A review of the work in recent years is presented. The effects of the known physical state of the film on the optical properties, near and above the fundamental gap, and on the electrical transport properties are discussed. The transport parameters in films of II–VI compounds are largely dominated by crystalline defects. The intercrystalline barrier model is used to describe many of the observed transport properties. Mobilities limited by ionized impurity scattering have been observed in some films of CdS and CdSe. Scattering by polar optical modes possibly limits the mobilities of some illuminated CdS and CdSe films at high temperatures. Intrinsic-like behavior of the conductivity has been observed in compensated films of ZnS, CdO, and CdTe. The optical properties of II–VI films are affected to a lesser degree by impurities and crystalline defects, and bulklike behavior may be observed. The reflection and transmission spectra of most of the II–VI compounds, including films of sphalerite CdS, CdSe, and HgS (metastable phases), are discussed in relation to their band structure. The effect of strains on the optical spectra of CdTe films is briefly discussed.