Welcome back to the Best Films of the Decade!
Previously, I discussed the ten best films of the 1930s and I found myself to be surprisingly fulfilled by the content I got to discuss. I feel like perhaps I hadn't realized until I sat down to type everything up how there were actually some truly interesting offerings to come out in the 1930s...even from the more conservative Hollywood system.
Aside from the rare exceptions, the 1930s were mostly known as a decade of escapist films in order for the public to have a resource of being able to briefly forget the difficulty of living through the Great Depression.
The 1940s were a decade in which film seemed to cater more to a truer reality. Films might have been fairly melodramatic but there was also a sense that films were becoming more real and relatable.
I will tap into that topic at the end of this post, but for now, here are my top 10 films of 1940.
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#10-Double Indemnity (1944)
Directed by Billy Wilder
If I were to narrow down the 1940s to a single film genre...at least if we are talking about Hollywood films...I would say that the film noir catalog is pretty much the big winner for that title. The dark shadowy and very stylized efforts, mostly from Warner Brothers, were some of the more entertaining films to come out of Hollywood at that time.
The best of that bunch has to be Double Indemnity, which was a very potent outing by Billy Wilder...a man who showed his true versatility by eventually writing and directing the iconic comedies Some Like it Hot and The Apartment.
Double Indemnity is one of those movies where if you haven't seen it, you've probably watched an episode of a TV show that has referenced it or flat out taken some form of its plot for its own story...even for comedic effect.
You might be able to even follow the story beats: insurance salesman meets a widow who is accused killing her husband in order to cash out an insurance claim.
You can blame Double Indemnity for setting off that kind of storytelling
The film was actually based on magazine serial turned novel by James M. Cain and was a huge success when it was first released...though it lost every single one of its Oscar nominations.
This truly is the gold standard for the "Film Noir" genre...and look no further than Barbara Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson when you want to see what a "Femme Fatale" is.
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#9-Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Certain films just SCREAM the idea of "The American Dream"...and as someone who is often immensely critical of everything about the concept of the idealized “American Dream" or how flawed this country really is, it is kind of ironic that I would actually love such as movie as Yankee Doodle Dandy.
The film tells the story of the legendary George M. Cohan (played by James Cagney in an Oscar winning performance), who was "The Man Who Owned Broadway". I guess you could go as far to say he helped devise what would soon become the basic concept of the Broadway Musical art form.
He would compose upwards of 300 songs, including "Over There", "You're a Grand Old Flag", and "Give My Regards to Broadway" and was one of the earliest composers to be a part of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
As a film, it isn't overly dark and it isn't cynical in any real way. I would hold it up as a prime example of a strong and sturdy biopic of a rather boisterous man who helped shape an art form that is still going relatively strong to this day...even if it is now dominated by movie-to-stage adaptations and jukebox musicals.
It’s also a bit of sentimental favorite as it reminds of my late grandfather, who talked about how much he loved seeing the film in theaters when he was 10 years old.
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#8-Drunken Angel (1948)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
I would be willing to accept the argument that Akira Kurosawa may very well be the most influential filmmaker ever. I just get the sense that so many of his films became the basis of so many other films throughout the world.
Despite a few solid efforts prior, I would say his 1948 outing Drunken Angel is where the true genius of Kurosawa was born...and it is fitting because the film also happens to be his first of SIXTEEN collaborations with actor Toshiro Mifune.
Most people remember Kurosawa being linked to movies such as Seven Samurai or Rashomon, but a lot of attention must be paid to his then-present day pictures such as this. I feel like Drunken Angel is often not discussed when it comes to his catalog but it is easily one of his most underrated efforts.
The "Drunken Angel" is actually an alcoholic doctor named Dr. Sanada who is treating a young man named Matsugana who recently got shot in a gunfight with a rival gang. While treating him, he discovers that Matsugana has Tuberculosis and convinces him that he should start to improve his life: no drinking or sleeping around with countless women.
However, things take a turn when the Matsugana's mob boss is released from prison and he intends to form the gang again. Meanwhile, we also get to watch Dr. Sanada treat various other patients as well, including some that seem to take the concept of having Tuberculosis more seriously.
There will be a film later on in this list that had suffered the production process due to its home country being occupied by Germany during WWII, but here we have Japan being occupied by the United States. Due to that, Kurosawa had to follow our own censorship guidelines of the time and due to the fact that our country's censorship board was fairly naive, Kurosawa was able to slip in various references (primarily linked to prostitution) that wouldn't have gotten by had the script been in English.
