1940s drama or romance
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- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsDennis PriceAlec GuinnessValerie HobsonA distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJune AllysonPeter LawfordMargaret O'BrienThe four daughters of a New England family fight for happiness during and after the Civil War.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsRobert MitchumJane GreerKirk DouglasA private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses, and duplicitous dames.
- DirectorOrson WellesFred FleckRobert WiseStarsTim HoltJoseph CottenDolores CostelloThe spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanJoan LeslieA Tennessee farmer and marksman is drafted in World War I, and struggles with his pacifist inclinations before becoming one of the most celebrated war heroes.
- DirectorHoward HughesHoward HawksStarsJack BuetelThomas MitchellJane RussellWestern legends Pat Garrett, Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid are played against each other over the law and the attentions of vivacious country vixen Rio McDonald.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsJohn WayneJohn AgarAdele MaraHaunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsWalter PidgeonEthel BarrymorePeter LawfordShortly after the end of World War II, British Colonel Michael S. "Hooky" Nicobar (Walter Pidgeon) is assigned to a unit in the British Zone of Vienna. His duty is to aid the Soviet authorities to repatriate citizens of the Soviet Union, many of whom prefer not to return to their home country. Billeted in the convent run by Mother Auxilia (Ethel Barrymore), Nicobar, and his military aides Major John "Twingo" McPhimister (Peter Lawford) and Audrey Quail (Dame Angela Lansbury), become involved in the plight of young ballerina Olga Alexandrova (Janet Leigh), who is trying to avoid being returned to Moscow. Nicobar's sense of duty is tested as he sees first hand the plight of the people he is helping return to the Soviet Union; his lack of religious faith is also shaken by his contact with the Mother Superior.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsLana TurnerJohn GarfieldCecil KellawayA married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperIngrid BergmanAkim TamiroffDuring the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsGene TierneyRex HarrisonGeorge SandersIn 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsGary CooperPatricia NealRaymond MasseyAn uncompromising, visionary architect struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism despite personal, professional and economic pressures to conform to popular standards.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsAnn SheridanRobert CummingsRonald ReaganThe dark side and hypocrisy of provincial American life is seen through the eyes of five children as they grow to adulthood at the turn of the century.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperTeresa WrightBabe RuthThe story of the life and career of famed baseball player Lou Gehrig.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsOrson WellesJoan FontaineMargaret O'BrienAfter a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsLana TurnerGene KellyJune AllysonD'Artagnan and his Musketeer comrades thwart the plans of Cardinal Richelieu to usurp King Louis XIII's power.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsJeanne CrainLinda DarnellAnn SothernA letter is addressed to three wives from their "best friend" Addie Ross, announcing that she is running away with one of their husbands - but she does not say which one.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsJohn WayneJohn CarrollAnna LeeCapt. Jim Gordon's command of the famed American volunteer fighter group in China is complicated by the recruitment of an old friend who is a reckless hotshot.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGene TierneyDon AmecheCharles CoburnAn old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsVivien LeighRobert TaylorLucile WatsonMyra and Roy meet and fall in love on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid. Their love will be one of the war's unspoken casualties.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsCary GrantLoretta YoungDavid NivenA debonair angel comes to Earth to help an Episcopalian bishop and his wife in their quest to raise money for the new church.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsNelson EddySusanna FosterClaude RainsAn acid-scarred composer rises from the Paris sewers to boost his favorite opera understudy's career.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnFay BainterRival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckEdward ArnoldA penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsVivien LeighLaurence OlivierAlan MowbrayThe story of courtesan and dance-hall girl Emma Hamilton, including her relationships with Sir William Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson and her rise and fall, set during the Napoleonic Wars.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsJeanne CrainDana AndrewsDick HaymesEach member of the Frake clan has his/her own reason for attending the annual Iowa State Fair.
- DirectorKing VidorJack ConwayW.S. Van DykeStarsSpencer TracyRobert YoungWalter BrennanLangdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsRay MillandJohn WaynePaulette GoddardFlorida ship salvager Loxi falls for Jack, captain of a ship wrecked on the Key West shore. However, their romance is complicated by the arrival of another suitor.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsWendy HillerRoger LiveseyPamela BrownA young Englishwoman goes to the Hebrides to marry her older, wealthier fiancé. When the weather keeps them separated on different islands, she begins to have second thoughts.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandArthur KennedyA highly fictionalized account of the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point in 1857 to his death at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsDorothy McGuireRobert MitchumGuy MadisonDrama about former WW2 Marines readjusting to civilian life and dealing with their mental and physical traumas.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsBette DavisClaude RainsWalter AbelPopular and beautiful Fanny Trellis is forced into a loveless marriage with an older man, Jewish banker Job Skeffington, in order to save her beloved brother Trippy from an embezzlement charge.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyRobert Z. LeonardStarsJames StewartJudy GarlandHedy LamarrIn the 1920s, three women become performers in the renowned Broadway show the Ziegfeld Follies, where they find fame, love, and tragedy.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsJoan BennettMichael RedgraveAnne RevereAfter a lovely woman and her new husband settle in an ancient mansion on the East coast, she discovers that he may want to kill her.
