The Best B-Pictures Of The 1940s
by Akira_Chimera | created - 23 Mar 2011 | updated - 02 Jan 2022 | PublicThis list is dedicated to those pictures that are not much talked about or sometimes even sneered at. Most of these movies were made on a small budget but can be very entertaining nevertheless. That is, if you generally dig B-pictures of the sci-fi or horror genre, for example. Some of the entries might be considered trash, but I assure you that you will find only the hilarious ones here. So, if you are in the mood for a somewhat different movie that does not necessarily follow mainstream rules, chances are that you will find here what you are looking for.
As usual, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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1. Dr. Cyclops (1940)
Passed | 77 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
A mad scientist working in the South American jungle miniaturizes his colleagues when he feels his megalomania is threatened.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Charles Halton
Votes: 2,890
2. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Passed | 81 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect: gradual madness.
Director: Joe May | Stars: Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton
Votes: 5,298
3. One Million B.C. (1940)
Passed | 80 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
Tale of Prehistoric survival and love between a male and a female belonging to opposing tribes that happened to be at slightly different stages of evolution.
Directors: Hal Roach Jr., Hal Roach | Stars: Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Lon Chaney Jr., Conrad Nagel
Votes: 1,685
4. The Man with Nine Lives (1940)
Approved | 74 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A medical researcher visits the deserted home of a pioneer in cryogenic science who disappeared 10 years earlier and finds him frozen in ice but still alive.
Director: Nick Grinde | Stars: Boris Karloff, Roger Pryor, Jo Ann Sayers, Stanley Brown
Votes: 1,107
5. Black Friday (1940)
Approved | 70 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Dr. Sovac transplants the brain of a gangster into his professor friend's body to save his life, but there is a side effect that causes a dangerous split personality.
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Stanley Ridges, Anne Nagel
Votes: 2,879
6. The Devil Bat (1940)
Approved | 68 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A mad scientist develops an aftershave lotion that causes his gigantic bats to kill anyone who wears it.
Director: Jean Yarbrough | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien, Guy Usher
Votes: 3,450
7. The Mummy's Hand (1940)
Approved | 67 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
Archaeologists defile the tomb of mummified Kharis, who was buried alive for falling in love with an Egyptian princess.
Director: Christy Cabanne | Stars: Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford, Eduardo Ciannelli
Votes: 4,708
8. The Invisible Woman (1940)
Approved | 72 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
An attractive model with an ulterior motive volunteers as guinea pig for an invisibility machine.
Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, John Howard, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 3,357
9. The Saint's Double Trouble (1940)
Passed | 67 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An enigmatic gang leader known as "The Boss," who is a dead-ringer for Simon, puts "The Saint" under suspicion of murder.
Director: Jack Hively | Stars: George Sanders, Helene Reynolds, Jonathan Hale, Bela Lugosi
Votes: 850
10. The Saint Takes Over (1940)
Approved | 69 min | Crime, Mystery
Inspector Fernack is framed by a cartel of five gangsters and Simon does his best to prove it before all the conspirators are murdered by a mysterious killer.
Director: Jack Hively | Stars: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Jonathan Hale, Paul Guilfoyle
Votes: 800
11. Before I Hang (1940)
Passed | 62 min | Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi
A physician on death row for a mercy killing is allowed to experiment on a serum using a criminals' blood, but secretly tests it on himself. He gets a pardon, but finds out he's become a Jekyll-&-Hyde.
Director: Nick Grinde | Stars: Boris Karloff, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Bennett, Edward Van Sloan
Votes: 1,416
12. Island of Doomed Men (1940)
Passed | 68 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Undercover agent Mark Sheldon gets paroled to a remote tropical island with a diamond mine manned by slave labor run by sadistic Stephen Danel.
Director: Charles Barton | Stars: Peter Lorre, Rochelle Hudson, Robert Wilcox, Don Beddoe
Votes: 627
13. City of Chance (1940)
56 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Texas girl (Bari) goes to New York, becomes a newspaper reporter, and tries to get her gambler boyfriend (Woods) to come home.
