Best Movies of the 1940s

These are the 48 best-rated movies released in the 1940s, led by Doggone Cats, There's One Born Every Minute and You the Rich. Ranked by audience score, with cast, trailers and legal places to watch on every page.

1. Doggone Cats (1947)

★ 8.0/10

Wellington the dog is given a package to deliver to Uncle Louie, with strict instructions not to let go of it. Sylvester and another cat that Wellington has been tormenting see this as their chance to get even. Besides…
2. There's One Born Every Minute (1942)

★ 7.9/10

A nine-year-old Elizabeth Taylor made her film debut in this lively comedy. She plays the spoiled-brat daughter of a pudding manufacturer who has been entered into the town's mayoral race by some of the local…
3. You the Rich (1948)

★ 7.7/10

Pepe el Toro is married to Celia la Chorreada and they have two children.
4. Charter Pilot (1940)

★ 7.7/10

US-to-Central-America freight service pilot gets engaged to radio broadcaster and promises to take a desk job but the urge for adventure is too strong.
5. Obsession (1943)

★ 7.5/10

Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna as they plan to get rid of her older husband.
6. The Unruly Hare (1945)

★ 7.5/10

When Elmer Fudd disturbs Bugs with his railroad surveying, Bugs fights back.
7. A Wild Hare (1940)

★ 7.3/10

While hunting rabbits, Elmer Fudd comes across Bugs Bunny who tricks and harasses him.
8. Haredevil Hare (1948)

★ 7.2/10

Bugs is the test rabbit shot to the moon. There, he meets Commander X-2, who is intent on destroying the Earth with his Aludium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator.
9. Daffy Doodles (1946)

★ 7.2/10

Porky Pig is hot on the trail of a vandal, Daffy Duck, painting mustaches on signs everywhere.
10. Hot Cross Bunny (1948)

★ 7.2/10

At Eureka Experimental Hospital, a doctor plans to switch the characteristics of a chicken into the brain and a rabbit, into each other. Bugs Bunny was registered as the experimental rabbit, Number 46.
11. Walky Talky Hawky (1946)

★ 7.2/10

Young Henery Hawk's father regretfully admits their family's shame: they hunt and eat chickens. Henery set off to find one, and comes across Foghorn Leghorn, where the loudmouth rooster is engaged in his favorite…
12. The Old Grey Hare (1944)

★ 7.2/10

Failed hunter Elmer Fudd laments that he's never able to catch the rabbit (Bugs Bunny); just then a bolt of lightning strikes, and the voice of God takes him through a flash-forward to the year 2000. Elmer and Bugs…
13. Hair-Raising Hare (1946)

★ 7.2/10

A sneaker-wearing, hairy monster chases Bugs through a castle belonging to an evil scientist.
14. Knights Must Fall (1949)

★ 7.2/10

Bugs must joust with Sir Pantsalot of Drop Seat Manor when he tosses a partially eaten carrot into a suit of armor.
15. There's No Tomorrow (1940)

★ 7.1/10

Evelyne, a woman of bourgeois origin, now reduced to dancing in a sleazy nightclub, is reunited with her first love, who has become a successful doctor.
16. Birth of a Notion (1947)

★ 7.0/10

Daffy Duck, hoping to avoid flying south by finding a sucker who will let him stay, ends up at the house of a mad scientist and his dog, Leopold.
17. Racketeer Rabbit (1946)

★ 7.0/10

Hugo and Rocky (caricatures of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre) make it home to their hideout only to find Bugs already settled down there for the night.
18. The Suitors Club (1941)

★ 7.0/10

As playboys cannot pay their debts anymore,their creditors suggest one of them marry a millionaire's daughter.
19. Blondie's Big Deal (1949)

★ 7.0/10

Dagwood accidentally discovers a non-flammable paint. Bad guys Dillon and Stack steal it before he can give it to his boss Radcliffe. To show off his invention, Dagwood paints Radcliffe's house with it and is disgraced…
20. Baseball Bugs (1946)

★ 6.9/10

Bugs Bunny single handedly takes on the “Gas-House Gorillas,” a baseball team of hulking, cigar-chomping bullies.
21. The Bee-Deviled Bruin (1949)

★ 6.9/10

It's breakfast time, and Pa finds the honeypot empty. Literally risking life and limb, he has Junyer help him raid a nearby beehive. In the end, he finds he should have listened to Ma in the first place, rather than…
22. Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (1942)

★ 6.9/10

Mama Buzzard wants her children to learn to bring back meat for dinner. One buzzardling is shy and has to be kicked out of the nest. He's told to at least bring back a rabbit.
23. Bye, Bye Bluebeard (1949)

★ 6.9/10

Porky has a series of altercations with a mischievous mouse and a vicious serial killer.
24. The Stupid Cupid (1944)

★ 6.9/10

Cupid (Elmer Fudd) is on the prowl around the farm. With his ever-accurate arrows, he spreads love to sometimes unwilling recipients. But when he sets his sights on Daffy, the duck wants no part of it. When…
25. A Little Phantasy on a 19th-century Painting (1946)