- DirectorJohn HustonVincent ShermanStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorSydney GreenstreetIn December 1941, ex-army captain Rick Leland boards a Japanese ship heading to Asia via the Panama Canal where his Japanese hosts show interest in the American defense plans for the canal zone.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisPaul HenreidClaude RainsAfter marrying her long-lost love, a musician finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsBette DavisCharles BoyerJeffrey LynnA duchess' irrational behavior toward her children's governess triggers tragic events that will change her family's lives forever.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsJames CagneySylvia SidneyPorter HallA dedicated American reporter in 1930s Japan is determined to expose that government's plan for world domination.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsCharles BoyerJoan FontaineBrenda MarshallThe daughter (Joan Fontaine) of a musical mentor (Montagu Love) is hopelessly in love with her cousin's husband (Charles Boyer), a handsome composer.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsGary CooperMadeleine CarrollPaulette GoddardIn 1885, a Texas Ranger travels to Canada to arrest a trapper who's wanted for murder and who's stirring up the Natives in a rebellion against the Canadian government.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerDouglas SirkStarsHedy LamarrGeorge SandersLouis HaywardIn 1820s New England beautiful but poor and manipulative Jenny Hager marries rich old man Isaiah Poster but also seduces his son and his company foreman.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsJoan CrawfordJohn GarfieldOscar LevantA classical musician from the slums is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsAnne BaxterDana AndrewsWalter HustonA Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the German invasion of June 1941.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsBette DavisMiriam HopkinsGig YoungOld friends Kit Marlowe and Millie Drake adopt contrasting lifestyles: Kit is a single, critically acclaimed author while married Millie writes popular pulp novels.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJames StewartJune AllysonFrank MorganStar major league pitcher Monty Stratton loses a leg in a hunting accident, but becomes determined to leave the game on his own terms.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJoan CrawfordDana AndrewsHenry FondaA commercial artist having an affair with a married attorney becomes involved with a returning soldier and must choose between the two.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnMiriam HopkinsRandolph ScottUnion officer Kerry Bradford escapes from Confederate Prison and is sent to Virginia City, Nevada, where he finds out that the former commander of his prison, Vance Irby, is planning to send $5 million in gold to save the Confederacy.
- DirectorDon HartmanStarsRobert MitchumJanet LeighWendell CoreyA young widow is torn between a boring attorney and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsRobert DonatDeborah KerrGlynis JohnsA dull married couple, separated by their enlistment during World War II, reunite after three years to find that they have become very different people.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsShirley TempleBarry FitzgeraldLon McCallisterHorse trainer Shawn O'Hara and his lovely niece Margaret come to America to escape the memory of an accident involving Margaret's brother Danny. Working with thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Shawn takes a liking to a yearling named Seabiscuit, and fights to convince the horse's owner that the tiny horse with big knees will become a top-notch racehorse. Meanwhile, Margaret begins a tentative relationship with jockey Ted Knowles, but is haunted by her brother's death in a steeplechase spill.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsHoward VernonNicole StéphaneJean-Marie RobainIn occupied France, an elderly man and his niece are forced to give shelter to a German army lieutenant who seemingly loves their country and culture.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnAlexis SmithJack CarsonAs bare-knuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert, Jim Corbett, uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the top of the boxing world.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsCharles BoyerRita HayworthGinger RogersA formal tailcoat that gets passed from one owner to another affects each life in a significant way.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandRaymond MasseyIn 1854, Jeb Stuart, George Custer and other graduates from West Point are posted to Kansas to help pacify the territory before railroad construction to Santa Fe can resume.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsClaire TrevorJohn WayneWalter PidgeonIn Kansas during the Civil War, opposing pro-Union and pro-Confederate camps clash and visiting Texan Bob Seton runs afoul of William Cantrell's Raiders.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsClark GableJoan CrawfordIan HunterConvicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure (Ian Hunter).
- DirectorIrving ReisStarsHenry FondaLucille BallBarton MacLaneA busboy in unrequited love with a nightclub performer grows closer to her after she is paralyzed in an attack by her gangster boyfriend.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPaulette GoddardBurgess MeredithHurd HatfieldA chambermaid plots to climb the social ladder by marrying a wealthy man.
