| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_fifties.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:The best of times or the worst of times, depending on who you ask.]] |
| 3 | %% Caption removed per General Caption Repair Thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900&page=76 |
| 4 | %% Please do not add a new caption without consulting the thread. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ->''"We're going to the Doo-Wop Hop tonight, so we're dressed like they did in the fifties. You know, when everyone dressed like a sitcom from The70s?"'' |
| 7 | -->-- '''Phineas Flynn''', ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The Fabulous Fifties: An era of identical [[StepfordSuburbia pink pressboard]] [[{{Suburbia}} suburban houses]] filled with {{s|tepfordSmiler}}miling, apron-clad {{housewi|fe}}ves. All the men [[Standard50sFather wear slippers and fedoras and smoke pipes]], all the girls [[GirlNextDoor are teenaged and wear poodle skirts]], and all the boys [[TheAllAmericanBoy are cute, freckle faced scamps with slingshots in their pockets]]. Parents [[SleepingSingle sleep in separate beds]] and only kiss each other on the cheek. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Anyone who isn't any of these characters are either [[GreaserDelinquents greasers]], {{Beatnik}}s, gas station attendants, or [[Music/ElvisPresley Elvis]] (who, in this era, wouldn't be caught dead in a rhinestone jumpsuit). With the [[RedScare possible]] exception of the gas station attendants, everyone on that list is a direct threat to the upright morals and values of the era and will not be afforded a spot in the basement bomb shelter when the [[DirtyCommunists Reds]] drop [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons The Big One]]. Meanwhile, UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr and the burgeoning UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement stride across the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, slowed down only by the occasional SmalltownTyrant. [[TheNewRockAndRoll The birth of rock 'n' roll]] took place in this era, to the horror of MoralGuardians, which also showed a resurgence in popularity. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | That's the [[PopularHistory popular]] view of the Fifties, at least. In media, there are three versions of The Fifties. The first is the Fifties Fifties, i.e. how the time was portrayed in works that were actually made then. In this version, The Fifties were a suburban paradise where everyone was always happy, either forgetting the [[TheGreatDepression bad]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII events]] that happened during [[The40s the last decade]] or reminiscing the [[TheGay90s prosperous]] [[TheRoaring20s times]] of previous decades, and there were no problems except for all those [[TeensAreMonsters juvenile delinquents]] running around. Unless the local college had some commies spreading un-American values or [[BMovie the flying saucers are landing]]. The fifties uptightness was linked to real world anxieties and [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons atom-bomb]] jitters, after all. Don't expect the civil rights movement to show up. Hell, seeing actual black people is a bit of a crapshoot. The Fifties Fifties are in contemporary times a popular subject of TheParody. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | The next version is the Nostalgic Fifties of The70s and The80s. By that time, there were a huge number of adults nostalgic for the "simple times" of their youth and Hollywood obliged. The biggest difference between this version and the Fifties Fifties is that the rebellious teenagers are now the heroes. We learn that all the teenagers back then liked to hang out at the local MaltShop, where a jukebox played NothingButHits. The girls were only {{seemingly wholesome|50sGirl}} and both sexes were experiencing their own [[ComingOfAgeStory Coming Of Age Stories]] while necking down at the DriveInTheater and watching ''Film/RobotMonster'' like the {{unabashed B movie fan}}s they were. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Finally, there are the Historical Fifties from The90s to the PresentDay. The Nostalgic Fifties are now starting to die out, replaced by other decades as there are becoming fewer and fewer writers in Hollywood who remember the Fifties... and many of these writers are the ''children'' of those former "rebellious teens", and take a somewhat more jaundiced view of their parents' upbringing. Therefore, the time period, as portrayed by Hollywood, is becoming more the textbook version. Films about The Fifties today tend more to deal with the political issues of that era (civil rights, [=McCarthyism=], etc.) and less with its teen culture. Which is not to say it is ''necessarily'' any more accurate of course, merely that the decade is now filtered more through a political/ideological lens than a nostalgic one and teenagers aren't the only people that matter. During this period, there were currents that anticipated trends from later decades but because of the repressiveness and censorship of the culture, they were on the margins rather than the mainstream, so modern views are more informed from this perspective. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | For a glimpse of what (some) Americans actually living in the Fifties thought of their world, read the TimeTravel stories of Jack Finney. His heroes are generally lonely, frustrated, unhappy bachelors eager to escape from their conformist gray-flannel-suited world, usually into TheGay90s. Likewise actual 50s film are also a good depiction, not only Hollywood but also independent films such as ''Film/{{Shadows}}'' by Creator/JohnCassavetes (actually shot in 50s New York and dealt with working-class African-American characters). FilmNoir was a major genre during the Fifties, that doesn't easily fit in with any of the mainstream versions of the decade listed above, even if many 50s FilmNoir actually dealt with the underbelly of crime and represented it in this period and indeed one of the key period films depicting this time is of course ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' (Henry Hill's childhood and teenage years). This includes modern noir ''set'' during the Fifties like ''Film/LAConfidential1997'' or ''Film/TheBlackDahlia''. The other popular genres in this decade are TheMusical, TheWestern, the BMovie, the EpicMovie, widescreen cinema. Formerly the 50s was considered a weak era for Hollywood, these days a growing contingent considers it the greatest period of [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood Hollywood's Golden Age]]. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Speaking of movies, this was the first decade when Hollywood was old enough to reflect upon itself, gazing fondly (or not) on the [[MediaNotes/TheSilentAgeOfHollywood Silent Era]]. See movies like ''Film/SingingInTheRain'' for comedic takes on the subject, and ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'' for dramatic ones. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | The political decade of the fifties began with [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII V-J Day]] on August 15, 1945, the start of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar on June 25, 1950 and the election of UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower as President on November 4, 1952 ending two decades of Democrat dominance in Washington and ended with the [[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement March on Washington]] on August 28, 1963 and the [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy assassination]] on November 22, 1963. Culturally speaking, it started with the mass production of TV sets in 1946 and the premiere of ''Series/ILoveLucy'' on October 15, 1951 and ended with the theatrical release of ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' on September 8, 1960 and the American debut of Music/TheBeatles on ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow'' on February 9, 1964. In many ways it is one of the longest cultural "decades" since, when looking at the furthest possible endpoints, it covers the whole period between V-J Day to the start of MediaNotes/TheBritishInvasion (1945-64). Shifts in this period include 1955-57 as TV ownership reached a tipping point, tailfin cars got REALLY wild, women's skirts got shorter in reaction against the neo-Victorian "New Look" that had started in the late '40s, RockAndRoll started getting serious radio play and the first wave of [[BabiesEverAfter Baby Boomers]] reached JuniorHigh. Another shift was the October 1957 launch of Sputnik which launched the Space Race, the point where the decade's futurism and science-fiction dreams went into government policy. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Interestingly, the decade has triggered highly contradictory reactions among people who do not remember it well since the 1970s. Fifties cars are still admired aesthetically (in some areas, you can still find them on the street), Fifties clothes are enormously popular for costume parties, and Fifties music (at least, the sort that doesn't sound like holdovers from the Forties) will probably never be thought unfashionable. In addition, many seem to view the decade, with much sadness, as a forever-vanished idyllic time that was infinitely more conservative and family-friendly (although this is not what people actually living through the decade necessarily thought). At the same time, the 1950s is often treated as a sort of historical ButtMonkey; an all-purpose dartboard on which anyone who is irritated by social repression -- ''especially'' if it concerns sex -- can feel free to take out their frustrations. (Whenever you hear of someone described as having "Fifties values," it usually isn't intended to be a compliment.) |
| 26 | |
| 27 | But those who wish to {{Flanderiz|ation}}e an entire decade should know that the 1950s were actually marked by great strides forward in social progress, sexual and otherwise, even if they still existed mostly on the theoretical level. And in any case, [[FairForItsDay they were a lot less repressed than the eras that preceded them]]. The decade was also a period of relative stability and unprecedented optimism, both probably enhanced by comparison since the period was bracketed by the horrors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the upcoming turbulence of The60s. This was particularly prevalent in the US, which had not only triumphed in the war but, more importantly, was just about the only major nation to come out of the conflict with its infrastructure intact. With no rebuilding to do, the focus was on innovation; there was a strong belief in the prospect of limitless progress through science and industry, which led to a lot of gee-whiz science fiction that's now covered with {{Zeerust}}. It's no coincidence that the ultimate embodiment of optimism, [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]], opened in 1955, with its cornerstone of Tomorrowland, promising a "great big beautiful tomorrow." Compare AluminumChristmasTrees. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | For more information, see our [[UsefulNotes/The50s swell Useful Notes page]]. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | Compare TheGildedAge across the pond, a similar era of prosperity with similar underlying problems (conformity, stratification, classism, and limited roles for women) - although as with the the 1950's, people were struggling for progress, as evidenced by the labour movement gaining steam and increasing demands for women's suffrage. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | See Also: TheRoaring20s, TheGreatDepression, The40s, The60s, The70s, The80s, The90s, TurnOfTheMillennium, TheNew10s, and TheNew20s. |
| 34 | ---- |
| 35 | !!Fifties slang. If you want to talk like it's the Fifties, be sure to use these words: |
