Favorite Films of the 1940s

It's silly to try to pick a top ten favorites from the 1940s, as more top quality films were produced that decade than any other. You certainly cannot pick a definitive list, as it is more than likely to change depending on your mood. One could easily name five each from just Hitchcock and John Ford and you'd have an outstanding selection. Or five each from Humphrey Bogart and Edgar G. Robinson. Or ten film noirs, a genre that came into its own during the decade. In any case, no-one can deny that for classic film lovers, it is a phenomenal period. Here are ten of mine, listed in chronological order. A few actors have multiple appearances: Claude Rains, Dana Andrews, Ingrid Bergman, Teresa Wright, and Joseph Cotten. And noirs do comprise five or six of my favorites, depending on how you define the term.

1. Casablanca - 1942

Michael Curtiz's masterpiece has one of the most quotable scripts and outstanding casts of all time. Bogart plays the cynical Rick, still in love with Ilsa, played by a beautiful Ingrid Bergman. She and husband, an important Czech freedom fighter, are in the North African city looking to escape the Nazi's. Claude Rains, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre - what could be better. "Round up the usual suspects."

2. Shadow of a Doubt - 1943

Joseph Cotten best career performance as Teresa Wright's uncle Charlie, the Merry Widow Murderer. He's on the run from police and looking for cover. He gives a chilling speech at dinner about "silly, useless wives," that waste money and are "horrible, faded, fat, greedy women." One of Hitchcock's best, it shows that evil can raise its ugly head anywhere, even in quaint, quiet towns like Santa Rosa.

3. Double Indemnity - 1944

Insurance agent Fred MacMurray is ensnared by Barbara Stanwyck, whose Phyllis Dietrichson is sexy and conniving and spots a sap when she sees one. She wants her husband dead and Walter Neff's just the man to do it. A clever script based on a Raymond Chandler novel, the film deserved its 7 Oscar nominations. Neff provides the voice-over. "Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?" One of Billy Wilder's best.

4. Laura - 1946

Someone killed Laura Hunt and police detective Dana Andrews heads the investigation in one of director Otto Preminger's best. Along the way he falls in love with the dead woman's portrait. Clifton Webb plays a newspaper columnist and the girl's acerbic mentor, Waldo Lydecker. He received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for supporting actor. One of his best lines: "I don't use a pen. I write with a goose quill dipped in venom."

5. Notorious - 1946

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman team up as U.S. agents in Buenos Aires to spy on a group Nazis. The plot involves uranium, but that's not important in this Hitchcock story of intrigue. One of Cary Grant's first serious roles, his performance is outstanding as a man who ignore his heart for his duty. In love with Ingrid, he nevertheless sends her into harms way. Claude Rains plays a seemingly respectable businessman, caught unawares by the woman he too, loves. It relies less on action than on the emotional and mental anguish the stars undergo. A brilliant film.     

6. Great Expectations - 1946

Pip, a poor orphan, has a mysterious benefactor who enables him to journey to London to become a gentleman. David Lean is known for directing some of the world's most successful epics: Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, etc. But it is his smaller, more intimate films from the 1940s that are my favorites. This film is the finest film adaptation of a Dickens' novel. Lean and his actors bring to life the book's memorable characters: the convict Magwich, the attorney Mr. Jaggers, and an old woman stuck in the past, Miss Havisham.

7. The Best Years of Our Lives - 1946

Belongs among the handful of greatest American films ever produced. William Wyler's masterpiece, it is as near a perfect film as you can get. Superior script, acting, and direction. No other "coming home" comes close to its realism and ability to affect the viewer as we follow three likable men home from WWII.  Several scenes stick with you: the emotional meeting between Dana Andrews and Best Actor winner, Fredric March, in Butch's Bar as March tells Andrews to leave his daughter alone (Teresa Wright); Andrews' father reading his son's medal citation; March coming home to surprise his wife (Myrna Loy); Andrews in the cockpit of an abandoned bomber. Wyler's other best of the decade were The Heiress and The Letter.

