1940 in film
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.
Events
Top grossing films (U.S.)
| Rank |
Title |
Studio |
Actors |
Gross |
| 1. |
Pinocchio* |
Disney/RKO |
Cliff Edwards |
$84,300,000*[1] |
| 2. |
Fantasia* |
Disney/RKO |
Deems Taylor |
$83,320,000*[2] |
| 3. |
Rebecca |
Selznick/United Artists |
Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine |
|
| 4. |
Boom Town |
MGM |
Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy |
|
| 5. |
Santa Fe Trail |
Warner Bros. |
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ronald Reagan |
|
| 6. |
The Philadelphia Story |
MGM |
Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart |
|
| 7. |
Strange Cargo |
MGM |
Clark Gable, Joan Crawford |
|
| 8. |
Virginia City |
Warner Bros. |
Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins |
|
| 9. |
Down Argentine Way |
20th Century Fox |
Betty Grable, Don Ameche |
|
| 10. |
Kitty Foyle |
RKO |
Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan |
|
| 11. |
The Sea Hawk |
Warner Bros. |
Errol Flynn |
|
| 12. |
The Grapes of Wrath |
20th Century Fox |
Henry Fonda |
|
| 13. |
Tin Pan Alley |
20th Century Fox |
Alice Faye, Betty Grable |
|
| 14. |
Waterloo Bridge |
MGM |
Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor |
|
| 15. |
Foreign Correspondent |
United Artists |
Joel McCrea, Laraine Day |
|
| 16. |
His Girl Friday |
Columbia |
Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell |
|
| 17. |
The Westerner |
United Artists |
Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan |
|
| 18. |
My Favorite Wife |
RKO |
Irene Dunne, Cary Grant |
|
| 19. |
Northwest Passage |
MGM |
Spencer Tracy, Robert Young |
|
| 20. |
Pride and Prejudice |
MGM |
Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier |
|
* After theatrical reissues
Academy Awards
Films released in 1940
U.S.A. unless stated
- 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
- Arizona
- Band Waggon, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring Arthur Askey - (U.K.)
- The Bank Dick, written by and starring W.C. Fields
- The Big Blockade, starring Leslie Banks, Michael Redgrave and Will Hay - (U.K.)
- The Biscuit Eater
- Black Friday
- The Blue Bird
- Boom Town, starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr
- Boys of the City
- Broadway Melody of 1940, starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell - final film of series
- Brother Orchid, starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern, Humphrey Bogart
- Castle on the Hudson, directed by Anatole Litvak, starring John Garfield and Ann Sheridan
- Charlie Chan in Panama
- A Chump at Oxford, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
- City for Conquest, starring James Cagney
- Confucius - (China)
- Contraband, directed by Michael Powell, starring Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson - U.K.)
- Dark Command, starring John Wayne
- 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, and Donald Crisp.
- East Side Kids
- Edison, the Man, starring Spencer Tracy
- Escape
- Fantasia
- The Fatal Hour, starred Boris Karloff
- Foreign Correspondent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Joel McCrea
- Four Sons, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Don Ameche
- French Without Tears, starring Ray Milland - (U.K.)
- Gaslight, starring Anton Walbrook - U.K.)
- The Ghost Breakers
- Girl in the News, starring Margaret Lockwood - (U.K.)
- Give Us Wings
- 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
- 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
- The House of the Seven Gables
- The Howards of Virginia, starring Cary Grant and Martha Scott
- I Love You Again
- The Invisible Man Returns
- The Invisible Woman
- June Nights (Juninatten), starring Ingrid Bergman - (Sweden)
- Kitty Foyle, starring Ginger Rogers
- Lady with Red Hair, starring Miriam Hopkins
- The Letter, starring Bette Davis
- The Long Voyage Home, starring John Wayne
- The Marines Fly High, starring Lucille Ball and Richard Dix
- The Mark of Zorro, starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell
- Mr. Bug Goes to Town
- The Mortal Storm, starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart
- The Mummy's Hand
- My Favorite Wife, starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant
- My Little Chickadee
- New Moon, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy
- Night Train to Munich, directed by Carol Reed, starring Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison - U.K.)
- North West Mounted Police
- Northwest Passage, starring Spencer Tracy
- One Million B.C., starring Carole Landis
- One Night in the Tropics, film debut of Abbott and Costello
- Our Town, starring William Holden and Martha Scott
- The Philadelphia Story, directed by George Cukor, starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart
- Pinocchio
- Pride and Prejudice, starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier
- The Proud Valley, starring Paul Robeson - U.K.)
- Queen of the Yukon
- 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 - The first in the series
- The Sea Hawk, starring Errol Flynn
- The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart
- The Son of Monte Cristo
- The Stars Look Down, directed by Carol Reed, starring Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood - U.K.)
- Strange Cargo, starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford
- Stranger on the Third Floor, starring Peter Lorre
- Strike Up the Band
- That Gang of Mine
- They Drive by Night, starring George Raft
- They Knew What They Wanted
- The Thief of Bagdad, starring Conrad Veidt and Sabu - U.K.)
- 'Til We Meet Again
- Too Many Husbands
- Torrid Zone
- Vigil in the Night, starring Carole Lombard
- Virginia City, starring Errol Flynn and Miriam Hopkins
- 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 and Walter Brennan
- Young People
- You're Not So Tough
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 Strikes Again!, 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
Animated short film series
Births
- January 10 - Walter Hill, American director, producer and screenwriter
- January 22 - John Hurt, English actor
- January 27 - James Cromwell, American actor
- February 27 - Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
- January 29 - Katharine Ross, American actress
- February 4 - George A. Romero, American director, producer and screenwriter
- February 12 - Ralph Bates, English actor (d. 1991)
- February 23 - Peter Fonda, American actor
- March 9 - Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1994)
- March 10 - Chuck Norris, American actor and martial artist
- March 26 - James Caan, American actor
- April 25 - Al Pacino, American actor
- May 5 - Lance Henriksen, American actor
- May 15 - Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
- June 1 - Rene Auberjonois, American actor
- June 20 - John Mahoney, English-born American actor
- July 7 - Ringo Starr, English drummer (The Beatles)
- July 13 - Patrick Stewart, English actor
- July 18 - James Brolin, American actor
- August 3 - Martin Sheen, American actor
- August 19 - Jill St. John, American actress
- 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) (d. 1980)
- October 19 - Michael Gambon, Irish-born British actor
- November 5 - Elke Sommer, German actress
- November 15 - Sam Waterston, American actor
- November 27 - Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and actor (d. 1973)
- December 1 - Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
Deaths
- February 20 - George Periolat, actor
- March 5 - Maxine Elliott, stage & film actress
- April 9 - Mrs Patrick Campbell, stage & film actress
- May 25 - Joe De Grasse, pioneer Hollywood film director
- July 1 - Ben Turpin, comic actor (b. 1869)
- September 25 - Marguerite Clark, stage & silent film star
- October 10 - Berton Churchill, pioneer Hollywood actor
- December 5 - Wilfred Lucas, actor, screenwriter, director
Debuts
References