50 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen

This film noir is about a husband and wife, both obsessed with guns, who go on a crime spree. Joseph H. Lewis’s direction is noteworthy for its shots of the unfolding events seen from the inside of the getaway car. The edgy film made a bigger impression in France than in the United States, and influenced French New Wave movie directors of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

“Pickup on South Street” combines film noir with the red-scare anxiety of the 1950s. Richard Widmark plays a petty crook who steals a pocketbook that holds a microfilm containing classified U.S. secrets. The thief is pursued by both the FBI and communist spies. The film received a 91% freshness rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Seven Days in May” is yet another underseen film starring Burt Lancaster, who appears along with Kirk Douglas as two military leaders. The movie was nominated for two Academy Awards and currently has a 95% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The Gunfighter,” a melancholy take on the Western genre, stars Gregory Peck in the title role as a man who is frequently challenged by younger men to gun fights. The idea for the movie arose from a dinner that screenwriter William Bowers had with one-time heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey, who said everyone he met wanted to fight him.

The Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus describes “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” as “Paul Schrader’s directorial masterpiece.” Despite its critical acclaim, the film about celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima grossed less than $440,000 in North America against an estimated production budget of $5 million.