A lot of films from the 1940s have slipped through the cracks. Some were well-reviewed, then quietly dropped. Others never found an audience. A few picked up Oscar nominations but still got lost in the shuffle. Many were B-pictures. Some were prestige productions. All of them are worth a second look.
Here are ten films, listed chronologically, that deserve more recognition than they’ve had. Each one earns its place.
They Drive by Night (1940)
A working-class crime drama built around two truck-driving brothers. It blends noir and blue-collar realism with a solid cast. George Raft and Humphrey Bogart play it straight, but Ida Lupino steals the film. Her final courtroom scene still holds up.
Larceny, Inc. (1942)
A crime comedy with Edward G. Robinson in self-parody mode. The setup is sharp: crooks buy a luggage shop to tunnel into a bank, but accidentally become successful retailers. Funny, well-paced, and far more self-aware than most comedies of the time.
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
A bleak, minimalist Western with moral weight. Henry Fonda leads a posse-turned-mob hunting down suspected cattle rustlers. The ending is brutal. No score, no romance, no relief. Just guilt, silence and a rope. It’s one of the few Westerns that treats justice seriously.
The Seventh Victim (1943)
Marketed as horror, this is more of a noir meditation on death and isolation. Produced by Val Lewton, it leans into shadow, suggestion and dread. A young woman searches for her missing sister and finds a satanic cult in Greenwich Village. Strange, sparse, unsettling.
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
One of the best entries in the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series. This one leans into horror territory. Set in rural Canada, it features a misty marsh, a throat-slashing phantom and a decent mystery. Efficient, atmospheric and tighter than it needed to be.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
An understated family drama that avoids sentimentality. It follows a girl growing up in poverty in early 20th-century Brooklyn. The performances are honest and unforced, especially from Peggy Ann Garner. Elia Kazan directs with restraint. Quiet, real and moving.
My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)
A taut psychological thriller. A woman takes a job as a secretary and wakes up trapped in a mansion, with strangers insisting she’s someone else. Gothic tropes used with real economy. It runs just over an hour and wastes no time.
The Dark Corner (1946)
Underrated film noir with Lucille Ball playing it straight. A private detective gets framed for murder and spends most of the film dodging trouble. Crisp dialogue, tight editing and some very clean direction from Henry Hathaway. It never lingers.
Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
Preston Sturges in a darker mood. Rex Harrison plays a conductor convinced his wife is cheating. What follows is a series of imagined revenge scenarios scored to classical music. Morbid, stylish and surprisingly funny. Ends better than it starts.
The Set-Up (1949)
A real-time boxing film with a washed-up fighter in a fixed match he doesn’t know is fixed. Shot in 72 tight minutes. Robert Wise directs with precision. It captures the sweat, cynicism and hopelessness of the sport without a hint of glamour.
These are not all lost masterpieces. But they are lean, well-made and sometimes better than the films people still talk about. They reward attention.