8. Black Narcissus - 1947

A group of nuns arrive at a convent high in the Himalayas, where the rarefied air does something to westerners. Deborah Kerr stars and her performance as Sister Clodah is terrific. She has her hands full with her own crisis of faith, and the odd behavior of her nuns, especially Sister Ruth, played chillingly by Kathleen Byron. One of directors Powell and Pressburger's impressive output in the decade, which included The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, I Know Where I'm Going, and Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. P&P films have luscious cinematography and highly interesting stories.

9. Out of the Past - 1947

Perhaps the definitive film noir. All the requisite components of the genre are here: lots of shadows and lighting; a story that you know will have a dark end for someone; a cynical hero in Robert Mitchum, an amoral detective who gets in way over his head; and a gorgeous femme fatale in Jane Greer, the woman who plays Mitchum like a sap. He knows it too, saying in one voice over, "How big a chump can you be? I was finding out." Kirk Douglas in an early role provides support.

10. The Third Man - 1949

Director Carol Reed's marvelous look at intrigue in post-war Vienna. Joseph Cotten is a down-and-out writer of pulp Westerns named Holly Martins. He's looking to land a job with his old friend, Harry Lime, but arrives too late, learning that Lime is dead, recently struck down by a hit-and-run driver. When accounts of the death don't quite agree, Martins gets suspicious and starts poking around, attracted in large part by Alida Valli, Lime's lover, Anna Schmidt. Vienna is not what it seems. The black market flourishes in the bombed-out streets and Lime's old friends, odd and mysterious, seem to be keeping a secret. This is one of the most atmospheric films ever made, infused with a bizarre zither music and some of the best black and white cinematography ever recorded. It contains one of film's most shocking appearances and a spectacular chase through the city's old sewers.

Just Missing:

The Treasure of Sierra Madre - 1948

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - 1949

The Ox Bow Incident - 1943

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - 1943

Late Spring - 1949

Key Largo - 1948

Charade (1963) -- Stanley Donen

The film opens with a murder. Someone has thrown Charles Lampert from a speeding train, and his wife, Reggie (Audrey Hepburn), who at the time was on a skiing holiday, finds herself embroiled in a mystery. She knows virtually nothing about her husband, his past, where he gets his money, his relatives, or even his occupation. Returning to Paris she finds their expansive apartment empty. A French police inspector arrives to inform her of her husband's murder and to tell her that before Charles left Paris, he sold all their furniture and possessions at auction for the sum of $250,000. No-one knows where that money is. At the funeral the next day, three strange men show up to examine the body. One holds a small mirror up to the mouth to see if Charles is breathing, another jabs him with a pin. Part of Reggie's confusion is cleared up when next she is contacted by a CIA representative, Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau). He tells her that during WWII Charles and four other soldiers stole that sum in gold from the U.S. Government, burying it with the intent to return after the war to retrieve the cache. Charles double-crossed his partners by secretly getting there first, alone. Now, the U.S. Government wants its money back. So do Charles' partners, who begin to pressure Reggie, believing she must know where he hid the money.

Audrey Hepburn in Charade. 

From there, Director Donen unrolls an elaborate charade, where Reggie isn't sure who to believe, including Peter Joshua (Cary Grant), a debonair man she met on holiday who just happens to arrive in Paris to offer her assistance. He keeps changing his name, leaving her suspicious of his motives. When the partners start to turn up dead, Joshua becomes a prime suspect.

This is a fun film, a sophisticated thriller, more about the romance between the two stars than the intrigue. Donen made a smart decision not to let it get too serious, interjecting moments of droll humor. There is a silly game at a nightclub involving fruit; Grant takes a shower while wearing his suit; and Matthau displays wonderful pauses in conversations with Hepburn, a perplexed look frozen on his face.  Even with the light tone there are plenty of tense moments, including a rooftop encounter at night between Grant and George Kennedy, one of the men intimidating Hepburn. All the actors give fine performances.

James Coburn as Tex, inspecting the body of Charles Lampert.

James Coburn, Kennedy, and Ned Glass play the three partners with menace and desperation. You wouldn't want to meet the first two in a dark alley. Kennedy in particular is threatening. He wears a hook for a lost hand. And one forgets that before he excelled at comedy, Matthau was a good dramatic actor.

