Best Of...
American cinema: 1940s
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
Roy William Neill
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are in Quebec to attend a conference on the occult chaired by the eminent specialist in the field, Lord Penrose...
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Roy William Neill
Scarlet Street (1945)
Fritz Lang
Mild-mannered store cashier Chris Cross relieves his humdrum life by painting in his spare time, which is just one of the things that irks his shrewish wife...
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Fritz Lang
The Sea Hawk (1940)
Michael Curtiz
King Philip II of Spain plans to build an armada that will invade England, the one country that threatens his dream of world domination...
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Michael Curtiz
Secret Beyond the Door (1948)
Fritz Lang
When Celia, a young heiress, meets Mark Lamphere, a successful architect, it is love at first sight. They are in Mexico at the time and something about the atmosphere of this strange primitive land heightens Celia's romantic feelings and makes her sure that she has found herself the perfect husband...
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Fritz Lang
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Alfred Hitchcock
Young Charlie Newton is delighted when she receives a telegraph from her Uncle Charlie notifying her that he intends spending some time with her family in the peaceful American town of Santa Rosa...
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Alfred Hitchcock
The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
Josef von Sternberg
In the 1930s, Shanghai is a thriving city of commerce, a magnet for tourists and businessmen, but it has a darker side. In the less salubrious parts of the city, casinos, brothels and opium dens prosper, feeding on the westerners' appetite for all that is sordid, like maggots feasting on a rotting corpse... [More...]
Josef von Sternberg
In the 1930s, Shanghai is a thriving city of commerce, a magnet for tourists and businessmen, but it has a darker side. In the less salubrious parts of the city, casinos, brothels and opium dens prosper, feeding on the westerners' appetite for all that is sordid, like maggots feasting on a rotting corpse... [More...]
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
Roy William Neill
During WWII, Musgrave Manor serves as a convalescent home for officers wounded in the war. When one of his colleagues is attacked by an unknown assailant one evening, Dr Watson invites his friend Sherlock Holmes to the house to investigate... [More...]
Roy William Neill
During WWII, Musgrave Manor serves as a convalescent home for officers wounded in the war. When one of his colleagues is attacked by an unknown assailant one evening, Dr Watson invites his friend Sherlock Holmes to the house to investigate... [More...]
Shockproof (1949)
Douglas Sirk
Having served a five year stretch in prison for her part in a murder, Jenny Marsh is released into the custody of parole officer Griff Marat, who offers her the prospect of a new life with his support... [More...]
Douglas Sirk
Having served a five year stretch in prison for her part in a murder, Jenny Marsh is released into the custody of parole officer Griff Marat, who offers her the prospect of a new life with his support... [More...]
Son of Dracula (1943)
Robert Siodmak
Katherine Caldwell, the daughter of a Deep South plantation owner, is hosting a party to welcome her guest, Count Alucard, to America... [More...]
Robert Siodmak
Katherine Caldwell, the daughter of a Deep South plantation owner, is hosting a party to welcome her guest, Count Alucard, to America... [More...]
The Southerner (1945)
Jean Renoir
Sam Tucker is a young migrant worker who scrapes a living toiling for others on the cotton fields of Texas. When his uncle, another cotton picker, dies from sunstroke, Sam decides to go it alone and invest his meagre savings in a smallholding, hoping to strike it rich with a bumper cotton harvest... [More...]
Jean Renoir
Sam Tucker is a young migrant worker who scrapes a living toiling for others on the cotton fields of Texas. When his uncle, another cotton picker, dies from sunstroke, Sam decides to go it alone and invest his meagre savings in a smallholding, hoping to strike it rich with a bumper cotton harvest... [More...]
Spellbound (1945)
Alfred Hitchcock
When Dr Murchison retires from Green Manors psychiatric hospital, an eminent young expert in psychoanalysis, Dr Edwardes, is hired as his replacement... [More...]