| 36 | * "Swell" - Say this a lot, especially if you're a teenage girl and you're talking about something you like (usually a boy). Be sure to say it in an extra cutesy and/or sweet way. The more affected it sounds, the better. ("Oh, that's just swell!") The word actually dates to TheRoaring20s, but it continued to be used in popular media until about the mid-Sixties, making it an early example of TotallyRadical. |
| 37 | * If you get tired of "swell" try "keen" or "neat" instead, but don't say "neat-o" or "cool" unless you're a beatnik. |
| 38 | * "Gee whiz" - Be sure to say this every two seconds if you're a boy under twelve. It can be used in any situation since it's a GoshDangItToHeck version of Jesus and Golly for "god". "Golly" can essentially serve the same purpose. |
| 39 | * "Square" - Someone dull, out of it or otherwise not "in". Usually used to refer to a nerd, since the Fifties were before [[NerdsAreSexy Nerds Became Sexy]] and long before [[{{Nerdcore}} nerds were hardcore]]. |
| 40 | * "Dreamboat" - If you're a girl, use this word to refer to your crush. |
| 41 | * "Baby" - If you're a guy, this is what you call your girlfriend. Be sure to add the word "hey" before it whenever you address her, or start with "hello", but the second syllable should be of much lower tone. If you're The Big Bopper you can elongate both words. This is a great way to cover up if you can't remember her name (after all, all girls back then seemed to have names like Peggy Sue or Mary Lou, so it's easy to get them mixed up). If that doesn't work, call her the name of a candy, confection or anything else that tastes sweet. Fifties girls like to think that they remind you of what causes cavities. |
| 42 | * "Dolls/Dames" - Girls/women collectively. If you happen to be a private detective, use it whenever you can justify it. |
| 43 | * "Get with it, kid" - What you say to a square. |
| 44 | * If you're a dad, call your teenaged daughter "Kitten" and your preteen son "Sport". |
| 45 | ---- |
| 46 | !!Popular tropes from this time period are: |
| 47 | * FiftiesHair: Hair was groomed and wavy in this era, so get your combs, brushes, and pomade ready should a single strand gets out of place. |
| 48 | * TheAllAmericanBoy: Aw gee, that's swell! |
| 49 | * AudienceAlienatingEra: The decade had this reputation back in the 60s and most of the 70s. Even today it often rivals decades such as the 70s and the 80s for this crown. |
| 50 | * BMovie: B-movies become more prominent, with SpecialEffectsFailure and outlandish stories about alien invasion or giant monsters attacking the city as the main reason why young people went to watch them. |
| 51 | * BabiesEverAfter: The post-World War II Baby Boom continued unabated throughout the decade. People born in the second half of the decade only stopped being called "Baby Boomers" when people noticed that they, largely immunized from polio at birth, with TV in their homes from earliest living memory, too young to go to Vietnam with their adolescence well into The70s and at the start of TheNew10s still a decade or more from retirement with kids just starting HighSchool, are really a generation unto themselves. |
| 52 | * BadassBiker: James Dean and Marlon Brando. |
| 53 | * {{Beatnik}}: The original {{Hipster}}s, man. Britain and Soviet Russia have their own respective equivalents like the Teddy Boys and the Stilyagis. |
| 54 | * CoolCar: the [[The40s late 1940s]] to early 1950s marked the beginning of the car culture as modern people understand it, very much unlike [[TheRoaring20s the age of the Ford Model T]]. |
| 55 | * CutAndPasteSuburb: Technically the proliferation of standardized housing started in The40s when all those veterans came home and started housekeeping, but The Fifties is when this trope really came into prominence. |
| 56 | * DadTheVeteran: Of World War II and/or UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar, naturally. |
| 57 | * DeliberatelyMonochrome: In many call-backs to the decade. |
| 58 | * DirtyCommunists: Many people in the West feared Communism, especially when Cuba too became a Communist state. |
| 59 | * Ride/DisneyThemeParks: Disneyland opened in 1955. |
| 60 | * DriveInTheater: Young people took their dates to see a cheesy B-movie from the comfort of their own car. The logical combination of the above tropes BMovie and CoolCar. |
| 61 | * ForeignCultureFetish: |
| 62 | ** Hawaiian and Pacific Islander stuff continued to be popular to the West, to the point where a Norwegian explorer named Thor Heyerdahl led an expedition to the Pacific Ocean upon the Kon-Tiki in 1947, and Hawaii became the 50th state of the US in 1959. While the teens hanged out on malt shops, the adults occasionally hanged out on tiki bars. Tiki bars popped up everywhere from cities, to suburbias, to even the middle of nowhere where travellers could stop over and grab a Mai Tai. |
| 63 | ** Paris was the buzzword for sophistication in this decade. Following its liberation, the city immediately went back to business as if the Germans never invaded the city at all. With cafés filled to the brim with writers and intellectuals, fashion boutiques displaying the cutting-edge "New Look" dresses, films always showing [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench la Tour d'Eiffel]] [[EiffelTowerEffect wherever they're set]], and people walking with their poodles on the street. |
| 64 | ** Rivaling France for sophistication is Italy, with its ''dolce vita'' vibe, scenic landscapes of fields and beaches, cities like Venice, Naples, and Rome, fashion houses like Gucci and Prada, Creator/SophiaLoren, and SwordAndSandal epics never ceases to captivate anyone. Plus, the country brought us the greatest thing in the world: pizza. |
| 65 | * TheGenerationGap: Starts to take root in this era before heading full swing in The60s and The70s. |
| 66 | * The end of the Golden Ages of [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood film]], [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation animation]] and [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks comic books]]. Film and animation in the USA finally got First Amendment free speech protection during this decade for the first time in generations while comic books [[MediaNotes/TheComicsCode experienced the exact opposite]]. |
| 67 | * GirlinessUpgrade: After the war, many of the {{Wrench Wench}}es settled down with their boyfriends and husbands and became housewives. |
| 68 | * GlassesAreSexy: After decades of rounded glasses, came the cat-eye glasses, which added a sense of sex-appeal for women wearing them, even by women without vision problems, like [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marilyn-monroe-glasses-colour.jpg Marilyn Monroe]] on ''Film/HowToMarryAMillionaire''. |
| 69 | * GoshDangItToHeck: Vulgar language isn't in vogue in this decade, so everybody speaks in family friendly swearing. |
| 70 | * GreaserDelinquents: Young men wear leather jackets, grease their hair and drive a motorbike or a cool car, while being badass. |
| 71 | * HellBentForLeather: The teenage greasers in their leather jackets. |
| 72 | * HighSchoolDance: The natural conclusion of any high school story set in the 1950s. |
| 73 | * HighClassGloves: Everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to girls going to the prom, would include fancy gloves with their fancy dresses. The Fifties were the very last era in which gloves (such as UsefulNotes/OperaGloves) were considered a standard part of a woman's outfit. Everything after that was either a special occasion (like a fancy dress ball or a wedding) or fetish-wear. |
| 74 | * JiveTurkey: Classic radio skits from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06Fk3YLhq84 The Forties]]. |
| 75 | * LimitedAnimation: While this technique wasn't invented in this era, it did help cement the usage of it in the industry. At first, they were used in a more stylistic choice, thanks to [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons United Productions of America]] becoming more popular, popularizing the trend. As time goes on, though, thanks to the MediaNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem, animation Studios either had to cut their budgets or closed their units, and by the end, only three with consistent quality remained; Creator/{{Disney}} with their WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts, and even then the quantity of them had declined over the decade as Creator/WaltDisney moved to TV, Creator/{{Universal}}, and Creator/WarnerBros with their ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' series. By the time Creator/HannaBarbera came, it became a necessity for those studios to cut their animation budgets for any sort of revenue. |
| 76 | * MaltShop: A common 50s setting (though it also shows up in 30s and 40s movies a lot). |
| 77 | * MusicOfThe1950s: As the world was starting to calm down a bit despite [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar the tensions]] after [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII a worldwide conflict]], [[RockAndRoll a new sound]] suddenly pulled in the youth, and caused a great sensation that would leave its mark on history. Genres include: |
| 78 | ** {{Doowop}}: Became very popular, with groups like Music/ThePlatters as the most well known example. |
| 79 | ** DooWopProgression: Many songs, even those who aren't doowop have this kind of progression. |
| 80 | ** {{Jazz}}: Still a very popular genre, at least for the adults. The sound of was much cooler, simplistic, and more sophisticated after the complex improvisations of bebop. In Brazil, the music style evolved into BossaNova. |
| 81 | ** RAndB: Became popular under the Afro-American community, with {{Doowop}} and early {{Soul}} as its most popular components. |
| 82 | ** {{Rockabilly}}: Became popular during this decade, until its SpiritualSuccessor RockAndRoll surpassed it. |
| 83 | ** RockAndRoll: Without any doubt the major musical and sociological development. Music/BillHaleyAndHisComets, Music/ChuckBerry, Music/JerryLeeLewis, Music/LittleRichard and Music/ElvisPresley gave teenagers their own music genre, one that parents and MoralGuardians hated and feared and would prove to become the CultSoundtrack to a lot of major changes in society. Though it can be argued that the original rock and roll already ran out of steam by 1959, when Elvis had joined the army and Music/BuddyHolly died in a plane crash along with Music/RitchieValens and Music/TheBigBopper. |
| 84 | * TheNewRockAndRoll: Well... the ''original'' RockAndRoll. |
| 85 | * NostalgiaFilter: Throughout The70s and The80s, and even into The90s, the 1950s were the go-to decade for nostalgia in the media, as well as the retro movements of the '70s and '80s. That being said, during the 1950s, the eras synonymous with nostalgia were TheEdwardianEra and TheRoaring20s.[[note]]This is why Disneyland's starting area is Main Street USA[[/note]] That being said, during the 2000s and ''especially'' the 2010s, The80s has replaced The Fifties as the nostalgia filter era, namely because Generation X is replacing the Baby Boomers (kids of The Fifties and The60s) and Silent Generation (kids born in TheGreatDepression and The40s). |
| 86 | * NuclearFamily: The classic unit was established in this time. The father goes to work, the wife stays at home, and the kids get screwed up. |
| 87 | * NukeEm: The USA and USSR threatened one another with the prospect of dropping the Big One, which scared a lot of people. |
| 88 | * OfCorsetsSexy: Corsets came back with a vengeance. At least the fashionable 50s lady can only manage to tighten it by only 24 inches and can still breathe due to the elastic materials. For pin-ups and fetish art, it can go well with StockingFiller. |
| 89 | * OldSchoolDogfight: Every film set DuringTheWar. |
| 90 | * PimpedOutDress: From sharp suits with slinky pencil skirts to wide circle skirts with poodle appliqués to pretty cocktail dresses to white dresses with pleated skirts [[MarilynManeuver voluminous enough to be blown away by the subway vents]] to the loose sack-like dresses reminiscent of flapper frock to stunning strapless evening wear made by world-class designers like Dior, Balenciaga, Balmain, Fath, [[UsefulNotes/CocoChanel Chanel]] and Givenchy, topped it all off with stiletto heels, it was a decade of high fashion. |
