FAVORITE FILM BY YEAR
The 1940s are, I believe, the decade where I've seen the least amount of films. Or at least the amount I remember. Bad me. Top ten lists will eventually follow. 

1940 The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch)
runner up: His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)

1941 Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
runner up: The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)

1942 The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
runner up: Now Voyager (Irving Rapper)

1943 Casablanca (Richard Curtiz)
Runner up: Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock) 

1944 Meet Me In St Louis (Vincent Minnelli)
runner up: The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Preston Sturges)  

1945 Mildred Pierce (Richard Curtiz)
runner up:  Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock)

1946 The Best Year of Our Lives (William Wyler)
runner up: Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock). For a long while it was my favorite Hitchcock. I haven't seen it in 20 years so memories are super fuzzy.

1947 Black Narcissus (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
runner up: Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton) 

1948 Red River (Howard Hawks)
runner up: The Search (Fred Zinneman) 

1949 The Bicycle Thief (Vittoria deSica)
runner up: The Heiress (William Wyler)