What’s the Best 1940s “Best Picture” Winner?

02.06.12 | Edward Frebowitz | Movie PollsPrint this Post

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Classic Movies: What's the "Best Picture" of the 1940s?

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  • Howard

    What, happened to Citizen Kane in 1941????

  • bonnerace

    CITIZEN KANE did not win Best Picture. Welles and Mankiewicz won Best Screenplay. Seems totally unreal, huh? Of those on the list, my favorite is CASABLANCA---a great movie, but nowhere near KANE. Look at the technical and artistic devices Welles invented/designed that have lasted and are used today.

  • tony

    This is almost an impossible task as we are talking about the golden age when films had great stories, irreplaceable actors and wonderful directors. What about 'The Sea Hawk' (1940) 'Dr Erlicht's Magic Bullet' (1940) 'Random Harvest' (1942) or 'How Green was my Valley' (1941). Thank heaven for DVD!

    • bay4guy

      Howbbout The Sea Wolf E G Robinson?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040558135 Martin Rudow

      Thank goodness indeed. Remember when the only way to see so many great old movies was in a classic movie festival?
      Of course they are best on the big screen but at least they are available any time you want them now!

    • George Ridler

      I agree. The period from the approximately 1935 to 1945 was truly the golden era of film. Nothing rivals it. You mention several of my favorites that could easily be on this list and perhaps one of them even at the top.

    • Kathy M

      I think your comments are right on target. It was the zenith of good solid stories/movies. And yes, thank heavens for DVD!

  • Joel

    Double Indemnity

    • DIRK

      yeah, I'm with Joel, Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwick, & Edward G. Robinson in DOUBLE INDEMNITY -- too bad they lost the original ending of him in the gas chamber (I have seen the original lobby cards for it though).

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=529388091 Gayle Feyrer

        Double Indemnity is definitely a top 40s movie,though below Casablanca. Citizen Cane is remarkable, but leaves me cold. My favorite from the 40s is The Red Shoes.

        • Maryjo

          My all time fave is The Best Years Of Our Lives.
          I certainly agree with Gayle's comments about Citizen Kane. I find it a very average movie and not one I'd ever have in my DVD Library. The story line is dark yes, but so is the picture itself. Orson Welles tried to give us the impression of dark shadows and vast emptiness in the Hearst like monstrosity the main character lived in. But I thought it detracted from the story line.
          My favourite actress of the 40's is the great Barbara Stanwyck and Double Indemnity was a gem - best film noire ever !

        • Pete

          I own over 300 movies, a great number of them classics. I am eclectic in my tastes, and The Red Shoes is one of the movies. I love good musicals, John Wayne, good war movies, mysteries, gangsters, motorcycles, to name some types.
          Too bad about Moira Shearer's ending.

    • Gwendolyn

      I agree 100%. I was extremely surprised -and very disappointed - that it wasn't on the list.

    • Ross B

      My #1 is Casablanca, But thank you Joel my #2 is Double Indemnity . I grew up watching 'My 3 Sons' on TV. When I later saw DI , I was stunned to see such a casting reversal for Fred McMurray but I saw it in backward order. In my mind the film noir all other are judged against.

    • Fred

      I totally agree. That movie is tight.

  • Clint

    Well, what about Errol Flynn's, Robin Hood?!??! That's MY favorite!!

    • bob

      1936 sport.... ( Erroll Flynn expression )

      • bob

        or indeed 38..
        "I can offer you nothing but a life of hardship and danger but we'll always be together.." Robin to Marion
        Ive used that as a chat up line many, many times and it NEVER worked.... which either proves that modern women have no souls or that I don't look or sound a bit like Errol Flynn....

        • rick clark

          This is like asking a mother who her favorite child is.

          • Joan

            And don't we mothers say: "we love them all but they are all so different and loveable in their own way."

  • bonnerace

    THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD was a child of the thirties, 1937. That is probably one of my favorite films of all time. STYLE, ACTION and CLASSIC DIALOGUE---that was from a time of great movie writing.

    • Johnny Sherman

      "You speak treason!"
      "Fluently."

  • Steve in Sacramento

    I think not everyone's clear on this poll. They're asking which movie do you think is the "best" of the Best Picture Oscar winners from the 40s. (I voted for "Casablanca," such a great movie.) "The Adventures of Robin Hood," for instance, was released in 1938, so already doesn't qualify for THIS poll. (Also, Robin Hood lost to Capra's "You Can't Take it With You," surely an injustice in my opinion, as Robin Hood is far superior.)

  • Ron

    Sergeant York.

  • Steve in Sacramento

    My main problem with "You Can't Take It With You" is that it's ideologically incoherent. (I'll add that I like Jimmy Stewart and Lionel Barrymore a lot, and I LOVE Jean Arthur.) Here's a link to an excellent review/analysis by DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson), who, by the way, pretty much rules:

    http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s733cant.html

  • Ron

    Speaking of The Adventures of Robin Hood, it was perhaps the greatest classical movie score of all time. Korngold was a super-genius, but not as prolific as Steiner, Tiomkin, Waxman etc. How lucky we are to live in a time of such great composers.

