Tag Archives: 1940s

Holy Matrimony (1943) John M. Stahl

Holy Matrimony (1943)
Famed English painter Priam Farll has spent the last 25 years living in various remote locations with only his trusted manservant, Henry Leek, for company. While Farll is summoned to London to receive a knighthood, Leek falls ill and dies. Wishing to avoid the ostentation knighthood ceremony, the reclusive painter assumes his valet’s identity. Farll, posing as Leek, soon receives a letter from Alice Chalice, a widow who has been corresponding with Leek through a marriage bureau and is expecting to finally meet her beloved in person…
Read More »

Hachi no su no kodomotachi / Children of the Beehive (1948) Hiroshi Shimizu

Hachi no su no kodomotachi (1948)
The movie focuses on the plight of ten war orphans hailing from different cities across Japan. With nowhere to go, they scavenge around train stations, scratching out an existence by means of black market work for a one-legged tramp whilst avoiding being picked up by the police for vagrancy. Soon however, they find a more inspiring role model in the figure of a nameless soldier just repatriated after the war. An orphan himself, the soldier also has no home to return to, and so sets out across the country with the kids in tow in search of work before settling on the goal of leading them to the orphanage where he himself grew up.
Read More »

Dr. Renault’s Secret (1942) Harry Lachman

Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)
A young man visits his fiancée in a remote French villa where her scientist father resides. There he meets Noel, Dr. Renault’s mysterious assistant, who has a strange attraction to Renault’s daughter. Soon he learns Noel’s true identity: he is an ape that was turned into a man by Renault’s bizarre experiments!
Read More »

Dopo divorzieremo (1940) Nunzio Malasomma

Dopo divorzieremo (1940)
Grace Peterson works in department stores “Tutto per Tutti”, along with many other young people. His employment contract entitling them to live in a boarding house built specifically for them by the company but on the other hand, forbid them not fall in love or marry under threat of dismissal. Still, Grace falls for Phil Golder, a violinist penniless. The director of the residence will notice and the best friend of the girl impersonate violinist girlfriend to try to save Grace dismissal.
Read More »

Katyi (1942) Ákos Ráthonyi, Klári Tolnay, Manyi Kiss, Tivadar Bilicsi

Katyi (1942)
Kató Varga (Klári Tolnay) is unable to play its part in front of the Admissions Committee of the School of Dramatic Art. Geszty (Tivadar Bilicsi), severe President of the Commission maintains that she has no talent for acting and mercilessly tells you will never be an actress. Kató prepares to take revenge and under the false name of Katyi Csiba, dressed as a peasant village, obtains admission to the house Geszty. Turning everything upside down, she makes your life hell.
Read More »

Anjô-ke no butôkai / The Ball at the Anjo House (1947) Kôzaburô Yoshimura, Setsuko Hara, Yumeko Aizome, Osamu Takizawa

Anjo-ke no butokai (1947)
After Japan’s loss in the war, the wealthy, cultured, liberal Anjo family have to give up their mansion and their way of life. They hold one last ball at the house before leaving. The seemingly cold, cynical son secretly grieves for his defeated father and the values that the war destroyed, while the daughter tries to prevent father from taking his life and to find her own place in the new Japan.
Read More »

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944) Phil Rosen, Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Arthur Loft

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944)
A scientist working on an important new invention which will protect Allied shipping from U-boat torpedoes has been assigned Secret Service security protection. Amazingly, despite the fact that his laboratory and experiments are located on the upper floor of his Washington mansion, he decides to host a cocktail party for friends on the first floor. Even though several of his guests are foreign nationals with shadowy pasts, he refuses to allow his bodyguards to attend because their presence might offend them. When he is killed by unknown means before joining them, the resultant summary investigation includes Honolulu detective Charlie Chan and children Tommy and Iris, later joined by Birmingham Brown, the chauffeur of one of the guests. When a preliminary autopsy reveals the scientist was electrocuted, Charlie and his associates must decide which of the suspects and red herrings is the guilty party.
Read More »

Deep Waters (1948) Henry King, Dana Andrews, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero

Deep Waters 1948
A Maine lobster fisherman, trained as an architect, prefers to be a fisherman over the objections of his fiancée. The latter, a welfare worker for the state, finds a home for a 12-year-old orphan who loves the sea. He and the fisherman become friends but the fiancée, fearful of the dangers of sea life, forces the fisherman to restrict the boy from his boat. Denied the life he loves, the boy, in retribution, steals a camera and is sent to reform school. The couple marries and succeeds in getting a judge to grant a petition allowing them to adopt the boy.
Read More »

Divá Bára (1949) Vladimír Cech, Vlasta Fialová, Jana Dítetová, Marie Brozová

Diva Bara (1949)
Tale Bozena Nemcova served as a template for a romantic story about a courageous, self-made girl scorned daughter of a shepherd, who is not afraid of anything – neither night nor swim. But the superstitious villagers about her telling all sorts of strange things, even seeking union with the powers of hell. Bold and courageous Bara stupid prejudices of their fellow men almost suffer. Energetic girl brings her pieces to boil the whole village.
Read More »

Pillow to Post (1945) Vincent Sherman, Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet, William Prince

Pillow to Post (1945)
With a war on and most men being drafted, Howard Oil Supply Company has no salesmen left. So daughter Jean hits the road and does not make one sale. She finally gets one tentative sale with the Black Hills Oil Co., but Earl wants dinner with her. With the shortage of housing due to the war, Jean needs a military husband to get a place to stay in Clayfield, which is next to Camp Clay. She gets Lt. Mallory to act as her husband just to register. Then things go wrong as his commanding officer is there and believes them to be married. It gets worse as Don’s mother shows up and then Jean’s father.
Read More »

Campane a martello (1949) Luigi Zampa, Gina Lollobrigida, Yvonne Sanson, Carlo Romano

Campane a martello (1949)
Agostina is a maid turned prostitute during World War II. She sends all the money she makes to the local priest in her home village for safekeeping. After the war is over Agostina and her friend Australia plan to open a clothing store so they return to her home island to collect the money from the priest. But after arriving there Agostina learns in shock that the priest has been dead for more than a year and that his eccentric successor mistook the received money for donations and spent all of it on building a new orphanage for war orphans. To make matters even worse, other islanders think that Agostina is now a millionaire and beg her to help them financially.
Read More »

The Swordsman (1948) Joseph H. Lewis, Larry Parks, Ellen Drew, George Macready

The Swordsman (1948)
In the eighteenth century, in Scotland, families and Glowan McArden support a violent and long enmity. Alexander, an attractive member of the clan McArden, falls for the beautiful lady Barbara Glowan. Quickly, their relationship arouses anger Barbara’s cousin, Robert Glowan, trying to destroy the enemy forever family. Groom, anxious to marry his sweetheart, try the two irreconcilable positions coexist peacefully.
Read More »

The Man I Love (1947) Raoul Walsh, Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Andrea King

The Man I Love (1947)
Visiting her two sisters and brother, singer Petey Brown lands a job at small-time-hood Nicky Toresca’s nightclub. While evading the sleazy Toresca’s heavy-handed passes at her, she falls in love with down-and-out ex-jazz pianist Sand Thomas, who has never quite recovered from an old divorce. While solving the problems of her sisters, brother and their next-door neighbor, the no-nonsense Petey must wait as Sand decides whether to start a new life with her or sign on with a merchant steamer.
Read More »