The 40 Best Films of the '40s

40(tie). It wouldn't feel right to exclude Rita Hayworth from this list. better than "Gilda"

40(tie). Hepburn

39. Irish Catholic, third biggest hit of WWII era

38. John

37. Calvacade trilogy

36. nomination for Wayne

35. Get used to his name and face. Bogart was the biggest and best actor of the 1940s.

34.

33. Hitchcock

32. Henry Fonda

31. Hitchcock's only Oscar winner

30. John Ford

29. We might as well get my Dad's favorite movie out of the way. I heard a lot about this one growing up.

28. Peck

27. March

26. An elephant that can fly? Now, I've seen everything. The most financially successful Disney animated film of the 1940s was produced on a relatively low budget($950,000) to account for WWII losses. That didn't stop the circus sensation from becoming a part of everyone's childhood for at least fifty years. Based on a children's book by Helen Aberson, this cute elephant's relationship with mother Mrs. Jumbo and mighty mouse sidekick Timothy is genuinely touching. Ignore the crow "controversy" and under-7 parental warnings. At 64 minutes, "Dumbo" is still delightful.

25. Bergman

24. Cary Grant

23. Cary Grant

22. Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart. We're killing three birds with one stone.

21. Stewart

20. A homely Olivia de Havilland won her second Best Actress Oscar("To Each His Own" was the first) for William Wyler's ace adaptation of the 1880 novel "Washington Square". Montgomery Clift has come a-courting, in one of the roles that made the 28 year old stud a star. But he in it for money or love? English theater titan Ralph Richardson's acting has rightly been described as "magical and poetic". Great ending.

19. You don't have to be a NY baseball buff to love the first great sports movie. Gary Cooper channels fellow American icon, #4 Lou Gehrig, and yes, that's Babe Ruth shaking his hand. "The Iron Horse" was a six-time World Series champion, and the emotional impact of his untimely illness and death was felt across the nation. Theresa Wright was radiant as his devoted wife, Eleanor Gehrig. Director Sam Wood's career can be traced back to the birth of the industry itself- he began working as as an actor and production assistant in 1908.

18. While we're on Gary Cooper, we might as well get the highest-grossing film of 1941 out of the way.

17. Is Michael Curtiz the most underrated filmmaker ever? Joan Crawford was at her best in an absorbing adaptation of James M. Cain's 1941 novel, skillfully directed by the "Casablanca" creator. Mildred Pierce is a divorced mother, a workaholic waitress, an entrepreneur, and a murder suspect. There are three jealous men in her life, and one of them is dead. Ann Blyth's dastardly daughter keeps this from being a one-woman show. Kate Winslet and Todd Haynes teamed up for a 2011 miniseries that's more faithful to the book and more time-consuming.

16. Wyler

15. The fifth Disney animated film, based on a 1923 book by Felix Salten, should be required viewing for everyone under the age of 10. After a slow start in theaters, several rereleases between 1947 and 1988, made "Bambi" totally revered.

14. Christmas

13. Billy Wilder's sobering depiction of alcoholism, based on Charles R. Jackson's 1944 novel, was way ahead of it's time, solidifying the 39 year old Austrian's reputation as one of the first great directors. Don Birnam(a riveting Ray Milland) is a failed writer and a suicidal drunk with a long-suffering girlfriend(the beautiful Jane Wyman). Wilder insisted on a realistic atmosphere, which included filming inside NYC's Bellevue Hospital for one particularly unnerving sequence. "Weekend" won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Actor, Director, and Adapted Screenplay, and should be a part of your next one.

12. Cagney

11. "Then it don't matter. I'll be all around in the dark..." Henry Fonda is everywhere movie lovers look, thanks to this immortal adaptation

10. Or "Bicycle Thieves"

9. This bruising 100-minute boxing drama, adapted from a short story by Ring Lardner, may be the most underrated film of the decade. A 30 year old Kirk Douglas goes from tramp to welterweight champ, selling his soul and alienating himself from his brother(), his trainer(, and various female companions in the process. What starts out as an uplifting rags-to-riches tale turns into something darker, and sets up a dynamic Oscar-nominated Douglas for 1950s movie stardom. Director Mark Robson underlines the futility of the fight game. Skilled screenwriter Carl Forman went on to be unjustly blacklisted.

8. "Made it ma. Top of the world!" James Cagney is great as a train-robbing gang leader that loves his mother(Margaret Wycherly) and has murderous disdain for just about everyone else. Cody Jarrett is one of the more compelling protagonists you'll ever come across, criminal or otherwise. "High Sierra" director Raoul Walsh worked with Cagney four times, and was an influence on Martin Scorsese. "Heat" is arguably the explosive peak of an industry-altering leading man run that began with 1931's "The Public Enemy". Virginia Mayo and Edmond O'Brien costar.

7. Huston

6. Billy Wilder

5. The fourth Disney

4. Bogart

3. Bogart

2. Welles. Roger Ebert LOVED it.

1. Capra. This film is packed with exemplary character actors-

1940 Honorable Mentions- "His Girl Friday"(1940), "The Great Dictator"(1940), "The Letter"(1940) ***, "Kitty Foyle"(1940) ***

1941 Honorable Mentions- "High Sierra"(1941), "The Lady Eve"(1941), "Meet John Doe"(1941), "The Great Lie"(1941), "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"(1941), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"(1941)

1942 Honorable Mentions- "All Through the Night"(1942), "Woman of the Year"(1942), "The Magnificent Ambersons"(1942)

1943 Honorable Mentions- "Shadow of a Doubt"(1943)

1944 Honorable Mentions- "Dragon Seed"(1944), "Meet Me in St. Louis"(1944), "National Velvet"(1944)

1945 Honorable Mentions- "Without Love"(1945), "Back to Bataan"(1945), "Brief Encounter"(1945), "They Were Expendable"(1945) ***, "Spellbound"(1945)

1946 Honorable Mentions- "Gilda"(1946), "To Each His Own"(1946), "The Stranger"(1946) ***, "The Big Sleep"(1946), "Undercurrent"(1946), "My Darling Clementine"(1946), "The Yearling"(1946), "Great Expectations"(1946)

1947 Honorable Mentions- "The Farmer's Daughter"(1947), "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"(1947), "Out of the Past"(1947), "The Bishop's Wife"(1947)

1948 Honorable Mentions- "The Lady From Shanghai"(1948), "Johnny Belinda"(1948) ***, "Hamlet"(1948), "Rope"(1948), "Red River"(1948) ***, "Sorry, Wrong Number"(1948), "Unfaithfully Yours"(1948)

1949 Honorable Mentions- "The Third Man"(1949), "Little Women"(1949), "The Fountainhead"(1949), "All the King's Men"(1949), "Twelve O'Clock High"(1949)