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Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Repo — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:02:59 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 03/10/2026 19:02

CA Dreamin wrote:

Anyway, the government loved movies with a fighting spirit, which was where Akira Kurosawa got his start. He was a bit younger than Ozu and Mizoguchi. The latter two were directing movies as far back as the 1920s, but Kurosawa's first film was right in the middle of the war. Thus, he had no distinctive directing styles or interests yet. He was developing his skills, while making movies meant to entertain and get cleared by the government censors. His first film, Sanshuro Sugata (1943) was about a young man in the 1800s learning martial arts. Like 47 Ronin, it analyzed dedication, fearlessness, and fighting good causes. It was popular enough, it spawned a sequel in 1945, where the main character fights an American boxer in the ring. Propaganda, eh? Of course. Kurosawa also directed the propaganda film, The Most Beautiful (1944) about Japanese women factory workers producing war supplies. His last war-time film was The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945), a movie with very shoddy production value, but apparently that was because it was made during a time of significant war-time shortages on things (like money and electricity, ya know, essential things to make a film). Personally I wasn't a fan of any of Kurosawa's 4 films made during the war (I watched them all for the first time during this poll). They were all a bit shallow, while Kurosawa had yet to master his craft, and was yet to direct without censorship constraints.

The Making of a Warrior Inside & Out
aka Don't give a Knife to a Lunatic

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Yeah. It's sort of like a demo tape. BUT, like a lot punk & metal demo tapes, you can already tell the artist - Akira Kurosawa in this case - is a visionary. Perhaps it's because I'm a similar path (although at a more advanced age), I loved the story of the development of a warrior (or in my case a Taoist monk) from the inside & out. Hard not to support Akira's central thesis that without careful consideration of BOTH the warrior's physique and humanity, training someone in the martial arts is "like giving a knife to a lunatic."

(Kind of rings true right about now, don't you think? Do we even know why we're at war yet?! 🙈 �...)

Rating: 🗡🗡🗡

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Hayden — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 22:30:51 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 03/03/2026 03:30

Repo wrote:

Thanks, Hayden!!! Awesome list! Will start going through one-by-one! 🤓

Thanks Repo— likewise— 😁

I'll post the Letterboxd version and the stats later today—

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Repo — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 22:28:01 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 03/03/2026 03:28

Thanks, Hayden!!! Awesome list! Will start going through one-by-one! 🤓

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Olli — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 13:23:49 GMT

Author: Olli

Posted: 03/02/2026 18:23

Hellzapoppin is on my list on place... see here in... https://boxd.it/p1ZvC 😎

Because some people post them, what happens to lists without ranking? 🤔

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Hayden — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 02:03:03 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 03/02/2026 07:03

Thanks Cestuneblague— tallying now—

And, as they say in the movies—

That's a wrap 😎 —

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

cestuneblague — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 01:51:19 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 03/02/2026 06:51

Alright, hope I got it in at the 11th hour. No fancy write-up, but this should be 100. Just go ahead and throw in Gilda and Ornamental Hairpin if for some reason I forgot a couple spots.

