TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1940s


Carol Reed's The Third Man1949
1. THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed)
2. THE SET-UP (Robert Wise)
3. STRAY DOG (Akira Kurosawa)
4. WHITE HEAT (Raoul Walsh)
5. GUN CRAZY (Joseph H. Lewis)
6. I SHOT JESSE JAMES (Samuel Fuller)
7. INTRUDER IN THE DUST (Clarence Brown)
8. THE WINDOW (Ted Tetzlaff)
9. THIEVES' HIGHWAY (Jules Dassin)
10. KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (Robert Hamer)

Honorable Mention: ON THE TOWN (Donen & Kelly); THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER (Pelissier); SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (Ford); THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (Ray)

Notable Shorts:BEGONE DULL CARE (McLaren & Lambart); DOUGH FOR THE DO-DO (Freleng); PUCE MOMENT(Anger)

John Huston's The Treasure of Sierra Madre1948
1. THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (John Huston)
2. THE RED SHOES (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
3. ROPE (Alfred Hitchcock)
4. THE BICYCLE THIEF (Vittorio de Sica)
5. LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (Max Ophuls)
6. THE FALLEN IDOL (Carol Reed)
7. FORCE OF EVIL (Abraham Polonsky)
8. THE SCAR (Steve Sekely)
9. HE WALKED BY NIGHT (Alfred Werker and Anthony Mann)
10. LA TERRA TREMA (Luchino Visconti)

Honorable Mention: DRUNKEN ANGEL (Kurosawa); FORT APACHE (Ford); JOHNNY BELINDA (Negulesco); THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (Welles); RAW DEAL (Mann); THE SEARCH (Zinnemann)

Notable Shorts: BOOGIE DOODLE (McLaren)

Carol Reed's Odd Man Out1947
1. ODD MAN OUT (Carol Reed)
2. QUAI DES ORFEVRES (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
3. OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur)
4. BLACK NARCISSUS (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
5. THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (Joesph L. Mankiewicz)
6. BODY AND SOUL (Robert Rossen)
7. MONSIEUR VERDOUX (Charles Chaplin)
8. T-MEN (Anthony Mann)
9. NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Edmund Goulding)
10. BRUTE FORCE (Jules Dassin)

Honorable Mention: KISS OF DEATH (Hathaway); RAILROADED! (Mann)

Notable Shorts: FIREWORKS (Anger)

The Big Sleep1946
1. THE BIG SLEEP (Howard Hawks)
2. BRIEF ENCOUNTER (David Lean)
3. A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
4. NOTORIOUS (Alfred Hitchcock)
5. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Jean Cocteau)
6. MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (John Ford)
7. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (Tay Garnett)
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

Rene Clair's And Then There Were None1945
1. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (René Clair)
2. CHILDREN OF PARADISE (Marcel Carné)
3. DETOUR (Edgar G. Ulmer)
4. A WALK IN THE SUN (Lewis Milestone)
5. OBJECTIVE, BURMA! (Raoul Walsh)
6. I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
7. LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (John M. Stahl)
8. ISLE OF THE DEAD (Mark Robson)
9. SCARLET STREET (Fritz Lang)
10. DEAD OF NIGHT (Cavalcanti/Charles Crichton/Basil Dearden/Robert Hamer)

Honorable Mention: None

Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity1944
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 OR HAVE NOT (Howard Hawks)
6. LAURA (Otto Preminger)
7. A CANTERBURY TALE (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
8. LIFEBOAT (Alfred Hitchcock)
9. THE UNINVITED (Lewis Allen)
10. IMMORTAL BATTALION (Carol Reed)

Honorable Mention: None

Most Overrated: THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK (Sturges)

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp1943
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. FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO (Billy Wilder)
6. I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (Jacques Tourneur)
7. DAY OF WRATH (Carl Theodore Dreyer)
8. CABIN IN THE SKY (Vincente Minnelli)
9. THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (William A. Wellman)
10. AIR FORCE (Howard Hawks)

Honorable Mention: None

Notable Shorts: MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (Deren & Hammid)

Casablanca1942
1. CASABLANCA (Michael Curtiz)
2. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Orson Welles)
3. CAT PEOPLE (Jacques Tourneur)
4. OSSESSIONE (Luchino Visconti)
5. THE PALM BEACH STORY (Preston Sturges)
6. PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (Sam Wood)
7. SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges)
8. TO BE OR NOT TO BE (Ernst Lubitsch)
9. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (Michael Curtiz)
10. SABOTEUR (Alfred Hitchcock)

Honorable Mention: None

Citizen Kane1941
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

The Shop Around the Corner1940
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. THE GREAT MCGINTY (Preston Sturges)

Honorable Mention: None