Jane Sloan Media Librarian jsloan@rci.rutgers.edu June 2006

Research Resources: Subject Research Guides: Media Collections:
Feature Films U.S. 1940s

This guide is a browsing aid to selected titles in the video/DVD collections at Rutgers Libraries. The most up-to-date, accurate, and complete information regarding the libraries' holdings is available only through IRIS, our online catalog.

1984 1996

George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

DANA 1708

Adam's rib 1949

One of the hilarious Tracy-Hepburn films. Here they both portray lawyers, which pits Tracy, the assistant district attorney, against his wife the prosecutor, in a murder trial.

1 videocassette (101 min.) :

MEDIA 2-484

And then there were none 1992

A classic mystery in which ten people, unknown to one another, are invited to an isolated island where they are killed one by one.

1 videocassette (97 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2850

Ball of fire 1992

When a serious-minded professor and his high brow colleagues begin work on a new encyclopedia, he enlists the aid of a beautiful but shady night club queen to explain slang, unaware that she is on the run from the mob.

1 videocassette (111 min.) :

JAZZ 338

The Beautiful blonde from Bashful Bend 1989

Wild six gun farce set in the old West about a hot-tempered saloon entertainer who's as quick with a pistol as she is to kick up her heels.

1 videocassette (77 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3475

The Big clock 1996

A hotshot crime magazine editor inadvertently becomes the subject of a murder investigation after spending an evening with his boss' mistress. She ends up dead and he is being framed by the actual killer. As his competent staff scurries for clues the description they uncover of the murderer matches himself!

1 videocassette (ca. 95 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3573

The big sleep 1946

Marlowe is hired by a retired general to find out who has been blackmailing the old man's wild daughters. At the same time he has to try to locate the missing husband of one of hte daughters. Marlowe's search leads through a dangerous thicket of murder and suicide in the seedy criminal underworld straight to the headquarters of the notorious nightclub owner and gangland boss, Eddie Mars.

1 videodisc (102 min.)

DANA 41

The Blood of Jesus 198-1941

A recently baptized woman is accidently killed by her husband. He is considered to be one of the town's sinners and this causes community turmoil. The woman returns to life after prayers for a miracle.

1 videocassettes (ca. 60 min.) ;

MEDIA 2-3436

Blue dahlia 1946

A returning war veteran finds his faithless wife murdered and himself a suspect.

1 videocassette (100 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3596

Body and soul 1988

A determined young boxer fights his way up the amateur circuit only to discover the high price he'll have to pay for a chance at the championship title. With the mob controlling professional prizefighting, he's forced to cut a mafia boss in on half his earnings to become a contender.

1 videocassette (VHS) (104 min.) :

DANA. DANA 99 99

Cabin in the sky 1943

This glowing musical fantasy combines a heart-warming story of faith and devotion with a brace of memorable songs.

1 videocassette (99 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1223

Cabin in the sky 1992

Happiness is a think called Joe -- Life's full o'consequences -- Li'l black sheep -- Going up -- Cabin in the sky -- Taking a chance on lane -- Honey in the honeycombThis glowing musical fantasy combines a heart-warming story of faith and devotion with a brace of memorable songs.

1 videocassette (99 min.) :

JAZZ. JAZZ 238 238

Cairo 1942

In World War II-era Cairo, an affable American reporter aims to get his story, but some people are out to get him first. At first he and a woman he meets suspect each other of being spies, but then they join forces to uncover the real agents. A spy-movie spoof, with songs by its stars.

1 videocassette (101 min.) :

JAZZ 325

Call Northside 777 1994

A film based on the true story of a reporter who corrects a miscarriage of justice through careful investigation.

1 videocassette (111 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3450

Casablanca 1983

Classic story of an American expatriot who involves himself in romance and espionage in North Africa during WW II.

1 videocassette (VHS) (103 min.) :

MEDIA 2-259

Citizen Kane 1940

A story of the rise and fall of a great man as the result of his accumulation of wealth and subsequent isolation from the world. Based on the life of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, this is classic American cinema.

1 videocassette (119 min.) : DVD

DANA MEDIA MEDIA 574 10-82 2-7076

Detour 1997

An example of film noir which recounts the story of a man whose pursuit of the woman he loves is blocked by fate and another woman.

