41. Laura
Year of Release: 1944
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Crime/Mystery
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Otto Preminger
Actors: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson
Plot: Detective Mark McPherson is investigating the case of Laura - a girl who entranced every man she came across. A striking portrait, along with suspects testimony, paints the perfect picture and he finds himself falling under her spell leading to a startling revelation.
42. The Magnificent Ambersons
Year of Release: 1942
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Orson Welles
Actors: Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins
Plot: The story of a rich family in the early twentieth century unfolds over many decades. As a young man, Eugene wishes to marry Isabel, but is too wild. Years later, having achieved success in business, he returns and seeks to marry the widowed Isabel, but not all of Isabel's family is happy with this development.
43. Brief Encounter
Year of Release: 1946
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Romance/Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: David Lean
Actors: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond, Marjorie Mars, Everley Gregg
Plot: A woman meets an interesting man at a train station, which tempts her to cheat on her husband.
44. The Lost Weekend
Year of Release: 1945
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Mystery/Drama
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Billy Wilder
Actors: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Howard Da Silva, Phillip Terry, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen
Plot: A true alcoholic's life is followed for four days when he is on and off
his binge drinking.
45. Children of Paradise ( enfants du paradis, Les )
Year of Release: 1946
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: French
Genre: Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Marcel Carné
Actors: Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Pierre Renoir, María Casares, Gaston Modot
Plot: Follows the loves in the life of mime Baptiste and Claire Reine - who calls herself Garance - while Garance only has love for Baptiste, she is pursued by three other men. Things are complicated by the simple Nathalie, who also loves Baptiste. Love and love lost - a classic story presented in an imaginative way that deftly blends theater, literature, music and design.
46. The Wolf Man
Year of Release: 1941
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Fantasy
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: George Waggner
Actors: Claude Rains, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Warren William, Fay Helm, Ralph Bellamy
Plot: A man gets bitten by a werewolf... and becomes one himself!
47. The Lady Eve
Year of Release: 1941
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Preston Sturges
Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette, William Demarest, Eric Blore
Plot: After a year in the Amazon, a bumbling but rich young man is headed home
on a ship when he meets, and falls in love with, a beautiful cardsharp.
After a misunderstanding, however, he rejects her, and so she must
disguise herself to get back into his life.
48. Sullivan's Travels
Year of Release: 1941
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Adventure
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Preston Sturges
Actors: Veronica Lake, Joel McCrea, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall
Plot: A film maker pretends to be a homeless person to gain insight into his next film as he is in for a huge learning experience.
49. Black Narcissus
Year of Release: 1947
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Actors: Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, Jean Simmons, David Farrar, May Hallatt, Jenny Laird
Plot: A young nun is promoted to Mother Superior of a convent in the mountains of an Asian country. She may, or may not, make it through the year.
50. Lifeboat
Year of Release: 1944
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Thriller/War
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Actors: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Hume Cronyn, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, Henry Hull
Plot: Several survivors of a torpedoed ship find themselves in the same boat with one of the men who sunk it.
