1940s movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant 1940s movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, serious, captivating, period drama, dramatic and thought provoking films and TV shows about / with world war two, world war, nazi, war, friendship, death, holocaust, military, danger and wartime plots mostly in Drama, War and History genres shot in USA, UK, Germany and other countries.
2394
TOP 10 movies tagged as 1940s: The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), All Things Fair (1995), The Halcyon (2017), Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (1990), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Falling in Love Again (1980), Foyle's War (2002), Hope and Glory (1987), The Promise (2011), Generation War (2013).
Best films
New films
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: West Germany
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Near the end of World War II, Maria marries Hermann, who is immediately sent off to battle. When the war concludes, Maria believes that Hermann is dead. She starts working at an Allied bar, where she meets American soldier Bill. They start a ...
Style:
emotional, psychological, thought provoking, touching, surreal ...
Plot:
marriage, world war two, female nudity, wartime life, lovers reunited, infidelity, rise to the top, couples, life is a bitch, battle of the sexes, couple relations, love and romance ...
Time:
1940s, post world war two, 1950s, year 1979, 20th century ...
Place:
berlin germany, europe, germany, west germany, canada
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
This film is set in 1943 when the whole of Europe was embroiled in WWII. It deals with attraction of a 15 year old boy Stig to his teacher Viola. The whole movie revolves around the sexual encounters between Stig and Viola and how he eventually ...
Style:
sexual, sexy, erotic, touching, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens, adult
Plot:
older woman younger man relationship, teacher student sex, older woman younger man sex, forbidden love, erotica, cheating wife, love affair, female teacher, older woman teenage boy relationship, teachers and students, defloration, sex with teenager ...
Time:
1940s, year 1943, 20th century
Place:
scandinavia, eastern europe, europe, stockholm sweden
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
The story of a bustling and glamorous five star hotel at the centre of London society and a world at war.
Style:
costume drama, realistic, disturbing, thought provoking, psychological ...
Plot:
world war two, hotel, aristocracy, gay lead character, manager, wartime, society, bellhop, maid, chef, lgbt, world war one ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
england, london
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?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, ...
Style:
clever, uplifting, inspirational, touching, twist ending ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, kids, family friendly ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, friendship between men, hopes, friendship, corruption, human spirit, justice, prison life, life, stephen king ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 90s, year 1994, 2010s ...
Place:
usa, maine, columbus ohio, persia, iran ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Harry and Sue Lewis met in the 40s as teenagers living in the Bronx. He was an aspiring architect, she was the most beautiful girl in school, and both had a fondness for bran muffins. They fell in love, got married, moved to Los Angeles, and had two ...
Style:
sweet, melancholic, romantic, intense, light ...
Audience:
girls' night, teens
Plot:
fall in love, love story, unlikely friendships, happy ending, friendship, midlife crisis, couple relations, couples, self discovery, lifestyle, memory, love ...
Time:
1940s, year 1980, 70s
Place:
usa, bronx new york city, new york, argentina
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, War
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min.
TV show
Story:
As WW2 rages around the world, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front as he investigates crimes on the south coast of England. Foyle's War opens in southern England in the year 1940. Later series sees the retired detective working as an ...
Style:
clever, serious, realistic, captivating, period piece ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
investigation, world war two, police detective, police investigation, detective inspector, police, investigator, whodunit, war crime, nazism, british police, murder investigation ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
england, europe, new mexico, london
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
British writer/director John Boorman (The Emerald Forest) draws us into an astonishing and exhilarating portrait of his own childhood, set against the terrors of a London torn apart by the onset of WWII. Seven-year-old Billy Rohan (Sebastian Rice ...
Style:
touching, sentimental, realistic, humorous, intense ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
world war two, wartime, childhood, children in wartime, war, boy, youth, wartime life, coming of age, air raid, premarital sex, toy soldier ...
Time:
1940s, year 1939, year 1987
Place:
england, london, europe, big ben london, britain
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, War
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min.
TV show
Story:
A young British girl travels to Israel/Palestine, retracing the steps of her grandfather - a British soldier stationed there in the 1940s.
Style:
disturbing, emotional, realistic, serious, historical drama ...
Plot:
israeli palestinian conflict, occupation, soldier, diary, military, wartime life, military life, society, life is a bitch, youth, political unrest, loss of family member ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
palestine, israel, middle east, palestinian authority
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 90 min.
TV show
Story:
Berlin, 1941. Five friends eager to become heroes in an adventure that will change the face of Europe - and that will forever change them as well.
Style:
tense, captivating, thought provoking, serious, anime ...
