13th Academy Awards: choose your alternate nominees (1940)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Classic Film
sheetsadam1 — 1 month ago(February 17, 2026 04:32 PM)
The idea is this: what if the nominees for Best Picture each year weren't nominated? Which films should have taken their place in that scenario? Pick your alternate selections for Best Picture and, if you wish, mention anybody who you feel was overlooked in any other category. No need to confine yourself to the types of films which typically get nominated or to English-language cinema. If you missed the previous years, they can be found on the classic film board.
All films released in 1940 are eligible. The nominees were:
Rebecca- Alfred Hitchcock
All This and Heaven Too - Anatole Litvak
Foreign Correspondent - Alfred Hitchcock
The Grapes of Wrath - John Ford
The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin
Kitty Foyle - Sam Wood
The Letter - William Wyler
The Long Voyage Home - John Ford
Our Town - Sam Wood
The Philadelphia Story - George Cukor
The Academy finally discovers Hitchcock! They would forget him again in a few years. Seriously, it's insane that
Foreign Correspondent
(with all due respect) is a Best Picture nominee, while no Hitchcock film after 1945 is! Still,
Rebecca
is a worthy winner: a great adaptation of a great Daphne du Maurier novel. Still, I would have gone with
The Grapes of Wrath
or
The Great Dictator
.
My alternate nominees:
His Girl Friday - Howard Hawks
Fantasia - various directors
The Great McGinty - Preston Sturges
They Drive By Night - Raoul Walsh
The Shop Around the Corner - Ernst Lubitsch
The Mark of Zorro - Rouben Mamoulian
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026
- Alfred Hitchcock
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PygmyLion — 1 month ago(February 17, 2026 07:10 PM)
This is really getting into the golden years of Hollywood.
Looking at the original nominees list, I like
Rebecca
,
The Grapes of Wrath
, and
The Philadelphia Story
a lot - definite keepers. I like
Foreign Correspondent
and
The Long Voyage Home
.
From your list,
The Shop Around the Corner
is one of my favorites, and
His Girl Friday
is very good.
The Mortal Storm
is pretty good.
The Westerner
is one of my favorite Westerns.
The Sea Hawk
with Errol Flynn.
My Favorite Wife
with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne is amusing. I thought the earlier
Gaslight
was fairly good.
I Love You Again
is a nice screwball comedy. I really like
The Primrose Path
with Joel McCrea and Ginger Rogers. I remember liking
Contraband
(or
Blackout
) as an espionage movie (Powell and Pressburger). Lots of other good ones.
Rebecca- Alfred Hitchcock
The Shop Around the Corner - Ernst Lubitsch
The Philadelphia Story - George Cukor
The Grapes of Wrath - John Ford
The Mortal Storm - Frank Borzage
His Girl Friday - Howard Hawks
The Westerner - William Wyler
The Sea Hawk - Michael Curtiz
The Primrose Path - Gregory La Cava
My Favorite Wife - Garson Kanin
I guess I will stick with
Rebecca
as the winner, although it is pretty close with the next few.
- Alfred Hitchcock
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ZolotoyRetriever — 1 month ago(February 18, 2026 12:48 AM)
My Favorite Wife - Garson Kanin
Good mention. This film was RKO's second-biggest hit of 1940, after
Kitty Foyle
. It would later be remade in 1963, as
Move Over, Darling
, starring Doris Day and James Garner. *They tried to remake it in 1962 (under the working title of
Something's Got to Give
), starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, and Cyd Charisse, but then MM had to up and die before the film could be completed and, well, the rest is history as they say. -
ZolotoyRetriever — 1 month ago(February 18, 2026 04:14 AM)
Yes, here are the ones I know of besides Alfred Hitchcock:
Ernst Lubitsch:
The Smiling Lieutenant
and
One Hour with You
– these were films from 1931 and 1932 respectively, but were both nominated for Best Picture at the 1932 Academy Awards which honored films from parts of both those years.
Michael Curtiz:
The Adventures of Robin Hood
and
Four Daughters
(1938).
Victor Fleming:
The Wizard of Oz
and
Gone with the Wind
(1939)
Francis Ford Coppola:
The Conversation
(1974) and
The Godfather Part II
(1974).
Steven Soderbergh:
Erin Brockovich
and
Traffic
(2000).