| 91 | ** The mentioned designers have their trademark silhouettes copied by fellow designers, tailors and housewives everywhere, like: |
| 92 | *** UsefulNotes/ChristianDior's ultrafeminine New Look, debuting in 1947 relieving wartime austerity fashions; |
| 93 | *** His contemporary, Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga, with his Spanish-style aristocratic chic and in 1955, his sack dresses; |
| 94 | *** Pierre Balmain, co-introducing the postwar full-skirted silhouette, having royalty and famous film stars as his clients, therefore, he had a more pimped-out look in his designs; |
| 95 | *** Jacques Fath, despite imitating the styles of Dior and dying in 1954, his unique designs are more focused to the American market; |
| 96 | *** UsefulNotes/CocoChanel, who reopened her shop in 1954, introducing her simplistic and modified jersey suits; and |
| 97 | *** Hubert de Givenchy, known for his elegant simplicity, and having Creator/AudreyHepburn as his top model. |
| 98 | *** Hollywood designers Edith Head and Helen Rose deserve mentions as well, giving film an inspiration to fashion. |
| 99 | * PrettyInMink: It seemed every housewife wanted a mink wrap. A common accessory for teenage girls going to dances was a white fur shoulder wrap, especially white rabbit with two puff balls on either end. |
| 100 | * RealMenCook: Stereotypically in the '50s, while the household kitchen was reserved for the women, the grill was reserved for the men. Barbecuing and grilling started to become widespread in every American household and every diner in this decade. |
| 101 | * RealWomenHaveCurves: |
| 102 | ** Many sex symbols of this era had slightly fuller figures with "curves in the right places," such as Creator/BettiePage, Creator/JayneMansfield and of course Creator/MarilynMonroe. Weight-''gain'' supplements were even being marketed to skinny girls. The slender Creator/AudreyHepburn was actually an exception to the buxom ideal at the time. |
| 103 | ** After three decades of focusing on [[TheRoaring20s the legs]], [[TheThirties the]] [[SexyBacklessOutfit back]], and [[The40s the shoulders]] as the erogenous zones, the decade went on focusing the hips, whether padded or not, and whether it's wearing a circle skirt, a pencil skirt, or even pants. |
| 104 | ** Alongside huge hips, breasts were the erogenous zone, and with the focus on maternity, scientific discoveries, and rockets, bullet bras are a notable article during the decade. Sometimes, this made the breasts pointed enough to stab any potential suitor |
| 105 | * RedScare: You really don't understand the RedScare hysteria of this period until you get the "bomber gap": the perception that the Soviets had thousands of nuclear-armed bombers ready to unleash fiery death on American cities, largely caused by an atrocious quality of the American intelligence, which the Soviets managed to fool parading the same few bombers around.[[note]]In The Fifties U.S.S.R. had 200 strategic bombers, tops, in all. Their missiles weren't much better. Although the Tu-95 bomber, the iconic ''Bear'', was introduced in '55, and the world's first ICBM, the famous R-7, put a satellite in orbit in '57, both didn't actually reach their full potential until the [[The60s early-to-mid-Sixties]]. And the R-7 was a lousy ICBM anyway, and was quickly relegated to UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace, being replaced by the newer, more advanced military missiles.[[/note]] |
| 106 | * RetroRocket: The design theme for the whole decade, fins and all. |
| 107 | * SeeminglyWholesome50sGirl: By day, teenagers and young women of the suburbs are sweethearts. By night, they go wild. |
| 108 | * SexySweaterGirl: Tight sweaters (often white or off-white) were a common item in ladies' fashion during the decade, as a way of emphasizing the bust (especially if worn over a bullet bra) without showing any skin. |
| 109 | * Standard50sFather: Smokes a pipe, wears slippers, fedoras and greets his wife with the phrase: "Honey, I'm home" in sitcoms. |
| 110 | * StayInTheKitchen: Women, at least in Western countries, were expected to be housewives; jobs expected for them were secretaries, clerks, telephone operators, seamstresses, and the then-hotly demanded flight attendants. Women in the Eastern Bloc went to work no matter what, and were still expected to be homemakers after work. |
| 111 | * StepfordSmiler: Everybody is so happy... on TV. |
| 112 | * StepfordSuburbia: See above. |
| 113 | * {{Suburbia}} itself |
| 114 | * TeensAreMonsters: MoralGuardians fear that teenagers are led to rebellion by comics and RockAndRoll. |
| 115 | * TeenIdol: From Elvis to Frankie Avalon. |
| 116 | * TropeMakers / {{Trope Codifier}}s: Since the rise of television, we got tropes like: |
| 117 | ** AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: While tales of giants had been around before that, tales of giant, sometimes nuclear-powered animals rampaging through cities like ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'', ''Film/{{Them}}'', and the eponymous ''Film/AttackOfThe50FootWoman'' had been popularized, at least on {{B Movie}}s, in this decade |
| 118 | ** BeachKiss: Popularized by ''Film/FromHereToEternity'' (1953). |
| 119 | ** ChessWithDeath: A StockParody popularized by ''Film/TheSeventhSeal''. |
| 120 | ** KlaatuBaradaNikto: A StockParody popularized by ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951''. |
| 121 | ** MarilynManeuver: ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' popularized this StockParody. |
| 122 | ** MisterSandmanSequence: ''Mister Sandman'' was a popular mid-50s hit, thus fueling the trope in nostalgia flicks. |
| 123 | ** MockCousteau: As Creator/JacquesCousteau starting making more underwater ocean documentaries his accent became a StockParody. |
| 124 | ** MumblingBrando: The fame of Creator/MarlonBrando made his voice a popular target for spoofs. |
| 125 | ** {{Notzilla}}: The Franchise/{{Godzilla}} franchise made the monster a StockParody in itself. |
| 126 | ** PinkMeansFeminine: Color coding for girls and boys with pink and blue respectively started out after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when they were the other way around prior to that, and the trope was firmly established following [[https://www.racked.com/2015/3/20/8260341/pink-color-history the pink dress]] that First Lady Mamie Eisenhower wore for [[UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower her husband's]] inauguration in 1953. Creator/JayneMansfield further solidified pink as an ultrafeminine color when she wore a lot of pink dresses and accessories and had [[https://www.messynessychic.com/2014/01/29/the-original-barbie-house-inside-the-mansfield-mansion/ her whole mansion]] painted in pink. Lipsticks in shades of pink or coral started to be formulated in this decade, and became popular with teenagers who were too young to wear red lipsticks. |
| 127 | ** SpaghettiKiss: A StockParody popularized by ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp''. |
| 128 | ** SpoofingInTheRain: Creator/GeneKelly dancing in the rain became a StockParody thanks to ''Film/SinginInTheRain''. |
| 129 | |
| 130 | ---- |
| 131 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 132 | [[index]] |
| 133 | [[folder:Examples of the "Fifties" Fifties]] |
| 134 | [[AC:Advertising]] |
| 135 | * Advertising/LouieTheFly. Began in 1957. |
| 136 | * Advertising/TrixRabbit. Began in 1959. |
| 137 | * Advertising/WilkinsCoffee. Advertising campaign began in 1957. |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[AC:Anime & Manga]] |
| 140 | * EarlyAnimeAndManga |
| 141 | |
| 142 | [[AC:Comic Books]] |
| 143 | * ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''. Series started in 1929. |
| 144 | ** ''Recap/TintinLandOfBlackGold'' (1950). |
| 145 | ** ''Recap/TintinDestinationMoon'' (1953). |
| 146 | ** ''Recap/TintinExplorersOnTheMoon'' (1954). |
| 147 | ** ''Recap/TintinTheCalculusAffair'' (1956). |
| 148 | ** ''Recap/TintinTheRedSeaSharks'' (1958). |
| 149 | * ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio''. Series began in 1938. |
| 150 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}''. Series began in 1938. |
| 151 | ** ''ComicBook/TheSuperDogFromKrypton''. Published in March, 1955. |
| 152 | ** ''ComicBook/TheSuperDuelInSpace''. Published in July, 1958. |
| 153 | * ''ComicBook/TomPoes''. Series began in 1941. |
| 154 | * ''ComicBook/ComicCavalcade''. Series began in 1942. |
| 155 | * ''ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske''. Series began in 1945. |
| 156 | * ''ComicStrip/PaulusDeBoskabouter''. Series began in 1946. |
| 157 | * ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer''. First appeared in September, 1946. |
| 158 | ** ''Recap/TheYellowM'' (1953) |
| 159 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Nero}}'' . Series began in 1947. |
| 160 | * ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke''. Series began in 1947. |
| 161 | * ''ComicBook/PietPienterEnBertBibber''. First appeared in 1951. |
| 162 | * ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse |
| 163 | ** ''The Junior Woodchucks''. First appeared in February, 1951. |
| 164 | ** ''The Beagle Boys''. First appeared in November, 1952. |
| 165 | ** ''Gyro Gearloose''. First appeared in May, 1952. |
| 166 | ** ''April, May and June''. First appeared in February, 1953. |
| 167 | ** ''Glittering Goldie O'Gilt''. First appeared in March, 1953. |
| 168 | ** ''Flintheart Glomgold''. First appeared in September, 1956. |
| 169 | ** ''Little Helper''. First appeared in September, 1956. |
| 170 | ** ''Argus [=McSwine=]''. First appeared in July, 1957. |
| 171 | ** Grandpa Beagle/Blackheart Beagle. CompositeCharacter based on two different depictions of the Beagle Boys' founder. |
| 172 | *** Blackheart Beagle. First appeared in August, 1957. |
| 173 | *** Grandpa Beagle. First appeared in March, 1958. |
| 174 | ** General Snozzie. First appeared in June, 1958. |
| 175 | * ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK''. First appeared in March, 1951. |
| 176 | * ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' |
| 177 | ** Midge Klump. First appeared in April, 1951. |
| 178 | ** Miss Bernice Beazley. Appeared c. 1957. |
| 179 | ** Mr. Svenson. First appeared in July, 1958. |
| 180 | * ''ComicBook/RexTheWonderDog''. First appeared in January, 1952. |
| 181 | * ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' originally started as a comic book, with it's first issue debuting in August, 1952. It later converted to a magazine format by issue twenty-four in order to appease Harvey Kurtzman and keep him on as editor. |
| 182 | * ''ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger''. First appeared in August-September, 1952. |
| 183 | * ''ComicBook/RichieRich''. First appeared in September, 1953. |
| 184 | * ''ComicBook/RedSkull'' /Albert Malik is established as a Communist agent. First appeared (in this role) in December, 1953. |
| 185 | * ''ComicBook/{{Chlorophylle}}''. First appeared in 1954. |
| 186 | * ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse |
| 187 | ** ''Gilbert''. First appeared in May, 1954. |
| 188 | ** ''Scuttle/Weasel''. First appeared in February, 1957. |
| 189 | * ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen''. Comic launched September/October, 1954. |
| 190 | * ''ComicBook/KryptoTheSuperdog''. First appeared in March, 1955. |
| 191 | * ''ComicBook/{{Jommeke}}''. First appeared in October 30, 1955. |
| 192 | * ''ComicBook/MartianManhunter''. First appeared in November, 1955. |
| 193 | * ''ComicBook/TheTopper''. Comic launched in February, 1953. |
| 194 | * ''ComicBook/TheBeezer''. Comic launched in January, 1956. |
| 195 | * ''ComicBook/{{Showcase}}''. Comic launched March, 1956. |
| 196 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}''/Kathy Kane. First appeared in July, 1956. |
| 197 | * ComicBook/TheFlash |
| 198 | ** Flash/Bartholomew "Barry" Allen. First appeared in October, 1956. |