Director: Ricardo Cortez | Stars: Lynn Bari, C. Aubrey Smith, Donald Woods, Amanda Duff
Votes: 82
14. Meet the Wildcat (1940)
Approved | 66 min | Mystery
Magazine photographer Ann Larkin is snapping photos at Mexico's National Museum when she sees Brod Williams steal a painting from its frame. Convinced that Brod is the notorious art thief ... See full summary »
Director: Arthur Lubin | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Joseph Schildkraut, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 85
15. Queen of the Mob (1940)
Approved | 61 min | Crime, Drama
Mobster Ma Webster rules her clan with an iron hand, taking charge of all their robberies despite the protests of George Frost, the only member of her gang who is not her son. On Christmas ... See full summary »
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Blanche Yurka, J. Carrol Naish, Jeanne Cagney
Votes: 94
16. The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Delia's father murdered and some very valuable jewelry stolen. She hires reformed thief Michael to find killer and jewels before police suspect him.
Director: Sidney Salkow | Stars: Warren William, Eric Blore, Joan Perry, Alan Baxter
Votes: 443
17. The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady (1940)
Approved | 71 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A hardworking secretary for a rich woman finds herself engaged to the woman's son and accused of a murder she didn't commit. Lanyard, the Lone Wolf, and Jamison set out to find the real killer.
Director: Sidney Salkow | Stars: Warren William, Eric Blore, Jean Muir, Victor Jory
Votes: 446
18. The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940)
Passed | 65 min | Comedy, Drama, Crime
Complicated plot involving missing stamp collection and kidnapped businessman, with the Lone Wolf keeping one step ahead of the police in Miami trying to solve the crime and make a profit.
Director: Sidney Salkow | Stars: Warren William, Frances Robinson, Bruce Bennett, Eric Blore
Votes: 383
19. Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)
Approved | 69 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Famed detective and crime novelist Ellery Queen solves a case involving the suspicious death of a rich man whose inheritors fight over his estate.
Director: Kurt Neumann | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, James Burke
Votes: 217
20. Half a Sinner (1940)
Passed | 59 min | Adventure, Comedy, Mystery
Although young and beautiful, schoolteacher Anne Gladden fears a dull future. She finally decides to take a walk on the wild side, splurging on some fashionable new clothes and setting off ... See full summary »
Director: Al Christie | Stars: Heather Angel, John 'Dusty' King, Constance Collier, Walter Catlett
Votes: 416
21. Bulldog Sees It Through (1940)
Approved | 77 min | Mystery
The armaments production programme is being sabotaged by a gang of Germans. A few arrests are made but the destruction of a vital plant goes on. Test Pilot 'Bulldog' Bill Watson plunges headlong into the mystery.
Director: Harold Huth | Stars: Jack Buchanan, Greta Gynt, Sebastian Shaw, David Hutcheson
Votes: 21
22. Men Without Souls (1940)
Approved | 62 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Johnny Adams arrives in a brutal prison under an assumed name after deliberately framing himself in order to kill White, a captain of the guards, because he had beaten Johnny's father to ... See full summary »
Director: Nick Grinde | Stars: Barton MacLane, John Litel, Rochelle Hudson, Glenn Ford
Votes: 83
23. The Devil Commands (1941)
Approved | 65 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Scientist becomes obsessed with the idea of communicating with his dead wife.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Boris Karloff, Anne Revere, Amanda Duff, Richard Fiske
Votes: 1,440
24. The Black Cat (1941)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, Mystery
Elderly Henrietta Winslow lives in an isolated mansion with her housekeeper and beloved cats. As her health fails, her greedy relatives gather in anticipation of her death.
Director: Albert S. Rogell | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Bela Lugosi
Votes: 2,082
25. Man Made Monster (1941)
Passed | 59 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
A mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Nagel, Frank Albertson
Votes: 1,879
26. The Monster and the Girl (1941)
Passed | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
After a young woman is coerced into prostitution and her brother framed for murder by an organized crime syndicate, retribution in the form of an ape visits the mobsters.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Ellen Drew, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 756
27. Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
Passed | 81 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
Tarzan's jungle home, and his family, Jane and Boy, are threatened by men greedy for gold.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, Reginald Owen
Votes: 3,174
28. King of the Zombies (1941)
Passed | 67 min | Adventure, Comedy, Horror
On a spooky island, three stranded travelers find an evil doctor working with foreign spies and in control of zombies.
