The 12th Academy Awards ceremony, held on February 29, 1940, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best in film for 1939 at a banquet in the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted by Bob Hope, in his first of nineteen turns as host.
David O. Selznick's Gone with the Wind received the most nominations of the year with thirteen, winning eight Oscars (both records at the time). It became the first film in color that won Best Picture. This year was the first in which multiple films received ten or more nominations (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington received eleven).
This was the first year in which Best Visual Effects was a competitive category; previously, "special achievement" awards for effects had occasionally been conferred. This year, Best Cinematography was split into Color and Black & White categories.
Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to receive an Academy Award, winning Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind. Mickey Rooney became the second-youngest nominee for Best Actor at 19, and the first teenager to be nominated for an Academy Award, for his performance in Babes in Arms.
Winners and nominees
Awards Nominees were announced on February 11, 1940. AMPAS presented Academy Awards of Merit in 20 categories. Nominees for each award are listed below; award winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
Gone With the Wind – David O. Selznick for Selznick International and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Dark Victory – David Lewis for Warner Bros. Goodbye, Mr. Chips – Victor Saville for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Love Affair – Leo McCarey for RKO Radio Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – Frank Capra for Columbia Ninotchka – Sidney Franklin for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Of Mice and Men – Lewis Milestone for Hal Roach Prod. and United Artists Stagecoach – Walter Wanger for United Artists The Wizard of Oz – Mervyn LeRoy for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Wuthering Heights – Samuel Goldwyn for Samuel Goldwyn Prod. and United ArtistsVictor Fleming – Gone With the Wind Sam Wood – Goodbye, Mr. Chips Frank Capra – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington John Ford – Stagecoach William Wyler – Wuthering HeightsRobert Donat – Goodbye, Mr. Chips as Mr Chips Clark Gable – Gone With the Wind as Rhett Butler Laurence Olivier – Wuthering Heights as Heathcliff Mickey Rooney – Babes in Arms as Mickey Moran James Stewart – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Jefferson "Jeff" SmithVivien Leigh – Gone With the Wind as Scarlett O'Hara Bette Davis – Dark Victory as Judith Traherne Irene Dunne – Love Affair as Terry McKay Greta Garbo – Ninotchka as Nina Ivanovna 'Ninotchka' Yakushova Greer Garson – Goodbye, Mr. Chips as KatherineThomas Mitchell – Stagecoach as Doc Boone Brian Aherne – Juarez as Maximilian I of Mexico Harry Carey – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as President of the Senate Brian Donlevy – Beau Geste as Sergeant Markoff Claude Rains – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senator Joseph Harrison "Joe" PaineHattie McDaniel – Gone With the Wind as Mammy Olivia de Havilland – Gone with the Wind as Melanie Hamilton Geraldine Fitzgerald – Wuthering Heights as Isabella Linton Edna May Oliver – Drums Along the Mohawk as Mrs. McKlennar Maria Ouspenskaya – Love Affair as Grandmother JanouMr. Smith Goes to Washington – Lewis R. Foster Bachelor Mother – Felix Jackson Love Affair – Mildred Cram and Leo McCarey Ninotchka – Melchior Lengyel Young Mr. Lincoln – Lamar TrottiGone With the Wind – Sidney Howard (posthumous award), based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell Goodbye, Mr. Chips – Eric Maschwitz, R. C. Sherriff and Claudine West, based on the novel by James Hilton Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – Sidney Buchman, based on a story by Lewis R. Foster Ninotchka – Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Billy Wilder, based on a story by Melchior Lengyel Wuthering Heights – Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, based on the novel by Emily BrontëBusy Little Bears – Paramount Pictures Information Please – RKO Radio Prophet Without Honor – MGM Sword Fishing – Warner Bros.Sons of Liberty – Warner Bros. Drunk Driving – MGM Five Times Five – RKO RadioThe Ugly Duckling – Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio Detouring America – Warner Bros. Peace on Earth – MGM The Pointer – Walt Disney Productions and RKO RadioThe Wizard of Oz – Herbert Stothart Dark Victory – Max Steiner Eternally Yours – Werner Janssen Golden Boy – Victor Young Gone With the Wind – Max Steiner Gulliver's Travels – Victor Young The Man in the Iron Mask – Lud Gluskin and Lucien Moraweck Man of Conquest – Victor Young Nurse Edith Cavell – Anthony Collins Of Mice and Men – Aaron Copland The Rains Came – Alfred Newman Wuthering Heights – Alfred NewmanStagecoach – Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken Babes in Arms – Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll First Love – Charles Previn The Great Victor Herbert – Phil Boutelje and Arthur Lange The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Alfred Newman Intermezzo – Lou Forbes Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – Dimitri Tiomkin Of Mice and Men – Aaron Copland The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex – Erich Wolfgang Korngold She Married a Cop – Cy Feuer Swanee River – Louis Silvers They Shall Have Music – Alfred Newman Way Down South – Victor Young"Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Yip Harburg "Faithful Forever" from Gulliver's Travels – Music by Ralph Rainger; Lyrics by Leo Robin "I Poured My Heart Into a Song" from Second Fiddle – Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin "Wishing" from Love Affair – Music and Lyrics by Buddy DeSylvaWhen Tomorrow Comes – Bernard B. Brown Balalaika – Douglas Shearer Gone With the Wind – Thomas T. Moulton Goodbye, Mr. Chips – A. W. Watkins