Acting Gods | 5 breathtaking scenes from the 1950's 

The actor named in each scene owes part of their performance to the person they are acting with.

The way that James Dean stammers his speech and how he trembles. REAL.

Everyone talks about Brando in that scene but Vivien Leigh made me nervous and jumpy… she was awesome

Nothing beats Montgomery Clifts introspection, intensity, and subtle emotional depth

Ah…Gregory Peck .. wonderful actor and such a handsome man

Brando is unbelievable..

Vivien Leigh is complete acting perfection as Blanche Dubois.

I didn't know James Dean is such a great actor. That was heart wrenching

Liz Taylor was breathtaking.

No need for special effects, car explosions, digital enhancements. It's call acting and great writing.

Brando was smoldering

Marlon Brando is outstanding.

Streetcar wins the prize for best acting of all time. Stunning performances by both.

Jimmy Stewart at the bar , praying to god in “Its a wonderful life” He’s magical.

Newman tells a great story about rehearsing Cat with Taylor, and feeling that she simply “wasn’t there, not doing anything, not giving him anything, etc”, such that he went to the director(Elia Kazan) to voice his concerns, and Kazan simply smiled and said “don’t worry, she will be”. Then when they began filming, Newman said she came alive like a thousand watt bulb, and he realized he’d better find his “A game” very quickly. A true film star, Taylor was….and a great actress….🙏🎭❤️

My favorite line from cat on a hot tin roof. Maggie’s says at the end of a scene “ I feel like a cat on a hot tin roof!” Bick looks at her and says “then jump Maggie! You know cats do jump! So why don’t you jump! Jump Maggie jump!”. Tennessee Williams was an amazing play writer.

Two of my loves James Dean and Montgomery Clift.

I’ve never taken notice of Jimmy Dean. Im 62. All I recall was his epic car crash and that he was a heart throb. But this scene tore into my stomach. Never feeling good enough and the draining desire fir it into adulthood. Brilliant . Thanks

Brando is exactly what an actor should be. Dont get me wrong, i appreciate over the top performances but he is believable while also being able to utliize nuance and over the top if needed

No-Neck Monsters! 😂 that white plunging dress of Elizabeth Taylor is divine and iconic!

East of Eden..one of my favorites!

Elizabeth Taylor and Monty were sooooooooo.....gorgeous and had such great chemistry between them.My favorites.

19 year old Elizabeth Taylor. Oh dear God!

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) was filled with remarkable performances, incredible writing, just memorable all around.

I love them all but Brando is above and beyond and they all knew it.

My favourite Brando scene is his Mark Anthony speech to the forum in 'Julius Caesar'. He brings humanity and passion to the role, quite mesmerising. As good as Brando is in A Streetcar Named Desire, Vivien Leigh easily matches him and I can't take my eyes off her Blanche Dubois.

Brando was just on another level. His mere presence on stage or screen must have seemed earth-shattering back in the 50s. Between him and Elvis, the world was changed forever.

Vivian is special. My GF used to live near Kim Hunter, and every weekend, there would be the "Stella" crowd. Elizabeth Taylor was pretty good too.

I love Monty Clift, Paul Newman, James Dean and Marlon Brando

Brando...wow what magnetism!

Brando as Stanley was sex on steroids

I was mesmerized more by Vivien Leigh and Audrey Hepburn than their counterparts.

jimmy dean in east of eden makes me grab my chest and scream. he's so good.

1957 film, A Face in the Crowd. Andy Griffith’s first dramatic movie role. Man, he was fantastic in that film!!

This play is brilliant - absolutely unique. Vivian Leigh inhabits Blanch. She’s like delicate lace, so fragile. A beautiful portrayal. Brando is Brando - you can’t separate himself from the part he’s playing, but he is the character he’s become - even in Apocalypse Now. (Of course, Coppola and his cinematographer did an incredible, artful scene in how they lighted and shot the scene, but Brando makes the scene.) James Dean - no words. . . One of my most treasured films. It stands by itself - can’t compare it. 💁🏻‍♀️💁🏽‍♂️ Everyone was superb in this - Julie Harris, one of the most talented actresses ever (like Lili Taylor, who is brilliant). 🌼🌷🌱 Paul Newman was a really good actor. He was the character in this with no flourishes, but he’s definitely a presence. And Elizabeth Taylor was herself - an actress so brilliant. It’s hard to judge her as an actress because she also is such a presence, so herself, but also the part. I wonder if she ever played a quiet, shy, dowdy character? Thank you so, so much. When movies were cinema - just the characters, the actors - no incredible scenery, no car chases - just the play. And the films shot in black & white work so well. (Metropolis would be ruined by color, as would the German Dracula and Dr. Caligari’s Cabinet.) Great scenes - thanks again. 🎬🎭🌷🌱

