A Filmmaker's Guide to: 20 Films of the 1940s

By the 1940s, The Golden Age of Cinema was certainly well underway with the previous decade having done so well. During the Second World War, Hollywood would concentrate its efforts on making films to suit the darkness of the situation. Even Charlie Chaplin would go for dark humour this time.

Film Noir was on the rise. Not just in popularity, but in its filmmaking style as well. Some of the greatest noir films in history were made during the 1940s. Concentrated on one man who must find answers to a problem that has endless people involved, conspiracies and love affairs intertwined within it. These films capture public attention for their darker and more sinister approach to crime as a genre. Films like "The Third Man" (1949) would not only become popular for their incredible noir storylines from the book by Graham Greene. But, they would also become increasingly respected for what they gave the genre - "The Third Man" (1949) having that unforgettable score and an incredible use of shadowing.

Since the Horror Renaissance of the previous decade, not only did noir become popular, but so did psychological horror movies. All monster-ed out, Hollywood tried its hands at the very first mind-bending mentally-disturbed films that may not have been as frightening as physical monsters, but without them I am sure we would not have half of the psychological horror/thriller films we have today. Not only do we have the adaptation of the Oscar Wilde book, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in 1945, but we also have other great psychological thrillers such as "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948). The latter, to this day, being one of the greatest psychological thrillers ever made.

But this was not just the Golden Age of Cinema. This was also the Golden Age of Humphrey Bogart. One of the greatest actors of all time, he made his name in films like "Casablanca" (1942), the epic that is today known as one of the greatest films ever made. There was also "The Big Sleep" (1946) where we see the famed relationship between Bogart and Bacall forming. There was the great psychological thriller "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) which would make his name before films like "African Queen" and "In a Lonely Place" during the next decade we'll explore.

Animation was becoming far more popular as we move through the ages and even Disney got in on the dark action with putting themes of child abuse and animal cruelty subtly into their two newest films: "Pinocchio" (1940) and Dumbo (1941). But it has to be one of the most thrilling and terrifying feats of Disney to witness - the epic symphony "Fantasia" (1940) when released, was one of the most masterful pieces of animation and still is to this day. Terrifying and dark, the musical is a piece of drama starring Mickey Mouse as a wizard and a conductor who orders around the homeware. But, the more you watch it, the darker and darker it gets until it is no longer appropriate for your five-year-old who just wanted to see Mickey Mouse.

This was also the Golden Age for a man who I dubbed to be 'Mr. Cinema' - Orson Welles. Not only with his efforts at playing Harry Lime in "The Third Man"(1949) but also because of one film which would be the one they remembered him for. "Citizen Kane" (1941) was dark and brooding, full of life and vigour, and in its filmmaking style it was completely revolutionary with its use of montage and post-modern storytelling techniques. Orson Welles proved to be the greatest filmmaker of his time and one of the greatest of all time without a shadow of a doubt.

Another piece of the Golden Age was beginning to show itself on screen and to be fair, the actor who was mainly involved was not too sure about theatre being adapted for the screen. He'd rather be performing in the Globe. Lawrence Olivier is dubbed one of the greatest actors of all time, out of him comes our cast of great British Actors of stage and screen well into the future. Men such as: Sir Kenneth Branagh, Sir Ian McKellan, Sir Ben Kingsley, Sir Richard Burton and the unforgettable, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis - would come out of Lawrence Olivier's eternal influence over the world of stage and screen to make their names as the next greats, following in his footsteps.

Let's take a look at 20 films of the 1940s that you would want to watch and study if you were planning to know more about the decade and its filmmaking styles. From noir to romance, Shakespeare to psychological thriller, this decade truly is one of the greatest in all of cinema history for a wide number of reasons.

They are in no particular order.

20 Films of the 1940s

1. The Third Man (1949)

2. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

3. Casablanca (1942)

4. Citizen Kane (1941)

5. Henry V (1944)

6. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

7. Pinocchio (1940)

8. The Big Sleep (1946)

9. Hamlet (1948)

10. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

11. Fantasia (1940)

12. Gaslight (1944)

13. The Lost Weekend (1945)

14. Key Largo (1948)

15. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

16. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

17. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

18. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

19. The Great Dictator (1940)

20. Double Indemnity (1944)