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Top Films of the 1940s

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Citizen Kane 1941 Orson Welles 4
2 Casablanca 1942 Michael Curtiz 5
3 The Third Man 1949 Carol Reed 30
4 It's a Wonderful Life 1946 Frank Capra 33
5 Double Indemnity 1944 Billy Wilder 42
6 The Bicycle Thief 1948 Vittorio De Sica 57
7 The Maltese Falcon 1941 John Huston 68
8 His Girl Friday 1940 Howard Hawks 87
9 Notorious 1946 Alfred Hitchcock 126
10 The Philadelphia Story 1940 George Cukor 131
11 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 John Huston 134
12 The Red Shoes 1948 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 143
13 Brief Encounter 1945 David Lean 174
14 The Big Sleep 1946 Howard Hawks 177
15 Children of Paradise 1945 Marcel Carné 179
16 The Great Dictator 1940 Charles Chaplin 183
17 The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 William Wyler 184
18 The Lady Eve 1941 Preston Sturges 193
19 Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949 Robert Hamer 207
20 The Grapes of Wrath 1940 John Ford 209
21 Pinocchio 1940 Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen 233
22 Beauty and the Beast 1946 Jean Cocteau 237
23 Rome, Open City 1945 Roberto Rossellini 239
24 Stairway to Heaven 1946 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 240
25 Sullivan's Travels 1941 Preston Sturges 252
26 Fantasia 1940 James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norman Ferguson, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, and Paul Satterfield 266
27 Red River 1948 Howard Hawks 271
28 Laura 1944 Otto Preminger 279
29 To Be or Not to Be 1942 Ernst Lubitsch 280
30 Meet Me in St. Louis 1944 Vincente Minnelli 283
31 Out of the Past 1947 Jacques Tourneur 289
32 Rebecca 1940 Alfred Hitchcock 299
33 Bambi 1942 David Hand 311
34 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 1943 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 327
35 White Heat 1949 Raoul Walsh 336
36 The Shop around the Corner 1940 Ernst Lubitsch 345
37 My Darling Clementine 1946 John Ford 363
38 The Magnificent Ambersons 1942 Orson Welles 405
39 Black Narcissus 1947 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 410
40 Great Expectations 1946 David Lean 415
41 Shadow of a Doubt 1943 Alfred Hitchcock 432
42 Mildred Pierce 1945 Michael Curtiz 440
43 Cat People 1942 Jacques Tourneur 452
44 Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 Frank Capra 533
45 The Ox-Bow Incident 1942 William A. Wellman 539
46 Miracle on 34th Street 1947 George Seaton 544
47 Letter from an Unknown Woman 1948 Max Ophüls 571
48 Adam's Rib 1949 George Cukor 574
49 Late Spring 1949 Yasujirô Ozu 586
50 Day of Wrath 1943 Carl Theodor Dreyer 610
51 Now, Voyager 1942 Irving Rapper 612
52 Dumbo 1941 Ben Sharpsteen 616
53 Ivan the Terrible 1944 Sergei M. Eisenstein 618
54 Rope 1948 Alfred Hitchcock 669
55 'I Know Where I'm Going!' 1945 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 672
56 To Have and Have Not 1944 Howard Hawks 683
57 The Killers 1946 Robert Siodmak 686
58 Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942 Michael Curtiz 687
59 The Lost Weekend 1945 Billy Wilder 691
60 On the Town 1949 Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly 706
61 Detour 1945 Edgar G. Ulmer 707
62 How Green Was My Valley 1941 John Ford 708
63 Meshes of the Afternoon 1943 Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid 713
64 Gilda 1946 Charles Vidor 719
65 The Palm Beach Story 1942 Preston Sturges 803
66 Force of Evil 1948 Abraham Polonsky 850
67 I Walked with a Zombie 1943 Jacques Tourneur 864
68 The Lady from Shanghai 1947 Orson Welles 865
69 Dead of Night 1945 Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, and Robert Hamer 882
70 The Miracle of Morgan's Creek 1943 Preston Sturges 884
71 Fort Apache 1948 John Ford 951
72 The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946 Tay Garnett 954
73 Henry V 1944 Laurence Olivier 960
74 They Live by Night 1948 Nicholas Ray 991
75 A Day in the Country 1946 Jean Renoir 1001
76 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 1949 John Ford 1009
77 The Pride of the Yankees 1942 Sam Wood 1014
78 Paisan 1946 Roberto Rossellini 1018
79 National Velvet 1944 Clarence Brown 1019