Director: Jean Yarbrough | Stars: Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury, Mantan Moreland, Henry Victor
Votes: 2,508
29. The Saint in Palm Springs (1940)
Approved | 66 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Inspector Fernack asks Simon to watch over an old friend who's carrying $200,000 worth of postage stamps, but the friend is killed, and the stamps stolen.
Director: Jack Hively | Stars: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Paul Guilfoyle, Jonathan Hale
Votes: 806
30. The Smiling Ghost (1941)
Passed | 71 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
An heiress seems to be cursed as each of her intended grooms meets with a horrible end.
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: Wayne Morris, Brenda Marshall, Alexis Smith, Alan Hale
Votes: 804
31. Mystery Ship (1941)
65 min | Drama, Thriller, War
FBI agents Allan Harper and Tommy Baker are in charge of a group of subversives, spies and saboteurs that the US government is deporting to foreign countries aboard a ship. The deportees attempt to take over the ship.
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Paul Kelly, Lola Lane, Larry Parks, Trevor Bardette
Votes: 31
32. Murder by Invitation (1941)
Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A wealthy woman has a murder mystery on her hands when her greedy relatives wind up dead after being invited to her home.
Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Wallace Ford, Marian Marsh, Sarah Padden, Gavin Gordon
Votes: 499
33. The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance (1941)
Passed | 74 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The Lone Wolf Michael Lanyard takes Inspector Crane's challenge that he can't keep out of trouble for 24 hours. No sooner accepted when Lanyard is sucked into a case of murder and ... See full summary »
Director: Sidney Salkow | Stars: Warren William, June Storey, Henry Wilcoxon, Eric Blore
Votes: 407
34. Secrets of the Lone Wolf (1941)
Approved | 66 min | Crime, Mystery, Romance
Michael Lanyard is hired to safeguard gems intended to finance a foreign nation's battle for liberty.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Warren William, Ruth Ford, Roger Clark, Victor Jory
Votes: 127
35. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Passed | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Jekyll allows his dark side to run wild when he drinks a potion that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Donald Crisp
Votes: 9,874 | Gross: $3.92M
36. The Gay Falcon (1941)
Passed | 67 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
The Falcon investigates jewel thieves who are working with hard up socialites to defraud insurance companies. First of the Falcon series.
Director: Irving Reis | Stars: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins, Nina Vale
Votes: 1,229
37. Meet Boston Blackie (1941)
Passed | 60 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When a murder occurs on an ocean liner docked in New York, the trail leads to Coney Island and a spy ring.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Chester Morris, Rochelle Hudson, Richard Lane, Charles Wagenheim
Votes: 686
38. Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941)
Passed | 65 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Blackie is accused of murdering a man at an art auction, which leads to the uncovering of an art racket.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Chester Morris, Harriet Nelson, Richard Lane, George E. Stone
Votes: 505
39. Mr. District Attorney (1941)
Passed | 69 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Rookie Deputy DA P. Cadwallader Jones and hotshot reporter Terry Parker team up to track down an elusive criminal named Hyde.
Director: William Morgan | Stars: Dennis O'Keefe, Florence Rice, Peter Lorre, Stanley Ridges
Votes: 217
40. Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case (1941)
Approved | 52 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Assistant District Attorney P. Cadwallader Jones (James Ellison) and his sweetheart Terry Parker (Virginia Gilmore), a newspaper reporter, are about to be married when news comes that ... See full summary »
Director: Bernard Vorhaus | Stars: James Ellison, Virginia Gilmore, Franklin Pangborn, Paul Harvey
Votes: 27
41. Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941)
Approved | 69 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery
Jewlery smuggled into the United States from China.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Anna May Wong
Votes: 225
42. Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941)
Passed | 68 min | Mystery
Several days after one of his company's dams burst, ruining the life savings of several investors, a shady power company president is found stabbed to death. Ellery Queen gets to the bottom of the mystery.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Spring Byington
Votes: 161
43. Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941)
Passed | 70 min | Mystery
The benefactor of the Stack Memorial Hospital dies after an operation. Ellery Queen investigates when it is revealed the cause of death was murder by strangulation.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Mona Barrie
Votes: 186
44. The Great Train Robbery (1941)
Approved | 62 min | Thriller
Tom Logan is a railroad detective. Tom takes it upon himself to halt the activities of his crooked brother Duke. Duke and his henchman have stolen an entire gold train, including the ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Kane | Stars: Bob Steele, Claire Carleton, Milburn Stone, Helen MacKellar
Votes: 70
45. Night Monster (1942)
Passed | 73 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Kurt Ingston, a rich recluse, invites the doctors who left him a hopeless cripple to his desolate mansion in the swamps as one by one they meet horrible deaths.
