Gregory Peck: Essential 1940s Movies

Gregory Peck’s film career began in the 1940s, an era that saw him star in some of his best movies. While he wouldn’t go on to star in the films that he’s best known for (that would occur in the 1950s and 1960s), his 1940s filmography is definitely not something to sleep on!

Below, we’ve ranked the 11 best 1940s Gregory Peck movies! Every single film here is highly enjoyable and definitely worth a watch!

The 11 Best 1940s Gregory Peck Movies, Ranked

11. The Macomber Affair (1947)

Genre: Adventure

Starring: Gregory Peck, Joan Bennett, Robert Preston, Reginald Denny

Directed by: Zoltan Korda

Up first, we’ve got 1947’s The Macomber Affair. This film follows a playboy (Preston) and his wife (Bennett) who go to Africa and hire a hunter (Peck) to help them on the hunting grounds. Things become rather tense when the wife openly becomes attracted to the hunter.

10. The Great Sinner (1949)

• Genre: Drama
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas, Walter Huston
• Directed by: Robert Siodmak

The Great Sinner is definitely one of the best 1940s Gregory Peck movies! Opposite Ava Gardner, he’s wonderful here as a young man who becomes infatuated with a woman — and then finds himself brought into a world of gambling addiction.

Related — The Top 10 Best Ava Gardner Movies of All Time

9. The Paradine Case (1947)

• Genre: Crime / Romance / Drama
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, Alida Valli
• Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

While not often considered one of the best Alfred Hitchcock films, The Paradine Case is still very entertaining to watch. Peck plays a married lawyer who falls in love with the woman he’s representing (Valli) — a woman charged with murdering her husband!

8. The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

Genre: War / Drama

Starring: Gregory Peck, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Rose Stradner

Directed by: John M. Stahl

The Keys of the Kingdom is definitely one of the best 1940s Gregory Peck movies! Peck’s wonderful performance in this excellent film earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. However, he lost out to Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend).

Peck plays a priest who goes to China to build a mission, though he faces many troubles and problems throughout. The story follows the priest throughout this life — and Peck is excellent in this role!

7. The Valley of Decision (1945)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Donald Crisp, Lionel Barrymore

Directed by: Tay Garnett

The Valley of Decision is a wonderful 40s drama starring Greer Garson and Gregory Peck as a pair of star-crossed lovers. Garson plays a maid who falls in love with her employer’s son. Their relationship becomes even more complicated when a strike erupts at a steel mill owned by the maid’s boss and son.

6. Duel in the Sun (1946)

Genre: Western / Romance / Drama

Starring: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Gregory Peck, Lionel Barrymore

Directed by: King Vidor

Duel in the Sun is definitely one of the best 1940s Gregory Peck movies. This western follows a half-Native American girl (Jones) who goes to live on a ranch — and subsequently finds herself torn between the rancher’s two very different sons (Cotten and Peck).

Related — Joseph Cotten: 13 Essential 1940s Movies

5. The Yearling (1946)

• Genre: Western / Drama
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman Jr., Chill Wills
• Directed by: Clarence Brown

The Yearling is such a beloved movie — and one of the best movies Gregory Peck made in the 1940s. In this western, Peck plays a Civil War veteran who lives with his wife (Wyman) and son on a farm. When the young boy befriends a deer, the family’s farm is threatened.

Peck’s wonderful performance here earned him his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor. However, he lost out to Fredric March (The Best Years of Our Lives) this year.

Related — Joseph Cotten: 13 Essential 1940s Movies

5. The Yearling (1946)

• Genre: Western / Drama
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman Jr., Chill Wills
• Directed by: Clarence Brown

The Yearling is such a beloved movie — and one of the best movies Gregory Peck made in the 1940s. In this western, Peck plays a Civil War veteran who lives with his wife (Wyman) and son on a farm. When the young boy befriends a deer, the family’s farm is threatened.

Peck’s wonderful performance here earned him his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor. However, he lost out to Fredric March (The Best Years of Our Lives) this year.

4. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

• Genre: Romance / Drama
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm
• Directed by: Elia Kazan

Gentleman’s Agreement is a riveting drama about a reporter (Peck) who pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story about anti-Semitism. Peck’s outstanding performance here earned him his third Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Ronald Colman (A Double Life) ended up winning this year, though.

3. Yellow Sky (1948)

• Genre: Western / Crime
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark, Robert Arthur
• Directed by: William A. Wellman

Yellow Sky is definitely one of the best Gregory Peck movies from the 1940s — and perhaps one of his very best westerns. This film follows a group of bandits (which includes Peck) who hide out in a ghost town. However, when they learn there could be gold nearby, chaos ensues.

2. Twelve O’Clock High (1949)

Genre: War / Drama

Starring: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell

Directed by: Henry King

Many people often consider Twelve O’Clock High to be one of the very best Gregory Peck movies of all time, not just one of the best he made in the 1940s. We can’t help but agree!

In Twelve O’Clock High, Peck plays the Brigadier General of an American Air Force unit stationed in England during World War II. While he could crack under pressure, he works with others to try to pull the entire unit together.

It’s a wonderful film. Peck’s phenomenal performance in this war film earned him his fourth Oscar nomination for Best Actor — though Broderick Crawford ended up winning for All the King’s Men.

1. Spellbound (1945)

Genre: Film Noir / Mystery / Romance

Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Spellbound is the best 1940s Gregory Peck movie. No question about it. This stunning Alfred Hitchcock mystery combined the talents of Peck and Bergman — so how could we not absolutely love it?

Spellbound follows a doctor (Peck) who heads to a new mental hospital to take the place of the outgoing hospital director. There, he meets a psychoanalyst (Bergman) — a woman who quickly discovers that he is not the man he says he is.

Believing him to be truthful and honest when he admits he doesn’t know why he’s acting like the doctor, the psychoanalyst works with him to unravel the mystery of the real doctor’s location — and falls in love with the mysterious man in the process.

Spellbound is a part of the Criterion Collection (spine #136), for those interested!

Related — The Top 10 Best Ingrid Bergman Movies of All Time

What’s Your Favorite 1940s Gregory Peck Movie?

Comment below your own favorite 1940s Gregory Peck movie! Do you agree with this list? Or do you wish some of his other films from this decade had made the cut? Hit the comments below with all of your thoughts and opinions! We’d love to hear them!