Films of the 1940s

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See also: Early Films, Films of the 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s.

1940-1948

• Alfred Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and directs classic thrillers such as
  • Notorious
  • Rebecca
  • Rope
  • Shadow of a Doubt
  • Spellbound

Notable Film Franchises, 1940-1949

• The first five Lassie films.
  • Lassie Come Home (1943)
  • Son of Lassie (1945)
  • Courage of Lassie (1946)
  • Hills of Home (1948)
  • The Sun Comes Up (1949)
• Andy Hardy
  • Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
  • Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941)
  • Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)
  • The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942)
  • Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)
  • Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)
  • Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
• Ellery Queen
  • Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)
  • Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941)
  • Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941)
  • Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941)
  • Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen (1942)
  • A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942)
  • A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen (1942)
• The last of the Flash Gordon film serials
  • Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
• The first five Road To ... films.
  • Road to Singapore (1940)
  • Road to Zanzibar (1941)
  • Road to Morocco (1942)
  • Road to Utopia (1946)
  • Road to Rio (1947)
• Jungle Jim
  • Jungle Jim (1948)
  • The Lost Tribe (1949)

• Universal Horror
  • Crossovers
    • Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
    • House of Frankenstein (1944)
    • House of Dracula (1945)
    • Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
  • The Dracula Series
    • Son of Dracula (1943)
  • The Frankenstein Series
    • The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
  • The Mummy series
    • The Mummys Hand (1940)
    • The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
    • The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
    • The Mummy's Curse (1944)
  • The Wolf Man Series
    • The Wolf Man (1941)

1940

• The Blue Bird
• Fantasia
• The Grapes of Wrath - The film of the effects of the Depression
• The Great Dictator
• Hired - A short training film for Chevrolet sales managers. Was shown in two parts on Mystery Science Theater 3000 with movies Bride of the Monster and Manos: The Hands of Fate.
• His Girl Friday
• The Philadelphia Story
• Pinocchio
• Pride and Prejudice - starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, co-adapted by Aldous Huxley.
• Rebecca
• The Sea Hawk
• The Shop Around the Corner
• The Thief of Bagdad
• You Nazty Spy
• Night Train to Munich

1941

• Ball of Fire
• Citizen Kane
• The Devil and Daniel Webster
• Dumbo
• High Sierra
• How Green Was My Valley
• Ill Wait for You
• The Lady Eve
• The Maltese Falcon
• Meet John Doe
• Mr. Bug Goes to Town
• Pimpernel Smith
• The Reluctant Dragon
• That Hamilton Woman

1942

• Bambi
• Casablanca -- Wartime romance, often considered one of the best romantic movies ever made.
• Cat People
• Holiday Inn
• Jungle Book
• The Man Who Came to Dinner -- Based on the Kaufman/Hart play of the same name
• Mrs. Miniver -- An Oscar-winning World War II propaganda film.
• Now Voyager
• The Palm Beach Story
• Sullivan's Travels
• To Be or Not to Be -- A comedy set in Poland during the early days of World War II
• Yankee Doodle Dandy

1943

• The Batman -- Batman's film debut.
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Heaven Can Wait -- Not to be confused with the unrelated 1978 movie of the same name.
• Jane Eyre - starring Joan Fontaine, co-adapted by Aldous Huxley.
• The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
• The Phantom of the Opera -- The Claude Rains version
• Saludos Amigos
• Shadow of a Doubt -- Alfred Hitchcock's favorite Alfred Hitchcock film
• Who Killed Who

1944

• Arsenic and Old Lace
• Cobra Woman
• Double Indemnity
• Gaslight
• I Accuse My Parents
• Ivan the Terrible
• Laura
• The Little Rascals (last classic film)
• Meet Me in St Louis
• Ministry Of Fear
• The Miracle of Morgans Creek - the most controversial film by Preston Sturges.
• Mr. Skeffington
• Murder My Sweet
• National Velvet
• Since You Went Away
• The Woman in the Window

1945

• Anchors Aweigh
• Dead of Night
• The Lost Weekend
• Mildred Pierce
• State Fair
• The Three Caballeros

1946

• Beauty and The Beast
• The Best Years of Our Lives
• The Big Sleep -- A classic Film Noir.
• The Blue Dahlia
• The Brute Man
• Gilda
• Great Expectations (David Lean version)
• Its a Wonderful Life -- Source of Wonderful Life.
• A Matter of Life and Death -- Called Stairway to Heaven in the US
• Make Mine Music
• Notorious
• The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946
• She Wolf of London
• Song of the South -- Walt Disney's own personal Canon Discontinuity
• Swing Parade of 1946

1947

• Dead Reckoning
• Fun and Fancy Free
• Gentlemans Agreement
• The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
• Miracle On Thirty Fourth Street
• Monsieur Verdoux
• Nightmare Alley
• Sinbad the Sailor
• The Lady From Shanghai

1948

• Bicycle Thieves
• Fort Apache -- The first part of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy"
• Germany, Year Zero
• Hamlet (Laurence Olivier version)
• Jungle Goddess
• Key Largo
• Last of the Wild Horses
• Melody Time
• Portrait of Jennie
• Red River
• Rope
• That Lady in Ermine
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- The quintessential Gold Fever story.
• Unfaithfully Yours
• Unknown Island
• The Red Shoes

1949

• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
• All the Kings Men
• Batman and Robin -- The sequel to the original Batman film debut.
• The Fountainhead
• The Heiress
• Kind Hearts and Coronets
• A Letter to Three Wives
• Mighty Joe Young -- The original film.
• Passport to Pimlico
• On the Town
• The Secret Garden -- Starring Margaret O' Brien.
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon -- The second part of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy"
• Stray Dog
• The Passionate Friends
• The Third Man
• Under Capricorn
• White Heat

Notable 1940s Cartoons and Live Action shorts

• Casper the Friendly Ghost
  • "There's Good Boos Tonight" (1947)
• Charlie Chan
• Classic Disney Shorts
  • "Der Fuehrers Face" (1943)
  • "Education for Death" (1943)
• The Little Rascals
• Looney Tunes
  • "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" (1946)
  • "You Ought to Be In Pictures" (1940)
• Merrie Melodies
  • "A Corny Concerto" (1943)
  • "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs" (1943)
  • "The Dover Boys At Pimento University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall" (1942)
  • "A Wild Hare" (1940)
• Popeye and other classic shorts from Max and Dave Fleischer
• Tarzan
• The Three Stooges
• Tom and Jerry, Happy Harmonies, and other classic shorts from Metro Goldwyn Mayer
  • "Bad Luck Blackie" (1949)
  • "The Cat Concerto" (1947)
  • "Northwest Hounded Police" (1946)
  • "Puss Gets the Boot" (1940)
  • "Red Hot Riding Hood" (1943)
• Woody Woodpecker and other classic shorts from Universal
  • "The Barber of Seville" (1944)