Film Decades: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- The 47 Ronin (Genroku chushingura), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
- 49th Parallel, directed by Michael Powell, starring Leslie Howard and Laurence Olivier – (GB)
- Adam Had Four Sons – starring Ingrid Bergman and Warner Baxter
- Among the Living, starring Albert Dekker and Susan Hayward
- Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary, starring Mickey Rooney
- Babes on Broadway – directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
- Back Street, starring Charles Boyer and Margaret Sullavan
- The Bad Man – directed by Richard Thorpe, starring Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, & Ronald Reagan
- Ball of Fire – directed by Howard Hawks, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck
- Belle Star – directed by Irving Cummings, starring Randolph Scott, Gene Tierney
- The Big Store, starring the Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont, Tony Martin
- The Black Cat – starring Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi
- Blood and Sand – starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth
- Blossoms in the Dust, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
- The Blue Star Hotel (Hotel Modrá hvězda), directed by Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia)
- Blues in the Night, starring Priscilla Lane and Betty Field
- Bowery Blitzkrieg, starring the East Side Kids
- The Bride Came C.O.D. – directed by William Keighley, starring James Cagney and Bette Davis
- Broadway Limited – starring Victor McLaglen, Dennis O’Keefe, Patsy Kelly
- Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family, directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
- Buck Privates, starring Abbott and Costello
- Caught in the Draft, starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour
- Charlie Chan in Rio, starring Sidney Toler
- A Charming Man (Roztomilý člověk), directed by Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia)
- The Chocolate Soldier, starring Nelson Eddy
- Churchill’s Island (La Forteresse de Churchill) – (Canada)
- Citizen Kane** – directed by and starring Orson Welles, with Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane, Dorothy Comingore, Ray Collins
- The Corsican Brothers, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
- Cottage to Let, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim, John Mills – (GB)
- Crook’s Tour, starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne
- Cuando los hijos se van (When Children Leave Home) – (Mexico)
- The Devil and Daniel Webster (aka All That Money Can Buy) – starring Walter Huston and Edward Arnold
- The Devil and Miss Jones, starring Jean Arthur and Robert Cummings
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – starring Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman
- Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day – directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, & Laraine Day
- Dumbo, animated film from Walt Disney
- The Face Behind the Mask – starring Peter Lorre
- The Farmer’s Wife, starring Basil Sydney
- Footsteps in the Dark – starring Errol Flynn
- Four Mothers – directed by William Keighley, starring Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, May Robson and featuring the Lane Sisters: Priscilla, Rosemary, and Lola
- The Flame of New Orleans, starring Marlene Dietrich
- Flying Wild, starring the East Side Kids
- Freedom Radio, directed by Anthony Asquith – (GB)
- The Gang’s All Here, starring Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland
- The Ghost of St. Michael’s, starring Will Hay and Charles Hawtrey – (GB)
- The Great Lie, starring Mary Astor and Bette Davis
- H.M. Pulham, Esq., starring Hedy Lamarr and Robert Young
- The Hard Life of an Adventurer (Těžký život dobrodruha) – (Czechoslovakia)
- Hatter’s Castle, starring Robert Newton and Deborah Kerr – (Britain)
- The Heavenly Play (Himlaspelet), directed by Alf Sjöberg – (Sweden)
- Hellzapoppin’, starring Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson
- Here Comes Mr. Jordan, starring Robert Montgomery
- High Sierra – starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart in his first starring role
- Hit the Road, starring the Dead End Kids
- Hold Back the Dawn – directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland and Paulette Goddard
- Hold That Ghost, starring Abbott and Costello
- Honky Tonk – starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner
- How Green Was My Valley – directed by John Ford, starring Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O’Hara – winner of 5 Academy Awards
- Hudson’s Bay – directed by Irving Pichel, starring Paul Muni, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar, Vincent Price
- I Wake Up Screaming, starring Betty Grable, Victor Mature, Carole Landis
- I Wanted Wings – starring Ray Milland, William Holden, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy
- In the Navy, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- Inspector Hornleigh Goes To It, starring Gordon Harker and Alastair Sim – (GB)
- The Iron Crown (La corona di ferro) – (Italy)
- It Started with Eve, starring Deanna Durbin and Robert Cummings
- Jesse James at Bay, starring Roy Rogers
- Kathleen – directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Shirley Temple, Herbert Marshall, Laraine Day, & Gail Patrick
- Keep ‘Em Flying, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- Khazanchi (Cashier) – (India)
- Kipps, directed by Carol Reed, starring Michael Redgrave – (GB)
- Ladies in Retirement, starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward
- Lady Be Good, starring Eleanor Powell and Robert Young
- The Lady Eve – written & directed by Preston Sturges, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda
- Life Begins for Andy Hardy starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
- Life with Henry, starring Jackie Cooper
- The Little Foxes – directed by William Wyler, starring Bette Davis
