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Best Thriller Movies of the 1940s

Thriller films released 1940–1949, ranked by TMDB rating among titles with at least 500 votes.

1. 
   #1 Double Indemnity (1944) · ★ 8.1 · 2,104 votes · 1h 47m · thriller, crime

   An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, a claims investigator.…

2. 
   #2 Rope (1948) · ★ 7.9 · 3,086 votes · 1h 21m · thriller, drama, crime

   Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.…

3. 
   #3 The Third Man (1949) · ★ 7.9 · 2,187 votes · 1h 45m · thriller, mystery

   In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a c…

4. 
   #4 Rebecca (1940) · ★ 7.9 · 2,037 votes · 2h 10m · thriller, romance, drama

   Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier.…

5. 
   #5 The Maltese Falcon (1941) · ★ 7.7 · 1,946 votes · 1h 40m · thriller, crime, mystery

   A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.…

6. 
   #6 Notorious (1946) · ★ 7.7 · 1,801 votes · 1h 43m · thriller, romance, drama

   In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they beg…

7. 
   #7 Out of the Past (1947) · ★ 7.7 · 667 votes · 1h 37m · thriller, romance, crime

   The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.…

8. 
   #8 White Heat (1949) · ★ 7.7 · 561 votes · 1h 54m · thriller, drama, crime

   A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy t…

9. 
   #9 The Big Sleep (1946) · ★ 7.6 · 1,206 votes · 1h 54m · thriller, romance, drama

   Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees m…

10. 
    #10 Shadow of a Doubt (1943) · ★ 7.5 · 1,193 votes · 1h 48m · thriller, crime, mystery

    In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she be…

11. 
    #11 Gilda (1946) · ★ 7.5 · 679 votes · 1h 50m · thriller, romance, drama

    A gambler discovers an old flame while in Argentina, but she's married to his new boss.…

12. 
    #12 Key Largo (1948) · ★ 7.5 · 602 votes · 1h 40m · thriller, crime

    A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner…

13. 
    #13 Gaslight (1944) · ★ 7.5 · 590 votes · 1h 54m · thriller, drama, crime

    A newlywed fears she's going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.…

14. 
    #14 Spellbound (1945) · ★ 7.4 · 1,012 votes · 1h 51m · thriller, romance, drama

    When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an…

15. 
    #15 The Lady from Shanghai (1947) · ★ 7.3 · 744 votes · 1h 27m · thriller, drama, crime

    A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.…

16. 
    #16 The Stranger (1946) · ★ 7.2 · 661 votes · 1h 35m · thriller, crime

    An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor enga…

17. 
    #17 Suspicion (1941) · ★ 7.1 · 929 votes · 1h 39m · thriller, romance, mystery

    A sheltered heiress falls for a charming playboy and elopes with him, but soon discovers his gambling vice and mounting debts. As his lies deepen and those around them meet mysteri…

18. 
    #18 Saboteur (1942) · ★ 6.9 · 564 votes · 1h 49m · thriller, mystery

    Aircraft factory worker Barry Kane flees across the United States after he is wrongly accused of starting the fire that killed his best friend.…

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