Director: Ford Beebe | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Leif Erickson, Irene Hervey
Votes: 1,853
46. Invisible Agent (1942)
Passed | 81 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
The Invisible Man's grandson uses his secret formula to spy on Nazi Germany.
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Ilona Massey, Jon Hall, Peter Lorre, Cedric Hardwicke
Votes: 2,656
47. Bowery at Midnight (1942)
Approved | 61 min | Crime, Thriller
Kindly soup kitchen operator and professor of criminology Bela Lugosi uses his soup kitchen as a front for a criminal gang who commit a series of daring robberies and murders.
Director: Wallace Fox | Stars: Bela Lugosi, John Archer, Wanda McKay, Tom Neal
Votes: 1,233
48. The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
Passed | 67 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr. Frankenstein's plans to replace the brain of his monster are hijacked by his scheming and malevolent assistant Ygor.
Director: Erle C. Kenton | Stars: Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr., Ralph Bellamy, Lionel Atwill
Votes: 7,097
49. Eyes in the Night (1942)
Passed | 80 min | Crime, Mystery
A blind detective and his seeing-eye dog investigate a murder and discover a Nazi plot.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Donna Reed, Stephen McNally
Votes: 1,958
50. Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942)
Passed | 71 min | Action, Adventure
Tarzan and Jane go to New York to rescue Boy after he is kidnapped into a circus.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, Virginia Grey
Votes: 3,589
51. Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)
Passed | 58 min | Horror, Mystery, Romance
Dr. Larry Forbes visits the château of Dr. Robert Renault, uncle of his fiancée Madelon, who is idolized by Renault's assistant, a strange émigré from Java.
Director: Harry Lachman | Stars: J. Carrol Naish, Shepperd Strudwick, Lynne Roberts, George Zucco
Votes: 547
52. The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Horror
A young divorcee tries to convert a historic house into a hotel despite its oddball inhabitants and dead bodies in the cellar.
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Maxie Rosenbloom, Larry Parks
Votes: 1,263
53. The Undying Monster (1942)
Not Rated | 63 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Surviving members of an aristocratic English family are threatened by a legendary monster when they venture out on chilly, foggy nights.
Director: John Brahm | Stars: James Ellison, Heather Angel, John Howard, Bramwell Fletcher
Votes: 1,538
54. Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
Passed | 65 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When a German saboteur jeeringly predicts to the nation new depredations, via their radio "Voice of Terror", the Intelligence Inner Council summons Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to help in the crisis.
Director: John Rawlins | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, Reginald Denny
Votes: 5,193
55. Secret Agent of Japan (1942)
Passed | 72 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Kay Murdock (Lynn Bari) strolls into the Dixie Bar in Shanghai on November 1, 1941 and asks the bartender for a letter addressed to Captain Larsen, and is referred to Roy Bonnell (Preston ... See full summary »
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Preston Foster, Lynn Bari, Noel Madison, Victor Sen Yung
Votes: 120
56. Counter-Espionage (1942)
Approved | 73 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
The Lone Wolf tracks down German spies in London during the German bombing.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Warren William, Eric Blore, Hillary Brooke, Thurston Hall
Votes: 370
57. A Date with the Falcon (1942)
Approved | 63 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A scientist has discovered how to make synthetic diamonds and a criminal gang (closely pursued by the Falcon) are out to discover the formula.
Director: Irving Reis | Stars: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, James Gleason, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 1,031
58. The Falcon Takes Over (1942)
Approved | 65 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
The Falcon and reporter Ann Riordan try to solve a string of murders after an ex-wrestler, released from jail, goes looking for his girl friend.