    • Skippy smith

      I so agree, the music is often played on our classic fm music station WGUC.

      • Justin

        Brilliant. This guy is not only spot on, but from what I see on his site is on his way to bicmoeng big in the industry he rails against. Nice post, Geoff.

  • Luigi Of NYC

    AND *** FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION ***

    WHAT ABOUT ***

    1- Green Dolphin Street

    2- Since You Went Away

    3- The Keys Of The Kingdom

    4- Come To The Stable

    5- Easter Parade

    6- The Fighting Sullivans

    7- The Razor's Edge

    8- Keeper Of The Flame

    9- The Purple Heart

    10- The Song Of Bernadette

    11- Dragon Seed

    12- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

    • Sufferin’ Succotash

      "Keeper of the Flame": very underrated Tracy-Hepburn film with a chilling premise that resonates today. Also, very unusual for Geo. Cukor to direct a movie with a political edge to it.

    • http://www.facebook.com/kenneth.m.henderson Kenneth Henderson

      A good list of great films. If only one could buy legally Come to the Stable. Beats me why it has never come on DVD.

    • Mick

      THE RAZOR'S EDGE!!! INCREDIBLY FILMED AND ACTED.

  • Juanita Curtis

    Virtually impossible to pick one from this list - a very close contest between Casablanca and The Best Years of Our Lives followed by Rebecca.

    • Mick

      I CONCUR WITH YOUR PERSPECTIVE.... i also like your choices.

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  • Tito Pannaggi

    I would go for the whole subgenre Film Noir. Nearly any of those films would be my favour!!!

    • The Morrigan’s Pet

      Couldn't agree more, Tito. The best came out of the '40's. I'm getting nostalgic just thinking about some of the greats, like "Kiss of Death" and "Out of the Past."

  • Martin Stumacher

    Oh my God! So many terrific films in one of the greatest eras in film history. How do you choose? For me, now and forever, "The Best Years of Our Lives". My second favorite, "How Green Was My Valley. There are just too many from the 1940's that were not listed.

    • Tim

      Yep, "The Best Years of Our Lives" for me, as well.

    • BDavis Fan

      Ring in another for "The Best Years of Our Lives". Absolutely, positively my favorite secular film, hands down.

  • The Morrigan’s Pet

    I know it didn't win an Oscar, and all of the flix on the list are dynamite, but MY favorite movie from the '40's is "The Glass Key." Also, I've always believed that "The Big Sleep" was Bogie's best in that era.

  • jack

    you cannot pick one, the 40's were movies that were great with actors that were greater,that's when movies engrossed you in their stories.the directors knew how to do it.

  • Curt

    Again, it's NOT the best film of the 40's it's the best film to win BEST FILM. That said the Academy Awards have never been an accurate system of measure of the very best films overall. My favorite 40's film was Kane and I can come up with 25 films at the very least that would be better than ANY film on the above list as far as my favorites, with the exception of Best Years of Our Lives and The Lost Weekend. Too many film noirs and westerns and comedies that weren't Academy Award material. No, the AA's in no way reflect the very best.

    • Ajay

      Thank you for this post, all is elcelxent! Your Posts are generally above and further than other people within this issue. Thanks a lot so much for your assistance.

  • http://www.facebook.com/robert.shuttleworth Robert Shuttleworth

    Kane obviously, but the noir films "Lady From Shanghai", "Ministry of Fear", "Criss Cross", "Maltese Falcon", "Double Indemnity", "Murder My Sweet", "The Big Sleep", etc etc, and the other genres.... comedies, and many many great B films and series films.

  • Jim

    Don't forget that there were a lot of great foreign films made in the forties too.

    • Baz

      Absolutely right! But they were all swamped beneath the sheer number of mainly US produced movies, a trend which continues. Unfortunately, quantity does not equate with quality. The question really implicitly asks about the best American film of the 40s, which is usual for this site.

  • Jim

    And I don't think anyone has mentioned "The Magnificent Ambersons" yet, which, even in the truncated version released by RKO, is one of the greatest films of any era.

  • mickey

    "Best Years of Our Lives" for me with "Lost Weekend" a close second. Casablanca was a great movie but I remember more scenes from the other 2 than Casablanca. But there all good and all worth seeing repeatedly. I love the fact that we can watch a lot of these movies now in restored versions the way they probably looked when they were released.

  • Wilfred Middleton

    What about "The Woman in the Window"?

    • http://www.facebook.com/al.schweiger Al Schweiger

      Anyone remember "The Snake Pit"

  • Dick

    How about "The Grapes Of Wrath" 1940. Great movie, great story, great cast.

  • Jay

    A good list, but the most romantic movie of all time has been missed off it - where is 'RANDOM HARVEST' with Ronald Colman & Greer Garson??? This was Greer Garson's favourite film of all the ones she made, and she said that its ending was the most romantic of any film ever made.

