The Good... of the 1940s
by Akira_Chimera | created - 21 Mar 2011 | updated - 22 Jan 2022 | PublicAfter creating my Best-Of-Lists for every decade I felt like some pretty good movies were still left out. To change that here is my The Good... of the 1940s list. Mind you, as the heading implies the movies on this list are not bad. I just do not feel that they belong on a Best-Of-List.
As ususal, 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. They Drive by Night (1940)
Approved | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When one of two truck-driving brothers loses an arm, they both join a transport company where the other is falsely charged as an accessory in the murder of the owner.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino
Votes: 8,796
2. I Was an Adventuress (1940)
Not Rated | 81 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A pair of crooks (von Stroheim and Lorre) use a phony countess (Zorina) who winds up falling in love with one of their victims (Greene).
Director: Gregory Ratoff | Stars: Vera Zorina, Richard Greene, Erich von Stroheim, Peter Lorre
Votes: 386
3. Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An aspiring reporter is the key witness at the murder trial of a young man accused of cutting a café owner's throat and is soon accused of a similar crime himself.
Director: Boris Ingster | Stars: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Charles Waldron
Votes: 4,604
4. The Frightened Lady (1940)
75 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
"Mark's Priory," the Lebanons' family seat, is a house of terror to Ilsa Crane, Lady Lebanon's niece and secretary. The strange behavior of two sinister footmen, Gilder and Brooks, adds ... See full summary »
Director: George King | Stars: Marius Goring, Penelope Dudley-Ward, Helen Haye, Felix Aylmer
Votes: 355
5. British Intelligence (1939)
Approved | 61 min | Romance, Thriller, War
Although the home of cabinet minister Arthur Bennett is a hotbed of spies, moles, and double agents, no one knows the true identity of notorious German spymaster Strendler.
Director: Terry O. Morse | Stars: Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Bruce Lester, Leonard Mudie
Votes: 1,314
6. Brother Orchid (1940)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sothern, Donald Crisp
Votes: 3,166
7. Castle on the Hudson (1940)
Approved | 77 min | Crime, Drama
An arrogant mobster, sentenced to a long prison term in Sing Sing, becomes a changed man when given a chance by the fair and progressive warden.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien, Burgess Meredith
Votes: 857
8. Boom Town (1940)
Passed | 119 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a ten-year period both love the same woman.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr
Votes: 3,773 | Gross: $9.17M
9. The Westerner (1940)
Passed | 100 min | Drama, Western
Judge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Doris Davenport, Fred Stone
Votes: 6,785
10. Arizona (1940)
Passed | 125 min | Drama, Western
In Tucson of the 1860s, a pioneer woman struggles to succeed in the freight and cattle business while at risk at the hands of corrupt and violent local businessmen and rampaging Indians.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Jean Arthur, William Holden, Warren William, Porter Hall
Votes: 1,484
11. Edison, the Man (1940)
Passed | 107 min | Biography, Drama
82 year old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty year career of scientific achievement.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Rita Johnson, Lynne Overman, Charles Coburn
Votes: 1,774
12. Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Passed | 108 min | Drama, Romance, War
Myra and Roy meet and fall in love on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid. Their love will be one of the war's unspoken casualties.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor, Lucile Watson, Virginia Field
Votes: 10,920
13. The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Romance
A best-selling author of women's issues and a medical academic find it is to their mutual advantage to falsely claim that they are married.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Loretta Young, Ray Milland, Reginald Gardiner, Gail Patrick
Votes: 1,040
14. Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Approved | 118 min | Drama, Romance
The arrival of wealthy bachelors in town causes an uproar when families with single daughters aggressively seek engagements, including the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver
Votes: 9,216
15. Escape (1940)
Passed | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1936, a young man arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his missing German mother, and finds she is pending execution at a concentration camp.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, Conrad Veidt, Alla Nazimova
Votes: 1,082
16. The Lady in Question (1940)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A juror in a murder trial takes pity on the recently acquitted defendant and invites her to move into his family's home and his son soon falls in love with her.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Brian Aherne, Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Irene Rich
Votes: 932
17. The Bank Dick (1940)
Not Rated | 72 min | Comedy
Henpecked Egbert Sousé has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.
