1940 in film

The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney films Pinocchio and Fantasia.

Events

• February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released, which is considered the greatest animated film of all time.
• February 10 - Tom and Jerry make their debut in the animated cartoon Puss Gets the Boot.
• March 21 - Alfred Hitchcock's first American film Rebecca is released, under the production of David O. Selznick. It would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture the following year.
• May 17 - My Favorite Wife is released.
• May - A reproduction of "America's First Movie Studio", Thomas Edison's Black Maria, is constructed.
• July 27 - Bugs Bunny makes his official debut in the animated cartoon A Wild Hare.
• October 15 - Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, a satirical comedy starring him, is released.
• November 13 - World premiere of Walt Disney's Fantasia, the first film to be released in a multi-channel sound format (see Fantasound). The film also marked the first use of the click track while recording the soundtrack, overdubbing of orchestral parts, simultaneous multitrack recording and is cited as a key chapter in the conception and development of the multi-channel surround system.
• December 5 - Release of The Thief of Bagdad, pioneering the use of chroma key effects.
• In the United Kingdom, the Crown Film Unit supersedes the GPO Film Unit in the production of documentary films.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)^[1]

At the time, box office numbers were reported as a percentage of business for each theater in comparison to 'normal' business. For example, Boom Town performed at 232% and Pinocchio at 130%. This is why exact dollar grosses for films are unreliable at best.

* After theatrical reissues

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Rebecca - David O. Selznick, United Artists
• Best Director: John Ford - The Grapes of Wrath
• Best Actor: James Stewart - The Philadelphia Story
• Best Actress: Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle
• Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan - The Westerner
• Best Supporting Actress: Jane Darwell - The Grapes of Wrath

Notable films released in 1940

U.S.A. unless stated

A

• Abe Lincoln in Illinois, starring Raymond Massey
• All This and Heaven Too, starring Bette Davis and Charles Boyer
• Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, and Fay Holden
• Angels Over Broadway, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Rita Hayworth
• Arise, My Love, starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland
• Arizona, starring Jean Arthur and William Holden

B

• Band Waggon, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring Arthur Askey - (GB)
• The Bank Dick, written by and starring W. C. Fields
• The Biscuit Eater
• Bismarck, starring Paul Hartmann - (Germany)
• Black Friday, starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi
• The Blue Bird, starring Shirley Temple
• Boom Town, starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr
• Boys of the City, starring the East Side Kids
• Brigham Young, starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell
• Broadway Melody of 1940, starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell - final film of series
• Brother Orchid, starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern, Humphrey Bogart

C

• Calling Philo Vance, starring James Stephenson
• Castle on the Hudson, directed by Anatole Litvak, starring John Garfield and Ann Sheridan
• The Catacombs (Katakomby), directed by Martin Frič - (Czechoslovakia)
• Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum, starring Sidney Toler
• Charlie Chan in Panama, starring Sidney Toler
• Christmas in July, directed by Preston Sturges
• A Chump at Oxford, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, featuring a young Peter Cushing
• City for Conquest, starring James Cagney
• Confucius - (China)
• Contraband, directed by Michael Powell, starring Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson - (GB)
• Convicted Woman, starring Rochelle Hudson and June Lang
• Convoy - directed by Pen Tennyson, starring Clive Brook, John Clements (UK)
• Crimes at the Dark House, directed by George King, starring Tod Slaughter - (GB)

D

• Dance, Girl, Dance, starring Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball
• Dark Command, starring John Wayne
• Dead Man's Shoes, directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Leslie Banks - (GB)
• A Dispatch from Reuter's, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Dívka v modrém - (Czechoslovakia)
• Doomed to Die, starring Boris Karloff
• Down Argentine Way, starring Don Ameche, Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda
• Dr. Cyclops, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Albert Dekker
• Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, starring Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp

E

• East Side Kids, starring Leon Ames and the East Side Kids
• Edison, the Man, starring Spencer Tracy
• Ergens in Nederland (Somewhere in the Netherlands) - (Netherlands)
• Escape, starring Norma Shearer and Robert Taylor

F

• Fantasia, a Disney animated film
• The Fatal Hour, starred Boris Karloff
• Flowing Gold, starring John Garfield and Frances Farmer
• Foreign Correspondent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Joel McCrea
• Four Sons, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Don Ameche
• The Fox of Glenarvon, directed by Max W. Kimmich - (Germany)
• French Without Tears, starring Ray Milland - (GB)

G

• Gaslight, starring Anton Walbrook - (GB)
• The Ghost Breakers, starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard
• Girl in the News, starring Margaret Lockwood - (GB)
• Give Us Wings, starring the Dead End Kids
• Go West, starring the Marx Brothers
• The Grapes of Wrath, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda
• The Great Dictator, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin with Paulette Goddard and Jack Oakie
• The Great McGinty, starring Brian Donlevy
• Green Hell, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Joan Bennett

