1940 in film

The top ten 1940 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• February 10 – Tom and Jerry make their debut in the animated cartoon Puss Gets the Boot.
• February 23 – Walt Disney's second animated feature film Pinocchio is released. Although not a box office success upon its initial release, the film receives critical acclaim and wins two Academy Awards, including one for Best Original Song for "When You Wish Upon a Star". Over the years, Pinocchio has gained a cult following and is now considered one of the greatest films of all time.
• March 21 – Alfred Hitchcock's first American film Rebecca is released, under the production of David O. Selznick. It would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture the following year.
• May 17 – My Favorite Wife is released.
• May – A reproduction of "America's First Movie Studio", Thomas Edison's Black Maria, is constructed.
• July 27 – Bugs Bunny makes his official debut in the animated cartoon A Wild Hare.
• October 15 – Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, a satirical comedy starring him, premieres in New York City. It is a critical and commercial success and goes on to become Chaplin's most financially successful film.
• November 13 – World premiere of Walt Disney's animated film Fantasia at the Broadway Theatre in New York City, the first film to be released in a multi-channel sound format (see Fantasound). The film also marks the first use of the click track while recording the soundtrack, overdubbing of orchestral parts, simultaneous multitrack recording and is cited as a key chapter in the conception and development of the multi-channel surround system. Like Pinocchio, the film is a box office failure for Disney, though it recoups its cost years later and becomes one of the most highly regarded of Disney's films.
• December 5 – Release of The Thief of Bagdad, pioneering the use of chroma key effects.
• In the United Kingdom, the Crown Film Unit supersedes the GPO Film Unit in the production of documentary films.

• Best Picture: Rebecca – David O. Selznick, United Artists
• Best Director: John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath
• Best Actor: James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story
• Best Actress: Ginger Rogers – Kitty Foyle
• Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan – The Westerner
• Best Supporting Actress: Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath

United States unless stated

United States unless stated

• Adventures of Red Ryder, directed by William Witney and John English
• Deadwood Dick, directed by James W. Horne
• Drums of Fu Manchu, starring Henry Brandon and Robert Kellard, directed by William Witney and John English
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, starring Buster Crabbe
• The Green Archer, starring Victor Jory, directed by James W. Horne
• The Green Hornet, starring Warren Hull
• Junior G-Men, starring the Dead End Kids
• King of the Royal Mounted starring Allan Lane, directed by William Witney and John English
• Mysterious Doctor Satan, starring Eduardo Ciannelli, directed by William Witney and John English
• The Shadow, starring Victor Jory, directed by James W. Horne
• Terry and the Pirates, starring William Tracy, directed by James W. Horne
• Winners of the West, starring Dick Foran and Anne Nagel

• Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Charley Chase (1924-1940)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

• Krazy Kat (1925-1940)
• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• Donald Duck (1937–1956)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Walter Lantz Cartunes (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938–1942)
• Goofy (1939–1955)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
  • Knock Knock! (first appearance of Woody Woodpecker)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
  • Puss Gets the Boot