    • Keith

      Jay is quite correct. Random Harvest merits being in the top ten, ney, top three.

      • Barbara

        I'm with you, Keith and Jay. "Random Harvest" was one of the few movies my entire family loved, although for many different reasons. Beautiful, touching, a somewhat sadistic story line, often unintentionally funny: it had something for everyone!

  • Al Featherston

    Like so many others, I voted for Casablanca.

    But I was dismayed by some of the films overlooked. Nothing by Preston Sturges? Sullivan's Travels perhaps ... the Miracle of Morgan's Creek? Hail the Conquering Hero?

    And since WWII dominated the decade, I'd like to nomination my choice as the greatest WWII film -- They Were Expendable ... although The Story of GI Joe (why is this not available in DVD?) is also rigth up there.

    Throw in John Ford's post-war cavalry trilogy and My Darling Clementine.

  • tim

    Grapes of Wrath and Criss Cross were the 30's

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000006262296 George Matusek

    Even within the narrow parameters of this poll, I note the glaring absence of any comedies. We've been brainwashed into believing that somehow tragedy or serious drama is somehow more inherently profound than comedy. I disagree with such a mind set. Quality comedy is capable of profundity -- and, on top of that, comedy tends to be more difficult to write and perform. It wouldn't surprise me if 100 years from now the comedies written and directed by the legendary Preston Sturges will be ranked with Shakespeare --- one of my favorite lines in a Sturges's "Sullivan's Travels" is when William Demarest excitedly exclaims "It'll put Shakespeare back with the shipping news!"

    • Lorraine

      So true--and well said!

  • Ed

    Although I voted for "Best Years of our Lives",I also note that "It Happened on Fifth Avenue" with Victor Moore was another great movie from that era.

  • ADA

    I'm so confused as to why everyone is suggesting titles that the poll has overlooked. This poll is about winners of the "Best Picture" Academy Award of the 1940s; the poll author overlooked nothing!

    Anyway, I voted for "Rebecca". I know everyone loves "Casablanca" but quite frankly, I think that both it and Bogart are highly overrated.

    • Laura B.

      Yes, you're correct. Nobody reads anything that anyone else posts I guess, since it was pointed out several times that the films to vote on are the ones that actually won Best Picture in the 1940s.

      I also agree with you that Casablanca is overrated - I voted for Mrs. Miniver.

    • Bryankr

      I have made the same observation, they decided I was angry mine wasn't chosen. LOL!
      The 40's was a great decade for movies, hard to choose just one! I happen to be a big Bogie fan, so I went with Cassablanca.

  • Mr Dale J. Dugan

    I think "Pride of the Marines "from 1945 and "Body and Soul" from 1947 should have been included.

  • A McNeil

    The BEST movies of the 40s was made in 1939

  • Woody

    Eee gads, you forgot 1947's Life With Father, with William Powell, Irene Dunne, and young actors Elizabeth Taylor and Martin Milner.

  • Rufnek

    Can't believe you didn't include the best movie ever made--Citizen Kane, 1941. Or Double Indemity, 1944. Other greats: Arsenic and Old Lace, Battleground, The Big Sleep, The Bishop's Wife, Boom Town, Cabin in the Sky, Cat People, Duel in the Sun, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, Here Come's Mr. Jordan, High Sierra, His Girl Friday, It's a Wonderful Life, Key Largo, Kiss of Death, Lifeboat, The Maltese Falcon, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Mildred Pierce, Miracle on 34th Street, My Darling Clementine, Nightmare Alley, Out of the Past, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Sands of Iwo Jima (Wayne really did deserve an Oscar for his best role ever), Sergeant York, Shadow of a Doubt, Sullivan's Travels, Suspicion, The Third Man, To Be or Not to Be (the funny original that almost didn't get made), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Twelve O'Clock High, White Heat (made as a B-picture but elevated by Cagney into a masterpiece)

  • Wendy

    What about Mildred Pierce? Love, love, love that movie and bonus ... Joan Crawford really earned her Best Actress Academy Award as she was LIKABLE as Mildred Pierce!!!!!!! Please don't get me wrong - I love Joan Crawford and her works, just have heard so many times how unlikable she was in person.

    • Maryjo

      Mildred Pierce is easily the best picture Joan Crawford ever made.

  • Rufnek

    You're right--I didn't read the subject close enough. None of the great films I mentioned won an Oscar although all were worthy of being contenders at least and possible winners. Had to be the Best Picture winning films, or else the list is just too damn long.

  • Jim

    Agree with Ron: Sargeant York- one of the best movies of any era (or century!!).

  • Dana Rich

    I'm assuming that when you say "Best Picture" you mean that those on the list won the Best Picture Academy Award. My favorite has to be "The Best Years of Our Lives". It's great writing, great directing, great acting and a timeless story! What a film!

  • bonnerace

    OK, folks, pay attention: the poll is asking which of the films voted to be the BEST FILM of the 1940's BY THE ACADEMY are the best. Not your opinion, not a film of another decade, etc. READ THE POLL TITLE.

