Movies From the 1940s I Should Probably Watch Quiz

Answer: Casablanca

Undeniably one of the highest-regarded films of the 1940s, "Casablanca's" legacy is nearly insurmountable. Including the quotes listed in the question, "Casablanca" has six quotes on the American Film Institute's list of the '100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time'. Six! If that doesn't make it eminently watchable, I don't know what does. "Casablanca", set in the city of the same name, was a WWII romance starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as an ex-pat and his former lover as they dealt with some war-related letters of great importance.

It was nominated for eight Oscars and won three (including Best Picture and Best Director).

Answer: The Third Man

Classic noir at its finest, "The Third Man" was known for cinematography indicative of the genre (dutch angles and harsh Expressionist overtones). If you're a fan of true hard-boiled detective films, then you should look no further; it broods in just the way a post-WWII action film should. "The Third Man", directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Carol Reed (he won for "Oliver!"), involved a mysterious death in Vienna, Austria.

Many cite it as an ideal example of post-WWII, pre-Cold War tension in film.

It ended up winning the Grand Prix at Cannes and was nominated for three Oscars (winning one).

Answer: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Now preserved by the United States National Film Registry, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" should be on the 'to watch' list partly because of its background and partly because it's a critically-beloved western. The movie was one of the earliest Hollywood-produced films to be at least partly shot outside the United States (in Mexico) and it ended up resulting in three Oscar wins, two of which, interestingly enough, went to father and son Walter and John Huston, the former of which took Best Supporting Actor and the latter of which directed the picture.

The original novel was written by German author B. Traven, and the film is considered a surprisingly faithful adaptation.

Answer: It's a Wonderful Life

This one is pretty important as far as classic Christmas movies. "It's a Wonderful Life" followed George Bailey as a man who, after deciding to commit suicide, had a bit of a revelation from a guardian angel and realized that he was too important as a part of the community to go through with it... on Christmas. Directed by Frank Capra (winner of three Best Director Oscars), "It's a Wonderful Life" ended up getting six Oscar nominations and only won one (it lost four to "The Best Years of Our Lives").

It did, however, end up creating a bit of a legacy in home entertainment, both because it became a traditional TV film and because it was one of the first films to release on CD-ROM in the 1990s.

Answer: Meet Me in St. Louis

Another film for the United States National Film Registry, "Meet Me in St. Louis" should be on my list of 'to watch' films because I was supposed to watch it back in university for a film studies course and never did because there's something about the idea of the onomatopoeic 'zing zing zing' of a heartstring that makes me really uncomfortable. But you should know this film for being a classic musical. Minnelli released it during the later portion of World War II and, in retrospect, its overtly cheery reflection on a family in 1903 St. Louis, leading up to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, is a bit unsettling.

The movie was a big hit, not only earning millions in the box office (in 1944), but taking four Oscar nominations. The song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" became a classic soon after and, as noted, Minnelli and Garland married soon after.

He was her second husband of five.

Answer: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

"Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" is another one of those National Film Registry movies, and based on the words of many of the greatest comedy filmmakers across the generations, it's not hard to see the results of what this movie brought to the table. Comedians Abbott and Costello faced Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man in this Universal film (one of the last to seriously feature the old Universal monsters for the era) and hilarity ensued It's probably worth watching to see where that subgenre came to be; we likely would never have had "Young Frankenstein", "Scary Movie", etc. Abbott and Costello also met "the Killer, Boris Karloff" (in 1949), "The Invisible Man" (1951), "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (in 1953), and "The Mummy" (in 1955).

Answer: Miracle on 34th Street

I feel like, at this point, my 1940s film 'to-do list' is mostly Christmas films, but to be fair, this one is probably one of the big deals of the decade. It ended up winning three Oscars and was nominated for four (it lost Best Picture) and became a staple for Christmas TV viewings as time went on. Starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and a young Natalie Wood, the movie dug into the magic of Christmas by following a Macy's Santa Claus who just might have been the actual Santa. The movie was very well received and a remake was made with Mara Wilson in Woods' role and Richard Attenborough, fresh off his appearance in "Jurassic Park", playing Kris Kringle.

Answer: The Big Sleep

Now here's one I simply can't remember if I've seen or not. I probably have, simply because 'noir' and 'detective cinema' was sort of a thing I focused on for about half-a-year in university. I do know for a fact that I read "The Big Sleep" though; Raymond Chandler's first novel, it would become one of the defining texts of the era and, as the world moved from World War II and closer to the Cold War, it morphed into the perfect text to exemplify the aesthetics of film noir and hardboiled detective media.

The original film starred Bogart and went into the U.S. National Film Registry; the remake, done in 1978, featured Robert Mitchum.

Answer: Lifeboat

The 1940s was a good decade for Hitchcock because his movies, then and now, received a great deal of critical acclaim that contributed to his general importance in the industry, if not as a prolific filmmaker, then as a creative force. "Lifeboat" was set entirely on a lifeboat at sea where nine survivors of a WWII naval attack dealt with issues of morality and tried to survive.

Although the film was a bit dicey in terms of reception in the 1940s, "Lifeboat" has since become an underrated gem in the Hitchcock library.

It was nominated for three Oscars.

Answer: The Killers

Another early noir gem, "The Killers" is a bit interesting that the first 20 minutes is reliable as an adaptation of Hemingway's 1927 short story, following two contract killers out to kill The Swede. A famous Russian director would take the same 20 minutes in his own adaptation of the work in a 1956 short film, but the original expanded on Hemingway's work to flesh out the aftermath of the killing.

A third adaptation of the story was made in 1964 by Don Siegel. I was originally supposed to watch this film for a class on film adaptation, so it's another 'one that got away' by my lack of attendance (STAY IN SCHOOL, KIDS).

But it's a movie that clearly has importance due to its critical acclaim, four Oscar nominations, and inclusion in the U.S. National Film Registry.