1 videocassette (69 min.) :

MEDIA MEDIA 2-3587 2-164

The Docks of New York 1945

Set on the grimy waterfront, this is a story of the decaying humanity that lives and works on the wharf. A two-fisted stocker changes his life by saving a suicidal woman.

1 videocassette (76 min.) :

MEDIA 2-703

Double indemnity 1987

"An insurance agent connives with the glamorous wife of a client to kill her husband and collect."--Halliwell's Film and video guide, 5th ed.

1 videocassette (107 min.) :

MEDIA 2-593

Double indemnity 1998

An insurance man and a suburban wife conspire to trick her husband into signing a policy that pays double for accidental death-- then push him from a train. It's an almost perfect crime.

1 videocassette (107 min.) :

DANA 818

Dressed to kill 1946

Sherlock Holmes finds a music box holds the key to plates stolen from the Bank of England.

1 videocassette (72 min.) :

DANA 552

Duel in the sun 1946

Gregory Peck delivers an outstanding performance as Lewt McCanles, the hotblooded son of a Texas land baron. Lewt's brother, Jesse, is the opposite--clear-headed and calm. They become rivals when they meet Pearl, the beautiful half-breed Indian girl who comes to live on their ranch. Though she's won over by Lewt, his volatile nature ultimately leads to trouble, igniting the film's explosive climax and deeply moving final scene.

1 videocassette (138 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1678

The Fabulous Dorseys 1947

"The fabulous life story of Mr. Trombone and Mr. Sax. Two brothers who both had their own big bands....Tommy and Jimmy play the many hits that made them famous...."--Container.

1 videocassette (89 min.) :

JAZZ 300

Fantasia 1940

Toccata and fugue in D minor / J.S. Bach -- The nutcracker suite / P.I. Tchaikovsky -- The sorcerer's apprentice / P. Dukas -- Rite of spring / I. Stravinsky -- The Pastoral symphony (The sixth) / L. Beethoven -- Dance of the hours / A. Ponchielli -- Night on Bald Mountain / M. Moussorgsky -- Ave Maria / F. SchubertAn extraordinary blend of magnificent music and classic Disney animation, featuring a host of unforgettable images, including Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice.

1 videocassette (120 min.) :

MUSIC 196

Force of evil 1995

A racketeer's lawyer finds that his boss has found a way to bankrupt New York's numbers banks but gets wedged between the numbers racket and a new prosecutor's anti-crime campaign.

1 videocassette (82 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3479

Foreign correspondent 1985

A compressed and chilling thriller about a politically naive reporter's battle against a major spy ring when sent to Europe to cover events that will lead to world war II.

1 videocassette (120 min.) :

MEDIA DANA 2-99 478

Fort Apache 1948

A demoted Civil War colonel is sent to command the frontier regiment Fort Apache. The colonel's harsh attitude toward the Indians conflicts withe attitude of cooperation expressed by his second in command, Captain York, and the regiment. The climax of the film, the massacre of the regiment, is depicted as the result of the colonel's arrogance and betrayal of the Apache by a venal government agent. The romantic sub-plot involves the colonel's daughter and a young lieutenant of the regiment.

1 videocassette (127 min.) :

MEDIA MEDIA 2-1215 2-6752

Gang war 1996

Classic battle between 2 gangs for control of the juke box machines in Harlem.

1 videocassette (65 min.) :

MEDIA 2-6189

Gentleman's agreement 1993

A journalist assigned to write a series of articles on anti-semitism decides to pose as a Jew and finds out first-hand what it is like to be the victim of intolerance.

1 videocassette (118 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3481

The Glass key 1942

Intricate mystery about a slightly corrupt politician, accused of murder, who solicits his right-hand man (Ladd) to hunt down the real killer.

1 videocassette (85 min.) :

MEDIA 2-755

Go down, death! 1994

"A morality melodrama which puts a minister's reputation in question, bringing him to the brink of Heaven and Hell."--Facets video catalog # 12.