Alfred Hitchcock
When Dr Murchison retires from Green Manors psychiatric hospital, an eminent young expert in psychoanalysis, Dr Edwardes, is hired as his replacement... [More...]
The Spider Woman (1944)
Roy William Neill
Just as London is being plagued by a series of pyjama suicides, Sherlock Holmes falls into a river and drowns whilst holidaying in Scotland... [More...]
Roy William Neill
Just as London is being plagued by a series of pyjama suicides, Sherlock Holmes falls into a river and drowns whilst holidaying in Scotland... [More...]
The Spiral Staircase (1945)
Robert Siodmak
In a New England town of the early 1900s, disabled young women are being murdered by an unknown killer. Mrs Warren, the bedridden owner of an old Gothic mansion, is convinced that her dumb servant girl Helen will be the next victim and urges her to go away... [More...]
Robert Siodmak
In a New England town of the early 1900s, disabled young women are being murdered by an unknown killer. Mrs Warren, the bedridden owner of an old Gothic mansion, is convinced that her dumb servant girl Helen will be the next victim and urges her to go away... [More...]
Stormy Weather (1943)
Andrew L. Stone
On his return to America after serving in the First World War, Bill Williamson sets his sights on becoming a dancer but has difficulty finding work of any kind... [More...]
Andrew L. Stone
On his return to America after serving in the First World War, Bill Williamson sets his sights on becoming a dancer but has difficulty finding work of any kind... [More...]
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Lewis Milestone
In 1928, Martha Ivers is a young orphan girl who longs to escape from the domineering control of her cold-hearted aunt in Iverstown... [More...]
Lewis Milestone
In 1928, Martha Ivers is a young orphan girl who longs to escape from the domineering control of her cold-hearted aunt in Iverstown... [More...]
The Strange Woman (1946)
Edgar G. Ulmer
Bangor, Maine, in the early 19th Century. When her drunken father takes to beating her, Jenny Hager turns to her neighbours for help... [More...]
Edgar G. Ulmer
Bangor, Maine, in the early 19th Century. When her drunken father takes to beating her, Jenny Hager turns to her neighbours for help... [More...]
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Boris Ingster
Reporter Michael Ward is the key witness in a murder trial. At first, he has no qualms about testifying against the man who is accused of murdering a popular café owner... [More...]
Boris Ingster
Reporter Michael Ward is the key witness in a murder trial. At first, he has no qualms about testifying against the man who is accused of murdering a popular café owner... [More...]
The Stranger (1946)
Orson Welles
Immediately after WWII, a war crimes investigator named Wilson is assigned to track down the notorious Nazi war criminal Franz Kindler... [More...]
Orson Welles
Immediately after WWII, a war crimes investigator named Wilson is assigned to track down the notorious Nazi war criminal Franz Kindler... [More...]
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Preston Sturges
John L. Sullivan is a successful Hollywood film director. His lightweight comedies, such as Ants in Your Pants of 1939, have made him a rich man... [More...]
Preston Sturges
John L. Sullivan is a successful Hollywood film director. His lightweight comedies, such as Ants in Your Pants of 1939, have made him a rich man... [More...]
Suspicion (1941)
Alfred Hitchcock
From the moment they first met, sitting opposite one another on a train, Lina MacKinlaw knew that Johnnie Aysgarth would be the love of her life... [More...]
Alfred Hitchcock
From the moment they first met, sitting opposite one another on a train, Lina MacKinlaw knew that Johnnie Aysgarth would be the love of her life... [More...]
Swamp Water (1941)
Jean Renoir
Ben Ragan is a trapper who, along with his authoritarian father Thursday, belongs to a small community living beside the feared Okefenokee Swamp... [More...]
Jean Renoir
Ben Ragan is a trapper who, along with his authoritarian father Thursday, belongs to a small community living beside the feared Okefenokee Swamp... [More...]
