13th Academy Awards (1940)
by Erinaceus | created - 23 Dec 2015 | updated - 23 Dec 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Rebecca (1940)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 146,683 | Gross: $4.36M
Winner - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Director for Alfred Hitchcock Nominated - Best Actor for Laurence Olivier Nominated - Best Actress for Joan Fontaine Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Judith Anderson Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison Nominated - Best Original Score for Franz Waxman Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Lyle Wheeler Winner - Best Cinematography, Black and White for George Barnes Nominated - Best Film Editing for Hal C. Kern Nominated - Best Special Effects
2. All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
Approved | 141 min | Drama, Romance
A duchess' irrational behavior toward her children's governess triggers tragic events that will change her family's lives forever.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Bette Davis, Charles Boyer, Jeffrey Lynn, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 5,384
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Barbara O'Neil Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Ernest Haller
3. Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Passed | 120 min | Action, Romance, Thriller
On the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders
Votes: 23,710 | Gross: $3.48M
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Albert Bassermann Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Alexander Golitzen Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Rudolph Maté Nominated - Best Special Effects
4. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Passed | 129 min | Drama
An Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 99,926 | Gross: $0.06M
Nominated - Outstanding Production Winner - Best Director for John Ford Nominated - Best Actor for Henry Fonda Winner - Best Supporting Actress for Jane Darwell Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Nunnally Johnson Nominated - Best Sound Recording for E. H. Hansen Nominated - Best Film Editing for Robert L. Simpson
5. The Great Dictator (1940)
G | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 237,304 | Gross: $0.29M
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Actor for Charlie Chaplin Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Jack Oakie Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Charlie Chaplin Nominated - Best Original Score for Meredith Willson
6. Kitty Foyle (1940)
Passed | 108 min | Drama, Romance
A hard-working white-collar girl from a middle-class family meets and falls in love with a young socialite, but she soon clashes with his family.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, James Craig, Eduardo Ciannelli
Votes: 4,053
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Director for Sam Wood Winner - Best Actress for Ginger Rogers Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Dalton Trumbo Nominated - Best Sound Recording for John Aalberg
7. The Letter (1940)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort
Votes: 14,593
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Director for William Wyler Nominated - Best Actress for Bette Davis Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for James Stephenson Nominated - Best Original Score for Max Steiner Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Gaetano Gaudio Nominated - Best Film Editing for Warren Low
8. The Long Voyage Home (1940)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, War
A merchant ship's crew tries to survive the loneliness of the sea and the coming of war.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Ward Bond
Votes: 4,923
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Dudley Nichols Nominated - Best Original Score for Richard Hageman Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Gregg Toland Nominated - Best Film Editing for Sherman Todd Nominated - Best Special Effects
9. Our Town (1940)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Family, Romance
Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: William Holden, Martha Scott, Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi
Votes: 2,971
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Actress for Martha Scott Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Thomas T. Moulton Nominated - Best Score for Aaron Copland Nominated - Best Original Score for Aaron Copland Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Lewis J. Rachmil
10. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 73,828
Nominated - Outstanding Production Nominated - Best Director for George Cukor Winner - Best Actor for James Stewart Nominated - Best Actress for Katharine Hepburn Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Ruth Hussey Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Donald Ogden Stewart
11. Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
Approved | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
Humble Abraham Lincoln gains the respect of his Illinois neighbors, growing in stature and respect until he is elected President in 1860 and departs for Washington.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon, Mary Howard
Votes: 2,060
Nominated - Best Actor for Raymond Massey Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for James Wong Howe
12. The Westerner (1940)
Passed | 100 min | Drama, Western
Judge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Doris Davenport, Fred Stone
Votes: 6,797
Winner - Best Supporting Actor for Walter Brennan Nominated - Best Story for Stuart N. Lake Nominated - Best Art Direction for James Basevi
13. They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
Approved | 96 min | Drama, Romance
While courting a young woman by mail, a rich farmer sends a photograph of his foreman instead of his own, which leads to complications when she accepts his marriage proposal.
