Oscar Nominated Films I Need to Watch 1940-49
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- DirectorMark RobsonStarsKirk DouglasArthur KennedyMarilyn MaxwellBoxer Midge Kelly rises to fame...mainly by stepping on other people.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsRonald ReaganPatricia NealRichard ToddIn the final days of WW2, in a M.A.S.H. unit in Burma, a seriously wounded corporal watches in dismay as fellow soldiers pack-up to return home but a caring nurse and five remaining soldiers bring him solace.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsSpencer TracyDeborah KerrIan HunterA businessman's desire to protect his corrupt son's fortune leads to tragedy.
- DirectorElia KazanJohn FordStarsJeanne CrainEthel BarrymoreEthel WatersA light-skinned black woman falls in love with a white doctor, though he is unaware of her true race.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsLoretta YoungCeleste HolmHugh MarloweTwo nuns arrive unannounced in the small New England town of Bethlehem, where they recruit various townspeople to help them build a children's hospital.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsDana AndrewsSusan HaywardKent SmithAfter being visited by an old friend, a woman recalls her true love, the man she met and lost years ago.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsJennifer JonesJames MasonVan HeflinA provincial doctor's wife's romantic illusions about life and social status lead her to betray her naive husband, take on lovers, and run up ruinous debts.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJune AllysonPeter LawfordMargaret O'BrienThe four daughters of a New England family fight for happiness during and after the Civil War.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsErrol FlynnViveca LindforsRobert DouglasThe great lover Don Juan comes to the assistance of his queen.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsStewart GrangerJoan GreenwoodFlora RobsonYoung Sophie Dorothea marries Prince George Louis but it's far from a love match. Then she falls for Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmark.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerOrson WellesWanda HendrixAn unscrupulous agent for the Borgias suffers a change of heart when asked to betray a noble count and his much younger, very beautiful wife.
- DirectorCharles WaltersStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersOscar LevantA married musical team splits up so the wife can become a serious actress.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsLoretta YoungVan JohnsonRudy ValleeIn order to afford her daughter's college tuition, a woman enrolls herself at the same school aided by a rare large bursary but they both fall in love with the same cute English professor.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.
- DirectorErnest B. SchoedsackStarsTerry MooreBen JohnsonRobert ArmstrongA young woman who has raised a giant gorilla from an infant brings him to Hollywood years later seeking her fortune.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsSusan HaywardRobert PrestonPedro ArmendárizIn Tulsa, after a rancher dies during a feud with a major oil company, his daughter, driven by revenge, starts digging for oil herself.
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsBobby DriscollBarbara HaleArthur KennedyTo avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9-year-old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him.
- DirectorEdward BuzzellStarsEsther WilliamsRed SkeltonRicardo MontalbanA swimsuit fashion designer is determined to protect her scatterbrained sister from a South American heartbreaker, but a case of mistaken identity complicates matters.
- 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.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterHamilton LuskeStarsBurl IvesBeulah BondiBobby DriscollThis heartwarming classic tells the tale of a country boy who adopts a mischevious black lamb and learns valuable lessons about love and dedication.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsBette DavisJoseph CottenDavid BrianResentful of her small-town life, a married woman schemes to run off with a rich businessman.
- DirectorStanley DonenGene KellyStarsGene KellyFrank SinatraBetty GarrettThree sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New York City.
- DirectorHenry LevinStarsLarry ParksBarbara HaleWilliam DemarestIn this sequel to The Jolson Story, we pick up the singer's career just as he has returned to the stage after a premature retirement. But his wife has left him and the appeal of the spotlight isn't what it used to be. This time Jolson trades in the stage for life in the fast lane: women, horses, travel. It takes the death of Moma Yoelson and World War II to bring Jolson back to earth - and to the stage. Once again teamed with manager Steve Martin, Jolson travels the world entertaining troops everywhere from Alaska to Africa. When he finally collapses from exhaustion it takes young, pretty nurse Ellen Clark to show him there's more to life than "just rushing around".
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsJune HaverRay BolgerGordon MacRaeMarilyn Miller grows up in a showbiz family and hits Broadway before she is sixteen. She falls in love with her dancer-mentor Jack, but he is married. When she marries her stage partner Frank he soon is called to arms in World War I.
