13th Academy Awards (2-27-41)

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The 13th Academy Awards honors the best in film for 1940. The ceremony (with comedian Bob Hope as the host as he was in last year’s ceremonies) will be held on February 27, at Biltmore Bowl, Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

The nominations are listed below:

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Outstanding Production

  • All This, and Heaven Too – Warner Bros.
  • Foreign Correspondent – Walter Wanger Productions and United Artists
  • The Grapes of Wrath – 20th Century Fox
  • The Great Dictator – Charlie Chaplin Productions and United Artists
  • Kitty Foyle – RKO Radio
  • The Letter – Warner Bros.
  • The Long Voyage Home – Argosy Films, Walter Wanger Productions, and United Artists
  • Our Town – Sol Lesser Productions and United Artists
  • The Philadelphia Story – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Rebecca – Selznick International and United Artists

Best Director

  • George Cukor – The Philadelphia Story
  • John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath
  • Alfred Hitchcock – Rebecca
  • Sam Wood – Kitty Foyle
  • William Wyler – The Letter

Best Actor

  • Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator
  • Henry Fonda – The Grapes of Wrath
  • Raymond Massey – Abe Lincoln in Illinois
  • Laurence Olivier – Rebecca
  • James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story

Best Actress

  • Bette Davis – The Letter
  • Joan Fontaine – Rebecca
  • Katharine Hepburn – The Philadelphia Story
  • Ginger Rogers – Kitty Foyle
  • Martha Scott – Our Town

Best Supporting Actor

  • Albert Bassermann – Foreign Correspondent
  • Walter Brennan – The Westerner
  • William Gargan – They Knew What They Wanted
  • Jack Oakie – The Great Dictator
  • James Stephenson – The Letter

Best Supporting Actress

  • Judith Anderson – Rebecca
  • Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath
  • Ruth Hussey – The Philadelphia Story
  • Barbara O’Neil – All This, and Heaven Too
  • Marjorie Rambeau – Primrose Path

Best Original Screenplay

  • Angels Over Broadway – Ben Hecht
  • Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet – Norman Burnstine, Heinz Herald, John Huston
  • Foreign Correspondent – Charles Bennett, Joan Harrison
  • The Great Dictator – Charlie Chaplin
  • The Great McGinty – Preston Sturges

Best Screenplay

  • The Grapes of Wrath – Nunnally Johnson, based on the novel by John Steinbeck
  • Kitty Foyle – Dalton Trumbo, based on the novel by Christopher Morley
  • The Long Voyage Home – Dudley Nichols, based on the plays The Moon of the Caribees, In the Zone, Bound East for Cardiff, and The Long Voyage Home by Eugene O’Neill
  • The Philadelphia Story – Donald Ogden Stewart, based on the play by Philip Barry
  • Rebecca – Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier

Best Original Story

  • Arise, My Love – Benjamin Glazer, John S. Toldy
  • Comrade X – Walter Reisch
  • Edison, the Man – Hugo Butler, Dore Schary
  • My Favorite Wife – Leo McCarey, Samuel Spewack, Bella Spewack
  • The Westerner – Stuart N. Lake

Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel

  • London Can Take It! – Warner Bros.
  • More About Nostradamus – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Quicker’n a Wink – Pete Smith and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Siege – RKO Radio

Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel

  • Eyes of the Navy – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Service with the Colors – Warner Bros.
  • Teddy, the Rough Rider – Warner Bros.

Best Short Subject – Cartoons

  • The Milky Way – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • Puss Gets the Boot – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  • A Wild Hare – Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros.

