best film: The Grapes of Wrath from John Ford . First off, it is gorgeously photographed. Ford is working with Gregg Toland one year before Kane. Henry Fonda also gives a transcendent performance- his best. With Grapes of Wrath as my choice here it also puts into perspective what a drop-off 1940 is at the top after 1939 (no slight to 1940, this is a compliment to 1939 as a year). Stagecoach is John Ford’s second best film and I have Grapes of Wrath as his fifth best. But I have Grapes as the best film of 1940 but Stagecoach doesn’t come out on top for 1939.
one of the great shots in the towering career of John Ford
the quiet echoes of the opening of John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath
most underrated: William Wyler’s The Letter belongs somewhere in the top 1000 yet the TSPDT consensus omits it completely—even when getting to their 1001-2000 overspill from the top 1000 list. This is incorrect.
a stunner– Venetian blinds in The Letter
it is important for Wyler’s resume to prove he could produce images like this without Gregg Toland
most overrated: Charlie Chaplin is a magnificent performer. I admire aspects of The Great Dictator but the speech at the end is hard to get past—what bitter pill to swallow to end the film. The TSPDT consensus has it in their top 200 at #173 which is certainly at the level of masterpiece. I’d have this closer to #1000 of all-time.
one of Chaplin’s signature sketches- from The Great Dictator
gem I want to spotlight: The Shop Around the Corner from Lubitsch is what everyone should watch (especially around the holidays) instead of You’ve Got Mail (which is a fine film but can’t match Lubitsch’s classic). Jimmy Stewart is clearly one of the all-time greats. He won the Oscar here in 1940 but for another film (The Philadelphia Story). He’s actually better here.
trends and notables:
- Sadly, with the outbreak of war Renoir’s incredible run comes to a complete halt. Renoir had at least one Must-See top 5 of the year quality film in 1939, 1938, 1937, 1936, and 1935—five straight years- unreal. It seems unlikely that wouldn’t have continued if world events hadn’t tragically intervened. One of the great “what-ifs”
- With much of the globe in the war we had a slow down after 1939 (even without the war how can you expect to match the golden year- 1939?).
- You may think with the success of Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, The Four Feathers and others in 1939 that the floodgates would open as far as color films, but that really isn’t the case in 1940—just a few here including the animation films of course and The Thief of Bagdad. Certainly no significant uptick
- Many of the great auteurs from around the world were traveling to Hollywood if they hadn’t already (Lang). Rebecca is Hitchcock’s first American/Hollywood film.
one of the great single shots of 1940- from Hitchcock’s Rebecca— his first Hollywood film, best picture Oscar winner
- You’ll notice below how many auteurs/directors gave us more than one archiveable film in one year. Ford, Walsh, Hitchcock Wyler, Sturges and Wood all had two films in the archives from 1940. That just doesn’t happen anymore—it’s very rare for a director to deliver in back to back years now.
- With Stagecoach and Grapes of Wrath in back to back it is hard not to look at this window as Ford’s peak if you were forced to single out a single stretch during his illustrious career
- 1940 is also a banner year for Disney with both Pinocchio and Fantasia
1940 is a banner year for Disney with both Pinocchio and Fantasia
- 1940 brought us the first archiveable films for the great Preston Sturges (and the beginning of his great five year run between 1940-1944)—The Great McGinty and Christmas in July. Carol Reed’s first archiveable film lands in 1940– Night Train to Munich. Reed would close the decade with The Third Man (1949) one of the best films of the era. It is the sort-of first archiveable film for Michael Powell as well as he co-directed The Thief of Bagdad
- On the acting side- George Sanders- one of cinema’s great villains and gentleman cads has his archiveable debut with both Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent– thank you Hitchcock- what a discovery
best performance male: Henry Fonda is the choice here. He gives an all-time performance as Tom Joad. His delivery of the speech at the end will give you chills. If Fonda wasn’t so brilliant the choice could easily be Cary Grant who is wonderful in both The Philadelphia Story and His Girl Friday. Jimmy Stewart also has a pair of brilliant performances in top five films with The Shop Around the Corner and his Oscar win (which many believe was a make-up for not winning in 1939 with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) for The Philadelphia Story. I have to give some love to the great Frank Morgan for his work in 1940 as well. He’s a character/supporting actor- best known for his roles in The Wizard of Oz (as the Wizard). He’s in four archiveable films in 1940: Boom Town, Broadway Melody of 1940, The Mortal Storm– and of course as his greatest role (sorry Wizard)- The Shop Around the Corner.