| 199 | *** ''[[ComicBook/ShowcaseNumberFour Showcase #4]]'' |
| 200 | *** ''ComicBook/TheFlash1959''. Comic launched March, 1959. |
| 201 | ** Kid Flash/Wallace "Wally" West. First appeared in December, 1959. |
| 202 | * ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe''. First appeared in 1957. |
| 203 | * ''ComicBook/ElEternauta''. First appeared in 1957. |
| 204 | * ''ComicBook/SupermansGirlFriendLoisLane''. Comic launched March/April, 1958. |
| 205 | * ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes''. First appeared in 1958. |
| 206 | ** ''ComicBook/TheLegionOfSuperHeroes''. First story, published in April, 1958. |
| 207 | * ''ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}''. First appeared in July, 1958. |
| 208 | * ''ComicBook/AdamStrange''. First appeared in November, 1958. |
| 209 | * ''ComicBook/MrFreeze''. Firs appeared in February 1959. |
| 210 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batmite}}''. First appeared in May 1959. |
| 211 | * ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''/Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee Danvers. First appeared in May, 1959. |
| 212 | ** ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton1959''. Published in May, 1959. |
| 213 | ** "ComicBook/SupergirlsSuperPet". Published in December, 1959. |
| 214 | * ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad''. Debuted in August-September, 1959. Later stories established that the Squad was founded during World War II. |
| 215 | * ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''/Hal Jordan. First appeared in October, 1959. |
| 216 | * ComicBook/LanaLang. First appeared September/October 1950. |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[AC:Comic Strips]] |
| 219 | * German comic ''ComicStrip/NickKnatterton''. First appeared in 1950. |
| 220 | * ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey''. Started in 1950. |
| 221 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''. Started in 1950. |
| 222 | * ''ComicStrip/RasmusKlump''. Started in 1951. |
| 223 | * ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS''. Started in 1951. |
| 224 | * ''ComicStrip/HiAndLois''. Started 1954. |
| 225 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Marmaduke}}''. Started 1954. |
| 226 | * ''ComicStrip/AndyCapp''. Started in 1957. |
| 227 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Jucika}}''. Started in 1957. |
| 228 | * ''Cebolinha'', which evolved into ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'', started 1959. |
| 229 | |
| 230 | [[AC:Eastern European Animation]] |
| 231 | * ''Animation/TheLittleMole'' |
| 232 | |
| 233 | [[AC:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 234 | * See also FilmsOfThe1950s |
| 235 | * The golden age of Science Fiction films, including: |
| 236 | ** ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'', a film about the human race being punished for the foolishness of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. |
| 237 | ** ''Film/{{Invasion of the Body Snatchers|1956}}'' (1956), a horror movie (with at least one good remake in The70s) about conformism. |
| 238 | * Creator/MarlonBrando made his name threatening the status quo as a bikers in: |
| 239 | ** ''Film/TheWildOne'' (1953) |
| 240 | * ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' (1954) |
| 241 | * ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''. The film series started in 1954. |
| 242 | * Creator/JamesDean made his name threatening the status quo as a greaser in ''Film/RebelWithoutACause'' (1955) |
| 243 | * Several films by Creator/MarilynMonroe, including ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' (1955), the film that [[LauncherOfAThousandShips launched a thousand skirts]]. |
| 244 | * A lot of [[BMovie B-Movies]] |
| 245 | ** ''Film/AttackOfTheCrabMonsters'' (1957) |
| 246 | ** ''Film/TheBrainFromPlanetArous'' (1957). It came from Planet Arous... with a taste for Earth Women! |
| 247 | ** ''Film/InvasionOfTheSaucerMen'' (1957) |
| 248 | *** ''Film/TheEyeCreatures'' (1967) is a remake of the above. |
| 249 | ** ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'' (1959) |
| 250 | * ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' (1998) is a {{deconstruction}}. |
| 251 | * ''Film/{{West Side Story|1961}}'' (1961) |
| 252 | |
| 253 | [[AC:Literature]] |
| 254 | * See also: LiteratureOfThe1950s |
| 255 | |
| 256 | [[AC:Live-Action TV]] |
| 257 | * See SeriesOfThe1950s |
| 258 | |
| 259 | [[AC:Music]] |
| 260 | * See MusicOfThe1950s |
| 261 | [[AC:Music Genres That Started in the Fifties]] |
| 262 | * {{Doowop}} |
| 263 | * Exotica |
| 264 | * {{Rockabilly}} |
| 265 | * RockAndRoll |
| 266 | |
| 267 | [[AC:Radio]] |
| 268 | * ''Radio/TheArchers'' |
| 269 | * ''Radio/BoldVenture'' |
| 270 | * ''Radio/DimensionX'' |
| 271 | * ''Radio/TheGoonShow'' |
| 272 | * ''Radio/HancocksHalfHour'' |
| 273 | * ''Radio/MyFriendIrma'' |
| 274 | * ''Radio/TheStanFrebergShow'' |
| 275 | * ''Radio/XMinusOne'' |
| 276 | |
| 277 | [[AC:Theater]] |
| 278 | * See: TheatreOfThe1950s |
| 279 | |
| 280 | [[AC:Pro Wrestling]] |
| 281 | * Wrestling/AbdullahTheButcher. Debuted in 1958. |
| 282 | * Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano. Debuted in 1953. |
| 283 | * Wrestling/FreddieBlassie |
| 284 | * Wrestling/BoboBrazil. Debuted in 1951. |
| 285 | * Wrestling/HaystacksCalhoun. Debuted in 1955. |
| 286 | * Wrestling/TheCrusher. Debuted in November 1949, made his TV debut in Chicago in 1954. |
| 287 | * Wrestling/DickTheBruiser. Debuted in 1954. |
| 288 | * Wrestling/TheFabulousMoolah. Debuted in 1950, won the NWA Women's Championship in September 1956, from which descends the lineage of the WWF/E Women's Championship. |
| 289 | * Wrestling/JackieFargo. Debuted in 1953. |
| 290 | * [[Wrestling/EdFarhat Ed "The Sheik" Farhat]]. Debuted in 1949. |
| 291 | * Wrestling/PamperoFirpo. Debuted in 1953. |
| 292 | * Wrestling/EddieGraham |
| 293 | * Wrestling/MasahikoKimura. Debuted in pro wrestling in the decade. |
| 294 | * Wrestling/MarkLewin. Debuted in the early 1950s. |
| 295 | * Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon. Debuted in 1959. |
| 296 | * Wrestling/PedroMorales. Debuted in 1959. |
| 297 | * Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}}. Debuted in 1951. |
| 298 | * Wrestling/AntoninoRocca |
| 299 | * [[Wrestling/BuddyRogers "The Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers]] |
| 300 | * Wrestling/BrunoSammartino. Debuted in 1959. |
| 301 | * Wrestling/StanStasiak. Debuted in 1958. |
| 302 | * Wrestling/ExoticAdrianStreet. Debuted in 1957. |
| 303 | * Wrestling/LouThesz |
| 304 | * [[Wrestling/GeorgeWagner George Wagner/Gorgeous George]] |
| 305 | * Wrestling/MaeYoung |
| 306 | * Wrestling/TheFabulousKangaroos. Formed in 1957. |
| 307 | * Wrestling/VonErichFamily. Fritz debuted in 1953. |
| 308 | * Wrestling/{{WWE}}. Established in 1952/1953 (but called "Capitol Wrestling Corporation" until 1963). |
| 309 | |
| 310 | [[AC:Video Games]] |
| 311 | * See EarlyVideoGames |
| 312 | |
| 313 | [[AC:Western Animation]] |
| 314 | * LimitedAnimation became popular, first as a stylistic choice, reflecting the [[{{Zeerust}} modernist aesthetic of the period]], and only later as a cost-saving measure. UPA Studios produced: |
| 315 | ** ''WesternAnimation/MrMagoo'' |
| 316 | ** ''WesternAnimation/GeraldMcBoingBoing'' |
| 317 | ** ''WesternAnimation/RootyTootToot'' (1953) |
| 318 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheUnicornInTheGarden'' (1953) |
| 319 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' and other animated shorts still appeared in theatres, [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes the only place you could]] [[DeliberatelyMonochrome see in color]]. |
| 320 | * Despite that most cartoon studios were in decline during this decade, ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' reached its heyday under the direction of Creator/ChuckJones, as their most acclaimed shorts came out in the Fifties (though only three years into the next decade and the studio would be shut down). |
| 321 | ** Recap/LooneyTunesInThe50s |
| 322 | *** ''WesternAnimation/TheScarletPumpernickel'' (1950) |
| 323 | *** ''WesternAnimation/RabbitOfSeville'' (1950) |
| 324 | *** ''WesternAnimation/RabbitFire'' (1951) |
| 325 | *** ''WesternAnimation/BallotBoxBunny'' (1951) |
| 326 | *** ''WesternAnimation/FeedTheKitty'' (1952) |
| 327 | *** ''WesternAnimation/RabbitSeasoning'' (1952) |
| 328 | *** ''WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck'' (1953) |
| 329 | *** ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'' (1953) |
| 330 | *** ''WesternAnimation/BullyForBugs'' (1953) |
| 331 | *** ''WesternAnimation/OneFroggyEvening'' (1955) |
| 332 | *** ''WesternAnimation/AliBabaBunny'' (1957) |
| 333 | *** ''WesternAnimation/TheThreeLittleBops'' (1957) |
| 334 | *** ''WesternAnimation/WhatsOperaDoc'' (1957) |
| 335 | * [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] was another cartoon studio that was still going strong through most of the Fifties, though they began to cut more corners and use more LimitedAnimation as time went on, to the point where the later ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' shorts look a lot like Hanna-Barbera's 1960s television work (they were both done by the same people). |
| 336 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' |
| 337 | *** ''WesternAnimation/CueBallCat'' (1950) |
| 338 | *** ''WesternAnimation/LittleQuacker'' (1950) |
| 339 | *** ''WesternAnimation/SafetySecond'' (1950) |
| 340 | *** ''WesternAnimation/JerryAndJumbo'' (1953) |
| 341 | ** ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'' |
| 342 | ** ''WesternAnimation/MagicalMaestro'' (1952) |
| 343 | * MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation began as studios used the techniques of limited animation as an excuse to crank out productions faster. Many Dark Age TV shows through the [[The60s late '60s]] depicted a NuclearFamily straight out of The Fifties, with the rare subversive cartoon (including fifties animated shorts ''[[UnbuiltTrope themselves]]'', that hadn't been told what the decade was about.) |
| 344 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPaddyThePelican'' (1950) |
| 345 | * ''WesternAnimation/BabyHuey'' debuted in 1950. |
| 346 | * ''WesternAnimation/HumphreyTheBear'' debuted in 1950. |
| 347 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresInMusicDuology'' debuted in 1953. |
| 348 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales'' debuted in August 1953. |
| 349 | * ''WesternAnimation/ChillyWilly'' debuted in December 1953. |
| 350 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Shhhhhh}}'' debuted in 1955. |
| 351 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}'' debuted in 1956. Received his own series in 1957. |
| 352 | * ''WesternAnimation/TomTerrific'' debuted in 1957. |
| 353 | * ''WesternAnimation/SidneyTheElephant'' debuted in 1958. |
| 354 | * ''WesternAnimation/ClutchCargo'' debuted in 1959. |
| 355 | * ''WesternAnimation/HashimotoSan'' debuted in 1959. |
| 356 | * The Creator/HannaBarbera studio was launched in this period and created some of its earliest characters: |
| 357 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheRuffAndReddyShow'' (the first animated series made specifically for television) |
| 358 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheHuckleberryHoundShow'' (the first half-hour animated series) |
| 359 | ** ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' |
| 360 | ** ''WesternAnimation/QuickDrawMcGraw'' |
| 361 | * ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'': |
| 362 | ** ''WesternAnimation/AFineFeatheredFrenzy'' |
| 363 | * ''WesternAnimation/LinusTheLionhearted'' debuted in 1959. |
| 364 | [[/folder]] |
| 365 | |
| 366 | [[folder:Examples of the Nostalgic Fifties]] |
| 367 | [[AC:Comic Books]] |
| 368 | * ''ComicBook/Superboy1949'' #171 (January 1971) saw his time era moved from being stuck in [[TheThirties the 1930s]] to [[ComicBookTime perpetually]] 15 or so years behind the then-present. Thus, 70s Superboy stories often featured nostalgic 1950s elements (Lana Lang interested in hula hoops, Clark pondering rock and roll, etc.). |
