Film year 1940

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Other events

Film year 1940
Alfred Hitchcock's feature film Rebecca has its world premiere.

Events

January 24 : John Ford's film The Fruits of Wrath, based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck, premieres in New York .

February 8 : The propaganda film Campaign in Poland premieres.

March 27 : Alfred Hitchcock's first Hollywood film, Rebecca, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in the leading roles, premieres in Los Angeles . It was received with enthusiasm by critics and audiences alike and was subsequently the only Hitchcock film to receive an Oscar for Best Picture.

October 15th : World premiere of The Great Dictator (Director: Charles Chaplin ).

Film awards

Academy Awards

This year's Academy Awards will take place on February 29th at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles . The moderator is Bob Hope .

Gone With the Wind Museum in Jonesboro , Georgia

Best film: Gone with the Wind by Victor Fleming
Best Actor: Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Best Actress: Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind
Best Director: Victor Fleming for Gone With the Wind
Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Mitchell in Ringo
Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel in Gone With The Wind
Best script based on a literary source: Sidney Howard for Gone with the Wind
Best camera: Ernest Haller for Gone with the Wind
Best song: Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen in The Magic Land
Honorary Oscar: Douglas Fairbanks sen.

Venice Film Festival

The Venice Film Festival took place from August 8th to September 1st. The jury selected the following films as award winners:

Best Foreign Film: The postmaster of Gustav Ucicky
Best Italian Film: L'assedio dell'Alcazar by Augusto Genina

New York Film Critics Circle Award

Best Film: The Fruits of Wrath, by John Ford
Best directed by John Ford for The Fruits of Wrath and The Long Road to Cardiff
Best Actor: Charles Chaplin in The Great Dictator
Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn in The Night Before the Wedding
Best Foreign Film: The Baker's Wife by Marcel Pagnol

Further film prizes and awards

Directors Guild of America Award : Marshall Neilan
National Board of Review : The Fruits of Wrath by John Ford (Best Film), The Baker's Wife by Marcel Pagnol (Best Foreign Language Film)

Birthdays

January to March

James Caan (born March 26)

January

0January 3: Thelma Schoonmaker , American film editor
0January 8: Sid Ganis , American producer and actor
January 12th: Matthias Habich , German actor
January 14th: Vonetta McGee , American actress
January 18: Nedjalko Jordanow , Bulgarian writer and screenwriter
January 19: John Siegfried Mehnert , German whistleblower and actor
January 19: Bernhard Sinkel , German director and screenwriter
January 20: Georges Poujouly , French actor
January 20: Jana Brejchová , Czech actress
January 22nd: John Hurt , British actor († 2017)
January 23: Joanna Miles , American actress
January 27: James Cromwell , American actor
January 28th: Helma Gautier , Austrian actress
January 29: Lionel Chetwynd , American screenwriter, producer and director
January 29th: Katharine Ross , American actress

February

0February 4: George A. Romero , American director († 2017)
0February 4: John Schuck , American actor
February 17: Christopher Newman , American sound engineer
February 21: Peter McEnery , British actor
February 24: James Sloyan , American actor
February 27: Bill Hunter , Australian actor († 2011)

March

0March 2: Ricardo Palacios , Spanish actor († 2015)
0March 5: Olivera Katarina , Serbian actress
0March 6th: Elke Haltaufderheide , German actress and producer
0March 8: Susan Clark , Canadian actress
March 10: Chuck Norris , American actor
March 13: Jacqueline Sassard , French actress
March 14th: Rita Tushingham , British actress
March 16: Bernardo Bertolucci , Italian director († 2018)
March 20: Mary Ellen Mark , American still photographer († 2015)
March 26: James Caan , American actor
March 27: Austin Pendleton , American actor
March 29: Godfrey Reggio , American director

April to June

Al Pacino (born April 25)

April

0April 4: Robby Müller , Dutch cameraman († 2018)
0April 7: Howard Ziehm , American director and producer
0April 8: Ingolf Gorges , German actor († 2008)
April 15: Robert Walker Jr. , American actor († 2019)
April 16: Günther Hörmann , German cameraman
April 19: José Luis Gómez , Spanish actor and director
April 20: James Gammon , American actor
April 21: Souleymane Cissé , African director
April 22: Marie-José Nat , French actress († 2019)
April 24: Michael Parks , American actor († 2017)
April 25: Al Pacino , American actor
April 30: Burt Young , American actor

May

0May 2: Jo Ann Pflug , American actress
0May 5th: Lasse Åberg , Swedish director and actor
0May 5: Lance Henriksen , American actor
0May 7th: John Irvin , British director
0May 9: James L. Brooks , American director and screenwriter
May 11: Shanna Prokhorenko , Ukrainian actress († 2011)
May 15: Lainie Kazan , American actress
May 17: Peter Gerety , American actor
May 22: Michael Sarrazin , Canadian actor († 2011)

June

0June 1: René Auberjonois , American actor († 2019)
0June 8th: Peter Gauhe , German cameraman
June 10: Helga Neuner , German actress
June 12: Amedeo Fago , Italian production designer and director
June 20: John Mahoney , British-American actor († 2018)
June 21: Mariette Hartley , American actress
June 22nd: Abbas Kiarostami , Iranian director and screenwriter († 2016)
June 22nd: Sissy Löwinger , Austrian actress and director († 2011)
June 24th: Vittorio Storaro , Italian cameraman
June 25: Peer Augustinski , German actor and speaker († 2014)
June 30th: Víctor Erice , Spanish director

