Movies Set in the 1940s
Kinora's catalogue lists 217 films set in the 1940s, spanning 1940–2024. Each is tagged by where and when it takes place — filter by real-world setting, era, and environment, or open any film for its full tagged world.
Explore all films set in the 1940s →
- 1976
1900
Ruraldir. Bernardo Bertolucci - 1977
A Bridge Too Far
Rural · Urbandir. Richard Attenborough - 1983
A Christmas Story
Suburbandir. Bob Clark - 1992
A League of Their Own
Urban · Ruraldir. Penny Marshall - 1949
A Letter to Three Wives
Suburbandir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 1956
A Man Escaped
Urbandir. Robert Bresson - 1995
A Walk in the Clouds
Ruraldir. Alfonso Arau - 1949
Adam's Rib
Urbandir. George Cukor - 1950
All About Eve
Urbandir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 1949
All the King's Men
Rural · Urbandir. Robert Rossen - 1992
American Me
Urbandir. Edward James Olmos - 1945
And Then There Were None
Islanddir. René Clair - 1999
Angela's Ashes
Urbandir. Alan Parker - 1995
Antonia's Line
Ruraldir. Marleen Gorris - 1969
Army of Shadows
Urbandir. Jean-Pierre Melville - 1944
Arsenic and Old Lace
Urbandir. Frank Capra - 1958
Ashes and Diamonds
Urbandir. Andrzej Wajda - 2007
Atonement
Rural · Urban · Coastal Seadir. Joe Wright - 1987
Au Revoir les Enfants
Ruraldir. Louis Malle - 1955
Bad Day at Black Rock
Desert · Ruraldir. John Sturges - 1941
Ball of Fire
Urbandir. Howard Hawks - 1983
Barefoot Gen
Urbandir. Mori Masaki - 1991
Barton Fink
Urbandir. Joel Coen - 2019
Beanpole
Urbandir. Kantemir Balagov - 1948
Bicycle Thieves
Urbandir. Vittorio De Sica - 1988
Bird
Urbandir. Clint Eastwood - 1962
Birdman of Alcatraz
Islanddir. John Frankenheimer - 1949
Bitter Rice
Ruraldir. Giuseppe De Santis - 1945
Brief Encounter
Suburbandir. David Lean - 1947
Brute Force
dir. Jules Dassin - 1948
Call Northside 777
Urbandir. Henry Hathaway - 1943
Casablanca
Urbandir. Michael Curtiz - 1942
Cat People
Urbandir. Jacques Tourneur - 1970
Catch-22
Island · Coastal Seadir. Mike Nichols - 1945
Christmas in Connecticut
Ruraldir. Peter Godfrey - 1988
Cinema Paradiso
Rural · Urbandir. Giuseppe Tornatore - 1966
Closely Watched Trains
Ruraldir. Jiří Menzel - 1980
Coal Miner's Daughter
Ruraldir. Michael Apted - 2018
Cold War
Urban · Ruraldir. Paweł Pawlikowski - 1985
Come and See
Rural · Wildernessdir. Elem Klimov - 1949
Criss Cross
Urbandir. Robert Siodmak - 1949
D.O.A.
