Top 10 Films of 1940

1. "Pinocchio" (Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen, Disney)

2. "His Girl Friday" (Howard Hawks, Columbia)

3. "Fantasia" (Walt Disney, Disney)

4. "The Philadelphia Story" (George Cukor, MGM)

5. "Pride And Prejudice" (Robert Z. Leonard, MGM)

6. "The Thief Of Bagdad" (Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, UK)

7. "The Bank Dick" (Eddie Cline, Universal)

8. "Jew Suss" (Veit Harlan, Germany)

9. "The Great Dictator" (Charles Chaplin, United Artists)

10. "The Westerner" (William Wyler, United Artists)


Other great films:

Abe Lincoln In Illinois
Arise My Love

Arizona
L'Assedio dell'Alcazar (Italy)
Boom Town
Broadway Melody Of 1940
Christmas In July
Dark Command
Down Argentine Way
Dr Cyclops
The Eternal Jew (Germany)
La Fille de puisatier (France)
Foreign Correspondent
Go West
The Grapes Of Wrath
The Great McGinty
Invisible Man Returns
It's A Date
Kitty Foyle
The Letter
Little Nellie Kelly
The Long Voyage Home
Mad Youth
My Favorite Wife
My Little Chickadee
My Universities (Soviet Union)
New Moon
Night Train (UK)
Nobuko (Japan)
Northwest Passage
Rebecca
The Sea Hawk
Second Chorus
The Shop Around The Corner
Sportowiec mimo woli (Poland)
The Stars Look Down (UK)
Strike Up The Band
Tin Pan Alley

Travelling Actors (Japan)
Vy neznate Alberta (Böhmen und Mähren)

Zlota maska (Poland)

Short Top 3:

1. "London Can Take It" (Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt, UK)

2. "Power And The Land" (Joris Ivens, USA)

3. "Siege" (Julien Bryan, USA)

Other great shorts:

By The Warm Sea (Soviet Union)

Children Of Japan

Kan De huske Køge gennem 25 Aar (Denmark)

Nude Ranch

Quicker'n A Wink

Takapihalta valoon (Finland)
Teddy The Rough Rider

Cartoon Top 10

1. "A Wild Hare" (Tex Avery, Warner)

2. "You Ought To Be In Pictures" (Friz Freleng, Warner)

3. "Window Cleaners" (Jack King, Disney)

4. "Bone Trouble" (Jack Kinney, Disney)

5. "Puss Gets The Boot" (Rudolf Ising, William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, MGM)

6. "Knock Knock" (Walter Lantz, Alex Lovy, Universal)

7. "The Bear's Tale" (Tex Avery, Warner)

8. "A Rainy Day" (Hugh Harman, MGM)

9. "Cross Country Detours" (Tex Avery, Warner)

10. "Mighty Hunters" (Chuck Jones, USA)

Other great cartoons:

Ants In The Plants
Catnip Capers
Donald's Dog Laundry
Donald's Vacation
Elmer's Candid Camera
Good Night Elmer
The Homeless Flea
How Wet Was My Ocean
The Lonesome Stranger
The Magic Pencil
The Milky Way
Mr Mouse Takes A Trip
Musical Poster #1 (UK)

Papa Gets The Bird

Patient Porky
Porky's Hired Hand
The Riveter
Romeo In Rhythm
Slap Happy Pappy
Swinging The Lambeth Walk (UK)
Swing Social
Tugboat Mickey
With Poopdeck Pappy

Weak films of 1940:

All This And Heaven Too
Angels Over Broadway
Bitter Sweet
The Courageous Dr Christian
Crimes At The Dark House
Dance Girl Dance
The Devil Bat
Dr Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
The Foundling (Soviet Union)
The House Of Seven Gables
L'il Abner
The Mark Of Zorro
One Million BC
Our Town
Primrose Path
Road To Singapore
Santa Fe Trail
Swiss Family Robinson
They Drive By Night
Timur And His Team (Soviet Union)
Too Many Girls
Waterloo Bridge

Weak shorts:

Eyes Of The Navy
Service With The Colors

Weak cartoons:

