Top Ten Films of 1940-1949

[mae]

Slowly making our way back in time, it's now time for the '40s and some of the most beautifully-filmed films here, the true Silver Screen! As usual, I've narrowed down my favorite films for each year and the top three have been highlighted. I'll come back with my ranking a bit later on:

Fantasia (1940)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Go West (1940)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
The Bank Dick (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

49th Parallel (1941)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Dumbo (1941)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Love Crazy (1941)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
Penny Serenade (1941)
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Suspicion (1941)
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Bambi (1942)
Casablanca (1942)
Cat People (1942)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Saboteur (1942)
The Big Street (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Major and the Minor (1942)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Day of Wrath (1943)
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
Ivan the Terrible: Part I (1944)
Laura (1944)
Lifeboat (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
The Children Are Watching Us (1944)
The Uninvited (1944)
The Woman in the Window (1944)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Children of Paradise (1945)
Detour (1945)
Fallen Angel (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Murder, He Says (1945)
Rome, Open City (1945)
Scarlet Street (1945)
Spellbound (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Naughty Nineties (1945)
The Spiral Staircase (1945)

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Great Expectations (1946)
Green for Danger (1946)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
Notorious (1946)
Song of the South (1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Black Narcissus (1947)
Brute Force (1947)
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Nightmare Alley (1947)
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Drunken Angel (1948)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
Red River (1948)
Rope (1948)
The Naked City (1948)
The Red Shoes (1948)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Adam's Rib (1949)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Late Spring (1949)
Stray Dog (1949)
The Heiress (1949)
The Set-Up (1949)
The Third Man (1949)
White Heat (1949)

[mae]

And here we go with the rankings:

1 Citizen Kane (1941)
2 Casablanca (1942)
3 Rope (1948)
4 Double Indemnity (1944)
5 Rebecca (1940)
6 Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
7 The Maltese Falcon (1941)
8 Laura (1944)
9 Bambi (1942)
10 The Philadelphia Story (1940)
11 Notorious (1946)
12 Late Spring (1949)
13 The Third Man (1949)
14 The Lady Eve (1941)
15 Spellbound (1945)
16 To Be or Not to Be (1942)
17 White Heat (1949)
18 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
19 The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
20 Murder, He Says (1945)
21 It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
22 Ivan the Terrible: Part I (1944)
23 Fantasia (1940)
24 Children of Paradise (1945)
25 Bicycle Thieves (1948)
26 Beauty and the Beast (1946)
27 Black Narcissus (1947)
28 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
29 Day of Wrath (1943)
30 Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

[fernandito]

As long as Citizen Kane and Casablanca are up there it's all good.

[needfulthings]

[needfulthings]

Near the top of MY all time best list.

[Heather19]

As long as Citizen Kane and Casablanca are up there it's all good.

What about some love for Rebecca. Very glad to see that one up there. Although how could it not be.
How come It's a Wonderful Life is so low?

[mae]

How come It's a Wonderful Life is so low?

It's a great classic, no doubt. But that's how it shakes out for me. Would love to see your rankings.

[Jean]

using pablo's list again:

Rebecca (1940)
Casablanca (1942) *
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
Lifeboat (1944)
Children of Paradise (1945)
Rome, Open City
Spellbound (1945)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) *

* these two will compete in my heart for the top position

[Heather19]

I think I need to watch more movies from the 40s because both Hitchcock and Welles take over my list.

Rebecca (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Holiday Inn (1942)
Suspicion (1941)
Saboteur (1942)
The Stranger (1946)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Lifeboat (1944)

[mae]

No Casablanca?

And no Rope, one of Hitch's best...

[Heather19]

I've seen both. As for Casablanca, don't hate me, but I wasn't a huge fan of it. It was good, but far from one of my favorite films. And Rope was also excellent, but compared to his others, I just personally enjoyed them more. I will say that I definitely loved the way that one was filmed. You really don't see something like that often, if ever.

[mae]

Hitchcock was amazing in the '40s, but I wouldn't put Rope above Lifeboat. But that's just me, of course. Rope is a really special film. From the way it was filmed, and I believe it was his first color film, to the very claustrophobic setting, and many other little things in between.

[Jean]

I've seen both. As for Casablanca, don't hate me, but I wasn't a huge fan of it.

GrrrrrRRRrrrr....

It was good, but far from one of my favorite films. And Rope was also excellent, but compared to his others, I just personally enjoyed them more.

This, yes.

Hitchcock was amazing in the '40s, but I wouldn't put Rope above Lifeboat.

Never! Lifeboat is a perfection.

[needfulthings]

[Mattrick]

Double Indemnity and Rebecca for sure.

[Jean]

Bruce, I can't decipher the signature!!! who, who was it? Spellbound is one of the films bears adore!

[needfulthings]

Bruce, I can't decipher the signature!!! who, who was it? Spellbound is one of the films bears adore!

Spoiler:

JOHN BALLANTYNE AKA

[Heather19]

Double Indemnity is still one of those films I need to watch.

Bruce, what's your top 10 list?

[needfulthings]

"ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS"

FILM NOIR AT IT'S BEST.

[needfulthings]

TOP 10? WERE DO I START?

Spoiler:

THAT'S JUST PART OF A-FO.

[Heather19]

Awesome! Do you have a pic posted somewhere of your entire movie collection?

[mae]

Mine's very similar, too

[needfulthings]

Awesome! Do you have a pic posted somewhere of your entire movie collection?

NO...But the official count of PRERECORDS is over 12,000 DVD & BLU-RAY titles.
JUST T.V. A-M


There is even some 1940s T.V. KINESCOPE (CAN YOU DIG IT?)

[needfulthings]

BACK ON TRACK.
MADE IT. MA! TOP OF THE WORLD!

[needfulthings]