The Talk of the Town (1942)
George Stevens
When a fabrics mill goes up in flames, one of its employees, Leopold Dilg, is arrested on a charge of arson. The jury at his trial are unlikely to show him any leniency, as the mill foreman died in the fire... [More...]
George Stevens
When a fabrics mill goes up in flames, one of its employees, Leopold Dilg, is arrested on a charge of arson. The jury at his trial are unlikely to show him any leniency, as the mill foreman died in the fire... [More...]
Terror by Night (1946)
Roy William Neill
Roland Carstairs engages Sherlock Holmes to guard his mother's priceless diamond, the famed Star of Rhodesia, during a train journey from London to Edinburgh... [More...]
Roy William Neill
Roland Carstairs engages Sherlock Holmes to guard his mother's priceless diamond, the famed Star of Rhodesia, during a train journey from London to Edinburgh... [More...]
They Live by Night (1948)
Nicholas Ray
During the 1930s, three convicts make a successful break from a prison farm and go on the run in a stolen car. Two of the men are seasoned bank robbers, Chicamaw and T-Dub; the third, Bowie, is a young man wrongly convicted for murder... [More...]
Nicholas Ray
During the 1930s, three convicts make a successful break from a prison farm and go on the run in a stolen car. Two of the men are seasoned bank robbers, Chicamaw and T-Dub; the third, Bowie, is a young man wrongly convicted for murder... [More...]
They Won't Believe Me (1947)
Irving Pichel
Larry Ballentine is on trial for murder. After the case for the prosecution has been presented his defence lawyer calls him to the witness stand and asks him to recount the series of events that led to his arrest... [More...]
Irving Pichel
Larry Ballentine is on trial for murder. After the case for the prosecution has been presented his defence lawyer calls him to the witness stand and asks him to recount the series of events that led to his arrest... [More...]
This Gun for Hire (1942)
Frank Tuttle
Raven is a man who kills for one motive. Money. When nightclub manager Will Gates hires him to kill a man and then pays him in stolen banknotes he isn't pleased... [More...]
Frank Tuttle
Raven is a man who kills for one motive. Money. When nightclub manager Will Gates hires him to kill a man and then pays him in stolen banknotes he isn't pleased... [More...]
This Land Is Mine (1943)
Jean Renoir
During WWII, the inhabitants of a small town somewhere in Europe are accustoming themselves to life under Nazi occupation... [More...]
Jean Renoir
During WWII, the inhabitants of a small town somewhere in Europe are accustoming themselves to life under Nazi occupation... [More...]
Three Strangers (1946)
Jean Negulesco
London, 1938. Crystal Shackleford, a mysterious young woman, lures two complete strangers - solicitor Jerome K. Arbutny and small-time crook Johnny West - back to her apartment so that she can offer them a fantastic proposal... [More...]
Jean Negulesco
London, 1938. Crystal Shackleford, a mysterious young woman, lures two complete strangers - solicitor Jerome K. Arbutny and small-time crook Johnny West - back to her apartment so that she can offer them a fantastic proposal... [More...]
The Time of Your Life (1948)
H.C. Potter
Nick's is a popular Pacific Street saloon bar on the San Francisco waterfront. The owner, Nick, welcomes oddballs and dropouts, insisting that they be themselves at all times... [More...]
H.C. Potter
Nick's is a popular Pacific Street saloon bar on the San Francisco waterfront. The owner, Nick, welcomes oddballs and dropouts, insisting that they be themselves at all times... [More...]
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Ernst Lubitsch
Poland, 1939. With Germany poised to launch an invasion that will plunge the world into a long and costly war, Warsaw's leading theatre company is busy rehearsing an anti-Nazi play which pokes fun at Hitler and his jackbooted cohorts... [More...]
Ernst Lubitsch
Poland, 1939. With Germany poised to launch an invasion that will plunge the world into a long and costly war, Warsaw's leading theatre company is busy rehearsing an anti-Nazi play which pokes fun at Hitler and his jackbooted cohorts... [More...]