Africa Squeaks
Ali Baba Bound
Bedtime For Sniffles
Bill Posters
The Bookworm Turns
A Boy A Gun And Birds
Busy Bakers
Calling Dr Porky
Ceiling Hero
The Chewin' Bruin
Circus Today
Confederate Honey
The Constable
Crazy House
The Early Worm Gets The Bird
The Egg Collector
Fire Chief
The Fishing Bear
Gallopin Gals
A Gander At Mother Goose
Ghost Wanted
Goofy's Glider
The Hardship Of Miles Standish
Holiday Highlights
Home On The Range
A Kick In Time
King For a Day
Little Blabbermouse
Little Lambkin
Malibu Beach Party
Mr Duck Steps Out
Mr Elephant Goes To Town
Mrs Ladybug
Of Fox And Hounds
Pantry Pirate
Pilgrim Porky
Plane Goofy
Pluto's Dream House
Porky's Baseball Broadcast
Porky's Last Stand
Porky's Poor Fish
Prehistoric Porky
Put-Put Troubles
Shop Look And Listen
Sniffles Takes A Trip
Snubbed By A Snob
The Sour Puss
Stage Fright
The Timid Toreador
Tom Thumb In Trouble
Tom Turkey And His Harmonica Humdingers
Wacky Wildlife
You Can't Shoe A Horsefly

Top 3 Musicals of 1940

1. "Strike Up The Band" (Busby Berkeley, MGM)

2. "It's a Date" (William A. Seiter, Universal)

3. "Down Argentine Way" (Irving Cummings, 20th-Fox)

Fantasia (1940) *****

L'Assedio dell'Alcazar (1940) ***

Italian film about the siege of Alcazar in Toledo during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Impressive battle scenes, especially near the end. Winner of the Mussolini Cup for Best Italian Film at the Venice Film Festival.

Boom Town (1940) ***

Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Claudette Colbert star in this exciting drama about oil miners.

La Fille de puisatier (1940) ***

Vy neznate Alberta (1940) ***

Wonderful musical comedy starring Jara Kohout. Probably the best Czech film of the 1940's.

My Universities (1940) ***

The final part of the trilogy.

Arise My Love (1940) ***

Written by Billy Wilder, a prequel of sorts to "Casablanca".

Zlota maska (1940) ***

Polish melodrama about a butcher's daughter who first becomes a famous dancer and then marries a bankrupt aristocrat.

Travelling Actors (1940) ***

Arizona (1940) ***

Sportowiec mimo woli (1940) ***

Pan Czwartek (kanadyjski hokeista) pomylony zostaje z panem Piatkiem (warszawskim fryzjerem). Zabawna komedia Mieczyslawa Krawicza, rozgrywajaca sie w Zakopanym. Film nakrecony zostal w 1939 roku, ale wpuszczony na ekrany dopiero w maju 1940 roku. Piosenki Henryka Warsa:

"Na czesc mlodosci"  **
"Przyjdzie dzien"  **

Invisible Man Returns (1940) ***

A fine sequel to the 1933 horror classic.

Northwest Passage (1940) ***

Curious film, set in 1759, about British North American soldiers raiding an Indian village in French Canada and exterminating all its inhabitants.

Nobuko (1940) ***

A Japanese "Dead Poets Society", directed by Hiroshi Shimizu. An excellent script by Yoshitomo Nagase (who also wrote Shimizu's "Ornamental Hairpin"), based on a novel by Bunroku Shishi.

Second Chorus (1940) ***

This low-key, unpretentious musical has been grossly underrated by critics and film-goers alike. It stars Fred Astaire and Burgess Meredith as two jazz musicians in love with the same girl (Paulette Goddard). Musical numbers include:

"Sugar"  *
"Everything's Jumping"  *
"Dig It"  **
"Sweet Sue"  **
"Would You Like To Be The Love Of My Life"  **
"Poor Mr. Chisholm" (song)  *
"Concerto For Clarinet"  **
"Poor Mr. Chisholm / Hoe Down The Bayou"  **

Primrose Path (1940) **

Road To Singapore (1940) **

The first film in the popular series. Its best gag (about a "Republican" fish) was certainly hilarious back in 1940.

The Foundling (1940) **

A little girl gets lost in a big city.

Angels Over Broadway (1940) **

An alcoholic playwright tries to prevent a suicide.

Dr Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940) **

Another bio-medico-pic in the tradition of "The Story Of Louis Pasteur".

Swiss Family Robinson (1940) *

Even worse than the mediocre 1960 Disney's remake.

The Mark Of Zorro (1940) *

Very predictable.

All This And Heaven Too (1940) *

Dated, but effective melodrama starring Bette Davis as a governess implicated in a huge scandal.

One Million BC (1940) *

Cavemen fighting.