Director: Edward F. Cline | Stars: W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio
Votes: 7,796
18. The Way of All Flesh (1940)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Paul Kriza is a cashier of a bank in a small town, the happy husband of Anna, and the father of four children. He is sent to New York to deliver some securities for the bank. There, he is ... See full summary »
Director: Louis King | Stars: Akim Tamiroff, Gladys George, William Henry, Muriel Angelus
Votes: 122
19. Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
Approved | 103 min | Biography, Drama
True story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp
Votes: 1,818
20. The Mortal Storm (1940)
Passed | 100 min | Drama
The Roth family leads a quiet life in a small village in the German Alps during the early 1930s. When the Nazis come to power, the family is divided and Martin Breitner, a family friend, is caught up in the turmoil.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan
Votes: 6,028
21. Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
Approved | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
Humble Abraham Lincoln gains the respect of his Illinois neighbors, growing in stature and respect until he is elected President in 1860 and departs for Washington.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon, Mary Howard
Votes: 2,052
22. Night Train to Munich (1940)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
After Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison, Paul Henreid, Basil Radford
Votes: 5,563
23. Blackout (1940)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Early in World War II, Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port, tangles with German spies.
Director: Michael Powell | Stars: Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Hay Petrie, Joss Ambler
Votes: 1,350
24. Primrose Path (1940)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A young woman from a family of prostitutes falls in love with a hard-working man, but when he finds out the truth about her background, their romance becomes jeopardized.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea, Marjorie Rambeau, Henry Travers
Votes: 1,786
25. Too Many Husbands (1940)
Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Romance
Long-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas, Harry Davenport
Votes: 1,693
26. The Stars Look Down (1940)
Approved | 110 min | Drama
In a small coal-mining village Bob Fenwick leads a strike over safety standards at the local colliery. Meanwhile his son, David, goes off to university with the hope one day to return to help the miners with their working conditions.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, Edward Rigby, Emlyn Williams
Votes: 1,178
27. I Love You Again (1940)
Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
Boring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh, Edmund Lowe
Votes: 3,797
28. Gaslight (1940)
Not Rated | 84 min | Mystery, Thriller
Twenty years after the murder of Alice Barlow, her house is finally occupied again. However, the husband from the couple who have moved in has a secret which he will do anything to keep hidden.
Director: Thorold Dickinson | Stars: Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingell, Cathleen Cordell
Votes: 5,265
29. Bismarck (1940)
118 min | Biography, Drama
A biographical film of Otto von Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia, and how he and his policies - including aggressive war - helped to unite Germany.
Director: Wolfgang Liebeneiner | Stars: Paul Hartmann, Friedrich Kayßler, Lil Dagover, Käthe Haack
Votes: 236
30. The Girl in the News (1940)
Not Rated | 78 min | Crime, Thriller
Nurse Anne is acquitted of murder after her patient has died under suspicious circumstances. Changing her name, she gets a position nursing Edward Bentley who soon dies of what appears to be a copycat murder. Again Anne is arrested.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Margaret Lockwood, Barry K. Barnes, Emlyn Williams, Roger Livesey
Votes: 350
31. Arise, My Love (1940)
Passed | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, Dennis O'Keefe, Walter Abel
Votes: 1,034
32. Angels Over Broadway (1940)
Passed | 79 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A cuckolded embezzler on the verge of suicide is helped by a tout, an alcoholic playwright, and a pick-up girl to reimburse the money with a gambling sting.
