The 1930s and 1940s were unmistakably a terribly difficult time for both the United States and the rest of the world. Between the Great Depression and the Second World War, the world went through unspeakable tragedies. War brings out the worst in humanity and that was evident during the events of World War II. The war started just after the Great Depression ended in 1939 and lasted until September 1945. The world was put through six years of devastation and unnecessary loss of human life. People at home needed something to help them escape the harsh realities of the state of the world. Many people turned to the movies.
As with the Great Depression, there were actually a surprising amount of incredible movies that were made and released during WWII. For over a hundred years movies have been a source of comfort for people and a way to escape to a world that is outside their own, and that was more true than ever during the war. People needed to experience something that would excite them, thrill them, make them laugh, and make them feel something other than fear and worry. Many wonderful, enthralling movies were made during this time, so here are ten of the best movies released during World War II.
9 Gaslight (1944)
George Cukor's Gaslight was the film that won Swedish-American actress Ingrid Bergman her first of three Academy Awards. The film is set in the 1880s and follows a recently married woman who returns from Italy to her former London home ten years after hr aunt was murdered in the very same house. Her new husband takes a strange obsessive interest in the home, an interest so strong that it may drive her to a breaking point. As Paula (Bergman) begins to notice odd things occur around the house, such as missing pictures and gaslights that dim on their own, Gregory's intentions are questioned and Paula's sanity tested. It's one of Bergman's best performances and one of the most exciting thrillers of the '40s. It is also where the modern-day term "gaslighting" comes from.
8 Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Cary Grant is one of the Golden Age's favorite leading men, if not their favorite. Grant's charismatic personality and handsome good looks lead to people describing his presence as the "Cary Grant" persona. He is excellent in any genre of film, but he particularly excels in comedy. His comedy is always timed perfectly and both his facial expression and his body language conveys physical comedy like a trained comedian.
In Frank Capra's Arsenic and Old Lace, Grant plays a writer named Mortimer Brewster who is known for his dislike of marriage. When he does decide to finally get married, her brings his fiancée to his aunts' house to tell them the news. Much to his surprise, he discovers that his two single aunts have a disturbing hobby; killing lonely old men and hiding them in their basement. Everyone in Mortimer's family is completely off their rockers in the best way. The chaos that is constantly in his aunts' house stemming from them is already hilarious, but the chaos that ensues due to his cousin who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt is uproariously funny.
7 Suspicion (1941)
The beginning of the long-running partnership between auteur director Alfred Hitchcock and his devilishly handsome right-hand man Cary Grant started with his 1941 thriller Suspicion. This was one of the first film that showcased Grant's acting chops beyond comedy. The film-noir follows a shy young heiress named Lina (Joan Fontaine) after she marries a charming man named Johnnie Aysgarth (Grant). All is well in couple's paradise until Lina begins to suspect Johnnie is planning to murder her.
Hitchcock utilized Grant's natural comedic abilities to have Johnnie charm the audience while simultaneously using his dark eyes to convey the look of a potential murderer. Hitchcock desperately wanted the suave Grant to be the killer of his story, but the studios did not like the idea of their handsome gentleman star portraying the villain. Still, at the end of the film, as he drapes his arms around Lina, the audience is left to ponder whether Johnnie is a good guy or not.
6 Citizen Kane (1941)
Orson Welles' Citizen Kane is often regarded as one of the most important and influential films of all time. Welles' directorial debut is loosely based on the life of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, which Hearst was famously against. The film starts after the death of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane as reporters scramble to decipher the meaning of the millionaire's last word spoken, which was "rosebud". From then on, the events of Kane's life leading up to his death are shown through a series of flashbacks that detail his rise to success and his ultimate downfall. The story is told from the perspectives of four different people who were close to Kane, all giving their own version of the media mogul's life.
While it is considered one of the greatest movies of all time now and frequently included in lists of the best film ever made, it wasn't always that way. The movie was a box office flop and faded into obscurity despite nine Academy Award nominations, until the '50s when it was shown internationally and received praise from foreign critics. The unique structure and editing of the film were considered to be a huge accomplishment for its time, which has led to the declaration by many critics that it is one of the best films.
