The 40's & World War II (1939-1949)
Films & series set during and immediately after the Second World War, including the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
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- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMatt DamonTom SizemoreFollowing the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsMillie PerkinsShelley WintersJoseph SchildkrautDuring World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
- DirectorFrans WeiszStarsFelix de RooySteve HooiJohnny de MolBlack Businessman Dundun Ecury from Aruba arrives in the Netherlands after World War II to search for the body of his son Boy, who was executed by the Nazis because of his work as a resistance fighter. Mr.Ecury has only one thing to go on: Boy died with a smile on his face.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsChristian BaleJohn MalkovichMiranda RichardsonA young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsKen WatanabeKazunari NinomiyaTsuyoshi IharaThe story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsRutger HauerJeroen KrabbéSusan PenhaligonDuring World War II, Dutch students join the resistance movement against the German occupation of the Netherlands.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsTsutomu TatsumiAyano ShiraishiAkemi YamaguchiA young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsJim CaviezelSean PennNick NolteAdaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
- CreatorJimmy PerryStarsArthur LoweJohn Le MesurierClive DunnA ragtag group of Home Guard volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion during World War II.
- CreatorMaurice GranLaurence MarksStarsNicholas LyndhurstVictor McGuireChristopher EttridgeBritish sitcom in which an unhappily married man discovers he can time travel back to 1940s war-torn London where he masquerades as an MI5 agent and part-time songwriter whilst courting the local barmaid.
- DirectorSteve HughesStarsBecci GemmellJo WoodcockLiam BoyleLady Ellen is frustrated when Tucker is released from the charge of murdering her husband and her flighty, selfish sister Diana comes to Hoxley Hall. Rather than help Ellen with the billeting of U.S. soldiers, the married Diana flirts with Jack Gillespie, an American arms manufacturer whose late son fathered Bea's son, whom he wants to see. Another new arrival is brash Cockney Land Girl Connie, whose free and easy manner annoys Esther. Connie makes a play for Billy, observed by Esther's son Martin, who bangs his head whilst trying to escape detection. He has detached retinas and will need an operation. He runs off into the woods and meets a fugitive in hiding, who claims to be a conscientious objector and for whom the boy steals food.
- CreatorAnthony HorowitzStarsMichael KitchenHoneysuckle WeeksAnthony HowellAs WWII rages, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front; investigating crime on the south coast of England. Later series, see the retired detective working as an MI5 agent in the aftermath of the war.
- DirectorAnthony MinghellaStarsRalph FiennesJuliette BinocheWillem DafoeAt the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsRalph FiennesJulianne MooreStephen ReaA desperate man tries to find out why his beloved left him years ago.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsKeira KnightleyJames McAvoyBrenda BlethynThirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
- DirectorJohn MayburyStarsKeira KnightleySienna MillerMatthew RhysTwo feisty, free-spirited women are connected by the brilliant, charismatic poet who loves them both.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsFred MacMurrayRay MillandLouise CampbellPlot #1 is the love triangle between two guys and one girl as they grow into adults and affiliate themselves in the new aircraft industry. Plot #2 is aircraft evolution from the days of Wilbur and Orville Wright to just prior to WWII.
- StarsJames Badge DaleJoseph MazzelloJon SedaThe Pacific Theatre of World War II, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines.
- DirectorChuan LuStarsYe LiuWei FanHideo NakaizumiIn 1937, Japan occupied Nanjing, the Chinese capital. There was a battle and subsequent atrocities against the inhabitants, especially those who took refuge in the International Security Zone.
- StarsScott GrimesDamian LewisRon LivingstonThe story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
- DirectorMartin KoolhovenStarsMartijn LakemeierJamie Campbell BowerYorick van WageningenIn German-occupied Netherlands, a teenage boy gets involved in the Dutch resistance after coming to the aid of a wounded RAF pilot.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsNicole KidmanHugh JackmanShea AdamsIn 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
- StarsJoanna LumleyPeter O'TooleGrace SimonDrama miniseries about the friendship between Judith Dunbar and Loveday Carey-Lewis, before, during and after WW2.
- StarsHugh BonnevilleStephen DillaneLesley ManvilleMini-series adapted from a series of novels that's set at the estate of a large privileged Sussex family and follows their life in London between the years 1937 and 1947.
- DirectorPetter NæssStarsFlorian LukasDavid KrossLachlan NieboerWorld War II: After an aerial battle over Norway, British and German airmen find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Finding shelter in the same cabin, they realize the only way to survive the winter is to set aside the rules of war.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsMatthew ModineEric StoltzTate DonovanIn 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in the UK prepares for its 25th and final bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA.
