Favorite Films of 1940

After a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

An Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.

A series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.

A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.

A radio broadcaster, his quaking manservant and an heiress investigate the mystery of a haunted castle in Cuba.

Based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this classic film follows a family feud between two brothers and an ancient curse that haunts them.

On the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.

When a newspaper editor's ace reporter ex-wife is about to quit her job and remarry, he buys himself time to win her back by promising her an exclusive interview with a death row convict.

Love blooms between a sympathetic attorney and the comely shoplifter he has taken home for the Christmas holiday.

Jim "Lucky" Moore (Allan Jones), an insurance salesman, comes up with a novel policy for his friend, Steve (Robert Cummings): a 'love insurance policy', that will pay out $1-million if Steve does not marry his fiancee, Cynthia (Nancy Kelly). The upcoming marriage is jeopardized by Steve's ex-girlfriend, Mickey (Peggy Moran), and Cynthia's disapproving Aunt Kitty. The policy is underwritten by a nightclub owner, Roscoe (William Frawley), who sends two enforcers - Abbott and Costello - to ensure that the wedding occurs as planned. Everyone involved in the situation winds up sailing or flying to San Marcos (a fictional South American country), where another complication arises, when Lucky falls for Cynthia. Lucky winds up marrying Cynthia, but Roscoe does not have to pay the $1-million because Steve ends up marrying Mickey.

Dr. Sovac transplants the brain of a gangster into his professor friend's body to save his life, but there is a side effect that causes a dangerous split personality.

When Captain Street's best friend Dan Grady is murdered, Street receives help from Chinese detective James Lee Wong and local newspaper reporter Bobbie Logan.

Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

Two playboys try to forget previous romances in Singapore - until they meet a beautiful dancer.

After the co-workers of an ambitious clerk trick him into thinking he has won $25,000 in a slogan contest, he begins to use the money to fulfill his dreams. What will happen when the ruse is discovered?

Mr. Wong and a girl reporter investigate a shipping magnate's murder.

An enigmatic gang leader known as "The Boss," who is a dead-ringer for Simon, puts "The Saint" under suspicion of murder.

Crucial events in the lives of many people occur on the same night in the same place.

Researcher James Lee Wong is on the scene as archaeologist Dr. John Benton, recently returned from an expedition in China where a valuable ancient scroll was recovered, is murdered while giving a lecture on the expedition.

A movie company making a film about a famous sheriff hires his grandson as a stand-in for the lead. The grandson's friend scares the actor out of town so he can get the role.

An attractive model with an ulterior motive volunteers as guinea pig for an invisibility machine.

Archaeologists defile the tomb of mummified Kharis, who was buried alive for falling in love with an Egyptian princess.

Although the home of cabinet minister Arthur Bennett is a hotbed of spies, moles, and double agents, no one knows the true identity of notorious German spymaster Strendler.