40s movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant 40s movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, serious, captivating, emotional, period drama and touching films and TV shows about / with world war two, war, love and romance, soldier, storytelling, murder, death, love, friendship and wartime plots mostly in Drama, War and Romance genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
927
TOP 10 movies tagged as 40s: Shining Through (1992), East/West (1999), Suite Française (2014), Army of Crime (2009), The Cider House Rules (1999), Summerland (2020), The Brylcreem Boys (1998), The Book Thief (2013), White Mischief (1987), A Love to Hide (2005).
Best films
New films
| High Seas (2019) | 6.8 | |
| Blue Moon (2025) | 6.8 | |
| The Saboteurs (2015) | 7.9 | |
| Suite Française (2014) | 7.0 | |
| Tsili (2014) | 5.2 |
List of 40s movies
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Spirited New Yorker Linda Voss goes to work for international lawyer and secret Office of Strategic Services operative Ed Leland just before World War II. As they fall in love, the United States enters the fight against Hitler, and Linda volunteers ...
Style:
suspenseful, sentimental, suspense, melancholic, exciting ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
nazi germany, double agent, espionage, behind enemy lines, world war two, wartime, spy, wartime life, destiny, secret agent, working undercover, love and romance ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
germany, berlin germany, new york, usa, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History, Romance
Country: Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, France, Spain
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
June 1946: Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a ship-load from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) ...
Style:
touching, heartbreaking, harsh, realistic, sentimental ...
Plot:
iron curtain, propaganda, kgb, communism, stalinism, destiny, survival, brutality, tragedy, runaway, brainwashing, love story ...
Time:
1940s, year 1999, 20th century, post world war two, year 1946
Place:
france, russia, soviet union, europe, ussr ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, Thriller, War
Country: UK, France, Canada, Belgium, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
France, 1940. In the first days of occupation, beautiful Lucile Angellier is trapped in a stifled existence with her controlling mother-in-law as they both await news of her husband: a prisoner of war. Parisian refugees start to pour into their ...
Style:
realistic, emotional, romantic, period piece, costume drama ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
world war two, forbidden love, nazi occupied france, nazi occupation, german officer, german soldier, wartime, fall in love, wartime life, war, occupied france, nazi officer ...
Time:
1940s, ancient times, year 1940, 20th century, 18th century
Place:
france, europe, paris france, germany, england ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
This gripping historical drama recounts the story of Armenian-born Missak Manouchian, a woodworker and political activist who led an immigrant laborer division of the Parisian Resistance on 30 operations against the Nazis in 1943. The Nazis branded ...
Style:
serious, realistic, rough, disturbing, sincere ...
Plot:
world war two, gestapo, resistance, ss officer, nazi, occupation, poet, danger, hopes, youth, heroes, human spirit ...
Time:
1940s, year 2009, 20th century, year 1942, post world war two
Place:
paris france, france
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Homer is an orphan who was never adopted, becoming the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life ...
Style:
touching, heartbreaking, sentimental, visually stunning, sad ...
Audience:
teens, date night, kids
Plot:
abortion, coming of age, orphan, adoption, childhood, mentor protege relationship, storytelling, justice, love triangle, sexual attraction, unwanted pregnancy, sick child ...
Time:
1940s, 1920s, year 1999, 90s, year 1943 ...
Place:
maine, usa, new england, atlantic ocean, north america ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
A woman during the Second World War opens her heart to an evacuee after initially resolving to be rid of him.
Style:
touching, costume drama, period piece, psychological, melancholic ...
Plot:
world war two, lgbtq, lesbian romance, sapphic, lesbian, lesbian couple, lesbian love, lesbianism, lesbian relationship, lesbian interest, love, flashback ...
Time:
1940s, 1920s, 2020s
Place:
london
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
In 1941, as part of an effort to remain strictly neutral, the Dublin government made a deal with both Berlin and London whereby any soldier, sailor or pilot captured on Irish soil, whether of German or Allied forces, would be interned for the ...
Style:
realistic, serious, sex comedy, independent film
Plot:
world war two, anti war, love triangle, fall in love, love and romance, war, rescue, pow, german officer, honor, hopes, prisoner ...
Time:
1940s, year 1998
Place:
ireland, europe, london
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA, UK
Duration: 131 min.
Story:
While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
Style:
touching, sentimental, emotional, serious, sad ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, family outing, adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, childhood, nazi, adoption, nazi germany, war, human spirit, against humanity, death, youth, nazism ...
Time:
1940s, year 2013, ancient times, year 1941, 2010s ...
Place:
germany, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK, Kenya, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A millionaire past his prime and his young wife arrive in Kenya circa 1940 to find that the other affluent British expatriates are living large as the homefront gears up for war. They are busy swapping partners, doing drugs, and attending lavish ...
Style:
costume drama, psycho sexual, clever, stylized, bleak ...
