Oscar 1940-1949
Movies to watch awarded or nominated in Academy Award in the '40s
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- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsBette DavisCharles BoyerJeffrey LynnA duchess' irrational behavior toward her children's governess triggers tragic events that will change her family's lives forever.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardJack OakieDictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneThomas MitchellIan HunterA merchant ship's crew tries to survive the loneliness of the sea and the coming of war.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsWalter PidgeonMaureen O'HaraAnna LeeAt the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHerbert MarshallTeresa WrightThe ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorGladys GeorgeSan Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanJoan LeslieA Tennessee farmer and marksman is drafted in World War I, and struggles with his pacifist inclinations before becoming one of the most celebrated war heroes.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGreer GarsonWalter PidgeonTeresa WrightA British family struggles to survive the first months of World War II.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsAnn SheridanRobert CummingsRonald ReaganThe dark side and hypocrisy of provincial American life is seen through the eyes of five children as they grow to adulthood at the turn of the century.
- DirectorOrson WellesFred FleckRobert WiseStarsTim HoltJoseph CottenDolores CostelloThe spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperTeresa WrightBabe RuthThe story of the life and career of famed baseball player Lou Gehrig.
- 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.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperIngrid BergmanAkim TamiroffDuring the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.
- 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.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsHenry FondaDana AndrewsMary Beth HughesWhen a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCharles BoyerIngrid BergmanJoseph CottenTen years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsRay MillandJane WymanPhillip TerryThe desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJoan CrawfordJack CarsonZachary ScottA hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsTyrone PowerGene TierneyJohn PayneAn adventuresome young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. But when he returns 10 years later, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsGregory PeckDorothy McGuireJohn GarfieldA reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsRobert YoungRobert MitchumRobert RyanA man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of demobilized soldiers he met in a bar. But which one? And why?
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsJane WymanLew AyresCharles BickfordA kind doctor volunteers to tutor a deaf-mute woman, but scandal starts to swirl when his pupil is raped and falls pregnant.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsOlivia de HavillandMark StevensLeo GennA detailed chronicle of a woman during her stay in a mental institution.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsBroderick CrawfordJohn IrelandJoanne DruThe rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsVan JohnsonJohn HodiakRicardo MontalbanTrue tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Germans in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsOlivia de HavillandMontgomery CliftRalph RichardsonA naive young woman falls for a handsome young man her emotionally abusive father suspects is only a fortune hunter.
- 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.
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraStarsOdette JoyeuxFrançois PérierPierre LarqueyOn the eve of her 16th birthday, Sylvie's father needs cash to stay in his castle so he sells Sylvie's favorite thing, a painting of Alain, the lover of Sylvie's grandmother, killed in a duel. Alain's ghost lives in the castle and Sylvie senses his presence, thinks she loves him, and fears that romance from the living will never come her way. Dad prepares a midnight surprise for Sylvie and her party guests: the appearance of the phantom. He's hired an actor, but two young men in love with Sylvie also volunteer to don white robes: Fred, the rich kid who bought the painting, and Ramure, a jewel thief in hiding. The youths declare their love, and Alain's ghost helps resolve all.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGinger RogersDennis MorganJames CraigA hard-working white-collar girl from a middle-class family meets and falls in love with a young socialite, but she soon clashes with his family.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsWilliam HoldenMartha ScottFay BainterChange comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsRaymond MasseyGene LockhartRuth GordonHumble Abraham Lincoln gains the respect of his Illinois neighbors, growing in stature and respect until he is elected President in 1860 and departs for Washington.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsGinger RogersJoel McCreaMarjorie RambeauA young woman from a family of prostitutes falls in love with a hard-working man, but when he finds out the truth about her background, their romance becomes jeopardized.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsCarole LombardCharles LaughtonWilliam GarganWhile courting a young woman by mail, a rich farmer sends a photograph of his foreman instead of his own, which leads to complications when she accepts his marriage proposal.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanDoris DavenportJudge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBrian DonlevyMuriel AngelusAkim TamiroffDan McGinty has great success in his chosen field of crooked politics, but he endangers it all in one crazy moment of honesty.