  • Joescarp

    I agree with the first two. Casablanca is my all-time favorite movie and "Best Years of Our Lives" is in my top 5.

  • Troy Lawson

    Well, I had a few to throw out there. My pick is, by far, hands down, the best American cinema has to offer, of course, Casablanca. They don't make pictures like that any more! Citizen Kane was more or less 'opulent fluff'. Anyway, a few others honorable mentions, Maltese Falcon 1941, Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942, The Big Sleep 1946, and White Heat 1949. These were worth mentioning and definitely worth a look. I must qualify that Citizen Kane was a movie that I saw once and heard it talked about ever since I can remember. I will also say I did like Citizen Kane, and it is low on the list of my favorites.

  • Ric S

    I agree with Ada,

    Read the Title nothing was overlooked. If you want to be really concerned why not pick 1939. The greatest time in Hollywood ever with the most & best films of their and our times. But my choice I have to say is for Rebecca for this poll. If I see The Best Years of Our Lives one more time I'd probally cut off my own arms.

  • TinyTim

    I get (now) the poll being between Oscar winners (and thanks to those who read closer than I), but I have to commend poster 'The Morrigan's Pet' for singling out two of my very favorite movies of all time -- 'The Glass Key' and 'The Big Sleep.' Add 'Out of the Past' and 'This Gun for Hire' and you've really got a list of winners. As for the real poll, it's a tough, tough choice, but I would have to give my preference to "Best Years" over "Casablanca," which is a film I only first saw about 10 years ago.

  • Troy Lawson

    Oh, and just so no one gets confused, it never said 'Oscar winner' or 'Academy Award winner'!!! Check it out people. Don't get crazy, don't get lazy!

  • hiram grant

    Well, it did say Best "Best Picture" and -- this is not a coincidence -- list the ten movies that won the Academy Award in the 40s and only those ten. So the intent of the poll is obvious. "Casblanca" for me.

  • http://www.facebook.com/harold.holmes2 Harold Holmes

    What happened to the film by Hitchcock, a true classic and a four bone rating in the Video Hound...."Foreign Correspondent" in 1940....a perfectly written and CAST movie of this era. 4 leading actors carry the "on edge of seat suspense" and the final 20 minutes send everyone to a SOAKING finish....this Plane crash replication is OUTSTANDING for the times, one of our favorites of World War 2 in Britain....

  • Michael Oldfield

    Glad to see that "The Best Years Of Our Lives" rated so high on your list. This was indeed the best film about World War Two even though it has no action or battle footage. The scene where Dana Andrews climbs up into the old B-17 and relives a bombing run over Germany in his mind is brilliant. Furthermore, after seeing Harold Russell going through life with hooks instead of hands gives you some idea about war at sea.

  • Stephen J. Scola

    Johnny Belinda should have been on the list. I thought this movie desered an award. Everything about the film, fron the cinmatography to the music (by Max Steiner) to the acting (Jane Wayman is great in this film)is worthy of awards. I didn't see it on the list so i don't know how this film was considered.

  • Shawn

    Some personal favorites are 'Leave Her to Heaven', 'Unfaithfully Yours' and many film noirs such as 'Out of the Past', The Big Sleep, and the Woman in the Window' etc.

  • Pat

    I was 13 years old at the end of the 40's and my favourite film was "The Jolson Story"

  • Rick Hirsch

    A better question is what is the best movie relesed in 1939?

  • Rob in L.A.

    Without question (to many movie buffs, anyway), "Citizen Kane" is the best film of the 1940s, from Hollywood or anywhere else. The fact that it didn't win Best Picture says more about a Hollywood beholden at the time to William Randolph Hurst than it does about "Kane" itself. Of course, "Kane's" current pantheonic standing also can say a lot about how differently films may look in retrospect than how they looked upon first release.

    • Metro’s little lion

      I'd trade you 99% of the movies of the 40's just for 1939. And a few of the 40's list were made in 1939, too.

      • Rob in L.A.

        '39 was certainly a pinnacle year for the Hollywood production system, wasn't it?

        • Chad D.

          Casablanca then Rebecca. The late 30's thru the early 50's were the best that Hollywood ever made. Why can't movies these days have actual characters who have actual dialogue?? Where are our actual "actors and actresses"?? They are more concerend about themselves than the work of being a quality actor. (Sorry to rant! :( )

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  • Melanie

    For me, some of the choices on the list are proof that Best Picture doesn't always mean Best MOVIE. I love BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES but it can NEVER be as good a move as IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Of all the films on this list, my favorite is HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. Was it the best, THAT will always be debatable!

    • Rich

      Melanie, I am glad to see someone had the sense to recognize "It's a Wonderful Life." No question that Jimmy Stewart should have received the best actor award for his performance and there's also no question that the theme of this great film-- that every life is important, that each person in countless little ways can make a huge difference in the lives of other people--trumps anything done before or since. Sadly, from the looks of things, I doubt Obama has ever watched it.

