Editing Joan Collins (section)

=== 1950s ===
[[File:Joan Collins 1952.jpg|thumb|upright|Collins in 1952]]
After signing with Rank, Collins appeared in many British films. Her feature debut as a film extra playing a beauty contestant in ''[[Lady Godiva Rides Again]]'' (1951) which featured [[Diana Dors]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Worth A Watch|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RLH9YZE3C2HW8|access-date=2021-06-22|website=www.amazon.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Piers Morgan's Life Stories - Dame Joan Collins 70 Years of Stardom|url=https://www.itv.com/hub/piers-morgans-life-stories/1a7234a0102|language=en|access-date=2021-06-23}}</ref> Collins followed up with ''[[The Woman's Angle]]'' (1952) a minor role as a Greek maid. Next was a more significant role as a gangster's moll in ''[[Judgment Deferred]]'' (1952).

Collins's big break came with a major, highly publicised role as a juvenile delinquent in ''[[I Believe in You (film)|I Believe in You]]'' (1952). Her success in the part led to her initial stardom and the press nickname "Britain's Bad Girl". Her subsequent films whilst under contract to Rank included ''[[Decameron Nights]]'' (1953) with [[Joan Fontaine]]; England's first [[X rating|X certificate]] drama, ''[[Cosh Boy]]'' (1953), directed by [[Lewis Gilbert]]; ''[[Turn the Key Softly]]'' (1953), a drama about three women released from prison on the same day; and the boxing saga ''[[The Square Ring (1953 film)|The Square Ring]]'' (1953).

Collins was top-billed in the [[Desert island#In literature and popular culture|desert island]] comedy ''[[Our Girl Friday]]'' (1953), co starring [[Kenneth More]]. She was directed again by Lewis Gilbert in ''[[The Good Die Young]]'' (1954) with [[Laurence Harvey]] and [[Gloria Grahame]]. Between films, she appeared in several plays in London including ''[[The Seventh Veil]]'' (1952), ''Jassy'' (1952), ''[[Claudia and David]]'' (1954), and ''[[The Skin of Our Teeth]]'' (1954), as well as a UK tour of ''The Praying Mantis'' (1953).

[[File:Collins, Joan - Land of the Pharoahs.jpg|thumb|Collins in ''[[Land of the Pharaohs]]'' (1955)|261x261px]]
In 1954, Collins was chosen by American director [[Howard Hawks]] to star as the scheming Princess Nellifer in her first international production, ''[[Land of the Pharaohs]]''. The lavish [[Warner Brothers]] historical epic was unsuccessful upon release but has been lauded by [[Martin Scorsese]] and French critics supporting the [[auteur theory]] for numerous elements of its physical production. [[Danny Peary]] in his book ''Cult Movies'' (1981), selected it as a [[cult film|cult]] [[cult following|classic]].<ref name="Peary1">[[Danny Peary|Peary, Danny]]. ''[[Cult Movies (book)|Cult Movies]]'', Delta Books, 1981. {{ISBN|0-517-20185-2}}</ref> Collins's sultry performance so impressed [[20th Century Fox]] chief [[Darryl Zanuck]] that he signed the young star to a seven-year contract with the Hollywood studio.

Collins made her Hollywood film debut in the lavish historical drama ''[[The Virgin Queen (1955 film)|The Virgin Queen]]'' (1955). The British newcomer was given equal billing with established stars [[Bette Davis]] and [[Richard Todd]]. The same year, Collins was cast in the starring role of [[Evelyn Nesbitt]] in ''[[The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing]]'' with [[Ray Milland]] and [[Farley Granger]]. The part had originally been intended for [[Marilyn Monroe]], however problems between Monroe and Fox led to Collins gaining the role.<ref>{{Citation | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048119/trivia | title = IMDb | contribution = Trivia}}</ref>

MGM borrowed Collins for ''[[The Opposite Sex]]'' (1956), a musical remake of ''[[The Women (1939 film)|The Women]]'' (1939) in which she was cast as the gold digging Crystal, the role played by [[Joan Crawford]] in the original. She then starred as a young nun in ''[[Sea Wife]]'' (1956), top-billed over co-star [[Richard Burton]], followed by the all-star ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'' (1957), which was a major box-office success. The film earned $5,550,000 worldwide, and finished as the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1957.<ref>LINDSAY ANDERSON, and DAVID DENT. "Time For New Ideas." Times [London, England] January 8, 1958: 9. The Times Digital Archive. Web. July 11, 2012.</ref> In 1957, she was top-billed over [[Jayne Mansfield]] in the film version of [[John Steinbeck]]'s ''[[The Wayward Bus (film)|The Wayward Bus]]'', which despite disappointing reviews<ref>{{cite book|author= Railsback, Brian E.|author2=Michael J. Meyer |title= A John Steinbeck Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NikZBtGvy_gC&pg=PA422|page=422|year=2006|publisher=Bloomsbury |access-date=September 3, 2011|isbn=9780313296697 }}</ref> was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear Award at the [[7th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="imdb">{{cite web |url=https://pro.imdb.com/event/ev0000091/awards-1957 |title=Berlin International Film Festival, Awards for 1957(Golden Berlin Bear) |access-date=September 3, 2011}}</ref> She then starred opposite [[Robert Wagner]] in the espionage thriller ''[[Stopover Tokyo]]'' (1957), and was [[Gregory Peck]]'s leading lady in the Western drama ''[[The Bravados]]'' (1958). The [[Leo McCarey]] comedy ''[[Rally Round the Flag, Boys]]'' (1958) cast Collins as a temptress out to seduce [[Paul Newman]] away from [[Joanne Woodward]]. Next came the tense crime caper ''[[Seven Thieves]]'' (1960) opposite [[Edward G. Robinson]] and [[Rod Steiger]].