Plot:
world war two, nazism, holocaust, soldier, military, nazi germany, guilt, danger, eastern front, atrocity, wehrmacht, friends ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
germany, berlin germany, east germany, hawaii, soviet union ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
On a rainy London night in 1946, novelist Maurice Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles, husband of his ex-mistress Sarah, who abruptly ended their affair two years before. Bendrix's obsession with Sarah is rekindled; he succumbs to his ...
Style:
romantic, erotic, sexy, period piece, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
world war two, obsession, private detective, infidelity, jealousy, passion, obsessive love, love affair, love story, sex scene, writers, extramarital affair ...
Time:
1940s, year 1999, 1930s, 20th century, year 1940 ...
Place:
london, brighton, england, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Netherlands, Belgium
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
During World War II in the freezing Netherlands winter of 1944/1945 the western Netherlands are in the grip of a famine. Many people move east to provide for their families. Fourteen year old Michiel can't wait to join the Dutch resistance, to ...
Style:
tense, sexy, exciting, serious, realistic ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
world war two, coming of age, resistance movement, occupation, resistance, children in wartime, nazi, wartime life, execution, winter, nazism, nazi occupation ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 2008, post world war two
Place:
netherlands, germany, europe, holland
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Russia, UK
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
When in 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, their troops quickly besieged Leningrad. Foreign journalists are evacuated but one of them, Kate Davies, is presumed dead and misses the plane. Alone in the city she is helped by Nina Tsvetnova a ...
Style:
serious, realistic, rough, bleak, gloomy
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
world war two, hunger, siege, battles, soldier, self sacrifice, female protagonist, wartime life, chess, journalist, world war, danger ...
Time:
1940s, year 1941, 20th century, post world war two
Place:
russia, st. petersburg russia
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
True story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine brought to thrilling, dramatic life. Sophie Scholl stars Julia Jentsch in a luminous performance as the fearless activist of the underground student resistance group, The White Rose. Armed ...
Style:
sincere, emotional, touching, suspenseful, political ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
world war two, politics, nazism, nazi germany, death sentence, nazi, resistance, gestapo, justice, historical character, trial, lawyer ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1943, 2000s, year 2005 ...
Place:
germany, munich germany, europe, poland, berlin germany ...
Is relevant?
1.0M
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 180 min.
Story:
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
Style:
period piece, epic, exciting, captivating, dramatic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
nuclear, scientist, world war two, atomic bomb, american politics, physics, laboratory, arizona desert, top secret, husband wife relationship, moral dilemma, desert ...
Time:
1940s, year 1945, 1950s, year 1954, year 1943 ...
Place:
new mexico, england, zurich switzerland, north america, soviet union ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Focusing on a group of women working in a munitions plant during World War II, this ensemble drama depicts the dangers and new experiences they face.
Style:
captivating, realistic, serious, stylized, period piece ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
world war two, wartime life, working woman, factory, sexism, workplace, gender, society, accident, strong female presence, lesbian love, strong female lead ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
canada
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 195 min.
Story:
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
Style:
touching, emotional, heartbreaking, realistic, thought provoking ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, genocide, nazi, wartime, war, concentration camp, storytelling, holocaust survivor, anti semitism, nazism, against humanity ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 90s, ancient times, year 1943 ...
Place:
poland, germany, iran, persia, europe ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, History, War
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
The story Jewish counterfeiter, Salomon Sorowitsch, coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.
Style:
harsh, tense, brutal, bleak, serious ...
Plot:
holocaust, nazi, concentration camp, world war two, nazi germany, counterfeit money, brutality, forgery, counterfeiter, prison, nazi concentration camp, war crime ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 1930s, year 1936, year 2008 ...
Place:
germany, europe, poland, austria, canada ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While ...
Style:
touching, inspirational, emotional, sentimental, poignant ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens, family friendly, kids, adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, nazi, concentration camp, human spirit, life & death, life philosophy, self sacrifice, nazism, life lesson, destiny, ss ...
Time:
1940s, year 1997, 20th century, 90s, 1930s ...
Place:
italy, poland, europe, tuscany
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: Netherlands, Germany, UK, Belgium
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
Style:
erotic, psychological, tense, sexy, dramatic ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, espionage, nazi, spy, nazism, resistance, female spy, occupation, gestapo, german soldier, war ...
Time:
1940s, year 1956, 1950s, year 2006, 20th century ...
Place:
netherlands, israel, holland, germany, belgium ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
World War II vet Paul Sutton falls for a pregnant and unwed woman who persuades him -- during their first encounter -- to pose as her husband so she can face her family.
