Hollywood's Best: The 40s
Oscar Winners and Nominees for Writing
"In picture-making the writer is the most important clog in the wheel." --Samuel Goldwyn
Action in the North Atlantic
A great action film starring Humphrey Bogart who goes off to fight the Nazis. Guy Gilpatric was nominated for an Oscar for Original Story.
Video
Air Force
A B-17 crew leaves from San Francisco one peaceful night in December and ends up on Pearl Harbor above the island in smoke. With John Garfield and Gig Young. Dudley Nichols was nominated for the Original Screenplay Oscar.
Video
The Best Years of Our Lives
This is a story of three servicemen who return from World War II and begin to piece their lives back together. With Myrna Loy, Frederick March, and Dana Andrews. Adapted from MacKinlay Kantor's Glory for Me, a novel in verse. The Oscar for Screenplay went to Robert E. Sherwood.
Video - DVD
Casablanca
One of the greatest films ever made and was based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick's, by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. The cast includes Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid, and Dooley Wilson. The winners for the Screenplay Oscar were Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch.
Video - DVD
Citizen Kane
Often called the best film of all time, it is based on the life of William Randolph Hearst. Orson Welles stars and directs. Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles won an Oscar for Original Screenplay.
Video - DVD
Foreign Correspondent
A Hitchcock spy thriller. Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison were Original Screenplay nominees.
Video - DVD
Gentleman's Agreement
Gregory Peck is a magazine writer who researches an article on anti-Semitism and learns first-hand about prejudice when he poses as a Jew. Moss Hart was a nominee for an Oscar for his screenplay.
Video - DVD
Going My Way
Bing Crosby stars as a young priest who stirs things up with crusty old Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). The Oscar winner for Original Story was Leo McCarey.
Video - DVD
The Grapes of Wrath
From the John Steinbeck novel set in the Depression. Starring Henry Fonda. Nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay was Nunnally Johnson.
Video - DVD
A Guy Named Joe
A sweet story based on the legend that pilots never die but return to guide fledging airmen. Starring Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunn, and Van Johnson. Oscar nominees for Original Story were David Boehm and Chandler Sprague.
Video
How Green Was My Valley
A moving film about the decline of a Welsh mining family. John Ford directed. Philip Dunne was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay.
Video - DVD
The Human Comedy
The wartime story is set in a small town and stars Mickey Rooney, Van Johnson, and Donna Reed. William Saroyan won the Oscar for Original Story.
Video
Johnny Belinda
Jane Wyman plays a deaf-mute who is raped and has a baby. From the Broadway play by Elmer Davis. With Agnes Moorehead and Lew Ayres. Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent were Oscar nominees in the Screenplay category.
Video - DVD
Kitty Foyle
Ginger Rogers plays a white-collar girl whose baby dies. From Christopher Morley's novel. A Screenplay Oscar nomination went to Dalton Trumbo.
Video - DVD
Laura
Gene Tierney is the dead woman who ends up as the heroine. Dana Andrews plays the detective in love with her. With Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson. Directed by Otto Preminger.
Video - DVD
A Letter to Three Wives
A satirical comedy on American social and marital conventions. Adapted from a story by John Klempner. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz won an Oscar for his screenplay. Cast: Ann Southern, Linda Darnell, Paul Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Jeanne Crain.
Video - DVDLifeboat
A story about the ordeal of a group of survivors of a torpedoed ship. Starring Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, and Hume Cronyn. John Steinbeck was an Oscar nominee for his original story. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Video - DVD
The Lost Weekend
Charles Jackson's novel about a writer who goes on a five-day binge and lands in Bellevue. Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder won a Screenplay Oscar.
Video - DVD
Night Train to Munich
Rex Harrison, British intelligence agent, tries to rescue a Czech scientist in a thrilling suspense. Gordon Wellesley was nominated for an Oscar for his original story.
Video
Random Harvest
Ronald Coleman is an amnesiac who falls in love with Greer Garson. Based on a James Hilton novel. The nominees for an Oscar for their screenplay were George Froeschel, Claudine West, and Arthur Wimperis.
Video - DVD
Rebecca
A Hitchcock film based on Daphne du Maurier's novel. Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison were nominated for an Oscar for their screenplay.
Video - DVD
The Snake Pit
Olivia de Havilland stars as a woman placed in a mental institution. Oscar nominees for their screenplay were Frank Partos and Millen Brand.
Video - DVD
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
A young Kirk Douglas debuts and Barbara Stanwyck stars in this story of mystery and murder. Oscar nominee for Original Story was John Patrick.
Video - DVD
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Three Americans stranded in Mexico dig for gold and become rich. From the B. Traven novel. Humphrey Bogart stars. John Huston won an Oscar for his screenplay.
Video - DVD
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