Timur And His Team (1940) *

Very disappointing Soviet film based upon a popular novel by Arkadi Gajdar.

Dance Girl Dance (1940) *

While it has a few musical numbers, it's not really a musical, but rather an anti-musical, as it subverts the main themes of the Hollywood musical, delivering instead a vaguely feminist melodrama where musical and romantic ambitions mutually sabotage themselves.

Quicker'n A Wink (1940) ***

Oscar-nominated novelty short using different camera speeds to show various objects in motion.

Power And The Land (1940) ***

Directed by Joris Ivens. Memorable documentary film about a New Deal initiative for electrification of rural areas. It shows what a difference electricity can make in the life of an Ohio dairy farmer and his family.

London Can Take It (1940) ***

Directed by H.Jennings and H.Watt. Oscar-nominated film about the London Blitz. It even manages to sneak in some bits of dark humor: "shops open every day - actually, some are more open than ever before".

Takapihalta valoon (1940) ***

Siege (1940) ***

Powerful documentary about the siege of Warsaw in September 1939. Nominated for an Academy Award.

Nude Ranch (1940) ***

Kan De huske Køge gennem 25 Aar (1940) ***

Children Of Japan (1940) ***

By The Warm Sea (1940) ***

Teddy The Rough Rider (1940) ***

Oscar-nominated short about President Theodore Roosevelt.

Eyes Of The Navy (1940) **

A short documentary about naval aviation.

Broadway Melody Of 1940 (1940) ***

The third and probably the best of Eleonor Powell's "Broadway" musical extravaganzas. This time, Fred Astaire replaces Robert Taylor and the result is the teaming of two greatest tap dancers in Hollywood history. Numbers include:

"Please Don't Monkey With Broadway" **
"All Ashore"
"Between You And Me" *
"I've Got My Eyes On You" **
"Jukebox Dance" **
"I Concentrate On You" **
"Begin The Beguine" ***

Christmas In July (1940) ***

Wacky farce about winning lots of money.

The Westerner (1940) ***

Amusing western starring Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan.

Dark Command (1940) ***

Fine western set during the Civil War.

Down Argentine Way (1940) ***

A beautiful American girl (Betty Grable) meets a handsome Argentinian man (Don Ameche). There is also Carmen Miranda and the Nicholas Brothers. Musical numbers:

"South American Way" **
"Down Argentine Way" (song) ***
"Two Dreams Met" *
"Down Argentine Way" (dance) ***
"Nenita" *
"Doin' The Conga" *
"Mama Yo Quiero" **
"Bambu" *
"Sing To Your Senorita" **
"Two Hearts Met" (reprise) *

Rebecca (1940) ***

Interesting adaptation of a Daphne du Maurier's novel about a young girl married to an English aristocrat whose first wife had died under mysterious circumstances.

Dr Cyclops (1940) ***

Excellent special effects highlight this interesting film that mixes several genres: adventure, horror and science-fiction.

Foreign Correspondent (1940) ***

Alfred Hitchcock's thriller set in Holland shortly before the Nazi invasion.

Abe Lincoln In Illinois (1940) ***

An example of pure Americana, the story of Abraham Lincoln's adult life before he became president.

Go West (1940) ***

Along with "A Night in Casablanca" (1946), this is Marx Brothers' most enjoyable film since "A Day at the Races" (1937). Harpo is in a particularly great form here, especially during the justly celebrated "train ride" sequence.

The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) ***

An adaptation of John Steinbeck's greatest novel.

The Great Dictator (1940) ***

Charlie Chaplin plays a ruthless dictator of a European country. Any resemblance to an actual, real-life dictator was, of course, purely coincidental.

The Thief Of Bagdad (1940) ****

Colorful fantasy film based on "Arabian Nights" tales. It's not a remake of the 1924 Douglas Fairbank's film. The plot is completely different. Directors: Michael Powell and Tim Whelan. Ludwig Berger is listed as a co-director, but the black and white footage he shot was never included in the film.

The Great McGinty (1940) ***

Comedy about political corruption.

It's A Date (1940) ***

Deanna Durbin was the most charming Hollywood star of the late 30's. This is one of her best films. Songs:

"Love Is All" **
"Loch Lomond" **
"Rhythm Of The Islands" *
"Quando M'en Vo (Musetta's Waltz)" **
"Ave Maria" **

Pride And Prejudice (1940) ****

An excellent adaptation of Jane Austen's most popular novel. A superb comedy of manners.