The 1940 Academy Awards were presented Feb. 27, 1941 at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles.
| Outstanding Production | All This, and Heaven Too (Warner Bros.) |
| Foreign Correspondent (Walter Wanger; United Artists) |
| The Grapes of Wrath (Twentieth Century-Fox) |
| The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin Productions; United Artists) |
| Kitty Foyle (RKO Radio) |
| The Letter (Warner Bros.) |
| The Long Voyage Home (Argosy-Wanger; United Artists) |
| Our Town (Sol Lesser; United Artists) |
| The Philadelphia Story (MGM) |
| Rebecca (Selznick International Pictures, United Artists) |
| Best Actor | Charles Chaplin, The Great Dictator |
| Henry Fonda, The Grapes of Wrath |
| Raymond Massey, Abe Lincoln in Illinois |
| Laurence Olivier, Rebecca |
| James Stewart, The Philadelphia Story |
| Best Actress | Bette Davis, The Letter |
| Joan Fontaine, Rebecca |
| Katharine Hepburn, The Philadelphia Story |
| Ginger Rogers, Kitty Foyle |
| Martha Scott, Our Town |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Albert Basserman, Foreign Correspondent |
| Walter Brennan, The Westerner |
| William Gargan, They Knew What They Wanted |
| Jack Oakie, The Great Dictator |
| James Stephenson, The Letter |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Judith Anderson, Rebecca |
| Jane Darwell, The Grapes of Wrath |
| Ruth Hussey, The Philadelphia Story |
| Barbara O'Neil, All This, and Heaven Too |
| Marjorie Rambeau, Primrose Path |
| Directing | George Cukor, The Philadelphia Story |
| John Ford, The Grapes of Wrath |
| Alfred Hitchcock, Rebecca |
| Sam Wood, Kitty Foyle |
| William Wyler, The Letter |
| Writing | | Original Story | Hugo Butler and Dore Schary, Edison, the Man | | Benjamin Glazer and John S. Toldy, Arise, My Love | | Stuart N. Lake, The Westerner | | Leo McCarey, Bella Spewack and Samuel Spewack, My Favorite Wife | | Walter Reisch, Comrade X | | Original Screenplay | Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison, Foreign Correspondent | | Norman Burnside, Heinz Herald and John Huston, Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet | | Charles Chaplin, The Great Dictator | | Ben Hecht, Angels Over Broadway | | Preston Sturges, The Great McGinty | |
 Preston Sturges Archive Photos |
| | Screenplay | Nunnally Johnson, The Grapes of Wrath | | Dudley Nichols, The Long Voyage Home | | Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, Rebecca | | Donald Ogden Stewart, The Philadelphia Story | | Dalton Trumbo, Kitty Foyle |
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| Cinematography | | Black-and-White | George Barnes, Rebecca | | Gaetano Gaudio, The Letter | | Ernest Haller, All This, and Heaven Too | | James Wong Howe, Abe Lincoln in Illinois | | Charles B. Lang, Jr., Arise, My Love | | Rudolph Maté, Foreign Correspondent | | Harold Rosson, Boom Town | | Joseph Ruttenberg, Waterloo Bridge | | Gregg Toland, The Long Voyage Home | | Joseph Valentine, Spring Parade | | Color | Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey, Bitter Sweet | | Arthur Miller and Ray Rennahan, The Blue Bird | | Victor Milner and W. Howard Greene, Northwest Mounted Police | | Georges Perinal, The Thief of Bagdad | | Leon Shamroy and Ray Rennahan, Down Argentine Way | | Sidney Wagner and William V. Skall, Northwest Passage |
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| Art Direction | | Black-and-White | Lionel Banks and Robert Peterson, Arizona | | James Basevi, The Westerner | | Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright, Lillian Russell | | Hans Dreier and Robert Usher, Arise, My Love | | John DuCasse Schulze, My Son, My Son! | | Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse, Pride and Prejudice | | Alexander Golitzen, Foreign Correspondent | | Anton Grot, The Sea Hawk | | John Victor Mackay, The Dark Command | | John Otterson, The Boys From Syracuse | | Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk, My Favorite Wife | | Lewis J. Rachmil, Our Town | | Lyle Wheeler, Rebecca | | Color | Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright, Down Argentine Way | | Hans Dreier and Roland Anderson, Northwest Mounted Police | | Cedric Gibbons and John S. Detlie, Bitter Sweet | | Vincent Korda, The Thief of Bagdad |
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| Sound Recording | Columbia Studio Sound Dept., Too Many Husbands |
| General Service Sound Dept., The Howards of Virginia |
| Hal Roach Studio Sound Dept., Captain Caution |
| MGM Studio Sound Dept., Strike Up the Band |
| Paramount Studio Sound Dept., Northwest Mounted Police |