  • artso

    whoever created the list of options knows ZERO about movies, movie history or what is truly best of an era. Anyone who's brain dead can list the Oscars' Best Films for a decade, but it takes true experience with the classics to really create the definitive list.

    Omission of Citizen Kane, Children of Paradise, Grapes of Wrath, The Heiress, A Letter To Three Wives, The Red Shoes, Treasure of Sierra Madres, Bicycle Thief, The Killers, Brief Encounter,Spellbound, Double Indemnity, White Heat, Gaslight, Laura, Watch on the Rhine, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Magnificent Ambersons, Random Harvest, Maltese Falcon, The Leter, Great Dictator, and Philadelphia Story is totally inexcusable...please, whoever makes up these silly polls, immerse yourself in these films I've listed, then come back with a revised list.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=529388091 Gayle Feyrer

      Like you, I missed the "best Best Picture" limit, but you reminded me of my other top ten 40s movie, Children of Paradise. Worship that film!

    • ADA

      Wow. Aggro! Seriously, read the poll heading. It's about the Oscars. The poll author didn't miss a thing, I assure you. The poll is about the Academy picks.

  • Gregg

    if it had been included, my actual vote would be for Black Narcissus (1947)

  • Bill Southworth

    My vote is "YANKEE DANDY" starring James Cagney

  • R.D.Cochran

    Casablanca....loved the movie,so it got my vote out of the list given. But alot of good movies were mentioned here that didn't win the little gold guy. How about a open forum about which movie should have been a winner and list the ones mentioned the most. I liked Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Maltese Falcon and Easter Parade.

  • decoman

    For me it is a split between Casablanca & Best years of our Lives. However totally ignoring Double Indemnity was a shock! A film that pioneered that most american genre "Film Noir"

  • Barbara Berg

    There were so many wonderful films in the 1940's, Best Picture or not. It is too bad so many couldn't be on this list. I am 62 and love most of the 1940 movies compared to the ones today. I look forward to TCM on our TV. Thanks

  • Lord Belchmore

    What, no Philadelphia Story?

  • Trippy Trellis

    My favorite Oscar nominated film of the '40s is 1949's "The Heiress", followed by 1940's "The Letter" and "Foreign Correspondent", 1941's "The Little Foxes" and 1944's "Double Indemnity".

  • Geneva P.

    The author of this poll DID place best "BEST PICTURE" in quotes. My favorite BEST, "BEST PICTURE" would be Casablanca which got my vote. A few of my other FAVORITES from the 40s would be Mildred Pierce, Laura, White Heat (Cagney should have received something for his magnificant performance) and Leave her to Heaven.

  • Bill Y

    Let's settle it right now. I think most of us will agree they don't make movies now like they did in the decade of the 1940's.

    If I had to pick one it would have to be (drum roll please)..............."The Best Years of Our Lives". I'll admit it I have a mad crush on Myrna Loy.

  • Tom la Pare

    This may not be the best, but it is my 1940's favorite! "Angel On My Shoulder" starring Paul Muni and Claude Rains!

  • Tony

    An impossible choice, and too many are missing. Titles like Laura, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Samson and Delilah, The Stante Fe Trail, Fort Apache. One could go on for years with this discussion.

    • Sandra

      While I agree that many great films are missing, they deliberately narrowed the field to only the "Best Picture" Oscar category. Hence, The Best Years of Our Lives...which is my favorite film of all time anyway. Casablanca is more famous--and a terrific film; Best Years is better.

  • BebopBob

    Let's not forget Great Expectations and Oliver Twist
    Two highlights of the 40's

  • ed cohen

    FROM THE LIST, I'll go with The Best Years of Our Lives with Casablanca a very close second. However, since everybody it seems is mentioning movies not on the list, I'll join the crowd by adding THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942 I believe). Anyone who has seen this movie and not cried at the end has no soul.

    • Sandra

      The Best Years of our Lives, hands down. Casablanca just gets more ink, that's all. Great picture, yes, but Best Years has so many varied layers, there is no comparison.

  • Ron Phlegar

    Your question should have been more clear. You are asking us to rate the "Best Picture winner" of the 1940s. My vote went to "The Best Years Of Our Lives". If you wanted my favorite film of the 40s it would be "Casablanca". If you wanted the BEST FILM of the 40s it would be "The Grapes Of Wrath".

  • Jerry Breen

    The Best Films of the 1940's? And "Citizen Kane", " "The Grapes of Wrath" and "It's A Wonderful Life" aren't on the list? That list is a joke! No way Olivier's "Hamlet" belongs on the list. It wasn't even good Shakespeare, much less a good film. Orson Welles's "MacBeth" and Othello" were far superior on both counts.

  • Geri Spurgeon

    PEOPLE,PEOPLE, Please read what you are voting on. There is comment after comment about other films in the 40"s. Look at the list . It consists of the the Academy Award given to the best picture of each year from 1940 thru 1949. THOSE ARE THE ONLY 10 FILMS we should be commenting on. There are many great films from the 40's but this poll is strictly for Academy
    Award films.

