Best Crime Movies of 1941

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigating a race-track murder.

A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.

A jewel thief and a con artist are rivals in the theft of a valuable gem as the Japanese army invades China.

Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work as power company linesmen. Hank is injured in an accident and subsequently promoted to foreman of the gang. Tensions start to show in the road crew as rivalry between Hank and Johnny increases.

In this low-budget thriller, Peter Lorre plays Janos Szabo, an immigrant from Hungary who is a skilled craftsman. After he's caught in a fire, his face is horribly scarred; his terrifying appearance makes it impossible for him to get a job. With nowhere else to turn, Janos begins working for the criminal underworld. Janos begins having second thoughts about his life of crime when he falls in love.

When the elderly woman sponsoring a treasure hunt is murdered on board her docked ship, Charlie Chan must deal with a treasure map in four pieces, the ghost of a hanged pirate, a talking parrot, a recalcitrant sea captain and several suspicious passengers - and a second murder.

In Rio de Janiero to arrest a nightclub singer on suspicion of a murder in Hawaii, Charlie Chan becomes involved with the Rio police in solving the singer's own murder.

A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find musical success.

A hunter happens upon a fugitive and his daughter living in a Georgia swamp. He falls in love with the girl and persuades the fugitive to return to town.

A Brooklyn pier racketeer bullies boat-owners into paying protection money but two fed-up fishermen decide to eliminate the gangster themselves rather than complain to the police.

A high-society gent has a secret life - he writes murder mysteries and hangs out with the police attempting to solve crimes. This causes him no end of problems when his wife wants to know about his little disappearances and exceptionally late nights out.

The evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the Spider to save the country.

A charming racketeer seduces the DA's stepdaughter for revenge, then falls in love.

Fast-talking con-man and grifter Candy Johnson rises to be the corrupt boss of Yellow Creek, but his wife's alcoholic father tries to set things right.

Having forsaken the detective business for the safer confines of personal insurance, Gay Laurence is compelled to return to his sleuthing ways. Along with sidekick Jonathan "Goldie" Locke, he agrees to look into a series of home party robberies that have victimized socialite Maxine Wood. The duo gets more than they bargained for when a murder is committed at Wood's home, but Lawrence still finds time to romance the damsel.

A jealous man frames his wife's suspected lover for murder.

Tom Logan is a railroad detective who takes it upon himself to halt the activities of his crooked brother Duke. Duke and his henchman have stolen an entire gold train, including the passengers......

A crusading newsman starts up a tabloid with a gangster as his 50-50 partner.

Michael Lanyard's faithful butler Jamison is mistaken for his boss by a gang of jewel robbers.

Third and final film in the 'Inspector Hornleigh’ series of comedy-thrillers. Inspector Hornleigh (Gordon Harker), disappointed at not being handed an important spy case, is assigned by Scotland Yard to an army barracks to investigate the mundane thefts of supplies from the stores. This accidentally leads Hornleigh and Sergeant Bingham (Alastair Sim) to a nest of fifth columnists when his dim-witted assistant carelessly talks to a girl in the cafeteria – and that night, news of Hornleigh and Bingham’s arrival is embarrassingly transmitted back to Germany.

After his doctor informs him he will die in six months, Professor Henry Todhunter decides to spend his last days killing someone who contributes nothing but harm to society. When Henry learns that his friend Betty's husband, Michael, has been painting forgeries of ancient paintings for gallery owner Ketti Moret, he investigates the fraudulent dealer's life. Judging that Ketti is truly evil, Henry prepares to murder her.

An undercover cop finds himself on the wrong side of the law when the mob discovers his true identity.

Private eye Mike Shayne encounters a large amount of trouble while attempting to guard a murder witness.

When a murder occurs on an ocean liner docked in New York, the trail leads to Coney Island and a spy ring.

In this classic Edgar Allan Poe story, a man commits a murder, but afterward the victim's beating heart torments the murderer's mind.

This MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short looks at the U.S. Department of Immigration's efforts to halt the smuggling of illegal aliens into the country. Desperate immigrants, tired of waiting for legal entry, pay exorbitant fees and risk a grisly death to enter by illegal means.

A murderous gang of counterfeiters has kidnapped the government's best engraver and is forcing him to print virtually undetectable phony money. The Secret Service's toughest agent, Jack Holt, and a female reporter go after the gang.

Dick Tracy goes up against a villain known as The Ghost, who can turn himself invisible.

A murder is committed during the auction of a valuable statue. The prime suspect is Boston Blackie, whose reputation for living on the edge of the law makes him an easy target for the police. When the body disappears, Blackie must find it to prove his innocence.

A young soldier uncovers a ring of spies when he investigates his brother's mysterious murder.

An assistant prosecutor and his spunky friend investigate a suddenly hot case.

In this crime drama, a ruthless gangster's son is soon following in his father's footsteps. When his daddy kills an FBI agent and a cabby, the boy sees it all. Fortunately the courts intervene and send the lad off to live with a family of farmers.

After a young woman is coerced into prostitution and her brother framed for murder by an organized crime syndicate, retribution in the form of an ape visits the mobsters.

In this MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short, a man and his racketeer buddies devise a scheme to bilk those already seemingly desperate for money of what little they have.

A young woman marries a man who turns out to be a bank robber.

The East Side Kids discover that one of their own, Danny, is torn between staying and school and becoming a boxer, and is getting mixed up with gangsters.

Robin Hoodish gangster in 1929 Chicago is an object of affection, kind to New York hood and bad to a bad crook.

George Sanders makes his final appearance as crook-turned-detective Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint," in The Saint in Palm Springs. The gimmick in this one is a set of rare stamps, smuggled from England. Wendy Barrie is the true heir to this treasure, and the Saint is engaged to protect her and the stamps. Our hero meets Barrie in a posh Palm Springs resort, where a gang of homicidal thieves have converged to relieve the girl of her inheritance. Three murders and one kidnapping attempt later, the villains are foiled by the Saint, with the aid of his onetime partner in crime Pearly Gates (Paul Guilfoyle). The Saint in Palm Springs is the sixth in RKO's series of films based on the character created by Leslie Charteris.

Sandy Vantine and her uncle, Paul Vantine, return from Europe with an antique cabinet purchased during their trip. Jim Moore, a reporter who had met Sandy and fallen for her during the voyage, suspects something odd about the cabinet. His suspicions are confirmed when people who have touched the cabinet mysteriously die. Jim and Sandy set out to solve the mystery before anyone else can become a victim.

Bucolic lawyer John Wayne takes on big-city corruption in A Man Betrayed. He sets out to prove that an above-suspicion politician (Edward Ellis) is actually a crook. The price of integrity is sweet in this instance, since Wayne happens to be in love with the politician's daughter (Frances Dee).

Why did the Governor want to resign?

The relatives of a rich old woman unsuccessfully try to have her declared insane, so they can divide up her money. To show them that there are no hard feelings, she invites them to her estate for the weekend so she can decide to whom she actually will leave her money when she dies. Soon, however, family members begin turning up dead.

A wise-cracking private detective's honeymoon is interrupted by a kidnapping case.

Night club singer Nelle Hill has many suitors an escaped convict, a piano player and a newspaper man. One is killed. With musical shorts such as “Murder in Swingtime,” “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “Symphony in Black,” and “Ain’t Misbehaving.”

Accused of killing her employer, financier Bjorn Faulkner, Kit is championed by wisecracking sailor-on-leave Steve Van Ruyle, who has a vested interest in the outcome of the trial.

A jailed cop befriends a mob chieftain and stages a breakout with him.

The college president, the head cheerleader and a gambling gangster try to keep a flunking football star in the game

A Chicago gang led by Slade carries out an audacious brokerage robbery. Lieutenant Bill Mason takes the case, continuing his friendly-enemy relationship with crime reporter Ann Rogers. One gang member is caught; eventually, others follow. But Mason hasn't a clue to Slade, principally because he's unaware she's a woman.