Children of Paradise (1945; Marcel Carne)
Bambi (1942; David Hand)
Pinocchio (1940; Various)
La Terra Trema (1948; Luchinto Visconti)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946; Pressberger, Powell)
Late Spring (1949; Yasujiro Ozu)
Bicycle Thieves (1948; Vittoria de sica)
Odd Man Out (1947; Carol Reed)
Citizen Kane (1941; Orson Welles)
The Great Dictator (1940; Charles Chaplin)
His Girl Friday (1940; Howard Hawks)
Cat People (1942; Jacques Turner)
The Ball at the Anju House (1947; Kozaburo Yoshimura)
Casablanca (1942; Michael Curtiz)
The Best Years of our Lives (1946; William Wyler)
Rebecca (1940; Alfred Hitchcock)
The Red Shoes (1948; Pressberger, Powell)
Children of the Beehive (1948; Hiroshi Shimzu)
My Darling Clementine (1946; John Ford)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948; John Huston)
Laura (1944; Otto Pressinger)
Mahal (1949; Kamal Amrohi)
How Green Was My Valley (1941; Henry Ford)
The Last Stage (1948; Wanda Jakubowski)
Notorious (1946; Alfred Hitchcock)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947; Orson Welles)
Rome, Open City (1945; Roberto Rosselini)
Fantasia (1940; Various)
Hellzapoppin (1941; H.C Potter)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943; Pressberger, Powell)
Record of a Tenemenet Gentlemen (1947; Yasujiro Ozu)
Ivan the Terrible (1944; Sergei Eisenstein)
The Germans Strike Again (1948; Alekos Sakellarios)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947; Charlie Chaplin)
Now, Voyager (1942; Irving Rapper)
Hangover Square (1945; John Brahm)
Brief Encounter (1945; David Lean)
Tomorrow will be Fine Weather (1948; Hiroshi Shimizu)
Moonrise (1948; Frank Borzage)
Great Expectations (1946; David Lean)
Romance in Minor Key (1943; Helmut
La Silence de la Mer (1949; Jean-Pierre Melville)
People of the Mountains (1942; Istvan Szots)
The Heiress (1949; William Wyler)
Oliver Twist (1948; David Lean)
Stray Dog (1949; Akira Kurosawa)
The Lost Weekend (1945; Billy Wilder)
Waterloo Bridge (1940; Mervyn LeRoy)
Springtime in a Small Town (1948; Fei Mu)
To Have and Have Not (1944; Howard Hawks)
Una Carta de Amor (1943; Miguel Zacarias)
Tambem Somos Irmaos (1949; Jose Carlos Brule)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940; John Ford)
Beauty and the Beast (1946; Jean Cocteau)
Ball of Fire (1941; Howard Hawks)
Dark Passage (1947; Delmer Daves)
Mildred Pierce (1945; Michael Curtiz)
They Died with their Boots On (1941; Raoul Walsh)
Paisan (1949; Roberto Rosselini)
Intruder in the Dust (1949; Clarence Brown)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945; John M. Stahl)
Phoenix (1947; Keisuke Kinoshita)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941; Edward F. Cline)
Red River (1948; Howard Hawks)
The Maltese Falcon (1941; John Huston)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946; Lewis Milstone)
Woman of the Night (1948; Kenjo Mizoguchi)
Thieve’s Highway (1949; Clarence Brown)
Louisiana Story (1948; Robert Flaherty)
The Woman in the Window (1944; Fritz Lang)
To Be or Not to Be (1942; Ernst Lubitsch)
Double Idenmnity (1944; Billy Wilder)
Macbeth (1948; Orson Welles)
Random Harvest (1942; Mervyn Leroy)
Mashenka (1942; Yuli Raizman)
Such a Pretty Beach (1949; Yves Allegret)
The Sea Wolf (1941; Micheal Curtiz)
There Was a Father (1942; Yasujiro Ozu)
Torment (1944; Alf Sjoberg)
Nosotros los Pobres (We the Poor) (1948; Ismael Rodriguez)
One of Our Airccraft is Missing (1942; Pressberger, Powell)
The Life of Mohatsu the Untamed (1943; Hiroshi Inagki)
The Drunkard (1946; Gilda de Abreu)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945;
Aniki Bobo (1942; Manoel De Oliveria)
Uncertain Glory (1944; Raoul Walsh)
A Hometown in Heart (1949; Yoon Yong-Gu)
Spring (1947; Grigori Alexsandrev)
Dawn Chorus (1941: Hiroshi Shimzu)
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947; Robert Hamer)
Quai des Orfreves (1947; Henri-Georges Clouzet)
The Lady Eve (1941; Preston Sturges)
Sorrows and Joys of a Middle Aged Man (1949; Sang Hu)
Scarlett Street (1945; Fritz Lang)
A Canterbury Tale (1944; Pressberger, Powell)
Dumbo (1941; Sharpsten, Roberts)
Port of Freedom (1944; Helmet Kautner)
Snow Trail (1947; Senkichi Taniguchi)
The Way You Wanted Me (1944; Tuevo Tulio)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944; Vincente Minelli)

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Hayden — Sun, 1 Mar 2026 21:22:03 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 03/02/2026 02:22

cestuneblague wrote:

Hayden wrote:

Thanks Kokkinos & CA— tallying/updating now 😁

Also, I'm in a smidge of a different time zone than most of BEA I think... hello from March 2nd, etc— but I think we'll leave the gate open another 7 hours?

Thanks Ill get a list in just a few hours when I have time to actually do a final edit.

Perfect 😎 — thanks—

Still holding out for a list from Norman too... if he's around and reading this 😁

CA Dreamin wrote:

Probably. Hello, from where it is still daylight March 1. I'm sure the new lists have changed some things around a bit.