Directors: Ben Hecht, Lee Garmes | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell, John Qualen
Votes: 1,332
33. A Dispatch from Reuters (1940)
Approved | 90 min | Biography, Drama
Starting with a small flock of carrier pigeons, nineteenth-century entrepreneur Julius Reuter turns his small company into Europe's most respected news wire service.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Edna Best, Eddie Albert, Albert Bassermann
Votes: 663
34. All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
Approved | 141 min | Drama, Romance
A duchess' irrational behavior toward her children's governess triggers tragic events that will change her family's lives forever.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Bette Davis, Charles Boyer, Jeffrey Lynn, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 5,382
35. Gorky 3: My Universities (1940)
90 min | Biography, Drama
The last installment of Russian director Mark Donskoy's Maxim Gorky trilogy. Having endured a painful youth in Gorky 1: The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938) and a torturous sojourn as a serf... See full summary »
Director: Mark Donskoy | Stars: Nikolai Valbert, Stepan Kayukov, Nikolai Dorokhin, Nikolai Plotnikov
Votes: 239
36. Suspicion (1941)
Approved | 99 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce
Votes: 42,351 | Gross: $4.50M
37. They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Approved | 140 min | War, Western
A highly fictionalized account of the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point in 1857 to his death at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 6,890
38. Underground (1941)
Approved | 95 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A World War II Hollywood propaganda film detailing the dark underside of Nazism and the Third Reich set between two brothers, Kurt and Erik Franken, who are SS officers in the Nazi party. ... See full summary »
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Jeffrey Lynn, Philip Dorn, Karen Verne, Mona Maris
Votes: 621
39. Man Hunt (1941)
Passed | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
British hunter Thorndike vacationing in Bavaria has Hitler in his gun sight. He is captured, beaten, left for dead, and escapes back to London where he is hounded by German agents and aided by a young woman.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine
Votes: 6,428
40. Johnny Eager (1941)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
The step-daughter of a district attorney falls in love with a gangster on parole who her father originally imprisoned.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, Van Heflin
Votes: 3,415
41. So Ends Our Night (1941)
TV-PG | 117 min | Drama, War
Story about three German refugees during World War II who are always hiding, always in fear of deportation.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Fredric March, Margaret Sullavan, Frances Dee, Glenn Ford
Votes: 646
42. Le dernier des six (1941)
90 min | Mystery, Thriller
Six friends promise to share their fortune in 5 years. The moment is very close, but one of the six is mysteriously murdered, then another... Superintendent Wenceslas Woroboyioetschik (aka Wens) is in charge of the investigation...
Director: Georges Lacombe | Stars: Pierre Fresnay, Michèle Alfa, Suzy Delair, Jean Tissier
Votes: 372
43. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Boxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes, Rita Johnson
Votes: 7,357
44. The Little Foxes (1941)
Approved | 116 min | Drama, Romance
The ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright, Richard Carlson
Votes: 13,097
45. Meet John Doe (1941)
Passed | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan
Votes: 14,891
46. The Lady Eve (1941)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
A trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 23,345
47. Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
Passed | 116 min | Drama, Romance
Stopped in Mexico by U.S. Immigration, Georges Iscovescu hopes to get into the country by marrying a citizen.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen
Votes: 2,798
48. Ladies in Retirement (1941)
Passed | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The housekeeper to a retired actress tries at the same time to look after her own two emotionally disturbed sisters, with dramatic results.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Ida Lupino, Louis Hayward, Evelyn Keyes, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 1,805
49. The Flame of New Orleans (1941)
Passed | 79 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music
In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Bruce Cabot, Roland Young, Mischa Auer
Votes: 1,301
50. Love Crazy (1941)
Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
A wife suspecting infidelity starts divorce proceedings, so the husband pretends to be insane in order to delay the divorce and clear up the misunderstanding.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gail Patrick, Jack Carson
Votes: 3,427
51. Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Romance