Best Original Score

  • Arizona – Victor Young
  • Dark Command – Victor Young
  • The Fight for Life – Louis Gruenberg
  • The Great Dictator – Meredith Willson
  • The House of the Seven Gables – Frank Skinner
  • The Howards of Virginia – Richard Hageman
  • The Letter – Max Steiner
  • The Long Voyage Home – Richard Hageman
  • The Mark of Zorro – Alfred Newman
  • My Favorite Wife – Roy Webb
  • North West Mounted Police – Victor Young
  • One Million B.C. – Werner R. Heymann
  • Our Town – Aaron Copland
  • Pinocchio – Leigh Harline, Paul Smith, Ned Washington
  • Rebecca – Franz Waxman
  • The Thief of Bagdad – Miklós Rózsa
  • Waterloo Bridge – Herbert Stothart

Best Scoring

  • Arise, My Love – Victor Young
  • Hit Parade of 1941 – Cy Feuer
  • Irene – Anthony Collins
  • Our Town – Aaron Copland
  • The Sea Hawk – Erich Wolfgang Korngold
  • Second Chorus – Artie Shaw
  • Spring Parade – Charles Previn
  • Strike Up the Band – Georgie Stoll, Roger Edens
  • Tin Pan Alley – Alfred Newman

Best Original Song

  • “Down Argentine Way” from Down Argentine Way – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon
  • “I’d Know You Anywhere” from You’ll Find Out – Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
  • “It’s a Blue World” from Music in My Heart – Music and Lyrics by Chet Forrest and Bob Wright
  • “Love of My Life” from Second Chorus – Music by Artie Shaw; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
  • “Only Forever” from Rhythm on the River – Music by James V. Monaco; Lyrics by Johnny Burke
  • “Our Love Affair” from Strike Up the Band – Music and Lyrics by Roger Edens and Arthur Freed
  • “Waltzing in the Clouds” from Spring Parade – Music by Robert Stolz; Lyrics by Gus Kahn
  • “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio – Music by Leigh Harline; Lyrics by Ned Washington
  • “Who Am I?” from Hit Parade of 1941 – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Walter Bullock

Best Sound Recording

  • Behind the News – Charles L. Lootens
  • Captain Caution – Elmer Raguse
  • The Grapes of Wrath – E. H. Hansen
  • The Howards of Virginia – Jack Whitney
  • Kitty Foyle – John O. Aalberg
  • North West Mounted Police – Loren L. Ryder
  • Our Town – Thomas T. Moulton
  • The Sea Hawk – Nathan Levinson
  • Spring Parade – Bernard B. Brown
  • Strike Up the Band – Douglas Shearer
  • Too Many Husbands – John P. Livadary

Best Art Direction, Black-and-White

  • Arise, My Love – Hans Dreier, Robert Usher
  • Arizona – Lionel Banks, Robert Peterson
  • The Boys from Syracuse – John Otterson
  • Dark Command – John Victor Mackay
  • Foreign Correspondent – Alexander Golitzen
  • Lillian Russell – Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright
  • My Favorite Wife – Van Nest Polglase, Mark-Lee Kirk
  • My Son, My Son! – John DuCasse Schulze
  • Pride and Prejudice – Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse
  • Our Town – Lewis J. Rachmil
  • Rebecca – Lyle R. Wheeler
  • The Sea Hawk – Anton Grot
  • The Westerner – James Basevi

Best Art Direction, Color

  • Bitter Sweet – Cedric Gibbons, John S. Detlie
  • Down Argentine Way – Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright
  • North West Mounted Police – Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson
  • The Thief of Bagdad – Vincent Korda

Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

  • Abe Lincoln in Illinois – James Wong Howe
  • All This, and Heaven Too – Ernest Haller
  • Arise, My Love – Charles Lang
  • Boom Town – Harold Rosson
  • Foreign Correspondent – Rudolph Maté
  • The Letter – Tony Gaudio
  • The Long Voyage Home – Gregg Toland
  • Rebecca – George Barnes
  • Spring Parade – Joseph Valentine
  • Waterloo Bridge – Joseph Ruttenberg

Best Cinematography, Color

  • Bitter Sweet – Oliver T. Marsh, Allen Davey
  • The Blue Bird – Arthur C. Miller, Ray Rennahan
  • Down Argentine Way – Leon Shamroy, Ray Rennahan
  • North West Mounted Police – Victor Milner, W. Howard Greene
  • Northwest Passage – Sidney Wagner, William V. Skall
  • The Thief of Bagdad – Georges Périnal

