12th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1940)
©A.M.P.A.S.®
- Date of Ceremony: Thursday, February 29, 1940
- For films released in: 1939
- Host(s): Bob Hope
Bob Hope hosted the 12th Annual Academy Awards which took place at the Ambassador Hotel on Thursday, February 29, 1940.
Two films had double-digit nominations: Thirteen for Gone with the Wind and ten for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
A couple of changes were afoot. It was the last ceremony where the press were given a heads up on the winners to meet their deadlines and the first year that rights were sold to film the ceremony. Warner Brothers later released the night’s proceedings as a short and the stars were quite conscious of their dress for the big evening.
Gone with the Wind ended up winning eight competitive and two honorary Oscars this night including Outstanding Production, Best Directing (Victor Fleming), Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Art Direction (Lyle Wheeler), Best Cinematography (Color)(Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan), Best Film Editing (Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom), and Best Writing (Screenplay) (Sidney Howard). Most importantly, the night also included a Best Supporting Actress win for Gone with the Wind’s Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African-American to not only be nominated but to win. Her win was a big step as Daily Variety noted that, “Not only was she the first of her race to receive an Award, but she was also the first Negro ever to sit at an Academy banquet.”
Results
Outstanding Production
- Gone with the Wind
Selznick International Pictures
Best Directing
- Gone with the Wind
Victor Fleming
Best Actor
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Robert Donat
Best Actress
- Gone with the Wind
Vivien Leigh
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- Stagecoach
Thomas Mitchell
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- Gone with the Wind
Hattie McDaniel
Best Art Direction
- Gone with the Wind
Lyle Wheeler
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
- Wuthering Heights
Gregg Toland
Best Cinematography (Color)
- Gone with the Wind
Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan
Best Film Editing
- Gone with the Wind
Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom
Best Music (Scoring)
- Stagecoach
Richard Hageman, Frank Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken
Best Music (Original Score)
- The Wizard of Oz
Herbert Stothart
Best Music (Song)
- The Wizard of Oz "Over the Rainbow"
Harold Arlen [Music by] and E.Y. Harburg [Lyrics by]
Best Short Subject (Cartoon)
- The Ugly Duckling
Walt Disney
Best Short Subject (One-reel)
- Busy Little Bears
Paramount
Best Short Subject (Two-reel)
- Sons of Liberty
Warner Bros.
Best Sound Recording
- When Tomorrow Comes
Universal Studio Sound Department and Bernard B. Brown [Sound Director]
Best Special Effects
- The Rains Came
Fred Sersen and E.H. Hansen
Best Writing (Screenplay)
- Gone with the Wind
Sidney Howard
Best Writing (Original Story)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Lewis R. Foster
Special Award
- Douglas Fairbanks
Note: (Commemorative Award) - recognizing the unique and outstanding contribution of Douglas Fairbanks, first President of the Academy, to the international development of the motion picture. - The Motion Picture Relief Fund, Jean Hersholt [President], Ralph Morgan [Chairman of the Executive Committee], Ralph Block [First Vice-President] and Conrad Nagel
Note: …acknowledging the outstanding services to the industry during the past year of the Motion Picture Relief Fund and its progressive leadership. - Judy Garland
Note: …for her outstanding performance as a screen juvenile during the past year. - William Cameron Menzies
Note: …for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind. - Technicolor Company
Note: …for its contributions in successfully bringing three-color feature production to the screen.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
- David O. Selznick
Scientific or Technical Award (Class III)
- George Anderson [Warner Bros. Studio]
Note: …for an improved positive head for sun arcs. - John Arnold [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio]
Note: …for the M-G-M mobile camera crane. - Thomas T. Moulton, Fred Albin and Sound Department of the Samuel Goldwyn Studio
Note: …for the origination and application of the Delta db test to sound recording in motion pictures. - Farciot Edouart, Joseph E. Robbins, William Rudolph and Paramount Pictures Inc.
Note: …for the design and construction of a quiet portable treadmill. - Emery Huse [Eastman Kodak Company] and Ralph B. Atkinson [Eastman Kodak Company]
Note: …for their specifications for chemical analysis of photographic developers and fixing baths. - Harold Nye [Warner Bros. Studio]
Note: …for a miniature incandescent spot lamp. - A.J. Tondreau [Warner Bros. Studio]
Note: …for the design and manufacture of an improved sound track printer. - F.R Abbott [for important contributions in cooperative development of new improved Process Projection Equipment], Haller Belt [for important contributions in cooperative development of new improved Process Projection Equipment], Alan Cook [for important contributions in cooperative development of new improved Process Projection Equipment], Bausch & Lomb Optical Comp [for important contributions in cooperative development of new improved Process Projection Equipment], Mitchel Camera Company [for a new type process projection head], Mole-Richardson Company [for a new type automatically controlled projection arc lamp], Charles Handley [for improved and more stable high-intensity carbons], David Joy [for improved and more stable high-intensity carbons], National Carbon Company [for improved and more stable high-intensity carbons], Winton Hoch [for an auxiliary optical system], Technicolor Motion Picture Corp. [for an auxiliary optical system], Don Musgrave [for pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production, Gone with the Wind] and Selznick International Pictures [for pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production, Gone with the Wind]