best performance female: It is a breakthrough here in 1940 on the female acting side. It is the greatest single year for this category to add in cinema’s history. There may be more here than in years 1930-1938 combined which is exciting. Rosalind Russell is hard to argue against. He takes the male role of The Front Page, and along with Hawks, gets credit for successfully flipping it to a female part and battling toe to toe with Cary Grant in His Girl Friday. If it isn’t Bringing Up Baby– this is Katharine Hepburn’s greatest work here in 1940 in The Philadelphia Story. It may be Fonda’s film but Jane Darwell steals her scenes in The Grapes of Wrath. Joan Fontaine and Judith Anderson are sublime in Rebecca. Lastly, just below these five but still worthy of mention are Margaret Sullavan (The Shop Around the Corner) and Bette Davis (The Letter). As I said, an all-time year for actresses.
Russell here of course from His Girl Friday– but also some nice character blocking from Hawks– not exactly Visconti or Kurosawa still very nicely done
one of the quiet (few) moments from The Philadelphia Story–it is a special film when it is essential viewing when talking about the careers of Cary Grant, Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart
a haunting dissolve edit in Hitch’s Rebecca
top 10
- The Grapes of Wrath
- Pinocchio
- His Girl Friday
- The Philadelphia Story
- The Shop Around the Corner
- Rebecca
- The Letter
- The Thief of Bagdad
- They Drive By Night
- The Great Dictator
Archives, Directors, and Grades
| All This And Heaven Too- Litvak | R |
| Boom Town- Conway | R |
| Broadway Melody of 1940- Taurog | R |
| Brother Orchid – Bacon | R |
| Christmas in July- P. Sturges | R |
| Dark Command- Walsh | R |
| Fantasia | HR |
| Foreign Correspondent- Hitchcock | R |
| Gaslight- Dickinson | R |
| His Girl Friday- Hawks | MS/MP |
| I Love You Again- Van Dyke | R |
| Kitty Foyle- S. Wood | R |
| My Favorite Wife- Kanin, Grant | R |
| Night Train to Munich – C. Reed | R/HR |
| Northwest Passage- Vidor | R |
| Our Town- S. Wood | R |
| Pinocchio- Sharpsteen | MS/MP |
| Pride and Prejudice- Leonard | R |
| Rebecca- Hitchcock | HR/MS |
| Remember the Night- Leisen | R |
| Stranger On the Third Floor- Ingster | R |
| The Bank Dick- Cline | R |
| The Grapes of Wrath- Ford | MP |
| The Great Dictator- Chaplin | HR |
| The Great McGinty- P. Sturges | R |
| The Letter- Wyler | HR/MS |
| The Long Voyage Home- Ford, Wayne | R |
| The Mark of Zorro- Mamoulian | R |
| The Mortal Storm- Borzage | R |
| The Philadelphia Story- Cukor | MS |
| The Sea Hawk- Curtiz | HR |
| The Shop Around the Corner- Lubitsch | MS |
| The Thief Of Bagdad- Powell | HR |
| The Westerner-Wyler | R |
| They Drive By Night- Walsh | HR |
| Waterloo Bridge- LeRoy | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-See- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
I was really impressed with His Girl Friday when I saw it today. It’s a satire of journalism and also a really good screwball comedy.
The war killed the career of Clark Gable the king of hollywood in the 1930s.There is a what if there too.
@Anderson- good point– still in Boom Town (which is great) here but that’s basically it for the 1940’s after that incredible 1930’s
Poor Olivier.You left him out of the best male category in both 1939 for Wuthering Heights and again here in 1940 for Rebecca.I wonder if he will ever get a mention considering he didn’t have a single film that is in the top 5 of any given year.
