What was the best decade in movie history

Obviously all decades have their strong points and arguments could be made for all of them.

I'd like to put forward the argument for the 1950s

In the 50s. Hitchock was at his best. Wilder was at his best. Kurosawa was great in the 60s but I'd say the 50s was his best decade. Satyajit Ray had his most popular movies in the 50s. Ozu and Mizoguchi did their best work in the 50s. Kazan was very strong in the decade. Kubrick and Lumet came on to the scene and Lumet arguably had his greatest achievement then. Ford and Wyler were still making masterpieces as were Welles, Lang, Dreyer and Chaplin.

Singin' in the rain is arguably the greatest musical. The Italians were making lots of classics from Di Sica, Rosselini and Fellini to name a few. And Bergman came about with some classics.

If you can argue for a better decade then I'd be more than happy to listen to your arguments.

The 70's stand out for me for the group of filmmakers new and old making films at that time, as for making an argument to support this claim, I would do best to hire an attorney.

'70s, second is '90s.

I'd say the 1950s, films in Hollywood and all over the world were beginning to explore ethics and the human existences. Sure films did that before and they still do...but in the 1950s it was a outpouring of themes that explored and pushed the envelope of social issues.

American - 70s
Rest of the World - 60s

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60's for world cinema

You make great points, Hitchcockian. The '50s is my favorite as well, with the '40s being a close second (mostly due to the development of noir).

So too at the latter part of the '50s were the start of some gritty, realistic pictures, plus some real classics. 1959 alone had Anatomy of a Murder, North by Northwest, Pillow Talk, Some Like it Hot, and Ben-Hur. Not too shabby...

Best is a strong word, but I tend to like the 60's the most.

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No contest...the 1970's

I can't argue that this was the best bet my favorite was the 90s.

The 40's, were the best if you start it in 1939.
The influx of great craftsmen from Europe really boosted American cinema to the next level.

The 60s and 70s, I'd say, are tied. Lots of great auteurs got to shine, like OP said about the 50s. The reason I'd put these two above the 50s is because that's when eastern Europe entered the fray. Russian films, especially, went from weak-but-promising to genuinely great.

I think the 90's is where things really blew up. We had a plethora of vareious kinds of movies ranging from gangsters to Disney to B and A horror to thematic romance like Before Sunrise to live-action anime-infusion like The Matreix, all mastering what was being started and pioneered in the 80's. On top of that, out of the blue, the world's first full-length CGI movie ended up being one of the greatest and most influential in the world, and we saw the revival of horror's relevancy through Scream. On top of that, we had a major rise in excellent Chinese action and Japanese anime as "cinema" and not novelties as some people believed at the time.

I would have to say "The Fifties" as a cultural phenomenon (essentially from the end of the Korean War to the JFK assassination), rather than the literal 1950s. So from Shane and From Here to Eternity to Lawrence of Arabia and To Kill a Mockingbird.

The 60’s for foreign cinema.

The 70’s was great as well.

80’s for nostalgia.

The 70s & the 90s, I'd say. My personal favourite is the 90s' cinema.

I like the 20s and 30s for style and attitude, but they were a slippery lot. 40s and 50s for structure, etiquette and a sense of common dignity and respect. Those formal decades were more my mentality. Not a big fan of 60s and 70s movies, but theres some good ones. 80s were great on the fantasy and scifi side, a few good actions, 90s was sort of half alright most of the time. Since 2005 Id say most of it went to toilet but theres some gems and some of the better actors are distinguishing themselves as they hit their 30s and so forth.

70's for me. No other decade comes close in my humble opinion.

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You're not alone in venerating the 70s: when I hosted the All-Time Refresh List in 2021, the 1970s were tied (with the 1990s) for the most represented decade with 20 of the 100 films. Here's those stats, plus some others.

The 50's and the 70's are the standouts for me