The 14th Academy Awards honored film achievements in 1941 and were held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was briefly cancelled due to the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.
The ceremony is now considered notable as the year in which Citizen Kane failed to win Best Picture, losing to John Ford's How Green Was My Valley. Later regarded as the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane was nominated for nine awards but won only one, for Best Original Screenplay.
John Ford won his third Best Director award for How Green Was My Valley, becoming the second to do so (after Frank Capra), and the first to win the award in consecutive years (following The Grapes of Wrath in 1940).
Much public attention was focused on the Best Actress race between sibling rivals Joan Fontaine, for Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion, and Olivia de Havilland, for Hold Back the Dawn. Fontaine won, becoming the only acting winner from a film directed by Hitchcock.
The Little Foxes set a record by receiving nine nominations without winning a single Oscar; this mark was matched by Peyton Place in 1957, and exceeded by The Turning Point and The Color Purple, both of which received 11 nominations without a win.
Winners and nominees
Awards Nominations were announced on February 6, 1942. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
How Green Was My Valley – Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox Blossoms in the Dust – Irving Asher for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Citizen Kane – Orson Welles for RKO Radio Here Comes Mr. Jordan – Everett Riskin for Columbia Hold Back the Dawn – Arthur Hornblow Jr. for Paramount The Little Foxes – Samuel Goldwyn for RKO Radio The Maltese Falcon – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros. One Foot in Heaven – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros. Sergeant York – Hal B. Wallis and Jesse L. Lasky for Warner Bros. Suspicion – Alfred Hitchcock for RKO RadioJohn Ford – How Green Was My Valley Orson Welles – Citizen Kane Alexander Hall – Here Comes Mr. Jordan William Wyler – The Little Foxes Howard Hawks – Sergeant YorkGary Cooper – Sergeant York as Alvin C. York Cary Grant – Penny Serenade as Roger Adams Walter Huston – All That Money Can Buy as Mr Scratch Robert Montgomery – Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Joe Pendleton Orson Welles – Citizen Kane as Charles Foster KaneJoan Fontaine – Suspicion as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth Bette Davis – The Little Foxes as Regina Hubbard Giddens Olivia de Havilland – Hold Back the Dawn as Emmy Brown Greer Garson – Blossoms in the Dust as Edna Kahly Gladney Barbara Stanwyck – Ball of Fire as Katherine "Sugarpuss" O'SheaDonald Crisp – How Green Was My Valley as Gwilym Morgan Walter Brennan – Sergeant York as Pastor Rosier Pile Charles Coburn – The Devil and Miss Jones as John P. Merrick James Gleason – Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Max "Pop" Corkle Sydney Greenstreet – The Maltese Falcon as Kasper GutmanMary Astor – The Great Lie as Sandra Kovak Sara Allgood – How Green Was My Valley as Mrs Beth Morgan Patricia Collinge – The Little Foxes as Birdie Hubbard Teresa Wright – The Little Foxes as Alexandra Giddens Margaret Wycherly – Sergeant York as Mary Brooks YorkHere Comes Mr. Jordan – Harry Segall Ball of Fire – Billy Wilder and Thomas Monroe The Lady Eve – Monckton Hoffe Meet John Doe – Richard Connell and Robert Presnell Sr. Night Train to Munich – Gordon WellesleyCitizen Kane – Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles The Devil and Miss Jones – Norman Krasna Sergeant York – John Huston, Howard Koch, Abem Finkel, and Harry Chandlee Tall, Dark and Handsome – Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware Tom, Dick and Harry – Paul JarricoHere Comes Mr. Jordan – Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller, based on the play Heaven Can Wait by Harry Segall Hold Back the Dawn – Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on "Memo to a Movie Producer" by Ketti Frings How Green Was My Valley – Philip Dunne, based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn The Little Foxes – Lillian Hellman, based on the play by Lillian Hellman The Maltese Falcon – John Huston, based on the novel by Dashiell HammettChurchill's Island – National Film Board of Canada and United Artists Adventure in the Bronx – Film Associates Bomber: A Defense Report on Film – U.S. Office for Emergency Management Film Unit and Motion Picture Committee Cooperating for National Defense Christmas Under Fire – British Ministry of Information and Warner Bros. A Letter from Home – British Ministry of Information and United Artists Life of a Thoroughbred – Truman Talley and 20th Century Fox Norway in Revolt – The March of Time and RKO Radio A Place to Live – Philadelphia Housing Authority and Philadelphia Housing Association Russian Soil – Amkino Soldiers of the Sky – Truman Talley and 20th Century Fox War Clouds in the Pacific – National Film Board of Canada and MGMOf Pups and Puzzles – MGM Army Champions – Pete Smith and MGM Beauty and the Beach – Paramount Down on the Farm – Paramount Forty Boys and a Song – Warner Bros. Kings of the Turf – Warner Bros. Sagebrush and Silver – 20th Century FoxMain Street on the March! – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Alive in the Deep – Woodard Productions, Inc. Forbidden Passage – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer The Gay Parisian – Warner Bros. The Tanks Are Coming – U.S. Army and Warner Bros.Lend a Paw – Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B – Walter Lantz Productions and Universal Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt – Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. How War Came – Columbia The Night Before Christmas – MGM Rhapsody in Rivets – Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. Rhythm in the Ranks – George Pal Productions and Paramount The Rookie Bear – MGM Superman – Fleischer Studios and Paramount Truant Officer Donald – Walt Disney Productions and RKO RadioAll That Money Can Buy – Bernard Herrmann