Director: Garson Kanin | Stars: Carole Lombard, Charles Laughton, William Gargan, Harry Carey
Votes: 493
Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for William Gargan
14. Primrose Path (1940)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A young woman from a family of prostitutes falls in love with a hard-working man, but when he finds out the truth about her background, their romance becomes jeopardized.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea, Marjorie Rambeau, Henry Travers
Votes: 1,805
Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Marjorie Rambeau
15. The Great McGinty (1940)
Passed | 82 min | Comedy
Dan McGinty has great success in his chosen field of crooked politics, but he endangers it all in one crazy moment of honesty.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff, Allyn Joslyn
Votes: 4,410
Winner - Best Original Screenplay for Preston Sturges
16. Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
Approved | 103 min | Biography, Drama
True story of the doctor who considered it was not immoral to search for a drug that would cure syphillis.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp
Votes: 1,825
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Norman Burnside, Heinz Herald and John Huston
17. Angels Over Broadway (1940)
Passed | 79 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A cuckolded embezzler on the verge of suicide is helped by a tout, an alcoholic playwright, and a pick-up girl to reimburse the money with a gambling sting.
Directors: Ben Hecht, Lee Garmes | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell, John Qualen
Votes: 1,336
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Ben Hecht
18. Arise, My Love (1940)
Passed | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, Dennis O'Keefe, Walter Abel
Votes: 1,037
Winner - Best Story for Benjamin Glazer and John S. Toldy Nominated - Best Score for Victor Young Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Hans Dreier and Robert Usher Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Charles B. Lang, Jr.
19. Edison, the Man (1940)
Passed | 107 min | Biography, Drama
82 year old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty year career of scientific achievement.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Rita Johnson, Lynne Overman, Charles Coburn
Votes: 1,778
Nominated - Best Story for Hugo Butler and Dore Schary
20. My Favorite Wife (1940)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Romance
Missing for seven years and presumed dead, a woman returns home on the day of her husband's second marriage.
Director: Garson Kanin | Stars: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Gail Patrick
Votes: 11,511
Nominated - Best Story for Leo McCarey, Samuel Spewack and Bella Spewack Nominated - Best Original Score for Roy Webb Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk
21. Comrade X (1940)
Passed | 104 min | Comedy, Romance
An American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.
Director: King Vidor | Stars: Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, Oscar Homolka, Felix Bressart
Votes: 1,833
Nominated - Best Story for Walter Reisch
22. Strike Up the Band (1940)
Passed | 120 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A high-school boy wants to become a professional musician, and his gal pal wants to become his best girl. They work together staging big-band shows with fellow classmates in the hopes of hitting it big.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Paul Whiteman, June Preisser
Votes: 1,940
Winner - Best Sound Recording for Douglas Shearer Nominated - Best Score for Georgie Stoll and Roger Edens Nominated - Best Original Song for "Our Love Affair"
23. Too Many Husbands (1940)
Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Romance
Long-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas, Harry Davenport
Votes: 1,697
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for John Livadary
24. The Howards of Virginia (1940)
Approved | 116 min | Drama, History, War
Just prior to the American War of Independence, aristocratic Virginian Jane Peyton marries unsophisticated rustic farmer and surveyor Matt Howard who takes her to his Shenandoah Valley plantation and later goes to war.
Director: Frank Lloyd | Stars: Cary Grant, Martha Scott, Cedric Hardwicke, Alan Marshal
Votes: 1,263
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Jack Whitney Nominated - Best Original Score for Richard Hageman
25. Captain Caution (1940)
Passed | 86 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
When her father dies, a young woman helps a young man take command of the ship to fight the British during the war of 1812.
