The 40s

The world grew up in the 40s, and cinema did as well. The depression ended in 1939 with the break out of the War in Europe, America then joined the fight in 1941, and nothing would be the same again.

Most popular movies in the 30s looked at the world in black and white, you knew your heroes and you knew your villains, but suddenly things got more complicated. Film went into darker territory, you sometimes didn't know who the good guys were. Characters were more cynical, and weary of the world, there was a name for this type of movie: Film Noir.

Film Noir came into its own in the 1940s, the bleak post war world view complimented these film's dark and violent overtones. Film noir found its origin earlier on borrowing a German Expressionism asthetic with its strong use of shadow. Robert Mitchum, who was one of film noir's major stars once said all he had for light in a scene came from his cigarette.

The film's themselves mostly originated from pulp crime stories from authours like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. Directors such as John Huston and Billy Wilder made names for themselves with this kind of film, and it has since incluenced generations afterwards.

The major star to come out of these kind of movies was Humphrey Bogart. Bogart had a breakout year in 1941 with Huston's "The Maltese Falcon" and the gangster film "High Sierra". In both films, Bogart plays the anti-hero, in that he was someone who did bad things, but had the kind of attitude people rooted for anyway. Bogart's image excelled in these kind of films, perhaps no more than when he was partnered with his soul mate Lauren Becall. Together they made four films, perhaps no more memorable than the two directed by Howard Hawks, "To Have and Have Not", and "The Big Sleep".

Another kind of star gained a lot of fame during this period as well; John Wayne epitomized the Hollywood war hero in many films which made him the major box office star of the decade. It was ironic however that Wayne himself never fought in the war, something that would forever haunt his relationship with his director/mentor John Ford.

Films were getting more and more complex, a lot of art that came out during the war was abstract, reality was being bended in so many ways. The door became open for what is probably the single most influential director to come out of Hollywood. Orson Welles, the wonderkid of both theatre and radio was given a one in a lifetime contract by RKO studios for what would be his first film "Citizen Kane". Welles was given free reign, because as he stated before "I didn't want the money, I just wanted the power." He got it, and film students are still in awe of his masterwork. Welles would of course work in Hollywood for many years, but such other masterpieces like "The Magnificent Ambersons" would be butchered with his vocal disappoval, others like his "Othello" would take years to make since he had cease shooting in order to raise more money.

Another kind of revolution was happening overseas as well in the foreign market, this mostly seen in Italy. Italian neo-realism came into blossom by films such as De Sica's "The Bicycle Thieves" and Rosselini's "Rome Open City". The films were stark and showed a realism very different from Hollywood. Sometimes ordinary people were chosen in place of real actors, streets of Italy were shown as they were instead of glossy sets, and the subject matter was far more politically charged.

The 40s seemed to expand the arena of filmmaking, as the war ended, there was more complexity and more uncertainty. If the 30s showed us a world that was trying to stay optimstic, the 40s showed us that it was easier said than done.

The Top Ten List:

The 40s represented what I think may be the best films in Hollywoods history, there were so many leaps with new kinds of innovations, so I tried to keep that in mind but also not forgetting about my personal favorites. It's so fun making lists like these, once more I apoligize for anything I left out, and as per usual I accept your critiques and suggestions. Enjoy this week!