All Films

Home Front

1940 • 11 min • Canada

This short documentary is part of the Canada Carries On series of morale-boosting wartime propaganda films. In Home Front, the various WWII-era social contributions of women are highlighted. From medicine to industrial labour to hospitality, education and domesticity, the service these women provided to their country is lauded.

Frankenstein

1940 • 30 min • United States of America

An amateur adaptation of Frankenstein.

Ministry of Food Cookery Hints No. 1: Oatmeal Porridge

1940 • 6 min • United Kingdom

How to make porridge using a haybox.

Utopia of Death

1940 • 10 min • United States of America

This short film focuses on the mysterious and legendary Seri Indians who live in a utopian colony off the west coast of Mexico.

Animated Cave Drawings of Chauvet and Lascaux

1940 • 2 min

Scans of Chauvet and Lascaux, ancient cave drawings discovered in France in the 1940's. Meant to be viewed under firelight, the flicker giving the illusion of movement.

Northward, Ho!

1940 • 10 min • United States of America

Behind-the-scenes promotional featurette to publicize the epic outdoor adventure Northwest Passage filmed on location in Idaho.

Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort South Carolina, May 1940

1940 • 42 min • United States of America

Field recordings of religious services in a South Carolina Gullah community. Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort South Carolina, May 1940 is a 1940 short documentary film which shows religious services taking place in a South Carolina Gullah community. In 2005, Commandment Keeper Church was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

A Rainy Day with the Bear Family

1940 • 7 min • United States of America

In this animated short featuring the Bear Family, Papa Bear attempts to fix a leaky roof during a rain storm.

Controls for Victory

1940 • 2 min • Canada

Shows the shortage of civilian goods during World War II and illustrates, using diagrams, how uncontrolled buying leads to inflation. Bidding for available goods causes prices to soar, with the mounting spiral finally ending in inflation. To avoid economic disaster, Canada's price ceiling was established.

'Taint Legal

1940 • 16 min • United States of America

Edgar Kennedy is over-joyed when told he has won a $5,000 prize in a "How To Be Happy Though Married" contest. A reporter interviews Edgar and his wife Vivien who tell him about their engagement and elopement. Then Viviens father tells them that according to a law he has found in a law-book, they aren't legally married. After a series of misadventures, they learn that the law is a new one and that the Kennedy marriage is legal.

One Hundred Crowded Years: The Centennial Film

1940 • 50 min • New Zealand

The coming of the pioneer settlers in 1840, the making of their first homes in the wilderness, the gold rushes, the Maori wars, the stage coaches, and the frontier towns. A panorama of New Zealand's history and scenery, its social and economic development from 1840 to 1940.

King for a Day

1940 • 7 min • United States of America

Gabby has a letter to deliver to the king of Lilliput; when he arrives, the king is in the bath and Gabby tries on the royal robe. The king emerges and gives Gabby a stern look; Gabby hands over the letter and leaves quickly. The letter, however, is ominous: "Please be at home today; I have orders to shoot you."

Siege

1940 • 10 min • United States of America

Siege is a 1940 documentary short about the Siege of Warsaw by the Wehrmacht at the start of World War II. It was shot by Julien Bryan, a Pennsylvanian photographer and cameraman who later established the International Film Foundation. Siege was nominated for an Oscar for Best One-reel Short at the 13th Academy Awards in 1941, and in 2006, it was named to the National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress as "a unique, horrifying record of the dreadful brutality of war."

A Sleepless Night

1940 • 11 min • United States of America

A family of mice who live inside of a wall are trying to sleep, but Mom mouse is being kept awake by a dog snoring in the room outside of their hole. She wakes up Pop mouse, and has him go out to try to stuff cotton in the dog's mouth. Later, Pop Mouse goes out again to find some food. He finds a large piece of cheese, but he encounters some problems in trying to bring back enough for anyone else to eat.

Porky's Hired Hand

1940 • 7 min • United States of America

Porky hires on Gregory Grunt to watch over his chicken coop to stop the fox from raiding it. He falls asleep, and the fox fills his bag. But Grunt wakes up and confronts the fox who then talks him into becoming his partner. As the fox is leaving, he locks himself into the incubator room by mistake. Porky hears the noise and comes running.

Honeymoon Deferred

1940 • 59 min • United States of America

Edmund Lowe plays an insurance investigator who interrupts his honeymoon to look into the case of a murder, which could also be a suicide, in which case his company won't have to pay the victim's contract. His wife, played by Margaret Lindsay, insists on following him around, not only to help him solve the case, but to make sure he doesn't get too friendly with any members of the opposite sex, either.

明朗五人男

1940 • 48 min • Japan

1940 Japanese movie

Night Descends on Treasure Island

1940 • 8 min • United States of America

A travelogue celebrating the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition and highlighting its exhibition of classical paintings and stunning lighting effects.

The March to the Führer

1940 • 44 min • Germany

During the colorful ceremonies of the Nuremberg rallies, Hitler Youth parade before their Fuehrer and are addressed by Nazi youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Rudolf Hess, and Hitler himself.

Hylin's Rakin

1940 • 1 min

Commercial for Hylins Rakin shaving cream where Lasse Krantz uses the shaving cream to get smooth skin and become more believable when he dresses up as a woman.

Young Veteran

1940 • 23 min • United Kingdom

The first months of WWII as experienced by the new young recruits - the 'young Berts' - of the British Army.

The Wildcat of Tucson

1940 • 59 min • United States of America

When his brother Dave is put in jail, Bill Hickok returns to help him. Dave has been charged with attempted murder when the other man drew first. Judge Barlow put him there and Bill gets the Judge to confess. Bill learns that Rance McKee is behind all the trouble and he forces the Judge into the decisions he wants. So Bill heads out by himself to face McKee in the showdown.

The Constable

1940 • 6 min • United States of America

Gabby is constable in the village, and the mayor is on his case to catch pig thieves.

Rodeo Dough

1940 • 10 min • United States of America

After a trip to Hollywood, two young ladies attempt to hitchhike home but end up at a star-filled rodeo.