TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1940s
1949
1. THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed)
2. THE SET-UP (Robert Wise)
3. THE HEIRESS (William Wyler)
4. STRAY DOG (Akira Kurosawa)
5. WHITE HEAT (Raoul Walsh)
6. I SHOT JESSE JAMES (Samuel Fuller)
7. INTRUDER IN THE DUST (Clarence Brown)
8. THE WINDOW (Ted Tetzlaff)
9. CAUGHT (Max Ophuls)
10. BATTLEGROUND (William A. Wellman)
Honorable Mention: A LETTER TO THREE WOMEN (Mankiewicz); KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (Hamer); SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (Ford); THE SMALL BACK ROOM (Powell & Pressburger); THIEVES' HIGHWAY (Dassin)
Notable Shorts: BEGONE DULL CARE (McLaren & Lambart); DOUGH FOR THE DO-DO (Freleng); FAST AND FURRY-OUS (Jones); PUCE MOMENT (Anger); VISIT TO PICASSO (Haesaerts)
1948
1. THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (John Huston)
2. THE RED SHOES (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
3. ROPE (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. RED RIVER (Howard Hawks)
5. THE BICYCLE THIEF (Vittorio de Sica)
6. LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (Max Ophuls)
7. THE FALLEN IDOL (Carol Reed)
8. FORCE OF EVIL (Abraham Polonsky)
9. THE SCAR (Steve Sekely)
10. HE WALKED BY NIGHT (Alfred Werker and Anthony Mann)
Honorable Mention: DRUNKEN ANGEL (Kurosawa); FORT APACHE (Ford); JOHNNY BELINDA (Negulesco); LA TERRA TREMA (Visconti); RAW DEAL (Mann); THE SEARCH (Zinnemann); THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (Ray)
Notable Shorts: BOOGIE DOODLE (McLaren)
1947
1. ODD MAN OUT (Carol Reed)
2. QUAI DES ORFEVRES (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
3. OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur)
4. DAISY KENYON (Otto Preminger)
5. BLACK NARCISSUS (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
6. BODY AND SOUL (Robert Rossen)
7. THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (Joesph L. Mankiewicz)
8. MONSIEUR VERDOUX (Charles Chaplin)
9. T-MEN (Anthony Mann)
10. NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Edmund Goulding)
Honorable Mention: BRUTE FORCE (Dassin); I WALK ALONE (Haskin); KISS OF DEATH (Hathaway); THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (Welles); RAILROADED! (Mann)
Notable Shorts: FIREWORKS (Anger)
1946
1. THE BIG SLEEP (Howard Hawks)
2. A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
3. NOTORIOUS (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Jean Cocteau)
5. MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (John Ford)
6. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (Tay Garnett)
7. THE CHASE (Arthur Ripley)
8. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Frank Capra)
9. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (William Wyler)
10. TO EACH HIS OWN (Mitchell Leisen)
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts: None
1945
1. BRIEF ENCOUNTER (David Lean)
2. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (René Clair)
3. CHILDREN OF PARADISE (Marcel Carné)
4. DETOUR (Edgar G. Ulmer)
5. HANGOVER SQUARE (John Brahm)
6. A WALK IN THE SUN (Lewis Milestone)
7. OBJECTIVE, BURMA! (Raoul Walsh)
8. THE CLOCK (Vincente Minnelli)
9. I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING! (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
10. LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (John M. Stahl)
Honorable Mention: ERNIE PYLE'S STORY OF G.I. JOE (Wellman); ROME, OPEN CITY (Rossellini)
Notable Shorts: NASTY QUACKS (Tashlin)
1944
1. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Billy Wilder)
2. MURDER, MY SWEET (Edward Dmytryk)
3. MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Vincente Minnelli)
4. EXPERIMENT PERILOUS (Jacques Tourneur)
5. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (Howard Hawks)
6. LAURA (Otto Preminger)
7. ADDRESS UNKNOWN (William Cameron Menzies)
8. A CANTERBURY TALE (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
9. LIFEBOAT (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. THE UNINVITED (Lewis Allen)
Honorable Mention: THE IMMORTAL BATTALION (Reed)
Notable Shorts: None
Most Overrated: None
1943
1. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
2. HEAVEN CAN WAIT (Ernst Lubitsch)
3. SHADOW OF A DOUBT (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. LE CORBEAU (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
5. OSSESSIONE (Luchino Visconti)
6. I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (Jacques Tourneur)
7. DAY OF WRATH (Carl Theodore Dreyer)
8. CABIN IN THE SKY (Vincente Minnelli)
9. FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (Billy Wilder)
10. CARNIVAL OF SINNERS (Maurice Tourneur)
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts: MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (Deren & Hammid)
1942
1. CASABLANCA (Michael Curtiz)
2. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Orson Welles)
3. CAT PEOPLE (Jacques Tourneur)
4. TO BE OR NOT TO BE (Ernst Lubitsch)
5. THE PALM BEACH STORY (Preston Sturges)
6. PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (Sam Wood)
7. SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges)
8. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (Michael Curtiz)
9. SABOTEUR (Alfred Hitchcock)
10. THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (William A. Wellman)
Honorable Mention: BAMBI (Hand)
Notable Shorts: None
1941
1. CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles)
2. 49th PARALLEL (Michael Powell)
3. THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (William Dieterle)
4. THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston)
5. BALL OF FIRE (Howard Hawks)
6. DUMBO (Ben Sharpsteen)
7. THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING (Ernst Lubitsch)
8. THE LADY EVE (Preston Sturges)
9. HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (John Ford)
10. HOLD BACK THE DAWN (Mitchell Leisen)
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts: None
1940
1. THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (Ernst Lubitsch)
2. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (John Ford)
3. HIS GIRL FRIDAY (Howard Hawks)
4. FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (Alfred Hitchcock)
5. REBECCA (Alfred Hitchcock)
6. THE MORTAL STORM (Frank Borzage)
7. FANTASIA (Ben Sharpsteen)
8. PINNOCHIO (Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske)
9. THE GREAT DICTATOR (Charles Chaplin)
10. NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH (Carol Reed)
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts: None