40s Movies
These Films are Movies from January 1940 to December 1949
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- 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.
- DirectorCharles BartonStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloVirginia GreyTwo con men selling phony stock flee to Mexico ahead of the law, where they run into a woman friend from their earlier days, who is now a bullfighter.
- 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.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsJean ArthurFred MacMurrayMelvyn DouglasLong-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRonald ColmanAn escaped prisoner has to prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with the help of a spirited school teacher.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsJean ArthurJoel McCreaCharles CoburnDuring the World War II housing shortage in Washington, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsJean ArthurLee BowmanCharles CoburnTo rekindle their love, a divorce judge orders a couple whose marriage is on the rocks to re-enact their four-day breakneck courtship.
- DirectorPeter GodfreyStarsBarbara StanwyckDennis MorganSydney GreenstreetA food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.
- DirectorCharles LamontStarsMarjorie MainPercy KilbrideRichard LongOn the verge of being evicted from their run-down farmhouse, the large Kettle family is given a new, modern home after Pa wins a contest, but he is accused of plagiarizing his winning slogan by a jealous local woman.
- DirectorJames V. KernStarsErrol FlynnEleanor ParkerLucile WatsonAfter divorce, 7-year-old Flip is unhappy. She begins corresponding with a Marine, sending him a photo of Ellen pretending she wrote the flirtatious letters. When the Marine arrives to meet his pen pal, Ellen uses it to make Phil jealous.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsVan JohnsonJune AllysonThomas MitchellVan Johnson is a Navy pilot in WWII who has been shot down in the Pacific on a bombing mission. He and a wounded comrade are the only survivors and are lost at sea. As they await rescue, Van Johnson recounts his life story and romance with girlfriend June Allyson. It's a wonderful wholesome movie that the whole family will enjoy. Written by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, the authors of "Mutiny on the Bounty".
- DirectorJohn FordRobert MontgomeryStarsRobert MontgomeryJohn WayneDonna ReedA Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsClaude RainsWarren WilliamLon Chaney Jr.Larry Talbot returns to his father's castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious gypsy fortune teller.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBarbara StanwyckHenry FondaCharles CoburnA trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsKathryn GraysonGene KellyMary AstorAcrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the colonel's pretty daughter. Their romance hits a few snags, including disapproval from her father. Eddie's also plagued by fear of having an accident during his family's trapeze act in the army variety show, which also features a gallery of MGM stars.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMargaret SullavanJames StewartFrank MorganTwo employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsIngrid BergmanJosé FerrerSelena RoyleThe abbreviated life of the 15th-century French heroine.
- 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.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJean ArthurRobert CummingsCharles CoburnA tycoon goes undercover to ferret out agitators at a department store, but gets involved in their lives instead.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsRobert MontgomeryClaude RainsEvelyn KeyesBoxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsJean ArthurJohn WayneCharles WinningerFacing forty, a NYC spinster on a bus tour of the West encounters a handsome rodeo cowboy who helps her forget her unsuitable city suitors.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsFrank MorganRichard CarlsonJean RogersIn a small corrupt town, an honest crusading lawyer running for mayor gets unexpected help from a tourist who happens to be a Supreme Court judge.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsJeanette MacDonaldLloyd NolanClaude Jarman Jr.Set in the rural south of the United States, a bereaved war widow learns to to put aside her bitterness and grief as she grows to love a young orphan boy and the dog that belonged to her late son. Punctuated with song-filled interludes.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGregory PeckJane WymanClaude Jarman Jr.A boy persuades his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsLucille BallWilliam HoldenJanis CarterA newly hired dumb secretary working for a bookie masquerading as a Realtor causes unintended hilarious troubles for her employer.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloMarilyn MaxwellTwo bumbling magicians help a Middle Eastern prince regain his rightful throne from his despotic uncle.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsVan JohnsonJune AllysonGloria DeHavenMusical in which two singing sisters set up a canteen to entertain soldiers, their enterprise funded by a mysterious wealthy admirer
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsRed SkeltonEsther WilliamsBasil RathboneA contrived misunderstanding leads to the breakup of a songwriter and his fiancée. She returns to work as a gym teacher at an all-girls school, but a legal loophole allows the man to enroll as one of her students.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsBette DavisClaude RainsWalter AbelPopular and beautiful Fanny Trellis is forced into a loveless marriage with an older man, Jewish banker Job Skeffington, in order to save her beloved brother Trippy from an embezzlement charge.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyGail PatrickA wife suspecting infidelity starts divorce proceedings, so the husband pretends to be insane in order to delay the divorce and clear up the misunderstanding.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloDick PowellRuss Raymond, America's number one crooner, disappears and joins the Navy under the name Tommy Halstead. Dorothy Roberts, a magazine journalist, is intent on finding out what happened to Russ and she tries everything she can to get a picture of him to prove he's Russ Raymond. Tommy's friends, Pomeroy Watson and Smokey Adams,help him while Pomeroy writes love letters to Patty Andrews. But because Smokey makes Pomeroy lie about himself in the letters, and when Patty comes to the Navy base, she's furious at Pomeroy. When Pomeroy, Smokey, Tommy and the Andrews sisters set sail for Hawaii, Pomeroy discovers there's a tomato in the potato locker, and she's been snapping shots of Tommy the whole trip. Whether Pomeroy's proving that 7 x 13 = 28 - three different ways, having Smokey help him play ship captain for Patty, or falling out of his hammock, it's an Abbott and Costello classic.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloLee BowmanTwo sidewalk salesman enlist in the army in order to avoid jail, only to find that their drill instructor is the police officer who tried having them imprisoned.
