The 1939 Academy Awards were presented Feb. 29, 1940 at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles.
| Outstanding Production | Dark Victory (Warner Bros.-First National) |
| Gone With the Wind (Selznick International Pictures; MGM) |
| Goodbye, Mr. Chips (MGM) |
| Love Affair (RKO Radio) |
| Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Columbia) |
| Ninotchka (MGM) |
| Of Mice and Men (Hal Roach; United Artists) |
| Stagecoach (Walter Wanger; United Artists) |
| The Wizard of Oz (MGM) |
| Wuthering Heights (Goldwyn; United Artists) |
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 Stagecoach Archive Photos |
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| Best Actor | Robert Donat, Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
| Clark Gable, Gone With the Wind |
| Laurence Olivier, Wuthering Heights |
| Mickey Rooney, Babes in Arms |
| James Stewart, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington |
| Best Actress | Bette Davis, Dark Victory |
| Irene Dunne, Love Affair |
| Greta Garbo, Ninotchka |
| Greer Garson, Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
| Vivien Leigh, Gone With the Wind |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Brian Aherne, Juarez |
| Harry Carey, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington |
| Brian Donlevy, Beau Geste |
| Thomas Mitchell, Stagecoach |
| Claude Rains, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Olivia de Havilland, Gone With the Wind |
| Geraldine Fitzgerald, Wuthering Heights |
| Hattie McDaniel, Gone With the Wind |
| Edna May Oliver, Drums Along the Mohawk |
| Maria Ouspenskaya, Love Affair |
| Directing | Frank Capra, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington |
| Victor Fleming, Gone With the Wind |
| John Ford, Stagecoach |
| Sam Wood, Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
| William Wyler, Wuthering Heights |
| Writing | | Original Story | Mildred Cram and Leo McCarey, Love Affair | | Lewis R. Foster, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | | Felix Jackson, Bachelor Mother | | Melchior Lengyel, Ninotchka | | Lamar Trotti, Young Mr. Lincoln | | Screenplay | Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Billy Wilder, Ninotchka | | Sidney Buchman, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | | Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Wuthering Heights | | Sidney Howard, Gone With the Wind | | Eric Maschwitz, R. C. Sherriff and Claudine West, Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
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| Cinematography | | Black-and-White | Joseph H. August, Gunga Din | | Norbert Brodine, Of Mice and Men | | George Folsey, Lady of the Tropics | | Tony Gaudio, Juarez | | Bert Glennon, Stagecoach | | Arthur Miller, The Rains Came | | Victor Milner, The Great Victor Herbert | | Gregg Toland, Intermezzo | | Gregg Toland, Wuthering Heights | | Joseph Valentine, First Love | | Joseph Walker, Only Angels Have Wings | | Color | Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan, Gone With the Wind | | Georges Perinal and Osmond Borradaile, Four Feathers | | Sol Polito and W. Howard Greene, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex | | Ray Rennahan and Bert Glennon, Drums Along the Mohawk | | Hal Rosson, The Wizard of Oz | | William V. Skall and Bernard Knowles, The Mikado |
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| Art Direction | Lionel Banks, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington |
| James Basevi, Wuthering Heights |
| William Darling and George Dudley, The Rains Came |
| Hans Dreier and Robert Odell, Beau Geste |
| Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning, The Wizard of Oz |
| Anton Grot, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex |
| Charles D. Hall, Captain Fury |
| John Victor Mackay, Man of Conquest |
| Jack Otterson and Martin Obzina, First Love |
| Van Nest Polglase and Al Herman, Love Affair |
| Alexander Toluboff, Stagecoach |
| Lyle Wheeler, Gone With the Wind |
| Sound Recording | Columbia Studio Sound Dept., Mr. Smith Goes to Washington |
| Denham Studio Sound Dept., Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
| Hal Roach Studio Sound Dept., Of Mice and Men |
| MGM Studio Sound Dept., Balalaika |
| Paramount Studio Sound Dept., The Great Victor Herbert |
| Republic Studio Sound Dept., Man of Conquest |
| RKO Radio Studio Sound Dept., The Hunchback of Notre Dame |
| Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Dept., Gone With the Wind |
| Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Sound Dept., The Rains Came |
| Universal Studio Sound Dept., When Tomorrow Comes |
| Warner Bros. Studio Sound Dept., The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex |
| Music | | Song | “Faithful Forever,” Gulliver's Travels, Ralph Rainger, music; Leo Robin, lyrics | | “I Poured My Heart Into a Song,” Second Fiddle, Irving Berlin, music and lyrics | | “Over the Rainbow,” The Wizard of Oz, Harold Arlen, music; E. Y. Harburg, lyrics | | “Wishing,” Love Affair, Buddy de Sylva, music and lyrics | | Score | Phil Boutelje and Arthur Lange, The Great Victor Herbert | | Aaron Copland, Of Mice and Men | | Roger Edens and George E. Stoll, Babes in Arms | | Cy Feuer, She Married a Cop | | Lou Forbes, Intermezzo | | Richard Hageman, Frank Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken, Stagecoach | | Erich Wolfgang Korngold, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex | | Alfred Newman, The Hunchback of Notre Dame | | Alfred Newman, They Shall Have Music | | Charles Previn, First Love | | Louis Silvers, Swanee River | | Dimitri Tiomkin, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | | Victor Young, Way Down South | | Original Score | Anthony Collins, Nurse Edith Cavell | | Aaron Copland, Of Mice and Men | | Lud Gluskin and Lucien Moraweck, The Man in the Iron Mask | | Werner Janssen, Eternally Yours | | Alfred Newman, The Rains Came | | Alfred Newman, Wuthering Heights | | Max Steiner, Dark Victory | | Max Steiner, Gone With the Wind | | Herbert Stothart, The Wizard of Oz | | Victor Young, Golden Boy | | Victor Young, Gulliver's Travels | | Victor Young, Man of Conquest |
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| Film Editing | Charles Frend, Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
| Gene Havlick and Al Clark, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington |
| Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom, Gone With the Wind |
| Otho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer, Stagecoach |
| Barbara McLean, The Rains Came |
| Special Effects | John R. Cosgrove, Fred Albin and Arthur Johns, Gone With the Wind |
| Roy Davidson and Edwin C. Hahn, Only Angels Have Wings |
| Farciot Edouart, Gordon Jennings and Loren Ryder, Union Pacific |
| A. Arnold Gillespie and Douglas Shearer, The Wizard of Oz |
| E. H. Hansen and Fred Sersen, The Rains Came |
| Byron Haskin and Nathan Levinson, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex |
| Roy Seawright, Topper Takes a Trip |
| Short Subjects | | Cartoon | Detouring America (Merrie Melodies Series) (Warner Bros.) | | Peace on Earth (Hugh Harmon, producer; MGM) | | The Pointer (Mickey Mouse Series) (Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio) | | The Ugly Duckling (Silly Symphony Series) (Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio) | | One-Reel | Busy Little Bears (Paragraphics Series) (Paramount) | | Information Please (RKO Radio) | | Prophet Without Honor (Miniature Series) (MGM) | | Sword Fishing (Vitaphone Variety Series) (Warner Bros.) | | Two-Reel | Drunk Driving (Crime Doesn't Pay Series) (MGM) | | Five Times Five (Pathé; RKO Radio) | | Sons of Liberty (Historical Featurette Series) (Warner Bros.) |
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| Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award | David O. Selznick |
| Special Awards | To Douglas Fairbanks (Commemorative Award) recognizing his 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 its outstanding services to the industry during the past year 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 |