  • billy the kid

    John Wayne was at his best in the 1940s, but, then, none of his movies were ever voted "Best Motion Picture" and it took "True Grit" to get him an Oscar honor. "Fort Apache and "She Wore a Yellow ribbon" should have been on that list. Boooo, the "Duke" wuz robbed.

  • Arlene

    My goodness, my goodness - it's a pleasure to read almost all the "chatter" - I do read the posts, most of them anyway - so many different opinions and all of them worthy.
    I voted for Rebecca even tho Casablanca is my favorite of all time - but as for a love story, if you can't see Casablanca as one then you have to try Random Harvest.

  • Magman

    Hey, Don't forget Christmas in the 40's! Do you remember The Bishop's Wife, Christmas in Connecticut, Miracle on 34th St, and The Shop Around the Corner? And don't forget the Duke, John Wayne in Red River and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

  • winnie gassaway

    "Here`s looking at you, kid"

  • Neil

    This is one of the sillier polls. There were thousands of movies, many of which were superior to those listed to vote. "Citizen Kane" has already been mentioned, but what about Hitchcock's "Notorious" or Jacques Tourneau's "Out Of The Past," to say nothing about almost anything directed by Fritz Lang. OK, we'll forgive "American Guerrilla In The Philippines,"but what about "Hangmen Also Die" and "Ministry Of Fear." And don't get me started on the genius of Robert Siodmak.

  • Tom S

    How about
    Now Voyager
    The Fleets In - Dorothy Lamour, Betty Hutton and Jimmy Dorsey. Great Songs too.
    Gilda and Cover Girl.
    Moon Over Miami.
    Road to Morocco.
    Blood and Sand.
    Too Have and Have Not.
    Thrill of a Romance and Bathing Beauty.
    God I loved the 40's

  • Jackie

    I really don't remember in what year these movies were made,but i do love the really old movies starring Bette Davis. "Now Voyager" gets my vote as well as "Dark Victory"Then there are the Susan Hayward movies " I Want To Live" and " Back Street"
    Then there is my very favorite Joan Crawford movies.." Harriet Craig "and "Mildred Pierce" I also agree with Juanita on her choices and in that order.too!These talented performers will NEVER,EVER be matched!

    "

  • richard finn

    In 1943, when Casablanca was released, the out come of WWII was very much in doubt. Each night we would listen to Gabriel Heater for the news at 8 PM. He mostly opened with "Bad News Tonight!" So many things were rationed. Marines and the Army were slugging out in the South Pacific. So many fathers away. Casablanca gave us hope!The scene in Rick's club when the crowd drowned out the German singing with the "Marseillaise" was an overwhelming moment. It is difficult to think of any scene in any movie before or since, that had the impact of that scene. But I guess to really appreciate that, you had to be living during those years.

  • Doug Galloway

    What happened to "The Jolson Story" (Col, 1946)?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1028721086 Doug Galloway

    What happened to "The Jolson Story (Col, 1946)? Certaianly one of the most famous movies of the 1940s. Its sequel "Jolson Sings Again (Col, 1949) was the box office champ of 1949!

  • Tammy

    So many wonderful films were created during this time period. There is no competition, each is unique in it's story, casting, mood, lighting...
    I could watch anyone of them with true enjoyment.

  • kathy

    my favorite movie from the 40's was "a letter to 3 wives." i love this movie. i watch it often.

  • Frank DeCavalcante

    I loved readings all the choices, even though I disagreed with some of them and some of them were not forties movies (I Want to Live and Back Street.) The forties were probably the best decade ever on screen. Some of my favorites, hitherto unmentioned were those wonderful "women's pictures" such as Humoresque, The Man I Love, My Reputation, The Hard Way and I Remember Mama. Cult classics like The Cat People, foreign films like Open City, film noir such as Gilda and historical romances like The Three Musketeers.The greatest camp classics. Beyond the Forest and The Cobra WOman were forties products. The Jennifer Jones Duel in the Sun, Portrait of Jennie and Love Letters were forties flicks, as were To Each His Own, Mr. Skeffington and Deception. Spellbound and Notorious were two other Hitchcock masterpieces of the time.There must be dozens of others that have temporarily slipped my mind...oops, just thought of Key Largo and Young Man with a Horn and The Fountainhead.

    • Geneva P.

      Thank you Frank D. for bringing up "The Hard Way" with Ida Lupino. I cannot believe that I forgot to mention it. It is one of my favorites. I have that movie permanently saved in my DVR and watch it often.

      • Frank DeCavalcante

        thank you Geneva for seconding my feeling about THe Hard Way. It is sad that Ida was often overlooked in favor of the bigger women stars of that time, Davis, Crawford and Stanwyck.She could play a tough broad in this film, Road House and The Man I love but she could also portray vulnerability in such movies as On Dangerous Ground and Devotion. I have never seen her give anything less than a stellar performance plus I have to make mention of her directing career as well.