July to September

Patrick Stewart (born July 13)

Martin Sheen (born August 3)

Brian De Palma (born September 11th)

July

0July 9: Manfred Jung , German opera singer († 2017)
July 10: Wilfried Pucher , German actor
July 13: Patrick Stewart , British actor
July 24: Dan Hedaya , American actor
July 27: Gary Kurtz , American producer († 2018)
July 29: Boschidar Petkow , Bulgarian composer († 2016)
July 30th: Nicolau Breyner , Portuguese actor, screenwriter and director († 2016)

August

0August 3: Martin Sheen , American actor
0August 5: Natalie Trundy , American actress
0August 6: Silvia Fenz , Austrian actor († 2016)
0August 8: Just Jaeckin , French director
August 10: Marie Versini , French actress
August 16: Bruce Beresford , Australian director
August 19: Jill St. John , American actress
August 22nd: Judy Nugent , American actress
August 23: Tony Bill , American director and producer
August 28: Ken Jenkins , American actor
August 28: Dyson Lovell , British actor and producer
August 31: Jack Thompson , Australian actor

September

0September 3rd: Pauline Collins , British actress
0September 3: Macha Méril , French actress
0September 5: Raquel Welch , American actress
0September 7th: Dario Argento , Italian director and screenwriter
September 11th: Brian De Palma , American director
September 15: Chris Menges , British cameraman
September 19: Karin Baal , German actress
September 22: Anna Karina , Danish-French actress († 2019)

October to December

Tilo Prückner (born October 26th)

Bruce Lee (born November 27)

Richard Pryor (born December 1)

October

0October 1st: Fredi M. Murer , Swiss director
0October 7: Raimund Harmstorf , German actor († 1998)
October 13: Klaus Lemke , German director and actor
October 16: Barry Corbin , American actor
October 17th: Marion Michael , German actress († 2007)
October 19: Michael Gambon , Irish actor
October 26: Tilo Prückner , German actor († 2020)
October 26th: Wolfgang Digit , German voice actor and actor
October 29th: Angela Douglas , British actress
October 30: Ed Lauter , American actor († 2013)

November

0November 1: Hellmuth Costard , German director († 2000)
0November 1: Beth Fowler , American actress
0November 4th: Marlène Jobert , French actress
0November 5th: Elke Sommer , German actress, singer and director
0November 6: Alice Arlen , American screenwriter († 2016)
0November 7: Dakin Matthews , American actor
November 15: Sam Waterston , American actor
November 20: Helma Sanders-Brahms , German director, screenwriter and producer († 2014)
November 22: Terry Gilliam , American director and actor
November 22nd: Andrzej Żuławski , Polish director, screenwriter and actor († 2016)
November 25: Angelika Meissner , German (child) actress († 2018)
November 27: Carin Braun , German director and actress († 1986)
November 27: Bruce Lee , American actor († 1973)

December

0December 1: Richard Pryor , American actor († 2005)
0December 4th: Richard Robbins , American composer († 2012)
0December 6th: Richard Edlund , American special effects artist
December 13th: Jutta Wachowiak , German actress
December 14: Klaus-Peter Thiele , German actor († 2011)
December 15: Barbara Valentin , Austrian actress († 2002)
December 17th: Michael Baier , German screenwriter († 2019)
December 17th: Anna Prucnal , Polish-French actress
December 18: Klaus Wennemann , German actor († 2000)

Day unknown

Carlos Álvarez-Nóvoa , Spanish actor († 2015)
Ravichandran , Indian actor, screenwriter and director

deceased

Ben Turpin († July 1)

Tom Mix († October 12)

January to June

January 18: Otto Rippert , German actor and director (* 1869)

March 10: John Monk Saunders , American screenwriter (* 1897)
March 12: Ralph Arthur Roberts , German actor (* 1884)
March 13: La Jana , German dancer and actress (* 1905)

0April 5: John Wray , American actor (* 1887)

May 25: Joseph De Grasse , Canadian actor and director (* 1873)
May 28: Walter Connolly , American actor (* 1887)

0June 7: James Hall , American actor (born 1900)
June 13: George Fitzmaurice , American director (* 1885)
June 19: Maurice Jaubert , French composer (* 1900)
June 20: Charley Chase , American actor (* 1893)
June 21: Ernst Dumcke , German actor (* 1887)

July to December

0July 1: Ben Turpin , American actor (* 1869)
0July 2: Guido Seeber , German cameraman (* 1879)

0August 1: Gus Meins , American director (* 1893)

September 25: Marguerite Clark , American actress (* 1883)

0October 2: John Maxwell , British producer (* 1877)
October 11: Charles Ogle , American actor (* 1865)
October 12: Tom Mix , American actor (* 1880)

0November 1: Willi Schur , German actor (* 1888)

0December 3: C. Henry Gordon , American actor (* 1883)
December 21: F. Scott Fitzgerald , American writer (* 1896)
December 25th: Agnes Ayres , American actress (* 1898)
December 26th: Daniel Frohman , American producer (* 1851)

Web links

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