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Top Films by Year (1945-1949)

**--Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*--Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

1945

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Children of Paradise Marcel Carné 108
2 Brief Encounter David Lean 159
3 Open City Roberto Rossellini 210
4 The Lost Weekend** Billy Wilder 341
5 Mildred Pierce* Michael Curtiz 371
6 Dead of Night Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, and Robert Hamer 638
7 Detour Edgar G. Ulmer 757
8 'I Know Where I'm Going!' Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 829
9 Spellbound* Alfred Hitchcock 1062
10 They Were Expendable John Ford 1129
11 And Then There Were None René Clair 1213
12 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Elia Kazan 1319
13 Story of G.I. Joe William A. Wellman 1388
14 The Southerner Jean Renoir 1484
15 The Spiral Staircase Robert Siodmak 1579
16 A Walk in the Sun Lewis Milestone 1584
17 The Ladies of the Bois De Boulogne Robert Bresson 1741
18 Scarlet Street Fritz Lang 1781
19 Leave Her to Heaven John M. Stahl 2169
20 The Clock Vincente Minnelli 2482

1946

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 It's a Wonderful Life* Frank Capra 13
2 The Best Years of Our Lives** William Wyler 96
3 Notorious Alfred Hitchcock 121
4 The Big Sleep Howard Hawks 122
5 Beauty and the Beast Jean Cocteau 174
6 My Darling Clementine John Ford 211
7 Great Expectations* David Lean 234
8 Stairway to Heaven Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 242
9 Gilda Charles Vidor 614
10 Paisan Roberto Rossellini 616
11 The Killers Robert Siodmak 622
12 The Postman Always Rings Twice Tay Garnett 633
13 Shoeshine Vittorio De Sica 1158
14 Duel in the Sun King Vidor 1421
15 The Yearling* Clarence Brown 1586
16 Green for Danger Sidney Gilliat 1894
17 Song of the South Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson 2108

1947

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Out of the Past Jacques Tourneur 222
2 Black Narcissus Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 318
3 Miracle on 34th Street* George Seaton 421
4 Monsieur Verdoux Charles Chaplin 669
5 Odd Man Out Carol Reed 741
6 The Lady from Shanghai Orson Welles 801
7 Body and Soul Robert Rossen 936
8 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir Joseph L. Mankiewicz 960
9 Gentleman's Agreement** Elia Kazan 1081
10 Brighton Rock John Boulting 1198
11 Kiss of Death Henry Hathaway 1556
12 Life with Father Michael Curtiz 1754
13 Crossfire* Edward Dmytryk 1930
14 The Bishop's Wife* Henry Koster 2190
15 Quai Des Orfèvres Henri-Georges Clouzot 2452

1948

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Bicycle Thief Vittorio De Sica 63
2 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* John Huston 69
3 Red River Howard Hawks 183
4 The Red Shoes* Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 212
5 Letter from an Unknown Woman Max Ophüls 403
6 Hamlet** Laurence Olivier 708
7 Oliver Twist David Lean 784
8 Force of Evil Abraham Polonsky 789
9 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Charles Barton 878
10 La Terra Trema Luchino Visconti 909
11 They Live by Night Nicholas Ray 957
12 Key Largo John Huston 990
13 Louisiana Story Robert J. Flaherty 1027
14 Rope Alfred Hitchcock 1257
15 Germany, Year Zero Roberto Rossellini 1303
16 Easter Parade Charles Walters 1327
17 Fort Apache John Ford 1374
18 Unfaithfully Yours Preston Sturges 1463
19 The Naked City Jules Dassin 1785
20 The Pirate Vincente Minnelli 1825
21 Portrait of Jennie William Dieterle 1850
22 The Fallen Idol Carol Reed 1921
23 The Snake Pit* Anatole Litvak 1993
24 The Search Fred Zinnemann 2149
25 Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House H.C. Potter 2376
26 I Remember Mama George Stevens 2518

1949

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Third Man Carol Reed 26
2 Kind Hearts and Coronets Robert Hamer 228
3 White Heat Raoul Walsh 249
4 Adam's Rib George Cukor 270
5 On the Town Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly 471
6 The Heiress* William Wyler 650
7 Twelve O'Clock High* Henry King 704
8 All the King's Men** Robert Rossen 721
9 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon John Ford 842
10 Late Spring Yasujiro Ozu 875
11 Sands of Iwo Jima Allan Dwan 1046
12 Tight Little Island Alexander Mackendrick 1148
13 Champion Mark Robson 1225
14 Battleground* William A. Wellman 1309
15 A Letter to Three Wives* Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1352
16 The Set-Up Robert Wise 1420
17 Passport to Pimlico Henry Cornelius 1773
18 Stray Dog Akira Kurosawa 1998
19 The Reckless Moment Max Ophüls 2065
20 Intruder in the Dust Clarence Brown 2074
21 Criss Cross Robert Siodmak 2171
22 Jour de Fête Jacques Tati 2185
23 The Fountainhead King Vidor 2239
24 Samson and Delilah Cecil B. DeMille 2255
25 It Happens Every Spring Lloyd Bacon 2299
26 Mighty Joe Young Ernest B. Schoedsack 2429

**--Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*--Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

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This page was last modified on April 5, 2008