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsBarbara StanwyckDavid NivenRichard ConteKaren Duncan, a seriously ill concert pianist, enters a Swiss sanatorium where she's attracted to Dr. Tony Stanton. Ignoring his warnings about resting, she leaves for Monte Carlo with Paul Clermont despite possibly fatal consequences.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsAlexander KnoxCharles CoburnGeraldine FitzgeraldA chronicle of the political career of US President Woodrow Wilson.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsSusan HaywardRobert PrestonPedro ArmendárizIn Tulsa, after a rancher dies during a feud with a major oil company, his daughter, driven by revenge, starts digging for oil herself.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsBarbara StanwyckJames MasonVan HeflinA vain businessman puts a strain on happy marriage to a rich, beautiful socialite by allowing himself to be seduced by a former girlfriend.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGinger RogersJean-Pierre AumontAdolphe MenjouIn Paris, a young woman runs away from a reform school, joins a pickpocket academy, and finds herself falling for the handsome diplomat she's been blackmailed into stealing from.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsClark GableDeborah KerrSydney GreenstreetA World War II veteran wants to return to advertising on his own terms, but finds it difficult to be successful and maintain his integrity.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsClark GableGreer GarsonJoan BlondellDark, romantic, complicated drama about a rowdy merchant mariner and sophisticated librarian who clash over their lifestyles and values - and then fall in love.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsPaul HenreidMaureen O'HaraWalter SlezakAfter being wronged by the Caribbean authorities, a Dutch captain turns pirate to wage war.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsGene TierneyPreston FosterJohn SuttonA veteran American flyer trains new recruits, including the acrophobic son of his dead war buddy. Complications arise when the younger man falls in love with his mentor's girl.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsHumphrey BogartSylvia SidneyEddie AlbertAfter local grocery clerk rescues a baby from an escaped lion, a circus owner builds him into an attraction but balks when he falls in love with his sister.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsSusan HaywardLee BowmanMarsha HuntA successful nightclub singer weds a struggling songwriter, but when his fame eclipses hers, she delves into alcoholism.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGinger RogersCary GrantWalter SlezakIn Europe at the start of World War II, a woman notices that wherever her husband goes, the Germans seem to follow. Meanwhile, a charming reporter is following them.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsHarry CareyC. Aubrey SmithCharles WinningerThe ghosts of three elderly industrialists killed in an airplane crash return to Earth to help reunite a young couple they initially brought together.
- DirectorMartin GabelStarsRobert CummingsSusan HaywardAgnes MooreheadA publisher insinuates himself into the mouldering mansion of the centenarian lover of a renowned but long-dead poet to find his lost love letters.
- DirectorJack ConwayGeorge CukorMervyn LeRoyStarsGreer GarsonRobert MitchumRichard HartReleased from a POW camp at the end of WW2, a French soldier tricks the wife of a fellow POW into believing her husband was killed by the Germans and seduces the grieving woman, but the 'dead' husband eventually returns home.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsBarbara StanwyckGeorge BrentWarner AndersonA recent widow meets an army major while skiing and despite pressures from friends and family becomes romantically involved with him.
- DirectorTerry O. MorseStarsGeorge ZuccoLionel AtwillJerome CowanAn investor recently released from prison invites a group of former business associates to a holiday in his island home, intending to exact revenge on them.
- DirectorVictor SavilleStarsVan HeflinLana TurnerDonna ReedA young man loved by two sisters becomes a naval officer and sails to New Zealand, where he drunkenly writes a marriage proposal to the wrong sister, profoundly affecting the life of the other.
- DirectorMu FeiStarsChaoming CuiWei LiYu ShiA lonely housewife finds her monotonous life altered when her childhood sweetheart returns to town.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMargaret LockwoodJames MasonPhyllis CalvertAfter a brutish, hedonistic Marquis marries a pretty young Clarissa to act as a 'brood sow,' he begins an affair with her friend who plots to take her place.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsGeorge ZuccoMary CarlisleNedrick YoungThe twin of a kindly small-town physician returns from the grave for vengeance against his brother, who secretly killed him because the twin served Satan.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsErich von StroheimMary Beth HughesDan DuryeaPart of an entertainment act, a beautiful but unscrupulous female performer manipulates all the men in her life in order to achieve her aims.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsTyrone PowerAnne BaxterDana AndrewsA submarine lieutenant and his commander fall in love with the same girl.