Director: Richard Wallace | Stars: Victor Mature, Louise Platt, Leo Carrillo, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 351
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Elmer A. Raguse
26. North West Mounted Police (1940)
Passed | 126 min | Drama, Romance, Western
In 1885, a Texas Ranger travels to Canada to arrest a trapper who's wanted for murder and who's stirring up the Natives in a rebellion against the Canadian government.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster
Votes: 1,831
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Loren L. Ryder Nominated - Best Original Score for Victor Young Nominated - Best Art Direction, Color for Hans Dreier and Roland Anderson Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Victor Milner and W. Howard Greene Winner - Best Film Editing for Anne Bauchens
27. Behind the News (1940)
75 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
It's Jeff Flavin's first day on the job as a cub reporter for the Enquirer. The boss, Archer, places him with lazy reporter Stu Woodrow. Stu detests cubs and treats Jeff badly. Jeff saves a... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Santley | Stars: Lloyd Nolan, Doris Davenport, Frank Albertson, Robert Armstrong
Votes: 90
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Charles L. Lootens
28. Spring Parade (1940)
Approved | 89 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A Hungarian woman whose fortune predicts that she will marry may find it coming true when she meets an army drummer.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, Mischa Auer, Henry Stephenson
Votes: 382
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Bernard B. Brown Nominated - Best Score for Charles Previn Nominated - Best Original Song for "Waltzing in the Clouds" Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Joseph Valentine
29. The Sea Hawk (1940)
Approved | 127 min | Action, Adventure, History
Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp
Votes: 10,731
Nominated - Best Sound Recording for Nathan Levinson Nominated - Best Score for Erich Wolfgang Korngold Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Anton Grot Nominated - Best Special Effects
30. Quicker'n a Wink (1940)
Approved | 10 min | Documentary, Short, Comedy
In this Pete Smith Specialty, Dr. Harold E. Edgerton demonstrates stroboscopic photography, which he helped develop. This process allows us to see in slow motion what happens during events ... See full summary »
Director: George Sidney | Stars: Harold E. Edgerton, Clarence Curtis, Tex Harris, Charles Lacey
Votes: 379
Winner - Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel
31. London Can Take It! (1940)
Approved | 9 min | Documentary, War, Short
A tribute to the courage and resiliency of Britons during the darkest days of the London Blitz.
Directors: Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt | Stars: Quentin Reynolds, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Votes: 710
Nominated - Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel
32. More About Nostradamus (1941)
Approved | 11 min | Short, Biography, War
This short starts with a short biography of Nostradamus and highlights some of his prophecies that came true in his own day (e.g., telling a young priest that many years later he would ... See full summary »
Director: David Miller | Stars: John Burton, Hans Conried, Jimmy Dime, John George
Votes: 182
Nominated - Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel
33. Siege (1940)
10 min | Documentary, Short, History
A short film which documents the siege of Warsaw at the beginning of World War II.
Director: Julien Bryan | Star: Julien Bryan
Votes: 257
Nominated - Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel
34. Teddy the Rough Rider (1940)
Approved | 19 min | Short, Biography, Drama
In a series of short scenes, key periods in Theodore Roosevelt's political life are dramatized beginning in 1895 with his time as New York City police commissioner and later as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Vice President and President.
Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Sidney Blackmer, Pierre Watkin, Theodore von Eltz, Arthur Loft
Votes: 274
Winner - Best Live Action Short Film, Two-Reel
35. Eyes of the Navy (1940)
Approved | 20 min | Documentary, Short
Produced in cooperation with the United States Navy, the film follows naval aviators through their basic training in Pensacola, Florida and advanced training at San Diego, California.
Stars: James Conaty, Warren McCollum, Charles Middleton, Russell Wade
Votes: 222
Nominated - Best Live Action Short Film, Two-Reel
36. Service with the Colors (1940)
Approved | 21 min | Drama, Short
This drama is "dedicated to the soldiers of the United States Army." Men with diverse backgrounds enlist in the army and are all assigned to the same post. Some adapt easily to army life, while others have trouble making the adjustment.