Dedicated Midwestern teacher Ella Bishop is distressed when her fiancé runs off with her vixenish cousin Amy. After Amy dies in childbirth, Ella is left to care for Amy's daughter Hope.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edmund Gwenn, Sterling Holloway
Votes: 821
52. When Ladies Meet (1941)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A successful novelist falls in love with her married publisher, to the consternation of her boyfriend, who arranges for her to meet the publisher's wife.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Greer Garson, Herbert Marshall
Votes: 1,390
53. Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Passed | 97 min | Drama, Mystery
A jockey has been shot dead at the race track. Famous detective Nick Charles and his wife Nora happen to be on the scene and Lt. Abrahams asks for Nick's expert help.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson, Donna Reed
Votes: 6,872
54. The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
Approved | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, Bette Davis, Stuart Erwin, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 3,731
55. Whistling in the Dark (1941)
Passed | 78 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Radio crime show host 'The Fox' along with his fiancée and ex-girlfriend are kidnapped by a larcenous cult who demand that he help them plan a perfect murder.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon | Stars: Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford, Virginia Grey
Votes: 1,097
56. Unholy Partners (1941)
Passed | 94 min | Drama
A tough, ambitious newspaperman starts a new tabloid in 1919 New York, with a crooked big-time gambler as a partner.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Laraine Day, Edward Arnold, Marsha Hunt
Votes: 548
57. Out of the Fog (1941)
Passed | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Brooklyn pier racketeer bullies boat-owners into paying protection money but two fed-up fishermen decide to eliminate the gangster themselves rather than complain to the police.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Ida Lupino, John Garfield, Thomas Mitchell, Eddie Albert
Votes: 2,260
58. The Strawberry Blonde (1941)
Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
Quick-tempered yet likable Biff Grimes falls for the beautiful Virginia Brush, but he is not the only young man in the neighborhood who is smitten with her.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth, Alan Hale
Votes: 4,259
59. 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: 9,858 | Gross: $3.92M
60. Manpower (1941)
Passed | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
Two friends, who are members of a road crew employed by a Los Angeles power company, battle the elements to restore electrical power, and trade punches over the same woman.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, Alan Hale
Votes: 1,698
61. Remorques (1941)
91 min | Action, Drama, Romance
The captain of the tugboat Cyclone, André Laurent, rushes off to save the Mirva. He abandons his sick wife Yvonne and the couple celebrating their marriage. In the early morning, the Cyclone tugs the Mirva ashore with Catherine aboard.
Director: Jean Grémillon | Stars: Jean Gabin, Madeleine Renaud, Michèle Morgan, Charles Blavette
Votes: 1,576
62. Buy Me That Town (1941)
Approved | 70 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
With the gang business washed up, Rickey Deane, suave first lieutenant to racketeer Chink Moran, and Louie Lanzer, a has-been fighter with itchy fingers, decide to take a peaceful vacation ... See full summary »
Director: Eugene Forde | Stars: Lloyd Nolan, Constance Moore, Albert Dekker, Sheldon Leonard
Votes: 75
63. Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A respected investment advisor has a double life as a mystery writer and becomes involved in the real murder of a shady client.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy, Alan Hale
Votes: 1,422
64. Back Street (1941)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Romance
Five years after meeting and falling in love with a banker, a willful shop girl decides to become his mistress upon learning he has since gotten married and had a son.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Charles Boyer, Margaret Sullavan, Richard Carlson, Frank McHugh
Votes: 698
65. The Great Lie (1941)
Approved | 108 min | Drama
After a newlywed's husband apparently dies in a plane crash, she discovers that her rival for his affections is pregnant with his child.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor, Lucile Watson
Votes: 4,337
66. The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
Approved | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
A tycoon goes undercover to ferret out agitators at a department store, but gets involved in their lives instead.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Jean Arthur, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn, Edmund Gwenn
Votes: 4,757
67. 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
Passed | 120 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Professor Horatio Smith, while seeming very unassuming, rescues victims of Nazi persecution during World War II.
