Best Thriller Movies of 1946

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

A gambler discovers an old flame while in Argentina, but she's married to his new boss.

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.

Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.

On a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer.

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

In the midst of Nazi air raids, a postman dies on the operating table at a rural hospital. But was the death accidental?

After marrying her long lost love, a pianist finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.

For Miranda Wells, moving to New York to live in Dragonwyck Manor with her rich cousin, Nicholas, seems like a dream. However, the situation gradually becomes nightmarish. She observes Nicholas' troubled relationship with his tenant farmers, as well as with his daughter, to whom Miranda serves as governess. Her relationship with Nicholas intensifies after his wife dies, but his mental imbalance threatens any hope of happiness.

A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.

George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, he tries to track down his old identity, stumbling into a 3-year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.

Holmes and Watson board a passenger train bound from London to Edinburgh, to guard the Star of Rhodesia, an enormous diamond worth a fortune belonging to an elderly woman of wealth; but within the first hour of the trip, the woman's son is murdered and the diamond stolen and any of the passengers in their car could be the killer thief.

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, three strangers, Crystal Shackleford, married to a wealthy philanderer; Jerome Artbutny, an outwardly respectable judge; and Johnny West, a seedy sneak thief, make a pact before a small statue of the Chinese goddess of Destiny. The threesome agree to purchase a sweepstakes ticket and share whatever winnings might accrue.

London, 1761. St. Mary's of Bethlehem, a sinister madhouse, is visited by wealthy people who enjoy watching the patients confined there as if they were caged animals. Nell Bowen, one of the visitors, is horrified by the deplorable living conditions of the unfortunate inhabitants of this godforsaken place, better known as Bedlam.

Determined, independent Bridie Quilty comes of age in 1944 Ireland thinking all Englishmen are devils. Her desire to join the IRA meets no encouragement, but a German spy finds her easy to recruit. We next find her working in a pub near a British military prison, using her sex appeal in the service of the enemy. But chance puts a really vital secret into her hands, leading to a chase involving Bridie, a British officer who's fallen for her, a German agent unknown to them both, and the police...paralleled by Bridie's own internal conflicts.

A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purchasers of the boxes start to be murdered, Holmes and Watson investigate.

A falsely convicted man's wife, Catherine, and an alcoholic composer and pianist, Martin team up in an attempt to clear her husband of the murder of a blonde singer, who is Martin's wife.

Italian partisans help a professor sent by the OSS to find an atomic scientist held by Nazis.

A young Navy sailor has one night to find out why a woman was killed and he ended up with a bag of money after a drinking blackout.

After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant society wife, but becomes enraged whenever she asks about Michael, his mysterious long-lost brother.

Isaiah, a 19th-century businessman, has his eye on the beautiful and very young Jenny. Finally of age, she accepts his marriage proposal, but their love affair quickly turns sour. Ephraim, Isaiah's college-age son, comes for a visit, immediately striking up a chemistry with Jenny. She promises marriage -- if he murders his father first. But Jenny also swoons for John, the fiancé of her best friend, Meg.

Chuck Scott gets a job as chauffeur to tough guy Eddie Roman; but Chuck's involvement with Eddie's fearful wife becomes a nightmare.

After three men are convicted of bank robberies, Charlie becomes suspicious. After some investigation Charlie finds the men are innocent and that the fingerprint evidence used to convict them had been forged. Charlie then proceeds to find the true bank robbers.

When a troupe of showgirls with their impresario and press agent vacation at a Malibu Beach resort, two of them are garroted. Charlie takes on the case assisted by Number Two Son Jimmy and faithful chauffeur Birmingham Brown.

Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up

An unsuccessful sculptor saves a madman named "The Creeper" from drowning. Seeing an opportunity for revenge, he tricks the psycho into murdering his critics.

In this thriller, psychiatrist Dr. Cross kills his wife and expects to get away with murder, until he discovers that the slaying was observed by a next-door neighbor, Janet Stewart. As Janet attempts to convince her husband of the doctor's dastardly deed, Cross shows up to advise him that Janet is in dire need of some in-depth counseling.