Director: B. Reeves Eason | Stars: Robert Armstrong, William Lundigan, Henry O'Neill, William T. Orr
Votes: 198
Nominated - Best Live Action Short Film, Two-Reel
37. The Milky Way (1940)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
The Three Little Kittens tie helium balloons to a basket and travel up to the Milky Way, which is filled with all the milk they can drink.
Director: Rudolf Ising | Stars: Geneva Hall, Jeanne Dunne, Bernice Hansen, The Rhythmettes
Votes: 852
Winner - Best Animated Short Film
38. Puss Gets the Boot (1940)
Approved | 9 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Tom (Jasper) gets told that if he breaks one more thing he is getting thrown out, so Jerry (Jinx) tries his best to make Jasper "Get the Boot".
Directors: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna | Stars: William Hanna, Harry Lang, Bob Laztny, Lillian Randolph
Votes: 2,399
Nominated - Best Animated Short Film
39. A Wild Hare (1940)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
While hunting rabbits, Elmer Fudd comes across Bugs Bunny, who tricks and harasses the hunter.
Director: Tex Avery | Stars: Mel Blanc, Arthur Q. Bryan
Votes: 1,869
Nominated - Best Animated Short Film
40. Tin Pan Alley (1940)
Approved | 94 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Songwriters Calhoun and Harrigan get Katie and Lily Blane to introduce a new one. Lily goes to England, and Katy joins her after the boys give a new song to Nora Bayes. All are reunited when the boys, now in the army, show up in England.
Director: Walter Lang | Stars: Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Jack Oakie, John Payne
Votes: 564
Winner - Best Score for Alfred Newman
41. Irene (1940)
Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Musical, Mystery
Sent by her employers on an errand to the home of the wealthy Mrs. Vincent, Irene O'Dare meets Don, a friend of Mrs. Vincent's son Bob. Attracted to Irene, Don decides to invest some money ... See full summary »
Director: Herbert Wilcox | Stars: Anna Neagle, Ray Milland, Roland Young, Alan Marshal
Votes: 780
Nominated - Best Score for Anthony Collins
42. Hit Parade of 1941 (1940)
Approved | 88 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A small radio station is saved of getting bankrupt by a backer, who invests money for a TV equipment, if the owner allows, that his dancing daughter Annabelle can dance and sing on the ... See full summary »
Director: John H. Auer | Stars: Kenny Baker, Frances Langford, Hugh Herbert, Mary Boland
Votes: 96
Nominated - Best Score for Cy Feuer Nominated - Best Original Score for "Who Am I?"
43. Second Chorus (1940)
Passed | 84 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
When perennial college students Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are forced to make it on their own, the competitive pair get jobs with Artie Shaw's band and reunite with ex-manager Ellen Miller.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw, Charles Butterworth
Votes: 1,760
Nominated - Best Score for Artie Shaw Nominated - Best Original Song for "Love of My Life"
44. Pinocchio (1940)
G | 88 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
Directors: Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Mel Blanc, Don Brodie
Votes: 159,814 | Gross: $84.25M
Winner - Best Original Score for Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith and Ned Washington Winner - Best Original Song for "When You Wish upon a Star"
45. The Fight for Life (1940)
Approved | 69 min | Drama, History
An interne witnesses the death of a young mother in a maternity hospital delivery room. Disturbed that he might have overlooked something that could have prevented the death, he goes to a ... See full summary »
Director: Pare Lorentz | Stars: Myron McCormick, Storrs Haynes, Will Geer, Dudley Digges
Votes: 86
Nominated - Best Original Score for Louis Gruenberg
46. One Million B.C. (1940)
Passed | 80 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
Tale of Prehistoric survival and love between a male and a female belonging to opposing tribes that happened to be at slightly different stages of evolution.