- DirectorBen HechtLee GarmesStarsDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Rita HayworthThomas MitchellA cuckolded embezzler on the verge of suicide is helped by a tout, an alcoholic playwright, and a pick-up girl to reimburse the money with a gambling sting.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward G. RobinsonRuth GordonOtto KrugerTrue story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsClaudette ColbertRay MillandDennis O'KeefeA dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsClark GableHedy LamarrOscar HomolkaAn American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsSpencer TracyRita JohnsonLynne Overman82-year-old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty-year career of scientific achievement.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsIrene DunneCary GrantRandolph ScottMissing for seven years and presumed dead, a woman returns home on the day of her husband's second marriage.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleRay MillandRoland YoungSent by her employers on an errand to the home of the wealthy Mrs. Vincent, Irene O'Dare meets Don, a friend of Mrs. Vincent's son Bob. Attracted to Irene, Don decides to invest some money in Bob's latest venture, the "Madame Lucy" dress shop, in order to give Irene a job there as a model. She is very successful and Bob also becomes attracted to her. Smith, the manager, assigns Irene and other models to display gowns at Mrs. Vincent's charity ball, but Irene ruins the gown she was to wear, and appears instead in a quaint blue dress that had belonged to her mother--and it is a big hit. A guest, Princess Minetti, places her as the niece of Ireland's Lady O'Dare, and Irene does not deny the relationship. Smith decides to set her up in a Park Avenue suite as Lady O'Dare's niece so she can attend socially-important gatherings, wearing and displaying "Madame Lucy" gowns. A jealous model tells the truth to a newspaper columnist who writes an expose' that strains the relationship between Irene and Don, who had been away and was unaware of the scheme--and is the real owner behind the "Madame Lucy" front.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnBrenda MarshallClaude RainsGeoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsFred AstairePaulette GoddardArtie ShawWhen perennial college students Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are forced to make it on their own, the competitive pair get jobs with Artie Shaw's band and reunite with ex-manager Ellen Miller.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsDeanna DurbinRobert CummingsMischa AuerA Hungarian woman whose fortune predicts that she will marry may find it coming true when she meets an army drummer.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsMickey RooneyJudy GarlandPaul WhitemanA high-school boy wants to become a professional musician, and his gal pal wants to become his best girl. They work together staging big-band shows with fellow classmates in the hopes of hitting it big.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsJean ArthurWilliam HoldenWarren WilliamIn Tucson of the 1860s, a pioneer woman struggles to succeed in the freight and cattle business while at risk at the hands of corrupt and violent local businessmen and rampaging Indians.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsClaire TrevorJohn WayneWalter PidgeonIn Kansas during the Civil War, opposing pro-Union and pro-Confederate camps clash and visiting Texan Bob Seton runs afoul of William Cantrell's Raiders.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsGeorge SandersMargaret LindsayVincent PriceBased on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this classic film follows a family feud between two brothers and an ancient curse that haunts them.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsCary GrantMartha ScottCedric HardwickeJust prior to the American War of Independence, aristocratic Virginian Jane Peyton marries unsophisticated rustic farmer and surveyor Matt Howard who takes her to his Shenandoah Valley plantation and later goes to war.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsTyrone PowerLinda DarnellBasil RathboneA young Spanish aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsGary CooperMadeleine CarrollPaulette GoddardIn 1885, a Texas Ranger travels to Canada to arrest a trapper who's wanted for murder and who's stirring up the Natives in a rebellion against the Canadian government.
- DirectorHal Roach Jr.Hal RoachStarsVictor MatureCarole LandisLon Chaney Jr.Tale of Prehistoric survival and love between a male and a female belonging to opposing tribes that happened to be at slightly different stages of evolution.
- DirectorLudwig BergerMichael PowellTim WhelanStarsConrad VeidtSabuJune DuprezAfter being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsVivien LeighRobert TaylorLucile WatsonMyra and Roy meet and fall in love on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid. Their love will be one of the war's unspoken casualties.
- DirectorRichard WallaceStarsVictor MatureLouise PlattLeo CarrilloWhen her father dies, a young woman helps a young man take command of the ship to fight the British during the war of 1812.
- 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.
- DirectorVictor SchertzingerStarsBing CrosbyMary MartinBasil RathbonePopular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers meet at an inn, they fall in love and then try to sell their songs under their own name. The problem is every song publisher thinks they're copying Courtney's style.
- DirectorJoseph SantleyStarsTony MartinRita HayworthEdith FellowsRita Hayworth co-stars with famed recording artist Tony Martin in this musical comedy featuring the music of Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra. Following various comic misunderstandings, the two meet and fall for each other, but will lose their chance at happiness unless destiny calls.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsKay KyserPeter LorreBoris KarloffThe manager of Kay Kyser's band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsDon AmecheBetty GrableCarmen MirandaAn American girl on vacation in Argentina falls for a wealthy racehorse owner.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsAllan JonesIrene HerveyMartha RayeThe action takes place in Ephesus in ancient Asia Minor, and the story concerns the efforts of two boys from Syracuse, Anthipholus and his servant Dromio, to find their long-lost twins who, for reason of plot confusion, are also named Anthipholus and Dromio. Complications arise when the wife of the Ephesians, Adriana and her servant Luce, mistake the two strangers for their husband, though the couples eventually get sorted out after Adriana's sister Luciana and the Syracuse Antipholus admit their love.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsAlice FayeDon AmecheHenry FondaThe life story of the musical star from her discovery in 1890 by bandleader Tony Pastor until her retirement in 1912, when she married newspaperman Alexander Moore.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsMadeleine CarrollBrian AherneLouis HaywardA self-made success is determined to give his son the lavish upbringing he himself was denied. Not surprisingly, the son grows up to be spoiled rotten, causing grief and pain to everyone who loves him.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsJeanette MacDonaldNelson EddyGeorge SandersA woman runs away with her music teacher in order to escape an arranged marriage, but they struggle to make ends meet.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsClark GableSpencer TracyClaudette ColbertTwo buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a ten-year period both love the same woman.