★ 6.9/10

Taking "Isle of the Dead," a work by the Swiss symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin as his starting point, Norman McLaren creates a deeply disturbing surrealist dream.
26. The Foxy Duckling (1947)

★ 6.8/10

An insomniac fox residing in a forest needs duck down for his pillow in order to be comfortable enough in his bed to fall asleep, and to this purpose he pursues a wily yellow duck. The fox uses a decoy and duck call…
27. Figaro and Frankie (1947)

★ 6.8/10

Figaro is hungry for a small, yellow canary named Frankie but must pass a barrier; Minnie Mouse.
28. Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (1944)

★ 6.7/10

The bears tempt Goldilocks with carrot soup, the scent of which brings Bugs on the scene. Bugs romances Mama Bear, and she becomes infatuated with him.
29. Bugs Bunny Rides Again (1948)

★ 6.7/10

In the Western town of Rising Gorge, Bugs faces off against Yosemite Sam, "the roughest, toughest, he-man stuffest hombre who's ever crossed the Rio Grande."
30. Carnival of Sinners (1943)

★ 6.7/10

A struggling artist buys a talisman that gives him love, fame and wealth. The talisman is a severed left hand, and it works perfectly, in fact, magically. But of course there is nothing free in this world, and after…
31. The Wind in the Willows (1949)

★ 6.7/10

This animated fairy tale for kids tells the classic story of a dapper, automobile loving fellow named Mr. Toad, whose passion becomes a problem when he's framed for stealing cars by a band of rogue weasels.
32. Krakatit (1948)

★ 6.7/10

In early 20th century Czechoslovakia, a gravely ill chemist recalls his discovery of a powerful explosive and how it landed in the hands of anarchists.
33. The Inspector General (1949)

★ 6.6/10

An illiterate stooge in a traveling medicine show wanders into a strange town and is picked up on a vagrancy charge. The town's corrupt officials mistake him for the inspector general whom they think is traveling in…
34. Elmer's Candid Camera (1940)

★ 6.6/10

Elmer takes up wildlife photography but finds his subject, a rabbit, much too rascally.
35. Super-Rabbit (1943)

★ 6.6/10

Bugs Bunny becomes a superhero who does battle with a rabbit-hating cowboy and his horse.
36. Hare Ribbin' (1944)

★ 6.6/10

Bugs is chased into a lake by a Russian Poodle who speaks with a thick Russian accent; the rest of the story unfolds under water.
37. Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943)

★ 6.5/10

Daffy is an agent representing Sleepy Lagoon, trying to sell him to talent scout Porky. Daffy spends a great deal of time and energy explaining and demonstrating what the kid can do, while the kid sits on a couch…
38. Bath Day (1946)

★ 6.5/10

Minnie gives Figaro a bath and ties a ribbon around his neck. Figaro feels like a sissy, and when he mixes it up with some alley cats, they mock him, and the leader attacks. But Figaro is so afraid that his shaking…
39. What's Brewin', Bruin? (1948)

★ 6.4/10

Pa Bear's attempts to hibernate are constantly frustrated by Junyer's snoring, Ma repeatedly opening the window, a persistent drip from the ceiling and finally, the voices of spring.
40. Hold the Lion, Please (1942)

★ 6.4/10

A lion wants to prove he's still "King of the Jungle" and, to prove it, he hunts rabbit.
41. The Bandit (1946)

★ 6.4/10

Among others, Ernesto returns to Turin after the war from a German POW camp; his household destroyed and family deceased, he tries making an honest living.
42. The Legend of Johnny Appleseed (1948)

★ 6.4/10

Dennis Day tells the story of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman), narrated by The Old Settler. He's an apple farmer who sees people going west and thinks he can't join them, until an angel appears to him and sings the…
43. N.U. (1948)

★ 6.3/10

This 1948 film by Antonioni documents the lives of street cleaners in Rome. N.U. is short for Nettezza urbana, the Italian municipal cleaning service.
44. Captain Kidd (1945)

★ 6.2/10

Cutthroat pirate William Kidd captures Admiral Blayne's treasure ship and hides the bounty in a cave. Three years later, Kidd, posing as a respectable merchant captain, offers his services to the King of England…
45. Devil in the Flesh (1947)

★ 6.2/10

In France during World War I, Marthe waits for her husband, Jacques, while he fights on the front lines. Marthe then begins a tempestuous affair with 17-year-old François, with whom she had a dalliance before marrying…
46. The Lost Moment (1947)

★ 6.2/10

In a long flashback, a New York publisher is in Venice pursuing the lost love letters of an early-19th-century poet, Jeffrey Ashton, who disappeared mysteriously. Using a false name, Lewis Venable rents a room from…
47. Little Orphan Airedale (1947)

★ 6.2/10

Charlie Dog, looking for a good home and some easy living, thinks he's found the perfect sap in Porky Pig. He tries to ingratiate himself with the pig, all the way avoiding Porky's attempts to get rid of the dead-beat…
48. The Screwball (1943)

★ 6.2/10

It's the day of the big baseball game between the Drips and the Droops and Woody Woodpecker is trying to crash the gate and get in without paying for a ticket. A policeman keeps tossing him out but Woody puts on a…