The 1940s marked a pivotal time in history as the world was engulfed in World War II and the ensuing Cold War. The geopolitical climate of the day greatly influenced the film industry. During a time when real-world espionage was at its height, moviegoers were thirsty for thrilling and adventurous films that gave them a glimpse of the spellbinding intrigue surrounding the world of spies, secret agents, and covert operations. The result was a boom in the spy movie genre in the 1940s. Here are 10 of the decade’s best spy flicks that are worthy of rewatching.
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the king of suspense, the 1940 black and white film, Foreign Correspondent, starred Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, George Sanders, and Herbert Marshall. The action takes place in pre-war Europe and centers around an American reporter, played by McCrea, who becomes ensnared in an espionage ring. The film has car chases, kidnappings, assassinations, narrow escapes, and of course, romance. It was nominated for six Academy Awards in 1940, including one for Best Picture. In the end, Foreign Correspondent failed to take home any Oscars, however another one of Hitchcock’s movies, Rebecca, did win the Academy Award for Best Picture that year.
They Met in the Dark (1943)
They Met in the Dark is a British comedy spy thriller that was released in 1943. Based in part on the 1941 Anthony Gilbert novel, The Vanishing Corpse, They Met in the Dark stars James Mason, Joyce Howard, and Edward Rigby. Mason portrays a Royal Naval officer who teams up with a young, attractive woman, played by Howard, to solve a murder. Their undercover investigation leads them right to a German spy ring. They Met in the Dark included the song, “Toddle Along”, sung by Phyllis Stanley.
Casablanca (1942)
Although Casablanca is often thought of as a romantic drama, the film, which starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid, is very much a spy film. It is set in the North African city of Casablanca during World War II and tells the story of an American expatriate club owner, played by Bogart, who has a tangled relationship with a beautiful woman, played by Bergman, and her husband, a Czechoslovakian resistance leader who is hiding out in Morocco while he continues to battle the Germans. A classic from the Golden Age of Hollywood, Casablanca won the Academy Award for Best Picture and a slew of other Oscars.
Notorious (1946)
Ingrid Bergman joins Cary Grant and Claude Rains in the Alfred Hitchcock-directed spy film noir, Notorious. In the 1946 film, Bergman plays the daughter of a German war criminal who is recruited by an American secret agent, played by Grant, to infiltrate a group of former Nazis who fled to Brazil after World War II ended. Things get complicated when Bergman’s character becomes romantically involved with Grant’s character and Grant’s character orders her to seduce the leader of the German expatriates so she can learn their secrets. Notorious marks a departure from Hitchcock’s earlier films in that it relies more on the plot and the undeniable chemistry between the lead characters, rather than the heavy use of cinematography effects seen in his previous movies. Many movie critics point to Notorious as their favorite Hitchcock film, including Roger Ebert. In fact, Ebert included the film in a list of his ten greatest movies of all time.
Golden Earrings (1947)
The romantic spy thriller, Golden Earrings, was directed by Mitchell Leisen and starred Ray Milland and Marlene Dietrick. The title song from the 1947 film, “Golden Earrings”, was written by Victor Young, Ray Evans, and Jay Livingston, and performed in the film by Murvyn Vye. Singer Peggy Lee recorded her own version of the theme song which became a big hit in 1947 and 1948. Golden Earrings is told as a flashback. Milland plays a British military officer being held captive in Germany at the start of the war. He must escape from his captors, retrieve a formula from deadly poisonous gas from a professor, and flee the country. Helping him is a gypsy woman he meets along the way. Played by Dietrick, the gypsy helps the spy travel undetected by disguising him as a gypsy, complete with golden earrings.
Above Suspicion (1943)
In Above Suspicion, which hit the theaters in 1943, Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray play a newlywed couple who depart from Oxford University, when MacMurray’s character is a professor, to honeymoon in continental Europe in the spring of 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II. The couple is tapped by the British secret service to track down a scientist who has developed a device to thwart a new Nazi secret weapon. The newlyweds crisscross Europe unraveling coded clues that lead them to mysterious contacts and clandestine locations. The screenplay for Above Suspicion was adapted from the 1941 novel of the same name, written by Helen MacInnes. The novel loosely chronicles the adventures of the author and her husband, Gilbert Highet, an academic professor who works as a British intelligence agent.
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
The plot of the 1946 spy thriller, Cloak and Dagger, directed by Fritz Lang, was taken from a non-fiction book by Corey Ford and Alastair MacBain called Cloak and Dagger: The Secret Story of O.S.S. and was produced as a tribute to the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS, and its covert operations in Nazi-held Europe during the second World War. The film featured Gary Cooper as an American scientist. He has been recruited by the OSS to go to Europe and make contact with the group of scientists working on Germany’s nuclear weapons program. He is aided on his mission by Gina, a beautiful Italian resistance fighter, played by Lilli Palmer.
Conspirator (1949)
Filled with suspense, romance, and plot twists, the 1949 British spy flick, Conspirator, stars Robert Taylor as Major Michael Curragh and Elizabeth Taylor as Melinda Greyton. In the film, Melinda is an 18-year-old American girl on vacation in England when she starts a whirlwind romance with a member of the British Guard. The couple quickly marries, but on their honeymoon, Melinda discovers that her new husband is a Soviet spy. When she gives him an ultimatum – their marriage or his loyalty to the Soviet Union – Michael’s Soviet handlers order him to kill his young bride. Although Elizabeth Taylor’s character in Conspirator was 18 years old, the actress was just 16 when she filmed the movie. Her co-star and on-screen husband, Robert Taylor, was in his 30s. This eyebrow-raising age difference caused some controversy when the film was released.
Across the Pacific (1942)
Real-life events during World War II threatened to permanently halt production of the 1942 spy film, Across the Pacific, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. Director John Huston began the project, but he then joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Another director, Vincent Sherman, was brought in to finish the job. The next setback involved a shocking coincidence. In the initial script of Across the Pacific, the characters were trying to prevent an invasion of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. But then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in real life. Filming on Across the Pacific was put on hold for several months and the prophetic script was revised to have a different location serve as the site of an impending attack.
Hotel Reserve (1944)
The 1944 British spy thriller, Hotel Reserve, starred James Mason as a refugee on holiday who gets mixed up in a case of mistaken identity in the months leading up to the start of World War II. He has a room at the Hotel Reserve while trying to obtain his French citizenship but is confronted by a French intelligence officer regarding a roll of film he recently had developed. To clear his name, he must spy on the other guests staying at the Hotel Reserve to find out who else has the same camera. His snooping and eavesdropping flush out the true spies. Only then does he learn that the French agent knew who the spies were all along and was just using him to gather more information.