Plot:
british colonialism, decadence, loss of lover, murder, world war two, serial killer, adultery, jealousy, public masturbation, tragic romance, seduction, murder trial ...
Time:
1940s, year 1987, 20th century
Place:
africa, kenya, south africa, england
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: France
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A young Jewish girl, Sarah, is looking to escape the clutches of the Third Reich after seeing her parents and sister brutally slain by a smuggler who betrayed them while attempting to escape to England. Terrified, she is sheltered by her childhood ...
Style:
lgbt cinema, serious, emotional, touching, sad ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
gay, holocaust, gay love, gay brother, gay relationship, gay club, gay couple, lgbt, nazi, gay son, world war two, betrayal ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
france, paris france, europe
Is relevant?
2.2M
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 175 min.
Story:
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the ...
Style:
serious, captivating, atmospheric, epic, dramatic ...
Audience:
boys' night, manly, chick flick, adult
Plot:
mafia, organized crime, gangster, revenge, crime family, betrayal, mob boss, wedding, greed, pride and honor, cosa nostra, violence ...
Time:
1950s, 1940s, 20th century, 50s, year 1972 ...
Place:
italy, new york, bronx new york city, manhattan new york city, sicily ...
Is relevant?
679K
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately ...
Style:
touching, romantic, emotional, sentimental, sweet ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, girls' night, teens, adult
Plot:
love story, love, love and romance, fall in love, true love, rich woman poor man, youth, forbidden love, power of love, love of one's life, young lovers, love triangle ...
Time:
1940s, year 2004, post world war two, year 1941, 50s ...
Place:
north carolina, charleston south carolina, southern usa, iran, usa ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 162 min.
Story:
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of ...
Style:
romantic, sentimental, touching, emotional, scenic ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night
Plot:
world war two, love story, desert, beautiful scenery, tragic love, power of love, love and romance, passion, adultery, sex scene, doomed love, life philosophy ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, year 1944, year 1942, 90s ...
Place:
sahara, italy, ottoman empire, cairo egypt, africa ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
In this eleven parts British television serial, Charles Ryder's involvement with members of the aristocratic Marchmain/Flyte family is followed throughout the years between the two World Wars.
Style:
costume drama, avant garde, historical drama, sitcom, spiritual ...
Plot:
world war two, friendship, closeted homosexual, gay, atheist, homosexuality, catholicism, homosexual subtext, voice over narration, religion, forbidden love, illicit love ...
Time:
1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 20th century, year 1981
Place:
oxford university, england, venice, paris france
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 163 min.
Story:
Brazilian baroque. The young son that ran from his dominant family, descends into decadence and then returns to the nest. With melodramatic themes of tyrannical fathers, incest, fierce family conflicts and an overheated and intense visual style to ...
Style:
serious, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, suspense ...
Plot:
incest, forbidden love, family relations, family problems, family gatherings, dysfunctional family, family life, parents and children, destructive relationship, love and romance, bossy man, couples ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
brazil, latin america
Is relevant?
121K
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On ...
Style:
bleak, harsh, thought provoking, rough, brutal ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
world war two, genocide, war crime, against humanity, brutality, holocaust, nazi, atrocity, occupation, children in wartime, massacre, teenage girl ...
Time:
1940s, year 1943, 20th century, year 1985, near future ...
Place:
germany, persia, europe, soviet union, russia ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History, Romance
Country: Russia
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
The action takes place shortly after the end of the Second World War in the Siberian hinterland, among Russians and Germans with damaged personal stories and a strange transformation: the victors seem to be crawling into the skins of the defeated, ...
Style:
realistic, bleak, captivating, tense, rough ...
Plot:
gulag, soldier, prisoner of war camp, rivalry, prison life, captivity, pow, world war two, wilderness, confined, danger, winter ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s, year 1945, post world war two
Place:
soviet union, russia, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
It's 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work ...
Style:
tense, captivating, semi serious, exciting, suspenseful ...
Audience:
pre-teens, boys' night, teens
Plot:
female agent, female protagonist, undercover, heroic mission, secret agent, hand to hand combat, heroes, danger, save the world, villain, strong female lead, spy ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1946
Place:
usa, new york
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs.
Style:
intellectual, bleak, captivating, serious, sexual ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
poet, gay, obsession, friendship, youth, gay interest, lgbtq, writers, coming of age, sexual tension, lgbtqi, friends ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944, 20th century, 2000s, post world war two ...
Place:
usa, harlem, manhattan new york city, greenwich village manhattan new york city, chicago ...
Is relevant?
12K
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: France
Duration: 160 min.
Story:
The story starts in the 1930s at one of the largest rubber-tree plantations in Indochine (Vietnam). This plantation is owned by the French colonist Eliane, a proud woman who lives with her father and her native adoptive daughter Camille. She ...
Style:
visual, realistic, epic, atmospheric, stylized ...