Director: Leslie Howard | Stars: Leslie Howard, Francis L. Sullivan, Allan Jeayes, Mary Morris
Votes: 1,844
68. Charley's Aunt (1941)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Romance
In 1890, two students at Oxford force their rascally friend and fellow student to pose as an aunt from Brazil--where the nuts come from.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Jack Benny, Kay Francis, James Ellison, Anne Baxter
Votes: 677
69. The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
Approved | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A disfigured watch-maker with a grudge against society embarks on a life of crime.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Peter Lorre, Evelyn Keyes, Don Beddoe, George E. Stone
Votes: 1,872
70. Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It (1941)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama
The plot pits Hornleigh and Bingham against a clever gang of Nazi espionage agents. Most of the action takes place aboard a speeding train, with our heroes never quite certain who can be ... See full summary »
Director: Walter Forde | Stars: Gordon Harker, Alastair Sim, Phyllis Calvert, Edward Chapman
Votes: 290
71. Random Harvest (1942)
Passed | 126 min | Drama, Romance
An amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-war life.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters
Votes: 8,396 | Gross: $10.14M
72. Now, Voyager (1942)
Passed | 117 min | Drama, Romance
A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.
Director: Irving Rapper | Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper
Votes: 18,986
73. Jungle Book (1942)
Approved | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A boy raised by wild animals tries to adapt to human village life.
Director: Zoltan Korda | Stars: Sabu, Joseph Calleia, John Qualen, Frank Puglia
Votes: 4,690 | Gross: $2.83M
74. Arabian Nights (1942)
Approved | 86 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The caliph of Baghdad must go into hiding with a group of traveling performers when his brother usurps the throne. Both brothers desire a beautiful dancing girl, who is torn between power and true love.
Director: John Rawlins | Stars: Jon Hall, Maria Montez, Sabu, Leif Erickson
Votes: 1,663 | Gross: $3.71M
75. The Black Swan (1942)
Approved | 87 min | Adventure, Drama
An ex-pirate contends with rowdy buccaneers and a love/hate relationship with an aristocratic woman who's tougher than she seems.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Laird Cregar, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 5,079 | Gross: $1.01M
76. Moontide (1942)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In California, Bobo and his mooching pal Tiny are doing odd jobs and getting drunk and they hide a secret about the unsolved murder of sailor Pop Kelly but suicidal waitress Anna, saved by Bobo, unravels the mystery.
Directors: Archie Mayo, Fritz Lang | Stars: Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, Claude Rains
Votes: 2,220
77. The Big Shot (1942)
Approved | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fearing life in prison for a fourth offense, convict Duke Berne pulls out of an armored car robbery, planned by his crooked lawyer, but he is framed for the robbery anyway.
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Irene Manning, Richard Travis, Susan Peters
Votes: 1,337
78. Across the Pacific (1942)
Passed | 97 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In December 1941, ex-army captain Rick Leland boards a Japanese ship heading to Asia via the Panama Canal where his Japanese hosts show interest in the American defense plans for the canal zone.
Directors: John Huston, Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Charles Halton
Votes: 5,434
79. Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)
Passed | 98 min | Drama, Romance
Cheated out of his estate by his sadistic uncle, young Benjamin Blake goes to the South Seas to make his fortune so he can return to claim his birthright.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, George Sanders, Frances Farmer
Votes: 1,828
80. The Glass Key (1942)
Passed | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, Bonita Granville
Votes: 7,391
81. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)
Approved | 68 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson must protect a Swiss inventor of an advanced bomb sight from falling into German hands.
