1940 in film

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

Events

Academy Awards

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1940 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1940
RankTitleDistributorDomestic rentals
1 Boom Town MGM $3,664,000[2]
2 The Great Dictator United Artists $3,500,000[3]
3 Rebecca United Artists/Selznick International $3,000,000[4]
4 North West Mounted Police Paramount $2,750,000[5]
5 Strike Up the Band MGM $2,265,000[2]
6 Northwest Passage $2,169,000[2]
7 Andy Hardy Meets Debutante $1,945,000[2]
8 The Fighting 69th Warner Bros. $1,822,000[6]
9 Santa Fe Trail $1,748,000[6]
10 Kitty Foyle RKO $1,710,000[7][8]

Films by country/region

Notable films

Films produced in the United States unless stated otherwise

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

W

Y

1940 film releases

United States unless stated

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Serials

Short film series

Animated short film series

Births

Deaths

Debuts

References

  1. ↑ "The Thief of Bagdad (1940)". JPBox-Office. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ↑ Susan Sackett, The Hollywood Reporter Book of Box Office Hits Billboard Books, 1996 p 28
  4. ↑ Chapman, James (2018). Hitchcock and the Spy Film. ISBN 978-1-78076-844-1. Although his most successful films of the war years were Selznick pictures – Rebecca (with a domestic box office gross of $3 million) and Spellbound ($4.9 million), with Rebecca also winning the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1940 – Hitchcock seems on the whole to have preferred his other assignments where he evidently enjoyed greater creative freedom.
  5. ↑ "DeMille's Topper". Variety. 3 September 1941. p. 24.
  6. 1 2 Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 20 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  7. ↑ Jewell, Richard B. (1994). "RKO Film Grosses, 1929-1951: the C.J. Tevlin ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 14 (1): 37–49. doi:10.1080/01439689400260031.
  8. ↑ Jewell, Richard B. (1994). "Appendix 1". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 14 (S1): 1–11. doi:10.1080/01439689408604545.
  9. ↑ "Edison the Man (1940)". Classic Film Guide. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  10. ↑ Coveney, Michael (28 January 2017). "Sir John Hurt obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  11. ↑ Anderson, Tre'vell (July 16, 2017). "George A. Romero, 'Night of the Living Dead' creator, dies at 77". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Emilio Ernest Delgado, Born 05/08/1940 in California | CaliforniaBirthIndex.org". www.californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  13. ↑ Gates, Anita (February 6, 2018). "John Mahoney, Actor Best Known for 'Frasier,' Dies at 77". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Flora Finch, Star of Film Comedies". The New York Times. 5 January 1940. p. 23.