Back Street – Frank Skinner Ball of Fire – Alfred Newman Cheers for Miss Bishop – Edward Ward Citizen Kane – Bernard Herrmann Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Franz Waxman Hold Back the Dawn – Victor Young How Green Was My Valley – Alfred Newman King of the Zombies – Edward J. Kay Ladies in Retirement – Morris Stoloff and Ernst Toch The Little Foxes – Meredith Willson Lydia – Miklós Rózsa Mercy Island – Cy Feuer and Walter Scharf Sergeant York – Max Steiner So Ends Our Night – Louis Gruenberg Sundown – Miklós Rózsa Suspicion – Franz Waxman Tanks a Million – Edward Ward That Uncertain Feeling – Werner R. Heymann This Woman is Mine – Richard HagemanDumbo – Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace All-American Co-Ed – Edward Ward Birth of the Blues – Robert Emmett Dolan Buck Privates – Charles Previn The Chocolate Soldier – Herbert Stothart and Bronisław Kaper Ice-Capades – Cy Feuer The Strawberry Blonde – Heinz Roemheld Sun Valley Serenade – Emil Newman Sunny – Anthony Collins You'll Never Get Rich – Morris Stoloff"The Last Time I Saw Paris" from Lady Be Good – Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II "Baby Mine" from Dumbo – Music by Frank Churchill; Lyrics by Ned Washington "Be Honest With Me" from Ridin' on a Rainbow – Music and Lyrics by Gene Autry and Fred Rose "Blues in the Night" from Blues in the Night – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" from Buck Privates – Music by Hugh Prince; Lyrics by Don Raye "Chattanooga Choo Choo" from Sun Valley Serenade – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon "Dolores" from Las Vegas Nights – Music by Louis Alter; Lyrics by Frank Loesser "Out of the Silence" from All-American Co-ed – Music and Lyrics by Lloyd B. Norlin "Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye" from You'll Never Get Rich – Music and Lyrics by Cole PorterThat Hamilton Woman – Jack Whitney Appointment for Love – Bernard B. Brown Ball of Fire – Thomas T. Moulton The Chocolate Soldier – Douglas Shearer Citizen Kane – John O. Aalberg The Devil Pays Off – Charles L. Lootens How Green Was My Valley – E. H. Hansen The Men in Her Life – John P. Livadary Sergeant York – Nathan Levinson Skylark – Loren L. Ryder Topper Returns – Elmer RaguseHow Green Was My Valley – Art Direction: Richard Day and Nathan H. Juran; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little Citizen Kane – Art Direction: Perry Ferguson and Van Nest Polglase; Interior Decoration: Al Fields and Darrell Silvera The Flame of New Orleans – Art Direction: Martin Obzina and Jack Otterson; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman Hold Back the Dawn – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher; Interior Decoration: Samuel M. Comer Ladies in Retirement – Art Direction: Lionel Banks; Interior Decoration: George Montgomery The Little Foxes – Art Direction: Stephen Goosson; Interior Decoration: Howard Bristol Sergeant York – Art Direction: John Hughes; Interior Decoration: Fred M. MacLean The Son of Monte Cristo – Art Direction: John DuCasse Schulze; Interior Decoration: Edward G. Boyle Sundown – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen; Interior Decoration: Richard Irvine That Hamilton Woman – Art Direction: Vincent Korda; Interior Decoration: Julia Heron When Ladies Meet – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Randall Duell; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis Sis Hopkins – N/A (nomination withdrawn by production company)Blossoms in the Dust – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis Blood and Sand – Art Direction: Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little Louisiana Purchase – Art Direction: Raoul Pene Du Bois; Interior Decoration: Stephen SeymourHow Green Was My Valley – Arthur Miller The Chocolate Soldier – Karl Freund Citizen Kane – Gregg Toland Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Joseph Ruttenberg Here Comes Mr. Jordan – Joseph Walker Hold Back the Dawn – Leo Tover Sergeant York – Sol Polito Sun Valley Serenade – Edward Cronjager Sundown – Charles Lang That Hamilton Woman – Rudolph MatéBlood and Sand – Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennahan Aloma of the South Seas – Wilfred M. Cline, Karl Struss, and William Snyder Billy the Kid – William V. Skall and Leonard Smith Blossoms in the Dust – Karl Freund and W. Howard Greene Dive Bomber – Bert Glennon Louisiana Purchase – Harry Hallenberger and Ray RennahanSergeant York – William Holmes Citizen Kane – Robert Wise Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Harold F. Kress How Green Was My Valley – James B. Clark The Little Foxes – Daniel MandellI Wanted Wings – Photographic Effects Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: Louis Mesenkop Aloma of the South Seas – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: Louis Mesenkop Flight Command – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie; Sound Effects: Douglas Shearer The Invisible Woman – Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton; Sound Effects: John Hall The Sea Wolf – Photographic Effects: Byron Haskin; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson That Hamilton Woman – Photographic Effects: Lawrence W. Butler; Sound Effects: William H. Wilmarth Topper Returns – Photographic Effects: Roy Seawright; Sound Effects: Elmer Raguse A Yank in the R.A.F. – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Edmund H. Hansen Dive Bomber – Photographic Effects: Byron Haskin; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson (replaced)
Special awards To Rey Scott for his extraordinary achievement in producing Kukan, the film record of China's struggle, including its photography with a 16mm camera under the most difficult and dangerous conditions. To The British Ministry of Information for its vivid and dramatic presentation of the heroism of the RAF in the documentary film, Target for Tonight. To Leopold Stokowski and his associates for their unique achievement in the creation of a new form of visualized music in Walt Disney's production, Fantasia, thereby widening the scope of the motion picture as entertainment and as an art form.