Even in wartime, the golden age of Hollywood roared throughout the 1940s. Many of the best and most successful American films of the time were patriotic and unifying—and the 1940s also stands out as a time of cinematic experimentation on a grand scale. There’s no shortage here of films that have long been regarded as among the finest landmark movies in history.
The technological leaps of the years prior, like sound and Technicolor, enhanced great filmmakers' palettes. As the era began, over a decade had passed since the dawn of the talkies, and filmmaking—and watching films, for that matter—were altogether revolutionized. Audiences flocked to theaters throughout the 1940s, andmany of the era’s greatest hold up as formidable art and entertainment.
13’Casablanca' (1942)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Humphrey BogartandIngrid Bergmanare cinema’s most famous romantic pairing inMichael Curtiz’s Oscar-winning masterwork. The ever-quoted, snappy and dramatically potent script byJulius J. Epstein,Philip G. EpsteinandHoward Kochis widelyconsidered the best screenplay ever written.
Casablancais nearly 80 years old, and its ability to thrill and to tug at the heartstrings remains intact. In the central love triangle exists three good people with desires that simply aren’t all possible. It resonates so much because in the end, all these people make a choice for the greater good.Casablancais about somewhat cynical people hardened by war, and yet love wins in the end. Who couldn’t fall for such a story?
Casablanca
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
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12’It’s a Wonderful Life' (1946)
Directed by Frank Capra
The gold standard for holiday films wasn’t a huge hit in its day, but over time,Frank Capra’s romantic fantasy dramedy has become widely recognized as perhapsthe ultimate feel-good, inspirational film.It’s hardly fluff though,with a dark plot inspired by Dickensthat sees a good-natured everyman (Jimmy Stewart) rethinking suicide after a supernatural encounter.
Co-starringDonna Reed,Lionel BarrymoreandHenry Travers,It’s a Wonderful Lifeultimately boils down to this simple universal truth: no man is a failure if he has friends. This is obviously, also,the ultimate Christmas movie.
It’s a Wonderful Life
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
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11’Notorious' (1946)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Casablancais certainly the romantic 1940s movie Ingrid Bergman is best known for, but thisAlfred Hitchcockstunner isanother crown jewel in the Hollywood icon’s legacy.InNotorious, Bergman plays the infamous daughter of a Nazi, seeking to clear her notorious rep by infiltrating a web of remnant conspirators in South America.
NotoriousisHitchcock’s most romantic movie,and easily one of his top-shelf greatest.Bergman’s romantic chemistry with Cary Grant is psychologically gripping, and ultimately quite affecting. Ben Hecht’s screenplay (among the WGA’s picks of the 101 greatest ever written) has aged in reverse. The biggest the action gets is a final set piece where four people walk down some stairs, but damned if it isn’t one of the most gripping staircase descents you’ll ever experience.
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10’The Third Man' (1949)
Directed by Carol Reed
Carol Reed’s thriller starsJoseph Cottenas a pulp novelist examining a mysterious death in post-war Vienna.Alida Vallico-stars as a grieving girlfriend, about a decade before the Polish-Italian star made a memorable appearance in French horror filmEyes Without a Face.
It’s something of a cinephile in-joke thatThe Third Manis sometimes credited toOrson Wellesin the same wayPoltergeistis mistakenly credited toSteven Spielberg. Wellesdidn’t makeThe Third Man,though he is unforgettable as villain Harry Lime.The Third Manis often named among the greatest British films ever made. It certainly belongs on any list of all-time great thrillers.
The Third Man
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
9’The Lady Eve' (1941)
Directed by Preston Sturges
The ’30s and ’40s were a golden age ofsophisticated, sexy screwball comedies. Along with the brilliant likes ofIt Happened One Night,His Girl FridayandTrouble in Paradise,Preston Sturges’The Lady Eveis one of the very best.
Barbara Stanwyck(at one time in the ’40s the highest-paid woman in America) is at her best as a card shark who falls for a naive ale heir (Henry Fonda). Early in the film, a long, unbroken take of her running her hands through his hair, teasing him, then falling in love, is an all-timer.
The Lady Eve
A trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
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8’Pinocchio' (1940)
Directed by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske
Walt Disney’s second animated feature had a lot to live up to in the wake ofSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs.Follow-upPinocchiois technically and artistically a superior film, with more confident storytelling andsome of the finest hand-drawn animation ever.
Pinocchiodidn’t initially see the same level of box-office success of its record-breaking predecessor due to its release at the dawn of World War II, butwith time its reputation as one of Disney’s crowning achievements has only grown.It remains far and away the best adaptation ofCarlo Collodi’s source material.Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of the novel hit theaters in late 2022 and went on to Oscar glory. Avoid the remake of the animated classic at all costs.
A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
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7’Double Indemnity' (1944)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder’s taut, shadowy and lurid thriller is the ultimate film noir. Barbara Stanwyck(in a bad wig that actually adds to her character’s trashy nature) is a ruthless femme fatale who seduces an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) in order to off her husband. This is the first mainstream Hollywood picture where the main characters are murderers. It’s still an unsettling viewing experience.
Other essential noirs of the decade includeThe Maltese Falcon,The Big SleepandOut of the Past. But from head to toe, this is the greatest and most influential. A masterpiece of unnerving suspense,Double Indemnityis a key film in showing the incomparableWilder’s mastery across all genres.
Double Indemnity
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
6’La Belle et La Bête' aka ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1946)
Directed by Jean Cocteau
A fantasy benchmark that had a significant impact on France’s economy post-war.Jean Cocteau’sLa Belle et La BêteadaptsGabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s book with extraordinary practical effects that won’t age, eye-popping costumes and earnest heat.
This is one of the most extraordinarily romantic films ever made, and the fantasy visuals have influenced everything from the work ofGuillermo del Toroto, most recognizably, much of Disney’sBeauty and the Beast.La Belle et La Bêteexcels as fantasy filmmaking that fills you with wonder and romantic storytelling that sweeps you off your feet.
La Belle et La Bête (1946)
A beautiful young woman takes her father’s place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.
5’The Best Years of Our Lives'(1946)
Directed by William Wyler
The weight of war is examined the 1946 winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.Upon returning from active service,William Wylerdirected a human drama about three United States servicemen readjusting to civilian life. It’s a deeply humane, quietly but profoundly moviing film full of top-notch performances. The cast includesMyrna Loy,Dana Andrews,Fredric March,Teresa Wright, Virginia MayoandHarold Russell.
The Best Years of Our Liveswas an astounding box-office and critical success in its time (seven Oscar wins and eight nominations). It holds up for so many reasons, not least of all becauseso many scenes feel plucked from reality, with little distance between filmmaker, actors and real life.
The Best Years of Our Lives
Three World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American Midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
4’The Lost Weekend' (1945)
As was previously stated on this list, Billy Wilder was a master of genres. A year after he made the defining noir crime film, he madea piercing alcoholism drama that was ahead of its time.This is a genuinely groundbreaking film, exploring a challenging but highly relevant topic with unprecedented depth and artistry for its time.
In Academy Awards darlingThe Lost Weekend,Ray Millandstars as a writer who gets off the wagon and proceeds on a weekend of alcoholic demoralization.Jane Wymanco-stars. Along withMartyandParasite, this is one of only three films to win the Oscar for Best Pictureas well as Cannes' Palme d’Or.
The Lost Weekend
The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