The Great Victor Herbert – Loren L. Ryder The Hunchback of Notre Dame – John O. Aalberg Man of Conquest – Charles L. Lootens Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – John P. Livadary Of Mice and Men – Elmer Raguse The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex – Nathan Levinson The Rains Came – Edmund H. HansenGone With the Wind – Lyle R. Wheeler Beau Geste – Hans Dreier and Robert Odell Captain Fury – Charles D. Hall First Love – Jack Otterson and Martin Obzina Love Affair – Van Nest Polglase and Alfred Herman Man of Conquest – John Victor Mackay Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – Lionel Banks The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex – Anton Grot The Rains Came – William S. Darling and George Dudley Stagecoach – Alexander Toluboff The Wizard of Oz – Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning Wuthering Heights – James BaseviWuthering Heights – Gregg Toland Stagecoach – Bert GlennonGone With the Wind – Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex – Sol Polito and W. Howard GreeneGone With the Wind – Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom Goodbye, Mr. Chips – Charles Frend Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – Gene Havlick and Al Clark The Rains Came – Barbara McLean Stagecoach – Otho Lovering and Dorothy SpencerThe Rains Came – E. H. Hansen and Fred Sersen Gone With the Wind – John R. Cosgrove, Fred Albin and Arthur Johns Only Angels Have Wings – Roy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex – Byron Haskin and Nathan Levinson Topper Takes a Trip – Roy Seawright Union Pacific – Farciot Edouart, Gordon Jennings and Loren L. Ryder The Wizard of Oz – A. Arnold Gillespie and Douglas Shearer
Special awards
To Douglas Fairbanks, recognizing the unique and outstanding contribution of Douglas Fairbanks, first President of the Academy, to the international development of the motion picture. To The Motion Picture Relief Fund, acknowledging the outstanding services to the industry during the past year of the Motion Picture Relief Fund and its progressive leadership. Presented to Jean Hersholt, President; Ralph Morgan, Chairman of the Executive Committee; Ralph Block, First Vice-President; and Conrad Nagel. To Judy Garland for her outstanding performance as a screen juvenile during the past year. To William Cameron Menzies for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind. To the Technicolor Company for its contributions in successfully bringing three-color feature production to the screen.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award David O. Selznick
Multiple nominations and awards
+ Films with multiple nominationsNominationsFilm 13 Gone with the Wind 11 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 8 Wuthering Heights 7 Goodbye, Mr. Chips Stagecoach 6 Love Affair The Wizard of Oz 5 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex The Rains Came 4 Ninotchka Of Mice and Men 3 Dark Victory Man of Conquest 2 Babes in Arms Beau Geste First Love The Great Victor Herbert Gulliver's Travels The Hunchback of Notre Dame
+ Films with multiple awardsAwardsFilm 8 Gone with the Wind 2 Stagecoach The Wizard of Oz
Presenters and performers
The ceremony presenters are listed below in the sequence of awards presented.
Presenter Award(s) Darryl F. Zanuck Scientific and Technical Awards, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Cinematography, Art Direction, and Special Effects Gene Buck Music awards Bob Hope Short-subject awards Mickey Rooney Special Juvenile Academy Award to Judy Garland Mervyn LeRoy Best Director Sinclair Lewis Writing awards Y. Frank Freeman Best Picture Basil O'Connor Special awards to Jean Hersholt, Ralph Morgan, Ralph Block, and Conrad Nagel Dr. Ernest Martin Hopkins Irving Thalberg Award Walter Wanger Commemorative award to Douglas Fairbanks Fay Bainter Supporting Actor and Actress Spencer Tracy Best Actor and Actress
Ceremony information The lead-up to the awards
Prior to the announcement of nominations, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Gone with the Wind were the two films most widely tipped to receive a significant number of nominations. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington premiered in Washington with a premier party hosted by the National Press Club who found themselves portrayed unfavourably in the film; the film's theme of political corruption was condemned and the film was denounced in the U.S. Senate. Joseph P. Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to Britain urged President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the studio head Harry Cohn to cease showing the film overseas because "it will cause our allies to view us in an unfavourable light". Among those who campaigned in favour of the film were Hedda Hopper who declared it "as great as Lincoln's Gettysburg speech", while Sheilah Graham called it the "best talking picture ever made". Screen Book magazine stated that it "should win every Academy Award". Frank Capra, the director, and James Stewart, the film's star were considered front runners to win awards.
Gone with the Wind premiered in December 1939 with a Gallup poll taken shortly before its release concluding that 56.5 million people intended to see the film. The New York Film Critics Award was given to Wuthering Heights after thirteen rounds of balloting had left the voters deadlocked between Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Gone with the Wind. The press were divided in their support for the nominated actors. Time magazine favoured Vivien Leigh and used her portrait for their Christmas 1939 edition, and The Hollywood Reporter predicted a possible win by Leigh and Laurence Olivier with the comment that they "are, for the moment, just about the most sacred of all Hollywood's sacred cows". West Coast newspapers, particularly in Los Angeles, predicted Bette Davis would win for Dark Victory. Observing that Davis had achieved four box office successes during the year, one paper wrote, "Hollywood will stick by its favourite home-town girl, Bette Davis".
Ceremony