1 videocassette (54 min.) :

DANA 594

The grapes of wrath 1996

The story about the Joad family as they are forced from their Oklahoma farm by dust storms during the Great Depression. It details their struggle for justice and dignity as they start a new life in California.

2 videodiscs (129 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 7-133 disc 1 7-134 disc 2

The Great McGinty 1988

Comedy about political corruption concerning the rise and fall of a small-time, bribe-happy politician.

1 videocassette (82 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3471

Green Dolphin Street 1991

Two beautiful daughters of a wealthy merchant fall in love with the same man. He goes abroad to seek his fortune, and drunkenly addresses his proposal to the wrong sister.

1 videocassette (141 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2371

He walked by night 1949

An LAPD sergeant (Brady) follows the trail of a devious cop-killer (Basehart).

1 videocassette (79 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3600

The heat's on 1993

In this 1943 film, Mae West stars as an actress who's too hot for any one Broadway show to handle. This film also features the music of Xavier Cugat and his orchestra.

1 videocassette (79 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3554

The Heiress 1949

The only daughter of a rich man stands to inherit his vast estate. A dashing fortune hunter wants her to elope, but on the eve of their marriage he deserts her. Seven years later he returns and a wiser woman plots her revenge.

1 videocassette (115 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2143

High Sierra 2000

Bogart plays a convicted killer sprung from jail by a mobster who wants him to assist in a California hotel holdup.

1 videocassette (101 min.)

DANA 1922

His girl Friday 1940

A comedy in which a big city newspaper editor and his star reporter--and ex-wife--resolve their personal relationship while covering the stor of an escaped convict.

1 videocassette (92 min.) :

MEDIA 2-96

Home of the brave 1989

A black soldier is sent on a top secret mission in the South Pacific, but finds that he must battle with his white comrades as he is subjected to subordinate treatment and constant racial slurs. Hollywood's first outstanding statement against racial prejudice.

1 videocassette (86 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3468

I shot Jesse James 1949

The story of Bob Ford, the man who shot down the famous outlaw Jesse James.

1 videocassette (81 min.)

MEDIA 2-7298

It's a wonderful life 1985

Sentimental classic about a young man who attempts to end his own life, only to be shown the error of his ways by his guardian angel.

1 videocassette (130 min.) :

MEDIA 2-103

Kiss of death 1947

A petty thief, out on parole, informs on his cohorts after his wife commits suicide and a psychopath threatens his children.

1 videocassette (99 min.)

DANA 1930

Kiss of death 1990

A gangster saga starring Widmark as Tommy Udo in his notorious film debut as a psychopathic killer. Mature is Nick Bianco, a thief sentenced to time in Sing Sing, who turns state's evidence.

1 videocassette (99 min.) :

MEDIA DANA 2-3576 1930

The Lady from Shanghai 1948

A seaman becomes involved in the murderous intrigue of a crippled lawyer and his homicidal frustrated wife.

1 videocassette (87 min.) :

DANA MEDIA 801 2-93

Lifeboat 1997

Eight survivors of a torpedoed Allied freighter, along with a rescued Nazi, fend for themselves aboard a lifeboat.

1 videocassette (97 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-226 7-126

Lost boundaries 1996

Based on the true story of a light-skinned black family who pass for white in a New Hampshire town.

1 videocassette (99 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1807

Macbeth 1948

Shakespeare's Macbeth with Orson Welles in the title role. Moved by his own burning ambition and that of his unscrupulous wife, Macbeth murders Duncan, King of Scotland and seizes his crown. But his insatiable lust for power soon leads Macbeth towards his own destruction.

1 videocassette (89 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1504

Magic town 1987

Rip Smith is going broke running his own opinion poll organization until he learns public opinion in the little town of Grandview reflects national poll results.

1 videocassette (103 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3194

The Magnificent Ambersons 1942

A drama about the decline of a powerful, wealthy family living in a town in the Middlewest in the late 1800's as they cling to tradition in a time beset by rapid change.

1 videocassette (88 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1568

The Maltese falcon 1941

Humphrey Bogart stars as Sam Spade, the ultimate private eye, in Dashiell Hammett's mystery classic. When his associate, Miles Archer, is killed in a routine assignment, Sam begins to investigate. During his investigation, Spade runs up against some of the most eccentric and devious characters ever devised: Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Joel Cairo, and Kasper Gertman. They all want the same thing, to possess the Maltese falcon, a priceless, bejeweled statue that brings death wherever it goes.

