Oscar statuette ©AMPAS


1939 (12th Annual Awards)
Academy Award Overview

Shown below is an overview of the 1939 Academy Awards, comprised of selected items from the WebMaster’s collection. (All of the items for a given category—for example, all Reminder Lists—can be found in the “Gallery” section.)

Click on an image on the left to display a larger version of it, or click on the text descriptions in the middle to display the report or content indicated. You can also click on a year in the column on the right to display the Academy Award Overview for that year.

The 1939 Preliminaries

1939 (12th) Reminder List of Eligible Releases

1939 (12th) Voting Rules
Eligibility Period:
January 1, 1939 to December 31, 1939

Reminder List of Eligible Releases

Text of Voting Rules

The 1939 Ceremony

Thursday, February 29, 1940
8:30 PM

The Cocoanut Grove of the
Ambassador Hotel,
Los Angeles


Nominations & Winners
Winners Only
Nominations by Film
Nomination Statistics by Film

See Also:
    Nominations & Winners by Category
    Winners Only by Category

The 1939 Winners

1939 (12th) Best Picture Poster: “Gone with the Wind”

1939 (12th) Best Picture Home Page Background: “Gone with the Wind”


Best Picture:
Gone with the Wind
Selznick International Pictures;
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Best Picture Poster

Best Picture Home Page Background

1939 (12th) Best Actor: Robert Donat   1939 (12th) Best Actor Volpe Sketch: Robert Donat Best Actor:
Robert Donat
as Mr. Charles Chipping
in the film
Goodbye, Mr. Chips

1939 (12th) Best Actress: Vivien Leigh   1939 (12th) Best Actress Volpe Sketch: Vivien Leigh Best Actress:
Vivien Leigh
as Scarlett O’Hara
in the film
Gone with the Wind

1939 (4th) Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Mitchell Best Supporting Actor:
Thomas Mitchell
as Josiah ‘Doc’ Boone
in the film
Stagecoach

1939 (4th) Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel Best Supporting Actress:
Hattie McDaniel
as Mammy
in the film
Gone with the Wind

1939 (6th) Best Song: “Over the Rainbow” Best Song:
Over the Rainbow
from the film
The Wizard of Oz

Music by Harold Arlen;
lyrics by E. Y. Harburg

Best Song Lyrics