Yup— we've had some shake ups— but more than anything, the bottom half of the list really fleshed out, which is equally as important as the top 10 race, etc—

Without spoilers, I think BEA is going to be a little surprised on how tight the top 4 films are—
And the films at 7-9 are practically a three-way tie at the moment, and 10-13 are likewise, but down a handful of points from the other tier—

I'll update my list soon too, which is now at 75— Hellzapoppin' is actually going to land my top 25 (if anyone has time to watch this before the deadline, it's on Youtube and not terribly lengthy), and I only realized yesterday I omitted The Heiress, so that'll place somewhere in the middle too—

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

cestuneblague — Sun, 1 Mar 2026 21:03:15 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 03/02/2026 02:03

Hayden wrote:

Thanks Ill get a list in just a few hours when I have time to actually do a final edit.

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

CA Dreamin — Sun, 1 Mar 2026 20:45:56 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 03/02/2026 01:45

kokkinos wrote:

In the famous words of Rainer Werner Fassbinder : "Every decent director has only one subject, and finally only makes the same film over and over again." He was clearly speaking in absolutes, but if there's one director that pretty much epitomises this quote, it has to be Ozu.

Here we go
Lots of good stuff has been left out and I suspect I'll start second-guessing it the moment I look at it again, but I really couldn't go down the rabbit hole of tweaking it ad nauseam, pretty much went with my first draft. On a funny note, I had never used this letterboxd website before - apparently, I've been living under a rock - and seeing how popular it is among BEA users made me want to check it out. It's kinda cool.

I suppose in that case Fassbinder was calling Ozu a decent director, which could be interpreted as a step below 'great director' haha. Anyhoo, great list and welcome to letterboxd! Great site for keeping track of things movie-related.

EyeKanFly wrote:

I've also loved some of the discussion about pre-war/during WWII/post-war films and how this decade was a turning point not just for movies but for culture(s) around the world. Having been able to watch a number of decidedly anti-war and anti-fascist films for this poll meant a lot to me. (Although my number 1 doesn't have anything to do with those themes at all...)

This probably won't come as a surprise to anyone, but I double majored in history and film in my college days. So it's especially interesting to me when I see movies as a lens into history, and vice versa. Of course every era has their movies that reflect what's going on in the world at the time. There are numerous 30s films reflecting on The Great Depression and the Public Enemy Era, and 50s and 60s films reflecting on the Cold War, Space Age, Vietnam, etc. However, there was never an era where history and cinema were so connected and transparent, as they were in the 1940s.

Hayden wrote:

Probably. Hello, from where it is still daylight March 1. I'm sure the new lists have changed some things around a bit.

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Hayden — Sun, 1 Mar 2026 20:06:43 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 03/02/2026 01:06

Thanks Kokkinos & CA— tallying/updating now 😁

Also, I'm in a smidge of a different time zone than most of BEA I think... hello from March 2nd, etc— but I think we'll leave the gate open another 7 hours?

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

kokkinos — Sun, 1 Mar 2026 17:57:10 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 03/01/2026 22:57

Here we go
Lots of good stuff has been left out and I suspect I'll start second-guessing it the moment I look at it again, but I really couldn't go down the rabbit hole of tweaking it ad nauseam, pretty much went with my first draft. On a funny note, I had never used this letterboxd website before - apparently, I've been living under a rock - and seeing how popular it is among BEA users made me want to check it out. It's kinda cool.

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

CA Dreamin — Sun, 1 Mar 2026 13:56:53 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 03/01/2026 18:56

Great write-up on Sorry, Wrong Number! Both that, and The Snake Pit made my list.

Strangely enough, I hadn't realized they had the same director. Looking at Anatole Litvak's body of work, the other 1940s films I've seen from him were the war documentaries he co-directed with Frank Capra in the Why We Fight series. I put Prelude to War (1942) on my list too, so that's 3 representative I have from Litvak. It could have been 5, for I had Divide and Conquer (1943) and The Battle of Russia (1943) on my list while I was drafting it. However, I decided to pull them because I had so many fiction films I wanted to represent. Some also consider the Why We Fight Series as a unified whole, instead of seven separate films. So if Hayden wants to call my inclusion of Prelude to War as an inclusion of the entire series, I'm cool with that. If not, then I'm also cool it just being Prelude to War. Either way, I highly doubt Why We Fight would make the final list anyway.

Speaking of my list, dropping it here to make it official.

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

EyeKanFly — Sun, 1 Mar 2026 13:33:35 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 03/01/2026 18:33

Excited to see how this turns out. I didn't watch a ton outside of the "biggies" but damn some of those biggies were even better than the classic status lead me to believe.

I had intended to see several Keisuke Kenoshita films; Twenty-Four Eyes topped my 50s list and he has a ton of films that are easy to find but have very few ratings on Letterboxd. I'll probably still try to check out a few.

I've also loved some of the discussion about pre-war/during WWII/post-war films and how this decade was a turning point not just for movies but for culture(s) around the world. Having been able to watch a number of decidedly anti-war and anti-fascist films for this poll meant a lot to me. (Although my number 1 doesn't have anything to do with those themes at all...)

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

cestuneblague — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 21:59:32 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 03/01/2026 02:59

Hayden wrote:

That'd be it :wink:—
Send something in the next 24-ish hours and we're good—

AwaitingAndrew wrote:

Here’s my list:
https://boxd.it/bsVqQ

I was going to try to get to The Red Shoes before the deadline, but it’s unfortunately not going to be feasible at this point…

Tallying now 😁

Cool beans, though if you could give a shout-out when it's like near the three-hour Mark until the deadline that would be nice too. Actually have a relaxing night in so I think I'm going to catch up on a couple of movies, this is def the decade poll where I've seen the least "biggies" than others.

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

kokkinos — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 21:23:29 GMT

Author: kokkinos

Posted: 03/01/2026 02:23

kokkinos wrote:

(Funnily enough, one of my favourite '40s films is based on the concept of one woman, one bedroom and one telephone, but that's a topic for another day.)

I meant to elaborate on that at some point. Well, better late than never.

A woman overhears a telephone conversation, in which two men are plotting a murder. And that's only the beginning...
Sorry, Wrong Number is a psychological thriller that plays out as a multifaceted study of fear, but at the same time provides a subtle yet brilliant commentary on the effect of technology on human communication.

The most basic layer is already quite effective, showing how fear can be born by being alone and confined to bed, unable to take action. The noir-ish cinematography and the atmoshperic score greatly contribute to establishing a claustrophobic setting and building suspense. Familiar objects and sounds suddenly develop a new, unknown and threatening dimension. Her house is supposed to be a protective shelter, yet it feels more like a prison without escape.

That being said, what really elevates the film to the next level is the use of telephone as a medium of communication in this context. She views the phone as the only means of escaping the state described above. However, its limitations are slowly revealed to devastating effect. The people she talks with can listen to her cry for help, but they can't really do anything about it, the phone can't erase the distance between them. On the other end of the line, she can hear them but not see them, a metaphor for her being unable to see the whole picture and desperately trying to gather all the relevant bits of information in order to solve the puzzle.

The use of flashbacks - there is even a flashback within a flashback - is also key. Flashbacks are to the audience what the phone is to the main character, allowing us to identify with her state of mind. The viewers are never directly present in the moment the crucial events are happening, they have to rely on someone narrating them after the fact, leading to doubt, confusion and suspicion.

It is worth pointing out that Sorry, Wrong Number is based on a radio play, which explains how unique the concept is, but on the other hand how tricky the adaptation to film is.

On a final note, shout-out to Snake Pit, another film by Anatole Litvak that ranks among my favourites of the '40s. Claiming that 1948 was a good year for him would be quite an understatement.

CA Dreamin wrote:

On the 50s thread, I wrote something along the lines of 'Ozu's filmography feels like he churns out multiple iterations of the same 5-6 films. The cast, the camerawork, the set designs, the plot-lines, even the titles...all feel so similar, I get his movies mixed up at times.'

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

Hayden — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 19:54:28 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 03/01/2026 00:54

cestuneblague wrote:

Sorry I haven't been around the forums for awhile (just noticed the new changes, you can like posts now. wild) but I'll get a list in, even if it will be thinner towards the backend. When exactly is the deadline again tomorrow, earlier or by the usual right-before-midnight (which would be ideal)?