| 369 | |
| 370 | [[AC:Fan Works]] |
| 371 | * ''Fanfic/AVeryKaraChristmas'': Written in the early 00's and set in 1959, it leans more in the nostalgic side, although the period is not depicted as a trouble-free time. |
| 372 | |
| 373 | [[AC:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 374 | |
| 375 | * The version of 1955 seen in the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' films has elements of both the Nostalgic Fifties and the Historical Fifties, but seems to generally lean more in the direction of the Nostalgic Fifties. |
| 376 | * ''Film/BadTimesAtTheElRoyale'': 2018 film set in 1969, but the prologue is set ten years earlier. |
| 377 | * The John Waters movie ''Film/CryBaby'' is more like an AffectionateParody of the fifties and juvenile delinquent movies, but it still counts. |
| 378 | * ''Film/DistantVoicesStillLives'' (1988). The second part of the film is set in this decade. |
| 379 | * ''Literature/{{Flipped}}'': TheFilmOfTheBook is set from 1957-1963, [[SettingUpdate instead of the canonical 1994-2000]]. |
| 380 | * ''Film/{{Grease}}'' |
| 381 | * ''Film/It1990'': Made in 1990, set in 1959. |
| 382 | * The films making up the Film/{{Mihmiverse}} mimic the aesthetics of 1950s SciFiHorror [[BMovie B Movies]] and many of them are set during the 1950s as well. |
| 383 | * ''Film/OllieHopnoodlesHavenOfBliss'': No date is given, but the newest car seen on the road is a 1956 Chevrolet. |
| 384 | * ''Film/PeggySueGotMarried'' (technically 1960, but it might as well still be the '50s) |
| 385 | * ''Film/TheLastPictureShow'' is bit more complicated than some on this list, in that it is both a rather bittersweet version of the period and one set unusually early (in 1951) which means it predates a lot of the standard decade tropes like [[TheNewRockAndRoll rock 'n' roll]] or B-Movies. It's also set in a DyingTown in rural Texas, placing it at some remove from the middle-class "mainstream" of the era. (The teen characters listen to country and western songs and watch cowboy flicks!) |
| 386 | * The ''Film/{{Porkys}}'' movies were a particularly sex-crazed version, or maybe just riding the coattails of a Seventies trend. |
| 387 | * ''Film/{{Diner}}'' |
| 388 | * Though the decade is never properly defined, ''Film/{{Fido}}'' is set in a kind of alternate-history Fifties where a ZombieApocalypse nearly wiped out humanity approximately twenty years before, and survivors live in fortress-like {{Stepford Suburbia}}s surrounded by zombiefied wasteland. |
| 389 | * ''Film/{{Matinee}}'' (1993), though technically set in 1962 during the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]], attempts to pinpoint on film the moment when a town full of adorable scamps and [[MediumAwareness movie lovers]] left The Fifties and entered The60s. |
| 390 | ** It's a very {{Troperrific}} rendition, complete with the protagonist's bratty younger brother who is obsessed with ''Radio/TheLoneRanger'' and carries around die-cast pistols everywhere, "the LoveInterest in poodle skirt" who his best friend is afraid to ask out to the dance, and the love interest's "abusive greaser ex-boyfriend". |
| 391 | * ''Film/{{Mischief}}'': Made in 1985, set in 1956. |
| 392 | * ''Film/{{Roadracers}}'' is a hilarious greaser movie. |
| 393 | * ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'': Made in 1994, middle of the film set in 1954. |
| 394 | * ''Film/StandByMe'' (set in 1959 and featuring an all-star soundtrack) attempts to do the same thing (mark the transition from The Fifties to the Sixties, from Innocence to Experience) on a smaller scale, reflecting the coming of age of four [[strike:Maine]] Oregon youths ([[WriteWhatYouKnow and the youths of]] director Creator/RobReiner and author Creator/StephenKing). |
| 395 | * ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/valente_08_12/ Fade to White]]'', an AlternateHistory short story by Creator/CatherynneMValente is set in a post-WorldWarIII United States where the government maintains a facade of The Fabulous Fifties as deliberate policy so people can avoid thinking about how it's a CrapsackWorld in reality. |
| 396 | * A RunningGag in the 2002 Australian comedy ''Crackerjack'' about the elderly members of a lawn bowls club. |
| 397 | -->"How about we have a fancy dress party, and we all come [[DecadeThemedParty dressed like our favourite decade?]]" |
| 398 | -->"We tried that before, and everyone dressed like the Fifties." |
| 399 | * ''Film/{{Hoosiers}}'', about a small-town high school basketball team in 1951 Indiana (and very loosely based on a real 1954 team from that state), employs a subtler version of this than most films. |
| 400 | * ''Film/MyFavoriteYear'': Made in 1982, set behind the scenes at a live television VarietyShow in 1954 and centering around a fictionalized version of Creator/ErrolFlynn, it sort of straddles the line between the Nostalgic and Historical depictions of the era. |
| 401 | * ''Film/NextStopGreenwichVillage'': Made in 1976, set in 1953. |
| 402 | * ''Film/TheWhalesOfAugust'': A 1987 film about two elderly sisters reflecting on their lives. |
| 403 | * ''Film/WishYouWereHere1987'': 1987 film set in 1951. |
| 404 | |
| 405 | [[AC:Live-Action TV]] |
| 406 | * ''Series/HappyDays'': home of Fonzie, America's favorite greaser! |
| 407 | * ''Series/LaverneAndShirley'': Spun off from ''Happy Days''. Both shows had technically moved into The60s by the time they ended. |
| 408 | * ''Music/ShaNaNa'' |
| 409 | * ''Series/HiDeHi'' |
| 410 | * ''Series/BrooklynBridge'' |
| 411 | * ''Series/{{Community}}'': In the "[[Recap/CommunityS3E10RegionalHolidayMusic Regional Holiday Music]]" episode, Troy and Abed lure Pierce into the glee club with their song "Baby Boomer Santa": |
| 412 | -->"And when the commies gave the polio to Creator/DorisDay\ |
| 413 | Santa helped the Beatles chase [=McCarthy=] away" |
| 414 | |
| 415 | [[AC:Music]] |
| 416 | * "Music/AmericanPie", written and recorded by Music/DonMcLean in 1971, is in part a nostalgic look back at the more innocent RockAndRoll music and culture of his youth in the 1950s... and, of course, memorializing Music/BuddyHolly's plane crash in "TheDayTheMusicDied". |
| 417 | * "Crocodile Rock", by Music/EltonJohn. |
| 418 | |
| 419 | [[AC:Pinballs]] |
| 420 | * ''Pinball/EightBall'', complete with MaltShop and transplanted ''Series/HappyDays'' characters. |
| 421 | * ''Pinball/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' is centered around teens attending a drive-in, complete with hits on the radio, stealing kisses in the car, and the ''Creature'' IN 3D! |
| 422 | * ''Pinball/AttackFromMars'' is an AffectionateParody of the BMovie about {{Alien Invasion}}s, complete with theremin music and AmericaSavesTheDay (or at least builds the [[NukeEm Atomic Blaster]]). |
| 423 | |
| 424 | [[AC:Theater]] |
| 425 | * ''Theatre/ByeByeBirdie''. Quite possibly the UrExample of the Nostalgic Fifties, having been written in 1960. |
| 426 | * ''Theatre/{{Grease}}'', of course. |
| 427 | * ''Theatre/{{Memphis}}'' is another combination of the nostalgic and historical fifties. It's a [[TheMusical musical]], but it's also a drama about an [[BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama interracial romance]] in a segregated America. |
| 428 | * ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'' (1993): The second half of the musical adaptation, as well as its BookEnds, takes place at the start of 1950, and you may know how it's going to end... |
| 429 | [[/folder]] |
| 430 | |
| 431 | [[folder:Examples of the Historical Fifties]] |
| 432 | [[AC:Comic Books]] |
| 433 | * ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}''. A Furry comic about a feline private detective. The series features a FilmNoir-influenced version of the 1950s. But the storylines feature interracial violence, racial discrimination (based on fur color), the RedScare, and [=McCarthy=]-style persecution of leftist intellectuals. |
| 434 | * ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier''. The classic superheroes of DC set in an era of [=McCarthyism=], [[SuperRegistrationAct Super Registration Acts]], and UsefulNotes/ColdWar tensions. |
| 435 | |
| 436 | [[AC:Films -- Animation]] |
| 437 | * The first part of the ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' takes place in 1955, which coincides with the collapse of MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. |
| 438 | |
| 439 | [[AC:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 440 | * ''Film/SeventyOneIntoTheFire'': 2010 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 441 | * ''Film/EightWomen'': Made in 2002, set in the fifties. |
| 442 | * ''Film/AllTheKingsMen'': Made in 2006, set in the early part of the decade. |
| 443 | * ''Film/AnnabelleCreation'': Made in 2017, set in 1955. |
| 444 | ** ''Film/TheNun'': Made in 2018, set in 1952. |
| 445 | ** ''Film/TheNunII'': Made in 2023, set in 1956. |
| 446 | * ''Film/AsteroidCity'': Made in 2022, set in 1955. |
| 447 | * ''Film/ABeautifulMind'': Made in 2001, parted wood tropes of the film's first half takes place in this decade. |
| 448 | * ''Film/BigEyes'': Made in 2014, story starts off in 1958. |
| 449 | * ''Film/BigFish'': Made in 2003, part of the film is set during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 450 | * ''Film/BigNight'': Made in 1996, set somewhere in this decade. |
| 451 | * ''Film/BlackBook'': Made in 2006, the last part of the film takes place in 1956 and concludes during the beginning of the Suez crisis. |
| 452 | * ''Film/{{Blow}}'': Made in 2001 and set mostly in The70s, the story begins in 1952. |
| 453 | * ''Film/BridgeOfSpies'', a historical thriller about the trial of a Soviet spy in America, while at the same time an American spy is captured in the USSR. |
| 454 | * ''Film/{{Brooklyn}}'': A 2015 film about an Irish immigrant set during 1951-1952. |
| 455 | * ''Film/TheButler'': Made in 2013, the eponymous protagonist gets hired in 1957 during UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower's presidency. |
| 456 | * ''Film/{{Capote}}''. |
| 457 | * ''Film/{{Carol}}'' is a lesbian romance set in 1952. |
| 458 | * ''Film/{{Celia}}'': Released in the late 1980s, set somewhere in the 1950s. |
| 459 | * ''Film/{{Che}}'': 2008 BioPic of UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. |
| 460 | * ''Film/{{Clue}}''. Earlier than most examples, as it was made in the mid-eighties, but the Fifties of the movie revolves around the post-WWII/early UsefulNotes/ColdWar politics of that decade, which it plays for laughs. |
| 461 | * ''Film/DesertHearts'' is a lesbian romance set in 1959. |
| 462 | * ''Film/Devotion2022'': Set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 463 | * ''Film/TheDevilsPlayground'' is set in UsefulNotes/{{Melbourne}}, Australia in August 1953. |
| 464 | * ''Film/EdWood'': Made in 1994, story kicks off in 1952 when [[Creator/EdWood the eponymous protagonist]]'s career is beginning to take off. |
| 465 | * ''Film/Elvis2022'': 2022 Music/ElvisPresley BioPic set in 1997 with a FramingDevice that tackles vents from 1947-1977. |
| 466 | * ''Film/ForrestGump'': 1994 film, the flashback to the titular protagonist's childhood is set in 1951. |
| 467 | * ''Film/TheFounder'': 2016 BioPic about UsefulNotes/McDonalds, the story kicks off in 1954. |
| 468 | * ''Film/FridayThe13th1980'': Prologue set in 1958. |
| 469 | * ''Film/TheFront''. A comedy-drama about the Hollywood blacklist era in the early part of the decade. |
| 470 | * ''Film/TheFrontLine'': 2011 film set at the end of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 471 | * ''Film/GetOnUp'': Made in 2014, part of the film takes place in 1956. |
| 472 | * ''Film/GoodNightAndGoodLuck''. A true story about Edward R. Murrow, the [[IntrepidReporter intrepid TV journalist]] out to expose the hypocrisy of Senator Joe [=McCarthy=] ([[CharacterAsHimself as himself]]), who preyed upon Americans' [[RedScare fears of Communist infiltration]] for his own political gain. |
