1944 Movies
Take a nostalgic look back at the top movies of 1944, celebrating the films, directors and actors that defined the year and left a lasting legacy in the world of entertainment.
![To Have and Have Not]( "To Have and Have Not")
To Have and Have Not
Written by: Jules Furthman, William Faulkner
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan
Country: United States of America
Outline: During World War II, an American expatriate helps transport a French Resistance leader and his wife to Martinique while romancing a lounge singer.
source: imdb.com
![Meet Me in St. Louis]( "Meet Me in St. Louis")
Meet Me in St. Louis
Written by: Irving Brecher, Fred F. Finklehoffe
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Starring: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart, Joan Carroll
Country: United States of America
Outline: Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.
source: imdb.com
![Hollywood Canteen]( "Hollywood Canteen")
Hollywood Canteen
Written by: Robert Buckner, Delmer Daves, Jack L. Warner
Directed by: Delmer Daves
Starring: Joan Leslie, John Garfield, Jack Carson, S.Z. Sakall, Edward Arnold, Bette Davis
Country: United States of America
Outline: A musical drama depicting the Hollywood Canteen, a real-life club where entertainers entertained servicemen during World War II. The film features performances by various stars and showcases the camaraderie between civilians and military personnel.
source: imdb.com
![Going My Way]( "Going My Way")
Going My Way
Written by: Leo McCarey, Frank Butler, Frank Cavett
Directed by: Leo McCarey
Starring: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, Gene Lockhart, James Brown, Porter Hall
Country: United States of America
Outline: A young priest is assigned to a financially struggling parish, where he befriends an older priest and helps rejuvenate the church's activities. The film explores themes of faith, community, and redemption.
source: imdb.com
![The White Cliffs of Dover]( "The White Cliffs of Dover")
The White Cliffs of Dover
Written by: Claudine West, George Froeschel, Robert Nathan
Directed by: Clarence Brown
Starring: Irene Dunne, Alan Marshal, Roddy McDowall, Frank Morgan, Van Johnson, C. Aubrey Smith, Dame May Whitty, Gladys Cooper, Peter Lawford
Country: United States of America
Outline: During World War I, American nurse Susan Ashwood marries British officer Sir John Ashwood, but he is killed in action. Years later, during World War II, their son, also named John, enlists, leading Susan to fear for his safety.
source: imdb.com
![Bathing Beauty]( "Bathing Beauty")
Bathing Beauty
Written by: Dorothy Kingsley, Allen Boretz, Frank Waldman
Directed by: George Sidney
Starring: Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone, Bill Goodwin, Ethel Smith, Jean Porter, Lina Romay, Carlos Ramírez
Country: United States of America
Outline: Songwriter Steve Elliot's fiancée, Caroline Brooks, agrees to give up her job as a college swimming instructor. However, when Steve is hired to write songs for a water ballet show, he follows Caroline to her all-female college, leading to comedic misunderstandings.
source: imdb.com
![Jamboree]( "Jamboree")
Jamboree
Written by: Jack Townley
Directed by: Joseph Santley
Starring: Ruth Terry, George Byron, Paul Harvey, Edwin Stanley, Freddie Fisher, Ernest Tubb
Country: United States of America
Outline: A comedy about two bands competing for the same radio spot, leading to humorous situations as they impersonate each other.
source: en.wikipedia.org
![Double Indemnity]( "Double Indemnity")
Double Indemnity
Written by: Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler
Directed by: Billy Wilder
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Country: United States of America
Outline: An insurance salesman conspires with a woman to kill her husband and collect the insurance money, but their plan is complicated by a suspicious claims investigator.
source: imdb.com
![Laura]( "Laura")
Laura
Written by: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Betty Reinhardt
Directed by: Otto Preminger
Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb
Country: United States of America
Outline: A detective investigating the murder of a young woman becomes obsessed with her portrait, leading to unexpected revelations.
source: imdb.com
![Arsenic and Old Lace]( "Arsenic and Old Lace")
Arsenic and Old Lace
Written by: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Directed by: Frank Capra
Starring: Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, Raymond Massey, Priscilla Lane, John Alexander, Peter Lorre
Country: United States of America
Outline: On Halloween, theater critic Mortimer Brewster marries Elaine Harper and discovers his aunts' dark secret: they murder lonely old men as an act of charity. Amidst family chaos, Mortimer seeks to protect his new wife from the Brewster family's madness.
source: rottentomatoes.com
![Lifeboat]( "Lifeboat")
Lifeboat
Written by: Jo Swerling
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn, Canada Lee
Country: United States of America
Outline: After a German U-boat sinks their ship, eight survivors are adrift in a lifeboat. Tensions rise when they rescue a German officer, leading to moral dilemmas and survival struggles.
source: rottentomatoes.com
![Hail the Conquering Hero]( "Hail the Conquering Hero")
Hail the Conquering Hero
Written by: Preston Sturges
Directed by: Preston Sturges
Starring: Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demarest, Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Alan Mowbray, Raymond Hatton, Ernest Truex, Elizabeth Patterson, Edmund Gwenn
Country: United States of America
Outline: A young man returns home from World War II, claiming to be a war hero, but his lies lead to unexpected consequences.