That'd be it :wink:—
Send something in the next 24-ish hours and we're good—

AwaitingAndrew wrote:

Here’s my list:
https://boxd.it/bsVqQ

I was going to try to get to The Red Shoes before the deadline, but it’s unfortunately not going to be feasible at this point…

Tallying now 😁

@Afterhours— will update, no problem
@CA— found it, (gives me a sec to plug the numbers in), but give me the head's up once it's done—

And to everyone else, final day, last call, etc 😎

The current structure of the list is actually kinda interesting for BEA standards at the moment— the slope of the points rise at a far straighter and steadier path than typical, and any new submission could shake up the order significantly— most of the time these lists rise on a curve, getting fairly steep near the top 10-15— not sure what that says about the 40s, but, considering status quo, it's noteworthy—

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

cestuneblague — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:48:33 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 02/28/2026 22:48

Sorry I haven't been around the forums for awhile (just noticed the new changes, you can like posts now. wild) but I'll get a list in, even if it will be thinner towards the backend. When exactly is the deadline again tomorrow, earlier or by the usual right-before-midnight (which would be ideal)?

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

AwaitingAndrew — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 15:15:59 GMT

Author: AwaitingAndrew

Posted: 02/28/2026 20:15

Here’s my list:
https://boxd.it/bsVqQ

I was going to try to get to The Red Shoes before the deadline, but it’s unfortunately not going to be feasible at this point…

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

AfterHours — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:33:25 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 02/28/2026 19:33

@Hayden

Fwiw I dropped and updated Magnificent Ambersons from 4 to 11 on my list… not a big deal either way but just in case you’ve already calculated it and demand 100% accuracy from us!! 🫵

Re: Best Films of the 40s (V2)[Poll][Closed]

CA Dreamin — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 12:30:48 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 02/28/2026 17:30

kokkinos wrote:

Utamaro is presented as a lonely figure that is barely involved in any of the dramatic sub-plots. The more basic interpretation would be that he is consumed by his art, which requires full-time dedication and allows no such distractions. At the same time, I'd say there's more to it. Mizoguchi is critical/self-critical of this attitude, implying that the artist can become detached from his social surroundings. And that's reflected on his relationship with women. He doesn't succumb to the temptation of lust, like the other men in the film do, but can't really help them either. He simply exploits them in a different way, using them as a source of artistic inspiration. The film's most famous scene shows Utamaro painting the back of a woman, a beautiful yet ironic metaphor for Utamaro - and Mizoguchi - succeeding on the back of women. There are other visual clues to the "strong women suffering at the hands of weak men" concept. For example, there is a scene where women are standing, but are positioned in the background, while men are sitting on the tatami, but are placed in the foreground.
On the other hand, Mizoguchi truly believes in the power of art and thinks it can do what men can't. Art is not a mere observer of reality, neither is it restricted to commenting on it after the fact, it has the power to shape it. For instance, Tanaka's character says that Utamaro's drawing of her made her realise she must live life in an uncompromising way and inspired her to ... (it's a key part of the plot, so I'm keeping it spoiler-free for anyone who hasn't seen it and intends to).

You've defended Utamaro quite well. It isn't my type of movie, and I clearly glanced over the Utamaro-Mizoguchi connections. Maybe need to give it another go some day.

kokkinos wrote:

Well, my list - assuming I make one in time - will be fully biased and the ranking will have nothing to do with how great I consider a film to be, so they'll be pretty low on mine, too. I want to have a personal connection with the picks I'll nominate, so I'll simply go with my favourites.
It's cool that this thread gave you the excuse to dive deeper in '40s Japanese cinema. Unfortunately, I had to rely on my memory and my -admittedly pretty extensive- personal notes, but I'm keen on revisiting a few of them at some point, especially Ozu's, as I usually don't vibe with his work to the same degree I do with the other two - and that applies to his overall body of work, not just the '40s.
They definitely had a phenomenal run in the '50s, but it's worth adding that Mizoguchi and Ozu had some great moments in the '30s as well. Maybe we'll have the chance to talk about them in a future '30s poll.

What do you mean "assuming you make one in time"? Haha, you've come this far, I think Hayden expects one from you at this point. I'm also a bigger fan of Mozoguchi and Kurosawa than Ozu. On the 50s thread, I wrote something along the lines of 'Ozu's filmography feels like he churns out multiple iterations of the same 5-6 films. The cast, the camerawork, the set designs, the plot-lines, even the titles...all feel so similar, I get his movies mixed up at times.' I'm not saying I dislike Ozu, I just like the other two much more, and appreciate their broader variety. And yes, Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion are two my favorites of the 1930s, but saving further comment until the next decade project.

Mercury wrote:

Sorry I’ve been out of touch for quite awhile. Glad I caught this. Could make a top 40.

Mercury! Where've you been, bro?

@Hayden, I have a list on LB but I'm not sure if I'm finished tinkering with it.