Urbandir. Rudolph Maté - 1947
Dark Passage
Urbandir. Delmer Daves - 1981
Das Boot
Off Worlddir. Wolfgang Petersen - 1945
Detour
Urban · Desertdir. Edgar G. Ulmer - 1995
Devil in a Blue Dress
Urbandir. Carl Franklin - 2004
Downfall
Urban · Undergrounddir. Oliver Hirschbiegel - 1990
Dreams
Rural · Mountain · Wilderness · Coastal Seadir. Akira Kurosawa - 1989
Driving Miss Daisy
Urbandir. Bruce Beresford - 1948
Drunken Angel
Urbandir. Akira Kurosawa - 2017
Dunkirk
Coastal Seadir. Christopher Nolan - 2015
Embrace of the Serpent
Wilderness · Coastal Seadir. Ciro Guerra - 1987
Empire of the Sun
Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 1991
Europa
dir. Lars von Trier - 1990
Europa Europa
Urbandir. Agnieszka Holland - 1993
Farewell My Concubine
Urbandir. Chen Kaige - 1952
Forbidden Games
Ruraldir. René Clément - 2016
Free State of Jones
Ruraldir. Gary Ross - 1953
From Here to Eternity
Islanddir. Fred Zinnemann - 1982
Gandhi
Urban · Ruraldir. Richard Attenborough - 2012
Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1
Urbandir. Anurag Kashyap - 1947
Gentleman's Agreement
Urbandir. Elia Kazan - 1948
Germany, Year Zero
Urbandir. Roberto Rossellini - 1956
Giant
Ruraldir. George Stevens - 1946
Gilda
Urbandir. Charles Vidor - 1988
Grave of the Fireflies
Urbandir. Isao Takahata - 2020
Greyhound
Coastal Seadir. Aaron Schneider - 2022
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Rural · Coastal Seadir. Mark Gustafson - 2004
Hellboy
Urban · Undergrounddir. Guillermo del Toro - 1941
High Sierra
Mountain · Urbandir. Raoul Walsh - 1940
His Girl Friday
Urbandir. Howard Hawks - 1942
Holiday Inn
Ruraldir. Mark Sandrich - 1953
I Confess
Urbandir. Alfred Hitchcock - 1943
I Walked with a Zombie
Island · Ruraldir. Jacques Tourneur - 1959
Imitation of Life
Urbandir. Douglas Sirk - 2016
In This Corner of the World
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Sunao Katabuchi - 2009
Inglourious Basterds
Urban · Ruraldir. Quentin Tarantino - 2008
Ip Man
Urbandir. Wilson Yip - 1946
It's a Wonderful Life
Ruraldir. Frank Capra - 1962
Ivan's Childhood
Wildernessdir. Andrei Tarkovsky - 2019
Jojo Rabbit
Urbandir. Taika Waititi - 1961
Judgment at Nuremberg
Urbandir. Stanley Kramer - 1970
Kelly's Heroes
Ruraldir. Brian G. Hutton - 1948
Key Largo
Island · Coastal Seadir. John Huston - 1997
Kundun
Mountain · Urbandir. Martin Scorsese - 2004
Kung Fu Hustle
Urbandir. Stephen Chow - 1949
Late Spring
Urbandir. Yasujirō Ozu - 1944
Laura
Urbandir. Otto Preminger - 1943
Le Corbeau
Ruraldir. Henri-Georges Clouzot - 1945
Leave Her to Heaven
Ruraldir. John M. Stahl - 1997
Life Is Beautiful
Urbandir. Roberto Benigni - 1944
Lifeboat
Coastal Seadir. Alfred Hitchcock - 2007
Lust, Caution
Urbandir. Ang Lee - 1992
Malcolm X
Urbandir. Spike Lee - 2000
Malena
Ruraldir. Giuseppe Tornatore - 1964
Marriage Italian Style
Urbandir. Vittorio De Sica - 2016
Maudie
Rural · Coastal Seadir. Aisling Walsh - 1991
Mediterraneo
Island · Coastal Seadir. Gabriele Salvatores - 1941
Meet John Doe
Urbandir. Frank Capra - 2000
Men of Honor
Coastal Seadir. George Tillman Jr. - 1983
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
dir. Nagisa Ōshima - 1945
Mildred Pierce
Suburban · Urbandir. Michael Curtiz - 2002
Millennium Actress
Urbandir. Satoshi Kon - 1947
Miracle on 34th Street
Urbandir. George Seaton - 1975
Mirror
Ruraldir. Andrei Tarkovsky - 1955
Mister Roberts
Coastal Seadir. John Ford - 1976
Mr. Klein
Urbandir. Joseph Losey - 1942