Directors: Hal Roach Jr., Hal Roach | Stars: Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Lon Chaney Jr., Conrad Nagel
Votes: 1,683
Nominated - Best Original Score for Werner Heymann Nominated - Best Special Effects
47. The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Approved | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A young Spanish aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard
Votes: 10,977 | Gross: $4.36M
Nominated - Best Original Score for Alfred Newman
48. The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Not Rated | 106 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
After being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.
Directors: Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, Alexander Korda, Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies | Stars: Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez, John Justin
Votes: 14,496 | Gross: $0.27M
Nominated - Best Original Score for Miklos Rozsa Winner - Best Art Direction, Color for Vincent Korda Winner - Best Cinematography, Color for Georges Perinal Winner - Best Special Effects
49. The House of the Seven Gables (1940)
Approved | 89 min | Drama, Thriller
Based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this classic film follows a family feud between two brothers and an ancient curse that haunts them.
Director: Joe May | Stars: George Sanders, Margaret Lindsay, Vincent Price, Dick Foran
Votes: 1,516
Nominated - Best Original Score for Frank Skinner
50. Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Passed | 108 min | Drama, Romance, War
Myra and Roy meet and fall in love on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid. Their love will be one of the war's unspoken casualties.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor, Lucile Watson, Virginia Field
Votes: 10,926
Nominated - Best Original Score for Herbert Stothart Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Joseph Ruttenberg
51. Arizona (1940)
Passed | 125 min | Drama, Western
In Tucson of the 1860s, a pioneer woman struggles to succeed in the freight and cattle business while at risk at the hands of corrupt and violent local businessmen and rampaging Indians.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Jean Arthur, William Holden, Warren William, Porter Hall
Votes: 1,490
Nominated - Best Original Score for Victor Young Nominated - Best Art Direction for Lionel Banks and Robert Peterson
52. Dark Command (1940)
Approved | 94 min | Drama, Romance, War
In Kansas during the Civil War, opposing pro-Union and pro-Confederate camps clash and visiting Texan Bob Seton runs afoul of William Cantrell's Raiders.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Walter Pidgeon, Roy Rogers
Votes: 3,034
Nominated - Best Original Score for Victor Young Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for John Victor Mackay
53. Down Argentine Way (1940)
Approved | 89 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
An American girl on vacation in Argentina falls for a wealthy racehorse owner.
Director: Irving Cummings | Stars: Don Ameche, Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood
Votes: 1,364
Nominated - Best Original Song for "Down Argentine Way" Nominated - Best Art Direction, Color for Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Leon Shamroy and Ray Rennahan
54. You'll Find Out (1940)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
The manager of Kay Kyser's band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Kay Kyser, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
Votes: 1,451
Nominated - Best Original Song for "I'd Know You Anywhere"
55. Music in My Heart (1940)
Approved | 70 min | Musical, Romance
Rita Hayworth co-stars with famed recording artist Tony Martin in this musical comedy featuring the music of Andre Kostelanetz and his orchestra. Following various comic misunderstandings, ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Santley | Stars: Tony Martin, Rita Hayworth, Edith Fellows, Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra
Votes: 621
Nominated - Best Original Song for "It's a Blue World"
56. Rhythm on the River (1940)
92 min | Comedy, Musical
Popular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers meet at an inn, they fall in love and ... See full summary »
Director: Victor Schertzinger | Stars: Bing Crosby, Mary Martin, Basil Rathbone, Oscar Levant
Votes: 416
Nominated - Best Original Song for "Only Forever"
57. Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Approved | 118 min | Drama, Romance
The arrival of wealthy bachelors in town causes an uproar when families with single daughters aggressively seek engagements, including the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver
Votes: 9,221
Winner - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse
58. Lillian Russell (1940)
Passed | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life story of the musical star from her discovery in 1890 by bandleader Tony Pastor until her retirement in 1912, when she married newspaperman Alexander Moore.