5 The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Serving as both one of James Stewart's earlier starring roles and the reunion of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, The Philadelphia Story centers around Philadelphia socialites Tracy Lord (Hepburn) and C.K. Dexter (Grant) who impulsively married and just as quickly and passionately divorced. Two years later, Tracy is set to remarry an ordinary businessman at her family's mansion when two unexpected guests arrive; Macaulay "Mike" Connor (Stewart), a friend of her absent brother, and Dexter. Dexter is now a tabloid reporter looking to get the inside scoop on Tracy's new marriage, and Mike is a writer who agreed to write a story about the Lord family. In true rom-com fashion, a love triangle forms between the three, and shenanigans ensue the day before the wedding of the century. The pairing of Grant, Stewart, and Hepburn is genius and makes for a thoroughly entertaining and delightful story about love and gossip.
4 The Lady Eve (1941)
Preston Sturges' classic rom-com The Lady Eve is perhaps one of the best to be released during World War II. The film stars Golden Age icon Barbara Stanwyck as Jean Harrington, a con artist. Jean meets a wealthy but unsophisticated man named Charles Pike (Henry Fonda) on a cruise and the two fall in love. However, a miscommunication causes the couple to split on bad terms. To get back at him, Jean disguises herself as an English woman named Eve just to tease and irritate him. This is a perfect example of a screwball comedy at its best. Jean/Eve consistently outsmarts and outwits Charles as he stumbles around clueless to the rouse Jean has constructed. It's funny, charming, and endearing.
3 His Girl Friday (1940)
Cary Grant was truly Hollywood's favorite actor to cast in the '40s. In Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday, Grant plays Walter, the editor-in-chief of The Morning Post newspaper in New York. His star reporter Hildy (Rosalind Russell), who also happens to be his ex-wife, walks into his office to tell him she's quitting and boarding a train to Albany where she is getting remarried to an insurance agent named Bruce (Ralph Bellamy). Realizing that he doesn't want to lose Hildy as a reporter or a wife, Walter decides to do anything he can to persuade her to stay for good. From dangling a juicy story in her face to continuously painting Bruce in a bad light, Walter makes it his mission to prevent Hildy from getting on the train. Walter's desperation to keep Hildy in his life creates a completely chaotic environment in the newsroom that keeps a bustling atmosphere the entire time. The dialogue is whip-smart and quickly delivered.
2 Mildred Pierce (1945)
Michael Curtiz's film noir Mildred Pierce was released about a month and a half after World War II ended, but it was filmed during the war. Film noirs were extremely popular in the '40s, but it was somewhat rare to see a female-led story in the genre. The film revolves around the titular character, played expertly by Joan Crawford, who is a hard-working mother that makes personal sacrifices in order to support the wealthy lifestyle of her spoiled daughter Veda (Ann Blyth).
After divorcing her husband, Mildred opens up a successful restaurant to continue to uphold the ritzy lifestyle Veda has grown accustom to. No matter what her mother does for her or how much she sacrifices, it is never enough for Veda. She grows into a cold, calculating young woman who would figuratively (and probably literally) throw her mother under the bus if meant she could continue to live the life she believes she is owed. Veda is a horribly selfish character, and the film puts a daker spin on the mother-daughter relationship by emphasizing the intricate complexities of the power dynamic.
1 Casablanca (1942)
"Here's looking at you, kid" is quite possibly one of the most famous lines uttered in any movie in film history. Which is fitting, considering Casablanca is one of the most cherished pictures of all time. As the only movie on this list to directly tie into the war that was happening in real-life, Casablanca follows a cynical expatriate American café owner in Morocco as he deals with the war and reminisces about time spent with the love of his life. Rick's (Humphrey Bogart) life is turned completely upside down when his former love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) waltzes into his café seeking help to leave Morocco. Now, Rick must decide whether to help Ilsa and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis.
Part war drama, part whirlwind romance, Casablanca is perhaps one of the greatest movies of all time, and certainly the best to be released during WWII. Bogart and Bergman's chemistry is still palpable over 80 years later, as is the fear people felt during the war. It is a beautiful yet heartbreaking story of love and loss, but somehow it is also an oddly comforting film.
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