| 473 | * ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'': Made in 1990, film set from 1955-1980. |
| 474 | * ''Film/GreatBallsOfFire'': Made in 1989, film set from 1956-1958. |
| 475 | * ''Film/{{Hoffa}}'': 1992 UsefulNotes/JimmyHoffa BioPic. |
| 476 | * ''Film/{{Hollywoodland}}'': 2006 BioPic of Creator/GeorgeReeves. |
| 477 | * ''Film/{{Hoosiers}}'': Filmed in 1985, released in 1986. Like ''The Last Picture Show'' in the "Nostalgic Fifties" folder, it's a bit more complicated than some on this list. It's also set in 1951 (thus predating a lot of the standard decade tropes), with the real-life event on which it was {{very loosely based|OnATrueStory}} having occurred in 1954. Its rural Indiana setting also places it at some remove from the middle-class "mainstream" of the era. |
| 478 | * ''Film/{{Hounddog}}'': Made in 2007, set in 1956. |
| 479 | * ''Film/ISawTheLight'': 2015 Music/HankWilliams BioPic. |
| 480 | * ''Film/TheImitationGame'': Made in 2014, mainly takes place in 1952. |
| 481 | * ''Film/{{Inchon}}'': 1981 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 482 | * ''Film/TheIrishman'': 2019 Frank Sheeran BioPic. |
| 483 | * ''Film/TheIronClaw'': 2023 Wrestling/VonErichFamily BioPic set from 1979 to sometime in the late 1990s, but the prologue is clearly set in late 1959 seeing the matriarch is obviously pregnant with Kerry (who was born in February 1960). |
| 484 | * ''Film/Joker2019'': 2019 film set in 1981, but an important flashback to 1951 is shown. |
| 485 | * ''Film/TheKillerInsideMe'': Made in 2010, set during 1952. |
| 486 | * ''Film/LAConfidential1997'': Made in 1997, set in the early part of the decade. |
| 487 | * ''Film/TheLastEmperor'': Made in 1987, it shows the eponumous protagonist's release from political prison in 1959. |
| 488 | * ''Film/Loving2016'': 2016 BioPic about the passing of the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia Loving v. Virginia]] act. |
| 489 | * ''Film/{{Maigret|2022}}'': 2022 film set in early 1950s France. |
| 490 | * ''Film/TheMajestic'': A 2001 comedy-drama set in 1951 and featuring the Hollywood blacklist as a subplot. |
| 491 | * ''Film/{{MASH}}'': 1970 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 492 | * ''Film/TheMaster'': Made in 2012, the story is about a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran who's having PTSD a decade after the event. |
| 493 | * ''Film/MonaLisaSmile'': Made in 2003, set in 1953. A feminist teacher gets a job teaching at a college of girls vying for an MRSDegree, and encourages them to be independent and defy the expectations of women in the era (which was to StayInTheKitchen). |
| 494 | * ''Film/TheMotorcycleDiaries'': 2004 UsefulNotes/CheGuevara BioPic. |
| 495 | * ''Film/TheMountain'': Made in 2018, about a young man who assists a traveling [[{{Lobotomy}} lobotomist]] as they travel across America in the 50s. |
| 496 | * ''Film/MyWeekWithMarilyn'': Made in 2011, set during the TroubledProduction of ''Film/ThePrinceAndTheShowgirl'' in 1957. |
| 497 | * ''Film/{{Newsfront}}'' (1978): Set between 1948 and 1956. |
| 498 | * ''Film/{{Novitiate}}'': 2017 film about the Second Vatican Council from 1962-1965 which gave the protagonist AMinorKidroduction in 1954. |
| 499 | * ''Film/NowhereBoy'': 2009 BioPic of Music/JohnLennon. |
| 500 | * ''Film/OnTheBasisOfSex'': 2018 biopic of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg Ruth Bader Ginsburg]]. |
| 501 | * ''Film/OperationChromite'': 2016 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 502 | * ''Film/OrderNo027'': 1986 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 503 | * ''Film/PawnSacrifice'': 2014 biopic of Bobby Fisher. |
| 504 | * ''Film/{{Philomena}}'': Made in 2013 and set during the [[TurnOfTheMillennium early 2000s]], but occasional flashbacks to 1951-1955 occur. |
| 505 | * ''Film/QueenAndCountry'': Released in 2014 and set on a British army base in 1952-53. |
| 506 | * ''Film/QuizShow''. BasedOnATrueStory about the rigging of the game show ''Series/TwentyOne''. |
| 507 | * ''Film/RagingBull'': Made in 1980 and set in 1964, but is a WholeEpisodeFlashback which eventually shows events from 1951-1958. |
| 508 | * ''Literature/RevolutionaryRoad''. A great wardrobe and a nice kitchen are no substitute for one's soul in a [[WorldHalfEmpty Marriage Half Empty]]. |
| 509 | * ''Film/{{Rocketman 2019}}'': A 2019 Music/EltonJohn biopic. |
| 510 | * ''Film/SchoolTies'' is set in the fifties, as evidenced by the 'uncivilized' rock music the kids listen to (that to a modern ear sound extremely boring, but to their contemporary audiences were quite wild). Also there's the rampant antisemitism for that special period touch. |
| 511 | * ''Film/StanAndOllie'': Made in 2018, story mostly set in 1953 onwards. |
| 512 | * ''Film/{{Taegukgi}}'': 2004 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 513 | * ''Film/{{Trumbo}}'': 2015 {{Biopic}} of Dalton Trumbo. |
| 514 | * ''Film/WarHunt'': 1962 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 515 | * ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'': Made in 2009 and set in 1985, but also has several flashbacks to this decade. Dr. Manhattan's SuperHeroOrigin, in particular, happened in 1959. |
| 516 | * ''Film/WelcomeToDongmakgol'': 2005 film set in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. |
| 517 | * ''Film/WhiteHunterBlackHeart'': A 1990 based on the filming of ''Film/TheAfricanQueen'' in 1951. Explores some interesting ideas about what masculinity meant in the '50s. |
| 518 | * ''Theatre/WestSideStory'': Doesn't apply much for the 1961 film, but it does for TheRemake of 2021. |
| 519 | * ''Film/TheWife'': Made in 2017, prologue set in 1958. |
| 520 | |
| 521 | [[AC:Literature]] |
| 522 | * ''The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit'', one of the most popular and influential books in the 1950s, Trope Codified (and attacked!) the whole concept of '50s conformism. |
| 523 | * ''Literature/AmericanPastoral'': Made in 1997, set mostly from 1947-1970. |
| 524 | * ''Literature/TheDevilAllTheTime'': 2011 novel set from the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII up to The60s. |
| 525 | * ''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree'', which tells the story of Jake Epping, a man from the 2010s who steps through a [[PortalToThePast portal to 1958]] in order to prevent the Kennedy assassination, is partly a supernatural thriller and partly a [[ShownTheirWork very well-researched]] history lesson about the time period, commenting on both the good and the bad (it helps that author Creator/StephenKing grew up during this decade and would've been a teenager when the assassination took place). On the positive side, Jake finds that the food tastes better, a little money goes a longer way, the cars are more luxurious, and people are generally more polite and trusting; on the negative side, the air stinks because of the pollution from unregulated factories and [[EverybodySmokes rampant smoking]], [[DeliberateValuesDissonance blatant racism, homophobia and sexism]] is around every corner, and everyone lives in perpetual fear of nuclear war breaking out any day. |
| 526 | * ''Literature/AConfederateGeneralFromBigSur'', a famous Creator/RichardBrautigan novel, is set in 1957. It was first published in 1964. |
| 527 | * ''Literature/LastNightAtTheTelegraphClub'' is set in 1950s San Francisco and deals with the threat of RedScare paranoia and deportation, and the risks in being queer in such a time. |
| 528 | * ''Literature/{{Ravensong}}'': Set along the Pacific Northwest Coast in the 1950s, tells the story of an urban Native community devastated by an influenza epidemic. |
| 529 | |
| 530 | [[AC:Live-Action TV]] |
| 531 | * ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'': Set in 1952 Florida. |
| 532 | * ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'' |
| 533 | ** ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': The titular team {{time travel}}ed to this decade quite a few times. In the first season they traveled here three times; first was in 1958, then in 1950 to prevent one of their members from being {{Ret Gone}}'d, and finally back to 1958 to defeat the season's BigBad. In Season 2, a few of them plus two {{Guest Star Party Member}}s traveled to 1951 to prevent an AlienInvasion. In Season 3, they went to 1954 to fix an anachronism. |
| 534 | ** ''Series/Invasion2016'': The aforementioned event in which few of the Legends and two of their {{Guest Star Party Member}}s traveled to 1951. It coincides with the USAF's investigations of alleged UFO sightings during this time. |
| 535 | * ''Series/CallTheMidwife''. Series 1-3 are set from 1957-59 in London's East End. |
| 536 | * ''Series/Club57'' is partially set in 1957. |
| 537 | * The first seasons of ''Series/TheCrown2016'', about the first decade of Queen Elizabeth II's reign (she was crowned in 1952). |
| 538 | * ''Series/TheDoctorBlakeMysteries''. Set in 1959 Australia. |
| 539 | * ''Series/{{Doom Patrol|2019}}'': Flashback to Rita Farr's SuperHeroOrigin happened sometime in this decade. |
| 540 | * ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Released in 2023, the {{Flashback}} scenes in episodes 1-5 are set in 1952-1954, while episode 8's transpire in 1957. The past sequences in episode 6 that revolve around the early stage of Hawkins and Lucy Fuller's marriage must have occurred in the mid-1950s, but the exact year isn't specified. |
| 541 | * ''Series/Forever2014'': The flashbacks that are set in this decade show Henry and Abigail’s married life and them raising their adoptive son Abe. |
| 542 | * ''Series/TheHour''. Set in 1957-58 Britain, the Suez Crisis is the backdrop for season one, and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar[=/=]Space Race is the backdrop for season two. The fashion runs the gamut from Marnie's stereotypical skirts and pearls and Hector's grey flannel suit to Lix's Katherine Hepburn suits and Freddie's beatnik look. |
| 543 | * ''Series/TheJacksonsAnAmericanDream'': Music/Jackson5 {{Biopic}}. |
| 544 | * ''Series/LovecraftCountry'': Released in 2020, set in the 1950s. |
| 545 | * ''Literature/{{Maigret}}'': The book series stretched from the 1930s to the early 1970s, but most adaptations prefer 1950s UsefulNotes/{{France}} as setting. |
| 546 | ** ''Series/Maigret2016'': set during the middle part of the decade. |
| 547 | * ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Made in 2017, story begins in 1958. There's a bit of the Nostalgic Fifties too though, because being centred around UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's generally privileged, urbanite Jewish families, the show doesn't always delve too much into the social or political milieu of the time; the cast are just as much depicted going through general everyday life and drama. |
| 548 | * ''Series/{{MASH}}''. The show either takes places in the Historical Fifties or else in a PresentDayPast. |
| 549 | ** ''Series/AfterMASH'' |
| 550 | * ''Series/MastersOfSex''. Set in late '50s/early'60s St. Louis. |
| 551 | * ''Series/PadreCoraje''. Set in the Argentine Fifties. |
| 552 | * ''Series/ProjectBlueBook'': Series that premiered in 2019 set during the USAF's investigations of alleged UFO sightings during the early 50s-late 60s. |
| 553 | * ''Series/ProjectUFO'': 1978-1979 series set during the USAF's investigations of alleged UFO sightings during the early 50s-late 60s. |
| 554 | * ''Series/TheQueensGambit'' begins with Beth Harmon's childhood in an orphanage c 1957, where she learns chess for the first time. |
| 555 | * ''Series/{{Roots 1977}}'': The last quarter of sixth chapter of ''Next Generations'' takes place starting Christmas Eve 1950. |
| 556 | * ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'': In "The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith", Sarah Jane, Luke and Rani travel back to 1951 and meet Sara-Jane’s parents. Sarah Jane herself was only a baby at that time. |
| 557 | * ''Series/WhyWomenKill'': The second season epilogue ends in 1950 after the story's events in 1949. |
| 558 | |
| 559 | [[AC:Music]] |