  • Michelle Malkin

    I may not be able to get a dvd copy of "Come
    Fill the Cup" with James Cagney, James Gleason
    and Gig Young (though I have it on VHS), but I just bought some photos from it on ebay. I had
    forgotten that Raymond Massey played Gig Young's father in it.

  • Jack Jones

    The bad thing about the "Golden Age of the Movies"
    (as well as radio and television) is that you didn't know they were "Golden" at the time. I was a teenager during the 40's and an avid movie fan.
    Two and three times a week. (Movies were much cheaper then.) Many of the great movies of that period (and I saw practically all of them) were not considered overly exceptional (at least, not by me). It wasn't until many viewings later on TV that my favorites began to evolve. Or maybe it was the comparison with those of later years that showed how great the earlier ones were. And I'm sure nostalgia has a lot to do with it.

    I voted for Casablanca because if I could watch just one movie from now on it would be that one. But others that I can watch over and over are Laura, Best Years of Our Lives, Maltese Falcon, Letter to Three Wives, The Fleet's In, The Bishop's Wife (and that's just for this week).

  • CheriLynn

    Casablanca rightfully belongs as number one. It has everything: True Love, Longing, Patriotism, War, Betrayal, Sacrifice, Mystery, Hero Worship, Heroes, Scapegoats, Friendship, and much, much more. I also agree that the Paul Henreid oversinging the Germans scene is a profoundly moving experience. Even though I didn't live through WWII, the 1940's is my all time favorite film period, and Casablanca does it for me in spades. The cast alone is worth seeing the picture for: Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid, Ingrid Bergman, and Humphrey Bogart. It has everything from comedic moments to tragic ones. And although I'm a huge Bogie fan, my favorite character is Claude Rains. The moment I saw it when I was kid I knew "this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

    If I had to choose a second favorite it would be difficult. I suppose it would be between Rebecca and How Green was My Valley. Walter Pidgeon mouthing "Anghara" to the beautiful Maureen O'Hara just gets me, but Rebecca has George Sanders and a mystery surrounding the beautiful dead Rebecca. Even though I've read the book and seen the movie dozens of times, I'm always surprised at how great the movie is, however HGWMV makes me sob. What a great cast they both have, too. Sigh. They just don't make them like that anymore.

    As a side note: Did anyone notice that the Joan Fontaine character in Rebecca doesn't have a name? She becomes the Mrs. but her name is never mentioned. The book is the same. I always found that an intriguing mystery within a mystery.

  • John Stanaway

    It seems disconcerting that American opinion on film should be so chaotic. CASABLANCA has been called the best bad movie ever made because of its vacuous and shallow plotting. MRS MINIVER is perhaps the worst film ever made by the superlative William Wyler (the year before he made THE LITTLE FOXES and the year before that the ultimate movie-movie in THE LETTER, both with the redoubtable Bette Davis). Why don't we have concensus in the matter of film criticism? Perhaps it is because of the prevalent I. A. Richards sort of attitude that everbody and everything is right in a fit of share your ignorance.

  • Jim

    Watched David Selznick's Portrait of Jennie (1948) last night. Can't think of any 1940's movie that surpasses it.

  • DIRK

    Did someone already mention LAURA of 1944?? Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, & Vincent Price among others!!

  • hockeyfan

    Of course some great movies were not included, my favourite is The Maltese Falcon but there are many others that did not make it on the list....

  • Vann Morrison

    Thing I liked most about "The Best Years of Our Lives" is that it is true to life. Veterans returning home after some being gone for almost 4 years. Trying to find a job and readjust to civilian life. Also all the young men that lost
    limbs. A great performance by Harold Russel who by the way was a paratrooper in real life.

    • Jay Albert Stockwell

      You nailed it, Vann. "Best Years" is a timeless masterpiece. Myrna Loy was at her peak. We both have good taste.

  • tlynette

    I'm with everybody who said "Double Indemnity!" (love, love, love that movie!) Of the listed, however, "The Best Years of Our Lives," was simply the best, even though all of 'em were pretty darn good. (Haven't seen "Hamlet")

  • Louis

    1940s movies should be in categories, such as
    comedy etc., because the 40s had so many great
    movies.

  • Roger Phillips

    Of the list of winners, I like "Best Years of Our Lives" the best. It is good showing the returning military men to civilian life. Harold Russell gave a poignant perfomance and Oscar-winning as the veteran who lost both hands. I do NOT like "Rebecca" but found Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent" the same year pretty good. I have "Casablanca" as I found it for three dollars and finally watched it to the end. Though it has an interesting story, it is far over-rated. Like some of the people said, "Double Indemnity" is possibly the best of the 40s--better than Wilder's "Lost Weekend". William Wyler directed "Best Years of Our Lives" and "Mrs. Miniver" both good. But also a masterpiece in the understated "The Heiress" in 1949.

  • Rita

    Voted for Going My Way, but all were good choices. So many not on the list, like Since You Went Away. That was a great movie. Would be impossible to pick a "best" flick from the 40's. Every movie was good, not like the trash being turned out today.

