Top five big screen hits of 1945

These are five hit films of 1945.

1 Brief Encounterwith Celia Johnson and Trevor HowardBritish romantic drama film, directed by David Lean, about a passionate extramarital affair in pre-World War Two England. The protagonist is Laura Johnson, a married woman with children, whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated following a chance meeting at a railway station with a married stranger with whom she subsequently falls in love, a doctor played by Howard.The film stars Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey. The screenplay is by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play Still Life.The soundtrack prominently features the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff with Eileen Joyce on piano.Available on stream services and DVD

2 Spellboundwith Ingrid Bergman and Gregory PeckAmerican film noir psychological mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.It tells the story of the new head of a mental asylum who turns out not to be what he claims.The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov and Leo G Carroll.Dr Constance Petersen is a psychoanalyst at Green Manors, a therapeutic community mental hospital in Vermont. The director of the hospital, Dr Murchison, is being forced into retirement. His replacement is Dr Anthony Edwardes, who turns out to be surprisingly young and not what he seems.Available on stream service and DVD

SpellboundSpellbound
Spellbound
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3 Leave her to Heavenwith Gene Tierney and Cornel WildeA writer falls in love with a young socialite and they’re soon married. But her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of them both, and everyone else around them.Available on stream services and DVD

Leave Her to HeavenLeave Her to Heaven
Leave Her to Heaven

4 The Lost Weekendwith Jane Wyman and Ray MillandAmerican film directed by Billy Wilder. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic - played by Ray Milland - is followed through a four-day drinking bout.Available on stream services and DVD

The Lost WeekendThe Lost Weekend
The Lost Weekend

5 Mildred PierceWith Joan CrawfordA mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter. Directed by Michael Curtiz and also starring Zachary Scott.Available on stream services and DVD

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