Mike’s Top Tens of the Decade (1940-1949)
It’s that time again. I love doing these lists.
The thing about them, though, is that they’ve been progressively more work each time. The first few, the 2000s and the 1990s, I saw most of those by just being alive. And then the 1980s, all I really had to do was watch the big movies I’d never seen, so it wasn’t that bad. Then the 1970s, I had just finished the Oscar Quest and was looking for things to watch, so it was a smooth transition. Then the 1960s and 1950s (see how smoothly I worked in the links this time?) went up while I was in the middle of finishing the Quest articles, so I just powered through them. This time, though — I had stuff going on. I was watching Disney movies and writing a script. I barely got started on watching all the movies (and there were a lot) until the end of July.
To recap how these lists work: I list my ten favorite films for each year. Underneath that, I list an 11-20 of films just outside the top ten. Then, under that, is a “fun” list. To give you more stuff to watch. The 2000s had the “Terrible Ten,” of films I really disliked. The 90s had the “Films of My Childhood,” films I loved when I was growing up. The 80s had the “Awesomely 80s Movies,” films I feel perfectly capture that decade. The 70s had the “70s Recommendations,” a list of quintessentially “70s” films that I recommend highly (many of which are hidden gems). The 60s had “Out with the Old, In with the New,” films that represent the crumbling studio system and coming of New Hollywood. And the 50s had the “Gems of the Studio System,” which were (mostly) films from major directors that have flown under the radar among their filmographies (and history). This year, it’s going to be pretty simple — just “More Great 40s Movies.” I doubt most people are versed in the 40s, so I’m not gonna get complicated. Just 10 more great movies from each year on top of the other 20. Plain and simple. Also, since it bears repeating — I haven’t seen everything. I can only watch so much within three months. The lists are only based on what I’ve seen. I’ll update them as I watch more stuff and like it.
All right… list time:
My Top Ten of 1949
All the King’s Men
Battleground
The Hasty Heart
The Heiress
I Was a Male War Bride
A Letter to Three Wives
Sands of Iwo Jima
Thieves’ Highway
The Third Man
White Heat
11-20: Adam’s Rib, The Barkleys of Broadway, Holiday Affair, House of Strangers, On the Town, Pinky, The Small Black Room, The Stratton Story, Twelve O’Clock High, Under Capricorn
More Great 40s Movies: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, Champion, Home of the Brave, I Shot Jesse James, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Little Women, The Reckless Moment, The Set-Up, Too Late for Tears
My Top Ten of 1948
Bicycle Thieves
The Fallen Idol
Force of Evil
I Remember Mama
Johnny Belinda
Red River
The Red Shoes
The Snake Pit
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Unfaithfully Yours
11-20: Call Northside 777, A Foreign Affair, Hamlet, Joan of Arc, Key Largo, The Naked City, Rope, The Search, Sitting Pretty, Yellow Sky
More Great 40s Movies: Blood on the Moon, Easter Parade, Fort Apache, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Melody Time, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Oliver Twist, On Our Merry Way, The Pirate, Sorry Wrong Number
My Top Ten of 1947
The Bishop’s Wife
Black Narcissus
Brute Force
Dark Passage
Gentleman’s Agreement
Kiss of Death
The Lady from Shanghai
Miracle on 34th Street
Out of the Past
Song of the Thin Man
11-20: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, Body and Soul, Crossfire, Cynthia, A Double Life, The Farmer’s Daughter, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Lady in the Lake, Odd Man Out, The Paradine Case
More Great 40s Movies: Down to Earth, Fun and Fancy Free, The Fugitive, It Happened on Fifth Avenue, The Long Night, Magic Town, Monsieur Verdoux, Mourning Becomes Electra, Pursued, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
My Top Ten of 1946
The Best Years of Our Lives
Beauty and the Beast
The Big Sleep
Great Expectations
It’s a Wonderful Life
A Matter of Life and Death
My Darling Clementine
The Postman Always Rings Twice
To Each His Own
The Yearling
11-20: Anna and the King of Siam, Duel in the Sun, Gilda, The Jolson Story, The Killers, Make Mine Music, Notorious, The Spiral Staircase, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Without Reservations
More Great 40s Movies: Angel on My Shoulder, Bedlam, Diary of a Chambermaid, Dragonwyck, The Green Years, The Hoodlum Saint, Night and Day, Sister Kenny, Song of the South, Three Strangers
+ Honorable Mention to: Tomorrow is Forever (It’s not that great, but watch Natalie Wood in this. Holy shit is she good. And she’s 8! There’s a scene where she just slips into German out of nowhere.)