  • ra faulkner

    These movies are all very good...but the best was John Wayne's "Red River"

  • Dale Kivley

    i didn't exhaustively search all the posed comments. i noticed a comment that all of the nominees for voting won the academy award for best picture. what does that have to do with the quality of the picture. i can count on one finger the times the "best picture" winner was my favorite and many times not even in my top 5. my favorite 40's film was "The Third Man" with Orson Welles, who when i was 9 in 1950 was my favorite actor.

  • Mr. Ed

    The "Best" is always subjective. With that in mind the fourties produced a wealth of movies comprising plots, stars and genre that are so broad it is a disservice to attempt to select a "best." Many, many fine films made during that time are left off your list and probably for good reason. There are too many to list. With some exceptions, you offer a pretty sorry list for "best."

  • jlwsmurf

    I voted for "Best Years of Our Lives" as it is one of my favorites.

    Much of "Casablanca" ranks as a favorite, but I have to admit that I HATE the love story. Bergman's character is the way too prevalent wimpy, crybaby, "oh, let the big strong man make my decisions for me" female. I love the scenes with Claude Rains and Bogart (they're the reason I watch the film), and I love the scene where the French drown out the Germans in song.

    But as for Bergman's character -- someone shove a grapefruit in her face.

  • fred buschbaum

    Well, I've learned several things in this poll. first, very few posters read the title closely. next, many posters don't know when their favorites were made. lastly, that my preferences have nothing to do with expertise in movie knowledge. However, My favorites meet a broad catagory. If I watch a movie every time I find it or put it in my collection, it must be good. as anything with Barbara Stanwyk in it, same for James Cagney, the Duke, Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy, william powell, and many others. As to my Bogie choices, no one mentioned Key Largo. Seems we all are either movie critics or have much varied tastes.

  • David Ecklein

    My favorite 1940s film is definitely "New Moon"(MGM 1940), with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. It still hasn't been reissued on DVD, at least in the US. Our VHS tape copy is wearing out.

  • jab

    We cannot leave out Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- a classic study of greed and a reminder of how material goods can drive humans to irrational actions (recall 1929 abd 2008). Probably Bogart's and Holt's best peformances. Great direction by John Huston with many remarkable Mexican scenes and memorable work by Mexican actors. Of course, there's John Huston's "Howard" and the underrated Bruce Bennett

  • TerradalooTulsa

    Nothing will ever beat Mrs. Miniver. Greer Garson was the epitome of class.

  • Jim Crawford

    A lot of movies have been mentioned but what about C.B. de Mille's Unconquered of 1948 or Samson & Delilah from around the same time? Northwest Passage is another. One could go on and on.

  • Babs

    "The Best Years Of Our Lives", Perfect Movie !!!

  • Susan

    When I remember all that happened to my dad and his generation during WWII, I am so grateful for the effort that William Wyler made in bringing The Best Years of Our Lives to the screen. Who knew that helping to preserve the dignity of those brave military men and women would fall out of fashion except for lip service? What this film portrayed was so real for too many. During the war all they wanted was to come home so they could begin their lives. When they came home they faced unemployment, families of strangers who had grown 4 years without them, and the loneliness and isolation of people who couldn't understand them. My dad lost his best friend during the war, and his wife dumped him. After being wounded, his convalescence was up to his parents. When he met and married my mother, the only work he could find was in a factory that manufactured toilets. He and mother didn't give up though. As it was for so many others, their story was up on the silver screen. Their time was forever preserved and appreciated by a grateful group of story tellers, so I look to The Best Years of Our Lives as a chronicle of a time that our country had to endure and win with pride.

  • Jeff C

    As a poll of academy award winners for best picture in the decade of the 1940s there could only be 10 films from which to choose. I chose "Best Years Of Our Lives". Of course we can all question the worthiness of the winners but when you get a bunch of people together to vote on anything politics can often come into play, just look at the results of Olympic figure skating or gymnastics over the last 40 years (damn those pesky Russians) or our own system of government. You don't always get the best bills through Congress either. In the matter of other films from the 40s that went unrewarded by the academy I agree with most of those mentioned here to fore.
    I would like to put in a word though for Lubitch's last movie "Cluny Brown", which I have never seen available on dvd but would surely love to have. Recently I was able to at last get "Northwest Passage", one of my all time favorites so there is still hope. And yes we are all lucky to have so many great films from the 40s as well as other years that we can watch on dvd or thank the lord on TCM.

  • frank pienkosky

    'The Best Years....." even though I barely remember it..it was the dominant issue of the times...[and has anybody ever seen a better, more moving performance from an "untested actor"?]....."How Green Was My Valley" also...at the time, my dad and most of my uncles worked in the mines.....

  • Pete

    Did anyone mention The Phantom of the Opera, or Les Miserables? Both great. The Phansom -joke- was really scary.

  • Pete

    I was married 3 times. I vote for The Best Years of Our Wives. Also, I Wed Three Wives.

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