One of the best scenes involves Grant and Hepburn sharing a barge down the river. Donen knows how to create a romantic mood, and demonstrates here that he was also adept at pacing. Temporarily free of the goons after the money, the two stars find themselves falling in love. It is night, lights reflect off the water, and the unique Paris architecture looms up as a crew member shines a spotlight on couples kissing on the banks. If not an actual custom in Paris in the early 60's, it is nice to think so, and one of those scenes movie-goers like to imagine they might experience some day.        

Grant and Hepburn stroll alone the Seine.

There is some clever dialog between the characters. Reggie is immediately attracted to Grant's character. At their first meeting she playfully chides him:

Reggie: "I already know an awful lot of people and until one of them dies I couldn't possibly meet anyone else."
Peter Joshua: Well, if anyone goes on the critical list, let me know." (He turns to leave.)
Reggie: "Quitter. You give up awfully easy don't you?"

When they first kiss on the boat:

Peter Joshua: "Wow, when you come on, you come on, don't you?"
Reggie: "Well, come on!"

And when Reggie's suspicions are aroused:

Peter Joshua: "What do I have to do to satisfy you? Become the next victim?"

Reggie: "That's a start anyway."

Peter Stone wrote the screenplay. He'd work with both Grant (Father Goose) and Matthau (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) again.

What Makes Charade Special: 

There is great chemistry between Grant and Hepburn. How could there not be? Even with a 25-year age difference, you can believe that Reggie would be attracted to Joshua. After all, these are two beautiful people. Hepburn, always gorgeous, looks stunning in bright colorful Givenchy. The outfits keep changing even though she arrives at her apartment with just two small suitcases; all the rest of her clothes have been sold.

It is an engaging mystery. We know that Charles hid the money somewhere, but it takes a sharp viewer to figure out where before Donen reveals the clever solution. And though one can hardly suspect that Cary Grant could be a killer, the story keeps you wondering until the end. Grant would only make two more films. He'd been making films for 30 years, and had been a star for 25. It's wonderful that he was still going strong.     

The great Henry Mancini wrote the score. If not up to his best, it is still Mancini. The theme is catchy, and the chase scenes accented with a nice, cool basa nova beat.

Maurice Binder designed the memorable title sequence, a rotating color wheel, which works great with Mancini's theme. Binder was also the man behind the first James Bond film, Dr. No, as well as several of the sequels.
          

Inside Story:

CIA man Walter Matthau.

Donen to rewrite the script to have Hepburn's character pursue him. The approach worked to perfection, making the story considerably more credible.  

This was the second of three films Hepburn made for Donen. The first was Funny Face and the last Two for the Road. It was great collaboration which always showed the actress at her most beautiful.     

Major Awards:

• Nominated for Best Score and Original Song (Mancini and Mercer).
• Hepburn won a BAFTA Actress award and Grant was nominated.

Other Films by Donen:

• Singing in the Rain 1952
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 1954
• Funny Face 1957
• Damn Yankees 1958
• Two for the Road 1967

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) -- Howard Hawks

Geoff Carter (Cary Grant) operates a small airline company near a backwater port in South America. Flying mail and cargo over a narrow mountain pass with wind and dense fog is dangerous business—more than one pilot has cracked up on the trip. At the moment, Geoff is short-handed and waiting for a new, replacement pilot. And though it is never explained why, the pilots all carry side arms, perhaps to ward off guerrillas hoping to high-jack their freight. In any case, it is a job for men, the more stoic the better.

Two women turn up to complicate Geoff's life. American showgirl Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur) is in port waiting for her ship. She finds herself attracted to the cynical boss and decides to stay. Later, Judy (Rita Hayworth), one of Geoff's many former girlfriends arrives as the wife of the new pilot, Bat MacPherson, (Richard Barthelmess), whose dubious past has turned him into a pariah. Bonnie wonders why men risk their lives in this remote place:   

Bonnie: They must love it. Flying, I mean.
Sparks: radioman: Why do you think they come down to this kind of a place?
Bonnie: It's like being in love with a buzz saw.
Sparks: Not much future in it.
Bonnie: What is there about it that gets them?
Sparks: I'm not a flier myself. Hey, you'd better ask the Kid. Miss Lee. Mr. Dabb.
Bonnie: How'd you do?
Sparks: She wants to know why you like flying.
Kid Dabb: I've been in it 22 years, Miss Lee. I couldn't give you an answer that would make any sense. What's so funny about that?
Bonnie: That's what my dad used to say.
KId: Flier?
Bonnie: No, trapeze. High stuff. He wouldn't use a net.
Sparks: Not much future in that, either.
Bonnie: Yes. We found that out.

