Movies 1940's
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- DirectorLéonide MoguyStarsGeorge RaftAva GardnerVictor McLaglenWhen beautiful Mary returns home to her "whistle stop" home town, long-standing feelings of animosity between two of her old boyfriends leads to robbery and murder.
- DirectorLawrence HuntingtonStarsJames MasonRosamund JohnPamela MasonA British brain surgeon punishes the murderess of his lover.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsJames MasonAnn ToddHerbert LomA concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsVirginia BruceJohn BarrymoreJohn HowardAn attractive model with an ulterior motive volunteers as guinea pig for an invisibility machine.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneFriz FrelengStarsAdolphe MenjouMartha ScottPola NegriWhen the bride's mother is supposedly swindled out of her money by a spurned suitor, the groom's father orchestrates a scheme of his own to set things right. He is aided by a cabaret singer, while placating a jealous wife.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsPhyllis CalvertJames MasonWilfrid LawsonReturning to 1870's London after finishing at boarding school, Fanny witnesses the death of her father in a fight with Lord Manderstoke. She then finds that her family has for many years been running a bordello next door to their home. When her mother dies shortly after, she next discovers that her real father is in fact a well-respected politician. Meeting him and then falling in love with his young advisor Harry Somerford leads to a life of ups and downs and conflict between the classes. Periodically the scoundrel of a Lord crosses her path, always to tragic effect.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsGeorge RaftSylvia SidneyStanley RidgesA rich society woman uses a gangster to win a congressional election.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsGeorge RaftJoan BennettVivian BlaineThe owner of a San Francisco saloon yearns to rank among the upper crust of Nob Hill. When he begins romancing a wealthy socialite it looks like he may have his entry into high society. The pretty star of his saloon's show, however, wants to make sure he stays on the Barbary Coast.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsGeorge RaftHumphrey BogartAnn SheridanWhen one of two truck-driving brothers loses an arm, they both join a transport company where the other is falsely charged as an accessory in the murder of the owner.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsEdward G. RobinsonMarlene DietrichGeorge RaftTwo friends, who are members of a road crew employed by a Los Angeles power company, battle the elements to restore electrical power, and trade punches over the same woman.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsGeorge RaftClaire TrevorSigne HassoAfter a New Orleans merchant ship captain finds his father's sister ship derelict at sea, he investigates the crew's mysterious disappearance amid rumors of a smuggled gold cargo.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsCheryl WalkerWilliam TerryJudith Anderson"Dakota" Smith (William Terry), a young soldier on a pass in New York City, visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of the theatre and movies appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. Dakota meets a pretty young hostess, Eileen Burke (Cheryl Walker), and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsGeorge RaftElla RainesPat O'BrienLA ex-cop Vince Kane is a bail-bondsman who bails out the suspect of a securities bonds robbery but his client disappears, prompting Vince to investigate.
- DirectorJohn CromwellEdward F. ClineTay GarnettStarsClaudette ColbertJennifer JonesJoseph CottenWith her husband away to fight in World War II, a housewife must care for their two daughters alone.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsGeorge RaftGeorge BrentRandolph ScottTo save her fortune from a designing nephew, Matilda Reed must locate her three long-lost adopted sons in time for a Christmas Eve reunion.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartDonna ReedLionel BarrymoreAn 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.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsGeorge RaftJoan BennettLloyd NolanAn aircraft designer falls for the wife of an imprisoned gangster. All goes well until the gangster gets out of prison...
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyVirginia MayoEdmond O'BrienA psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
- DirectorWilliam K. HowardStarsJames CagneyGrace GeorgeMarjorie MainNewspaper man wanders about and helps older woman save her paper.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyBette DavisStuart ErwinA financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsJames CagneyWilliam BendixWayne MorrisA wide variety of persons come into Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, some to ask for work and others just to pass the time.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsJames CagneySylvia SidneyPorter HallA dedicated American reporter in 1930s Japan is determined to expose that government's plan for world domination.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsDoris DayDennis MorganJack CarsonA waitress at the Warner Bros. commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her big break may have arrived when two actors agree to help her.
- DirectorRichard WhorfVincente MinnelliGeorge SidneyStarsRobert WalkerVan HeflinLucille BremerBiography of songwriter and Broadway pioneer, Jerome Kern (Robert Walker). Unable to find immediate success in the U.S., Kern sought recognition abroad. He journeyed to England where his dreams of success became real and where he met his future wife Eva Leale (Dorothy Patrick).
