Top Movies of the 1940s

This page offers lists of the top movies of the decade as determined by two different metrics. The first list is based on box office and the second is based on critics’ picks.

Box Office: Top 20 of the 1940s These are the top 20 movies of the decade as determined by worldwide box office gross adjusted for inflation. The first number indicates dollars made in millions. See sources for box office figures here.

1) Bambi (1942) 2) Pinocchio (1940) 3) This Is the Army (1943) 4) Fantasia (1940) 5) The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 6) Mrs. Miniver (1942) 7) Random Harvest (1942) 8) The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945) 9) Going My Way (1944) 10) Duel in the Sun (1946) 11) Sergeant York (1941) 12) Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) 13) Casablanca (1942) 14) The Great Dictator (1940) 15) How Green Was My Valley (1941) 16) Rebecca (1940) 17) Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) 18) The Lost Weekend (1945) 19) Song of the South (1946) 20) The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Critics’ Picks: Top 25 of the Decade These are the top 25 movies of the decade as determined by a combination of the movies’ ratings points and awards points.

1) Citizen Kane (1941) 2) Casablanca (1942) 3) The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 4) 55.00: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 5) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 6) It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) 7) Double Indemnity (1944) 8) The Philadelphia Story (1940) 9) The Lost Weekend (1945) 10) Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette) (1948) 11) The Third Man (1949) 12) The Maltese Falcon (1941) 13) Rebecca (1940) 14) Going My Way (1944) 15) How Green Was My Valley (1941) 16) All the King’s Men (1949) 17) Pinocchio (1940) 18) Children of Paris (Les Enfants du Paradis) (1945) 19) Bambi (1942) 20) Notorious (1946) 21) Laura (1944) 22) His Girl Friday (1940) 23) Fantasia (1940) 24) Mrs. Miniver (1942) 25) The Red Shoes (1948)

Resources: Dave’s Movie Database: Eras Dave’s Movie Database: Movies of the Year Dave’s Movie Database: Box Office Dave’s Movie Database: Awards Page Dave’s Movie Database: Ratings Page Originally posted 3/8/2025.

Ultimate Movie Rankings: Top 100 Movies

Originally posted 7/31/2019.

The website says UltimateMovieRankings.com has rated more than 20,000 movies, each with a minimum of five sources, such as the Internet Movie Database, Rotten Tomatoes, and MetaCritic. The site published its list of best review movies in 2015 (article isn’t dated, but that’s when the earliest comments on the post appear).

In 2018 (again, based on comments since article isn’t dated), the site published a list of the top 100 movies and factored box office and awards in as well as ratings.

Here is the result of aggregating the two lists:

---

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. Schindler’s List (1993)
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. The Godfather Part II (1974)
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
6. On the Waterfront (1954)
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
9. Rebecca (1940)
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

11. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
12. Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
13. It Happened One Night (1934)
14. All About Eve (1950)
15. Pulp Fiction (1994)
16. Apocalypse Now (1979)
17. Toy Story 3 (2010)
18. Gone with the Wind (1939)
19. Patton (1970)
20. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

21. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
22. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
23. Unforgiven (1992)
24. Jaws (1975)
25. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
26. Annie Hall (1977)
27. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
28. Amadeus (1984)
29. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
30. The Great Dictator (1940)

31. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
32. Rear Window (1954)
33. Tokyo Story (Tôkyô Monogatari) (1953)
34. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
35. 12 Angry Men (1957)
36. North by Northwest (1959)
37. Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
38. Ben-Hur (1959)
39. The Seven Samurai (Schichinin no Samurai) (1954)
40. The Apartment (1960)

41. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
42. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
43. Aliens (1986)
44. My Fair Lady (1964)
45. Once Upon a Time in the West (C’era Una Volta Il West) (1968)
46. Goodfellas (1990)
47. Gladiator (2000)
48. The Sound of Music (1965)
49. Chinatown (1974)
50. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

51. The French Connection (1971)
52. Double Indemnity (1944)
53. American Beauty (1999)
54. Modern Times (1936)
55. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
56. The Lost Weekend (1945)
57. Psycho (1960)
58. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
59. Some Like It Hot (1959)
60. Platoon (1986)

61. Mrs. Miniver (1942)
62. Terms of Endearment (1983)
63. Vertigo (1958)
64. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
65. West Side Story (1961)
66. Rain Man (1988)
67. Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) (2002)
68. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
69. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
70. Taxi Driver (1976)

71. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
72. The Dark Knight (2008)
73. Dances with Wolves (1990)
74. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
75. Forrest Gump (1994)
76. Going My Way (1944)
77. Titanic (1997)
78. The Sting (1973)
79. L.A. Confidential (1997)
80. Rocky (1976)

81. White Heat (1949)
82. Oliver! (1968)
83. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
84. An American in Paris (1951)
85. The Kid (1921)
86. Alien (1979)
87. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
88. Chicago (2002)
89. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
90. Raging Bull (1980)

91. Citizen Kane (1941)
92. Toy Story (1995)
93. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
94. From Here to Eternity (1953)
95. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
96. Strangers on a Train (1951)
97. Up (2009)
98. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
99. Whiplash (2014)
100. The Deer Hunter (1978)

---

Resources:

• UltimateMovieRankings.com (2/21/2018). “Top 100 Movies”
• UltimateMovieRankings.com (5/26/2015). “Top 100 Best Reviewed Movies”

---

50 years ago: The Best Years of Our Lives released

The Best Years of Our Lives Released: November 21, 1946 Studio: RKO Genre: war/romance drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 23.65 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 539.60 Worldwide: 803.50

Directing: William Wyler Screenwriting: Robert E. Sherwood Starring: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell Review: This was the kind of story “Hollywood typically avoided.” MSN In this “landmark, classic drama,” FS “Robert Sherwood’s script from MacKinlay Kantor’s book perfectly captured mood of postwar U.S.; still powerful today.” LM Three World War II veterans return home to their small town and “face a number of emotional conflicts, and try to put their lives back together,” VD “attempting readjustment to peacetime life and discovering that they have fallen behind.” FS The three servicemen “from different strata of society” AFI’98 are “an Army Sergeant (March) who turns to drinking, an Air Force major (Andrews) who is rejected by his wife (Mayo), and a seaman who has lost both arms (Russell) and agonizes over his relationship with his girlfriend (O’Donnell).” FS It “was the right film at the right time – mirroring the experiences of so many soldiers adjusting to a new life.” A07 In his first picture, “Harold Russell, a non-actor and war veteran who was an actual amputee,” FS was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The Academy didn’t think he’d win, but wanted to give him an honorary Oscar for “bringing hope and courage to other veterans.” LM He ended up winning, which made him the only actor to win two Oscars for the same role. MSN Sources: FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 7, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Musical Score, Best Film Editing. A Special Academy Award for Russell for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in the film. Nominations: 8, including Best Sound Mixing Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Francis Ford Coppola Leonard Maltin First posted 1/8/2020; last updated 5/30/2023.