War Films, 1940s
by robertogritti | created - 17 Nov 2013 | updated - 17 Nov 2013 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Air Force (1943)
Approved | 124 min | Action, Drama, History
The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Garfield, John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy
Votes: 3,816
2. Bataan (1943)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, History, War
In 1942, in the Bataan peninsula of the Philippines, a ragtag American unit commanded by Sergeant Bill Dane attempts to blow-up a bridge in order to slow the Japanese advance.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Robert Taylor, George Murphy, Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 2,707
3. Back to Bataan (1945)
Approved | 95 min | Drama, War
In 1942, after the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese, U.S. Army Col. Joseph Madden stays behind to organize the local resistance against the Japanese invaders.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, Beulah Bondi, Fely Franquelli
Votes: 4,374
4. They Were Expendable (1945)
Approved | 135 min | Drama, War
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
Directors: John Ford, Robert Montgomery | Stars: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt
Votes: 9,263
5. Sahara (I) (1943)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Drama, War
After the fall of Tobruk in 1942, during the Allied retreat in the Libyan desert, an American tank picks-up a motley group of survivors but they face advancing Germans and a lack of water.
Director: Zoltan Korda | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carrol Naish, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 9,755
6. Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, War
The story of a large U.S. Marines invasion task force bound for Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942.
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: Preston Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte
Votes: 2,280
7. Cry 'Havoc' (1943)
Passed | 97 min | Drama, War
A chronicle of the experiences of a mixed group of Army hospital volunteers stationed in Bataan during World War II.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell, Fay Bainter
Votes: 1,219
8. Destination Tokyo (1943)
Passed | 135 min | Adventure, War
In order to provide information for the first air raid over Tokyo, a U.S. submarine sneaks into Tokyo Bay and places a spy team ashore.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: Cary Grant, John Garfield, Alan Hale, John Ridgely
Votes: 5,751
9. The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)
Not Rated | 45 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary on the 25th bombing mission of the Memphis Belle, a B-17 in the US 8th Air Force.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Stanley Wray, Robert Morgan, James A. Verinis, Robert J. Hanson
Votes: 1,849
10. Desert Victory (1943)
62 min | Documentary, War
The Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa is analysed, with the major portion of the film examining the battles at El Alamein, including a re-enactment.
Directors: Roy Boulting, David MacDonald | Stars: Harold Alexander, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Bernard L. Montgomery
Votes: 370
11. The Battle of Midway (1942)
TV-PG | 18 min | Documentary, Short, War
The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, Logan Ramsey, James Roosevelt
Votes: 2,272
12. Wake Island (1942)
Passed | 88 min | Action, Drama, War
December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston, Macdonald Carey, William Bendix
Votes: 2,199
13. San Pietro (1945)
Unrated | 32 min | Documentary, Short, War
Director John Huston documents the Battle of San Pietro Infine in December 1943.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Mark W. Clark, John Huston
Votes: 2,460
14. Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
Approved | 108 min | Biography, Drama, War
At the close of WWII, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle travels with the U.S. Army's Company C Division during their liberation of Italy.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele, Wally Cassell
Votes: 3,730
15. Objective, Burma! (1945)
Approved | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A platoon of special ops are tasked to parachute into the remote Burmese jungle and destroy a strategic Japanese radar station, but getting out isn't as easy.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Errol Flynn, James Brown, William Prince, George Tobias
Votes: 5,550
16. A Walk in the Sun (1945)
Approved | 117 min | Drama, War
During WWII, a platoon of American soldiers trudge through the Italian countryside in search of a bridge they have been ordered to blow up, encountering danger and destruction along the way.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, George Tyne, John Ireland
Votes: 4,081
17. Winged Victory (1944)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Pinkie Scariano, Alan Ross and Frankie Davis all join the Army Air Forces with hopes of becoming pilots. In training, they meet and become pals with Bobby Grills and Irving Miller, and the ... See full summary »
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Mark Daniels, Edmond O'Brien, Lon McCallister, Don Taylor
Votes: 228
18. God Is My Co-Pilot (1945)
Passed | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
During WW2, American volunteer pilots are stationed in China where, as part of the Flying Tigers unit, they dog-fight against Japanese warplanes.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Dennis Morgan, Raymond Massey, Dane Clark, Alan Hale
Votes: 680
19. Battleground (1949)
Approved | 118 min | Action, Drama, History
True tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Germans in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy
Votes: 7,864 | Gross: $10.29M
20. Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Approved | 100 min | Action, Drama, Romance
Haunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara, Forrest Tucker
Votes: 11,414
21. Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
Not Rated | 132 min | Drama, War
A tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell
Votes: 15,809
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