Mrs. Miniver
Ruraldir. William Wyler - 1944
Murder, My Sweet
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Edward Dmytryk - 1989
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
Urbandir. Jim Sheridan - 1983
Never Cry Wolf
Wildernessdir. Carroll Ballard - 2021
Nightmare Alley
Ruraldir. Guillermo del Toro - 1947
Nightmare Alley
Urban · Ruraldir. Edmund Goulding - 1946
Notorious
Urbandir. Alfred Hitchcock - 1942
Now, Voyager
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Irving Rapper - 1943
Obsession
Rural · Urbandir. Luchino Visconti - 1949
On the Town
Urbandir. Gene Kelly - 1959
Operation Petticoat
Coastal Seadir. Blake Edwards - 2023
Oppenheimer
Desert · Urbandir. Christopher Nolan - 1950
Orpheus
Urbandir. Jean Cocteau - 1947
Out of the Past
Rural · Mountain · Urbandir. Jacques Tourneur - 1946
Paisan
Urban · Rural · Coastal Seadir. Roberto Rossellini - 2006
Pan's Labyrinth
Rural · Undergrounddir. Guillermo del Toro - 1973
Papillon
Island · Wildernessdir. Franklin J. Schaffner - 1970
Patton
Desert · Ruraldir. Franklin J. Schaffner - 1982
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Urbandir. Alan Parker - 1987
Radio Days
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Woody Allen - 1980
Raging Bull
Urbandir. Martin Scorsese - 1945
Rome, Open City
Urbandir. Roberto Rossellini - 1948
Rope
Urbandir. Alfred Hitchcock - 2002
Russian Ark
Urbandir. Aleksandr Sokurov - 1942
Saboteur
Urban · Desertdir. Alfred Hitchcock - 1998
Saving Private Ryan
Ruraldir. Steven Spielberg - 1993
Schindler's List
Urbandir. Steven Spielberg - 1997
Seven Years in Tibet
Mountain · Urbandir. Jean-Jacques Annaud - 1943
Shadow of a Doubt
Suburbandir. Alfred Hitchcock - 1946
Shoeshine
Urbandir. Vittorio De Sica - 1977
Soldier of Orange
dir. Paul Verhoeven - 2015
Son of Saul
Undergrounddir. László Nemes - 1982
Sophie's Choice
Urbandir. Alan J. Pakula - 1948
Sorry, Wrong Number
dir. Anatole Litvak - 1945
Spellbound
Urban · Mountaindir. Alfred Hitchcock - 1953
Stalag 17
Ruraldir. Billy Wilder - 1993
Stalingrad
Urbandir. Joseph Vilsmaier - 1949
Stray Dog
Urbandir. Akira Kurosawa - 1999
Tea with Mussolini
Urbandir. Franco Zeffirelli - 1977
The Ascent
Rural · Wildernessdir. Larisa Shepitko - 1946
The Best Years of Our Lives
Urban · Suburbandir. William Wyler - 1948
The Big Clock
Urbandir. John Farrow - 1946
The Big Sleep
Urbandir. Howard Hawks - 1947
The Bishop's Wife
dir. Henry Koster - 1979
The Black Stallion
Island · Coastal Sea · Suburbandir. Carroll Ballard - 2023
The Boy and the Heron
Rural · Undergrounddir. Hayao Miyazaki - 1957
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Wilderness · Ruraldir. David Lean - 2024
The Brutalist
Urbandir. Brady Corbet - 1954
The Caine Mutiny
Coastal Seadir. Edward Dmytryk - 1999
The Cider House Rules
Ruraldir. Lasse Hallström - 1971
The Conformist
Urbandir. Bernardo Bertolucci - 1957
The Cranes Are Flying
Urbandir. Mikhail Kalatozov - 1959
The Diary of Anne Frank
Urbandir. George Stevens - 1967
The Dirty Dozen
Ruraldir. Robert Aldrich - 1996
The English Patient
Desert · Ruraldir. Anthony Minghella - 1972
The Godfather
Urbandir. Francis Ford Coppola - 1974
The Godfather Part II
Urban · Ruraldir. Francis Ford Coppola - 1963
The Great Escape
Rural · Undergrounddir. John Sturges - 1961
The Guns of Navarone
Island · Coastal Sea · Mountaindir. J. Lee Thompson - 1959
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
Ruraldir. Masaki Kobayashi - 1946
The Killers
