Top 50 Movies of the 1940s

Political events in Europe the slow triumph of fascism, which eventually led to World War II were also focusing the minds of American filmmakers on the possibilities of the cinematic medium, and its inherent dangers. In the 40s, then, Hollywood was in a state of creative tension, suspended between propaganda and political education, between realism and escapism. In many films, the war and the Depression seem to have written an almost subliminal subtext. Sometimes, indeed, the angst became explicit, as in the pessimistic thrillers that still epitomize the Hollywood of the 40s. We are referring, of course, to what we now know as film noir. 50. Bathing Beauty George Sidney 49. Munchhausen Josef Von Baky 48. Green For Danger Sidney Gilliat 47. Woman Of The Year George Stevens 46. Cover Girl Charles Vidor 45. The Outlaw Howard Hughes 44. Arsenic And Old Lace Frank Capra 43. Bambi David Hand 42. The Lady From Shanghai Orson Welles 41. Gilda Charle