1 videocassette (101 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1268

The Maltese falcon 1941

After the death of his partner, private eye Sam Spade is dragged into a quest for a priceless statuette.

1 videocassette (101 min.)

DANA 3000

Meet me in St. Louis 2000

A musical set in St. Louis in 1903. The well-off Smith family has four beautiful daughters, including Esther and little Tootie. Seventeen-year-old Esther has fallen in love with the boy next door, John, who has just moved in. He, however, barely notices her at first. The family is shocked when Mr. Smith reveals that he has been transferred to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the St. Louis Fair.

1 videocassette (113 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5933

Mildred Pierce 1945

Joan Crawford portrays a woman who sacrifices her entire life, devoting it to the indulgence of her daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth). Veda, rather than being gracious for what her mother has done, plots for her downfall. Joan Crawford won an Oscar for her role.

1 videocassette (113 min.) :

MEDIA 2-279

Ministry of fear 1944

A man is released into World War II England after 2 years in an asylum, but the outside world does not seem so sane either. On his way back to London to rejoin civilization, he stumbles across a murderous spy ring and does not quite know to whom to turn.

1 videocassette (87 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3553

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek 1987

"Chaos results when a stuttering hayseed tries to help a girl accidentally pregnant by a soldier she met hazily at a dance."--Halliwell's Film and video guide, 5th ed.

1 videocassette (98 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3482

Murder on Lenox Avenue 1993

The disgraced rounder of the Harlem Better Business League attempts to murder his respectable replacement.

1 videocassette (60 min.) :

JAZZ 303

My darling Clementine videorecording 1946

Wyatt Earp cleans up Tombstone and wipes out the Clanton gang at the O.K. Corral. Archtypal western period piece full of nostalgia for times gone by and crackling with memorable scenes and characterizations.

1 videocassette (117 min.) :

MEDIA DANA 2-611 96

Notorious 1990

A government agent and a refugee girl undertake a dangerous mission in Brazil.

1 videocassette (103 min.) :

DANA MEDIA 528 2-95

Now, voyager 1942

A lonely spinster is transformed into a vibrant young woman by her psychiatrist, and involves herself in an ill-fated affair with a suave continental.

1 videocassette (ca. 118 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1651

The Ox-Bow incident 198

Cowboy is unable to prevent three wandering travellers from being unjustly lynched for murder.

1 videocassette (ca. 75 min.) :

MEDIA D-130

The Palm Beach story 1990

A young wife leaves her husband and heads for Palm Beach where she meets one of the world's richest men. When the husband shows up to reclaim his wife, the millionaire's man-mad sister falls for him!

1 videocassette (88 min.)

MEDIA 2-6707

The Paradine case 1947

A beautiful woman is accused of having murdered her husband. Could a woman so charming commit a crime so heinous? Alfred Hitchcock keeps everyone guessing until the stunning conclusion of this gripping drama.

1 videocassette (125 min.) :

MEDIA 2-609

The Pride of the Yankees 1995

Lou Gehrig, the Yank's great first baseman and the son of poor immigrants, rose to heights of baseball fame--only to be cut down at the peak of his career by an incurable illness known as ALS.

1 videocassette (127 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2615

Rebecca 1992

A young bride is brought by her new husband to his manor house in England. There she finds that the memory of her husband's first wife haunts her, and she tries to discover the secret of that mysterious woman's death.

1 videocassette (132 min.) :

DANA 530

Red River 1948

A battle of wills develops between father and son on a grueling cattle drive in this classic Western.

1 videocassette (134 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1225

Richard Llewellyn's How green was my valley 1993

A man looks back on his life as a boy in a small Welsh mining town. His reminiscences reveal the disintegration of his closely knit family, while capturing the sentiments and issues of their time.

1 videocassette (118 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2843

Rope 1948

Two friends strangle a classmate for intellectual thrills and then proceed to invite his family and friends to dinner, with the body stuffed inside the trunk they use for the table. Before the night is over, their former teacher realizes how brutally his students have twisted his acdemic theories.