| 560 | * See MusicOfThe1950s |
| 561 | |
| 562 | [[AC:Other]] |
| 563 | * ''WebOriginal/ThousandWeekReich'' and [[VideoGame/ThousandWeekReich it's game mod adaptation]] start in an alternate 50s where America and Nazi Germany are locked in a cold war after the end of World War II, only for Adolf Hitler to die in 1952 with Hermann Göring succeeding him. Soon, Germany plunges into civil war when Heinrich Himmler and the SS launch a coup attempt against Göring in 1958. |
| 564 | |
| 565 | [[AC:Theater]] |
| 566 | * ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'', though released in 1949, is the archetypal play about the aforementioned ''Man in a Grey Flannel Suit'' who suffers a nervous breakdown. [-'''''"[[HeHadAName Attention must be paid!!]]"'''''-] |
| 567 | * ''Music/{{Evita}}'': The film begins with the eponymous protagonist's death in 1952 and then a series of flashbacks leading to it. |
| 568 | * ''Theatre/JerseyBoys'': 2005 play about the origins of Music/FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons. |
| 569 | |
| 570 | [[AC:Video Games]] |
| 571 | * ''VideoGame/BlacksadUnderTheSkin'', like its namesake, follows a cat detective during the '50s, showcasing the dark sides of it consisting of racism, racial profiling, sexism, corruption, the Mafia, prostitution rings, drug trades, persecution to communism and so on. |
| 572 | * ''VideoGame/{{Harvester}}'' is set during the decade, with the inventory saying Spring 1953. Communism is feared, several mothers are identical-looking housewives, and attitudes to gays and foreigners are negative. The game mocks the setting relentlessly, like it does with many other things. |
| 573 | * ''VideoGame/MafiaII'' plays in the '50s. It does however also show the dark sides of the '50s beyond {{Suburbia}}, like racial segregation, corruption, the black market, slums, and the Mafia. But hey, at least you can encounter every 1950s stereotype known to man: |
| 574 | ** The charming housewife returning from her local Piggly Wiggly (after visiting the opium house), |
| 575 | ** The friendly next-door neighbor with the tie and the suitcase who scratched your car the other day, |
| 576 | ** The friendly gas station attendant after robbing him and blowing up his petrol pump, |
| 577 | ** The greasy radio host who ends every sentence with "folks" and promotes cigarette smoking, |
| 578 | ** The no-nonsense, deep-voiced radio host who will [[RedScare piss off commies]] and promotes family values, |
| 579 | ** The old grumpy hag who runs the local diner and still has problems with fitting her hairnet, |
| 580 | ** The shoeshine guy who [[ShapedLikeItself shines shoes]], |
| 581 | ** The newspaper guy who begins and ends every sentence with ''[[ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt "Extra!"]]'', |
| 582 | ** The good-hearted [[OfficerOHara Irish police officer]] who will most likely shoot you on sight, |
| 583 | ** Those greasers who always hinder your black trade because you're in their territory, and |
| 584 | ** The bomber jacket-clad African-Americans who do the same thing, only on the other side of [[strike:Hudson Bay]] Empire Bay. |
| 585 | * ''VideoGame/TheClue'' is set in the ''British'' '50s, but invokes many similar tropes in terms of slang and character types. |
| 586 | |
| 587 | [[AC: Web Animation]] |
| 588 | * ''WebAnimation/MeetTheMillers'' is set in the '50s. |
| 589 | [[/folder]] |
| 590 | |
| 591 | [[folder:Examples which don't easily fit into any of the above]] |
| 592 | |
| 593 | [[AC:Anime & Manga]] |
| 594 | * ''Manga/TheDaughterOfTwentyFaces'' takes place in 1953 where some of the characters are reeling from World War II. |
| 595 | * ''Anime/MouryouNoHako'' is set in 1953. |
| 596 | * The Miyazaki films ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' and ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'' both take place in the 1950s, with the former taking place in Japan, and the latter taking place in a fictional version of Europe that wasn't devastated by World War II. |
| 597 | * ''Manga/{{Yuureitou}}'' takes place in 1954. |
| 598 | |
| 599 | [[AC:Comic Books]] |
| 600 | * MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks began in this period, following the red-baiting and obscenity hysteria fueled by the publication of Dr. Frederick Wertham's book ''Seduction of the Innocent'', which helped end the E.C. Horror Comics catalog that had supplanted superhero comics through most of the 1950s with grotesque and ''Magazine/WeirdTales'' ''[[ComicBook/TalesFromTheCrypt from the Crypt]]''. The only E.C. comic to survive was... |
| 601 | * ''[[Magazine/{{Mad}} MAD Magazine]]'', which defied the image of '50s conformity by satiring and skewering pop culture with a countercultural [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Manhattanite wit]]. |
| 602 | * ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen: The Black Dossier'' is set in a... somewhat skewed version of 1950s Britain. (It doesn't help that ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' has just happened.) |
| 603 | * ''ComicBook/RedFog'' begins in 1951, with a group of Nazis resurrecting their 6th army in Stalingrad as zombies. |
| 604 | * While the portion of ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'' published during the '50s is theoretically set in them, there's an awful lot of time and space travel. |
| 605 | |
| 606 | [[AC:Comedy]] |
| 607 | * Creator/LennyBruce, the infamous comedian who broke free of "obscene language" taboos in the 1950s, got his start doing stand-up comedy in strip clubs in the heart of Los Angeles' middle-class suburban mecca of San Fernando Valley in the early 1950s. |
| 608 | * Radio/BobAndRay, who themselves fit into the Historical Fifties as a result of spoofing the media conventions inherent in the Fifties Fifties. |
| 609 | * Creator/StanFreberg |
| 610 | ** ''AudioPlay/{{Omaha}}'' (1958) |
| 611 | |
| 612 | [[AC:Films -- Animation]] |
| 613 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' is mainly a deconstruction of Fifties alien invasion movies, but it also has large dollops of nostalgia (the director was born in 1957, the year the movie was set) and delves into some of the issues of the day, particularly UsefulNotes/ColdWar paranoia, as personified by Kent Mansley. |
| 614 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' is set in a rural Colombian city during the '50s. |
| 615 | |
| 616 | [[AC:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 617 | * ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' could easily fall in several of the above categories. |
| 618 | * MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood wound down during the Fifties, drifting into formulaic musicals, [[MediaNotes/TheHaysCode Hays Code]]-approved thrillers, and big production numbers, leading to more adventurous directors refining their technique in romantic films and character dramas. |
| 619 | ** ''Film/AnAffairToRemember''. Yes, that's right: a Fifties Hollywood blockbuster and critically acclaimed romantic film about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an affair]] on a cruise ship with a woman on the way to her wedding. [[SpiritualSuccessor Inspiration]] for The90s film ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle''. |
| 620 | ** ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956'' with Charlton Heston, possibly the [[EpicMovie biggest film]] of the 1950s, aside from the similar ''[[Film/BenHur1959 Ben-Hur]]''. |
| 621 | ** Creator/JohnWayne codified the genre of film set DuringTheWar (World War II, of course!) with a slew of films. Every boy who didn't collect baseball cards, collected toys and books about {{Old School Dogfight}}ing. |
| 622 | * This was also the golden age of TheWestern: |
| 623 | ** ''Film/{{Shane}}'' |
| 624 | ** ''Film/TheSearchers'', the original [[{{Deconstruction}} revisionist Western]] |
| 625 | * Creator/MarlonBrando made his name in films as [[TropeMakers the original]] and most intense Method Actor, including: |
| 626 | ** ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'', a film ''about'' a play set in the 1930s-1940s in steamy depression-era [[TheBigEasy New Orleans]], where he plays the [[TropeCodifier archetypal]] sexually-threatening working class schmuck in a wife-beater shirt. [-[[SkywardScream "STELLLAAAAAA!"]]-] |
| 627 | ** ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'', a film that established the Hoboken of {{Joisey}} trope, immortalizing the town where Frank Sinatra grew up as a seedy place of gangsters and palookas and shattered dreams, verges on FilmNoir. [-"I coulda been a contender!"-] |
| 628 | * Music/FrankSinatra himself proved SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct, and codified the {{Brainwashing}} [[DirtyCommunists Commies]] trope, in ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', a classic UsefulNotes/ColdWar thriller which came out in 1962 at the end of the period. |
| 629 | * TheMusical still dominated the landscape. CostumeDrama classics and SwordAndSandal pics began to dominate at the end of this period as film budgets got bigger. |
| 630 | ** ''Film/SinginInTheRain'', the classic musical [[MostWritersAreWriters about musicals]]. |
| 631 | * ''Film/The5000FingersOfDrT'' (1953) the only live-action film by Creator/DrSeuss, possibly the most [[QuirkyWork bizarre film made]] in the Fifties itself. Its child star, Tommy Rettig, went on to star in ''Series/{{Lassie}}'' (see above). Think ''Film/ReturnToOz'' meets ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'' meets ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' meets ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' (you know... for kids!) |
| 632 | * ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' is set on Music/SkidRow in an indefinable period between the early 50s and the Motown era. Elevated trains rumble overhead and working-class men stumble to work in grey flannel suits. The hero and heroine dream of escaping to the pastel suburbs. |
| 633 | -->'''Audrey:''' I'll cook like / Betty Crocker / And I'll look like / Donna Reed! |
| 634 | * ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'' is set in the same indefinable period, in a sort of comic-book version of the ''Series/MadMen'' universe. [[DieselPunk Pneumatic Tubes]] are, in this version of an art deco metropolis, the dominant means of communication. The film centers around the creation of the classic '50s icon [[spoiler:the hula hoop]]. |
| 635 | * Creator/AkiraKurosawa legitimized Japanese film in the West and created classic LostInImitation films which were influenced by, and in turn influenced, the development of TheWestern. |
| 636 | ** ''Film/{{Rashomon}}'' (1950), the original RashomonStyle plot. |
| 637 | ** ''Film/SevenSamurai'' (1954), later remade as ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]'': see also MagnificentSevenSamurai. |
| 638 | * ''Film/TheGodfather'' (set 1945 to 1955) and ''The Godfather Part II'' (mostly set 1958 to 1959) are set in the Fifties and are rich with period detail, but the focus is so removed from conventional depictions of the decade that is difficult to pigeonhole them. |
| 639 | * FilmNoir in general (see above) was inspired by the depression and urban decay of the prewar and postwar years, especially in the years 1945-1949. Which is what prompted many Americans to abandon the city in the first place... |
| 640 | * ''Film/HeavenlyCreatures'' is based the outrageous-for-its-time 1950s murder of a mother by her daughter and the girl's [[PseudoRomanticFriendship best friend]], but it doesn't seem make a huge deal about the era aside from the [[HideYourGays "homosexuality is just a phase/mental illness"]] thing. |
| 641 | * ''Film/TheRedBalloon'' |
| 642 | * ''Film/{{Stilyagi}}'' looks at the rebellious youth in the Soviet Union, which was even more regimented and conservative than the U.S.A. until the Khrushchev Thaw. |
| 643 | * ''Film/CoolAndTheCrazy'', produced for Creator/{{Showtime}}'s ''Rebel Highway'' series. |
| 644 | * The prologue of ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', where humans first try to kill Godzilla, takes place in 1954. |
