1940s

view as simple top tens

1949

1 LATE SPRING (Yasujiro Ozu)
2 REIGN OF TERROR (Anthony Mann)
3 UNDER CAPRICORN (Alfred Hitchcock)
4 BORDER INCIDENT (Anthony Mann)
5 JOUR DE FÊTE (Jacques Tati)
6 THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed)
7 BEGONE DULL CARE (Norman McLaren)
8 PUCE MOMENT (Kenneth Anger)
9 KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (Robert Hamer)
10 THE BIG STEAL (Don Siegel)
11 THE RECKLESS MOMENT (Max Ophüls)
12 THE SMALL BACK ROOM (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
13 LITTLE RURAL RIDING HOOD (Tex Avery)
14 I SHOT JESSE JAMES (Samuel Fuller)
15 HOMELESS HARE (Chuck Jones)
16 SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (John Ford)
17 ON THE TOWN (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)
18 LONG-HAIRED HARE (Chuck Jones)
19 AWFUL ORPHAN (Chuck Jones)
20 8 BALL BUNNY (Chuck Jones)

1948

1 RED RIVER (Howard Hawks)
2 LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (Max Ophüls)
3 RAW DEAL (Anthony Mann)
4 MOONRISE (Frank Borzage)
5 FORCE OF EVIL (Abraham Polonsky)
6 FORT APACHE (John Ford)
7 SCAREDY CAT (Chuck Jones)
8 SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN (Mu Fei)
9 GOOD SAM (Leo McCarey)
10 3 GODFATHERS (John Ford)
11 HAREDEVIL HARE (Chuck Jones)
12 THE FOGHORN LEGHORN (Robert McKimson)
13 MACBETH (Orson Welles)
14 HE WALKED BY NIGHT (Anthony Mann and Alfred L. Werker)
15 THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (John Huston)

1947

1 MONSIEUR VERDOUX (Charles Chaplin)
2 DAISY KENYON (Otto Preminger)
3 THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (Orson Welles)
4 OUT OF THE PAST (Jacques Tourneur)
5 THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI (Albert Lewin)
6 LE TEMPESTAIRE (Jean Epstein)
7 FIREWORKS (Kenneth Anger)
8 NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Edmund Goulding)
9 MISSISSIPPI HARE (Chuck Jones)
10 BLACK NARCISSUS (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
11 RIDE THE PINK HORSE (Robert Montgomery)
12 ANTOINE ET ANTOINETTE (Jacques Becker)
13 GOOD NEWS (Charles Walters)
14 T-MEN (Anthony Mann)
15 THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (Nicholas Ray)
16 QUAI DES ORFÈVRES (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
17 RAMROD (André De Toth)
18 RAILROADED! (Anthony Mann)

1946

1 THE BIG SLEEP (Howard Hawks)
2 MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (John Ford)
3 NOTORIOUS (Alfred Hitchcock)
4 THE CHASE (Arthur D. Ripley)
5 THE BIG SNOOZE (Robert Clampett)
6 KITTY KORNERED (Robert Clampett)
7 THE STRANGER (Orson Welles)
8 THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (Jean Renoir)
9 BABY BOTTLENECK (Robert Clampett)
10 HAIR-RAISING HARE (Chuck Jones)
11 GILDA (Charles Vidor)
12 CLUNY BROWN (Ernst Lubitsch)
13 TO EACH HIS OWN (Mitchell Leisen)
14 THE DARK CORNER (Henry Hathaway)
15 CLOAK AND DAGGER (Fritz Lang)
16 THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY (Robert Clampett)
17 ACROBATTY BUNNY (Robert McKimson)

1945

1 BRIEF ENCOUNTER (David Lean)
2 THE CLOCK (Vincente Minnelli)
3 THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (John Ford)
4 THE SOUTHERNER (Jean Renoir)
5 THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (Albert Lewin)
6 OPEN CITY (Roberto Rossellini)
7 ISLE OF THE DEAD (Mark Robson)
8 DRAFTEE DAFFY (Robert Clampett)
9 DETOUR (Edgar J. Ulmer)
10 FALLEN ANGEL (Otto Preminger)
11 LES DAMES DU BOIS DE BOULOGNE (Robert Bresson)
12 MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (Joseph H. Lewis)
13 LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (John M. Stahl)
14 THE SCREWY TRUANT (Tex Avery)
15 IVAN THE TERRIBLE, PART ONE (Sergei Eisenstein)
16 I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING! (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)