Director: Irving Cummings | Stars: Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Edward Arnold
Votes: 580
Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright
59. My Son, My Son! (1940)
Passed | 116 min | Drama, Romance
A self-made success is determined to give his son the lavish upbringing he himself was denied. Not surprisingly, the son grows up to be spoiled rotten, causing grief and pain to everyone who loves him.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Madeleine Carroll, Brian Aherne, Louis Hayward, Laraine Day
Votes: 267
Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for John DuCasse Schulze
60. The Boys from Syracuse (1940)
Approved | 73 min | Comedy, Musical
The action takes place in Ephesus in ancient Asia Minor, and the story concerns the efforts of two boys from Syracuse, Anthipholus and his servant Dromio, to find their long-lost twins who,... See full summary »
Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: Allan Jones, Irene Hervey, Martha Raye, Joe Penner
Votes: 159
Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White for John DuCasse Schulze Nominated - Best Special Effects
61. Sis Hopkins (1941)
Not Rated | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
A young girl from the "sticks" comes to the city to live with her wealthy relatives. At first she is the objection of derision and made fun of because of her unsophisticated nature, but it ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Santley | Stars: Judy Canova, Bob Crosby, Charles Butterworth, Jerry Colonna
Votes: 157
Nominated - Best Art Direction, Black and White (withdrawn)
62. Bitter Sweet (1940)
Passed | 94 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A woman runs away with her music teacher in order to escape an arranged marriage, but they struggle to make ends meet.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, George Sanders, Ian Hunter
Votes: 563
Nominated - Best Art Direction, Color for Cedric Gibbons and John S. Detlie Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey
63. Boom Town (1940)
Passed | 119 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a ten-year period both love the same woman.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr
Votes: 3,780 | Gross: $9.17M
Nominated - Best Cinematography, Black and White for Harold Rosson Nominated - Best Special Effects
64. The Blue Bird (1940)
Approved | 88 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl, a woodchopper's children, are led by the Fairy Berylune on a magical trip through the past, present, and future to locate the Blue Bird of Happiness.
Director: Walter Lang | Stars: Shirley Temple, Spring Byington, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard
Votes: 1,976
Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Arthur C. Miller and Ray Rennahan Nominated - Best Special Effects
65. Northwest Passage (1940)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Langdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected.
Directors: King Vidor, Jack Conway, W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 3,903
Nominated - Best Cinematography, Color for Sidney Wagner and William V. Skall
66. Dr. Cyclops (1940)
Passed | 77 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
A mad scientist working in the South American jungle miniaturizes his colleagues when he feels his megalomania is threatened.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Charles Halton
Votes: 2,890
Nominated - Best Special Effects
67. Typhoon (1940)
Approved | 70 min | Adventure, Romance
Having been marooned on an isolated island as a child, Dea grows to adulthood without human contact, her only companion being the chimp "Koko." Years later, on a South Sea island, Skipper ... See full summary »
Director: Louis King | Stars: Dorothy Lamour, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, J. Carrol Naish
Votes: 145
Nominated - Best Special Effects
68. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Passed | 81 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect: gradual madness.
Director: Joe May | Stars: Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton
Votes: 5,289
Nominated - Best Special Effects
69. Women in War (1940)
Approved | 71 min | Drama, War
A "good-time girl", raised by her somewhat lax divorced father, finds herself involved in an accidental death, and the only way she's able to get out of it is to volunteer--albeit ... See full summary »
Director: John H. Auer | Stars: Elsie Janis, Wendy Barrie, Patric Knowles, Mae Clarke
Votes: 94
Nominated - Best Special Effects
70. Swiss Family Robinson (1940)
93 min | Adventure, Family
A family of Swiss origin living in London during the onslaught against Europe by Napolean seeks to leave and emigrate to Australia to nurture their values and raise their sons.
Director: Edward Ludwig | Stars: Thomas Mitchell, Edna Best, Freddie Bartholomew, Terry Kilburn
Votes: 830 | Gross: $1.94M
Nominated - Best Special Effects
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