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsGeorge RaftNina FochGeorge MacreadyTreasury Department officials recruit a florist (Raft) to lead them to a wanted criminal (Macready); but once he gets too close, he finds he's the hunted.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandJohn RawlinsStarsGeorge RaftVera ZorinaGrace McDonaldDuring World War II, all the studios put out "all-star" vehicles which featured virtually every star on the lot--often playing themselves--in musical numbers and comedy skits, and were meant as morale-boosters to both the troops overseas and the civilians at home. This was Universal Pictures' effort. It features everyone from Donald O'Connor to the Andrews Sisters to Orson Welles to W.C. Fields to George Raft to Marlene Dietrich, and dozens of other Universal players.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsGeorge RaftLynn BariVirginia HustonIn 1940s Los Angeles, when womanizing composer Keith Vincent is found dead, the inquest concludes it was a suicide but police detective Joe Warne isn't so sure.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsTommy DorseyJimmy DorseyJanet BlairThe Dorsey Brothers bandleaders' lives traced from childhood music insisting father to fame rise eventual split furthering careers propelling with their music.
- DirectorRichard WhorfStarsFrank SinatraKathryn GraysonPeter LawfordSoldier Danny Miller returns home to Brooklyn after war. Aiming for singing success, he helps friends chasing dreams.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterAva GardnerEdmond O'BrienHit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsAdolphe MenjouGeorge BancroftTodd DuncanCovering a quarter-century of American 'syncopated" music (Ragtime, Jazz, Swing, Blues, Boogie Woogie) from prior to WWI through prohibition, the stock market crash, the depression and the outbreak of WWII. A romance between singer Kit Latimer from New Orleans, and Johnny Schumacher, in which they share and argue over musical ideas ensues. Prior to the making of the film, RKO held a contest for the readers of 'The Saturday Evening Post" to vote on the musicians to make up the All-American Dance Band featured in the film; the magazine's readers chose, in the above-the-title listing: Charlie Barnet, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Jack Jenney. Gene Krupa, Alvino Rey, Joe Venuti, and singer Connee Boswell.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsRita HayworthGlenn FordGeorge MacreadyA small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsJoan BennettMichael RedgraveAnne RevereAfter a lovely woman and her new husband settle in an ancient mansion on the East coast, she discovers that he may want to kill her.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA 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.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsLaurence OlivierPenelope Dudley-WardMarjorie FieldingIvan Kouznetsoff, a Russian engineer, recounts during World War II his stay in England prior to the war working on a new propeller for ice-breaking ships. Naive about British people, and convinced by hearsay that they are shallow and hypocritical, Ivan is both bemused and amused by them. He is blunt in his opinions about Britons, and at first this puts off his hosts, including the lovely Ann Tisdall, whose grandfather runs the shipbuilding firm that will make use of Ivan's propeller. The longer Ivan stays, however, the more he comes to understand the humor, warmth, strength, and conviction of the British people, and the more they come to see him as a friend, rather than merely a suspicious Russian. As a romantic bond grows between Ivan and Ann, a cultural bond begins to grow as well, particularly as the war begins, and Russia is attacked by Germany.
- DirectorGabriel PascalStarsClaude RainsVivien LeighStewart GrangerAt the height of the Roman Civil War, a young Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) meets a middle-aged Julius Caesar (Claude Rains), who teaches her how to rule Egypt.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIngrid BergmanGregory PeckMichael ChekhovA psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIngrid BergmanJoseph CottenMichael WildingA young gentleman goes to Australia where he reunites with his now married childhood sweetheart, only to find out she has become an alcoholic and harbors dark secrets.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsBing CrosbyBob HopeDorothy LamourTwo inept vaudevillians stow away on a Brazilian-bound ocean liner and foil a plot by a sinister hypnotist to marry off her niece to a greedy fortune hunter.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsIda LupinoCornel WildeCeleste HolmA night club owner becomes infatuated with a torch singer and frames his best friend/manager for embezzlement when the chanteuse falls in love with him.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsFred AstairePaulette GoddardArtie ShawWhen perennial college students Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are forced to make it on their own, the competitive pair get jobs with Artie Shaw's band and reunite with ex-manager Ellen Miller.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsGregory PeckAnne BaxterRichard WidmarkA pistol-packing tomboy and her grandfather discover a band of bank robbing bandits taking refuge in the neighboring ghost town.