Urbandir. Robert Siodmak - 1941
The Lady Eve
Coastal Sea · Suburbandir. Preston Sturges - 1947
The Lady from Shanghai
Urban · Coastal Seadir. Orson Welles - 1987
The Last Emperor
Urbandir. Bernardo Bertolucci - 1980
The Last Metro
Urbandir. François Truffaut - 1998
The Legend of 1900
Coastal Seadir. Giuseppe Tornatore - 1952
The Little World of Don Camillo
Ruraldir. Julien Duvivier - 1962
The Longest Day
Coastal Sea · Ruraldir. Ken Annakin - 1945
The Lost Weekend
Urbandir. Billy Wilder - 1941
The Maltese Falcon
Urbandir. John Huston - 2001
The Man Who Wasn't There
Suburbandir. Joel Coen - 1979
The Marriage of Maria Braun
Urban · Suburbandir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder - 1948
The Naked City
Urbandir. Jules Dassin - 2004
The Notebook
Rural · Coastal Seadir. Nick Cassavetes - 1975
The Old Gun
Rural · Urbandir. Robert Enrico - 2001
The Others
Rural · Islanddir. Alejandro Amenábar - 1942
The Palm Beach Story
dir. Preston Sturges - 2002
The Pianist
Urbandir. Roman Polanski - 1946
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Ruraldir. Tay Garnett - 1948
The Red Shoes
Urbandir. Michael Powell - 1983
The Right Stuff
Desert · Off Worlddir. Philip Kaufman - 1949
The Set-Up
Urbandir. Robert Wise - 1994
The Shawshank Redemption
Urbandir. Frank Darabont - 1973
The Spirit of the Beehive
Ruraldir. Víctor Erice - 1946
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Urbandir. Lewis Milestone - 1946
The Stranger
Ruraldir. Orson Welles - 1998
The Thin Red Line
Wilderness · Island · Coastal Seadir. Terrence Malick - 1949
The Third Man
Urban · Undergrounddir. Carol Reed - 1964
The Train
Rural · Urbandir. John Frankenheimer - 1973
The Way We Were
dir. Sydney Pollack - 2013
The Wind Rises
Urban · Ruraldir. Hayao Miyazaki - 1941
The Wolf Man
Ruraldir. George Waggner - 1944
The Woman in the Window
Urbandir. Fritz Lang - 2023
The Zone of Interest
Urbandir. Jonathan Glazer - 1942
To Be or Not to Be
Urbandir. Ernst Lubitsch - 1945
To Have and Have Not
Island · Coastal Seadir. Howard Hawks - 1994
To Live
Ruraldir. Zhang Yimou - 1970
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Coastal Sea · Urbandir. Toshio Masuda - 1988
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Urban · Suburbandir. Francis Ford Coppola - 2018
Tumbbad
Ruraldir. Rahi Anil Barve - 1949
Twelve O'Clock High
Ruraldir. Henry King - 1983
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Urban · Rural · Wildernessdir. John Landis - 1960
Two Women
Rural · Mountaindir. Vittorio De Sica - 1995
Underground
Urban · Undergrounddir. Emir Kusturica - 2005
Walk the Line
Rural · Urbandir. James Mangold - 1974
We All Loved Each Other So Much
Urbandir. Ettore Scola - 1968
Where Eagles Dare
Mountaindir. Brian G. Hutton - 1954
White Christmas
Rural · Mountaindir. Michael Curtiz - 1949
White Heat
Urbandir. Raoul Walsh - 1988
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Urbandir. Robert Zemeckis
Frequently asked
How many movies are set in the 1940s?
Kinora's catalogue lists 217 films set in the 1940s, spanning 1940–2024.
What are some movies set in the 1940s?
Films set in the 1940s in our catalogue include 1900 (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), A Christmas Story (1983), A League of Their Own (1992), and A Letter to Three Wives (1949).
What is the oldest movie set in the 1940s?
His Girl Friday (1940) is the earliest film set in the 1940s in our catalogue; the most recent is The Brutalist (2024).