Such an amazing decade for film! I still remember the first times I saw a young Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in films and even see actors, whose styles are clearly influenced by them even today.

Paul Newman deserves a mention too here

Elizabeth Taylor has to be one of the most beautiful women ever❤

The James Dean scene, is truly moving.

Brando and Leigh were a couple of acting powerhouses in Streetcar. He really should have won an Oscar because perhaps James Mason might have scored one in 1954/55.

Marlon Brando was fabulous

Breathtaking in performance and appearance. Brando and Leigh. Incredible!

E!IZABETH TAYLOR IS STILL ONE OF MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!!!💋💋💋💋💋

I was 10 years old when JAMES DEAN died. I saw all of his films and was awestruck. He would have even surpassed BRANDO as a God, I think. He never had the time. CLIFT was a God. He was also a new breed of actor. One that could actually change from character to character. Unlike say a John Wayne who was always the same in everything he did. All he ever did was change costumes. BRANDO was also the new breed of actor. He could adapt to any character. These talents were rarified. This level of acting was unheard of until they appeared on the screen. PECK and NEWMAN were great. To me, BURTON, O'TOOLE and HOPKINS are again another breed. No one can outdo them.

😍 Marlon Brando 😍

Vivian Leigh was a great actress. Audrey Hepburn had charism with every actor she costarredwith.

Excellent scenes. True masters of their craft.

James Dean was such a Great actor , One of the best in his time .

Cat is my favorite. Great acting (and the absent Burl Ives). No one since Shakespeare could write theater like Tennessee.

The Heiress movie ending Olivia de Haviland just wow 😮😮😮😮

All fantastic performances. Had to watch it twice to catch them all as you miss the female leads when dazzeled by the initial focus on the male leaads. Blance's desire and confusion when confronted by Brando, Taylor's wonderful reactions while Clift's on the phone and Hepburn charmingly learning about pyjamas! Last summer I was lucky enough to see Roman Holiday in glowing black and white in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore. Just magic. Of the male leads Clift is still sublime. I need to revisit some old movies. The Big Sleep first!

The good times when things like "the actor" and "the star" used to coincide: Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, etc. Great actors, bigger than life personalities.

James Mason "Odd men out" Marlon Brando "On the waterfront" Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster "The rose tattoo"

I mean...the way Marlon Brando looks Vivien Leigh up and down...he wasn't acting...that was his real self...

Powerful, from all sides. Man, superior acting from all.

Audreys smile in the last scene from Roman Hollyday is so awesome and better than the hole Star Wars and Mad Max sagas combined.

James Dean was doing Monty Clift but I didn't realize it because I saw JD first. When I finally saw Monty -- his films were harder to come by -- I realized how much Dean owed him. Brando always claimed Dean was imitating him, but I think the link between Dean and Clift is stronger. I think Monty might have been the most naturally gifted actor of the three; and the most tortured. Arguably the most breathtakingly handsome as well, although young Brando would be a close second. I loved Jimmy first, but Montgomery Clift had the greater range, I think. Maybe not fair to compare since Dean died so young and only completed 3 films. Gregory Peck is always great but had I thought a more traditional acting style. Hepburn too. Elizabeth Taylor's beauty often overshadowed her talent. But I always loved how she loved -- and was loved in return by -- both Clift and Dean. Neither of whom were particularly easy people to be around if you believe what you read in bios.

Audrey Hepburn….terrific.

My favorite acting performance is in Seven Samurai. Toshiro Mifune is wild as Kikuchiyo.

