The 40 Best Movies of the 1940s (Readers Poll)

Ranking the movies of Hollywood’s Golden Age

For our latest reader poll, we asked you for your Top 10 films from the 1940s.

Here’s the results!

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40. I Remember Mama (dir. George Stevens)

39. Brief Encounter (dir. David Lean)

“A wonderful early film from David Lean. As opposed to the grand spectacle of his later epics for which he is most famous, this is an intimate character piece dealing with love, adultery, and loneliness.”

38. Bambi (prod. Walt Disney)

“Opened the door to the possibilities of animation.”

37. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (prod. Walt Disney)

“I might be the only person who votes for this, but I do not care. According to my nostalgia, this is peak Disney” (Editor’s Note: You weren’t!)

36. The Lady Eve (dir. Preston Sturges)

“I consider this movie about a con woman who falls in love with the naive heir to a vast fortune to be the greatest romantic comedy”

35. Dumbo (prod. Walt Disney)

34. The Great Dictator (dir. Charlie Chaplin)

33. My Favorite Wife (prod. Leo McCarey)

32. To Be or Not To Be (dir. Ernst Lubitsch)

31. The Bells of St. Mary’s (dir. Leo McCarey)

30. Gaslight (dir. George Cukor)

29. Bicycle Thieves (dir. Vittorio De Sica)

“The seminal film of Italian Neorealism compassionately depicts a desperate husband and father trying to provide for his family”

28. Meet Me in St. Louis (dir. Vincente Minnelli)

27. The Big Sleep (dir. Howard Hawks)

“Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall navigating a complex web of crime, murder, and corruption? Can't get more iconic than that.”

26. My Darling Clementine (dir. John Ford)

“The standard by which all other Wyatt Earp movies are measured.”

“One of Ford's very best films. A somber, meditative telling of an iconic story with which most of us are familiar. Henry Fonda and Victor Mature are fantastic in their respective roles as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, and the film contains some of the most beautiful black and white cinematography and Western iconography you'll find.”

25. How Green Was My Valley (dir. John Ford)

“Noted for being the most personal film from John Ford’s lengthy catalog, it is also his true masterpiece. Featuring a stunning debut from a young Roddy McDowell, it is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of childhood memories, faith, and familial relationships with a message of hope and reunion that feels more heartfelt and profound on each viewing.”

24. His Girl Friday (dir. Howard Hawks)

“A frenetic screwball masterclass on journalistic integrity or lack thereof”

23. Out of the Past (dir. Jacques Tourneur)

“A beautiful, thought-provoking noir, in which the tragedy is more palpable than in most other examples of the genre.”

22. Laura (dir. Otto Preminger)

21. The Grapes of Wrath (dir. John Ford)

“John Ford's sad but powerful adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel is the definitive movie about the Great Depression”

20. Miracle on 34th Street (dir. George Seaton)

19. Going My Way (dir. Leo McCarey)

“Though some might dismiss this film as escapist fluff, it remains a classic of wartime cinema with its commentary on societal changes, financial burdens, and generational gaps conveyed through the charming guise of pleasant showtunes and warm, humane performances. Watching this film is like seeing a time capsule of life in the urban Catholic neighborhoods: a staple of American life that has largely disappeared within our lifetime.”

18. Shadow of a Doubt (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

17. Mrs. Miniver (dir. William Wyler)

16. Pinocchio (prod. Walt Disney)

“This fairy tale on moral behavior is whimsical, fantastic, scary, but ultimately redemptive.”

“The visual metaphor of the naughty boys turning into donkeys is the best representation of sin in cinema”

15. Arsenic and Old Lace (dir. Frank Capra)

“Forever and always my favorite movie, without flaw. No notes. The movie that taught me comedy.”

14. Notorious (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

“Another Hitchcock masterpiece. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are particularly exceptional in this one.”

13. The Red Shoes (dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)

“The Red Shoes confronts that tension between making great art and having a fulfilling personal life like no other film has.”

12. The Philadelphia Story (dir. George Cukor)

“Charming mash of characters and beats. Normally it would be higher in the list, but what a decade!”

11. The Best Years of Our Lives (dir. William Wyler)

“Released after the end of World War II, William Wyler’s drama about a trio of returning veterans adjusting to life on the homefront is not only an insightful depiction of postwar mores and frustrations, but possibly, the greatest film made about America. With its blend of deep-focus cinematography, psychological realism, and casual Midwestern art direction, it is a classic portrait of small-town Americana that everyone should see before they die.”

10. Rope (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

“One of Hitchcock's most innovative and suspenseful films. An anxiety-inducing masterpiece.”

“Sleek and sophisticated -- the audience knows something the characters don't and that makes the conversations clever and sometimes cruel.”

9. Rebecca (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

8. Fantasia (prod. Walt Disney)

“Disney's synthesis of animation and classical music is nothing less than sublime.”

“An amazing feat of gorgeous animation blended with great music”

7. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (dir. John Huston)

“The characters live in my head rent free. One my kids requested to rewatch.”

6. The Maltese Falcon (dir. John Huston)

“This top ten list could probably be almost exclusively Bogart movies and this is one of his best.”

“Clever, classy, with more twists than a martini, it is the standard bearer for film noir and private detectives.”

5. Double Indemnity (dir. Billy Wilder)

“Arguably the most iconic of film noirs, Billy Wilder's early masterpiece is endlessly rewatchable, featuring a masterful turn from Barbara Stanwyck as the standard-setting example of the femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson.”

4. The Third Man (dir. Carol Reed)

“I can't think of a better film noir. I also think this has the greatest black-and-white cinematography ever done.”

“Everything here is iconic: from Orson Welles' coolly malevolent performance as Harry Lime, to the instantly-recognizable zither soundtrack. The Third Man is dark, stylish, and endlessly rewatchable. One of the greatest films ever made.”

3. Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles)

“Actor and director Orson Welles' keen exploration about the rise and fall of a newspaper tycoon has rightfully become the stuff of Hollywood legend.”

“It’s so monumental not least of which because it helped to define the cinematic language as we know it today. Shots from different angles, for example.”

2. It’s a Wonderful Life (dir. Frank Capra)

“A movie that punches your weight as you get older.”

“I watch it every year during the holidays to remind myself of the riches we have but often overlook.”

1. Casablanca (dir. Michael Curtiz)

“It has it all. Action, comedy, love, Nazis and of course Bogie. My top movie ever.”

“Not only is this one of the most quotable movies, but it's also an effective story about personal sacrifice for a just cause.”