H

• Here Is the Point (Ahí está el detalle), starring Cantinflas - (Mexico)
• His Girl Friday, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
• Hoots Mon!, directed by Roy William Neill, starring Max Miller and Florence Desmond (Britain)
• The House of the Seven Gables, starring George Sanders
• The Howards of Virginia, starring Cary Grant and Martha Scott
• Hullabaloo, starring Frank Morgan

I-J

• I Love You Again, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
• The Invisible Man Returns, starring Cedric Hardwicke and Vincent Price
• The Invisible Woman, starring Virginia Bruce and John Barrymore
• It All Came True, starring Ann Sheridan, Jeffrey Lynn, Humphrey Bogart
• June Nights (Juninatten), starring Ingrid Bergman - (Sweden)

K-L

• King of the White Elephant (Prajao Changpeuk) - (Thailand)
• Kitty Foyle, starring Ginger Rogers
• Lady with Red Hair, starring Miriam Hopkins
• The Letter, directed by William Wyler, starring Bette Davis
• Lillian Russell, starring Alice Faye and Henry Fonda
• The Long Voyage Home, starring John Wayne

M

• Maddalena, Zero for Conduct, directed by and starring Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• The Marines Fly High, starring Lucille Ball and Richard Dix
• The Mark of Zorro, starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell
• The Middle Watch, directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Jack Buchanan and Greta Gynt (Britain)
• The Minister's Girlfriends (Přítelkyně pana ministra) - (Czechoslovakia)
• The Mortal Storm, starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart
• The Mummy's Hand, starring Dick Foran
• My Favorite Wife, starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant
• My Little Chickadee, starring Mae West and W. C. Fields

N

• New Moon, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy
• Night Train to Munich, directed by Carol Reed, starring Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison - (GB)
• North West Mounted Police, starring Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Madeleine Carroll
• Northwest Passage, starring Spencer Tracy and Robert Young

O-P

• One Million B.C. (aka The Cave Dwellers), starring Carole Landis
• One Night in the Tropics, film debut of Abbott and Costello
• Our Town, starring William Holden and Martha Scott
• Pastor Hall, directed by Roy Boulting - (GB)
• The Philadelphia Story, directed by George Cukor, starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart
• Pinocchio
• Pride and Prejudice, starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier
• Primrose Path, starring Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrea
• The Proud Valley, starring Paul Robeson - (GB)

Q-R

• Queen of the Yukon, starring Charles Bickford
• Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier - Oscar for best picture
• Remember the Night, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray
• Rhythm on the River, starring Bing Crosby and Mary Martin
• Road to Singapore, starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope - first in the series

S

• Saps at Sea, starring Laurel and Hardy
• The Sea Hawk, starring Errol Flynn
• Seven Sinners, starring Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne
• The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart
• The Siege of the Alcazar (L'Assedio dell'Alcazar) - (Italy)
• Son of Ingagi, directed by Richard Kahn
• The Son of Monte Cristo, starring Louis Hayward and Joan Bennett
• Spring Parade, starring Deanna Durbin
• The Stars Look Down, directed by Carol Reed, starring Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood - (GB)
• The Stationmaster (Der postmeister) - (Germany)
• Strange Cargo, starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford
• Stranger on the Third Floor, starring Peter Lorre
• Strike Up the Band, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
• Swiss Family Robinson, starring Thomas Mitchell and Edna Best

T-V

• That Gang of Mine, starring the East Side Kids
• They Drive by Night, starring George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino
• They Knew What They Wanted, directed by Garson Kanin, starring Carole Lombard and Charles Laughton
• The Thief of Bagdad, starring Conrad Veidt and Sabu - (GB)
• 'Til We Meet Again, starring Merle Oberon and George Brent
• Too Many Girls, starring Lucille Ball
• Too Many Husbands, starring Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas
• Tørres Snørtevold - (Norway)
• Torrid Zone, starring James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien
• Turnabout, starring John Hubbard and Carole Landis
• Vigil in the Night, starring Carole Lombard
• Virginia City, starring Errol Flynn and Miriam Hopkins

W-Z

• Waterloo Bridge, starring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor
• The Well-Digger's Daughter (La Fille du puisatier), directed by Marcel Pagnol, starring Raimu and Fernandel - (France)
• The Westerner, starring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Dana Andrews, Forrest Tucker
• Where's That Fire?, starring Will Hay - (GB)
• Young People, starring Shirley Temple
• Young Tom Edison, starring Mickey Rooney
• You're Not So Tough, starring the Dead End Kids