| 645 | * ''Film/{{Babylon|2022}}''’s DistantFinale takes place in 1952. |
| 646 | * ''Film/HailCaesar'' is about a Hollywood fixer who has to rescue one of the studio's biggest stars after he is kidnapped while shooting a big SwordAndSandal {{epic|Movie}} called "Hail, Caesar". |
| 647 | * ''Film/{{Parents}}'' takes place in 1958 and centers around a boy who suspects his parents are cannibals. |
| 648 | |
| 649 | [[AC:Literature]] |
| 650 | * Bill Bryson's ''The Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid'', an autobiographical and historical account of 1950s and early 1960s America, when he was a child. |
| 651 | * ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' was not only written in the 1950s, it was set in [[Creator/VladimirNabokov Nabokov]]'s idea of a typical American community and helped inspire the later concept of "dark pathology hidden behind a facade of '50s conformity". |
| 652 | * ''Literature/TimeOutOfJoint'' by Creator/PhilipKDick is a [[Main/{{Deconstruction}} deconstructive]] MindScrewdriver of an apparently realistic novel, written in 1959 and apparently set in 1959, but as the book goes on, the characters find apparent anomalies, such as ancient and water-damaged magazines with the previous year's date and featuring a photograph of a supposedly famous actress called "Creator/MarilynMonroe" who they've never heard of, etc. [[spoiler: Gradually it becomes clear that the year is 1998, and a war is going on between Earth and its [[LaResistance plucky underdog]] colonists on Mars. The hero is actually a senior military stategist who's suffered a [[HeroicBSOD psychotic breakdown]]; the military machine wants him to continue his war work, so they've preserved his stability by building a "Fifties" Fifties small town just like the town he grew up in, complete with friends and neighbours (some of whom have been given FakeMemories), where he and nearly everyone around him thinks that he's just playing and winning a newspaper competition, but in fact he's predicting Martian attacks.]] |
| 653 | * ''Literature/ShutterIsland'' |
| 654 | * ''[[Literature/TheAnderssons Spränga gränser]]'' by Solveig Olsson-Hultgren takes place in 1956. It has a Nostalgic Fifties look at the then current teenage culture, but the protagonist (Cecilia) is ''not'' a naive girl in a suburban paradise. Her mother is ''not'' a housewife, her father is almost out of work, and we also get a lot of Historical Fifties references to current events of the time. |
| 655 | |
| 656 | [[AC:Live-Action TV]] |
| 657 | * ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' was made in the fifties, but its first season, at least, was also far from "suburban paradise", and not just because it was set in a major city. The first season, shot in black and white, had major FilmNoir influences, albeit toned down for a children's television series. Clark Kent, although called a "mild-mannered reporter" in the opening narration, came across much more as a hard-boiled tough guy; when he was Superman, interestingly, he came across much more as the "big blue boy scout". The villains were typically gangsters and hoodlums. The subsequent seasons, shot in color, were more typically Fifties-Fifties, with a more sci-fi than noir sensibility. |
| 658 | * ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' was a PoliceProcedural that ran from the late Forties through the [[The60s Sixties]]. While there is Fifties conformity scattered throughout the series, the show is not completely clean, showing the ugly side of society as they solve each week's crime. Was somewhat made in response to the negative view of the police force during the time period. |
| 659 | * ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' was made in the fifties, but it's far from "suburban paradise": it features a married couple, who live in a crappy, cold-water walk-up apartment, can't afford a TV or a vacuum cleaner, and fight all the time. This was, of course, [[RealityIsUnrealistic typical for many Americans]] at the time. |
| 660 | * ''{{Series/Legion|2017}}'': Because the main character David Haller is an UnreliableNarrator due to being [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness mentally ill]], the series takes place in an AmbiguousTimePeriod. However, the Season 3 scenes which feature his biological parents, Charles Xavier (a World War II veteran) and his wife Gabrielle (a Romani Holocaust survivor), are set in the 1950s, which is corroborated by the fashion, hairstyles, décor and level of technology. As is the social norm for young married couples who want to start a family in that decade, they reside in {{Suburbia}}. Gabrielle is seen holding the 1955 children's book ''Literature/HaroldAndThePurpleCrayon'', which suggests that their infant son David was born in the same year. |
| 661 | |
| 662 | [[AC:Theater]] |
| 663 | * ''Theatre/{{Rhinoceros}}'' by Eugene Ionesco, an [[{{Absurdism}} absurdist]] play about stultifying conformism. Everyone transforms into Kafkaesque rhinoceroses. |
| 664 | * ''Theatre/WaitingForGodot'', the classic [[{{Absurdism}} absurdist]] masterpiece about ThoseTwoGuys in a WorldGoneMad, waiting interminably for a man (friend? employer? supervisor?) who never comes. |
| 665 | |
| 666 | [[AC:Webcomics]] |
| 667 | * ''Webcomic/DearChildren'' takes place mostly in 2015, but Chapter 3 includes a short NestedStory set mostly in the mid-1950's, relating the depradations inflicted on Hearthbrook by [[SerialKiller The Crooked Saint]]. The flashback is however told to Gabe by two people who were probably born ''after'' those events, and presumably first heard the story from older friends or family member. |
| 668 | |
| 669 | [[AC:Video Games]] |
| 670 | * ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' |
| 671 | * ''VideoGame/GrandPrixLegends'': The 1955 F1 mod has the cars, tracks, and drivers of that year's F1 championship. |
| 672 | * ''VideoGame/{{PAGUI}}'' is set in 1954 Taiwan, roughly a decade after the CCP civil war. |
| 673 | * ''VideoGame/StubbsTheZombie'' A parody of the '50s mindset with large doses of cold-war hysteria and obsession with TheFuture.... as [[{{Zeerust}} envisioned by someone from that era]]. |
| 674 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series not only is a throwback to 1950s sci-fi, it also have many parodies of that time period -- such as a virtual reality '50s simulator with kids and adults repeating those same phrases at the beginning of the page. It also touches on the political aspects a bit, and what little information there is about the pre-Great-War world suggests that America got so bad becoming a radioactive hellscape is actually an improvement. |
| 675 | * One of the simulations used in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' is Steelport set in this time. Bright, sunshiny, whimsical track. Driving is done safely, at the speed limit. And no swearing or violence. The game's base genre is crime WideOpenSandbox. No points for guessing what the Boss does when he/she is snapped out of it. |
| 676 | * ''VideoGame/TylerModel005'' is set in this decade. |
| 677 | |
| 678 | [[AC:Western Animation]] |
| 679 | * ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' has no set time period, but its characters are blatant '50s' stereotypes, a lot of '50s architecture and technology is present, and there's an omnipresent theme of hiding away your sins and mistakes. |
| 680 | * ''WesternAnimation/HeyGoodLookin'' deconstructs greaser culture in '50s Brooklyn. |
| 681 | * ''WesternAnimation/JakersTheAdventuresOfPiggleyWinks'' is set in a grandfather pig's {{flashback}}s of his boyhood in 1950s rural Ireland. Other than that, there's not much '50s. |
| 682 | [[/folder]] |
| 683 | |
| 684 | [[folder:Works made, but not set, during the fifties]] |
| 685 | [[AC:Anime & Manga]] |
| 686 | * ''Manga/AstroBoy''. First appeared in April, 1951. Set in the TurnOfTheMillennium. |
| 687 | * ''Manga/PrincessKnight'': First appeared in January, 1953. Set in a MedievalEuropeanFantasy world. |
| 688 | |
| 689 | [[AC:Comic Books]] |
| 690 | * ''ComicBook/AngBarbaro'', set in the 19th century, Spanish-colonial Philippines. |
| 691 | * ''ComicBook/PietPienterAndBertBibber''. First appeared in April, 1951. |
| 692 | * ''ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit''. Series started in September, 1952. Set in TheMiddleAges. |
| 693 | * ''ComicBook/SargentoKirk'' First appeared in September 1953. Set in TheWestern. |
| 694 | * ''ComicBook/BlackFury''. First appeared in May, 1955. Set in TheWildWest. |
| 695 | * ''ComicBook/VikingPrince''. First appeared in August, 1955. Set in TheMiddleAges. |
| 696 | * ''ComicBook/{{Jommeke}}''. Series started in October, 1955. |
| 697 | * ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes''. Debuted in April, 1958. Their tales were set in TheFuture. |
| 698 | * ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs''. First appeared in October, 1958. Set in TheMiddleAges. |
| 699 | * ''ComicBook/OmpaPaTheRedskin''. First appeared in 1958. Set in the 18th century. |
| 700 | * ''ComicBook/SgtRock''. First appeared in April, 1959. His series was set in World War II. |
| 701 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}''. First appeared in October, 1959. Set during UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic. |
| 702 | * ''ComicBook/BarbeRouge''. First appeared in October, 1959. Set during TheCavalierYears and [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen The Age of Sail]]. |
| 703 | |
| 704 | [[AC:Comic Strips]] |
| 705 | * ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'' |
| 706 | * ''ComicStrip/DanDare''. First appeared in April, 1950. Set in The90s. |
| 707 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Scamp}}''. Series started in October, 1955. A spin-off of ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'', a film set in the TheEdwardianEra. |
| 708 | |
| 709 | [[AC:Films -- Animation]] |
| 710 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' (1950). Set in the nineteenth century. |
| 711 | * ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'' (1951). Set in the Victorian era in which the book was written. |
| 712 | * ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'' (1953). Set in TheEdwardianEra (although Never-Never Land appears to be stuck in some time [[OlderThanSteam Before Steam]]). |
| 713 | * ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' (1955). Set in TheEdwardianEra (if you're willing to ignore those [[AnachronismStew jazz-singing pound dogs]], of course). |
| 714 | * ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' (1959). Set, as one character admits, in "the fourteenth century." |
| 715 | |
| 716 | [[AC:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 717 | * See FilmsOfThe1950s |
| 718 | |
| 719 | [[AC:Literature]] |
| 720 | * See LiteratureOfThe1950s |
| 721 | |
| 722 | [[AC:Live-Action TV]] |
| 723 | * ''Series/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' |
| 724 | * ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'' |
| 725 | * ''Series/FlashGordon1954'' |
| 726 | * ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'' |
| 727 | * ''Series/TheRifleman'' |
| 728 | * ''Series/RockyJonesSpaceRanger'' |
| 729 | * ''Series/SpacePatrolUS'' |
| 730 | * ''Series/TheUntouchables'' |
| 731 | * ''Series/WagonTrain'' |
| 732 | * ''Series/{{Zorro|1957}}'' |
| 733 | |
| 734 | [[AC:Magazine]] |
| 735 | * ''Magazine/SuperScienceFiction'' |
| 736 | |
| 737 | [[AC:Radio]] |
| 738 | * See RadioOfThe1950s |
| 739 | |
| 740 | [[AC:Theater]] |
| 741 | * See: TheatreOfThe1950s |
| 742 | |
| 743 | [[AC:Theme Parks]] |
| 744 | * ''[[Ride/BuschGardens Busch Gardens: The Dark Continent]]'' (later renamed Busch Gardens Tampa) opened on March 31, 1959. |
| 745 | * ''Ride/JungleCruise'' (1955) |
| 746 | * ''Ride/TweetsieRailroad'': Established in 1957, centered around TheWildWest and Appalachian history. |
| 747 | [[/folder]] |
| 748 | [[/index]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / The50s
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
