1940 in film

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The year 1940 in film involved some significant events.
Contents[hide]
1 Events
2 Top grossing films
3 Academy Awards
4 Films released in 1940
5 Serials
6 Short film series
7 Animated short film series
8 Births
9 Deaths
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[edit] 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.

[edit] Top grossing films
North America
Pinocchio (Disney/RKO)

[edit] Academy Awards
Best Picture: Rebecca - David O. Selznick, United Artists
Best Actor: James Stewart - The Philadelphia Story
Best Actress: Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle

[edit] Films released in 1940
Abe Lincoln in Illinois
All This and Heaven Too
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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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

[edit] 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