Best Fantasy Movies of 1949

A young woman, Jill Young, grew up on her father's ranch in Africa, raising a large gorilla named Joe from an infant. Years later, she brings him to Hollywood to become a star.

An elderly countess strikes a bargain with the devil and exchanges her soul for the ability to always win at cards. An army officer, who is also a fanatic about cards, murders her for the secret, then finds himself haunted by the woman's spirit.

After straight-arrow district attorney Joseph Foster says in frustration that he would sell his soul to bring down a local mob boss, a smooth-talking stranger named Nick Beal shows up with enough evidence to seal a conviction. When that success leads Foster to run for governor, Beal's unearthly hold on him turns the previously honest man corrupt, much to the displeasure of his wife and his steadfast minister.

A bump on the head sends Hank Martin, 1912 mechanic, to Arthurian Britain, 528 A.D., where he is befriended by Sir Sagramore le Desirous and gains power by judicious use of technology. He and Alisande, the King's niece, fall in love at first sight, which draws unwelcome attention from her fiancée Sir Lancelot; but worse trouble befalls when Hank meddles in the kingdom's politics.

The Tsimshian legend of a blind old medicine man and the origin of the distinctive white pattern on the neck of the loon.

Puce Moment is a short 6 minute film by Kenneth Anger, author of the Hollywood Babylon books, filmed in 1949. Puce Moment resulted from the unfinished short film Puce Women. The film opens with a camera watching 1920s style flapper gowns being taken off a dress rack. The dresses are removed and danced off the rack to music. (The original soundtrack was Verdi opera music; in the 1960s, Anger re-released the film with a new psychedelic folk-rock soundtrack performed by Jonathan Halper.) A long-lashed woman, Yvonne Marquis, dresses in the purple puce gown and walks to her vanity to apply perfume. She lies on a chaise lounge which then begins to move around the room and eventually out to a patio. Borzois appear and she prepares to take them for a walk.

In this fragile yet frightening poetic fantasy set against a dark industrial landscape, a woman sits knitting on the porch of her home when a man appears and takes the knitting from her.

A detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping.

An expedition tries to enlist Tarzan's help in finding the secret Blue Valley, which legend says is the location of a miraculous fountain of youth.

A Christmas Carol was a 1949 syndicated, black and white television special narrated by Vincent Price.

"Chases within chases. A mother runs after a child. A man … seems to be pursuing himself. A woman who has been nibbling her lipstick through half of the film is pursued by a man. The pursuit of art is represented by a painter daubing at a landscape in an empty frame." –TDOTS Scrambled Alice in Wonderland with brutiste track. Pierre Schaeffer (musique concrete) threatened to sue. –UbuWeb

This short film documentary features Shaw Desmond, founder of the International Institute for Psychical Research. Shaw relates several famous British hauntings.

Jungle adventure drama about a young man and his wild animal friends attempting to thwart a government-approved hunting expedition.

Mom and dad make sacrifices for the sake of their adult children. And then more sacrifices. And more.

A classic tale retold with Harryhausen's trademark animation.