1 videocassette (81 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 91 2-159

Rope 1989

Two friends strangle a classmate and then proceed to invite his family and friends to dinner.

1 videocassette (81 min.) :

DANA 548

Saboteur 1942

A Los Angles aircraft factory worker witnesses his plant's firebombing by a Nazi agent.

1 videocassette (108 min.) :

MEDIA 2-196

Scarlet Street 1991

A timid, lonely, middle-aged man becomes involved with a femme fatale, her boyfriend, and murder.

1 videocassette (98 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2605

Second chorus 1940

When a member of a successful school orchestra, the "College Perennials" accidentally graduates, the musicians are forced to seek jobs in the real world.

1 videodisc (83 min.) :

JAZZ 10

The Secret agent 1991

An espionage thriller set in Geneva, seasoned with romance. Two British Intelligence Service agents pose as husband and wife in an attempt to eliminate an agent for the Central Powers.

1 videocassette (83 min.) :

DANA 567

Shadow of a doubt 1988

A young woman suspects her charming uncle of being the Merry Widow murderer and a deadly game begins.

1 videocassette (108 min.) :

DANA 527

She wore a yellow ribbon 1988

John Wayne is Captain Nathan Brittles, an iron-willed veteran of the winning of the West who's only days away from retirement. But 265 cavalrymen lie dead at little Big Horn and the prairie is again dark with buffalo. Convinced these are omens of victory, the Cheyenne set out to recover their lost glory and Captain Brittles has one more job to do.

1 videocassette (93 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1205

The Snake pit 1948

A woman finds herself in a state mental institution and must spend several months under the care of her compassionate doctor before she can face the troubling secrets of her past and be cured.

1 videocassette (108 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2357

Spellbound 1992

A psychiatrist at a mental institution becomes romantically involved with the new director, and shields him from the police after discovering that he is an imposter.

1 videocassette (111 min.) :

DANA MEDIA MEDIA 529 2-142 2-5682

Stage Door Canteen 1993

Set at the Stage Door Canteen in New York during World War II ; shows a typical afternoon's entertainment for the men in uniform.

1 videocassette (112 min.) :

JAZZ 359

State of the union 1992

"An idealistic industrialist who is drafted to run for the presidency ... is caught between the ruthless ambition of [a] newspaper owner ..., who pulls the strings of his campaign, and the integrity of his wife ... who believes in the man behind the political facade"--Container.

1 videocassette (122 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3261

Stormy weather 1990

Imaginatively photographed though otherwise conventional all-Black musical featuring a host of top musical performers. Portrays a rising club singer who has an on-again, off-again relationship with another performer.

1 videocassette (78 min.) :

DANA. JAZZ 589 355

Sullivan's travels 1941

A successful Hollywood director disguises himself as a bum and sets off to see America from the bottom up. In the midst of the brutality and despair, he discovers that laughter is what the downtrodden need most.

1 videocassette (91 min.) :

MEDIA 2-651

Till the clouds roll by 198-1946

A musical biography of songwriter Jerome Kern, with an all-star cast performing a cavalcade of his great tunes.

1 videocassette (137 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3420

To have and have not 1990

In 1940, an American charter boat captain in Martinique gets involved with a young female drifter and some French freedom fighters who are trying to elude local Nazi collaborators.

1 videocassette (101 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3470

A Tree grows in Brooklyn 1987

The story of a young girl growing up in Brooklyn at the turn of the century.

1 videocassette (129 min.) :

MEDIA 2-608

The Virginian 1946

Story of a southerner, who places heavy emphasis upon a man's code of honor and its effect on the lives of those around him, transplanted to Wyoming in the 1870's.

1 videocassette (90 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1583

White heat 1949

Prison drama in which a brutal, psychopathic gangster plans his escape, unaware that his cellmate is an undercover government agent.

1 videocassette (114 min.) :

MEDIA 2-492

White heat 2000

Cody Jarrett is a psychopathic gangster and a ruthless killer who is anything but rational with his fierce headaches and strong mother-fixation.

1 videocassette (114 min.)

DANA 1928