In terms of British cinema the early years were dominated by Ealing, most noted for its Ealing Comedies, with their treatment of lower middle class minor rebellions against bureaucracy, and its celebration of the plucky (Dunkirk) community spirit which gathers to fight off the forces of bureaucracy and Big Business. Pre-1950s films such as Whiskey Galore and Passport to Pimlico had established this trend for Ealing's treatment of mildly anarchic libertarian energies. By 1953, and The Titfield Thunderbolt, the formula was becoming a little tired and conservative. The Ealing tradition of comedy gave rise, however, to a generation of later comedies, most notably the 'Doctor..' series (beginning with Doctor in the House (1954), the 'Carry On' films (which began with Carry on Sergeant in 1958), and the Saint Trinians films.
Other notable developments in the 1950s were the return to World War II themes - The Dam Busters (1954), Reach for the Sky (1956) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - and the Science Fiction and Horror films of Hammer (the latter of which begins with The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957)
The success of films such as Room at the Top, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning and the film version of Look Back in Anger brought a breath of fresh air to British cinema in the later 1950s, with its attempt at a critical northern realism, eschewing the candy-floss of American Doris Day cinema. This northern New Wave cinema revitalised the British cinema until the mid 1960s, before the invention of "Swinging London". In terms of the overt treatment of social and political themes, it is also worth noting the significance of films such as Left , Right, Centre (with its ironic treatment of party politics), and Peter Sellers' masterly role as the trade unionist in I'm Alright Jack, the very title of which expresses a great deal about the popular sentiment concerning late 50s British affluence. That movement from austerity to affluence which characterised Britain in the 1950s is seen most clearly in figures showing the rise of British households who owned television sets: the growth of television is, in retrospect, the most significant development in the subsequent history of British cinema and the British film industry.