My Top Ten of 1945
And Then There Were None
The Bells of St. Mary’s
Brief Encounter
Detour
Leave Her to Heaven
The Lost Weekend
Mildred Pierce
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Thin Man Goes Home
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
11-20: Along Came Jones, Anchors Aweigh, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Clock, Isle of the Dead, Rome Open City, Spellbound, State Fair, The Story of G.I. Joe, A Walk in the Sun
More Great 40s Movies: The Body Snatcher, Blood on the Sun, Children of Paradise, Christmas in Connecticut, Flame of Barbary Coast, ‘I Know Where I’m Going!’, Scarlet Street, The Southerner, They Were Expendable, The Valley of Decision
+ Honorable Mention to: Mom and Dad (It’s a part-movie, part-instructional film about the dangers of venereal disease. It’s hilariously 40s.)
My Top Ten of 1944
Arsenic and Old Lace
Double Indemnity
Gaslight
Going My Way
To Have and Have Not
Lifeboat
Meet Me in St. Louis
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
National Velvet
Since You Went Away
11-20: Between Two Worlds, Dragon Seed, The Fighting Sullivans, The Great Moment, Henry V, Hollywood Canteen, The Keys of the Kingdom, Laura, Murder My Sweet, Wilson
More Great 40s Movies: Christmas Holiday, The Curse of the Cat People, Hail the Conquering Hero, I’ll Be Seeing You, Once Upon a Time, The Seventh Cross, Passage to Marseille, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, The Way Ahead, The White Cliffs of Dover
My Top Ten of 1943
Five Graves to Cairo
Heaven Can Wait
The Human Comedy
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The More the Merrier
The Ox-Bow Incident
Sahara
The Seventh Victim
Shadow of a Doubt
The Song of Bernadette
11-20: Air Force, Edge of Darkness, The Gang’s All Here, A Guy Named Joe, I Walked With a Zombie, Lassie Come Home, Le Corbeau, Madame Curie, Phantom of the Opera, Princess O’Rourke
More Great 40s Movies: Cabin in the Sky, Destination Tokyo, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ghost Ship, A Lady Takes a Chance, The Leopard Man, Mr. Lucky, The Outlaw (Who doesn’t like tits?), So Proudly We Hail!, Tender Comrade
My Top Ten of 1942
Across the Pacific
Bambi
Casablanca
The Magnificent Ambersons
Mrs. Miniver
Now, Voyager
The Pride of the Yankees
Random Harvest
To Be or Not to Be
Yankee Doodle Dandy
11-20: Cat People, The Major and the Minor, Larceny Inc., My Sister Eileen, Once Upon a Honeymoon, The Pied Piper, Saboteur, The Talk of the Town, Wake Island, Woman of the Year
More Great 40s Movies: The Big Shot, Holiday Inn, Gentleman Jim, In Which We Serve, Journey for Margaret, Kings Row, The Palm Beach Story, Roxie Hart, The Black Swan, Tales of Manhattan
My Top Ten of 1941
Citizen Kane
Dumbo
The Devil and Daniel Webster
How Green Was My Valley
The Lady Eve
Love Crazy
The Maltese Falcon
Sergeant York
Shadow of the Thin Man
Sullivan’s Travels
11-20: 49th Parallel, Blossoms in the Dust, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, High Sierra, Man Hunt, Meet John Doe, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Penny Serenade, Suspicion, They Died With Their Boots On
More Great 40s Movies: All Through the Night, Ball of Fire, Blood and Sand, The Bride Came C.O.D., Buck Privates, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Strawberry Blonde, That Hamilton Woman, Tom Dick and Harry, The Wolf Man
My Top Ten of 1940
Fantasia
The Grapes of Wrath
His Girl Friday
I Love You Again
Kitty Foyle
Our Town
The Philadelphia Story
Pinocchio
Rebecca
The Shop Around the Corner
11-20: All This and Heaven Too, City for Conquest, Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet, Foreign Correspondent, Night Train to Munich, They Drive By Night, The Thief of Bagdad, Third Finger Left Hand, Waterloo Bridge, The Westerner
More Great 40s Movies: Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Angels Over Broadway, Boom Town, Christmas in July, The Great McGinty, Knute Rockne All American, My Favorite Wife, Pride and Prejudice, Santa Fe Trail, ‘Til We Meet Again
Mike, where’s Casablanca? It should be in 1943’s Top 10, shouldn’t it?
February 13, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Oh, never mind. It’s in 1942’s Top 10. My bad.
February 13, 2014 at 9:02 pm