- 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.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Maria MontezPaula CordayCharles II, the King of England, finds himself in exile in Holland, where he falls in love with a beautiful farm-girl.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsIrene DunneCharles BoyerCharles CoburnA prim and proper widow who has succeeded him as mayor of a provincial Vermont town hires a worldly New York sculptor for her husband's statue.
- 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.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsEddie BrackenElla RainesRaymond WalburnWoodrow is discharged from the military for hay fever, but fabricates receiving a heroic honorable discharge before returning home.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsJohn WayneElla RainesWard BondRanch hand Rocklin arrives in town to start his new job but his employer has been murdered and the locals don't seem too friendly.
- 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).
- 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.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsWilliam PowellAnn BlythIrene HerveyWhile on vacation in the Caribbean with his wife, a middle-aged man unexpectedly finds, and falls in love with, a mermaid.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerBetty GrableJohn SuttonAn American pilot impulsively joins His Majesty's Royal Air Force in Britain in an attempt to impress his ex-girlfriend.
- 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.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsDana AndrewsMärta TorénStephen McNallyIn 1947, with only months remaining until the partition of British-administered Palestine, an American freighter captain smuggles European Jewish refugees ashore under the nose of the British authorities.
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsPat O'BrienDarryl HickmanCharles KemperIn 1905, a crusading priest tries to help poor newsboys.
- DirectorJack HivelyStarsTim HoltVirginia GilmoreJoan CarrollHandsome Laddie Stanton courts neighbor Pamela Pryor, meeting opposition from her stern military father, recently immigrated from England.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsCharles BoyerJoan FontaineBrenda MarshallThe daughter (Joan Fontaine) of a musical mentor (Montagu Love) is hopelessly in love with her cousin's husband (Charles Boyer), a handsome composer.
- DirectorDon HartmanStarsRobert MitchumJanet LeighWendell CoreyA young widow is torn between a boring attorney and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrian DonlevyWalter BrennanAnna LeeAfter the German administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed.
- 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.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsGeorge MurphyJoan LeslieGeorge TobiasA soldier wounded in the War (WWI) becomes a producer and stages a show for the forces.
- DirectorVictor SavilleStarsWalter PidgeonDeborah KerrAngela LansburyLaurie Anderson reflects on her relationship with her beloved terrier Lolabelle.
- DirectorSammy LeeStarsJohn NesbittHarry CordingLotte Palfi AndorThe story of 18th Century French physician Dr. Phillipe Pinel, whose initiated enlightened, humane treatment of the mentally ill.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyAlbert LewinStarsGreer GarsonWalter PidgeonHenry TraversDespite himself, accomplished physicist and avowed bachelor Pierre Curie falls for brilliant student Marie, and together they embark on the discovery of radium.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJoel McCreaLaraine DayHerbert MarshallOn the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
- 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.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnJulie BishopHelmut DantineA Canadian Mountie of German descent feigns disaffection with his homeland in hopes of infiltrating and thwarting a Nazi sabotage plot.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingWilliam K. HowardWilliam KeighleyStarsMerle OberonGeorge BrentPat O'BrienDying Joan Ames meets criminal Dan Hardesty on a luxury liner as he is being transported back to America by policeman Steve Burke to face execution. Joan and Dan fall in love, their fates unbeknownst to one another.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsHedy LamarrGeorge BrentPaul LukasIn 1903, a doctor suspects murder in the gothic Bederaux family.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsBette DavisGeorge BrentMary AstorAfter a newlywed's husband apparently dies in a plane crash, she discovers that her rival for his affections is pregnant with his child.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsWilliam LundiganJean RogersDan DaileyThe routine of a group of fledgling boxers all living in Ma Galestrum's boarding house is interrupted when Ma allows her roving niece, beautiful Judy Galestrum, to move in. Especially interested is ex-college boy Ken Burke who is trying to quickly make it to the top, and young brawny Swedish janitor Olaf Jensen who believes Judy will fall for him if he becomes a champion boxer. The rivalry between the two friends leads them to an inevitable meeting in the ring.
- DirectorSam NelsonStarsTim HoltCliff EdwardsJoan BarclayTom, with the help of his sidekick Ike, searches for the truth of who killed his dad, a banker.
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsEdward ArnoldSelena RoyleTom TroutAn unscrupulous woman and her brood prey on soldiers and sailors in an embarkation city.
- DirectorRichard L. BareStarsWayne MorrisJanis PaigeBruce BennettA demoted newspaper man tries to regain his position and his dignity by getting the scoop on a local gangster.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckHugh MarloweGary MerrillA tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.