- DirectorRobert MontgomeryMichael GordonStarsRobert MontgomeryAnn BlythJane CowlAn actor is recalled to active duty with the Army's C.I.D. to find the thief who stole historical jewels in occupied Germany and the trail leads to the boyfriend of a young debutante from Bel Air.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsCarmela SazioGar MooreWilliam TubbsAmerican military personnel interact warily with a variety of Italian locals over a year and a half in the push north during the Italian Campaign of WWII as German forces make their retreat.
- DirectorHenry CorneliusStarsStanley HollowayBetty WarrenBarbara MurrayResidents of a part of London declare independence after they discover an old treaty, which leads to the need for a "Passport to Pimlico".
- DirectorSidney MeyersStarsGary MerrillDonald ThompsonClarence CooperA documentary account of the rehabilitation at the Wiltwyck School of an emotionally disturbed Black boy who is unwanted, misunderstood, and inwardly tortured.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsRobert YoungMaureen O'HaraClifton WebbA family that hires a live-in babysitter is surprised when he turns out to be a man who's a quirky genius.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsBetty GrableDan DaileyJack OakieVaudeville performers, Dailey and Grable, have marital difficulties when he hits the "Big Time", which are compounded by his drinking problem.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsMontgomery CliftIvan JandlAline MacMahonIn post-war Berlin, an American private helps a lost Czech boy find his mother.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsTyrone PowerAnne BaxterCecil KellawayFollowing American reporter Stephen Fitzgerald from Ireland to New York, a grateful leprechaun acts as the newsman's servant and conscience.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsIngrid BergmanJosé FerrerSelena RoyleThe abbreviated life of the 15th-century French heroine.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsIrene DunneBarbara Bel GeddesOscar HomolkaA young writer recalls her ups and downs of growing up as one of four children to Norwegian immigrant parents in 1910s San Francisco.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsBarbara StanwyckBurt LancasterAnn RichardsWhile on the telephone, an invalid woman overhears what she thinks is a murder plot and attempts to prevent it.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJean ArthurMarlene DietrichJohn LundIn occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi café singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsJennifer JonesJoseph CottenEthel BarrymoreIn Depression-era New York, an impoverished painter has a chance encounter with an enigmatic, old-fashioned little girl in Central Park who inspires him and changes his destiny.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsPeggy CumminsCharles CoburnRobert ArthurIn Wyoming, several ranchers have their prized mares stolen by a big wild white stallion and must recover them before the Governor's Stake trotting race day.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsRita HayworthGlenn FordRon RandellA beautiful but amoral gypsy girl entices a young dragoon to betray his honor and get cashiered from the service, and for her sake he soon turns to a life of crime.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsLana TurnerGene KellyJune AllysonD'Artagnan and his Musketeer comrades thwart the plans of Cardinal Richelieu to usurp King Louis XIII's power.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsBarbara StanwyckVan HeflinCharles CoburnWealthy Polly Fulton marries a progressive scholar whose attitudes toward capitalism and acquired wealth puts their marriage in jeopardy.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsBing CrosbyJoan FontaineRoland CulverA brash American gramophone salesman tries to get Emperor Franz Joseph's endorsement in turn-of-the-century Austria.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsDana AndrewsJean PetersCesar RomeroThe friendship between a fisherman and an orphan boy disturbs others because of the dangers at sea.
- DirectorHoward HawksArthur RossonStarsJohn WayneMontgomery CliftJoanne DruDunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsBob HopeJane RussellRobert ArmstrongCalamity Jane is dispatched to find out who's smuggling rifles to the Indians, and winds up married to a hapless correspondence-school dentist as part of her cover.
- DirectorJohn BerryStarsYvonne De CarloTony MartinPeter LorreThe life, loves and adventures of a classic Casbah thief.
- DirectorMichael CurtizBusby BerkeleyStarsJack CarsonJanis PaigeDoris DayRomantic misunderstandings abound when spouses suspect each other of being unfaithful, and a nightclub singer takes a cruise under a false identity.
- DirectorErnst LubitschOtto PremingerStarsBetty GrableDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Cesar RomeroThat Lady in Ermine tells two parallel stories, both taking place in the small Mittel-European duchy of Bergamo, with one set in the 19th century and the other in the 16th.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsJudy GarlandGene KellyWalter SlezakA girl is engaged to the local rich man, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsDane ClarkGail RussellEthel BarrymoreDanny is despised by his schoolmates because his father was accused of killing another man and sentenced to death.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsRonald ColmanEdmond O'BrienSigne HassoA celebrated actor struggles to distinguish his own life from that of his most recent stage role, Othello.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsJohn GarfieldLilli PalmerHazel BrooksA talented boxer's young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him.