- DirectorMark HermanStarsAsa ButterfieldDavid ThewlisRupert FriendThrough the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
- DirectorRoberto BenigniStarsRoberto BenigniNicoletta BraschiGiorgio CantariniWhen an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsRay MillandMarlene DietrichMurvyn VyeOn the eve of WW2, a British spy goes to Germany to obtain a secret poison-gas formula from a scientist but things go awry and he is saved by a beautiful nomadic gypsy woman.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineCedric HardwickeA shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTeresa WrightJoseph CottenMacdonald CareyA teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantIngrid BergmanClaude RainsThe daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMyrna LoyDana AndrewsFredric MarchThree World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGreer GarsonWalter PidgeonTeresa WrightA British family struggles to survive the first months of World War II.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsCarole LombardJack BennyRobert StackDuring the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
- DirectorAlan JohnsonStarsMel BrooksAnne BancroftRonny GrahamAt the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckEdward ArnoldA penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMargaret SullavanJames StewartFrank MorganTwo employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsBing CrosbyBarry FitzgeraldFrank McHughWhen young Father O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic's, old Father Fitzgibbon doesn't think much of the church's newest member.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames StewartWhen a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph BellamyA newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsIrene DunneCary GrantRandolph ScottMissing for seven years and presumed dead, a woman returns home on the day of her husband's second marriage.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnJudy HollidayDomestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.
- DirectorHarold S. BucquetStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnLucille BallIn Washington, D.C. during World War II, Jamie Rowan enters into a loveless marriage with scientist Pat Jamieson and becomes his assistant. Struggles bring them closer together.
- DirectorGregory RatoffStarsIngrid BergmanWarner BaxterSusan HaywardA governess becomes the center of a wealthy family after her employer's wife dies.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnFay BainterRival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsNorma ShearerRobert TaylorGeorge SandersA wealthy woman, trying to discourage a former boyfriend from pursuing her, hires a young songwriter who needs money to pay off his gambling debts to pretend to be her boyfriend. The problem is that the phony boyfriend is really in love with her.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsNorma ShearerClark GableEdward ArnoldA group of disparate travelers are caught and thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the beginning of World War II.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckOscar HomolkaA group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBarbara StanwyckHenry FondaCharles CoburnA trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnVan JohnsonAn industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsCharles BoyerJennifer JonesPeter LawfordA free-spirited parlor maid and a Czech refugee surprise an English village with their unconventional ways.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGene TierneyDon AmecheCharles CoburnAn old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsMarlene DietrichFred MacMurrayAline MacMahonIn order to adopt an abandoned baby, an actress arranges a marriage of convenience with a doctor.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsBarbara StanwyckFred MacMurrayBeulah BondiLove blooms between a sympathetic attorney and the comely shoplifter he has taken home for the Christmas holiday.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsClaudette ColbertJoel McCreaMary AstorA New York inventor needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire with a capricious high-society sister.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsJean ArthurJoel McCreaCharles CoburnDuring the World War II housing shortage in Washington, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRonald ColmanAn escaped prisoner has to prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with the help of a spirited school teacher.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsDick PowellEllen DrewRaymond WalburnAfter the co-workers of an ambitious clerk trick him into thinking he has won $25,000 in a slogan contest, he begins to use the money to fulfill his dreams. What will happen when the ruse is discovered?
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsEddie BrackenBetty HuttonDiana LynnAfter an all-night send-off party for the troops, a small-town girl with an awkward boyfriend wakes up to find herself married and pregnant, but with no memory of her husband's identity.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsBetty GrableJohn HarveyMartha RayeA U.S.O. singer poses as a Broadway star in order to attract a handsome war hero.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsAlice FayeDon AmecheCarmen MirandaAn entertainer in Rio impersonates a wealthy aristocrat. When the aristocrat's wife asks him to carry the impersonation further, complications ensue.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsAlice FayeCarmen MirandaPhil BakerA soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsAlice FayeCarmen MirandaJohn PayneNan Spencer is on a boat bound for Havana which runs aground. The man sent to rescue her is engaged and she doesn't understand his disinterest. Monte Blanca is interested, to the annoyance of his girlfriend.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsSonja HenieJohn PayneGlenn MillerAfter Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort, its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. Later, soloist Vivian Dawn quits and Karen stages an ice show as a substitute.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodBusby BerkeleyStarsEleanor PowellAnn SothernRobert YoungA composer and his songwriter wife clash as they succeed in working together, writing hit Broadway shows, but fail in their marriage to the point of getting divorced twice.
- DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsJeanette MacDonaldJosé IturbiJane PowellIt's Tess' graduation day from "Miss Drake's School for Girls". During the choir's performance at the ceremony, Tess notices that her beautiful divorcee mother, Louise Rayton Morgan, isn't there. Louise, an editor for Modern Design Publication, is lying in Dr. Cannon's office; she fainted from overwork and over-stress. At home after the graduation ceremony, Dr. Cannon has a talk with Tess and her sisters Ilka and Alix, telling them that their mother badly needs a vacation, but the only way she can relax is if she goes without the girls. The girls agree; Louise is reluctant, but she goes. The girls see their mother off on her one month Cuban cruise. When the girls get home they discuss their mother, and believe if they bring their father back home it will make their mom happy and healthy again. In reality, Louise has kept the truth about their father from them: he was actually a very uncaring man who left them, left Louise to raise them alone. The girls go to see their father's boss, Robert Nelson, to locate their father and bring him home. Meanwhile, on Louise's Cuban cruise, she meets famed pianist and conductor, Jose Iturbi. Jose is immediately taken by Louise, but she plays hard-to-get, but has the time of her life. When Louise finally returns home, she has a secret to tell the girls, but, the girls have a secret too..