Serials

• Adventures of Red Ryder, directed by William Witney and John English
• Deadwood Dick, directed by James W. Horne
• Drums of Fu Manchu, starring Henry Brandon and Robert Kellard, directed by William Witney and John English
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, starring Buster Crabbe
• The Green Archer, starring Victor Jory, directed by James W. Horne
• The Green Hornet, starring Warren Hull
• Junior G-Men, starring the Dead End Kids
• King of the Royal Mounted starring Allan Lane, directed by William Witney and John English
• Mysterious Doctor Satan, starring Eduardo Ciannelli, directed by William Witney and John English
• The Shadow, starring Victor Jory, directed by James W. Horne
• Terry and the Pirates, starring William Tracy, directed by James W. Horne
• Winners of the West, starring Dick Foran and Anne Nagel

Short film series

• Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Charley Chase (1924-1940)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Animated short film series

• Krazy Kat (1925-1940)
• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• Donald Duck (1937–1956)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Walter Lantz Cartunes (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938–1942)
• Goofy (1939–1955)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
  • Knock Knock! (first appearance of Woody Woodpecker)
• Tom and Jerry (1940-1958)
  • Puss Gets the Boot

Births

• January 22 - John Hurt, English actor (d. 2017)
• January 27 - James Cromwell, American actor
• January 29 - Katharine Ross, American actress
• February 4 - George A. Romero, American director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2017)
• February 12 - Ralph Bates, English actor (d. 1991)
• February 23 - Peter Fonda, American actor
• February 27 - Bill Hunter, Australian actor (died 2011)
• March 9 - Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (died 1994)
• March 10 - Chuck Norris, American actor and martial artist
• March 26 - James Caan, American actor
• April 17 - Billy Fury, English singer and actor (died 1983)
• April 25 - Al Pacino, American actor
• April 30 - Burt Young, American actor
• May 5 - Lance Henriksen, American actor
• May 15 - Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
• May 17 - Valie Export, Austrian director
• June 1 - René Auberjonois, American actor
• June 20 - John Mahoney, English-born American actor (d. 2018)
• June 22 - Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian director (died 2016)
• June 23 - Adam Faith, English actor and singer (died 2003)
• July 4 - Karolyn Grimes, American actress
• July 7 - Ringo Starr, English drummer (The Beatles)
• July 13 - Patrick Stewart, English actor
• July 18 - James Brolin, American actor
• July 24 - Dan Hedaya, American actor
• August 3 - Martin Sheen, American actor
• August 19 - Jill St. John, American actress
• August 27 - Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (died 1994)
• August 31 - Jack Thompson, Australian actor
• September 5 - Raquel Welch, American actress
• September 11 - Brian De Palma, American director, producer and screenwriter
• October 9 - John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and musician (The Beatles) (shot to death 1980)
• October 14 - Cliff Richard, English singer and actor
• October 19 - Michael Gambon, Irish-born British actor
• November 5 - Elke Sommer, German actress
• November 13 - Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Austrian experimental filmmaker (died 1969)
• November 15 - Sam Waterston, American actor
• November 20 - Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director (died 2014)
• November 27 - Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and actor (died 1973)
• December 1 - Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (died 2005)
• December 13 - Volli Käro, Estonian actor

Deaths

• January 4 - Flora Finch, 72, American actress, A Cure for Pokeritis, The Cat and the Canary, Quality Street, Her Crowning Glory
• February 20 - George Periolat, 66, American actor, The Mark of Zorro, One Rainy Afternoon, Morning Glory, What Price Hollywood?
• March 5 - Maxine Elliott, 66, American actress, Fighting Odds
• April 9 - Mrs. Patrick Campbell, 75, English actress, Riptide, One More River
• April 11 - Hemmo Kallio, 77, Finnish actor, Anna Liisa
• May 25 - Joe De Grasse, 67, Canadian-born American film director, Heart o' the Hills, The Scarlet Car, The Girl of the Night
• July 1 - Ben Turpin, 70, American actor, Saps at Sea, Mr. Flip, A Clever Dummy
• July 15 - Donald Calthrop, 52, English actor, Scrooge, Blackmail, Murder!, Major Barbara
• September 25 - Marguerite Clark, 57, American actress, Scrambled Wives, Easy to Get, All of a Sudden Peggy, A Girl Named Mary
• October 10 - Berton Churchill, 63, Canadian actor, Stagecoach, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, In Old Chicago, Heroes for Sale
• October 12 - Tom Mix, 60, American actor, The Miracle Rider, Riders of the Purple Sage, Sky High
• December 13 - Wilfred Lucas, 69, Canadian-born American actor, screenwriter, director, Modern Times, A Chump at Oxford, The Girl and Her Trust

Debuts

• Jack Albertson - Strike up the Band
• Dana Andrews - Lucky Cisco Kid
• Anne Baxter - 20 Mule Team
• Hugh Griffith - Night Train to Munich
• Van Johnson - Too Many Girls
• Arthur Kennedy - City for Conquest
• Karl Malden - They Knew What They Wanted
• Terry Moore - Maryland
• Robert Ryan - The Ghost Breakers
• Gene Tierney - The Return of Frank James
• David Tomlinson - Garrison Follies
• Forrest Tucker - The Westerner
• Gig Young - Misbehaving Husbands

References