An ex-flame (Rita Hayworth) complicates Geoff's life.

The script is full of that kind of fast, clever dialog, often overlapping. When Bonnie asks Kid (Thomas Mitchell) if Geoff used to be in love with Judy, he responds: "When it rains, every third drop falls on one of them."

Howard Hawks made action adventure films heavy on comradeship, with brave men who live on the edge without too much complaining. They rely on luck and are tough, and they enjoy a good time with women, laughing and drinking. When a friend dies in the line of duty, they pretend not to care—it's just part of the job. Geoff sits down and eats the man's steak. Hawksian women are usually strong-minded. Bonnie fits the bill. She knows how to take care of herself and sets about to crack Geoff's cold exterior, a man who seems callous and uncaring. But Geoff isn't all he seems. He won't ask Bonnie to stay. Instead he flips a coin: heads she stays, tails she goes. She doesn't know it's a two-headed coin. 

  

One of the best scenes occurs as Geoff tries to talk a pilot down by radio in the fog. Hawks focuses on the faces of the people on the ground. They are tense as strain to listen. The plane hits a tree and starts to tumble. Kid lights a cigarette, his hand shaking. Another great scene happens at the bar with Bonnie at the piano, showing she can be one of the guys.

The supporting cast is fun and includes Thomas Mitchell, Noah Berry and Sig Ruman. Ruman plays Dutchy, Geoff's partner and bartender. He's probably most remembered as the two-faced POW guard Sergeant Shultz in Stalag 17 (1953).         

     

What Makes Angels Special:

Grant and Arthur.

It takes timing to make snappy dialog effective, and Jean Arthur and Cary Grant have great chemistry and wonderful timing. Arthur's voice is one of film's most distinctive and Grant did double-takes better than anyone. Here, both actors play vulnerable characters hurt in the past. They make a fine contrast as Bonnie wears her heart on her sleeve while Geoff has adopted a hard-shelled personality and womanizes to protect himself from another heartache. Arthur is adorable and for Grant, his character is a change of pace from the usual romantic comedy performances he was known for.

Though tame by later standards, the special effects are fun. Model planes serve as the real thing and in scenes with thick fog, the strain of labored engines sound just right.

Thomas Mitchell, one of Hollywood's best character actors, gives another memorable performance as a wise and tired pilot who loves Geoff as a son. 1939 was a big year for him. He also starred in Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.   

Inside Story:

 

Bonnie plays The Peanut Vendor song while Geoff sings. 

Howard Hawks knew about danger and airplanes. In World War I he served in the Army Air Corps. After the war, he was a race car driver and pilot. 

As a director he believed "a good film consisted of at least three good scenes and no bad ones." He has several to his credit that meet this standard.

Near the end of the film, Bonnie tells Geoff,"I'm hard to get, Geoff, all you have to do is ask." Hawks used almost the same line in the film To Have and Have Not five years later with Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. 

Major Awards:

• Oscar Nominations for Best Cinematography and for Special Effects.
• Hawks won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy in 1971.

Other Films of Interest by Howard Hawks:

• His Girl Friday - 1940
• Sergeant York - 1941
• Ball of Fire - 1941
• The Big Sleep - 1946
• Red River - 1948
• The Thing - 1951
• Rio Bravo - 1959
• Hatari! - 1962
• El Dorado - 1966

Notorious (1947) - Alfred Hitchcock

Grant and Bergman embrace.

U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) and his superior (Louis Calhern as Captain Prescott) want to know what a group of Nazi scientists and businessmen are up to in Argentina. To find out they recruit Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), the beautiful American daughter of a convicted German spy, to seduce Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), a man who once loved her and was an old friend of her father's. Sebastian is one of the Germans' chief financiers. Even though Alicia has a reputation of being wild and promiscuous, she is reluctant—she is no patriot and she harbors ill will toward post-war America, which she believes drove her father to suicide. She relents however, after falling in love with Devlin. He loves her too but won't tell her; he is too wrapped up in duty and the importance of their mission. Sebastian falls prey to Alicia, but when he discovers she is a spy who threatens their plans, and indeed his own safety, his ruthless mother provides a deadly solution.