Director: Irving Reis | Stars: George Sanders, Lynn Bari, James Gleason, Allen Jenkins
Votes: 1,172
59. The Falcon's Brother (1942)
Approved | 63 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Tom Lawrence, Gay's brother, takes over for his injured sibling in a case which involves Nazi espionage and political assassination.
Director: Stanley Logan | Stars: George Sanders, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Don Barclay
Votes: 972
60. The Hidden Hand (1942)
Approved | 63 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Peter Thorne (Craig Stevens)is a young attorney who works for an eccentric old woman, Lorinda Channing (Cecil Cunningham), who uses her insane brother, John Channing (Milton Parsons), to ... See full summary »
Director: Benjamin Stoloff | Stars: Craig Stevens, Elisabeth Fraser, Julie Bishop, Willie Best
Votes: 676
61. Terror House (1942)
79 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A pair of young teachers look into the disappearance of their friend in the Yorkshire Moors. They soon run across the man they suspect is the murderer, and have to sit out a storm with him.
Director: Leslie Arliss | Stars: James Mason, Wilfrid Lawson, Mary Clare, Joyce Howard
Votes: 861
62. Alias Boston Blackie (1942)
Approved | 67 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Blackie tracks down a wrongly convicted prisoner who escapes during a Christmas magic show.
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Chester Morris, Adele Mara, Richard Lane, George E. Stone
Votes: 694
63. Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Boston Blackie and his pal, The Runt, are ready to board a train for Florida when Blackie gets a telegram from his friend Arthur Manleder asking Blackie to go to Manleder's New York ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Chester Morris, William Wright, Constance Worth, Lloyd Corrigan
Votes: 485
64. A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942)
Passed | 67 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Two mysterious seamen come from Alan Rogers' past to blackmail him as he seeks to locate his missing daughters. Ellery Queen is called in by Stewart Cole, Rogers' secretary. Queen goes to ... See full summary »
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: William Gargan, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Ralph Morgan
Votes: 144
65. A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen (1942)
Approved | 70 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Detective Ellery Queen tries to find a missing man, and gets embroiled in a case of murder and embezzlement.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: William Gargan, Margaret Lindsay, John Litel, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 110
66. Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen (1942)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Detective Ellery Queen aids Free Dutch agents battling German spies over a prize of industrial diamonds.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: William Gargan, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Gale Sondergaard
Votes: 115
67. Tough As They Come (1942)
Passed | 61 min | Drama
The 'Little Tough Guys' are working as collectors for a finance company, when they discover the company's illegal activities.
Director: William Nigh | Stars: Billy Halop, Paul Kelly, Helen Parrish, Ann Gillis
Votes: 51
68. Mug Town (1942)
Passed | 60 min | Comedy, Drama
Neighborhood kids take on racketeers.
Director: Ray Taylor | Stars: Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Grace McDonald, Bernard Punsly
Votes: 43
69. The Ghost Ship (1943)
Passed | 69 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Third Officer Tom Merriam accuses Captain Will Stone of being a homicidal maniac, but no one believes him.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Richard Dix, Russell Wade, Edith Barrett, Ben Bard
Votes: 3,790
70. The Black Raven (1943)
Approved | 61 min | Horror, Mystery
A group of strangers are brought together in an old, dark house and must contend with two murders and $50,000 in stolen money.
Director: Sam Newfield | Stars: George Zucco, Wanda McKay, Noel Madison, Robert Livingston
Votes: 830
71. Calling Dr. Death (1943)
Approved | 63 min | Film-Noir, Horror, Mystery
A doctor is not sure if he murdered his beautiful but wicked wife, and has his attractive nurse try to find the truth by hypnotizing him.
Director: Reginald Le Borg | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Patricia Morison, J. Carrol Naish, David Bruce
Votes: 1,262
72. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Passed | 74 min | Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The resurrected Wolf Man, seeking a cure for his malady, enlists the aid of a mad scientist, who claims he will not only rid the Wolf Man of his nocturnal metamorphosis, but also revive the frozen body of Frankenstein's inhuman creation.
Director: Roy William Neill | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill
Votes: 9,960
73. The Mad Ghoul (1943)
Passed | 65 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A university chemistry professor experiments with an ancient Mayan gas on a medical student, turning the would-be surgeon into a murdering ghoul.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: David Bruce, Evelyn Ankers, George Zucco, Robert Armstrong
Votes: 891
74. Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Approved | 71 min | Mystery, Thriller, War
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson travel to Washington D.C. in order to prevent a secret document from falling into enemy hands.