@Anderson- haha I thought the same thing. He’s the first man left off in both years. Tough break
Certainly someone like Cary Grant deserved to be nominated over Chaplin in The Great Dictator.And ceratainly Jimmy Stewart,Laurence Olivier and Henry Fonda deserved their nominations.If you have to fill that last spot who would it be?Is it Chaplin or someone else?
(This is considering Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart can only get nominated once for their two performances)
It’s not even close to his best work.But did Chaplin deserved his best actor oscar nomination?because the last speech is hard to swallow.
@Anderson- I don’t begrudge Chaplin the nomination. It is a fine performance outside of the speech. Crazy that this was his only acting Oscar nomination though.
It’s interesting that you call the great dictator overrated, wouldn’t that apply to many of his films?
You said evaluate all movies under the same criteria, but i’m not sure you do that with him.
Take a quick look at your top 500 and i have a hard time believing that City lights is so close to There will be blood, i love Chaplin movies, they are so funny and all but it does not seem fair, i do not know maybe i am missing something, enlighten me
@Aldo- I don’t understand the question I guess
How you evaluate Chaplin films?
I will try to go by parts to see if you understand me.
1. You said evaluate all movies under the same criteria, but i’m not sure you do that with him, but i think most of Chaplin’s movies have the same elements, so if the great dictator is overrated, wouldn’t his other movies be?
2. Like i said maybe i’m missing something of his movies, since i find it hard to believe that City lights is as good as There will be blood (since both are so close to their top, range 40-50)
@Aldo- gotcha. thanks for clarifying. I do try to evaluate them all the same (including Chaplin films). Is it possible I’m overrating City Lights and some of his other films? Sure- it has been awhile and maybe under close inspection they won’t hold up.
Like i said i love Chaplin, but it seems that nobody questions his films, critics have elevated Chaplin a lot.
Finally, someone left a comment on the 250 best directors page, that you have not answered, it is precisely about Chaplin, it would be good if you answered it
Did you call Great Dictator overrated and put it from a MS to HR without even watching the film during the last 3 years?
@Anderson- No, I saw it, realized it didn’t belong in the top 100 of the 1940’s, and moved it down a grade
Haha i forgot to mention this, before you had it as an MS, i see they complain of the final speech, but the reason this movie is overrated is because of its message, in the same way as Dr. Strangelove and some others, TSPDT loves these kinds of movies
So according to you, a movie that delivers a powerful message about war (visually and through dialogue)is overrated by TSPDT because it delivers a powerful message?
I disagree with that
@Azman The idea is that movies with powerful messages get overrated by critics/audiences because the message resonates so strongly as opposed to the actual filmmaking. The difference between Schindler’s List and Hotel Rwanda isn’t that one film has a much stronger message than the other, it’s that one is exquisitely made and the other is not.
Yeah @Azman, TSPDT loves anti-war and humanistic movies, i’m going to give you a good example, Dunkirk is a masterpiece of the edition, cold characters for which you do not get involved or feel anything, but somehow a nice movie like Amour is much more praised, i can’t watch both movies and
think that the second is better like all the critics do.
Sure there are exceptions like Tokyo Story, but Tokyo Story would be horrible without all of Ozu’s style.
@matt Harris and @aldo. This seems to be a generalisation. Platoon is such a good movie with such a strong message yet it’s completely of the TSPDT top 1000.
A lot of the greatest films of all time have very powerful messages and a lot of the top movies on TSPDT top 1000 don’t even have messages to them and are just simple fun well made films (like Raiders)
But I agree, you guys correctly described why some films may be overrated and underrated by critics though it’s not always the case
I don’t think Dr Strangelove is entirely rated so highly because of the message like Aldo said but rather the writing, direction, acting and set pieces.
I don’t think it’s a good comparison, Stone is quite belittled for precisely the content of his films, just read some of the JFK reviews
The problem is that a moderately good movie with a powerful message receives more attention than one that doesn’t and is far better
I think they had already mentioned it but according to these “great critics” there are 23 better movies than the revenant, there are also 8 better movies than Dunkirk, seriously?
I chose Strangelove because they have it as Kubrick’s second best and ranked # 50, i seriously can’t finish watching ACO, BL, Shining and POG and think it’s better and it’s neither of those two that i mentioned.
