Blood, toil, tears & celluloid : Movies of World War II
A list of movies made during World War II which deal with the war to a significant extent.
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- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsGeorge FormbyPhyllis CalvertGarry MarshShortly after the start of World War II, a ukulele player (George) takes the wrong boat and finds himself in (still uninvaded) Norway. He is mistaken for a fellow British intelligence agent by a woman (Mary), and becomes involved in trying to defeat German agents.
- DirectorJohn Paddy CarstairsStarsGeorge FormbyDorothy HysonGeorge MerrittA brave wartime copper (policeman) becomes a hero when he thwarts a plot to destroy a battleship. But then the rest of the police get the idea that he is one of the enemy agents.
- DirectorPen TennysonStarsClive BrookJohn ClementsEdward ChapmanA tale of the highs and lows of life protecting the vital convoys between America & England during WWII.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
- DirectorWalter FordeStarsTommy TrinderClaude HulbertCarla LehmannThree British sailors find they've accidentally strayed on board a German warship during World War II. They then proceed to take it over and requisition it for the Royal Navy.
- DirectorLew LandersStarsRichard CromwellHelen VinsonRobert ArmstrongA man is framed for being a spy. After he is released, he sets out to find who the real spies are.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJoel McCreaLaraine DayHerbert MarshallOn the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneThomas MitchellIan HunterA merchant ship's crew tries to survive the loneliness of the sea and the coming of war.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsLeslie BanksAlastair SimJeanne De CasalisAllied spies and Nazi Agents insinuate themselves at a Scottish cottage (converted to a wartime hospital) with interests on an inventor's nearly perfected bomb sight.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsClive BrookDiana WynyardRaymond HuntleyHitler's doctor is gradually realizing that the Nazi regime isn't as good as it pretends to be when his friends start disappearing into the camps. His wife is courted by the party and accepts a political post in Berlin. Meanwhile, Dr. Karl decides to try to do something to counteract Nazi propaganda and, with the help of an engineer and a few friends, he sets up the Freedom Radio to hinder Nazi propaganda.
- DirectorSergei NolbandovStarsJohn ClementsLeslie BanksJane BaxterLt. Dick Stacey is dismissed from the Fleet Air Arm for poor discipline. He joins the Aircraft Carrier "HMS Ark Royal" (The Ship with Wings). When they go into battle in the Mediterranean he acts heroically and redeems himself.
- DirectorHarry WattStarsJohn CobbRichard PeirsePercy Charles PickardThe planning and implementation of an RAF night raid on Germany in World War II, concentrating on a low level mission by a Wellington bomber on an oil storage facility by the Rhine.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnFred MacMurrayRalph BellamyA military surgeon teams with a ranking Navy flyer to develop a high-altitude suit which will protect pilots from blacking out when they go into a steep dive.
- DirectorTim WhelanStarsGeorge BrentIlona MasseyBasil RathboneThe film opens with a German air raid over the skies of London, and moves to the attempts of the F.B.I. and Scotland Yard investigators trying to circumvent the attempts of a sabotage ring dedicated to impeding the flow of American airplanes and flying fortresses to Britain (on FDR's Lend-Lease program since the United States was not yet at war with Germany and Italy.) Tim Hanley is an American agent, posing as a lawyer connected with the United States Embassy in London, and Reggie Oliver, a Scotland Yard detective, posing as a music critic, who has a hard time understanding American slang, are keeping their eye on Carla Nillson, a famous singer, whom they suspect of espionage. They all meet in London, then in Lisbon, and eventually in New York City, where Carla sings on the radio under the auspices and sponsorship of Sidney Grenner, a wealthy candy manufacturer, who is in reality the head of the sabotage gang. Miss Nillson may or may not know that some of the songs she sings over the radio are in code, and give instructions to the enemy operatives about airplane shipments to England. And even if she doesn't know, will she still be implicated and subject to being arrested by Tim, with whom she has fallen in love? And if she is arrested, will Tim be waiting for her after the Allies defeat the Nazis?
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsGene TierneyBruce CabotGeorge SandersIn 1941, a mysterious Somaliland woman helps the British against the Germans.
- DirectorJames WhaleVictor FlemingCharles VidorStarsGeorge BrentMartha ScottPaul LukasAn Austrian prince flees his homeland after the Nazis take over and settles in London. While in London, he meets a beautiful Austrian émigré who makes him realize his mistake in leaving Austria. He makes a deal with the Nazis to return in exchange for some Austrian prisoners, but discovers that the Nazis are not to be trusted.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerBetty GrableJohn SuttonAn American pilot impulsively joins His Majesty's Royal Air Force in Britain in an attempt to impress his ex-girlfriend.
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsWill HayBernard MilesJohn StuartWartime propaganda piece reporting on the success of the economic blockade of Germany in the early years of the war.
- DirectorBasil DeardenWill HayStarsWill HayJohn MillsBasil SydneyProfessor Davis, who teaches at a correspondence school, discovers that a Nazi Agent is trying to prevent a trade treaty being signed between England and South America. The agent is posing as an economics expert seconded to the trade delegation. The professor must find the real economist and expose the agent.
- DirectorHarold FrenchStarsHugh WilliamsGriffith JonesDeborah KerrA British journalist working in Norway during WWII finds himself hunted by the Germans when he's tasked with a secret combat mission, while the daughter of a Norwegian sea captain helps the Brits combat the Nazi menace.
- DirectorLeslie HowardStarsLeslie HowardDavid NivenRosamund JohnAircraft designer/patriot R. J. Mitchell, alarmed at growing German militarism, works to perfect a defense against the German Messerschmidt at the cost of his health.
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsTommy TrinderConstance CummingsClifford EvansIn 1940, a British engineer goes to France to retrieve specialized armaments machinery, loaned to the French, before the invading Nazi armies can capture it.
- DirectorBasil DeardenWill HayStarsWill HayCharles HawtreyPeter CroftA bumbling teacher turns out to be the double of a German general. He is flown into Germany to impersonate the general and cause chaos and hilarity in a Hitler Youth college.
- DirectorNoël CowardStarsNoël CowardJohn MillsBernard MilesThis "story of a ship", the British destroyer H.M.S. Torrin, is told in flashbacks by survivors as they cling to a life raft.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsMervyn JohnsJohn ChandosNova PilbeamWartime propaganda piece giving the warning "Be like Dad, Keep Mum". A gossipy housewife is overheard talking about what her son is doing by a Nazi spy.