Best Film Editing

  • The Grapes of Wrath – Robert L. Simpson
  • The Letter – Warren Low
  • The Long Voyage Home – Sherman Todd
  • North West Mounted Police – Anne Bauchens
  • Rebecca – Hal C. Kern

Best Special Effects

  • The Blue Bird – Fred Sersen, Edmund H. Hansen
  • Boom Town – A. Arnold Gillespie, Douglas Shearer
  • The Boys from Syracuse – John P. Fulton, Bernard B. Brown, Joe Lapis
  • Dr. Cyclops – Farciot Edouart, Gordon Jennings
  • Foreign Correspondent – Paul Eagler, Thomas T. Moulton
  • The Invisible Man Returns – John P. Fulton, Bernard B. Brown, William Hedgcock
  • The Long Voyage Home – R. T. Layton, Ray Binger, Thomas T. Moulton
  • One Million B.C. – Roy Seawright, Elmer A. Raguse
  • Rebecca – Jack Cosgrove, Arthur Johns
  • The Sea Hawk – Byron Haskin, Nathan Levinson
  • Swiss Family Robinson – Vernon L. Walker, John O. Aalberg
  • The Thief of Bagdad – Lawrence W. Butler, Jack Whitney
  • Typhoon – Farciot Edouart, Gordon Jennings, Loren L. Ryder
  • Women in War – Howard J. Lydecker, William Bradford, Ellis J. Thackery, Herbert Norsch
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Reading Eagle (February 27, 1941)

AUDITING FIRM HOLDS SECRET OF 1940 MOVIE AWARD WINNERS

Hollywood, Feb. 27 (AP) –
The members of an auditing firm alone know now which actress and actor Hollywood considers 1940’s best.

But neither those two stars, nor any of their fellows, will know until late tonight who gets the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

They will be announced only seconds before presentation. And so Hollywood, for a change, is more or less breathlessly anticipating the event.

This 13th annual party will be different, the Academy assures one and all. Heretofore the element of surprise in the banquet hall has been confined to the salad (Tomato surprise, which looks like tomato salad, is a must at these dinners).

For 12 years, the names of the winners have been officially whispered early in the evening, to tip off the winners so they’d be present.

Not all of the nominees will be present tonight. Joan Fontaine, nominated for Rebecca, practically conceded victory to any of the other four girls when she said that because she is working very hard she will go to bed early tonight.

Bette Davis, named for The Letter, Ginger Rogers, for Kitty Foyle, and Martha Scott, for Our Town, will be among the diners. Katharine Hepburn, chosen because of her work in The Philadelphia Story, is in the East.

Two of the five men nominated will not be present. Laurence Olivier (Rebecca) is in England and Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois) is in New York. James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story) and Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath) have reservations. A question mark was written after the name of Charlie Chaplin, selected because of The Great Dictator. He’s in town.

The Academy said its streamlined program would see the first Oscar – as the gold plated statues are so unfittingly dubbed – distributed at 10 p.m. (PST) and the last two, to actress and actor, by 11:18 p.m.

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St. Petersburg Times (February 27, 1941)

‘BOOM TOWN’ NAMED BEST-LIKED PICTURE OF 1940 IN NATIONWIDE SURVEY OF MOVIE-GOING PUBLIC
Dr. George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion

Princeton, N.J. –
Boom Town, a picture of oil wildcatters starring Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr, has been voted the best-liked motion picture of 1940 by the movie-going public in a survey conducted from coast to coast by the American Institute of Public Opinion.

Knute Rockne, a film depicting the life of the famous football coach, received the second highest number of voters, and Rebecca third.

Today in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will make its award for the picture considered best in 1940 by the 12,000 or more workers in the motion picture industry. Today’s institute survey is not confined to a special group, but shows how the movie-going public generally – Mr. and Mrs. John Citizen whose nickels and dimes keep the motion picture industry going – would make the Academy Award if they had the say.

The survey was confined to pictures released between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 1940. Respondents were shown a list of more than 100 top-grossing pictures for that period, and asked the question:

FEBRUARY 27
HOLLYWOOD

Are there any pictures here which you especially liked?

