Britain's Golden Age of Cinema
1940s British films
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- DirectorMichael PowellStarsLeslie HowardLaurence OlivierRichard GeorgeA World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsGodfrey TearleEric PortmanHugh WilliamsDuring a raid on Germany a British bomber crew is forced to bail out after their plane is damaged. They land in Holland and are aided by Dutch civilians.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsLeslie BanksC.V. FranceValerie TaylorAn English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsRoger LiveseyDeborah KerrAnton WalbrookFrom the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsJohn MillsLouis BradfieldRonald MillarAll leave is cancelled so that a British submarine can be sent after a new German warship. They chase it so far that they have no fuel to get home.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsDavid NivenStanley HollowayJames DonaldWorld War II drama that follows a group of British draftees, starting with their rigorous basic training, and ending with their deployment in North Africa.
- DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierRobert NewtonLeslie BanksIn the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonCelia JohnsonJohn MillsJust after World War I, the Gibbons family moves to a nice house in the suburbs. They live an ordinary life throughout the years, but everything changes when World War II breaks out.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRex HarrisonConstance CummingsKay HammondA man and his second wife are haunted by the ghost of his first wife.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMargaret LockwoodJames MasonPatricia RocA noblewoman begins to lead a dangerous double life in order to alleviate her boredom.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMargaret LockwoodJames MasonPhyllis CalvertAfter a brutish, hedonistic Marquis marries a pretty young Clarissa to act as a 'brood sow,' he begins an affair with her friend who plots to take her place.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsJames MasonAnn ToddHerbert LomA concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCelia JohnsonTrevor HowardStanley HollowayMeeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiCharles CrichtonBasil DeardenStarsMervyn JohnsMichael RedgraveRoland CulverGuests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsMervyn JohnsMary MerrallGordon JacksonA drunken, abusive tavern-keeper's adulterous wife uses the backward son of a rigid, puritanical pharmacist who makes his entire family miserable.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsWendy HillerRoger LiveseyPamela BrownA young Englishwoman goes to the Hebrides to marry her older, wealthier fiancé. When the weather keeps them separated on different islands, she begins to have second thoughts.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsMargaret LockwoodIan HunterBarry K. BarnesBedelia, a newly remarried beautiful widow, is on honeymoon in Monte Carlo. A painter approaches her inquiring about her past. When she and her husband go back to England the artist will soon be there. Danger, crime and truth will follow.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsGoogie WithersJack WarnerJohn McCallumAn escaped convict tries to hide out at his former lover's house, but she has since married and is reluctant to help him.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsRobert DonatCedric HardwickeBasil RadfordIn pre-WWI England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, and his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsJohn MillsDerek BondDiana ChurchillThe story of British explorer Robert Falcon Scott's 1912 expedition and his quest to be the first to reach the South Pole.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsRichard AttenboroughHermione BaddeleyWilliam HartnellIn Brighton in 1935, small-time gang leader Pinkie Brown murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks but runs into trouble with the police, a few witnesses, and a rival gang.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsAnton WalbrookMarius GoringMoira ShearerA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.
- DirectorAnthony PelissierStarsJohn MillsSally Ann HowesBetty Ann DaviesWith an inheritance after his father's death, Alfred Polly finds love in the arms of a schoolgirl but marries an unattractive cousin and opens a shop, leading him to unhappiness, arson, suicide attempts and escape.
- DirectorRobert HamerStarsDennis PriceAlec GuinnessValerie HobsonA distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBasil RadfordJoan GreenwoodCatherine LaceyScottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsAnn ToddTrevor HowardClaude RainsA woman meets a man whose love she rejected years ago.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsAnton WalbrookSally GrayDerrick De MarneyDuring World War II, an American newswoman falls for a Polish piano virtuoso...who wants to go back and fight.
- DirectorStanley HaynesStarsSally GrayMichael WildingStanley HollowayA dancer attempts to escape from the narrow conventions of society and from the fate foretold for her at her birth.
- DirectorSidney GilliatStarsAlastair SimSally GrayTrevor HowardAfter the nurse who declares that a recent surgical death was a murder also dies, an enigmatic Scotland Yard inspector arrives to investigate.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsSally GrayStephen MurrayDerek FarrA wealthy blind man is determined to build a cricket pavilion as a memorial to his dead son, who was killed in battle in World War II. Not long before the dedication ceremony is to be held, the son shows up; it turns out that he wasn't killed in battle but deserted, and has become a blackmailer and a killer. He wants to get some money to "start a new life", but his blind father senses that something is wrong and sets out to find out what's going on.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsRobert NewtonSally GrayPhil BrownClive Riordan plans a devilish revenge against his wife's lover.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsSally GrayTrevor HowardGriffith JonesAfter WW2, former RAF airman Clem Morgan joins a gang of black-market smugglers-thieves but when a robbery goes wrong, Clem is caught , framed for a policeman's murder, and is sent to prison where he plots his escape and revenge.
- DirectorLeslie FentonStarsHugh SinclairSally GrayArthur MacraeWhile on vacation, the Saint discovers a much-sought-after music box.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsMargaret LockwoodHugh SinclairJames MasonA bar hostess (Lockwood) is used by a killer to obtain an alibi.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsAnne CrawfordDavid FarrarFrederick LeisterAn accountant is forced by circumstances to take a job at the racetrack. He is working at the betting window when he is drawn into a gang of criminals and their illegal schemes.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsRichard LonsdaleStanley MaxtedThomas ScullionA re-enactment of the Battle of Arnhem during the Second World War which was later lavishly remade as A Bridge Too Far (1977).
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsMargaret LockwoodDennis PriceCecil ParkerStory of a feud that has gone on between two Irish families for more than 50 years.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsEric PortmanSally GrayPatrick HoltAn attractive young French girl instigates rivalry between two brothers when she becomes the bride of the younger one.
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsJean KentJames DonaldHugh SinclairIn the 1890s, Trottie True moves from bit theatre parts to stardom, and from balloonist Sid Skinner to more prominent men. She later wonders if Sid wasn't better after all, and seeks to find out.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMichael RedgraveMargaret LockwoodEdward RigbyIn a small coal-mining village, Bob Fenwick leads a strike over safety standards at the local colliery. Meanwhile, his son David goes off to university with the hope one day to return to help the miners with their working conditions.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodBarry K. BarnesEmlyn WilliamsNurse Anne is acquitted of murder after her patient has died under suspicious circumstances. Changing her name, she gets a position nursing Edward Bentley who soon dies of what appears to be a copycat murder. Again Anne is arrested.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMargaret LockwoodMarjorie FieldingA.E. MatthewsA young couple become engaged, but enjoy several comedic adventures before their wedding day.
- DirectorHarold FrenchStarsMargaret LockwoodMichael WildingCelia JohnsonMembers of a well-to-do family reunite for Golden Wedding celebrations.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsMargaret LockwoodVic OliverPeter GravesA young man falls in with a society whose principle is a complete disregard for work, and chaos ensues when the society decides to help run the hotel of his father.
- DirectorBernard KnowlesStarsMargaret LockwoodJames MasonBarbara MullenAn elderly couple move into an old, supposedly haunted abandoned house. A young girl comes to live with the pair as a companion for the wife. However, soon the girl is possessed by the spirit of another girl, a wealthy woman who had once lived in the house but who had been murdered there.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsMargaret LockwoodVic OliverMichael RennieIn turn-of-the-century London a young music publisher convinces both songwriters and a music hall singer with his new ideas to make business, while fighting both competitors and piracy in a time where author's royalties were still unprotected. A well crafted British musical with plenty of popular songs.
- DirectorBernard KnowlesStarsMargaret LockwoodPatricia RocDennis PriceIn 17th century England, Jassy is believed to be a witch because she has visions of approaching disasters. After Barney Hatton, an impoverished gent whose gambling father has lost the family home, helps her anyway she will not forget and will try to help him get his property back - but at any price?
- DirectorBernard KnowlesStarsMargaret LockwoodJoan GreenwoodIan HunterIn a home for delinquent girls, the worst offender exchanges reminiscences with the warden.
- DirectorHarold HuthStarsMargaret LockwoodGriffith JonesNorman WoolandRomance in Rio for a girl of the embassy staff.
- DirectorWalter FordeStarsSid FieldMargaret LockwoodJerry DesmondeIn Cromwellian England, royalists commission a barrow boy to carry a secret letter. Helped by Nell Gwynn, he succeeds after encounters with a castle ghost and custard pies.
- DirectorCharles BennettStarsMargaret LockwoodMaxwell ReedKathleen ByronLydia Garth meets Paul de Vandiere, a French nobleman, but their romance is plagued by Lydia's complaint of recurring spells of blurred vision. Paul leaves for France, promising to return and marry Lydia, but she loses her sight while he is gone. Given no hope of recovery, she enters a convent, but the Abbess decides that she has no vocation for life in a nunnery. She finally marries Paul, but encounters strong opposition from Verite Faimont, a neighbour who is very fond of Paul. The latter constantly plots against Lydia and is successful in temporarily breaking up the marriage, but can a miracle of restored vision be seen?
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonAlec GuinnessKay WalshIn Charles Dickens' classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsConrad VeidtValerie HobsonHay PetrieEarly in World War II, Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port, tangles with German spies.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid FarrarJack HawkinsMichael GoughAs the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsEric PortmanSheila SimDennis PriceThree modern-day pilgrims investigate a bizarre crime in a small town while on their way to Canterbury.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMichael RedgravePhyllis CalvertPhilip FrostKipps, the draper's apprentice, falls in love with a girl above his station. After he unexpectedly inherits a fortune, he thinks his dream has come true. But money can't make him a gentleman, or bring him the girl he really wants.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRobert DonatGeoffrey AtkinsJean CadellThis biopic tells the story of the life of Pitt The Younger, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of twenty-four.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRalph RichardsonMichèle MorganSonia DresdelA butler working in a foreign embassy in London falls under suspicion when his wife accidentally falls to her death, the only witness being an impressionable young boy.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsRay MillandEllen DrewJanine DarceyThe love affairs of three young Englishmen at a language cramming school in the south of France. Diana, the sister of one of the boys, arrives in town to flirt with all of her brothers' schoolmates.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMargaret LockwoodStewart GrangerTom WallsAfter concert pianist Lissa Campbell learns that she has a serious heart problem. she vows to enjoy what time she has left. On taking her first holiday she meets Kit Firth, a pilot on leave whose vision has been impaired due to a bomb explosion while he was on active service. Kit is searching for a rare mineral Britian needs in the war effort. Following an explosion at the local tin mine, Kit and several others are trapped, but due to his knowledge of the mine workings, he leads the others to safety. But his greatest challenge is to come, when he has to undergo an operation, that hopefully may keep him from going blind. This operation has a slim chance of being successful. This video is available in VHS PAL format under the series named, "The Margaret Lockwood Collection".
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsClive BrookDiana WynyardRaymond HuntleyHitler's doctor is gradually realizing that the Nazi regime isn't as good as it pretends to be when his friends start disappearing into the camps. His wife is courted by the party and accepts a political post in Berlin. Meanwhile, Dr. Karl decides to try to do something to counteract Nazi propaganda and, with the help of an engineer and a few friends, he sets up the Freedom Radio to hinder Nazi propaganda.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsLeslie BanksAlastair SimJeanne De CasalisAllied spies and Nazi Agents insinuate themselves at a Scottish cottage (converted to a wartime hospital) with interests on an inventor's nearly perfected bomb sight.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsEric PortmanPhyllis CalvertGriffith JonesDuring the Nazi occupation of Belgium during World War II, a Belgian resistance group revives the newspaper "La Libre Belgique" to expose and counter Nazi propaganda efforts to deceive the people. They are so effective that the Nazis offer a reward for the capture of the paper's staff, although they don't know their identities. One of them is a well-known entertainer, and when his jealous partner hears of the reward, he turns him in. The paper's publishers escape capture, but their staff doesn't. The paper's founders must find not only a way to keep from getting captured by the Nazis but keep their newspaper going and get their staff released.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsLaurence OlivierPenelope Dudley-WardMarjorie FieldingIvan Kouznetsoff, a Russian engineer, recounts during World War II his stay in England prior to the war working on a new propeller for ice-breaking ships. Naive about British people, and convinced by hearsay that they are shallow and hypocritical, Ivan is both bemused and amused by them. He is blunt in his opinions about Britons, and at first this puts off his hosts, including the lovely Ann Tisdall, whose grandfather runs the shipbuilding firm that will make use of Ivan's propeller. The longer Ivan stays, however, the more he comes to understand the humor, warmth, strength, and conviction of the British people, and the more they come to see him as a friend, rather than merely a suspicious Russian. As a romantic bond grows between Ivan and Ann, a cultural bond begins to grow as well, particularly as the war begins, and Russia is attacked by Germany.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsPhyllis CalvertJames MasonWilfrid LawsonReturning to 1870's London after finishing at boarding school, Fanny witnesses the death of her father in a fight with Lord Manderstoke. She then finds that her family has for many years been running a bordello next door to their home. When her mother dies shortly after, she next discovers that her real father is in fact a well-respected politician. Meeting him and then falling in love with his young advisor Harry Somerford leads to a life of ups and downs and conflict between the classes. Periodically the scoundrel of a Lord crosses her path, always to tragic effect.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveJohn MillsRosamund JohnThe wartime daily routine on a British bomber base in southeastern England is revealed through the eyes of newly arrived Flying Officer Peter Penrose (Sir John Mills).
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsBarbara WhiteRonald SquireBrenda BruceLady Elisabeth Randall is an English Air Force corporal during World War II. On her way to marry her fiancé, she finds herself being romanced by two different men.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMargaret JohnstonDulcie GrayKieron MooreTwo poor sisters inherit a giant villa from their uncle, along with his custodian Salvatore who charms his way into their lives and marries one of them.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMichael RennieBeryl BaxterChristine NordenThe story of the journey of a poor rag-man's daughter all the way to the Paris high-life.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsKieron MooreChristine NordenSheila ManahanWhat happens to the saints and sinners of a small Irish village on the day the world is supposed to end.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissNorman LeeStarsBasil SydneyWilfrid LawsonNora SwinburneAfter his daughter weds, a middle-aged widower with a profitable farm decides to remarry but finds choosing a suitable mate a problematic process.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsJames MasonWilfrid LawsonMary ClareA pair of young teachers look into the disappearance of their friend in the Yorkshire Moors. They soon run across the man they suspect is the murderer, and have to sit out a storm with him.
- DirectorSidney GilliatStarsJohn MillsStewart GrangerAlastair SimA drama set during World War II. A tale of adultery and desertion.
- DirectorSidney GilliatFrank LaunderStarsPatricia RocEric PortmanGordon JacksonA young woman called into service at a factory during World War II falls in love with a member of the RAF.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsPhyllis CalvertFlora RobsonPatricia RocWomen in a French internment camp conceal downed British airmen from German soldiers, and try to help them escape. Produced by Edward Black. Written and directed by Frank Launder.
- DirectorSidney GilliatStarsRex HarrisonLilli PalmerGodfrey TearleVivian Kenway (Sir Rex Harrison), a young Englishman from an aristocratic background, flunks out of Oxford, and decides to use his considerable charm to achieve his goal of, apparently, making dissipation his career. His derelictions include seduction, betrayals of sweethearts, family and friends, and marriage for money. All this with no signs of remorse or redemption, since his life as a completely unprincipled rake is quite enjoyable, for him, at least. Then, World War II breaks out and he is given a chance to die a heroic death for flag and country. Maybe.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsDeborah KerrTrevor HowardRaymond HuntleyA young Irish woman hates England so much she becomes a spy for Germany.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsStewart GrangerKathleen RyanCecil ParkerIn 1880 Ireland, poor farmers rebel against the abuses of their British landlords.
- DirectorSidney GilliatStarsRichard AttenboroughAlastair SimWylie WatsonPercy Boon lives with his mother in a shared rented house with an assortment of characters in central London. Although well intentioned, Percy becomes mixed up with gangsters and a murder. The story focuses on the effects this has on Percy and the other residents.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsJean SimmonsDonald HoustonSusan StranksIn the Victorian period, two children are shipwrecked on a tropical island in the South Pacific and fall in love while growing up together.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsAnton WalbrookDiana WynyardFrank PettingellTwenty years after the murder of Alice Barlow, her house is finally occupied again. However, the husband from the couple who have moved in has a secret which he will do anything to keep hidden.
- DirectorCharles FrendRobert HamerStarsArthur YoungWalter FitzgeraldRalph MichaelRescue of the tanker MV San Demetrio by parts of her own crew after she had been set afire in the middle of the Atlantic by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and then had been abandoned.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsClive BrookAnna LeeMay WhittyRobert Maine is torn between returning to the glamour of Hollywood or working with a small theatre company in England. When she falls in love with Maine, Carol has the same dilemma.
- DirectorPen TennysonStarsPaul RobesonEdward ChapmanSimon LackIn a Welsh coal mining valley, a young man with a beautiful singing voice is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice when a pit disaster threatens.
- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsGeorge FormbyPhyllis CalvertGarry MarshShortly after the start of World War II, a ukulele player (George) takes the wrong boat and finds himself in (still uninvaded) Norway. He is mistaken for a fellow British intelligence agent by a woman (Mary), and becomes involved in trying to defeat German agents.
- DirectorPen TennysonStarsClive BrookJohn ClementsEdward ChapmanA tale of the highs and lows of life protecting the vital convoys between America & England during WWII.
- DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsJohn LauriePrince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleMichael WildingPeter GravesAn English playboy gentleman is broke when he inherits London's leading dress store in the posh Mayfair district. Instead of selling it for cash, he enters the business of "rags" for riches and romance. -- SimonJack
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleHugh WilliamsIsabel JeansFour generations of a British family live through their experiences in the Crimean War, Boer War, WWI and WWII.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleMichael WildingTom WallsA diamond merchant's niece falls for his new footman who is really an impoverished aristocrat.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleMichael WildingGladys YoungThe fortunes of an upper-class British family are followed through three wars and four generations.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleMichael WildingMichael LaurenceDuring WWII, Anna marries Michael before leaving for Singapore. Her ship sinks but she survives on an island. Believing her dead, Michael remarries and has a child. After 3 years Anna returns and learns Michael has moved on.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleRex HarrisonDean JaggerIn 1943 England, an American Army Air Force gunner falls in love with a corporal in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force who has long been expected to marry a British paratrooper Major, prompting him to go back to combat duty.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleRichard GreeneNova PilbeamA woman wrongfully accused of being a Nazi sympathizer is forced to move to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleRobert NewtonEdward ChapmanThe story of flyer Amy Johnson who won the hearts of the British public in the 1930s with her record-breaking solo flights around the world. Her marriage to fellow aviator Jim Mallison was less noteworthy.