Top 10 Films of 1943

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Top 3 Musicals of 1943

1. "The Sky's The Limit" (Edward H. Griffith, RKO)


2. "Girl Crazy" (Norman Taurog, MGM)


3. "The Gang's All Here" (Busby Berkeley, 20th-Fox)

Day Of Wrath (1943) ****

Capitaine Fracasse (1943) ***

Impressive adaptation of Theophile Gauthier's novel. One of Abel Gance's best films.

The Sixth Shot (1943)

Phantom Of The Opera (1943) ***

A remake of the 1925 classic. Unlike the previous film, a horror movie, this is essentially a musical, and yet the story remains more or less the same.

Przez lzy do szczescia (1943) ***

Light melodrama from Poland, about a kind pediatrician working in an orphanage. Filmed in the summer of 1939, just before the war, the film had to wait more than 4 years before its theatrical release during the Nazi occupation.

Ossessione (1943) ***

The first example of Italian neo-realism.

Happy Journey (1943) ***

Dream (1943) ***

Directed by Mikhail Romm, a Soviet film set in pre-war Poland. Excellent art direction.

This Land Is Mine (1943) ***

Very similar to "Hangmen Also Die", but far more nuanced, realistic and compelling. Often didactic, but at least the ideas it presents are interesting.

Hi Diddle Diddle (1943) ***

Self-reflexive comedy, totally silly, but very smart at the same time. It's as brechtian as Hollywood ever got. Pola Negri steals the movie as a Slavic opera singer, but eveybody else is excellent as well.

Star Spangled Rhythm (1943) ***

Uneven patriotic farce with an all-star cast, a few good musical numbers and a guided tour of the Paramount studio backlot.

War Department Report (1943) ***

Interesting documentary about the strategic situation of the Allies versus the Axis circa 1943. A unique snapshot-in-time-capsule experience, largely free of typical propaganda tricks, coldly analyzing the real situation on the ground. Nominated for an Oscar.

Report From The Aleutians (1943) ***

Well-made documentary about a little known theatre of war against Japan. Nominated for an Oscar.

Watch On The Rhine (1943) ***

A little quizz: name a 1943 Best Picture winner from this description - an anti-Nazi freedom fighter and his wife escape from Europe and find themselves in a neutral city. As the Nazis close in, the hero shoots the main threat to their safety, allowing the freedom fighter and his wife to continue the fight against Hitler. "Casablanca", obviously, except that the neutral city is Washington DC in 1940, the hero and the freedom fighter are the same person, and the Best Picture award is from New York Critics Association, not the Oscars.

The Outlaw (1943) ***

December 7th (1943) ***

A documentary film about the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. There are three versions of this film. The shortest one (20 min.) won an Oscar as best documentary short. A slightly longer version (33 min.) was released in theatres. There is also the original, feature-length cut of the film (81 min.). The short versions focus on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. The original cut's main focus is on the Japanese community in Hawaii, questioning their loyalty and allegience.

Confessions Of A Vice Baron (1943) ***

Baron Munchhausen (1943) ***