Films of 1940
These are the films I have seen from the year 1940.
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- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsRaymond MasseyGene LockhartRuth GordonHumble Abraham Lincoln gains the respect of his Illinois neighbors, growing in stature and respect until he is elected President in 1860 and departs for Washington.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsBette DavisCharles BoyerJeffrey LynnA duchess' irrational behavior toward her children's governess triggers tragic events that will change her family's lives forever.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsLewis StoneMickey RooneyCecilia ParkerJudge Hardy takes his family to New York City, where Andy quickly falls in love with a socialite. However, he finds the high society life too expensive and eventually decides that he liked it better back home.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsClaudette ColbertRay MillandDennis O'KeefeA dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsW.C. FieldsCora WitherspoonUna MerkelHenpecked Egbert Sousé has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.
- 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.
- DirectorStuart HeislerStarsBilly LeeCordell HickmanRichard LaneTwo little boys have faith in a dog they name Promise, so much faith that they enter him in the championship trials for bird dogs. The favorite is Georgia Boy bred and trained by the boys' fathers. And if Georgia Boy doesn't win, the fathers may both lose their jobs.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsDick PowellEllen DrewRaymond WalburnAfter the co-workers of an ambitious clerk trick him into thinking he has won $25,000 in a slogan contest, he begins to use the money to fulfill his dreams. What will happen when the ruse is discovered?
- DirectorAlfred J. GouldingStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyForrester HarveyAs a reward for capturing a bank robber, Stan and Ollie get scholarships to Oxford, but are met with resentment by other students.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsClark GableHedy LamarrOscar HomolkaAn American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsAnn SothernJohn CarrollRita JohnsonBrooklyn showgirl Maisie gets stranded in the African jungle with a romantic doctor.
- DirectorDorothy ArznerRoy Del RuthStarsMaureen O'HaraLouis HaywardLucille BallWhen a troupe of danseuses becomes unemployed, one of them takes up burlesque dancing while another dreams of performing ballet.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsEdward G. RobinsonRuth GordonOtto KrugerTrue story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.
- DirectorHarold S. BucquetStarsLew AyresLionel BarrymoreLaraine DayDr. James Kildare has just completed his internship at Blair General Hospital and is assigned to work with his mentor, Dr. Leonard Gillespie. But fearing for the health of his father, Dr. Stephen Kildare, he returns to his parents home to help him with his excessive workload. Dr. Kildaire Sr. is servicing a wide area ever since the doctors in neighboring towns moved elsewhere. Noting that three doctors at Blair General are doing menial jobs because they can't start their own practices, Kildare conceives the idea of building a clinic in Parkersville to be serviced by the three doctors and financed by the townsfolk paying ten cents a week to subscribe to the service. But influential men in Parkersville provide serious opposition to the plan.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsDon AmecheBetty GrableCarmen MirandaAn American girl on vacation in Argentina falls for a wealthy racehorse owner.
- DirectorS. Sylvan SimonStarsAnn SothernIan HunterRoland YoungA dizzy young woman aranges to turn her inventor-boyfriend's vacation into a chance meeting with a possible investor who happens to be her brother's future father-in-law. And Wacky stuff happens.
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongFord Beebe Jr.StarsLeopold StokowskiDeems TaylorThe Philadelphia OrchestraA series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJoel McCreaLaraine DayHerbert MarshallOn the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsAnton WalbrookDiana WynyardFrank PettingellTwenty years after the murder of Alice Barlow, her house is finally occupied again. However, the husband from the couple who have moved in has a secret which he will do anything to keep hidden.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsBob HopePaulette GoddardRichard CarlsonA radio broadcaster, his quaking manservant and an heiress investigate the mystery of a haunted castle in Cuba.
- DirectorEdward BuzzellStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxThe Marx Brothers come to the rescue in the Wild West when a young man, trying to settle an old family feud so he can marry the girl he loves, runs afoul of crooks.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardJack OakieDictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBrian DonlevyMuriel AngelusAkim TamiroffDan McGinty has great success in his chosen field of crooked politics, but he endangers it all in one crazy moment of honesty.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsRosalind RussellBrian AherneVirginia BruceCEO Stephen marries his secretary Kendal in name only, an arrangement made to protect his finances from an attempt at a hostile business takeover. Once the threat is neutralized, he asks Kendal for a divorce but she refuses.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph BellamyA newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsCary GrantMartha ScottCedric HardwickeJust prior to the American War of Independence, aristocratic Virginian Jane Peyton marries unsophisticated rustic farmer and surveyor Matt Howard who takes her to his Shenandoah Valley plantation and later goes to war.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsFrank MorganVirginia GreyDan DaileyA movie musical centered on merrily befogged Merriweather's attempt to restore his career - all while reuniting with his three children (from his three alimony-seeking ex-wives!).
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyFrank McHughBoring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.
- DirectorGregory RatoffStarsVera ZorinaRichard GreeneErich von StroheimA pair of crooks (von Stroheim and Lorre) use a phony countess (Zorina) who winds up falling in love with one of their victims (Greene).
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsVirginia BruceJohn BarrymoreJohn HowardAn attractive model with an ulterior motive volunteers as guinea pig for an invisibility machine.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsDeanna DurbinKay FrancisWalter PidgeonAn aspiring actress is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more seasoned performer, expects the same part. The situation is further complicated when they both become involved with the same man.