| Republic Studio Sound Dept., Behind the News |
| RKO Radio Studio Sound Dept., Kitty Foyle |
| Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Dept., Our Town |
| Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Sound Dept., The Grapes of Wrath |
| Universal Studio Sound Dept., Spring Parade |
| Warner Bros. Studio Sound Dept., The Sea Hawk |
| Music | | Song | “Down Argentine Way,” Down Argentine Way, Harry Warren, music; Mack Gordon, lyrics | | “I'd Know You Anywhere,” You'll Find Out, Jimmy McHugh, music; Johnny Mercer, lyrics | | “It's a Blue World,” Music in My Heart, Chet Forrest and Bob Wright, music and lyrics | | “Love of My Life,” Second Chorus, Artie Shaw, music; Johnny Mercer, lyrics | | “Only Forever,” Rhythm on the River, James Monaco, music; John Burke, lyrics | | “Our Love Affair,” Strike Up the Band, Roger Edens and Arthur Freed, music and lyrics | | “Waltzing in the Clouds,” Spring Parade, Robert Stolz, music; Gus Kahn, lyrics | | “When You Wish Upon a Star,” Pinocchio, Leigh Harline, music; Ned Washington, lyrics | | “Who Am I?,” Hit Parade of 1941, Jule Styne, music; Walter Bullock, lyrics | | Score | Anthony Collins, Irene | | Aaron Copland, Our Town | | Cy Feuer, Hit Parade of 1941 | | Erich Wolfgang Korngold, The Sea Hawk | | Alfred Newman, Tin Pan Alley | | Charles Previn, Spring Parade | | Artie Shaw, Second Chorus | | Georgie Stoll and Roger Edens, Strike Up the Band | | Victor Young, Arise, My Love | | Original Score | Aaron Copland, Our Town | | Louis Gruenberg, The Fight for Life | | Richard Hageman, The Howards of Virginia | | Richard Hageman, The Long Voyage Home | | Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith and Ned Washington, Pinocchio | | Werner Heymann, One Million B.C. | | Alfred Newman, The Mark of Zorro | | Miklos Rozsa, The Thief of Bagdad | | Frank Skinner, The House of Seven Gables | | Max Steiner, The Letter | | Herbert Stothart, Waterloo Bridge | | Franz Waxman, Rebecca | | Roy Webb, My Favorite Wife | | Meredith Willson, The Great Dictator | | Victor Young, Arizona | | Victor Young, The Dark Command | | Victor Young, Northwest Mounted Police |
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| Film Editing | Anne Bauchens, Northwest Mounted Police |
| Hal C. Kern, Rebecca |
| Warren Low, The Letter |
| Robert E. Simpson, The Grapes of Wrath |
| Sherman Todd, The Long Voyage Home |
| Special Effects | Lawrence Butler, photography; Jack Whitney, sound, The Thief of Bagdad |
| Jack Cosgrove, photography; Arthur Johns, sound, Rebecca |
| Paul Eagler, photography; Thomas T. Moulton, sound, Foreign Correspondent |
| Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings, photography, Dr. Cyclops |
| Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings, photography; Loren Ryder, sound, Typhoon |
| John P. Fulton, photography; Bernard B. Brown and Joseph Lapis, sound, The Boys From Syracuse |
| John P. Fulton, photography; Bernard B. Brown and William Hedgecock, sound, The Invisible Man Returns |
| A. Arnold Gillespie, photography; Douglas Shearer, sound, Boom Town |
| Byron Haskin, photography; Nathan Levinson, sound, The Sea Hawk |
| R. T. Layton and R. O. Binger, photography; Thomas T. Moulton, sound, The Long Voyage Home |
| Howard J. Lydecker, William Bradford and Ellis J. Thackery, photography; Herbert Norsch, sound, Women in War |
| Roy Seawright, photography; Elmer Raguse, sound, One Million B.C. |
| Fred Sersen, photography; E.H. Hansen, sound, The Blue Bird |
| Vernon L. Walker, photography; John O. Aalberg, sound, Swiss Family Robinson |
| Short Subjects | | Cartoon | The Milky Way (Rudolph Ising Series) (MGM) | | Puss Gets the Boot (Cat and Mouse Series) (MGM) | | A Wild Hare (Bugs Bunny Series) (Leon Schlesinger, producer; Warner Bros.) | | One-Reel | London Can Take It (Vitaphone Varieties Series) (Warner Bros.) | | More About Nostradamus (Miniature Series) (MGM) | | Quicker 'n a Wink (Pete Smith Specialties Series) (Pete Smith, producer; MGM) | | Siege (Reelism Series) (RKO Radio) | | Two-Reel | Eyes of the Navy (Crime Doesn't Pay Series) (MGM) | | Service With the Colors (National Defense Series) (Warner Bros.) | | Teddy, the Rough Rider (Historical Featurette Series) (Warner Bros.) |
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| Special Awards | To Bob Hope in recognition of his unselfish services to the motion picture industry |
| To Colonel Nathan Levinson for his outstanding service to the industry and the Army during the past nine years, which has made possible the present efficient mobilization of the motion picture industry facilities for the production of Army training films |