Elizabeth Taylor - the best of the best

One of the most intense movies from the 1950s is “the bad seed”. When the mother discovers the little girl has been murdering people and murdered a little boy and she said “you hit him with your shoes didn’t you, hit him with your shoes” too intense for words. And then later, on, when the little girl is telling the gardener, “give me back my shoes”. You know, right then his days were numbered. That is such an incredibly intense movie. When someone from Hollywood went to Broadway and saw the play, they knew that no one else would be as good so they just hired the whole cast and filmed the play as a movie with just some slight changes. Even today, many people regard Rhoda as the most evil of all evil screen children.

I knew the East of Eden scene with the father was going to be one of them lol

Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and James Dean. All you need to know about the best acting in 1950's American films, baby.

Elizabeth Taylor is astonishingly beautiful.

What an absolute treat for the eyes! Thank you so very much ❤

I know it's the 60's but Montgomery Clift in "Judgement at Nuremberg" has to be one of all time most heart breaking acting performances.

Loved all the actors in one of my favs "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Reminds me a lot of of own childhood. Thanks for sharing these timeless, amazing clips. 👍

Love Montomey Clift!!!

I can't believe James Dean . What a force. Its difficult watching him ! Unbelievable like Brando !

Oh my , 3.09 Marlon appears looking like Tom hardy with a slight touch of Elvis . Great actor , handsome and thoughtful with principles . Thanks for this vid

Marlon Brando , un actor pentru eternitate ! In NASUL , a fost genial .Glorie eterna !!🎉🇷🇴🎉

Love to watch Montgomery Cliff act. Though a short life he picked his movies carefully and he and Brando were actually good friends! 😊😊

James Dene was heartbreaking in that scene

Dean was only in his Twenties being this GIFTED!

His acting in Street Car is over the top , but Last Tango in Paris is Sacred and Profane . It blew my mind when he started talking to his wife with the open casket scene .

Elizabeth Taylor was grief stricken..after losing her husband Mike Todd..so her Performance was outstanding as Maggie❤

A great example of early acting was Lillian Gish in Broken Blossoms.

Terrific selection. Great to see these after so long. Still blows me arrest away seeing J.D.

All great actors and all heartthrobs. 😁 It’s good to be reminded of these fantastic movies as well. I will be watching them all today too. Thank you for sharing this with us. 😊🎬 💙

Thank you, thank you...these scenes are heart stopping...

Every one of those actors and actresses were priceless in their performances. They just don't make them like that anymore. They all look, talk, think the same. Cut from the same cloth. Just the beauty of the men and women then was breathtaking, add in a stellar performance and magic happened on the silver screen. Now they cuss and swear and are ridiculous. There are or were a few, Robin Williams, Daniel Day-Lewis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cillian Murphy and my favorite Johnny Depp. All great performers dead or hate Hollywood. Can't blame them there.

Great performances. All American though. Missing Sir Lawrence Olivier, Sir Alec Guinness, Toshiro Mifune, Max Von Sydow. To name a few.

Brando!!! OMG

wow, i forgot how beautiful audrey hepburn was, and i have never seen her acting drunk! RIP AH.

Wow. James Dean... Marlon Brando...😍🤩

Muy buena eleccion de escenas!! Mi favorito es James Dean for ever!!

😂😂😂Maggie the Cat, great perfomance by Elizabeth❤😢

Audrey Hepburn was adorable in that scene. Of course, she was adorable in _every_ scene she ever played.

great choices

East of Eden

IMHO, the roman holiday and streetcar scenes are excellent; the others (especially Dean’s) border on the embarrassing.

I also love James Mason, Gene Kelly and Marilyn Monroe! All actors from golden age of cinema

For Brando, I prefer the "It was you, Charlie..." scene from "On the Waterfront."

Monty ❤

fab compilation

Brando blows them all out of the water, the greatest

Some of Dean's best work is in the TV performances he did before "East Of Eden" and before becoming an iconic legend. They're all on RU-vid, DVDs or streaming now.

The naughty music in the Brandon scene is a big help

Marlon Brando was the epitome of the "movie star." But like most of his generation in Hollywood, he had a lot of issues. Still, he is breathtaking.

Audrey Hepburn gave the performance of her career in The Nun’s Story…😊