12th Academy Awards


The 12th Academy Awards ceremony, held on February 29, 1940, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 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. 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.
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.

  • Victor FlemingGone With the Wind
  • * Sam WoodGoodbye, Mr. Chips
  • * Frank Capra – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  • * John FordStagecoach
  • * William WylerWuthering Heights
  • Robert Donat – Goodbye, Mr. Chips as Mr Chips
  • * Clark GableGone With the Wind as Rhett Butler
  • * Laurence OlivierWuthering Heights as Heathcliff
  • * Mickey Rooney – Babes in Arms as Mickey Moran
  • * James StewartMr. Smith Goes to Washington as Jefferson "Jeff" Smith
  • Vivien Leigh – Gone With the Wind as Scarlett O'Hara
  • * Bette DavisDark Victory as Judith Traherne
  • * Irene DunneLove Affair as Terry McKay
  • * Greta GarboNinotchka as Nina Ivanovna 'Ninotchka' Yakushova
  • * Greer GarsonGoodbye, Mr. Chips as Katherine
  • Thomas Mitchell – Stagecoach as Doc Boone
  • * Brian AherneJuarez as Maximilian I of Mexico
  • * Harry CareyMr. Smith Goes to Washington as President of the Senate
  • * Brian DonlevyBeau Geste as Sergeant Markoff
  • * Claude RainsMr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senator Joseph Harrison "Joe" Paine
  • Hattie McDaniel – Gone With the Wind as Mammy
  • * Olivia de HavillandGone with the Wind as Melanie Hamilton
  • * Geraldine FitzgeraldWuthering Heights as Isabella Linton
  • * Edna May OliverDrums Along the Mohawk as Mrs. McKlennar
  • * Maria OuspenskayaLove Affair as Grandmother Janou
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – Lewis R. Foster
  • * Bachelor MotherFelix Jackson
  • * Love AffairMildred Cram and Leo McCarey
  • * NinotchkaMelchior Lengyel
  • * Young Mr. LincolnLamar Trotti
  • Gone With the WindSidney Howard, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell
  • * Goodbye, Mr. ChipsEric Maschwitz, R. C. Sherriff and Claudine West, based on the novel by James Hilton
  • * Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonSidney Buchman, based on a story by Lewis R. Foster
  • * NinotchkaCharles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Billy Wilder, based on a story by Melchior Lengyel
  • * Wuthering HeightsBen Hecht and Charles MacArthur, based on the novel by Emily Brontë
  • Busy Little Bears – Paramount Pictures
  • * Information Please – RKO Radio
  • * Prophet Without HonorMGM
  • * Sword Fishing – Warner Bros.
  • Sons of Liberty – Warner Bros.
  • * Drunk Driving – MGM
  • * Five Times Five – RKO Radio
  • The Ugly DucklingWalt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
  • * Detouring America – Warner Bros.
  • * Peace on Earth – MGM
  • * The Pointer – Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
  • StagecoachRichard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken
  • * Babes in ArmsRoger Edens and Georgie Stoll
  • * First LoveCharles Previn
  • * The Great Victor HerbertPhil Boutelje and Arthur Lange
  • * The Hunchback of Notre DameAlfred Newman
  • * IntermezzoLou Forbes
  • * Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonDimitri Tiomkin
  • * Of Mice and MenAaron Copland
  • * The Private Lives of Elizabeth and EssexErich Wolfgang Korngold
  • * She Married a CopCy Feuer
  • * Swanee RiverLouis Silvers
  • * They Shall Have Music – Alfred Newman
  • * Way Down SouthVictor Young
  • The Wizard of Oz – Herbert Stothart
  • * Dark VictoryMax Steiner
  • * Eternally YoursWerner Janssen
  • * Golden Boy – Victor Young
  • * Gone With the Wind – Max Steiner
  • * Gulliver's Travels – Victor Young
  • * The Man in the Iron MaskLud Gluskin and Lucien Moraweck
  • * Man of Conquest – Victor Young
  • * Nurse Edith CavellAnthony Collins
  • * Of Mice and Men – Aaron Copland
  • * The Rains Came – Alfred Newman
  • * Wuthering Heights – Alfred Newman
  • "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 FiddleMusic and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
  • * "Wishing" from Love Affair – Music and Lyrics by Buddy DeSylva
  • When Tomorrow Comes – Bernard B. Brown
  • * BalalaikaDouglas 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 MenElmer Raguse
  • * The Private Lives of Elizabeth and EssexNathan Levinson
  • * The Rains Came – Edmund H. Hansen
  • Gone With the Wind – Lyle R. Wheeler
  • * Beau GesteHans Dreier and Robert Odell
  • * Captain Fury – Charles D. Hall
  • * First LoveJack Otterson and Martin Obzina
  • * Love AffairVan Nest Polglase and Alfred Herman
  • * Man of ConquestJohn Victor Mackay
  • * Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonLionel Banks
  • * The Private Lives of Elizabeth and EssexAnton Grot
  • * The Rains Came – William S. Darling and George Dudley
  • * StagecoachAlexander Toluboff
  • * The Wizard of OzCedric Gibbons and William A. Horning
  • * Wuthering HeightsJames Basevi
  • Wuthering HeightsGregg Toland
  • * StagecoachBert Glennon
  • Gone With the Wind – Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan
  • * The Private Lives of Elizabeth and EssexSol Polito and W. Howard Greene
  • Gone With the Wind – Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom
  • * Goodbye, Mr. ChipsCharles Frend
  • * Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonGene Havlick and Al Clark
  • * The Rains CameBarbara McLean
  • * StagecoachOtho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer
  • The Rains Came – E. H. Hansen and Fred Sersen
  • * Gone With the Wind – John R. Cosgrove, Fred Albin and Arthur Johns
  • * Only Angels Have WingsRoy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn
  • * The Private Lives of Elizabeth and EssexByron Haskin and Nathan Levinson
  • * Topper Takes a TripRoy Seawright
  • * Union PacificFarciot 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.