- Look Who’s Laughing, starring Edgar Bergen, Fibber McGee and Molly
- Louisiana Purchase, starring Bob Hope
- Love on the Dole, starring Deborah Kerr – (GB)
- Major Barbara, directed by Gabriel Pascal, starring Wendy Hiller and Rex Harrison – (GB)
- The Maltese Falcon** – directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet
- Man Hunt, starring Walter Pidgeon and Joan Bennett
- Man Made Monster, starring Lon Chaney Jr. and Lionel Atwill
- Manpower, starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, George Raft
- Meet John Doe – directed by Frank Capra, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck
- Moon Over Miami, starring Betty Grable
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith – directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery
- Mr. Bug Goes to Town
- Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, starring W.C. Fields
- Nice Girl?, starring Deanna Durbin
- Ohm Krüger (Uncle Kruger), starring Emil Jannings – (Germany)
- One Foot in Heaven, starring Fredric March and Martha Scott
- One Night in Lisbon, starring Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll
- One Night in Transylvania (Egy éjszaka Erdélyben) – (Hungary)
- Penn of Pennsylvania, starring Clifford Evans and Deborah Kerr – (GB)
- Penny Serenade – directed by George Stevens, starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant
- The People vs. Dr. Kildare – directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Bonita Granville, & Laraine Day
- Piccolo mondo antico (Old-Fashioned World), starring Alida Valli – (Italy)
- Pimpernel Smith, directed by and starring Leslie Howard – (GB)
- A Place to Live
- Pot o’ Gold – directed by George Marshall, starring James Stewart, Paulette Godard, Horace Heidt, Charles Winninger, Mary Gordon, Art Carney (uncredited)
- Pride of the Bowery, starring the East Side Kids
- Princess Iron Fan (Tie shan gong zhu) – (China)
- Quiet Wedding, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Margaret Lockwood – (GB)
- Rage in Heaven – directed by W.S. Van Dyke, starring Robert Montgomery and Ingrid Bergman
- Red River Valley, directed by Joseph Kane, starring Roy Rogers
- The Reluctant Dragon, starring Robert Benchley
- Road to Zanzibar, starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby
- The Saint in Palm Springs, starring George Sanders
- The Sausage-Maker Who Disappeared (Den forsvundne pølsemaker) – (Norway)
- The Sea Wolf, starring Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, John Garfield
- Sergeant York – directed by Howard Hawks, starring Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan
- Shadow of the Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
- The Shanghai Gesture – directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston
- The Shepherd of the Hills – starring John Wayne
- Sheriff of Tombstone, starring Roy Rogers
- Shining Victory, starring James Stephenson and Geraldine Fitzgerald
- Sikandar (Alexander the Great) – (India)
- Six Gun Gold, starring Tim Holt
- Skylark – starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland
- Spellbound, starring Derek Farr – (GB)
- Spooks Run Wild – starring East Side Kids and Bela Lugosi
- Stormy Waters (Remorques), starring Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan – (France)
- The Strawberry Blonde – directed by Raoul Walsh, starring James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth
- Sullivan’s Travels – written & directed by Preston Sturges, starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake
- Sun Valley Serenade, starring Sonja Henie
- Sundown – directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Gene Tierney
- Suspicion – directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant
- Suvorov – (U.S.S.R.)
- Swamp Water – directed by Jean Renoir, starring Walter Brennan and Walter Huston
- The Tale of the Fox (Le Roman de Renard) – (France)
- Target for Tonight, a propaganda documentary – (GB)
- Tarzan’s Secret Treasure, starring Johnny Weissmuller
- Teresa Venerdì – directed by and starring Vittorio De Sica – (Italy)
- That Hamilton Woman (aka Lady Hamilton) – starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier – (GB)
- That Night in Rio, starring Don Ameche, Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda
- They Died with Their Boots On – directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Sydney Greenstreet, Hattie McDaniel
- They Met in Argentina – starring Maureen O’Hara and James Ellison
- Tobacco Road – directed by John Ford, starring Gene Tierney
- Tosca, directed by Jean Renoir, starring Imperio Argentina and Michel Simon (Italy)
- The Trial of Mary Dugan (1941) – directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring Laraine Day, Robert Young, Tom Conway, Frieda Inescort, John Litel, Marsha Hunt, Marjorie Main, & Henry O’Neill
- Turned Out Nice Again, starring George Formby – (GB)
- The Tyrant Father (O Pai Tirano) – (Portugal)
- U-Boat Course West! (U-Boote westwärts) – (Germany)
- Unexpected Uncle, starring Anne Shirley, James Craig, Charles Coburn
- Unholy Partners – directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson, Laraine Day, Edward Arnold, & Marsha Hunt
- Week-End in Havana, starring Alice Faye, John Payne, Carmen Miranda and Cesar Romero
- Western Union – directed by Fritz Lang, starring Randolph Scott
- When Ladies Meet, starring Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Robert Taylor and Herbert Marshall
- The White Ship (La nave bianca) – directed by Roberto Rossellini – Italy
- The Wolf Man – directed by George Waggner, starring Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Evelyn Ankers, and Maria Ouspenskaya
- A Woman’s Face, starring Joan Crawford and Melvyn Douglas
- A Yank in the RAF, starring Tyrone Power and Betty Grable
- You Belong to Me – directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda
- You’ll Never Get Rich, starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth
- Ziegfeld Girl – starring Judy Garland and James Stewart