The Greatest Decade in Film - the 1940's

Moving on in my search for the best decade in film, it is time for me to move onto what is certainly a memorable decade: the 1940's.

The 1940's brought some of the best directors to ever work in Hollywood. The decade saw the emergence of Billy Wilder, John Ford, Orson Welles, and John Huston. Others such as Howard Hawks and William Wyler continued to build upon their impressive resumes. Big name stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant saw their stocks skyrocket in this decade.

The first year of the decade doesn't hurt, either. Winning Best Picture that year was "Rebecca", just one of the many great Alfred Hitchcock films. Other nominees included the "The Philadelphia Story" (a wonderful comedy featuring great turns from Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and an Oscar winning James Stewart), "The Grapes of Wrath" (one of four Best Director trophies for John Ford featuring a star-making turn by Henry Fonda), and "The Great Dictator", Charlie Chaplin's first talking film. "His Girl Friday", a classic Cary Grant comedy, as well as two animated classics - "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia" - also came out in 1940.

The year after produced arguably the greatest film ever made: "Citizen Kane". While that title is certainly subjective, the impact of "Citizen Kane" is undeniable and its quality unquestionable. To go along with it that year was "The Maltese Falcon" (a phenomenal first film by John Huston featuring one of Humphrey Bogart's best roles), "Sergeant York", and Best Picture winner "How Green Was My Valley" (the second consecutive film to win John Ford a Best Director Oscar).

"Yankee Doodle Dandy" would be released the following year, as would "Casablanca", one of the most beloved films of all time that also is considered one of the best (and rightfully so, with cinema's best romance between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and a delightful supporting turn by Claude Rains). "Bambi", another one of Disney's most beloved films also was released in 1942 along with Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons". 1943 did not bring about any memorable films, but 1944 saw one of the best noir films - "Double Indemnity", the first great Billy Wilder film. Also, "Arsenic and Old Lace", a memorable Cary Grant comedy. A lull in 1945 was followed by 1946 and some excellent films - Frank Capra's most loved film "It's a Wonderful Life" (one of the most inspirational films ever made), "The Big Sleep" (a noir combination of Howard Hawks and the power couple of Humphrey Bogart and Laruen Bacall), and Best Picture winner The Best Years of Our Lives.

1947 brought about another memorable noir ("Out of the Past") and another crowd-pleaser ("Miracle on 34th Street"). In 1948 "The Bicycle Thief" (arguably the greatest of the Italian neorealism films) and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (yet another John Huston-Humphrey Bogart collaboration) were released, and in 1949 "The Third Man", Carol Reed's excellent thriller, was introduced.


Packed with some of the best films ever made along with some of the most beloved, the 1940's makes a strong case for the greatest decade in film. After two decades of review it is clearly the decade to beat.

The Greatest Decade in Film - The 1930's

This is the first in a series of posts in which I will look at each decade in detail to decided which decade was the best in terms of the quality of films produced. I will be starting with the 1930's.

The 1930's brought about the widespread use of sound in film. After the introduction of speaking in films by "The Jazz Singer" in 1927 "talkies" became more and more popular, and the 1930's was the decade that saw them become the dominant film type. The decade began with "All Quiet on the Western Front", Best Picture winner in 1930 and first talkie to win the prestigious award. Fritz Lang's disturbingly brilliant film "M", featuring Peter Lorre in one of his most celebrated roles as a deranged child murderer, came out the next year.

Charlie Chaplin's two films of the decade stand out as two of the great comedies of all time - "City Lights" and "Modern Times". Adding to the comedic greatness of the decade was "Duck Soup", the pinnacle of Marx brothers' careers. Monster films such as "Frankenstein" and the original "King Kong" set the standard for horror films to come.

1934 saw "It Happened One Night", the first film to take home the five major Academy Awards (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay). The film was also the first of three that won Best Director for Frank Capra in a five year span (the next to being "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and "You Can't Take It With You"). 1938 brought "Bringing Up Baby", a collaboration of Howard Hawks with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant that is on AFI's Top 100 films. And of course, the banner year of 1939 is considered by many to be the greatest year in film. "Gone With the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" - the names speak for themselves. Throw in "Stagecoach" and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and the decade ended with a bang.

However, the 1930's cannot be considered the greatest decade in film for the reason that great films were not coming out consistently. The yearly output of classics is lower than the decades the come after it. While we have been given many great films from the 1930's I would argue that this decade is not the greatest in film.

The Greatest Decade in Film

Upon reading another blog about which decade was the greatest in film, I feel compelled to make an argument of my own. For this argument, I will not be factoring the impact that these films had on future films. Merely, I will be making a case for why the decade came out with the best films in terms of quality. I will be making a post for each decade starting with the 1930's and ending with the 2000's. Note that this is merely my opinion and it doesn't actually mean that the decade I choose it is the "best". Also, I have not seen all of these films. I am merely basing my arguments on what has been said about these films. Therefore, critical acclaim factors into this more than my person opinion, at least until the final decision is made.