This is a list of the films produced in Mexico in 1940, ordered alphabetically (see 1940 in film):
The Mexican Revolution was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history" and resulted in the destruction of the Federal Army, its replacement by a revolutionary army, and the transformation of Mexican culture and government. The northern Constitutionalist faction prevailed on the battlefield and drafted the present-day Constitution of Mexico, which aimed to create a strong central government. Revolutionary generals held power from 1920 to 1940. The revolutionary conflict was primarily a civil war, but foreign powers, having important economic and strategic interests in Mexico, figured in the outcome of Mexico's power struggles; the U.S. involvement was particularly high. The conflict led to the deaths of around one million people, mostly noncombatants.
Mexican cinema dates to the late nineteenth century during the rule of President Porfirio Díaz. Seeing a demonstration of short films in 1896, Díaz immediately saw the importance of documenting his presidency in order to present an ideal image of it. With the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, Mexican and foreign makers of silent films seized the opportunity to document its leaders and events. From 1915 onward, Mexican cinema focused on narrative film.
Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist and a conductor.
Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings was a Mexican-American film actor who made films in both Mexico and the United States. With Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars of the 1940s and 1950s.
Emilio "El Indio" Fernández Romo was a Mexican film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific film directors of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. He is best known for his work as director of the film María Candelaria (1944), which won the Palme d'Or award at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. As an actor, he worked in numerous film productions in Mexico and in Hollywood. He was the father of the Mexican actor Jaime Fernández.
María Lucila "Lola" Beltrán Ruiz was a Mexican actress and singer.
Chris-Pin Martin was an American character actor whose specialty lay in portraying comical Mexicans, particularly sidekicks in The Cisco Kid film series. He acted in over 100 films between 1925 and 1953, including over 50 westerns.
The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 American drama film directed by John Ford. It was based on John Steinbeck's 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F. Zanuck.
Elisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 140 films from 1913 to 1952. A beauty in her youth, she usually played in society parts. In later years in films she switched to playing character parts.
Fernando de Fuentes Carrau was a Mexican film director, considered a pioneer in the film industry worldwide. He is perhaps best known for directing the films El prisionero trece, El compadre Mendoza, and Vámonos con Pancho Villa, all part of his Revolution Trilogy on the Mexican Revolution.
Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia Olivares, was a Mexican silent film director, producer, journalist, civil engineer, and founder of Compañía Nacional Productora de Películas. Sáenz de Sicilia is regarded as an important figure during the silent era of Mexican cinema as well as a key influence for the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Throughout his life, he wrote for Excélsior under the pen name Ingeniero Gallo.
Mexican Spitfire is a 1940 American comedy film starring Lupe Vélez. She plays a hot-headed, fast-talking Mexican singer taken to New York for a radio gig, who decides she wants the ad agency man for herself. The film was the sequel of the film The Girl from Mexico (1939) and was the first of a film series of seven more films with the same title and main characters.
Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals is a 1941 American Western directed by Sam Newfield for Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), and the fifth in PRC's Billy the Kid film series.
Frontier Uprising is a 1961 American Western film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Jim Davis, Nancy Hadley and Ken Mayer. It is a remake of Kit Carson (1940).
Mexican Spitfire Out West is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Leslie Goodwins and written by Charles E. Roberts and Jack Townley. It is the sequel to the 1940 film Mexican Spitfire. The film stars Lupe Vélez, Leon Errol, Donald Woods, Elisabeth Risdon, and Cecil Kellaway. The film was released on November 29, 1940, by RKO Radio Pictures.
Cliff Reid, also known as George Clifford Reid, was an American film producer and film production studio founder during the 1930s and 1940s. In addition he also directed film shorts, and was the assistant director on several feature films.
The Tijuana Story is a 1957 American film noir crime film directed by Leslie Kardos.
Billy the Kid's Range War is a 1941 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield that was the fourth of Producers Releasing Corporation's Billy the Kid film series. Despite the film's title and mention of Lincoln County, there is neither a range war nor a range seen in the film.
Arizona Gang Busters is a 1940 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by William Lively. The film stars Tim McCoy, Pauline Haddon, Lou Fulton, Forrest Taylor, Julian Rivero and Arno Frey. The film was released on September 16, 1940, by Producers Releasing Corporation.