1944

1 TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (Howard Hawks)
2 MINISTRY OF FEAR (Fritz Lang)
3 NONE SHALL ESCAPE (André de Toth)
4 A CANTERBURY TALE (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
5 THE STUPID CUPID (Frank Tashlin)
6 THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK (Preston Sturges)
7 THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (Fritz Lang)
8 LIFEBOAT (Alfred Hitchcock)
9 HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO (Preston Sturges)
10 LAURA (Otto Preminger)
11 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Vincente Minnelli) 12 UNCERTAIN GLORY (Raoul Walsh)
13 STAGE DOOR CARTOON (Friz Freleng)
14 NATIONAL VELVET (Clarence Brown)
15 DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Billy Wilder)

1943

1 THIS LAND IS MINE (Jean Renoir)
2 DAY OF WRATH (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
3 AIR FORCE (Howard Hawks)
4 PUSS N' BOOTY (Frank Tashlin)
5 THE SEVENTH VICTIM (Mark Robson)
6 RUMORS (Friz Freleng)
7 HANGMEN ALSO DIE! (Fritz Lang)
8 TORTOISE WINS BY A HARE (Robert Clampett)
9 I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (Jacques Tourneur)
10 YANKEE DOODLE DAFFY (Friz Freleng)
11 SPIES (Chuck Jones)
12 THE HUMAN COMEDY (Clarence Brown)
13 SHADOW OF A DOUBT (Alfred Hitchcock)
14 THE GHOST SHIP (Mark Robson)
15 THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
16 LES ANGES DU PÉCHÉ (Robert Bresson)
17 PORKY PIG'S FEAT (Frank Tashlin)
18 THE LEOPARD MAN (Jacques Tourneur)
19 PRINCESS O'ROURKE (Norman Krasna)


1942

1 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Orson Welles)
2 THE PALM BEACH STORY (Preston Sturges)
3 GENTLEMAN JIM (Raoul Walsh)
4 CAT PEOPLE (Jacques Tourneur)
5 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges)
6 CASABLANCA (Michael Curtiz)
7 A TALE OF TWO KITTIES (Robert Clampett)
8 THE TALK OF THE TOWN (George Stevens)
9 SABOTEUR (Alfred Hitchcock)
10 THE HECKLING HARE (Tex Avery)
11 ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON (Leo McCarey)
12 THE DOVER BOYS (Chuck Jones)
13 TOMORROW WE LIVE (Edgar G. Ulmer)
14 THE HARE-BRAINED HYPNOTIST (Friz Freleng)

1941

1 CITIZEN KANE (Orson Welles)
2 THE LOYAL 47 RONIN (Kenji Mizoguchi)
3 WESTERN UNION (Fritz Lang)
4 FORTY-NINTH PARALLEL (Michael Powell)
5 MAN HUNT (Fritz Lang)
6 BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE TODA FAMILY (Yasujiro Ozu)
7 THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING (Ernst Lubitsch)
8 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (William Witney and John English)
9 WABBIT TWOUBLE (Robert Clampett)
10 BALL OF FIRE (Howard Hawks)
11 THE MALTESE FALCON (John Huston)
12 THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (William Dieterle)
13 SMILIN' THROUGH (Frank Borzage)
14 HIDEKO THE BUS CONDUCTOR (Mikio Naruse)
15 THE LADY EVE (Preston Sturges)
16 NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (Edward F. Cline)
17 DUMBO (Ben Sharpsteen)

1940

1 THE GRAPES OF WRATH (John Ford)
2 HIS GIRL FRIDAY (Howard Hawks)
3 THE MORTAL STORM (Frank Borzage)
4 CHRISTMAS IN JULY (Preston Sturges)
5 REMEMBER THE NIGHT (Mitchell Leisen)
6 FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (Alfred Hitchcock)
7 THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (Ernst Lubitsch)
8 CONTRABAND (Michael Powell)
9 THE GREAT DICTATOR (Charles Chaplin)
10 THE GREAT MCGINTY (Preston Sturges)
11 TRAVELLING ACTORS (Mikio Naruse)
12 THE MAN FROM TUMBLEWEEDS (Joseph H. Lewis)
13 REBECCA (Alfred Hitchcock)
13 FLIGHT COMMAND (Frank Borzage)
14 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (George Cukor)

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