Style:
romantic, touching, sentimental, realistic, rom com ...
Audience:
date night, girls' night, chick flick
Plot:
love, vineyard, happy ending, love and romance, interracial romance, pretend relationship, rich woman poor man, wine, love story, parents and children, estate, world war two ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, 50s, post world war two, 90s
Place:
san francisco, california, sacramento california, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Poland, USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
Style:
captivating, psychological, experimental, crying, period drama
Plot:
garden, auschwitz, holocaust, world war two, ss officer, nazi germany, husband wife relationship, concentration camp, swimming pool, nazi, genocide, nazi officer ...
Time:
1940s, year 1943, year 1944, 20th century, year 1942 ...
Place:
poland, berlin germany, hungary
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK, USA, Belgium
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Germany, 1944. Leyna, the 15-year old daughter of a white German mother and a black African father, meets Lutz, a compassionate member of the Hitler Youth whose father is a prominent Nazi solider, and they form an unlikely connection in this quickly ...
Style:
disturbing, emotional, sincere, captivating, realistic ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
interracial romance, racism, nazi germany, hitler youth, world war two, concentration camp, interracial couple, nazi concentration camp, overcoming, brutality, biracial, interracial love ...
Time:
1940s, ancient times
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
104K
Genre: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
The story of the soldiers and aviators who helped turn the tide of the Second World War during the iconic Battle of Midway in June 1942.
Style:
historical drama, bleak, exciting, scary, suspense ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
naval battle, war, world war two, warship, aerial combat, sea battle, air battle, fighter plane, aircraft carrier, fighter pilot, navy, u.s. military ...
Time:
1940s, year 1942, year 2019, 1930s, year 1941 ...
Place:
pearl harbor, pacific ocean, tokyo, washington d.c., honolulu hawaii ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 193 min.
Story:
A chronicle of the original Mercury astronauts in the formation of America's space program: Alan Shepherd, the first American in space; Gus Grissom, the benighted astronaut for whom nothing works out as planned; John Glenn, the straight-arrow ...
Style:
epic, inspirational, sincere, factual, captivating ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
cold war, astronaut, nasa, u.s. air force, aviation, test pilot, space travel, space exploration, space race, politics, space program, spacecraft ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 20th century, year 1953, year 1960 ...
Place:
washington d.c., florida, australia, houston texas, usa ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Paradise Road is a 1997 film which tells the story of a group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women who are imprisoned in Sumatra during World War II. It was directed by Bruce Beresford and stars Glenn Close as beatific Adrienne Pargiter, ...
Style:
touching, harsh, costume drama, serious, emotional ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night
Plot:
world war two, pow, prison, holocaust, island, war crime, justice, friendship, women, women's prison, nazi, human spirit ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, year 1997, 20th century
Place:
japan, indonesia, asia, singapore, germany ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, War
Country: Italy, Belgium
Duration: 141 min.
Story:
Four circus freaks with superpowers find themselves trapped in Nazi-occupied Rome after their owner and father figure goes missing in the aftermath of the 1943 surrender of Italy to the Allies.
Style:
action packed, entertaining, heroic, semi serious
Audience:
teens
Plot:
world war two, circus, electricity, male nudity, nazi occultism, piano, nazism, cell phone, partisan, amputee, attempted rape, superpower ...
Time:
1940s, year 1943
Place:
rome italy, italy
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
Newlywed Suzu Urano moves to her new life in Kure City on the coast of Hiroshima Prefecture, where she perseveres through World War II with pluck and determination.
Style:
anime, adult animation, thought provoking, suspenseful, tense ...
Audience:
family friendly, teens
Plot:
wedding, world war two, bombing, female protagonist, military, anniversary, evacuation, danger, society, couples, teenager, bomber ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, 2010s, 20th century, year 1943 ...
Place:
hiroshima japan, japan, east asia, asia
Is relevant?
601K
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, China
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Last months of World War II in April 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened U.S. Army sergeant in the 2nd Armored Division named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank called "Fury" and its five-man ...
Style:
sexy, serious, exciting, tense, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night, family friendly, teens, date night, adult
Plot:
world war two, war, tank, soldier, military, battles, heroism, nazi, last stand, world war, combat, american soldier ...
Time:
1940s, year 2014, year 1945, 2010s, 20th century
Place:
germany, america, europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: UK, France
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress, who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.
Style:
emotional, witty, stylized, touching, melancholic ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
bad singing, opera singer, concert, heiress, biopic, music, musician, recording studio, transformation, singing, passion, bald woman ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944, year 2016, 1930s, 1920s
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, usa, new jersey
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