• January 3 – Thelma Schoonmaker, American editor
• January 22 – John Hurt, English actor (died 2017)
• January 27 – James Cromwell, American actor
• January 29 – Katharine Ross, American actress
• February 4 – George A. Romero, American director, producer and screenwriter (died 2017)
• February 12 – Ralph Bates, English actor (died 1991)
• February 23 – Peter Fonda, American actor (died 2019)
• February 27 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (died 2011)
• March 9 – Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (died 1994)
• March 10 – Chuck Norris, American actor and martial artist
• March 26 – James Caan, American actor
• March 27 - Austin Pendleton, American actor, playwright, theatre director and instructor
• April 17 – Billy Fury, English singer and actor (died 1983)
• April 25 – Al Pacino, American actor
• April 30 – Burt Young, American actor
• May 5 – Lance Henriksen, American actor
• May 15 – Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
• May 17 – Valie Export, Austrian director
• June 1 – René Auberjonois, American actor (died 2019)
• June 20 – John Mahoney, English-born American actor (died 2018)
• June 22 – Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian director (died 2016)
• June 23 – Adam Faith, English actor and singer (died 2003)
• July 4 – Karolyn Grimes, American actress
• July 7 – Ringo Starr, English drummer (The Beatles)
• July 13 – Patrick Stewart, English actor
• July 18 – James Brolin, American actor
• July 24 – Dan Hedaya, American actor
• July 28 - Phil Proctor, American actor, voice actor and member of the Firesign Theatre
• August 3 – Martin Sheen, American actor
• August 15
  • Maria Grazia Buccella, Italian actress
  • Ze'ev Revach, Israeli comedian, film actor, director
• August 19 – Jill St. John, American actress
• August 27 – Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (died 1994)
• August 31
  • Larry Hankin, American character actor, performer, director, comedian and producer.
  • Jack Thompson, Australian actor
• September 5 – Raquel Welch, American actress
• September 11 – Brian De Palma, American director, producer and screenwriter
• September 22 – Anna Karina, Danish-born French actress, director and singer (died 2019)
• October 9 – John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and musician (The Beatles) (shot to death 1980)
• October 14 – Cliff Richard, English singer and actor
• October 16 - Barry Corbin, American actor
• October 19 – Michael Gambon, Irish-born British actor
• November 2 – Gigi Proietti, Italian actor (died 2020)
• November 5 – Elke Sommer, German actress
• November 13 – Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Austrian experimental filmmaker (died 1969)
• November 15 – Sam Waterston, American actor
• November 20 – Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director (died 2014)
• November 22 - Terry Gilliam, American-born British screenwriter, director and animator (Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• November 27 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and actor (died 1973)
• December 1 – Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (died 2005)
• December 13 – Volli Käro, Estonian actor

• January 4 – Flora Finch, 72, American actress, A Cure for Pokeritis, The Cat and the Canary, Quality Street, Her Crowning Glory
• February 20 – George Periolat, 66, American actor, The Mark of Zorro, One Rainy Afternoon, Morning Glory, What Price Hollywood?
• March 5 – Maxine Elliott, 66, American actress, Fighting Odds
• April 9 – Mrs. Patrick Campbell, 75, English actress, Riptide, One More River
• April 11 – Hemmo Kallio, 77, Finnish actor, Anna Liisa
• May 25 – Joe De Grasse, 67, Canadian-born American film director, Heart o' the Hills, The Scarlet Car, The Girl of the Night
• July 1 – Ben Turpin, 70, American actor, Saps at Sea, Mr. Flip, A Clever Dummy
• July 15 – Donald Calthrop, 52, English actor, Scrooge, Blackmail, Murder!, Major Barbara
• September 25 – Marguerite Clark, 57, American actress, Scrambled Wives, Easy to Get, All of a Sudden Peggy, A Girl Named Mary
• October 10 – Berton Churchill, 63, Canadian actor, Stagecoach, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, In Old Chicago, Heroes for Sale
• October 12 – Tom Mix, 60, American actor, The Miracle Rider, Riders of the Purple Sage, Sky High
• December 13 – Wilfred Lucas, 69, Canadian-born American actor, screenwriter, director, Modern Times, A Chump at Oxford, The Girl and Her Trust

• Jack Albertson – Strike up the Band
• Dana Andrews – Lucky Cisco Kid
• Anne Baxter – 20 Mule Team
• Hugh Griffith – Night Train to Munich
• Van Johnson – Too Many Girls
• Arthur Kennedy – City for Conquest
• Karl Malden – They Knew What They Wanted
• Terry Moore – Maryland
• Robert Ryan – The Ghost Breakers
• Gene Tierney – The Return of Frank James
• David Tomlinson – Garrison Follies
• Forrest Tucker – The Westerner
• Gig Young – Misbehaving Husbands
• Deborah Kerr – Contraband
• Donna Reed – Convicted Woman