Best Films – 1940

Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath
FILM
The Blue Bird
d: Walter Lang; scr: Ernest Pascal
The Grapes of Wrath
d: John Ford; scr: Nunnally Johnson
Kitty Foyle
d: Sam Wood; scr: Dalton Trumbo
The Letter
d: William Wyler; scr: Howard Koch
The Mark of Zorro
d: Rouben Mamoulian; scr: John Tainton Foote, Garrett Fort, Bess Meredyth
Pinocchio
d: Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen; scr: Ted Sears, Otto Englander and others
Pride and Prejudice
d: Robert Z. Leonard; scr: Aldous Huxley, Jane Murfin
Rebecca
d: Alfred Hitchcock; scr: Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison
Waterloo Bridge
d: Mervyn LeRoy; scr: S.N. Behrman, Hans Rameau, George Froeschel
 

Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday
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Busman’s Honeymoon / Haunted Honeymoon
d: Arthur B. Woods; scr: Monckton Hoffe, Angus MacPhail, Harold Goldman
His Girl Friday
d: Howard Hawks; scr: Charles Lederer
The Long Voyage Home
d: John [...]

Oscar Answers #1 & 2

Before looking at the answers, you may want to test your Oscar knowledge — or lack thereof — by checking out the Oscar Quiz first.
 
Oscar Answer No. 1
William Wyler (right). From Walter Brennan* to Barbra Streisand, Wyler directed 36 Oscar-nominated performances.
Elia Kazan comes in second place, with 24 nominations; George Cukor in third, with 21; and both Fred Zinnemann and Martin Scorsese in fourth, with 20.
* Following some serious "creative differences" with producer Samuel Goldwyn, Howard Hawks was replaced by William Wyler during the making of the 1936 family saga Come and Get It, for which Walter Brennan won the first ever best supporting actor Oscar. Both Wyler and Hawks shared directorial credit for the film.
 

Henry Fonda, Jane [...]

Major Oscar Comebacks

Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (top); Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond (bottom)

Below are the performers and directors who had a 20-year or longer gap between Academy Award nominations.
Unless otherwise noted, the nominations are for leading roles; years in bold means Oscar wins.

41 years between nominations
Henry Fonda (1940, The Grapes of Wrath — 1981, On Golden Pond)

38
Helen Hayes (1931-32, The Sin of Madelon Claudet — 1970, supporting, Airport)
Jack Palance (1953, supporting, Shane — 1991, supporting, City Slickers)
Alan Arkin (1968, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter — 2006, supporting, Little Miss Sunshine)

35
Ralph Richardson (1949, supporting, The Heiress — 1984, supporting, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes)

33
John [...]