Top Movies of 1940s


The top movies of 1940s list is calculated by community movie ratings and members' "Top Movies List". Lists are updated daily.

121. Word, The ( Ordet )

Year of Release: 1943
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: Danish
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Gustaf Molander
Actors: Henrik Malberg, Emil Hass Christensen, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Cay Kristiansen
Plot: Shot in Denmark during the Nazi occupation, the story concerns a family dealing with a son who believes he is Jesus.

122. Human Beast, The ( bête humaine, La )

Year of Release: 1940
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Jean Renoir
Actors: Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux, Blanchette Brunoy, Gérard Landry, Jenny Hélia
Plot: Train engineer Jacques Lantier finds himself captivated by Séverine, wife of fellow worker Roubaud. When Roubaud learns that she has been seduced by wealthy Grandmorin, he convinces Séverine to help him murder the old man on a train journey - which is witnessed by Lantier. Sickened by her actions, Séverine finds herself in the arms of Lantier - and wants him to help murder her husband.

123. The Woman in the Window

Year of Release: 1944
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Fritz Lang
Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon, Dan Duryea, Thomas E. Jackson
Plot: A college professor and his friends become obsessed with the portrait of a woman in a nearby men's club. When admiring the picture, the actual subject of the painting shows up and he winds up in her apartment. When her boyfriend shows up, he thinks something sinister is going on and attempts to rough up the professor but, fighting back, the boyfriend winds up dead. He and the woman agree to cover up the death by dumping the body - but the police come closer the the truth as they lean on the woman.

124. Call Northside 777

Year of Release: 1948
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Henry Hathaway
Actors: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker, Betty Garde, Kasia Orzazewski
Plot: Chicago reporter P.J. O'Neal reopens an eleven-year-old case after the victim's mother post and ad in the paper. While he at first initially supports the original findings, as he digs deeper, he comes up with another theory - and resistance from the authorities only makes him work that much harder to uncover the truth.

125. Devil and Daniel Webster, The ( All that Money Can Buy )

Year of Release: 1941
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Fantasy
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: William Dieterle
Actors: Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Gene Lockhart, Jane Darwell, John Qualen, Simone Simon
Plot: A farmer makes a deal with the devil for seven years of prosperity. After seven years are up, the devil comes to collect his due, but the farmer calls on Daneil Webster, master orator, to save his soul.

126. The Body Snatcher

Year of Release: 1945
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Horror
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Robert Wise
Actors: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell, Edith Atwater, Russell Wade, Rita Corday
Plot: A brilliant doctor hides a secret - all his cadavers are supplied by a cabbie who holds this fact over his head. When he takes on a new, young assistant, it complicates matters even more.

127. They Were Expendable

Year of Release: 1945
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: John Ford
Actors: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt, Ward Bond, Marshall Thompson
Plot: After Pearl Harbor, a group of PT boats stationed in the Philippians battles with the Navy brass just as much as with Japanese incursions.

128. Snow Trail ( Ginrei no hate )

Year of Release: 1947
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama/Action
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Senkichi Taniguchi
Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Kosugi, Akitake Kôno, Setsuko Wakayama, Kokuten Kôdô

129. Spellbound

Year of Release: 1945
Overall Rating: 2.8 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Mystery
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming, John Emery
Plot: A new young doctor arrives at a psychiatric institute, arousing the interest of a female colleague. Soon, however, it appears the doctor may not be who he claims, and that murder is in his past. His dreams hold the key to unlocking the truth--if only they can be deciphered.

130. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Year of Release: 1944
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Preston Sturges
Actors: Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, William Demarest, Porter Hall, Brian Donlevy
Plot: A midwest girl can't remember the name of the soldier that she married during one night of partying. She tries to find a husband before the stork arrives with a rather big bundle.
Preston Sturgess at his best.

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