Critics Poll: ‘Citizen Kane' Named Best Film of the 1940s

Our “Decade in Film” series continues with another critics poll. We’ve so far covered the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, and ‘10s. Now it’s time for the 1940s.

The results are in, and according to critics, this decade filled with cinematic riches did not have a better film than Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane.” Absolutely no one should be surprised by this result. “Citizen Kane” changed cinema forever.

‘Kane’ had Welles breaking the barriers of what cinema could achieve. Working alongside gifted cinematographer Gregg Toland, the film’s brilliant use of darkness and shadow, that famous deep focus photography, Robert Wise’s complex editing style; this all paved the way for the next 80 years of filmmaking.

There was little doubt in anybody’s mind that ‘Kane’ would top the poll, what was less certain were the films that would fill the rest of the top 10. The answer to this question turned out to be such landmarks as “Casablanca,” “The Bicycle Thieves,” “The Third Man,” and “The Red Shoes.”

This was a fairly unprecedented decade for film. It was at the height of the “Hays Code” in Hollywood. Half the planet was preoccupied by World War II, whilst the other half didn’t have the means to even make films.

“Double Indemnity” popularized film noir. Bogart had several bangers this decade, two of which cracked the top 10 (“Maltese Falcon” and “Casablanca.”) If you can believe it, French masterpiece “Children of Paradise” (#11) was shot in France during the Nazi occupation. Rossellini and De Sica changed cinema with the Italian neorealism movement.

In total, the list tally was down for this poll. I can usually count on anywhere between 200 to 300 submitted lists, but this time around, no doubt due to this one tackling 80+ year old films, participation was down — we barely hit the 100 list mark.

In the meantime, here are the BALLOTS and the 30 most listed films.

RESULTS

1) Citizen Kane (Welles) — 61 votes
2) Casablanca (Curtis) — 38
3) Bicycle Thieves (De Sica) — 27
4) The Third Man (Reed) — 25
5) Double Indemnity (Wilder) — 19
6) The Red Shoes (Powell & Pressburger) —18
7) It’s A Wonderful Life (Capra) — 18
8) Notorious (Hitchcock) —. 14
9) The Best Years of Our Lives (Wyler) — 14
10) The Maltese Falcon (Huston) — 14

11) Children of Paradise (Carné) — 13
12) Magnificent Ambersons (Welles) — 12
13) Late Spring (Ozu) — 12
14) The Great Dictator (Chaplin) — 11
15) His Girl Friday (Hawks) — 9
16) Out of the Past (Tourneur) — 9
17) Shadow of A Doubt (Hitchcock) — 8
18) Rome, Open City (Rossellini) — 7
19) La Belle et La Bete (Cocteau) — 7
20) Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Huston) —6

21) The Lady Eve (Sturges) — 6
22) Rebecca (Hitchcock) — 6
23) Meet Me in St Louis (Minnelli) — 4
24) Day of Wrath (Dreyer) — 4
25) Black Narcissus (Pressburger & Powell) — 4
26) The Big Sleep (Hawks) — 4
27) Rope (Hitchcock) — 4
28) How Green Was My Valley (Ford) — 4
29) The Shop Around the Corner (Lubitsch) — 4
30) The Philadelphia Story (Cukor) — 4
31) Brief Encounter (Lean) — 4