Review of the 40s

The 40s - The War Years and Beyond

We have really enjoyed watching the 40s! So much so that I don't really want to move on - I keep watching other 40s films and could happy stay here for a while longer. With this decade there were five films I'd already seen (two of which are favourites - and still sit in first and second on my chart) and five films that I'd not seen before. Of those five I can recommend four wholeheartedly. I loved them and will definitely watch them again. But, although friends of mine love it, I couldn't get my head round How Green Was My Valley. Maybe I'm not as Welsh as I claim to be, or maybe I am and that's the problem!

With these films we got through the War and out the other side - and we got through the Hays Code and out the other side as well. The former is very clear when you list the winners chronologically. The latter is far clearer when you look more widely at the nominees - films like Johnny Belinda, Crossfire and The Snake Pit would not have been possible ten years earlier!

My Top Ten (as they stand today!) is as follows:

1= Rebecca
1= Casablanca
3= The Best Years of Our Lives
3= The Lost Weekend
5. All The King's Men
6. Mrs Miniver
7. Hamlet
8. Going My Way
9. Gentleman's Agreement
10. How Green Was My Valley

(I'm finding those top films very difficult to split!)

Best Picture

Nominees:   

Rebecca
Casablanca
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Lost Weekend
All The King's Men

And the winner is.....

Rebecca - although all five of these are very good films indeed! Rebecca has been a favourite for a very long time and it just about pips Casablanca for me. On a different day I might have to cheat and give them both the prize!



Best Director

Nominees:   

William Wyler
Alfred Hitchcock
Billy Wilder
Michael Curtiz
Laurence Olivier

And the winner is.....


William Wyler - for topping and tailing the War so splendidly! Hitch and Wilder are personal favourites of mine, but they both miss out on this one....

Best Actor

Nominees:   

Barry Fitzgerald (How Green Was My Valley, Going My Way)
Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend)
Frederic March (The Best Years of Our Lives)
Laurence Olivier (Rebecca, Hamlet)
Broderick Crawford (All The King's Men)

And the winner is.....

Frederic March - just about stealing it from Ray Milland, because he was brilliantly comic and tragic all at the same time.



Best Actress

Nominees:   

Greer Garson (Mrs Miniver)
Joan Fontaine (Rebecca)
Myrna Loy (The Best Years of Our Lives)
Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca)
Mercedes McCambridge (All The King's Men)

And the winner is.....

Greer Garson - just about stealing it from Joan Fontaine. Just as long as we don't have to endure her speech again.



Best Non-Winning Picture

Nominees: 

Citizen Kane
It's A Wonderful Life
Double Indemnity
The Philadelphia Story
Brief Encounter

And the winner is.....

Citizen Kane AND It's A Wonderful Life - The first because it really really should have won, and the second because I love it!


Worst Picture

Nominees:    
How Green Was My Valley
Gentleman's Agreement


And the winner is.....

How Green Was My Valley - There really were only two mediocre films out of this lot and How Green... gets it (just about) for the bad accents and meandering plot!