- DirectorVeit HarlanStarsFerdinand MarianKristina SöderbaumHeinrich GeorgeInfamous anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda historical drama about Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg and his treasurer Süß Oppenheimer.a/k/a 'Jew Suss'
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGinger RogersDennis MorganJames CraigA hard-working white-collar girl from a middle-class family meets and falls in love with a young socialite, but she soon clashes with his family.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBette DavisHerbert MarshallJames StephensonThe wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneThomas MitchellIan HunterA merchant ship's crew tries to survive the loneliness of the sea and the coming of war.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsRonald ColmanGinger RogersJack CarsonTwo strangers share a sweepstakes ticket and then embark on an "imaginary" honeymoon with their "winnings".
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsMargaret SullavanJames StewartRobert YoungThe Roth family leads a quiet life in a small village in the German Alps during the early 1930s. After the Nazis come to power, the family is divided and Martin Breitner, a family friend, is caught up in the turmoil.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsIrene DunneCary GrantRandolph ScottMissing for seven years and presumed dead, a woman returns home on the day of her husband's second marriage.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardW.S. Van DykeStarsJeanette MacDonaldNelson EddyMary BolandOn a Louisiana-bound ship, a nobleman planning a campaign for liberty encounters an heiress.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
- 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.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsWilliam HoldenMartha ScottFay BainterChange comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
- DirectorNorman FergusonT. HeeWilfred JacksonStarsDickie JonesChristian RubMel BlancA living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsGreer GarsonLaurence OlivierMary BolandThe arrival of wealthy bachelors in town causes an uproar when families with single daughters aggressively seek engagements, including the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsGinger RogersJoel McCreaMarjorie RambeauA young woman from a family of prostitutes falls in love with a hard-working man, but when he finds out the truth about her background, their romance becomes jeopardized.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsHenry FondaGene TierneyJackie CooperFrank James continues to avoid arrest in order to take revenge on the Ford brothers for their murder of his brother Jesse.
- DirectorVictor SchertzingerStarsBing CrosbyBob HopeDorothy LamourTwo playboys try to forget previous romances in Singapore - until they meet a beautiful dancer.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMargaret SullavanJames StewartFrank MorganTwo employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsLinda DarnellJohn PayneRoland YoungCarolyn Sayres gets a Hollywood contract from talent scout Brooke but is later rejected because she's too young. She falls in love with Bud Borden, another contractee who helps her to become a star. Based partly on Darnell's early experiences in Hollywood. Wharton is a parody of Zanuck.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsClark GableJoan CrawfordIan HunterConvicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure (Ian Hunter).
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsMickey RooneyJudy GarlandPaul WhitemanA high-school boy wants to become a professional musician, and his gal pal wants to become his best girl. They work together staging big-band shows with fellow classmates in the hopes of hitting it big.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJoan CrawfordFredric MarchRuth HusseySusan Trexel is a wealthy socialite who, while vacationing in Europe undergoes a religious transformation. On her return to America, Susan takes on the task of spreading her new-found religious experience with her closest friends - only to drive them crazy. Meanwhile, her husband Barrie, and daughter Blossom yearn for a stable family life. Barrie will even become sober, hoping that Susan will heed her own advice, and save their marriage and family.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsGeorge RaftHumphrey BogartAnn SheridanWhen one of two truck-driving brothers loses an arm, they both join a transport company where the other is falsely charged as an accessory in the murder of the owner.
- DirectorLudwig BergerMichael PowellTim WhelanStarsConrad VeidtSabuJune DuprezAfter being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsMyrna LoyMelvyn DouglasRaymond WalburnA single magazine editor pretends to be married in order to avoid advances from male colleagues, but complications ensue when she meets a potential suitor.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsAlice FayeBetty GrableJack OakieSongwriters Calhoun and Harrigan get Katie and Lily Blane to introduce a new one. Lily goes to England, and Katy joins her after the boys give a new song to Nora Bayes. All are reunited when the boys, now in the army, show up in England.
- DirectorGeorge AbbottStarsLucille BallRichard CarlsonAnn MillerA young lady goes to college, and without her knowledge, her father sends four football players as her bodyguards. They eventually join the college team and turn it into one the best--and one of them falls in love with her.
- DirectorS. Sylvan SimonStarsLana TurnerJoan BlondellGeorge MurphyEddie sells his song to a Broadway producer and also lands a job dancing in the musical. He sends for his dance partner-fiancée Molly who brings her younger sister Pat. Upon seeing Molly and Pat dance, the producer picks Pat for the show and gives Molly a job selling cigarettes. A wealthy friend of the producer named Chad, also has is eye on Pat. Pat is teamed with Eddie in the specialty number as Kerns and Mahoney. Pat and Eddie soon realize that they are in love and must tell Molly. Pat balks at hurting Molly and goes out with Chad who already has five ex-wives.
- DirectorHal RoachStarsAdolphe MenjouCarole LandisJohn HubbardBickering husband and wife Tim and Sally Willows mutter a few angry words to a statue of Buddha and wind up living each other's life.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanDoris DavenportJudge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsShirley TempleJack OakieCharlotte GreenwoodA show business family leaves the Great White Way and heads to a farm in New England. What results are the difficulties they have before they are accepted by the community.