- DirectorDudley NicholsStarsRosalind RussellMichael RedgraveRaymond MasseyEugene O'Neill's updated version of the Oresteia set in New England, after the American Civil War.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellIrene DunneElizabeth TaylorA straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsLoretta YoungJoseph CottenEthel BarrymoreAfter leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unexpected path towards politics.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsVictor MatureBrian DonlevyColeen GrayA crook arrested for a jewelry heist initially refuses to give up his accomplices, but he changes his mind once his wife dies under worrying circumstances.
- DirectorRobert MontgomeryStarsRobert MontgomeryThomas GomezWanda HendrixWW2 veteran Lucky Gagin arrives in a New Mexico border-town intent on revenging against mobster Frank Hugo but FBI agent Bill Retz, who also wants Hugo, tries to keep Gagin out of trouble.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsJoan CrawfordVan HeflinRaymond MasseyAfter being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a doctor the complex story of how she wound up there.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsSusan HaywardLee BowmanMarsha HuntA successful nightclub singer weds a struggling songwriter, but when his fame eclipses hers, she delves into alcoholism.
- DirectorChester ErskineStarsClaudette ColbertFred MacMurrayMarjorie MainOn their wedding night, Bob reveals to Betty that he has purchased an abandoned chicken farm. Betty struggles to adapt to their new rural lifestyle, especially when a glamorous neighbor seems to set her eyes on Bob.
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsRex HarrisonMaureen O'HaraRichard HaydnIn pre-Civil War New Orleans, Louisiana, roguish Irish gambler Stephen Fox (Sir Rex Harrison) buys his way into society, something he couldn't do in his homeland because he is illegitimate.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellIrene DunneElizabeth TaylorA straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
- DirectorVictor SavilleStarsVan HeflinLana TurnerDonna ReedA young man loved by two sisters becomes a naval officer and sails to New Zealand, where he drunkenly writes a marriage proposal to the wrong sister, profoundly affecting the life of the other.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsBetty GrableDan DaileyMona FreemanIn this chronicle of a vaudeville family, Myrtle McKinley (class of 1900) goes to San Francisco to attend business school, but ends up in a chorus line. Soon, star Frank Burt notices her talent, hires her for a "two-act", then marries her. Incidents of the marriage and the growing pains of eldest daughter Iris are followed, interspersed with nostalgic musical numbers.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsGary CooperPaulette GoddardHoward Da SilvaIntrepid frontiersman Chris Holden foils the political and personal ambitions of renegade Martin Garth in the Ohio Valley following the French and Indian War.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorHarve FosterWilfred JacksonStarsRuth WarrickBobby DriscollJames BaskettThe kindly story-teller Uncle Remus tells a young boy stories about trickster Br'er Rabbit, who outwits Br'er Fox and slow-witted Br'er Bear.
- DirectorCharles WaltersStarsJune AllysonPeter LawfordPatricia MarshallGolden Globe winner June Allyson and Peter Lawford star in this enjoyable musical about a football hero who falls in love with his French tutor.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsBetty HuttonJohn LundBilly De WolfeThe real life story of actress Pearl White during her rise to fame in silent serials.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsDennis MorganMartha VickersJack CarsonThe stuffy manager of lovely opera singer Vicki Cassel and her uncle, a classical conductor, is determined to close down the noisy nightclub that's next door to the Cassels' home. The club's owners--Steve, a handsome ladies man, Jeff, his clownish sidekick--hatch a plan to keep the club open. Steve arranges to meet--and woo--Vicki and then invite her and her uncle to the club. When Vicki's snobbish aunt and the manager discover that Vicki now favors popular music to the classics, they arrange to get the club closed. But that doesn't keep Steve and Jeff down. Instead they decide to put on a Broadway show if they can get a backer. They find their "angel" in Vicki's uncle who agrees to finance the show only if Vicki is the leading lady. But once again, Vicki's aunt and manager may be the spoiler in everyone's plans.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerJean PetersCesar RomeroThe invasion of Mexico by Cortez, as seen by a young Spanish officer fleeing the Inquisition.