So the moral of the story there is that the USA was in the wrong and thankfully the pigheadedness didn't ruin Kurosawa's film...though frankly he was just warming up.
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#7- The Red Shoes (1948)
Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressberger
As one of the greatest films to ever come out of the UK, The Red Shoes is a prime example of a movie that opened to a rather split and polarizing response though it seemed to be more well received here in the US rather than its native UK.
Ballerina Moira Shearer made her film debut as Vicky, a ballerina who ends up having to choose between her career or a romance with a composer named Julian.
How the actual red shoes come into play is where the film takes on a darker and even mystical tone: are the shoes possessing her in some way?
The ending is left somewhat ambiguous as well as to what Vicky's intentions are.
For 1948, The Red Shoes is a fairly stark film in the best possible way...and I always appreciate a film that is ahead of its time.
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#6-Rome, Open City (1945)
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Coming off the heels of WWII, the Italian Neorealism genre was seemingly born with the success of Rossellini's Rome, Open City, which focuses on a group of poor and working class people who are suffering under Nazi Occupation. The main focus is on Resistance fight Don Pietro Pelligrini (Aldo Fabrizi) who is seeking to escape Rome with the help of a Catholic Priest.
There is no denying how much this film stands out when comparing it to other films to have come out in the 1940s. The Italian Neorealist Movement was key in showing what stories could be told and how they could be told onscreen.
The fact that this came out in the same year that WWII ended and Hitler died, I think it was a truly ballsy effort on behalf of Rossellini.
Perhaps the most famous scene of the film revolves around actress Anna Magnani, who plays Pina. Magnani was seen as an early example of an actress who acted with gritty realism before the Method was even really a wide known acting technique. Her charging towards the Nazis when her neighbor Francisco is taken away is easily one of the best moments of acting captured onscreen in the 40s.
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#5-The Great Dictator (1940)
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Over 25 years before Mel Brooks made a fool of the Nazi Movement, Charlie Chaplin had the courage to do an outright stab at Hitler as the evil jackass was still in power.
The Great Dictator shows a different side to Chaplin. Sure, the pathos is still there but the film is even more biting than some of his political commentary had been before (no surprise considering he was attacking Fascism). Also, he has finally shed the "Tramp" persona which he felt was resolved in his 1936 outing Modern Times (which was featured on my top 10 list for the 1930s).
Chaplin also stated in his 1964 autobiography that had he known about the true horrors of what come about with the Nazi Concentration Camps that he would never have even attempted to make the film. If you do view the film in that light, then yes it does seem perhaps in bad taste for a film to treat the likes of Hitler with a humorous jab...but with the years removed, I feel like the film has aged immensely well.
Two moments in particular are simply among the best scenes in film history. From a lighter standpoint, you have Chaplin's as the Hitler counterpart, Adenoid Hynkel, bouncing around a huge globe as if it were a balloon. And perhaps Chaplin's finest dramatic moment, a monologue (which is done as his hero character, the Jewish Barber) in which he talks about equality for all and uniting the world.
The Great Dictator is one of those films that I would've always considered be required viewing but it feels especially necessary to view these days. There is a reason why that dramatic monologue I mentioned got frequent shares on social media in the last few years...and you know what? If you haven't seen it, watch the clip:
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#4-Late Spring (1949)
Directed by Yosijuro Ozu
I feel a certain joy to finally be able to discuss the absolute genius that is Yosijuro Ozu.
While many people talk about Akira Kurosawa when it comes to important filmmakers of this era, particularly that of Asian cinema, I think I might have an bigger appreciation for Ozu and his vision.
Kurosawa was a genius too and I am not knocking him by any means, but Ozu's work was usually warm and comforting...or quietly devastating. Ozu specialized in what could be realistic domestic dramas but in the setting of post-war Japan.
His films also have very basic themes that are often set around a certain time of day or a certain time of year. The first example of this was Late Spring, which tackles the idea of whether or not a woman should have to get married in order to appease society. In addition to that, we see it through the eyes of her father who really wants her to get married.
Ozu loved family dynamics, particularly those that were related to generational gaps...which feels very apparent in today's world when we have Boomers and Millennials often insulting each other...even if I do feel perhaps we Millennials have a right to be angry...but that is an argument for another day. ;-)
Ozu is also a filmmaker that wasn't as concerned with glamorous cinematography or many stylized motifs. I would even argue that some of his films might make others feel a little awkward due to some static editing and actors who frequently talk directly into the camera...but what this film lacks in a certain visual spark is definitely made up with a strong emotional current.