  • Boom Town
  • Knute Rockne
  • Rebecca
  • Northwest Passage
  • Strike Up the Band
  • The Fighting 69th

The study covered two distinct types of movie fans – the “frequent” theater-goers (once a week or more), and the “infrequent” movie-goers (less than once a week). Hollywood producers are beginning to take increased interest in the “infrequent” movie-goers – the discriminating, critical and sometimes disgruntled abstainers – because their patronage and support is so desperately needed at this time when the industry’s European revenues, formerly about one-fourth of total income, have been cut off.

The contrast between the movie tastes of the frequent and the infrequent moviegoers is shown below:

Frequent theatergoers

  1. Boom Town
  2. Knute Rockne
  3. Northwest Passage
  4. Rebecca
  5. Strike Up the Band
  6. The Fighting 69th

Infrequent theatergoers

  1. Rebecca
  2. Boom Town
  3. Northwest Passage
  4. Knute Rockne
  5. The Fighting 69th
  6. All This, and Heaven Too

Rebecca thus earns the distinction of being the picture which attracted the most abstainers.

The infrequent moviegoers show a preference for “special” pictures, such as pictures made from best-sellers and the more serious and ambitious dramatic attempts. The Letter, for example, ranked 14th with the infrequent group, and 36th with the frequent. Abe Lincoln in Illinois was 18th with the infrequent and 37th with the frequent.

Academy nominations contrasted

The pictures selected by the public as the best, are, with one exception, the pictures which were most successful at the box-office. The exception is Knute Rockne which, although 2nd in the Institute’s survey, was not among the top leaders in terms of box-office receipts.

The pictures released after Nov. 30, 1940, were not included in the survey because they had not had time to reach audiences throughout the country. This ruled out three films which have been nominated for the Academy Award – The Great Dictator, Kitty Foyle and The Philadelphia Story, and another picture which has been popular since its December release, Northwest Mounted Police.

It is interesting to note that of the six pictures selected by the public, only one, Rebecca, is to be found among the 10 nominated for the final consideration in the Academy Award contest. Apparently, there is considerable difference of opinion between Hollywood and its customers.

The 10 pictures nominated for the Academy Award by the industry itself are All This, and Heaven Too, Foreign Correspondent, Kitty Foyle, The Grapes of Wrath, Our Town, Rebecca, The Great Dictator, The Letter, The Long Voyage Home and The Philadelphia Story.

Women’s tastes differ from men

Considerable variation was found in the survey between the choices of men and of women. All This, and Heaven Too, for example, ranks 2nd with women, 39th with men. My Favorite Wife finished in 4th place among women, but only 34th with men. Knute Rockne and The Fighting 69th were, on the other hand, more popular with men than with women.

Men

  1. Knute Rockne
  2. Boom Town
  3. Northwest Passage
  4. The Fighting 69th
  5. Sea Hawk
  6. Strike Up the Band

Women

  1. Rebecca
  2. All This, and Heaven Too
  3. Boom Town
  4. My Favorite Wife
  5. Strike Up the Band
  6. Waterloo Bridge

Of the public’s six top choices, three pictures were made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Boom Town, Northwest Passage and Strike Up the Band), two by Warner Brothers (Knute Rockne and The Fighting 69th) and one by David Selznick (Rebecca).

Spencer Tracy holds the distinction of starring in two of the public’s six leading choices. He was the pugnacious and long-suffering wildcatter in Boom Town, and the redoubtable leader of Rogers Rangers in Northwest Passage.

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The winners are:

Outstanding Production
Rebecca – Selznick International and United Artists

Best Director
John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath

Best Actor
James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story

Best Actress
Ginger Rogers – Kitty Foyle

Best Supporting Actor
Walter Brennan – The Westerner

Best Supporting Actress
Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath

Best Original Screenplay
The Great McGinty – Preston Sturges

Best Screenplay
The Philadelphia Story – Donald Ogden Stewart, based on the play by Philip Barry

Best Original Story
Arise, My Love – Benjamin Glazer, John S. Toldy

Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel
Quicker’n a Wink – Pete Smith and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Best Live Action Short Film, Two-Reel
Teddy, the Rough Rider – Warner Bros.