source: imdb.com
![Mr. Skeffington]( "Mr. Skeffington")
Mr. Skeffington
Written by: Abem Finkel, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Directed by: Vincent Sherman
Starring: Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Walter Abel, Richard Waring, John Loder, Richard Travis, John Alexander, John Hoyt, Edmund Gwenn, Charles Halton
Country: United States of America
Outline: A beautiful woman, Fanny Trellis, is married to a wealthy man, Job Skeffington, who is devoted to her. After a long absence, she returns to find him a changed man, and their relationship is tested.
source: imdb.com
![The Woman in the Window]( "The Woman in the Window")
The Woman in the Window
Written by: Nunnally Johnson
Directed by: Fritz Lang
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breese, Arthur Loft, Thomas E. Jackson, John McGuire, Frank Conroy, Isabel Jewell
Country: United States of America
Outline: A professor becomes obsessed with a portrait of a woman in a window, leading him into a dangerous affair and a series of events that spiral out of control.
source: imdb.com
![A Canterbury Tale]( "A Canterbury Tale")
A Canterbury Tale
Written by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Starring: Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price, John Sweet
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Outline: During World War II, three individuals—a British sergeant, an American GI, and a land girl—are drawn together in a small English town to investigate a series of mysterious attacks on women. Their journey leads them to uncover deeper connections to the town's history and their own personal destinies.
source: imdb.com
![Murder, My Sweet]( "Murder, My Sweet")
Murder, My Sweet
Written by: John Paxton
Directed by: Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Miles Mander, Douglas Walton
Country: United States of America
Outline: Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired to find a woman's missing fiancé, leading him into a complex case involving blackmail, murder, and a dangerous femme fatale.
source: imdb.com
![The Fighting Sullivans]( "The Fighting Sullivans")
The Fighting Sullivans
Written by: Mary C. McCall Jr., Jules Schermer, Edward Doherty
Directed by: Lloyd Bacon
Starring: Anne Baxter, Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle, Edward Ryan, Trudy Marshall, John Campbell, James Cardwell, John Alvin, George Offerman Jr.
Country: United States of America
Outline: The film dramatizes the true story of five brothers from Iowa who, during the Great Depression, enlist in the U.S. Navy and serve together on the USS Juneau during World War II. Their fate becomes a symbol of the sacrifices made by American families during the war.
source: imdb.com
![The Suspect]( "The Suspect")
The Suspect
Written by: Bertram Millhauser
Directed by: Robert Siodmak
Starring: Charles Laughton, Ella Raines, Brian Donlevy, Rosalind Ivan, Henry Daniell, Peter Lorre
Country: United States of America
Outline: A mild-mannered man in Victorian London is driven to murder after his wife and her lover push him to the brink, leading to a suspenseful tale of crime and justice.
source: imdb.com
![The Uninvited]( "The Uninvited")
The Uninvited
Written by: Frank Partos, Dodie Smith
Directed by: Lewis Allen
Starring: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Gail Russell, Alan Napier, Cornelia Otis Skinner
Country: United States of America
Outline: A brother and sister move into a seaside mansion, only to discover it is haunted by a mysterious and tragic past, leading them to uncover the truth behind the haunting.
source: imdb.com
![The Thin Man Goes Home]( "The Thin Man Goes Home")
The Thin Man Goes Home
Written by: Dashiell Hammett, Robert Riskin, Dwight Taylor, Harry Kurnitz
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson, Gloria DeHaven, Helen Vinson
Country: United States of America
Outline: Nick and Nora Charles visit Nick's hometown, where a murder disrupts their vacation plans. Nick investigates the crime, uncovering a spy ring and a hidden blueprint.
source: imdb.com
![National Velvet]( "National Velvet")
National Velvet
Written by: Helen Deutsch
Directed by: Clarence Brown
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, Angela Lansbury, Anne Revere, Reginald Owen, Terry Kilburn
Country: United States of America
Outline: A young girl, Velvet Brown, trains a horse named Pie to compete in the Grand National steeplechase. With the help of a former jockey, she aims to fulfill her dream.
source: imdb.com
![The Seventh Cross]( "The Seventh Cross")
The Seventh Cross
Written by: Frank Tuttle, Paul Jarrico, Jack Cummings
Directed by: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Signe Hasso, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, John Carradine, Felix Bressart
Country: United States of America
Outline: In Nazi Germany, seven prisoners escape from a concentration camp. Six are recaptured and executed; the seventh, George Heisler, is aided by various people as he seeks freedom.
source: imdb.com
![This Happy Breed]( "This Happy Breed")
This Happy Breed
Written by: R.C. Sherriff
Directed by: David Lean
Starring: Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, Stanley Holloway, Fay Compton, John Mills, Kathleen Harrison
Country: United States of America
Outline: The story of a London working-class family from the end of World War I to the beginning of World War II, depicting their joys and sorrows over two decades.
source: imdb.com
![Henry V]( "Henry V")
Henry V
Written by: William Shakespeare
Directed by: Laurence Olivier
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer, Esmond Knight, Ralph Truman
Country: United States of America
Outline: King Henry V of England embarks on a campaign to claim the French throne, leading to the Battle of Agincourt.
source: imdb.com
What happened in 1944?
Discover what the world looked like in 1944: