The Good... of the 1940s
After 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.
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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- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsGeorge RaftHumphrey BogartAnn SheridanWhen 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.
- DirectorGregory RatoffStarsVera ZorinaRichard GreeneErich von StroheimA pair of crooks (von Stroheim and Lorre) use a phony countess (Zorina) who winds up falling in love with one of their victims (Greene).
- DirectorBoris IngsterStarsPeter LorreJohn McGuireMargaret TallichetAn 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.
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsMarius GoringPenelope Dudley-WardHelen Haye"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 greatly to her fear, and her sole consolation lies in the sympathy extended her by young Lord William "Willie" Lebanon. A young architect, Richard Ferraby, arrives from London to inspect the ancient home in regards to renovations, and he and Isla are immediately attracted to each other. Lady Lebanon tells her son that he must marry Isla to carry on the family name but Lord Willie tells her he has no intentions of marrying. Later, the family physician, Dr. Amersham, arrives and it is evident he has some hold over Lady Lebanon. The chauffeur, Studd, hints that he knew Amersham in India and that Amersham was discharged from the Indian Army under unsavory circumstances. Isla and Richard find Studd murdered and suspicion falls on the gamekeeper, Tilling, whose wife had been more than a little friendly with Studd. But Chief Inspector Tanner and Deputy Sergeant Totty arrive from Scotland Yard and uncover evidence that points to Dr. Aversham as the killer, and Lord Willie substantiates the clue by telling them that Aversham had strangled a young Eurasian girl in India by using a red scarf--and Studd was found strangled with a red scarf. Just when the police are about to fold up their tidy little case, a telegram arrives from "Mark's Priory" informing them that Aversham has just been found murdered--strangled with a red scarf. Back to the drawing board.
- DirectorTerry O. MorseStarsBoris KarloffMargaret LindsayBruce LesterAlthough 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.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsEdward G. RobinsonHumphrey BogartAnn SothernWhen 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.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsJohn GarfieldAnn SheridanPat O'BrienAn 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.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsClark GableSpencer TracyClaudette ColbertTwo buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a ten-year period, are in love with the same woman.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanDoris DavenportJudge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsJean ArthurWilliam HoldenWarren WilliamIn 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.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsSpencer TracyRita JohnsonLynne Overman82-year-old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty-year career of scientific achievement.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsVivien LeighRobert TaylorLucile WatsonMyra 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.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsLoretta YoungRay MillandReginald GardinerA 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.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsGreer GarsonLaurence OlivierMary BolandThe 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.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsNorma ShearerRobert TaylorConrad VeidtIn 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.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsBrian AherneRita HayworthGlenn FordA 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.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsW.C. FieldsCora WitherspoonUna MerkelHenpecked Egbert Sousé has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsAkim TamiroffGladys GeorgeWilliam HenryPaul 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 tagged as easy prey by a con-game gang, and accomplice Mary Brown proves that he certainly is. The next morning, he wakes up to discover that he has been robbed of the securities, and when he confronts the gang, he is hit on the head and taken out to be left on a railroad track. He comes to and struggles with the henchman who is killed when a train roars by. Paul escapes, but his watch is found and he is reported as the dead man. But he cannot return home.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward G. RobinsonRuth GordonOtto KrugerTrue story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsMargaret SullavanJames StewartRobert YoungThe Roth family leads a quiet life in a small village in the German Alps during the early 1930s. After the Nazis come to power, the family is divided and Martin Breitner, a family friend, is caught up in the turmoil.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsRaymond MasseyGene LockhartRuth GordonHumble 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.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter 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.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsConrad VeidtValerie HobsonHay PetrieEarly in World War II, Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port, tangles with German spies.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsGinger RogersJoel McCreaMarjorie RambeauA 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.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsJean ArthurFred MacMurrayMelvyn DouglasLong-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.