- DirectorKing VidorOtto BrowerWilliam DieterleStarsJennifer JonesJoseph CottenGregory PeckBeautiful, biracial Pearl Chavez becomes the ward of her dead father's first love and finds herself torn between two brothers, one good and the other bad.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsClaudette ColbertJoel McCreaMary AstorA New York inventor needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire with a capricious high-society sister.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsGene TierneyWalter HustonVincent PriceA simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsHenry FondaDana AndrewsMary Beth HughesWhen a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsPaul MuniAnne BaxterClaude RainsThe Devil arranges for a deceased gangster to return to Earth as a well-respected judge to make up for his previous life.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsBarbara StanwyckVan HeflinLizabeth ScottA man is reunited with his childhood friend and her husband who believes he knows the truth about the death of her rich aunt years earlier.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsOlivia de HavillandLew AyresThomas MitchellA man is found murdered, and witnesses are sure about the woman they saw leaving his apartment. However, it becomes apparent that the woman has a twin, and finding out which one is the killer seems impossible.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnJudy HollidayDomestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsErich von StroheimMary Beth HughesDan DuryeaPart of an entertainment act, a beautiful but unscrupulous female performer manipulates all the men in her life in order to achieve her aims.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsBing CrosbyIngrid BergmanHenry TraversAt a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley and Sister Benedict indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.
- DirectorVictor SchertzingerStarsBing CrosbyMary MartinBrian DonlevyJeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player, Memphis. They struggle to get their jazz music accepted by the cafe society of the city. Betty Lou joins their band as a singer and gets Louey to show her how to do scat singing. Memphis and Jeff both fall in love with Betty Lou.
- DirectorWilliam D. RussellStarsJoan CaulfieldWilliam HoldenMona FreemanA family is befuddled when a World War II serviceman shows up to meet and marry his pen pal sweetheart. Everyone's in the dark about the romance by mail. Then they discover Ruth's younger sister was the culprit.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsJennifer JonesJohn GarfieldPedro ArmendárizIn 1930's Cuba, a bank clerk and an American mercenary assist a revolutionary group in a plan to kill the President but the Cuban Secret Police chief and the dictator's military complicate the plan's execution.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsJohn GarfieldLilli PalmerHazel BrooksA talented boxer's young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsGeorge RaftVirginia MayoGene LockhartThe former employee of a trucking company, currently in prison for embezzlement, plans his eventual revenge against his former boss.
- DirectorArchie MayoFritz LangStarsJean GabinIda LupinoThomas MitchellIn California, Bobo and his mooching pal Tiny are doing odd jobs and getting drunk and they hide a secret about the unsolved murder of sailor Pop Kelly but suicidal waitress Anna, saved by Bobo, unravels the mystery.
- DirectorElmer CliftonIda LupinoStarsSally ForrestKeefe BrasselleLeo PennAfter a beautiful but unsophisticated girl is seduced by a worldly piano player and gives up her out-of-wedlock baby, her guilt compels her to kidnap another child.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsSusan HaywardLee BowmanMarsha HuntA successful nightclub singer weds a struggling songwriter, but when his fame eclipses hers, she delves into alcoholism.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyHedy LamarrJohn GarfieldDanny, a poor northern Californian Mexican-American, inherits two houses from his grandfather and is quickly taken advantage of by his vagabond friends.
- DirectorOtto PremingerRouben MamoulianStarsGene TierneyDana AndrewsClifton WebbA police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesEdward G. RobinsonLoretta YoungAn investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHerbert MarshallJames StephensonThe wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.
- DirectorMartin GabelStarsRobert CummingsSusan HaywardAgnes MooreheadA publisher insinuates himself into the mouldering mansion of the centenarian lover of a renowned but long-dead poet to find his lost love letters.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHerbert MarshallTeresa WrightThe ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsGregory PeckDorothy McGuireJohn GarfieldA reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsWilliam MarshallAdele MaraRicardo CortezA private detective is approached by a wealthy entertainment executive to stop a blackmail scheme against him. Although he hasn't decided to take the job, the blackmailers believe that he already has, and he is marked for murder.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsArturo de CórdovaDorothy PatrickMarjorie LordA gambling hall owner relocates from New Orleans to Chicago and entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman, and others.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsWilliam HoldenMartha ScottFay BainterChange comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsLana TurnerJohn GarfieldCecil KellawayA married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsBurgess MeredithRobert MitchumFreddie SteeleAt the close of WWII, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle travels with the U.S. Army's Company C Division during their liberation of Italy.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsGregory PeckAnn ToddCharles LaughtonA happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsEdward G. RobinsonLon McCallisterJudith AndersonAn old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in the woods.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRex HarrisonConstance CummingsKay HammondA man and his second wife are haunted by the ghost of his first wife.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantAnn SheridanMarion MarshallAfter marrying an American lieutenant with whom he was assigned to work in post-war Germany, a French captain attempts to find a way to accompany her back to the States under the terms of the War Bride Act.