Director: Roy William Neill | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Marjorie Lord, Henry Daniell
Votes: 4,749
75. Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)
Passed | 70 min | Adventure, Mystery, War
With Jane still away for the war effort, Tarzan and Boy set off to retrieve rare medicinal herbs, only to run into an American messenger, German spies, and the mysterious desert's treacherous fauna and flora.
Director: Wilhelm Thiele | Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Nancy Kelly, Johnny Sheffield, Otto Kruger
Votes: 2,254
76. Submarine Alert (1943)
Passed | 66 min | Thriller, War
German spies use a stolen shortwave transmitter prototype to broadcast top secret shipping info to an offshore Japanese sub. To nab the spy ring, the U.S. government has the West Coast's top radio engineers fired and shadowed.
Director: Frank McDonald | Stars: Richard Arlen, Wendy Barrie, Nils Asther, Roger Pryor
Votes: 379
77. The Saint Meets the Tiger (1941)
Approved | 70 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The last words uttered by by a conscience-stricken crook dying on the Saint's doorstep lead the detective in pursuit of gold smugglers and the master crook known as the Tiger.
Director: Paul L. Stein | Stars: Hugh Sinclair, Jean Gillie, Gordon McLeod, Clifford Evans
Votes: 603
78. Son of Dracula (1943)
Unrated | 80 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
When Katherine, a beautiful Southern girl obsessed with thoughts of eternal life, invites Count Alucard to come to her mansion in the U.S., she unleashes a Pandora's box of horror on unsuspecting relatives and neighbors.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Robert Paige, Louise Allbritton, Evelyn Ankers
Votes: 6,202
79. Mystery Broadcast (1943)
63 min | Mystery
A radio detective sets out to solve an old murder case, with the help of her sound man and another radio detective. They manage to talk to the people involved in the case, but shortly afterwards the main suspects turn up dead.
Director: George Sherman | Stars: Frank Albertson, Ruth Terry, Nils Asther, Wynne Gibson
Votes: 131
80. Power of the Press (1943)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
During WWII, the publisher of the isolationist New York Gazette is murdered just as he was about to change the paper's policy and support the US war effort. His friend, a small town patriotic editor, is brought in to find the culprits.
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Guy Kibbee, Lee Tracy, Gloria Dickson, Otto Kruger
Votes: 477
81. Le loup des Malveneur (1943)
99 min | Horror, Mystery
A young governess arrives at the Castle of the Malveneurs and begins to investigate some peculiar disappearances.
Director: Guillaume Radot | Stars: Madeleine Sologne, Pierre Renoir, Gabrielle Dorziat, Michel Marsay
Votes: 99
82. The Mysterious Doctor (1943)
Approved | 57 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The citizens of a tiny Cornish village are tormented during World War II by a headless ghost which is haunting the local tin mine.
Director: Benjamin Stoloff | Stars: John Loder, Eleanor Parker, Bruce Lester, Lester Matthews
Votes: 688
83. The Falcon Strikes Back (1943)
Approved | 66 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Tom Lawrence, who has inherited his brother's sobriquet of "The Falcon," is framed for the theft of war bonds and murder.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: Tom Conway, Harriet Nelson, Jane Randolph, Edgar Kennedy
Votes: 808
84. The Falcon in Danger (1943)
Approved | 69 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
After a passenger plane crash lands at a local airport, the rescue crew is shocked to find there is no one aboard.
Director: William Clemens | Stars: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Elaine Shepard, Amelita Ward
Votes: 792
85. The Falcon and the Co-eds (1943)
Passed | 67 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Posing as an insurance investigator, Tom Lawrence investigates a murder of a teacher disguised as a suicide at a women's college.
Director: William Clemens | Stars: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Paula Corday, Amelita Ward
Votes: 907
86. After Midnight with Boston Blackie (1943)
Approved | 65 min | Mystery
Blackie is arrested when retrieving stolen gems from a safety deposit box for a friend.