Very good movie, but just watch read some reviews and they mainly focus on “glorious anti-war comedy”
To all this i lost the point with TSPDT, point this out because according to them, Get Out (which i like) a good movie with a message about racism is better than Dunkirk.
This is what i mean, they pay more attention to the message, i wonder if they know how to evaluate movies, i can’t finish watching both and think that Get out is better
1940 was quite a year wasn’t it? I adored His Girl Friday. I was so pleasantly surprised by this film. Granted I unfortunately haven’t got around to Bringing Up Baby yet, so I can’t say that I’ve seen the height of screwball comedy but it wasn’t ever really a genre that I could easily connect with. I’ve seen It Happened One Night and thought it was particularly strong (mostly in its performances), the Awful Truth, which was enjoyable (they were both sublime here, and Dunne’s character was simply marvelous) and the Lady Eve which was really something. So I’m really eager to dive a little deeper into the screwball comedy genre. But out of all these, I think His Girl Friday is objectively the best and the one that really did it for me. The writing is razor sharp, and I think one could argue that it is one of the best examples of dialogue in cinema history. I’ve never seen any other film with so much talking in such a speed that could get away with it without feeling remotely tiring. It was incredible. Cary Grant is obviously a richly talented comedian but this is Rosalind Russell’s show, isn’t it? She was unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything like this before. She carried every word with such charm and so naturally – and, I mean, there were a lot of words. I’m looking forward to taking a look at Bringing Up Baby as well.
That said, Rebecca is surprisingly effective for its era and possibly something moviegoers had never seen before at the time. So eerie and so gothic and perfect. I suppose it justifiably launched Hitchcock very solely onto the Hollywood scenery. I have many films here I haven’t seen and I absolutely need a rewatch of the Grapes of Wrath because it’s been a century since my first viewing. I haven’t had a chance to mention it yet, but the updates of the each year’s archives look really great. Definitely keep it up. This has become by far my favourite blog.
@Georg- thanks for the kind words on the site and on the yearly archives updates. It has been a lot of fun trying to clean up the pages and add some images and hyperlinks here and there. They do take a long time though.
I’m with you on His Girl Friday– razor sharp– and the speed of it all.
Watched Rebecca for just the 2nd time, the first was 4 years ago in a Pittsburgh theatre showing older films. Absolutely gorgeous almost Great Expectations level of cinematography with the gothic style visuals. Both the interiors and exteriors of the baroque mansion are gorgeously captured to the point of architecture as character. The use of fog is effective both visually and narratively given the mysterious nature of the film. The performances, narrative, and writing are great as well. I have stayed away from the 2020 version so far given the reviews and after watching Hitchcock’s version again I have little interest in the new one. I will definitely need another viewing but am I going overboard by suggesting this is near MP level?
@James Trapp- Great share here- I’m overdue for a rewatch. I know the great Matt Harris is a big champion of Rebecca. And when he and I disagree, he is correct as least as often as I am… probably more.
I haven’t seen The Great Dictator but I am curious why you say ” I admire aspects of The Great Dictator but the speech at the end is hard to get past—what bitter pill to swallow to end the film.” – the speech is listed as the best movie monolouge of all time in this Taste of Cinema article.
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2016/the-20-best-movie-monologues-of-all-time/3/
@Harry- You should check it out. I think whether it is good politics and a good speech is one thing/argument (I need more than “We think too much and feel too little”) but as art- I don’t see how could defend it. I could see someone arguing that this moment in history called for politics to trump art- but that’s not really the way I watch cinema.
Drake,
When you assess animated films do you use the same basic criteria for grading?
Or do the same basic principles applly equally?
I’ve been meaning to check out Fantasia for while now, it is one of the 1st films I can ever remember
watching, I was probably like 5 years old.
@James Trapp- I do try to use the same basic criteria here. There are outliers- but I find most animated films are treated very differently by most critics. I used to say you have to subtract 10 points on every animated films metacritic score.
1940 is also a banner year for Disney with both Pinocchio and Fantasia
@Drake – what are some of your highest ranked Disney/Animated films? Any MPs?
@James Trapp – Pinocchio is the highest rated I believe. I do not believe there are been any major recent additions so most of the top 500 and top 100 of the decades pages would still hold here for the most part.