- DirectorKen AnnakinArthur CrabtreeHarold FrenchStarsBasil RadfordNaunton WayneIan FlemingFour of W. Somerset Maugham's short stories are brought to the screen with each introduced by the author. In "The Facts of Life", a young man with great potential on the tennis courts goes to Monte Carlo and ends up doing the exact opposite of what his father recommended. In "The Alien Corn", an aspiring pianist devotes himself to perfecting his artistic skills, but finds he lacks the talents to reach the heights he so desperately craves. In "The Kite", a young man who lives at home and loves kite flying goes against his overbearing mother's wishes and marries the girl he's been dating. He's soon back home, much to his mother's delight, but re-considers when his wife takes up a new hobby. In the final chapter "The Colonel's Lady", a middle-aged man is shocked to learn that his somewhat-dowdy wife has written a collection of racy poems and is now a best-selling author.
- DirectorIan DalrymplePeter ProudStarsKathleen RyanDirk BogardeCyril CusackEsther (Kathleen Ryan) goes into service in Victorian England, only to be seduced by the sweet talking groom William (Sir Dirk Bogarde), who then takes off with his employer's daughter. Left alone to bring up the child, Esther manages, and after seven years, has a chance at happiness. Then William turns up again.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettDan DuryeaA man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsLizabeth ScottDon DeForeDan DuryeaThrough a fluke circumstance, a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and is determined to hold onto it even if it means murder.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJohn MillsJoan GreenwoodEdward ChapmanWhen the murder of a young woman happens, her next-door neighbor is under suspicion due to his previous stay in a mental hospital.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsAnton WalbrookMarius GoringMoira ShearerA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsRonald ColmanEdmond O'BrienSigne HassoA celebrated actor struggles to distinguish his own life from that of his most recent stage role, Othello.
- DirectorJames Edward GrantStarsJohn WayneGail RussellHarry CareyQuirt Evans, an all round bad guy, is nursed back to health and sought after by Penelope Worth, a Quaker girl. He eventually finds himself having to choose between his world and the world Penelope lives in.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaLinda DarnellVictor MatureAfter their cattle are stolen and their brother murdered, the Earp brothers have a score to settle with the Clanton family.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMyrna LoyDana AndrewsFredric MarchThree 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.
- DirectorGeorge SeatonStarsJeanne CrainWilliam HoldenEdmund GwennA retired professor rents his attic apartment to pregnant Peggy and her GI-Bill-student husband. The professor ponders if his life is no longer useful while the young couple faces the challenges shared with many WW II veterans' families.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsJoan BennettFrancis LedererLloyd NolanAnti-Nazi tract laced with 1938 newsreel footage finds American girl (Bennett) married to a German (Lederer) gradually learning he is a Nazi, trying to get their son to America.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsRay MillandWilliam HoldenWayne MorrisThe personal and professional lives of three men from different walks of life who join the U.S. Army Air Corps are depicted.
- DirectorGene RaymondStarsGene RaymondOsa MassenFrancis Lederer2 people - a middle-aged stockbroker and a young widow are passengers on the same flight from California to Hawaii. For different reasons, they've both fled the state with secrets. Neither knows of the others' situation and they both turn to each other for help.
- DirectorAbraham PolonskyStarsJohn GarfieldThomas GomezBeatrice PearsonAn unethical lawyer who wants to help his older brother becomes a partner with a client in the numbers racket.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsGary CooperRobert AldaLilli PalmerIn WW2, the Allies race against time to persuade two nuclear scientists working for the Germans to switch sides.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames CagneyAnnabellaRichard ConteWhen spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.
- DirectorMontgomery TullyStarsJack WarnerRichard AttenboroughDirk BogardeA slice of life in a British Borstal reform institution for young criminals.
- DirectorJack LeeStarsDirk BogardeBonar ColleanoBill OwenFactory worker Bill Fox (Sir Dirk Bogarde) is fired from a reliable job and becomes a successful motorbike racer, until his wife threatens to leave him unless he comes to his senses.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsRobert CummingsRichard BasehartRichard HartRobespierrre, a powerful figure in the French revolution, is desperately looking for his black book, a death list of those marked for the guillotine.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsCharley GrapewinGene TierneyMarjorie RambeauHillbilly family farm life in 1941 rural Georgia.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonCelia JohnsonJohn MillsJust after World War I, the Gibbons family moves to a nice house in the suburbs. They live an ordinary life throughout the years, but everything changes when World War II breaks out.