1949

A Letter To Three Wives
Joseph L. Mankiewicz

The Stratton Story
Douglas Morrow

Battleground
Robert Pirosh

1948

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
John Huston
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) is a classic tale of the elusive search for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains by a trio of ill-matched prospectors that meet in Tampico, Mexico. Director John Huston's third feature film, is a combination adventure story and Western shot almost entirely on location (one of the first). [It was shot in Tampico, San Jose de Purua and in Durango. The night scenes were shot in the studio.]
The expensive-to-make ($3 million), over-budget film is also an intense character study showing the corruptive and cancerous effects of greed on the souls of men. It is the definitive film on greed, although Wall Street (1987) with Michael Douglas' Best Actor-winning role as Gordon Gecko comes close. Although the film did poorly at the box-office when first released, its critical success and a number of re-releases eventually brought it financial returns.

The Search
Richard Schweizer & David Wechsler

1947

Miracle on 34th Street
George Seaton

Miracle On 34th Street
Valentine Davies

The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer
Sidney Sheldon

1946

The Best Years of Our Lives
Robert E. Sherwood

Vacation From Marriage
Clemence Dane

The Seventh Veil
Muriel Box & Sydney Box

1945

The Lost Weekend
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder

The House On 92nd Street
Charles G. Booth

Marie-Louise
Richard Schweizer

1944

Going My Way
Frank Butler, Frank Cavett

Going My Way
Leo McCarey

Wilson
Lamar Trotti

1943

Casablanca
Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
The classic and much-loved romantic melodrama Casablanca (1942), always found on top-ten lists of films, is a masterful tale of two men vying for the same woman's love in a love triangle. The story of political and romantic espionage is set against the backdrop of the wartime conflict between democracy and totalitarianism. [The date given for the film is often given as either 1942 and 1943. That is because its limited premiere was in 1942, but the film did not play nationally, or in Los Angeles, until 1943.]
With rich and smoky atmosphere, anti-Nazi propaganda, Max Steiner's superb musical score, suspense, unforgettable characters (supposedly 34 nationalities are included in its cast) and memorable lines of dialogue (e.g., "Here's lookin' at you, kid," and the inaccurately-quoted "Play it again, Sam"), it is one of the most popular, magical (and flawless) films of all time - focused on the themes of lost love, honor and duty, self-sacrifice and romance within a chaotic world. Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam (1972) paid reverential homage to the film, as have the lesser films Cabo Blanco (1981) and Barb Wire (1996), and the animated Bugs Bunny short Carrotblanca (1995). ..

The Human Comedy
William Saroyan

Princess O'Rourke
Norman Krasna

1942

Mrs. Miniver
Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, James Hilton & Claudine West

The Invaders (aka 49th Parallel)
Emeric Pressburger

Woman Of The Year
Ring Lardner, Jr. & Michael Kanin

1941

Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Sidney Buchman & Seton I. Miller

Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Harry Segall

Citizen Kane
Herman J. Mankiewicz & Orson Welles

1940

The Philadelphia Story
Donald Ogden Stewart

Arise, My Love
Benjamin Glazer & John S. Toldy

The Great McGinty
Preston Sturges