Top Movies of 1940s


The top movies of 1940s list is calculated by community movie ratings and members' "Top Movies List". Lists are updated daily.

81. And Then There Were None

Year of Release: 1945
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: René Clair
Actors: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young, June Duprez, Mischa Auer
Plot: A group of ten people find themselves guest on an island by one Mr U. N. Own - but their host is nowhere to be seen and as, one by one, our group starts dying - the true murdered will be revealed.

82. My Favorite Wife

Year of Release: 1940
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Garson Kanin
Actors: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Gail Patrick, Ann Shoemaker, Scotty Beckett
Plot: A woman presumed dead in a shipwreck shows up seven years later... just in
time to stop her husband from marrying Bianca. But as the husband is set
to reconcile, he finds his wife wasn't alone for those seven years - and
jealousy reigns supreme.

83. Odd Man Out

Year of Release: 1947
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Carol Reed
Actors: James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, Kathleen Ryan, F.J. McCormick, William Hartnell
Plot: Johnny McQueen, leader of an Irish gang, has been planning a heist at the home of Kathleen and her mother. When he thinks he has everything worked out, he puts the plan in motion - and everything goes south. On the run from police, he can't go back home and attempts to hide in the back-alleys of Belfast. Meanwhile, Kathleen decides to look for Johnny herself.

84. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Year of Release: 1949
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Western
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: John Ford
Actors: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen
Plot: In the 19th century a man is retiring from the U.S. cavalry in a few days. But first, he must escort a family to another fort.

85. The Killers

Year of Release: 1946
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Robert Siodmak
Actors: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker, Sam Levene, William Conrad
Plot: A boxer is murdered to little resistance and an insurance investigator is hired to connect the dots uncovering a past robbery.

86. The Bishop's Wife

Year of Release: 1947
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Henry Koster
Actors: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester, James Gleason
Plot: A young bishop, focused on acquiring funds to build a grand new cathedral, ignores his wife and daughter. Can a visit from an angel at Christmas cure the problems ailing the family?

87. Mildred Pierce

Year of Release: 1945
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Mystery
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Michael Curtiz
Actors: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett
Plot: A woman learns the hard way that money truly does not buy happiness. In Mildred's quest to reach the top, she drives away her husband, raises a selfish daughter, hooks up with a duplicitous lover and ultimately ends up at the bottom again.

88. Hail the Conquering Hero

Year of Release: 1944
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Preston Sturges
Actors: Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, Raymond Walburn, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson
Plot: A man discharged from the Marines for an allergy before every seeing action is encouraged by fellow marines to fabricate a story about being an injured war hero - and give him a uniform and medals to back up his claim. Back home, he is hailed as a hero - complete with statue and song - but when he tries to explain the truth - no one will listen.

89. Sorry, Wrong Number

Year of Release: 1948
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Thriller
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Anatole Litvak
Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Ed Begley, William Conrad, Wendell Corey
Plot: A woman, sick and confined to bed, picks up the phone only to overhear
what she thinks is a plot to murder. She becomes increasingly desperate in
her quest to find out who the victim is going to be and how to stop the
plot from being carried out.

90. Ivan the Terrible, Part I ( Ivan Groznyy I )

Year of Release: 1947
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: Russian
Genre: Biography/Drama
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Actors: Nikolai Cherkasov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Serafima Birman, Mikhail Nazvanov, Mikhail Zharov, Pavel Kadochnikov
Plot: In this first part of the two-part life of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) we explore his early days after he crowns himself Tsar of Russia and beings cultivating his power and reclaiming lost territory. From various campaigns to an illness that nearly takes his life to threats from the aristocracy and his own family - he deftly plays his hand to keep his title.

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