- DirectorOtto PremingerJohn M. StahlStarsLinda DarnellCornel WildeRichard GreeneIn seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsEsther WilliamsAkim TamiroffRicardo MontalbanWhen a matador leaves town to focus on his music, his twin sister takes on his identity in the bullfighting ring.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsDennis MorganAndrea KingArlene DahlThe life of Irish tenor Chauncey Olcott is chronicled from his childhood to his days as the toast of New York. In between, his rise to the top is complicated by romances with two women: his true love Rose Donovan and stage star Lillian Russell, who wants to make him a star.
- 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.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsDennis O'KeefeWallace FordAlfred RyderTwo US Treasury agents hunt a successful counterfeiting ring.
- DirectorIrving ReisStarsCary GrantMyrna LoyShirley TempleA high school girl falls for a playboy artist, with screwball results.
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsRinaldo SmordoniFranco InterlenghiAnnielo MeleTwo shoeshine boys in postwar Rome, Italy save up to buy a horse, but their involvement as dupes in a burglary lands them in juvenile prison; the experience take a devastating toll on their friendship.
- DirectorJean DrévilleStarsNoël-NoëlMicheline FranceyRené GéninIn France, in 1930, the supervisor of a reformatory for young offenders seeks to awaken in them the love of music by forming a choir, despite the skepticism of the institution's director.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsDana AndrewsJane WyattLee J. CobbThe true story of a prosecutor's fight to prove the innocence of a man accused of a notorious murder.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsLarry ParksEvelyn KeyesWilliam DemarestThis movie shows the idealized career of the singer Al Jolson, a little Jewish boy who goes against the will of his father in order to be in showbiz. He becomes a star, falls in love with a non-Jewish dancer, and marries her. In the end he chooses success on the stage.
- DirectorVictor SavilleStarsCharles CoburnTom DrakeBeverly TylerAn orphaned young boy is guided by his great-grandfather and strives to go to university to become a doctor. However, the boy's harsh grandfather stands in his way.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsOlivia de HavillandJohn LundMary AndersonAn unwed mother, forced to give up her child to avoid scandal, follows her son's life from afar even as she prospers in business.
- 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.
- DirectorDudley NicholsStarsRosalind RussellAlexander KnoxDean JaggerAn Australian nurse discovers an effective new treatment for infantile paralysis, but experiences great difficulty in convincing doctors of the validity of her claims.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsDorothy McGuireGeorge BrentEthel BarrymoreIn 1916, a shadowy serial killer is targeting women with "afflictions"; one night during a thunderstorm, the mute Helen feels menaced.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperIngrid BergmanFlora RobsonAn opportunistic Texas gambler and the exiled Creole daughter of an aristocratic family join forces to achieve justice from the society that has ostracized them.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsIrene DunneRex HarrisonLinda DarnellIn 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsPaulette GoddardRay MillandPatric KnowlesAn 18th-century London wench gets involved with the nobility.
- 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.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsBurt LancasterAva GardnerEdmond O'BrienHit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsBette DavisGlenn FordDane ClarkWhen a woman's twin sister is drowned, she assumes her identity in order to be close to the man she feels her sister took from her years before.
- DirectorStuart HeislerMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireBing CrosbyJoan CaulfieldAn ex-dancer and New York radio star narrates his love story for a band singer who loved a self-centered man who was unable to commit to his nightclub business or his family.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsDana AndrewsBrian DonlevySusan HaywardBusinessman Logan Stuart is torn between his love of two very different women in 1850's Oregon and his loyalty to a compulsive gambler friend who goes over the line.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJeanne CrainCornel WildeLinda DarnellIn 1876 Philadelphia, two sisters vie for the affections of a Frenchman who's come to town to prepare the French pavilion for the Centennial exposition.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsBetty GrableJohn PayneJune HaverTwo sisters from Hungary become famous entertainers in the early 1900s. Fictionalized biography with lots of songs.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsJoan CrawfordJohn GarfieldOscar LevantA classical musician from the slums is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsCary GrantAlexis SmithMonty WoolleyA fictionalized biopic of composer Cole Porter from his days at Yale in the 1910s through the height of his success to the 1940s.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsJames MasonAnn ToddHerbert LomA concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.