Best Movies Of The 40's
by emilhagberg-84632 | created - 02 Dec 2018 | updated - 3 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Wolf Man (1941)
Passed | 70 min | Horror, Mystery, Romance
Larry Talbot returns to his father's castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious gypsy fortune teller.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: Claude Rains, Warren William, Lon Chaney Jr., Ralph Bellamy
Votes: 30,691
2. Fantasia (1940)
G | 124 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy
A series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.
Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe Jr., Norman Ferguson, David Hand, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Corey Burton
Votes: 103,952 | Gross: $76.41M
3. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
After a divorced New York mother hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at Macy's, she is startled by his claim to be the genuine article. When his sanity is questioned, a lawyer defends him in court by arguing that he's not mistaken.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart
Votes: 54,903 | Gross: $2.65M
4. Rope (1948)
Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two men attempt to prove they committed the perfect crime by hosting a dinner party after strangling their former classmate to death.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Dick Hogan
Votes: 153,572
5. Rebecca (1940)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 146,672 | Gross: $4.36M
6. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer
Votes: 27,674 | Gross: $7.57M
7. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 498,997
8. The Great Dictator (1940)
G | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 237,291 | Gross: $0.29M
9. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 605,818 | Gross: $1.02M
10. Bambi (1942)
G | 69 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
The story of a young deer growing up in the forest.
Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright, Arthur Davis, Clyde Geronimi | Stars: Hardie Albright, Stan Alexander, Bobette Audrey, Peter Behn
Votes: 154,031 | Gross: $102.80M
11. Hamlet (1948)
Approved | 154 min | Drama
Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight
Votes: 18,387 | Gross: $7.09M
12. Beredskapspojkar (1940)
93 min | Comedy
Nisse och Calle are two actors who has just completed their third movie about the military and now they look forward to a nice vacation. Then they get called into the real military service.
Director: Sigurd Wallén | Stars: Nils Poppe, Carl Reinholdz, Vera Valdor, Greta Bjerke
Votes: 82
13. 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: 5,384
14. Pinocchio (1940)
G | 88 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
Directors: Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Mel Blanc, Don Brodie
Votes: 159,801 | Gross: $84.25M
15. Dumbo (1941)
G | 64 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
Ridiculed because of his enormous ears, a young circus elephant is assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.
Directors: Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen, John Elliotte | Stars: Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, Herman Bing, Billy Bletcher
Votes: 142,028 | Gross: $1.60M
16. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Passed | 69 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Frances Dee, Tom Conway, James Ellison, Edith Barrett
Votes: 13,666
17. A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)
Approved | 67 min | Adventure, Comedy
Stan and Ollie get involved with con men, crooks, a genial magician, and two interchangeable coffins with disastrous but funny results.
Director: Alfred L. Werker | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Dante, Sheila Ryan
Votes: 1,376
18. The Bullfighters (1945)
Approved | 61 min | Adventure, Comedy, Musical
Bumbling detective Stan Laurel disguises himself as a famous matador in order to hide from the vengeful Richard K. Muldoon, who spent time in prison on Stan's bogus testimony.
Directors: Malcolm St. Clair, Stan Laurel | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Margo Woode, Richard Lane
Votes: 1,404
19. Donald's Snow Fight (1942)
TV-G | 7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Donald Duck, in a battleship made of ice, goes to war against his three nephews, who fight back from their ice fort.
Director: Jack King | Star: Clarence Nash
Votes: 2,256
20. Clown of the Jungle (1947)
6 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
In the South American jungle, the narrator introduces us to the various birds living there and to wildlife photographer Donald Duck intent on getting some pictures. Unfortunately, all his ... See full summary »
Directors: Jack Hannah, Norman Ferguson | Stars: Pinto Colvig, Ken Darby, Larry Keating, Faith Kruger
Votes: 786
21. The Third Man (1949)
Approved | 93 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard
Votes: 181,796 | Gross: $0.45M
22. Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip (1940)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
Mickey and Pluto are taking a trip on the train, but Conductor Pete won't allow Pluto aboard. After sneaking Pluto onto the train in his luggage, Mickey must do some quick thinking and don a few disguises to keep from getting kicked off.
Director: Clyde Geronimi | Stars: Elvia Allman, Billy Bletcher, Walt Disney, Lee Millar
Votes: 1,482
23. My Favorite Brunette (1947)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Shortly before his execution on the death row in San Quentin, amateur sleuth and baby photographer Ronnie Jackson tells reporters how he got there.
Director: Elliott Nugent | Stars: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr.
Votes: 3,841
24. To the Shores of Iwo Jima (1945)
PG | 20 min | Documentary, Short, War
Documentary short film depicting the American assault on the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima and the massive battle that raged on that key island in the Allied advance on Japan.
Stars: Harlon Block, John H. Bradley, Rene A. Gagnon, Ira H. Hayes
Votes: 172
25. Waldo's Last Stand (1940)
Approved | 10 min | Short, Comedy, Family
The "Our Gang" kids stage a talent show in their clubhouse.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Robert Blake, Darla Hood, George 'Spanky' McFarland, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer
Votes: 133
26. The Ape (1940)
Approved | 62 min | Horror
Dr. Bernard Adrian is a kindly mad scientist who seeks to cure a young woman's polio. He needs spinal fluid from a human to complete the formula for his experimental serum.
Director: William Nigh | Stars: Boris Karloff, Maris Wrixon, Gene O'Donnell, Dorothy Vaughan
Votes: 2,061
27. Son of Ingagi (1940)
Passed | 70 min | Horror
A newlywed couple is visited by a strange old woman who harbors a secret about the young girl's father.
Director: Richard C. Kahn | Stars: Zack Williams, Laura Bowman, Alfred Grant, Daisy Bufford
Votes: 331
28. Invisible Ghost (1941)
Passed | 64 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
The town's leading citizen becomes a homicidal maniac after his wife deserts him.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, John McGuire, Clarence Muse
Votes: 2,592
29. Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat (1941)
Not Rated | 7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
The black residents of Lazy Town are bored one day until a sultry light-skinned woman shows up to teach them what rhythm is.
Director: Walter Lantz | Stars: Ivie Anderson, Mel Blanc, Leroy Hurte Chorus, Nellie Lutcher
Votes: 550
30. Tomten (1941)
12 min | Short, Drama, Family
"The snow shines white on the roofs. Only Santa is awake." A film adaptation of Victor Rydberg's poem "Santa."
Director: Gösta Roosling | Stars: Hilda Borgström, Göran Bernhard, Kiki, Hartwig Eriksen
Votes: 116
31. The Blood of Jesus (1941)
Approved | 57 min | Drama, Fantasy
An atheist accidentally shoots his Baptist wife. She dies and goes to a crossroads, where the devil tries to lead her astray.
Director: Spencer Williams | Stars: Cathryn Caviness, Spencer Williams, Juanita Riley, Reather Hardeman
Votes: 775
32. Pantry Panic (1941)
Passed | 7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Woody stays behind to swim while the other birds in the forest migrate south for the winter. Just after the other birds leave, the cold of winter sets in instantly, to the point that Woody's swimming hole freezes
Director: Walter Lantz | Stars: Mel Blanc, Geneva Hall, Sara Berner, Bernice Hansen
Votes: 501
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