To Have and Have Not (1944)

To Have and Have Not (1944)

[9] Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made their first pairing in this adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel about an American boatman (Bogart) who reluctantly sticks his neck out for the French Resistance in World War II Martinique. Along the way he falls…
Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca (1942)

[9] Everybody comes to Rick's, and everyone loves Casablanca. What's not to like? Humphrey Bogart turns in a commanding performance as Rick, the reluctant American exile who runs a popular nightclub in North Africa during early World War II. He says he…
Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

[10] William Wyler's portrait of an English family weathering the darkest hours of World War II is a moving drama about hope and persistence. There's a quiet strength and noble resolve about the characters in this movie that I find utterly disarming.…
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

[9] Hollywood director John Sullivan (Joel McCrea), known for making profitable comedies with titles like Ants in Your Plants, decides what he really wants to do is make an all-important 'message movie' called O Brother Where Art Thou, but feels he needs…
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

[10] John Ford directs John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of a destitute Oklahoma family who pile everything they own into a jalopy and head for California in hope of finding work and a new home. The Grapes of Wrath puts an exclamation…
The Philadelphia Story (1940)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

[10] The day before her second wedding, a priggish socialite (Katharine Hepburn) entangles with her ex-husband (Cary Grant) and a tabloid journalist (Jimmy Stewart), causing an identity crisis that threatens to derail the ceremony. Does she really want to marry a man…
Rebecca (1940)

Rebecca (1940)

[10] Alfred Hitchcock's first American film and only one to win a Best Picture Oscar is Rebecca, starring Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, and Judith Anderson. Based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, the film follows a nervous woman (Fontaine) who catches…
His Girl Friday (1940)

His Girl Friday (1940)

[9] Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell headline this quintessential screwball comedy from director Howard Hawks (Bringing Up Baby, Ball of Fire). His Girl Friday is based on a stage play and a previous film adaptation (The Front Page) about a newspaper editor…