My Top Ten Films of 1940

This post is part of my ongoing project to create Top Ten movie lists for the years before I began this blog, working my way as far back as I can.  Below, find my Top Ten films for 1940, unranked.

Rebecca - This is one of my favorite Hitchcock films, because it's also a love story and a Gothic romance.  Before we even get to Manderley and Mrs. Danvers and the presence of the dead first Mrs. De Winter, there's a whole suspenseful, delightful act where Joan Fontaine escapes her dreary life, to run away with Laurence Olivier.  Plenty of psychological horror films have tread in the footsteps of "Rebecca," but few have created such atmosphere, such performances, and such mystery.

 

Pinocchio - A disaster for Disney at the time of release, but one that's become a classic and a cornerstone for all animation.  The ambitious technical leaps, the intensely dramatic story, and the painstakingly laboriously little details of the artistry all paid off.  "Pinocchio" is one of the best films ever made, a fable for learning to be the best version of yourself and confronting a dangerous and unpredictable world.  I loved it as a child and I love it just as much as an adult.   

The Grapes of Wrath - My favorite John Ford film.  I've always loved the Steinbeck book, and while the film version is an imperfect adaptation, it has its heart in the right place.  It's an earnest attempt to capture the struggle of migrant farmers escaping the Dust Bowl, offering an unblinking depiction of the poverty and hardship they faced.  The clip of Henry Fonda is a favorite for movie montages, but Jane Darwell's iron-willed Ma Joad is easily the film's most memorable character.  

The Great Dictator - The last indisputable Chaplin masterpiece, and arguably the last time that Charlie Chaplin would appear as The Tramp, though here he's called the Barber.  It's a WWII satire that takes direct aim at Hitler, includes some wonderfully funny scenes of physical comedy and priceless sight gags, and isn't afraid to stand against tyranny.  The final speech is Chaplin's emotional appeal to the world to embrace humanity and value peace.  It's as resonant today as it ever was.

Fantasia - Easily the most fascinating experiment in animation that Disney was ever responsible for.  This was a "concert feature," intending to be a combination of classical music concert and animated spectacular.  The "Nutcracker Suite" is my favorite segment, but the film offers so many wonders, from the abstract visuals accompanying to "Toccata and Fugue" to the hilarity of "Dance of the Hours," to Mickey Mouse's greatest screen appearance in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."

His Girl Friday - One of the greatest comedies of all time, or at least the one with the most rapid fire dialogue.  Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant play a reporter and editor who also happen to be a divorced couple on their way to patching things up.  There are a ton of film innovations here, including the use of ad libs, fourth wall breaking, overlapping dialogue, and several innovations in editing, all helping to make this one of the most breathlessly lively and energetic films of its era.  

My Favorite Wife - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne follow up "The Awful Truth" with a tale of a supposedly dead wife who comes back into her husband's life at a very inconvenient time.  Grant is at his silliest and most loveable, despite being an awful coward, while Dunne lights up the screen and plays dirty.  The film never quite slips into slapstick, but has a lot of good screwball  laughs, while all the heartwarming bits play.  Special kudos go to Granville Bates as the pompous, flabbergasted judge.     

Pride and Prejudice - The one with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson.  I like this version because it's got a great sense of humor, full of wonderful supporting character actors like Edmund Gwenn and Mary Boland as the Bennett parents, and the glorious Edna Mae Oliver as the imposing Lady Cathering de Bourgh.  Purists may quibble with the story changes (mostly demanded by the Production Code), but it nails the satire of British society and the romance isn't too shabby either.

The Shop Around the Corner - One of the best Ernst Lubitsch films pairs Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart as a pair of rival shop clerks who have unknowingly fallen in love with each other through secret letters.  This was remade several times, perhaps most memorably in "You've Got Mail," and popularized the anonymous lovers trope in countless other films.  Sullavan had a brief career and a tragic life, and was also a highlight of "The Mortal Storm" with Stewart in the same year.

The Thief of Baghdad - This is the lone non-American film on this list for this year, a big budget Alexander Korda adventure spectacular that I consider the best of these "Arabian Night" style fantasy pastiches.  Sabu stars as the titular thief, who may not be properly Middle Eastern, but was as good as we were going to get in 1940.  Some of the images, particularly the fantasy landscapes and the special effects sequences of the genies, remain impressive to this day.

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