- DirectorKing VidorJack ConwayW.S. Van DykeStarsSpencer TracyRobert YoungWalter BrennanLangdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsShirley TempleSpring ByingtonNigel BruceMytyl and her brother Tyltyl, a woodchopper's children, are led by the Fairy Berylune on a magical trip through the past, present, and future to locate the Blue Bird of Happiness.
- DirectorLouis KingStarsDorothy LamourRobert PrestonLynne OvermanHaving been marooned on an isolated island as a child, Dea grows to adulthood without human contact, her only companion being the chimp "Koko." Years later, on a South Sea island, Skipper Joe, a former bookie who has traded chasing dark horses for the pursuit of black pearls, meets Johnny Potter, a former Navy man who has lived in a drunken stupor since being kicked out of the service. The skipper tries to convince Johnny to sign on as his navigator, but Johnny refuses to return to the sea. However, after a bar room brawl with the savage Kehi, Johnny is knocked unconscious and is shanghaied by Skipper aboard his rusty old submarine. The men are chased from the harbor by Kehi, who is furious because Mekaike, one of the skipper's men, has stolen his black pearl earrings. After running out of oil because Mekaike has forgotten to refuel the tank, they reach the island inhabited by Dea, where Johnny collapses on the beach in a drunken stupor. The skipper leaves his friend on the beach, where Dea and Koko find him and take him to their tree house to recover. When the skipper returns to the beach, he thinks that Johnny has been washed out to sea. As the skipper and his men build a boat to leave the island, Dea begs Johnny to stay, but fearing that he is doomed to die an early death from alcohol, he refuses. Finding his way back to the beach, Johnny arrives just as Mekaike leads a mutiny against the skipper. After tying Johnny and the skipper to a tree, the men steal the submarine, only to drown when they dive with the hatch open. Stranded, Johnny and the skipper continue building their boat until Kehi tracks them down and sets fire to the island. As the flames consume the foliage, a typhoon roars in from the sea and floods the island, leaving a lifeboat behind in its wake. Dea, Johnny, the skipper and Koko then board the little craft and sail off to civilization.
- DirectorEdward LudwigStarsThomas MitchellEdna BestFreddie BartholomewA family of Swiss origin living in London during the onslaught against Europe by Napolean seeks to leave and emigrate to Australia to nurture their values and raise their sons.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsGreer GarsonWalter PidgeonFelix BressartAfter losing her young son, Edna Gladney opposes the unfair laws discriminating against children whose parents are unknown, and opens an orphanage for those children.
- 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.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsCharles BoyerOlivia de HavillandPaulette GoddardStopped in Mexico by U.S. Immigration, Georges Iscovescu hopes to get into the country by marrying a citizen.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsFredric MarchMartha ScottBeulah BondiEpisodic look at the life of a minister and his family as they move from one parish to another.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantIrene DunneBeulah BondiA couple's big dreams give way to a life full of unexpected sadness and unexpected joy.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward ArnoldWalter HustonJane DarwellA nineteenth-century New Hampshire farmer makes a pact with Satan for economic success, then enlists famed orator Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckOscar HomolkaA group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJean ArthurRobert CummingsCharles CoburnA tycoon goes undercover to ferret out agitators at a department store, but gets involved in their lives instead.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsCesar RomeroVirginia GilmoreMilton BerleRobin Hoodish gangster in 1929 Chicago is an object of affection, kind to New York hood and bad to a bad crook.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsGinger RogersGeorge MurphyAlan MarshalWorking girl Janie is proposed to by a conservative car salesman, a bohemian auto mechanic, and a millionaire playboy and must make a choice.
- 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.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckEdward ArnoldA penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsCharles BoyerMargaret SullavanRichard CarlsonFive years after meeting and falling in love with a banker, a willful shop girl decides to become his mistress upon learning he has since gotten married and had a son.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsMartha ScottWilliam GarganEdmund GwennDedicated Midwestern teacher Ella Bishop is distressed when her fiancé runs off with her vixenish cousin Amy. After Amy dies in childbirth, Ella is left to care for Amy's daughter Hope.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsIda LupinoLouis HaywardEvelyn KeyesThe housekeeper to a retired actress tries at the same time to look after her own two emotionally disturbed sisters, with dramatic results.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsMerle OberonJoseph CottenEdna May OliverFour friends reminisce in old age. Each of the men had been in love with the main character, Lydia. The interweaving stories reveal the reason why she never married any of them and, indeed, never married at all.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsFredric MarchMargaret SullavanFrances DeeStory about three German refugees during World War II who are always hiding, always in fear of deportation.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsGene TierneyBruce CabotGeorge SandersIn 1941, a mysterious Somaliland woman helps the British against the Germans.
- DirectorFred GuiolStarsWilliam TracyJames GleasonNoah Beery Jr.An Army draftee with a good memory makes sergeant and saves the day.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMerle OberonMelvyn DouglasBurgess MeredithA psychoanalyst causes a woman to doubt her happy marriage.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsFranchot ToneJohn CarrollWalter BrennanA girl stows away on a ship, and the antics begins.