1940- an underrated year

[dagoldenage]

If you read this on the general discussions board, sorry for the redundancy, but I've been told this forum has mainly different viewers.

 

It seems like 1940 doesn't get much attention because of the way 1939 is viewed. But I was looking at a few different 1940 lists recently, and think that was a really good year, especially because it offered a lot of different types of good movies.

My top 10:

 

1. Rebecca

2. Remember the Night

3. Grapes of Wrath, The

4. Great Dictator, The

5. All This and Heaven Too

6. Kitty Foyle

7. Night Train to Munich

8. Mortal Storm, The

9. Philadelphia Story, The

10. Stranger on the Third Floor

 

Best of the rest: Foreign Correspondent, The Letter, My Favorite Wife, His Girl Friday, The Shop Around the Corner.

Underrated: It All Came True

 

Best Actor: Henry Fonda (Grapes of Wrath, The)

Best Actress: Ginger Rogers (Kitty Foyle)

Supporting Actor: Jack Oakie (Great Dictator, The)

Supporting Actress: Judith Anderson (Rebecca)

 

Titles watched: 103

 

Looking forward to hearing from others

[FrankGrimes]

I'm very impressed by your having seen 103 films for 1940. That's quite a bit!

 

This is what I have seen of 1940 and how I've liked them:

 

1. His Girl Friday

2. The Shop Around the Corner

3. Foreign Correspondent

4. Waterloo Bridge

5. Christmas in July

6. The Thief of Bagdad

7. Remember the Night

8. The Westerner

9. The Philadelphia Story

10. The Grapes of Wrath

 

11. Contraband

12. City for Conquest

13. Strange Cargo

14. The Letter

15. The Mark of Zorro

16. Night Train to Munich

17. Rebecca

18. I Love You Again

19. Black Friday

20. Seven Sinners

21. It All Came True

22. Go West

23. One Night in the Tropics

24. When the Daltons Rode

25. My Favorite Wife

26. They Drive by Night

27. The Invisible Woman

28. The Invisible Man Returns

29. Boom Town

30. Virginia City

31. All This, and Heaven Too

32. Stranger on the Third Floor

33. The Ghost Breakers

34. Green Hell

35. Dark Command

36. The Long Voyage Home

37. Babies for Sale

38. Torrid Zone

39. The Return of Frank James

40. Before I Hang

41. The House Across the Bay

42. The Great McGinty

43. Gold Rush Maisie

44. The Lady in Question

45. The Mummy's Hand

46. Road to Singapore

47. Too Many Husbands

48. My Little Chickadee

49. Pride and Prejudice

50. North West Mounted Police

51. Congo Maisie

52. Half a Sinner

53. Brigham Young

 

Best Actor: Cary Grant (James Stewart, Henry Fonda)

Best Actress: Bette Davis (Rosalind Russell, Katharine Hepburn)

Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan (Ian Hunter, Sabu)

Supporting Actress: Jane Darwell (Judith Anderson, Gale Sondergaard)

Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock (John Ford, William Wyler)

[dagoldenage]

FrankGrimes:

 

Thank you for the list.

 

I noticed for your individual awards, you didn't list a movie. Is that because you think the awards should be based on the whole year and not a single movie.

 

I always thought that would be interesting.

For example, my best actor was Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath), but for the whole body of work that year, I would have chosen James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story, The Shop Around the Corner, The Mortal Storm).

 

Best Actress then would have switched from Ginger Rogers to Bette Davis.

[FrankGrimes]

_Hi, DaGoldenAge_ -- *I noticed for your individual awards, you didn't list a movie. Is that because you think the awards should be based on the whole year and not a single movie.*

 

Yes, that's exactly what I've been doing. If I was to pick a singular performance, it would be Henry Fonda for *The Grapes of Wrath* and Rosalind Russell for *His Girl Friday*. My best director would be John Ford for *The Grapes of Wrath*. That would be my best picture winner, too.

 

*For example, my best actor was Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath), but for the whole body of work that year, I would have chosen James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story, The Shop Around the Corner, The Mortal Storm).*

 

That's pretty much I how I feel. I haven't seen *The Mortal Storm*, so I'm not sure if that would influence my decision of Cary Grant over James Stewart.

 

*Best Actress then would have switched from Ginger Rogers to Bette Davis.*

 

I chose Bette because she had two very good performances in 1940, two of her very best, with *The Letter* being one of the best for the year. *Kitty Foyle* is another film I've yet to see for 1940.