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsFred AstaireEleanor PowellGeorge MurphyJohnny Brett and King Shaw are an unsuccessful dance team in New York. A producer discovers Brett as the new partner for Clare Bennett but Brett, who thinks he is one of the people they lent money to, gives him the name of his partner.
- DirectorH.C. PotterWalter LantzStarsJoan FontaineJames StewartEddie AlbertA spoiled heiress who has jilted multiple fiancés embroils a commercial pilot in a series of wacky misadventures.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsWalter PidgeonIlona MasseyJosé IturbiThe U.S. Ambassador's (Walter Pidgeon) daughter falls for a Mexican pianist (Jose Iturbi) old enough to be her grandfather.
- DirectorMichael CurtizFriz FrelengStarsJack CarsonDoris DayLee BowmanAn agent must search for a new personality to replace a popular singer who refuses to renew his radio contract. He finds one in the form of a single mother, but complications soon occur.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsDoris DayDennis MorganJack CarsonA waitress at the Warner Bros. commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her big break may have arrived when two actors agree to help her.
- DirectorMichael CurtizBusby BerkeleyStarsJack CarsonJanis PaigeDoris DayRomantic misunderstandings abound when spouses suspect each other of being unfaithful, and a nightclub singer takes a cruise under a false identity.
- DirectorIrving ReisStarsCary GrantMyrna LoyShirley TempleA high school girl falls for a playboy artist, with screwball results.
- DirectorRalph NelsonStarsCary GrantLeslie CaronTrevor HowardDuring World War II, a man persuaded to live on an isolated island and spot aircraft finds himself responsible for a teacher and several students, all female.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsCary GrantTony CurtisJoan O'BrienDuring World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
- DirectorRichard WhorfStarsGeorge BrentJane PowellLauritz MelchiorA young girl stows away aboard a luxury liner which is full of musical stars--and which her father just happens to be the captain.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsGroucho MarxCarmen MirandaSteve CochranAn agent has his only client pose as both a French chanteuse and Brazilian bombshell to fool a nightclub owner.
- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsAlan LaddVeronica LakeRobert PrestonWhen assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsBetty GrableVictor MatureCarole LandisWhy is Inspector Ed Cornell trying to railroad Frankie Christopher for the murder of model Vicky Lynn?
- DirectorWalter LangStarsDon AmecheBetty GrableRobert CummingsSisters Kay and Barbara arrive in Miami from Texas looking for rich husbands.
- 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.
- DirectorGregory RatoffStarsJohn PayneBetty GrableVictor MatureA boxing champ gets involved with a Broadway show and a shapely chorine...who's engaged to his new sparring partner.
- DirectorWalter LangStarsBetty GrableVictor MatureJack OakieWith his sidekick Rusty, Jeff Harper sails to paradisiacal tropical isle Ahmi-Oni to bargain on behalf of his cattle baron father for land owned by transplanted Irishman Dennis O'Brien. But Jeff falls in love with O'Brien's daughter, Eileen, and even his father can't break them up after he arrives and himself falls under the spell of island splendor.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsMargaret O'BrienRobert PrestonDanny ThomasMargaret O'Brien sings, dances and keeps the faith in this heartwarming musical drama co-starring Robert Preston, Danny Thomas and George Murphy.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGinger RogersDennis MorganJames CraigA hard-working white-collar girl from a middle-class family meets and falls in love with a young socialite, but she soon clashes with his family.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsKay FrancisCarole LandisMartha RayeReenactments of actual USO experiences of its female stars entertaining troops overseas.
- DirectorJohn CromwellEdward F. ClineTay GarnettStarsClaudette ColbertJennifer JonesJoseph CottenWith her husband away to fight in World War II, a housewife must care for their two daughters alone.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsBetty GrableCarmen MirandaJohn PayneBroadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner, Victor Price, and Dan's career takes a nosedive. In hopes of rekindling their romance and getting Vicky back on the boards with him, Dan follows her to a ritzy resort in the Canadian Rockies, where she and Victor are about to open their new act. But things get complicated when Dan wakes after a bender to find that he's hired an outlandish Latin secretary, Rosita Murphy, which makes Vicky think he's just up to his old tricks again.
- DirectorOtto PremingerRouben MamoulianStarsGene TierneyDana AndrewsClifton WebbA police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsJeanne CrainLinda DarnellAnn SothernA letter is addressed to three wives from their "best friend" Addie Ross, announcing that she is running away with one of their husbands - but she does not say which one.
- DirectorRichard WallaceStarsShirley TempleDavid NivenTom TullyA teenage girl who has a crush on an older, more sophisticated man tells all her friends that the man is her boyfriend. Soon that story starts making its way around the town.