The (O)ffice of (S)trategic (S)ervices' Cmdr. Brady (Patric Knowles) forms Operation "Applejack" (based on a composite of actual incidents during WWII) and sends Lt. (j.g.) Philip Masson, U.S.N.R. aka John Martin as spy Philippe Martine (Alan Ladd) along with Miss Ellen Rogers posing as her college roommate, Madame Elaine Duprez (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and Robert Bouchet, Tech Sgt., A.U.S. as Albert Bernardito (Richard Benedict) to acquire secret Nazi plans. After nearly getting caught they succeed and get new identities. However they discover a secret that could change the war and risk their lives to get the information back to London before it jeopardizes their lives. Martine and Duprez then get reassigned to assist fellow spy Frank Schmidt aka Parker (Richard Webb) embedded in the German army so he can relay important Nazi troop movements. Then she is discovered by an old foe, Col. Paul Meister (John Hoyt) but Martine must radio the vital information and misses her.

Slip gets fired from his job at a construction company for decking his boss. His sister, who got him a job at the company, is angry with him. Slip manages to get a job with the District Attorney serving warrants, as does Sach. Through his job, Slip finds out that all is not quite kosher at his old construction company, and that his sister may be in danger.

Maria Montez plays a Spanish dancer named Rita, who is determined to bring Nazi collaborator Colonel Jose Artiego (Preston Foster) to justice. Artiego is at presently working incognito, as military governor of the North African city of Tangier. Maria finds an unexpected ally in the form of Artiego's discarded mistress Dolores (Louise Allbritton).

In San Francisco's Chinatown, Charlie helps two different people search for their missing relatives and uncovers a murder for insurance scheme.

Neale and Pedro fly cargo between Chungking and Calcutta. When their buddy Bill is murdered they investigate. Neale meets Bill's fiancée Virginia and becomes suspicious of a deeper plot while also falling for her charms.

A female research scientist conducting experiments on a new anesthetic has a very bad week. Her scheming assistant intentionally scars her face, her almost-fiancee appears to have deserted her and she finds herself being blackmailed by a women she accidentally knocked down with her car. So what is one to do?

Marine veteran Johnny Christopher meets and is immediately drawn to beautiful Evelyn Smith one day on the beach. Evelyn's new job as secretary to a U.S. senator in California soon brings unexpected intrigue and trouble for her and Johnny. The machinations of a sinister group of Nazi spies lead to mysteries and mistaken identities, and the two soon find themselves framed for murder!

This drama is an updated version of Ulmer's 1944 film Bluebeard. It is set in New York and follows the exploits of an eccentric Parisian painter who has come to New York to escape a controversy surrounding his work. The trouble stems when the model he has used in all his work is found floating dead in the Seine.

A young girl goes to work as a live-in caretaker for a spooky old woman. She doesn't know that every night, the woman drains some blood from her to feed her strange plant.

British intelligence officers (Robert Newton, Guy Middleton) head off a Nazi plot to kidnap an atomic scientist.

A fugitive receives help from a victim's sister as he tries to clear his name of robbery and murder charges.

After marrying an archaeologist, a Victorian-era woman with a sordid past realizes that she is not ready to settle down with one man.

A fresh-faced young detective gets set up, framed for murder, and alibied by a smart blonde.

A criminal psychologist investigates the murder of a veteran with amnesia.

A stage illusionist plots a revenge after a particularly humiliating comeback attempt.

A mystery grows after a bank robbery car leads investigators to a carnival sideshow.

Ex-thief Lone Wolf and his valet don turbans to solve a museum jewel theft.

Eying a large inheritance, a reporter marries a rich woman with failing health. When she begins feeling healthy after the wedding, the reporter takes drastic measures to make sure his wife dies.

Ballet dancer Sanine may have murdered his first wife. A detective thinks so, and he's not the only one.

A veteran, Joe Hilton, returns from the war to find that his brother Jeffrey Hilton, a gangster, has been killed. His quest for revenge leads him to take over his brother's illegal operations but his sweetheart, Lynn Turner, persuades him to change his ways and return to the straight and narrow.

A demented archaeologist discovers a living, breathing serpent creature known to the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl and accidentally kills his wife by giving her one of the beast's feathers, causing the creature to track her down and slaughter her. Using this knowledge he exacts revenge upon his enemies by placing one of the feathers on his intended victim and letting the beast loose to wreak havoc.