Grant's Devlin is Hitchcock's most conflicted hero, and one difficult to root for. Suave, witty, and handsome, he can also be rude and nasty. Deeply in love with the woman he has endangered, it is Grant's most serious role. His barely controlled emotion in several scenes with Bergman are some the best acting of his long career. When Alicia comes to tell Prescott she'll act as spy, she all but begs Devlin to tell her not too. His mouth tightens and he leaves the room. Later, during one of their clandestine rendezvous she tells him that he can add Sebastian's name to her list of playmates. He is more visibly angry, his voice projecting disgust, but it is not with Alicia, but rather with himself. She is merely following orders.

Devlin proves Grant a considerably more versatile actor than his common persona suggests. He never played anyone quite like it before or since. One thinks of Cary Grant as a likable rouge, but Devlin is hardly a character to elicit our sympathy. That role belongs to one of the villains of the film, Sebastian, and that's one of aspects film that makes the film so interesting. Claude Rains—a consistently great supporting actor—makes us feel sorry for him, a Nazi! He is trusting and vulnerable. He genuinely loves Alicia, and unlike Devlin, openly admits it. His shock at her duplicity is painful to watch.

Notorious is slight on action but full of suspense as one should expect from Hitchcock. Grant is convincing as the agent who can keep his cool when needed. No one wore a suit better and it's no wonder that Rains' character is jealous of the man. His suspicions are aroused when he finds the two kissing in the basement after they've inspected some strange bottles of champagne.

                            Alicia: What does the speedometer say?
                            Devlin: 65.
                            Alicia: I want to make it 80 and wipe that grin off your face.

The film has an elegant look, heightened by the black and white cinematography. These Nazis have money. Famed Hollywood costume designer Edith Head designed Bergman's gorgeous wardrobe. Though inexplicably not for this, Head was nominated for 35 Oscars.

One of the most famous camera shots in any Hitchcock film takes place at a party hosted by Sebastian. Alicia suspects that a clue as to the Nazi's secret activity can be gleaned in the wine cellar. She has stolen Sebastian's key and must slip it unobserved to Devlin, who has crashed the party. Hitchcock used a crane high above the dance floor;  the shot pans the crowd, stopping at Alicia; her hand is behind her back, holding the key. Another highly regarded shot peers through the space between a door and its jam. It is superbly made thriller.  

What Makes Notorious Special:

 

"You can add Sebastian's name to my list of playmates."

Long-time Hitchcock collaborator Ben Hecht wrote the clever screenplay. This is essentially a love story, and as in real life  sometimes one or both partners are unable to express their true feelings and love is threatened. In Hitchcock's, Hecht's, and the actors' hands, how that threat is averted makes for great viewing.

The final scene involves Devlin's suspenseful attempt to rescue a weakened Alicia—she is being slowly poisoned. He supports her limp body as they come down a long stairway where they are confronted by Sebastian and his mother as his suspicious and dangerous colleagues watch and wonder what is happening. They have already "disposed" of one of their own for an innocent but foolish slip of the tongue. Sebastian has a Hobson's Choice. He can stop Devlin, but would reveal that he has compromised the group's efforts; or he can let Devlin and Alicia escape, knowing  that U.S. government authorities will soon intervene. Whispered threats leave you wondering how Hitchcock will resolve the crisis.    

Bergman's performance easily tops that of her Oscar nominated role in The Bells of St. Mary's the same year.

Inside Story:

Sebastian confesses to his mother.

The shady Nazi plot involves uranium, a key ingredient for making nuclear weapons. At the time of filming, FBI agents reportedly kept Hitchcock under surveillance, wondering what the director knew about such efforts.

Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance as a party guest at Sebastian's mansion, accepting a drink at the bar. 

Major Awards:

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Rains) and Writing.

Other Alfred Hitchcock/Cary Grant Collaborations:

• Suspicion 1941
• To Catch a Thief 1955
• North by Northwest 1959

Grant performances nominated for Best Actor:

• Penny Serenade 1941
• None But the Lonely Heart 1944   

Major Awards: