Best B Movies the 1940s
No Noir , Westerns , or series (except minor series , and series with only two or three films ).Those are the categories or genres with the best B movies , and are generally better known .
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- DirectorJohn H. AuerStarsJ. Edward BrombergOsa MassenWilliam WrightChris Waring (William Wright) is a government investigator trying to gather the necessary evidence to convict a shipping magnate, DeBrock (J.Edward Bromberg), of selling his ships to the United States but is suspected of holding up and preventing their delivery because of bribes from foreign powers. DeBrock's conscience, nor his flirty wife, Valerie DeBrock (Osa Massen), give him any peace of mind.
- DirectorFrank WoodruffStarsDennis O'KeefeJudith AndersonFrances E. NealLieutenant Bill Mason (Dennis O'Keefe) pursues a Chicago gang to New York City, unaware that its scar-cheeked leader, Slade (Dame Judith Anderson), is a woman.
- DirectorD. Ross LedermanStarsRegis ToomeyAdele LongmireHoward Da SilvaGangster Frank Dillon abducts Dr. Steven Bishop to treat wounded Joe Madison. Dillon also takes Joe's nurse sister. Dillon threatens Bishop's life if Joe dies, but Bishop knows Dillon will kill him anyway.
- DirectorCharles BartonStarsPeter LorreRochelle HudsonRobert WilcoxUndercover agent Mark Sheldon gets paroled to a remote tropical island with a diamond mine manned by slave labor run by sadistic Stephen Danel.
- DirectorJohn RawlinsStarsLloyd NolanIrene HerveyJ. Carrol NaishA ball player takes his girlfriend to a carnival, only to discover a ring of saboteurs.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsGeraldine FitzgeraldThomas MitchellJeffrey LynnAn elderly professor suffering from an aortic aneurysm confronts the problem of what to do knowing that he only has a few months to live.
- DirectorRichard WallaceStarsLoretta YoungBrian AherneJeff DonnellA mystery writer and his newlywed wife move into a Greenwich Village apartment and find themselves with a corpse and a half dozen red herrings.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerStarsSheila RyanRichard FraserLeslie BrooksHard-boiled reporter Mike Kent investigates the murder of a prominent scientist and stumbles upon a sinister plot to steal a fortune in jewels.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsJack HaleyAnn SavageBarton MacLaneThe jumpy chess editor at a newspaper accidentally gets involved in some murders at a sleazy tavern run by a pair of bizarre brothers.
- DirectorWilliam C. ThomasStarsWilliam GarganAnn SavageLeo GorceyA gem heist gone wrong leaves a wanted man dead. A female reporter finds his body and, to claim the reward, hides the body in a wax museum. When the body vanishes, the hunt is on.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsPat O'BrienConstance BennettJohn HallidayA British ship is attacked by a German U-boat at the onset of World War II. The reactions of the frightened passengers-from a German doctor to a drunken Irishman-are chronicled in this good story.
- DirectorThomas Z. LoringStarsFrank CravenMary HowardJune WalkerDistrict Attorney Stephen Pettijohn returns to his alma mater to lecture on circumstantial evidence, and uses a recent case,the murder of banker James Gardner, to make his point: Constance Gardner had wed James to spite Ted Farnsworth. Later, the pair drove to Gardner's country lodge to urge him to give Constance a divorce. He refuses and that night he is found dead with a bullet in his head. Pettijohn finds that all evidence points to Harry Beach, and the latter is convicted and sentenced to die.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsRonald ReaganJoan PerryJames GleasonAn investigative crime reporter helps the cops solve the case of a missing tycoon who's later found dead in a cheap boarding house.
- DirectorBenjamin StoloffStarsEddie AlbertJoan LeslieAlan HalePerpetual optimist "Dreamy" Smith aspires to quit his job as newspaper publicity drudge and sail the world. But life--and his editor--conspire against him: Not only does the car he intends using as the boat's down-payment roll into the bay, but also his boss starts to claim "Dreamy's" better publicity ideas as his own.
- DirectorElmer CliftonStarsRose HobartMichael WhalenStanley FieldsAs Freddie and Lugger, employees of Bovhini, are waiting in the parking lot of the Club Sirocco for Ruth Parmelee, they see a woman accost Ruth and then shoot her and speed away in a car. Bochini, who has loved Ruth, vows revenge. Mordecai Breen is devoting his life to welfare work among the city's needy, and publishes a small newspaper called "The Friend in Need," assisted by his former prize fighter friend, Happy Hogan. An advertisement headed "I'll Buy Your Life" appears in the paper and Breen decides to investigate. At the address given, the swanky Alhambra Arms apartments, Breen learns that the advertiser is Alfred Darnell, an orchestra leader and writer of detective stories. A number of girls answer the ad, but Dale Leyden, after being interviewed by Darnell and Velencia Duncan, is the successful applicant. As she leaves, Breen tells her that if she should find herself in the need of any assistance, to let him know. Dale tells her blind musician brother Philip that an uncle who formerly lived in South America has left them twenty thousand dollars. Meanwhile, back to the original story, Breen calls on his friend, Police Lieutenant Hammer, who shows Breen the evidence from the Parmelee murder: a pearl pendant from a bracelet, a piece of sequin from a woman's gown and part of a heel from an evening slipper. Dale calls on Breen, tells him her name is Mary Jones and gives him an envelope. When he is notified that Mary Jones is dead, he is to open the envelope that contains two letters. If he receives the sum of $18,000, he is to open the first letter and deliver the money to the name and address given, and destroy the second letter without opening it. If he doesn't get the money, he is to open the second letter and see that justice is done. Is Mary giving her life to take a fall for the killer of Ruth Permelee in exchange for money to provide an operation for her blind brother? Highly probable. Is the plot plausible? Highly improbable. Did Elmer Clifton direct worse films. Quite often.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJean ParkerPeter CooksonTim RyanWhen a girl and her boyfriend are suspected of murdering her employer, they have to clear their names and find the real killer.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJean ParkerPeter CooksonTim RyanDragging along her spineless boyfriend Johnny, hare-brained secretary Kitty O'Day is unstoppable as she tries to determine her boss's murderer. In her exuberance she and Johnny keep running into more corpses, as well as the unbelievabley inept team of Inspector Clancy and his sergeant, Mike. Their luck seems to run out, though, as they deliver themselves right into the hands of the murderer.
- DirectorBenjamin StoloffStarsPreston FosterAnn RutherfordCharles ButterworthA private eye (Preston Foster) and a niece (Ann Rutherford) investigate when six World War I veterans start dying in the same week.
- DirectorArthur DreifussStarsJohn LitelFlorence RiceH.B. WarnerA criminal plot to control produce and dairy products during the wartime emergency is foiled by a courageous undercover city market official.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsTom ConwayMaria PalmerHelen WestcottCaptain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is called in to solve the murder of a man from whom two lead soldiers were stolen. Drummond learns that the two soldiers were part of a set of thirteen which formed the key to a hidden vault of treasure. Following some clever sleuthing and set-up on Drummond's part, the guilty man is trapped in the vault,which is hidden behind the fireplace.
- DirectorFord BeebeStarsCharles KorvinElla RainesJ. Carrol NaishA rich but naive young woman is in possession of some priceless jewels. She doesn't realize it, but a gang of jewel thieves does.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsEdward ArnoldAnn HardingDonna ReedA blind detective and his seeing-eye dog investigate a murder and discover a Nazi plot.
- DirectorD. Ross LedermanStarsJerome CowanFaye EmersonGene LockhartJohn Rhodes (Gene Lockhart)hires private detective D. L. Trees (Jerome Cowan)to track down a talking blackbird owned by Fred Molner, who uses the bird as a means of blackmailing Rhodes. Molner has taught the bird to repeat "Don't kill me, Rhodes" in the event he is murdered by a member of a gambling syndicate he has defrauded. Going to Molner's apartment, Trees finds him murdered and his bodyguard, Ray Hickey (John Harmon), unconscious. Clues lead Trees to Mona Vance (Faye Emerson, Molner's girlfriend, who is involved with Mark Harper (Robert Kent, presumably her lawyer.
- DirectorLambert HillyerStarsTom NealPamela BlakeAllen JenkinsSusan Hart, assistant to private detective Russ Ashton, is given a camera concealed in a hat box and assigned to take a picture of a woman. A gun is accidentally hidden in the box and the woman is killed. Susan is charged with murder, but Russ and his less-than-useful associate, Harvard, get on the case and prove that the fatal shot was fired by the killer from across the street.
- DirectorWalter ColmesStarsRichard ArlenCheryl WalkerRoger PryorAn amnesiac soldier, the only survivor of a group of four unidentified soldiers - victims of a bomb raid - visits each man's address with the hope of restoring his memory and identity.