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#3-Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
If only Vittorio De Sica could've lived to see that his magnum opus would serve as the inspiration for the Paul Reubens/Tim Burton classic Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
For what might be my selection of the finest film to come out of the Italian Neorealism Movement, Bicycle Thieves tells the story of Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani), a poor husband/father who has obtained work by plastering paper ads throughout Rome. In order to do the job, he must use a bicycle...which, at first, makes him turn down the job as they can't afford a bicycle. It isn't until his wife pawns off several possessions that he can get a proper bicycle to do his work.
As is no surprise, on his first day of work he ends up getting his bike stolen while he is high up on a ladder plastering an ad to the wall. This leads him on an odyssey of sorts to try to obtain the bike so he can actually do his job and provide for his family.
I might have joked about its inspiration towards Pee Wee's Big Adventure, but the truth is that this film has been cited as an inspiration to many filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Martin Scorsese, Ken Loach, Bimal Roy, and several others.
Even as a kid, Bicycle Thieves was a movie I heard referenced often on any show I might have watched that discussed film history...and it was also one of the first foreign films I watched and fell in love with.
It's importance and value is undeniable.
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#2-Les Enfants du Paradis 'Children of Paradise' (1945)
Directed by Marcel Carne
"I would give up all of my films to have directed 'Les Enfants du Paradis" - Francois Truffaut
It is always interesting to see what films are the major inspiration for a director, and for the man who basically set off the French New Wave in the late 1950s, it isn't a surprise that he took a major liking to, using the English title, Children of Paradise; a film that is often considered a true landmark in the history of French cinema.
Children of Paradise revolves around the theatrical community of 1830 Paris. The main focus is on four gentlemen: an actor, an aristrocrat, a criminal, and a mime who all vie for the attention of a courtesan named Garange.
A fairly simplistic plot though it is truly an epic film. At 3 hours in length, when Children of Paradise was released in the US, it was dubbed "the French answer to Gone with the Wind" based on acclaim and its scope.
What is also truly remarkable about this film is the rather horrific conditions in which it was made. Carne had to make this film under France's German Occupation of WWII which made for a lot delicate preparation and sneaking around on behalf of the filmmakers...not to mention many sets being destroyed due to both natural causes and by the Nazis.
In truth, it is a better film than the problematic Gone with the Wind but sadly one that doesn't seem to be well remembered today outside of film fanatic circles.
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#1-Casablanca (1942)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
In this case, I worked up to a cliched choice but so be it.
If I were to choose a classic film from the supposed "Golden Age of Hollywood" to be my favorite, my selection would be Casablanca. This is probably still a tad controversial because a lot of cinephiles would notice that this top 10 list is void of the film that is often called the "Greatest American Film": Citizen Kane.
My opinion on Citizen Kane is that it is a revolutionary film that takes chances and was directed with immense style...but it is not a film that I love. Frankly, if we are basing this list strictly on artistic merit, I might have to include that film here but I am also trying to consider films I consider to be masterpieces that I also find to be films that I also love on a deeper level than just the aesthetics...but hey, this is just my opinion after all.
Casablanca being my #1 choice is probably going to be one of the more anti-climatic selections for the top slot, but I find the film to be the perfect mix of solid ingredients where you may not necessarily marvel at them if one were all by itself, but together they make a truly iconic film.
If I want to praise anything from this film on its own, I would say it is the iconic screenplay. Seriously, how many classic lines are remembered from this script?
"Play it Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'".
"Of all the gin joints and all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine".
"We'll always have Paris".
"Here's looking at you, kid".
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship".
And there are still a couple of others that would fall into this classic category!
Much like when I brought up The Wizard of Oz when discussing my list for the 1930s, I feel like Casbalanca is one of those films that people just seem to know about, even if they haven't seen it. I just feel like if you want to give a film as an example of what could be great about Classic Hollywood, I would always point to Casablanca.
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IN CONCLUSION:
With the 1940s, you see cinema slowly slipping away from the idea of escapism and slowly moving towards the idea of realism...and I find myself finding seeds planted within this decade of the rather bold explosion of content that would soon come from International Cinema in the 1950s and, to a lesser extent, American Cinema.
Realism in film and soon following with the concept of Method acting would be the true groundwork for the kind of films that would change the shape of what could be told onscreen by the late 60s/early 70s...so yes, the 1950s are an important decade and one I will be excited to discuss soon.
Until then, thanks for reading!
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