1940s

  • Michael Curtiz – The Sea Wolf (1941)

    1941-1950AdventureClassicsMichael CurtizUSA

    Synopsis:
    Humphrey van Weyden, a writer, and fugitives Ruth Webster and George Leach have been given refuge aboard the sealer “Ghost,” captained by the cruel Wolf Larsen. The crew mutinies against Larsen’s many crimes, and though van Weyden, Ruth, and George try to escape Larsen’s clutches, they find themselves drawn inexorably back to him as the “Ghost” sails toward disaster.Read More »

  • Mitchell Leisen – Remember the Night (1940)

    1931-1940DramaMitchell LeisenRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    Just before Christmas, Lee Leander is caught shoplifting. It is her third offense. She is prosecuted by John Sargent. He postpones the trial because it is hard to get a conviction at Christmas time. But he feels sorry for her and arranges for her bail, and ends up taking her home to his mother for Christmas. Surrounded by a loving family (in stark contrast to Lee’s own family background) they fall in love. This creates a new problem: how do they handle the upcoming trial?Read More »

  • David Lean – This Happy Breed (1944)

    Drama1941-1950ComedyDavid LeanUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis:
    David Lean brings to vivid emotional life Noël Coward’s epic chronicle of a working-class family in the London suburbs over the course of two decades. Robert Newton and Celia Johnson are surpassingly affecting as Frank and Ethel Gibbons, a couple with three children whose modest household is touched by joy and tragedy from the tail end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second. With its mix of politics and melodrama, This Happy Breed is a quintessential British domestic drama, featuring subtly expressive Technicolor cinematography by Ronald Neame and a remarkable supporting cast including John Mills, Stanley Holloway, and Kay Walsh.Read More »

  • Laurence Olivier – Hamlet (1948)

    Drama1941-1950ClassicsLaurence OlivierUnited KingdomWilliam Shakespeare

    Olivier’s Hamlet is the Shakespeare film that has received the most prestigious accolades, winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor. However, it was poorly received by Shakespearean purists, who felt that Olivier had made too many alterations and excisions to the four-hour play by cutting nearly two hours worth of content.Read More »

  • Curtis Harrington – Fragment of Seeking (1946)

    1941-1950Curtis HarringtonExperimentalQueer Cinema(s)Short FilmUSA

    Quote:
    Harrington plays a young man desperately seeking out the fleeting image of a female companion, and though he never quite catches her, he discovers much more through the surreal explorations of his own sexuality. Made a year before Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks, the films contain some similarities in their treatment of homoerotic themes, though Fragment is more restrained and subtle.Read More »

  • Vincente Minnelli & Busby Berkeley – Cabin in the Sky (1943)

    1941-1950Busby BerkeleyFantasyMusicalUSAVincente Minnelli

    Synopsis:
    Chronic gambler and carouser “Little” Joe Jackson is shot by Domino Johnson at Jim Henry’s gambling club over an outstanding gambling debt. Little Joe’s wife, the God-fearing Petunia Jackson, prays not only for her husband’s mortal life, but also his eternal soul as she’s afraid that if he dies now, he, despite not being an evil man, won’t make it into heaven. As Little Joe is close to death, he is visited by agents of both the Lord and of Lucifer. They make a deal with him: they will give him six months to atone for the errors of his human life.Read More »

  • Robert Florey – Danger Signal (1945)

    1941-1950Film NoirRobert FloreyUSA

    Quote:
    A mysterious artist – and psychopath – named Ronnie Mason, steals a dead woman’s wedding ring and money and leaves a fake suicide note. The woman’s husband, Thomas Turner, when questioned by the local police, believes his dead wife might have been seeing Mason behind his back. He also believes his wife was murdered, but in the absence of other evidence, the police list it as a suicide and drop the case.Read More »

  • Alfred Hitchcock – Saboteur (1942)

    1941-1950Alfred HitchcockClassicsThrillerUSA

    Synopsis:
    Los Angeles aircraft worker Barry Kane evades arrest after he is unjustly accused of sabotage. Following leads, he travels across the country to New York City trying to clear his name by exposing a gang of fascist-supporting saboteurs led by apparently respectable Charles Tobin. Along the way, he involves Pat Martin, eventually preventing another major act of sabotage. They finally catch up with Frank Frye, the man who actually committed the act of sabotage at the aircraft factory.Read More »

  • Carl Theodor Dreyer – De nåede færgen AKA They Caught the Ferry (1948)

    1941-1950Carl Theodor DreyerDenmarkDramaShort Film

    Quote:
    This short movie is meant as a propaganda against fast driving. In 1948 there where no speed limits in Denmark (and only few motor vehicles) but it began to be a problem. The movie tells about a young couple driving on a motorbike to reach the ferry. But death is out after them, as a truck driver on the road. The question is if they will make the ferry, have an appointment with death or both?Read More »

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