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Chester Morris, Ann Savage, George E. Stone, Richard Lane
Votes: 398
87. The Chance of a Lifetime (1943)
Approved | 65 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Sleuth Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) helps a wartime convict (Erik Rolf) who was framed for a murder while out on parole.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Chester Morris, Erik Rolf, Jeanne Bates, Richard Lane
Votes: 298
88. One Dangerous Night (1942)
Approved | 77 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A "Lone Wolf" advenure. The Lone Wolf tries to clear himself of a charge of murdering a blackmailer.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Warren William, Eric Blore, Marguerite Chapman, Mona Barrie
Votes: 192
89. London Blackout Murders (1943)
Approved | 59 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A man helps the authorities uncover a ring of murderous German spies in wartime London.
Director: George Sherman | Stars: John Abbott, Mary McLeod, Lloyd Corrigan, Lester Matthews
Votes: 149
90. The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler (1943)
Approved | 74 min | Drama, War
A man who does a good Hitler impression is made to look like Hitler as a decoy for assassination attempts.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: Ludwig Donath, Gale Sondergaard, George Dolenz, Fritz Kortner
Votes: 97
91. Keep 'Em Slugging (1943)
Approved | 66 min | Comedy
Tommy Banning (Bobby Jordan) and his pals,"Pig" (Huntz Hall), "Ape" (Norman Abbott) and "String" (Gabriel Dell) have jobs in a department store where store executive Frank Moulto (Frank ... See full summary »
Director: Christy Cabanne | Stars: Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Norman Abbott
Votes: 70
92. Weird Woman (1944)
Passed | 63 min | Horror, Mystery
While on a South Seas trip, a professor falls in love and marries an exotic native woman. What he doesn't know is that she was raised by superstitious natives who believe her to be some ... See full summary »
Director: Reginald Le Borg | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Morgan
Votes: 1,153
93. The Mummy's Curse (1944)
Approved | 60 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
Shipped to Louisiana, the mummy Kharis from Egypt roams the bayou, tormented by his forbidden love for Princess Ananka.
Director: Leslie Goodwins | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Coe, Virginia Christine, Kay Harding
Votes: 3,374
94. House of Frankenstein (1944)
Passed | 71 min | Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A deranged scientist escapes from prison and recruits Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man to get revenge on his behalf.
Director: Erle C. Kenton | Stars: Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish, John Carradine
Votes: 7,724
95. The Return of the Vampire (1943)
Not Rated | 69 min | Drama, Horror
When an errant bomb unearths the coffin of a vampire during the London Blitz, a gravedigger unknowingly reanimates the monster by removing the stake from his heart
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Frieda Inescort, Nina Foch, Roland Varno
Votes: 2,745 | Gross: $1.09M
96. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
Unrated | 78 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
An eccentric scientist helps a fugitive from the law become invisible, unwittingly giving him the power to exact revenge on his former friends.
Director: Ford Beebe | Stars: Jon Hall, Evelyn Ankers, Alan Curtis, Leon Errol
Votes: 2,738 | Gross: $1.67M
97. Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When an artist is blinded, his fiancée's father offers an operation to restore his sight. When the benefactor suddenly dies, the artist becomes a suspect.
Director: Reginald Le Borg | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Jean Parker, Paul Kelly, Thomas Gomez
Votes: 1,024
98. The Lady and the Monster (1944)
Approved | 86 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A millionaire's brain is preserved after his death, and telepathically begins to take control of those around him.
Director: George Sherman | Stars: Vera Ralston, Erich von Stroheim, Richard Arlen, Helen Vinson
Votes: 443
99. Destiny (1944)
Approved | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Bank robbers Cliff Banks and Sam Baker go their separate ways while being chased by the law. Now fleeing alone, Cliff begins to reflect, via flashback, on the various events and unsavory ... See full summary »
Directors: Reginald Le Borg, Julien Duvivier | Stars: Gloria Jean, Alan Curtis, Frank Craven, Grace McDonald
Votes: 200
100. The Hour Before the Dawn (1944)
Approved | 74 min | Drama, Romance, War
A beautiful Austrian refugee in England--who is also a Nazi agent--marries a scholarly English pacifist. He lives near a secret military base she needs to get information about so she can help in Hitler's planned invasion of England.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: Veronica Lake, Franchot Tone, John Sutton, Binnie Barnes
Votes: 219
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