Listmania!
Viewing Pleasures 1940s
His Girl Friday [1940]His Girl Friday [1940]
Buy used from: £0.65
The best dialogue ever in a film, that is both hilarious & caustic...
A Matter Of Life And Death [1946]A Matter Of Life And Death [1946]
Buy used from: £0.24
Heaven is a bad idea. See also Canterbury Tale- just to see where that jump cut in 2001 really came from...
Rome, Open City [1945]Rome, Open City [1945]
Buy used from: £9.99
Shot as World War II ended- a key work of Italian Neo-Realism. An influence on Paths of Glory & Schindler's List.
The Spiral Staircase [1946]The Spiral Staircase [1946]
Buy used from: £4.95
Messed up horror-thriller that should be watched alone in a dark room alongside The Haunting (1962).
Orphee [1949]Orphee [1949]
Buy used from: £4.50
One of the greatest films ever created; cinema functioning as a dream (and vice versa).
Out Of The Past [1947]Out Of The Past [1947]
Buy used from: £2.00
aka Build My Gallows High. Excellent film noir that is mentioned in Paul Auster's New York Trilogy.
It's A Wonderful Life [1946]It's A Wonderful Life [1946]
Buy used from: £0.37
Dark and upbeat- Frank Capra's film still does it for me, like a more naive Wings of Desire...
Dead Of Night [1945]Dead Of Night [1945]
Buy used from: £2.98
Dreams & Nightmares compound- amazing how similar work was made to the backdrop of WWII.
The Third Man [1949]The Third Man [1949]
Buy used from: £1.65
Excellent Graham Greene adaptation by Carol Reed.
Brief Encounter [1945]Brief Encounter [1945]
Buy used from: £0.01
David Lean & Noel Coward made this elegy for an affair that couldn't last. Influenced The Apartment (1960)
The Red Shoes [1948]The Red Shoes [1948]
Buy used from: £1.50
Art versus Love in this sublime Powell/Pressburger film whose colours reel the senses. Another of my all time faves...
The Grapes Of Wrath [1940]The Grapes Of Wrath [1940]
Buy used from: £1.75
John Ford's perfect adaptation of John Steinbeck's brilliant depression era novel. An influence on Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)
Citizen Kane - The Classic Story Of Power And The Press / Reflections On Citizen Kane [1941] [1942]Citizen Kane - The Classic Story Of Power And The Press / Reflections On Citizen Kane [1941] [1942]
Buy new: £1.49 / Used from: £0.01
You might want to object, or voice criticisms, but no one can deny the significance of this film...
Bicycle Thieves [1948]Bicycle Thieves [1948]
Buy used from: £3.48
Another major work of Italian Neo-Realism. Mentioned in My So-Called Life, which is fine by me.
La Belle Et La Bete [1946]La Belle Et La Bete [1946]
Buy used from: £4.50
Another key work from Jean Cocteau that demonstrates the magical powers of cinema.
Casablanca [1942]Casablanca [1942]
Buy used from: £0.01
Entertaining, intelligent & touching: a usual suspect amongst the best films ever made.
Ossessione [1942]Ossessione [1942]
Buy used from: £2.85
The first work of Italian Neo-Realism & an unofficial adaptation of Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice.
Gilda [1946]Gilda [1946]
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The use of a poster of this in Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001) might offer a clue.
Spellbound [1945]Spellbound [1945]
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Fun psychological thriller from Hitchcock with top dream sequence from Salvador Dali.
Cat People [1942]Cat People [1942]
Buy used from: £4.98
Brilliant blend of horror & sexuality that is far superior to Paul Schrader's remake in the 1980s.
Trapeze [1956]Trapeze [1956]
Buy used from: £3.74
Dark adventure film from John Huston, with great performances from Bogie & his pop, Walter.
"Double Indemnity" (BFI Film Classics)"Double Indemnity" (BFI Film Classics) by Richard Schickel
Buy new: £8.52 / Used from: £7.95
Why is Billy Wilder's classic film noir unavailable? And where are The Lost Weekend & Ace in the Hole, while we're at it?
The Philadelphia Story [1941]The Philadelphia Story [1941]
Buy used from: £1.99
Excellent film remade as musical High Society; I prefer this however...
Henry V [1944]Henry V [1944]
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £2.40
Much better than Kenneth Branagh's version.
Ivan The Terrible - Part 1 [1944]Ivan The Terrible - Part 1 [1944]
Buy used from: £5.77
First part of Eisenstein's key biopic, described as a 'visual opera' & an influence on Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995).