Best Animated Short Film
The Milky Way – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Best Original Score
Pinocchio – Leigh Harline, Paul Smith, Ned Washington

Best Scoring
Tin Pan Alley – Alfred Newman

Best Original Song
“When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio – Music by Leigh Harline; Lyrics by Ned Washington

Best Sound Recording
Strike Up the Band – Douglas Shearer

Best Art Direction, Black-and-White
Pride and Prejudice – Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse

Best Art Direction, Color
The Thief of Bagdad – Vincent Korda

Best Cinematography, Black and White
Rebecca – George Barnes

Best Cinematography, Color
The Thief of Bagdad – Georges Périnal

Best Film Editing
North West Mounted Police – Anne Bauchens

Best Special Effects
The Thief of Bagdad – Lawrence W. Butler, Jack Whitney

Honorary Awards

  • Bob Hope “in recognition of his unselfish services to the Motion Picture Industry”.
  • Colonel Nathan Levinson “for his outstanding service to the industry and the Army during the past nine years, which has made possible the present efficient mobilization of the motion picture industry facilities for the production of Army Training Films”.

Reading Eagle (February 28, 1941)

They’re king and queen of movies

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GINGER ROGERS, JAMES STEWART WIN MOVIE ACADEMY AWARDS

Hollywood, Feb. 28 (AP) –
A nimble-footed Charleston dancer turned dramatic and a lank actor Hollywood once kept buried like a case ace are the new queen and king of the movies.

Ginger Rogers and James Stewart are their names. They are the newest winners of the awards signifying best given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Ginger was better than any of her acting sisters in 1940, her fellows believe, because of her portrayal in Kitty Foyle.

And Stewart impressed them by his work in The Philadelphia Story.

They, as well as a score of others, were called to the podium of a banquet hall jammed with celebrities and fellow workers last night to be handed statuettes a foot high which have been dubbed Oscars.

Rebecca was the year’s best motion picture, in the opinion of the Academy’s 12,000 voters.

Brennan cited

Best_supporting_actor_and_actress_1940

The award for the best performance by a supporting actor went to Walter Brennan, who played Judge Bean in The Westerner. It was old stuff for him – he won in 1936 for Come and Get It and in 1938 for Kentucky.

Jane Darwell was voted the best supporting actress for her characterization of Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.

The director of The Grapes of Wrath, John Ford, won the directorial award. He also won in 1935 for The Informer.

This, the 13th annual awards party, was highlighted by a radio address by President Roosevelt from the White House directed to the motion picture industry. He said he wanted to place emphasis “on the service you can render in promoting solidarity among all the peoples of the Americas” and thanked the industry for its support of the defense program.

Native of Missouri

Miss Rogers, who was a song and dance girl during her early movie days, has taken slow but certain steps toward the histrionic heights she reached in Kitty Foyle. Becoming a dramatic star was no cinch, either. She is known as one of the hardest workers in town and shwe has little time for play. Her real name is Virginia McMath and she was born in Independence, Mo., 30 years ago come next July, but she was reared in Fort Worth, Tex.

Under contract for months to MGM studio, Stewart wandered around the lot hoping he;d impress some director. He impressed them – but not in the right way.

They thought he was too lanky, that his face was too long, that his lower lip was too prominent. But, in one small role, he clicked and his personality has been registering since. The ace came up.

Plenty competition

The red-haired and vivacious Ginger was competing against some of the movies’ best talent, including Bette Davis, who has won two awards, and Katharine Hepburn, a one-time winner. Bette was nominated for The Letter and Hepburn for The Philadelphia Story. Also named were Martha Scott for Our Town and Joan Fontaine for Rebecca.

Stewart’s competitors were Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator; Raymond Massey, Abe Lincoln in Illinois; Henry Fonda, The Grapes of Wrath, and Laurence Olivier, Rebecca.

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