80 The Bank Dick 1940 Edward F. Cline 1028
81 The Thief of Bagdad 1940 Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, and Tim Whelan 1090
82 Monsieur Verdoux 1947 Charles Chaplin 1092
83 Sergeant York 1941 Howard Hawks 1133
84 Twelve O'Clock High 1949 Henry King 1185
85 The Wolf Man 1941 George Waggner 1192
86 Odd Man Out 1947 Carol Reed 1230
87 Ossessione 1943 Luchino Visconti 1257
88 Duel in the Sun 1946 King Vidor 1285
89 Brighton Rock 1948 John Boulting 1301
90 Key Largo 1948 John Huston 1337
91 La Terra Trema 1948 Luchino Visconti 1376
92 Gaslight 1944 George Cukor 1380
93 The Heiress 1949 William Wyler 1391
94 Murder, My Sweet 1944 Edward Dmytryk 1413
95 The Set-Up 1949 Robert Wise 1437
96 Ball of Fire 1941 Howard Hawks 1446
97 Leave Her to Heaven 1945 John M. Stahl 1448
98 Easter Parade 1948 Charles Walters 1472
99 Listen to Britain 1942 Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister 1481
100 Mrs. Miniver 1942 William Wyler 1496
101 Hail the Conquering Hero 1944 Preston Sturges 1497
102 Hamlet 1948 Laurence Olivier 1501
103 Scarlet Street 1945 Fritz Lang 1513
104 Germany, Year Zero 1948 Roberto Rossellini 1517
105 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 1947 Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1528
106 Went the Day Well? 1942 Alberto Cavalcanti 1551
107 Kiss of Death 1947 Henry Hathaway 1555
108 A Canterbury Tale 1944 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 1559
109 Le Corbeau 1943 Henri-Georges Clouzot 1582
110 Body and Soul 1947 Robert Rossen 1593
111 D.O.A. 1949 Rudolph Maté 1604
112 The Fallen Idol 1948 Carol Reed 1639
113 The Woman in the Window 1944 Fritz Lang 1643
114 In Which We Serve 1942 Noel Coward and David Lean 1653
115 Shoeshine 1946 Vittorio De Sica 1715
116 Tight Little Island 1949 Alexander Mackendrick 1718
117 The Naked City 1948 Jules Dassin 1749
118 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948 Charles Barton 1751
119 The Little Foxes 1941 William Wyler 1755
120 Portrait of Jennie 1948 William Dieterle 1802
121 Woman of the Year 1942 George Stevens 1858
122 Going My Way 1944 Leo McCarey 1876
123 High Sierra 1941 Raoul Walsh 1888
124 All the King's Men 1949 Robert Rossen 1900
125 They Were Expendable 1945 John Ford 1911
126 Stray Dog 1949 Akira Kurosawa 1965
127 Spellbound 1945 Alfred Hitchcock 1987
128 The Reckless Moment 1949 Max Ophüls 2001
129 Cabin in the Sky 1943 Vincente Minnelli 2013
130 Oliver Twist 1948 David Lean 2037
131 Unfaithfully Yours 1948 Preston Sturges 2084
132 Battleground 1949 William A. Wellman 2137
133 Nightmare Alley 1947 Edmund Goulding 2139
134 Gentleman's Agreement 1947 Elia Kazan 2150
135 Heaven Can Wait 1943 Ernst Lubitsch 2168
136 Fires Were Started 1943 Humphrey Jennings 2185
137 Stormy Weather 1943 Andrew L. Stone 2204
138 Road to Morocco 1942 David Butler 2208
139 Foreign Correspondent 1940 Alfred Hitchcock 2232
140 T-Men 1947 Anthony Mann 2246
141 The Letter 1940 William Wyler 2299
142 Suspicion 1941 Alfred Hitchcock 2312
143 Passport to Pimlico 1949 Henry Cornelius 2328
144 Quai des Orfèvres 1947 Henri-Georges Clouzot 2342
145 The Seventh Victim 1943 Mark Robson 2351
146 Spring in a Small Town 1948 Mu Fei 2354
147 Sands of Iwo Jima 1949 Allan Dwan 2376
148 Le Sang des bêtes 1949 Georges Franju 2394
149 Holiday Inn 1942 Mark Sandrich 2401
150 The Spiral Staircase 1946 Robert Siodmak 2425
151 Raw Deal 1948 Anthony Mann 2439
152 The Great McGinty 1940 Preston Sturges 2462
153 They Died with Their Boots on 1941 Raoul Walsh 2487
154 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1945 Elia Kazan 2517
155 Criss Cross 1949 Robert Siodmak 2518
156 Dance, Girl, Dance 1940 Dorothy Arzner 2547
157 A Letter to Three Wives 1949 Joseph L. Mankiewicz 2558
158 Saboteur 1942 Alfred Hitchcock 2562
159 Knute Rockne, All American 1940 Lloyd Bacon 2630
160 Ministry of Fear 1944 Fritz Lang 2653
161 Anchors Aweigh 1945 George Sidney 2670
162 The Harvey Girls 1946 George Sidney 2691
163 The Curse of the Cat People 1944 Robert Wise and Gunther von Fritsch 2693
164 Drunken Angel 1948 Akira Kurosawa 2723
165 The Westerner 1940 William Wyler 2724
166 Crossfire 1947 Edward Dmytryk 2736
167 The Mark of Zorro 1940 Rouben Mamoulian 2763
168 The Sea Hawk 1940 Michael Curtiz 2778
This page was last modified on April 21, 2020