Director of the Decade - The 1940s
Time for the announcement of the latest winner of the coveted You Missed It! Director of the Decade Award. This time the prestigious prize is given to the film director that had the best 1940s. It is not a Lifetime Achievement Award. Only films released during the Forties will be considered. Take a look at some of the fabulous movies released and find out the winner. You may even find some great movies that you might have missed!
The 1940s were a time of turmoil, devastation and rebirth for much of our planet. The decade started in war and ended with prosperity beginning in much of the world. Filmmakers across the globe told difficult and inspiring stories that represent this tribulation and emerging success through many great movies. That makes this decade’s award a difficult decision. Does the committee focus on the dark period of the war and its aftermath, or the more uplifting peace that followed? Below you find a list of many great film directors and their celluloid successes during the 1940s. Be sure to read through to the end to see the winner of this decade’s prestigous award! (Movie titles in bold print won Best Director Oscars while an asterisk signifies a nomination)
Orson Welles - Every look at the films of the 1940’s must include Welles. ‘Citizen Kane’*, ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’, ‘The Stranger’
John Huston - ‘The Maltese Falcon’, ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’, ‘Key Largo’
Alfred Hitchcock - Amazingly Hitch never won an Oscar for Best Director. ‘Lifeboat’*, ‘Rebecca’*, ‘Suspicion’, ‘Spellbound’*, ‘Rope’
Howard Hawks - ‘His Girl Friday’, ‘Sgt. York’*, ‘Red River’, ‘To Have and Have Not’
Vittorio De Sica - Belongs on any list just for ‘Bicycle Thieves’, ‘Shoeshine’
George Cukor - ‘The Philadelphia Story’*, ‘Gaslight’, ‘A Double Life’*
Billy Wilder - ‘Double Indemnity’*, ‘The Lost Weekend’, ‘A Foreign Affair’, ‘Five Graves to Cairo’
Michael Curtiz - ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’*, ‘Casablanca’, ‘Mildred Pierce’
Jacques Tourneur - ‘Cat People’, ‘Out of the Past’, ‘I Walked with a Zombie’
Frank Capra - ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’*, ‘Meet John Doe’, ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’
In the most difficult decision the committe has ever faced, the runner-up is:
William Wyler - I know, I know. How can a double Oscar winner and five-time nominee, just in the 1940s, not be the award winner? Because the winner for this major award’s films are just that good! During the 1940s alone Wyler received his Best Director nominations for ‘The Letter’*, ‘The Heiress’* and ‘The Little Foxes’*. He also won Oscars for directing ‘Mrs. Miniver’ and ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’. ‘Mrs. Miniver’ is one of my favorite films and you can read more about it here:
Intimate film about the power of a woman in turbulent times
When speaking or hearing about World War II films, we usually think of action, death, violence and atrocities. Today’s movie is an intimate portrait of a woman working to guide her family and village through the beginings of that world conflict. Greer Garson would go on to win the Oscar for Best Actress in this inspirational 1942 film that you may have missed.
After much angst-ridden debate the winner of the Best Director of the Decade - the 1940s goes to:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to You missed it! to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.