- DirectorJack BernhardStarsRobert PaigeLeslie BrooksRuss VincentA society reporter keeps herself in the headlines by marrying a series of wealthy men, all of whom die under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsPhyllis CalvertJames MasonWilfrid LawsonReturning to 1870's London after finishing at boarding school, Fanny witnesses the death of her father in a fight with Lord Manderstoke. She then finds that her family has for many years been running a bordello next door to their home. When her mother dies shortly after, she next discovers that her real father is in fact a well-respected politician. Meeting him and then falling in love with his young advisor Harry Somerford leads to a life of ups and downs and conflict between the classes. Periodically the scoundrel of a Lord crosses her path, always to tragic effect.
- DirectorJean NegulescoStarsHedy LamarrPaul HenreidSydney GreenstreetDuring World War II, in neutral Portugal, a Dutch resistance fighter is attempting to find passage to England while trying to avoid German spies and Portuguese policemen.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsRobert YoungSusan HaywardJane GreerOn trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable-sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGene TierneyWalter HustonVictor MatureIn Shanghai, dragon lady 'Mother' Gin Sling operates a gambling house for wealthy patrons but she clashes with influential land developer Sir Guy Charteris who wants to put her out of business.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsEdward G. RobinsonHumphrey BogartAnn SothernWhen retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsClark GableLana TurnerRobert SterlingTwo brother, rival correspondents, find themselves fighting their conservative editor over stories and each other of over the affections of a pretty blonde journalist.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsDana AndrewsMerle OberonEthel BarrymoreWhen a beautiful socialite falls in love with an embittered composer who is blind, she feigns blindness herself in order to get closer to him.
- DirectorGregory RatoffStarsIngrid BergmanWarner BaxterSusan HaywardA governess becomes the center of a wealthy family after her employer's wife dies.
- DirectorBretaigne WindustStarsBette DavisJanis PaigeJim DavisBette Davis is a successful poetess who falls in love with a war hero in this romantic melodrama that is a moving film experience any time of year.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsAnn SheridanHumphrey BogartJeffrey LynnAfter crooked nightclub owner Chips Maguire murders a police informant, he blackmails his piano player to allow him to stay at his eccentric mother's boarding house.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsClark GableRosalind RussellPeter LorreA jewel thief and a con artist are rivals in the theft of a valuable gem as the Japanese army invades China.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsBela LugosiJohn CarradineGeorge ZuccoDr. Richard Marlowe uses a combination of voodoo and hypnosis in an attempt to revive his dead wife by transferring the life essences of several hapless young girls he has kidnapped and imprisoned in the dungeon beneath his mansion.
- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsLucille BremerRichard CarlsonDouglas FowleyA well-known judge has become a fugitive from the police, with a large reward on his head. A reporter believes that the judge is hiding in a private sanitarium, so she seeks out a private investigator and asks him to pretend to be insane, so that he can get inside the sanitarium and look for the judge. The investigator is admitted to the asylum, and encounters many dangers while trying to prove that the judge is there.
- DirectorIrving ReisStarsGeorge SandersWendy BarrieAllen JenkinsThe Falcon investigates jewel thieves who are working with hard up socialites to defraud insurance companies. First of the Falcon series.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsStewart GrangerJoan GreenwoodFlora RobsonYoung Sophie Dorothea marries Prince George Louis but it's far from a love match. Then she falls for Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmark.
- DirectorHarold S. BucquetStarsRobert DonatValerie HobsonWalter RillaIn 1940. Captain Terence Stevenson is with the British Army in the bomb disposal unit in London, his primary job is to defuse them. Despite having no experience as a spy, he is asked by his superiors, because of his academic background as a chemical engineer and being fluent in Romanian and German, to lead a spy mission deep in the Nazi occupied territory. The Nazis have near perfected a formula for a new poisonous gas to use in chemical warfare, Stevenson's mission is to infiltrate the gas plant near Pilsen in the occupied Czechoslovakia where it is being mass produced. He must steal the formula to bring back to Britain, and blow up the plant before the Nazis are able to distribute the gas for their war efforts. He is to assume the identity of chemical engineer Jan Tartu of the Romanian Iron Guard. The real Tartu has been killed but the Nazis are unaware of it. To carry out his mission, Stevenson will require the assistance of the Czech underground and is given the name of a contact through which he is to work. Stevenson needs to improvise, most specifically because his contact is arrested. In this light, he has to learn who he can and cannot trust, especially among those with whom he is assigned to live: Anna and Pavla Palacek, the owner of the house and her daughter who works at the ammunition plant; Otto Vogel, an inspector the Nazis have assigned to be his guide; and Marushka Lanova, a beautiful young woman who has a sense of entitlement and who uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants, most specifically from Nazi officers such as Vogel who is in love with her. Conversely, those secretly working for the Allied cause may have to figure out if "Tartu" is really on their side.