Plot:
colonialism, adoption, terrorist, women, vietnam war, love story, politics, dictatorship, dictator, interracial relations, naval officer, passion ...
Time:
1930s, 1940s, year 1992, 1950s, 50s ...
Place:
southeast asia, vietnam, indochina, asia, france ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 830 min.
TV show
Story:
The series is based on a true story of a Russian spy Colonel Isaev (Stirlitz) in Fascist Germany during 17 days in very end of WWII. Stirlitz has worked his way to the very top of the Fascist hierarchy without being caught. However, his ...
Style:
serious, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
world war two, spy, nazi, danger, nazi germany, espionage, state affairs, undercover agent, gestapo, undercover, working undercover, intrigue ...
Time:
1940s, year 1945, 20th century
Place:
soviet union, ussr, germany, europe, switzerland ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a ...
Style:
emotional, touching, heartbreaking, sad, sentimental ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, family outing, kids, teen drama ...
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, concentration camp, war, children, friendship, childhood, nazi, nazism, gas chamber, boy, morality ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, ancient times, year 2008, year 1941 ...
Place:
germany, poland, europe, berlin germany, switzerland
Is relevant?
Genre: Action
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Wartime, summer 1941. Train carrying criminals gets under enemy fire and crashed. Out of all of the living are only a young lieutenant of the NKVD and two prisoners - the thief and repressed Communist party worker.
Style:
exciting, suspense, thought provoking, epic, disturbing
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
world war two, good versus evil, battles, fight, criminal, heroism, life & death, criminal heroes, moral transformation, unlikely friendships, friendship, killing ...
Time:
1940s, year 1941
Place:
ussr
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
TV show
Story:
This mini series covers 60 years in the lives of the Cleary family, brought from New Zealand to Australia to run their aunt Mary Carson's ranch. The story centers on their daughter, Meggie, and her love for the family's priest, Father ...
Style:
sentimental, touching, family saga, captivating, emotional ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
forbidden love, older man younger woman relationship, clergy, catholic priest, friendship, love and romance, couple relations, tragic love, priest in love, family life, society, destiny ...
Time:
50s, 1920s, 20th century, 1930s, 1940s ...
Place:
australia, oceania, new zealand
Is relevant?
4K
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA, West Germany
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
During WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort. Against their proper sensibilities, many of the Brits don't much like the brash Yanks, especially when it comes to the G.I.s making advances on the ...
Style:
serious, realistic, emotional, touching, historical drama ...
Plot:
world war two, soldier, wartime life, forbidden love, premarital sex, american abroad, prejudice, racism, infidelity, couple relations, love affair, world war ...
Time:
1940s, year 1979, 20th century, year 1942
Place:
england, yorkshire, northern england, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret wartime project in New Mexico where the first atomic bombs were designed and built.
Style:
factual, intense, suspense, realistic, serious ...
Plot:
world war two, nuclear bomb, atomic bomb, scientist, politics, military, scientific research, biopic, idealism, nuclear, moral dilemma, ego clash ...
Time:
1940s, year 1945, 20th century, 70s
Place:
usa, new mexico, bay area, germany, russia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
World War II has ended and many soldiers return to their houses and families. But three of them find themselves with big problems when they arrive at their home village.
Style:
contemplative, bleak, disturbing, gloomy, thought provoking ...
Plot:
battles, world war two, soldier, politics, friends, cons and scams, homecoming, friendship, political corruption, society, rebellion, fighting the system ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
texas, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller, War
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
During World War II, an American serviceman in London decides to impress his English girlfriend by acting as an American gangster, which soon turns deadly.
Style:
serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, atmospheric ...
Plot:
crime spree, world war two, gangster, investigation, soldier, heist, criminal heroes, dishonesty, cons and scams, frame up, wartime life, serial killer ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
england, london, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France, USA
Duration: 173 min.
Story:
The title is Adolf Hitler's question to his chief of staff Alfred Jodl on the eve of the liberation of Paris (August 25): the military governor of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, had been ordered to destroy Paris rather than let it fall ...
Style:
harsh, factual, tense, suspense, emotional ...
Plot:
french resistance, world war two, resistance, holocaust, nazi, ss, moral ambiguity, military, moral dilemma, totalitarianism, rescue, against the odds ...
Time:
1940s, year 1966, year 1944
Place:
france, paris france, europe, germany, warsaw poland
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: Belarus, Russia
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
A war drama set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in which Russian troops held on to a border stronghold for nine days. The film shows the heroic defense of Brest Fortress, which has taken upon the first stroke of German ...
Style:
serious, realistic, tense, exciting, captivating ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
world war two, war, military, battles, red army, wehrmacht, infantrymen, border guard, nazism, squad, heroes, invasion ...
Time:
1940s, year 1941, 2010s, 20th century
Place:
russia, europe
Is relevant?
