. Crane, Japan/USA)
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (Gene Fowler Jr, USA)
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (Edward L. Cahn, USA)
Lost Missile, The (Lester William Berke, USA)
Missile to the Moon (Richard E. Cunha, USA)
Missile Monsters (Fred C. Brannon, USA)
Monster from Green Hell (Kenneth G. Crane, USA)
Monster on the Campus (Jack Arnold, USA)
Night of the Blood Beast (Bernard L. Kowalski, USA)
Queen of Outer Space (Edward Bernds, USA)
Satan's Satellites (Fred C. Brannon, USA)
Space Children, The (Jack Arnold, USA)
Space Master X-7 (Edward Bernds, USA)
Strange World of Planet X, The (Gilbert Gunn, UK)
Teenage Caveman (Roger Corman, USA)
Teenage Monster (Jacques R. Marquette, USA)
Trollenberg Terror, The (Quentin Lawrence, UK)
Varan the Unbelievable (Ishiro Honda, Japan)
War of the Colossal Beast (Bert I. Gordon, USA)
War of the Satellites (Roger Corman, USA)

1959

30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, The (Sidney Miller, USA)
4D Man (Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr, USA)
Angry Red Planet, The (Ib Melchior, USA)
Attack of the Giant Leeches (Bernard L. Kowalski, USA)
Battle of Outer Space (Ishiro Honda, Japan)
Beast from Haunted Cave (Monte Hellman, USA)
Cosmic Man, The (Herbert S. Greene, USA)
First Man Into Space (Robert Day, UK)
First Spaceship on Venus (Kurt Maetzig, East Germany/Poland)
Giant Behemoth, The (Douglas Hickox and Eugene Lourie, UK)
Giant Gila Monster, The (Ray Kellogg, USA)
Hideous Sun Demon, The (Robert Clarke and Tom Boutross, USA)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Henry Levin, USA)
Killer Shrews, The (Ray Kellogg, USA)
Manster, The (George Breakston and Kenneth G. Crane, USA/Japan)
Monster from Piedras Blancas, The (Irvin Berwick, USA)
On the Beach (Stanley Kramer, USA)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (Edward D. Wood Jr, USA)
Prince of Space (Eijiro Wakabayashi, Japan)
Return of the Fly (Edward Bernds, USA)
Teenagers from Outer Space (Tom Graeff, USA)
Wasp Woman, The (Roger Corman, USA)
The World, The Flesh and the Devil (Ranald MacDougall, USA)