Director: Roy William Neill | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill, Karen Verne
Votes: 6,632
82. Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Passed | 100 min | Drama, Mystery
Journalist Steve O'Malley (Spencer Tracy) wants to write a biography of a national hero who died when his car ran off a bridge. Steve receives conflicting reports and tales that make him question what the truth about the hero is.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Richard Whorf, Margaret Wycherly
Votes: 3,206
83. All Through the Night (1942)
Approved | 107 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Runyonesque Broadway gamblers turn patriotic when they stumble onto a cell of Nazi saboteurs.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Karen Verne, Jane Darwell
Votes: 4,920
84. Went the Day Well? (1942)
Approved | 92 min | Thriller, War
An English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti | Stars: Leslie Banks, C.V. France, Valerie Taylor, Marie Lohr
Votes: 4,331 | Gross: $0.02M
85. Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A formal tailcoat that gets passed from one owner to another affects each life in a significant way.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda
Votes: 2,505
86. The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (1942)
Not Rated | 84 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Inspector Wens moves into a Paris boarding house to catch a serial killer.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Pierre Fresnay, Suzy Delair, Jean Tissier, Pierre Larquey
Votes: 3,635
87. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley, Richard Travis
Votes: 8,964
88. Roxie Hart (1942)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy
Roxie Hart signs a murder confession in order to attract publicity for her dancing career as dames don't swing in Cook County. Will everything go as planned?
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, George Montgomery, Lynne Overman
Votes: 1,912 | Gross: $2.40M
89. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Western
When a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn
Votes: 24,932 | Gross: $1.64M
90. Kings Row (1942)
Passed | 127 min | Drama
The dark side and hypocrisy of provincial American life is seen through the eyes of five children as they grow to adulthood at the turn of the century.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Betty Field
Votes: 5,014
91. Old Acquaintance (1943)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Romance
Old friends Kit Marlowe and Millie Drake adopt contrasting lifestyles: Kit is a single, critically acclaimed author while married Millie writes popular pulp novels.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young, John Loder
Votes: 3,855
92. Tortilla Flat (1942)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Danny, a poor northern Californian Mexican-American, inherits two houses from his grandfather and is quickly taken advantage of by his vagabond friends.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, John Garfield, Frank Morgan
Votes: 2,043
93. A Night to Remember (1942)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A mystery writer and his newlywed wife move into a Greenwich Village apartment and find themselves with a corpse and a half dozen red herrings.
Director: Richard Wallace | Stars: Loretta Young, Brian Aherne, Jeff Donnell, William Wright
Votes: 1,423
94. Woman of the Year (1942)
Passed | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Fay Bainter, Reginald Owen
Votes: 10,985
95. Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)
Approved | 117 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
In Europe at the start of World War II, a woman notices that wherever her husband goes, the Germans seem to follow. Meanwhile, a charming reporter is following them.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Walter Slezak, Albert Dekker
Votes: 3,259 | Gross: $0.86M
96. The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Romance
A New York inventor needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire with a capricious high-society sister.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor, Rudy Vallee
Votes: 12,858 | Gross: $0.44M
97. Whistling in Dixie (1942)
Passed | 74 min | Comedy, Mystery, Crime
Radio sleuth Wally "The Fox" Benton forgoes his honeymoon to help his wife's old friend solve a murder and hunt for Civil War gold inside a spooky mansion and fort.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon | Stars: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, George Bancroft, Guy Kibbee
Votes: 705 | Gross: $0.22M
98. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Romance
The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
Directors: Orson Welles, Fred Fleck, Robert Wise | Stars: Tim Holt, Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter
Votes: 26,722
99. One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
Not Rated | 82 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During a raid on Germany a British bomber crew is forced to bail out after their plane is damaged. They land in Holland and are aided by Dutch civilians.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, Bernard Miles
Votes: 2,526
100. Thunder Rock (1942)
Unrated | 90 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
Cynical, embittered newspaperman David Charleston (Michael Redgrave) is tormented, then inspired, by visions he keeps having of people who have drowned.
Director: Roy Boulting | Stars: Michael Redgrave, James Mason, Barbara Mullen, Lilli Palmer
Votes: 808
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