1940 in film

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The year 1940 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.
• February 20 - Tom and Jerry make their debut in the animated cartoon Puss Gets the Boot.
• 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 - The Great Dictator, a satiric social commentary film by and starring Charlie Chaplin, is released.
• November 13 - World premiere of Walt Disney's Fantasia, the first film to be released in a multichannel 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 lead to the development of a multichannel surround system.

Top grossing films

North America

1. Pinocchio (Disney/RKO)

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Rebecca - David O. Selznick, United Artists
• Best Actor: James Stewart - The Philadelphia Story
• Best Actress: Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle

Films released in 1940

• Abe Lincoln in Illinois
• All This and Heaven Too
• Arise, My Love
• The Bank Dick, written by and starring W.C. Fields
• The Biscuit Eater
• Boom Town
• Boys of the City
• Broadway Melody of 1940 starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell - final film of series
• East Side Kids
• Edison, the Man starring Spencer Tracy
• Fantasia
• Go West, starring the Marx Brothers
• Give Us Wings
• Gaslight, the original British version
• The Grapes of Wrath
• The Great Dictator, starring Charlie Chaplin
• Green Hell
• His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell
• The Howards of Virginia, starring Cary Grant and Martha Scott
• Junior G-Men
• Kitty Foyle
• My Favorite Wife
• Night Train to Munich
• Northwest Passage, starring Spencer Tracy
• One Million B.C.
• One Night in the Tropics, film debut of Abbott and Costello
• The Philadelphia Story
• Pinocchio
• Pride of the Bowery
• Pride and Prejudice, starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier
• Rebecca - starring Sir Laurence Olivier
• The Shop Around the Corner
• Strike Up the Band
• That Gang of Mine
• The Thief of Bagdad
• Vigil in the Night, starring Carole Lombard
• The Well-Digger's Daughter
• 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, starring Gordon Jones
• 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

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)
• Tom and Jerry (MGM) (1940-1958)

Births

• January 22 - Nyree Dawn Porter, English actress (d. 2001)
• May 24 - Gary Burghoff, American Actor
• July 7 - Ringo Starr, English drummer (The Beatles)
• July 13 - Patrick Stewart, English actor
• August 3 - Martin Sheen, American actor
• August 22 - Valerie Harper, American actress
• November 27 - Bruce Lee
• October 9 - John Lennon, English musician, songwriter and singer (The Beatles)
• November 5 - Elke Sommer, German actress
• December 21 - Frank Zappa, American musician, songwriter and singer

Deaths

• February 20 - George Periolat, actor
• May 25 - Joe De Grasse, pioneer Hollywood film director
• July 1 - Ben Turpin, comic actor
• October 10 - Berton Churchill, pioneer Hollywood actor
• December 5 - Wilfred Lucas, actor, screenwriter, director

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