1939 in Film: A Great Year or the Greatest Year?

[AthenaAwakened]

Films from that year

AB
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, starring Mickey Rooney and Rex Ingram
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
Allegheny Uprising, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
The Angels Wash Their Faces, starring Ann Sheridan and the Dead End Kids
Another Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
The Arizona Kid, starring Roy Rogers
The Arsenal Stadium Mystery – (GB)
Ask a Policeman, starring Will Hay, Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott – (GB)
At the Circus, starring the Marx Brothers
Babes in Arms, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
Bachelor Mother, starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven
Bad Lands, starring Robert Barrat and Robert Coote
Barricade, starring Alice Faye and Warner Baxter
Beau Geste, directed by William Wellman, starring Gary Cooper and Ray Milland
Bel Ami – (Germany)
Blackmail, starring Edward G. Robinson
Blue Montana Skies, starring Gene Autry
Boys' Reformatory, starring Frankie Darro and Grant Withers
The Bronze Buckaroo, starring Herb Jeffries

CD
The Cat and the Canary, starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard
Cesta do hlubin študákovy duše - (Czechoslovakia)
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island, starring Sidney Toler
Charlie Chan in Reno, starring Sidney Toler and Ricardo Cortez
Cheer Boys Cheer, starring Nova Pilbeam (GB)
Confessions of a Nazi Spy, starring Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, Paul Lukas
Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan
Daughter of the Tong, starring Evelyn Brent and Grant Withers
Destry Rides Again, directed by George Marshall, starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart
Dodge City, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
Drums Along the Mohawk, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert

EF
Each Dawn I Die, starring James Cagney and George Raft
The Empress Wu Tse-tien – (China)
Eva tropí hlouposti (Eva Fools Around) - (Czechoslovakia)
Everything Happens at Night, starring Sonja Henie and Ray Milland
Fifth Ave Girl, starring Ginger Rogers and Walter Connolly
First Love, starring Deanna Durbin and Robert Stack
Five Came Back, directed by John Farrow, starring Lucille Ball and Chester Morris
The Four Feathers, starring John Clements and Ralph Richardson – (GB)
The Four Just Men, directed by Walter Forde (GB)
Frontier Marshal, starring Randolph Scott, John Carradine, Lon Chaney, Jr.

GH
The Girl from Mexico, starring Lupe Velez
A Girl Must Live, directed by Carol Reed, starring Margaret Lockwood – (GB)
Golden Boy, starring Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden, Adolphe Menjou
Gone with the Wind, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel – Academy Awards for best picture, director, actress and supporting actress
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, directed by Sam Wood, starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson – (GB)
Gulliver's Travels, starring Jessica Dragonette and Lanny Ross
Gunga Din, directed by George Stevens, starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Sam Jaffe
The Hardys Ride High, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence, starring Glenn Ford
Hello Janine!, starring Marika Rökk - (Germany)
Hollywood Cavalcade, starring Alice Faye, Don Ameche, J. Edward Bromberg, Alan Curtis
The Hound of the Baskervilles, first in Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, directed by William Dieterle, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara

IJK
I Met a Murderer, starring James Mason – (GB)
Idiot's Delight, starring Clark Gable and Norma Shearer
In Name Only, starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Kay Francis
Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday, starring Gordon Harker and Alastair Sim – (GB)
Intermezzo, starring Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard
It's a Wonderful World, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring James Stewart and Claudette Colbert
Jamaica Inn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara – (GB)
Jesse James, starring Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott
Juarez, starring Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Brian Aherne
Le Jour se lève (Daybreak), directed by Marcel Carné, starring Jean Gabin and Arletty – (France)
Judge Hardy and Son, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
King of the Underworld, starring Humphrey Bogart and Kay Francis

LM
The Lambeth Walk, directed by Albert de Courville, starring Lupino Lane and Sally Gray – (GB)
The Last Turning (Le Dernier Tournant), starring Michel Simon – (France)
Lenin in 1918 (Lenin v 1918 godu) - (USSR)
Let Us Live, starring Maureen O'Sullivan and Henry Fonda
The Little Princess, starring Shirley Temple and Richard Greene
Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer (Academy Award nominee)
Lucky Night, starring Myrna Loy and Robert Taylor
Maisie, starring Robert Young and Ann Sothern
The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William
Man of Conquest, starring Richard Dix, Gail Patrick, Joan Fontaine
Mexicali Rose, starring Gene Autry
Midnight, starring Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche
The Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, first British film shot in Technicolor – (GB)
Million Dollar Legs, starring Betty Grable
Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation, starring Peter Lorre
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains
Mr. Wong in Chinatown, starring Boris Karloff
The Mystery of Mr. Wong, starring Boris Karloff

NOP
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, starring Bonita Granville
Never Say Die, starring Martha Raye and Bob Hope
Ninotchka, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Bela Lugosi
Of Mice and Men, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr.
Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise, a comedy short starring The Three Stooges
The Oklahoma Kid, starring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Donald Crisp
The Old Maid, starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins
On Borrowed Time, starring Lionel Barrymore and Cedric Hardwicke
On Dress Parade, starring The Dead End Kids
On the Night of the Fire (aka The Fugitive), starring Ralph Richardson – (GB)
On Your Toes, screenplay by Lawrence Riley, starring Vera Zorina and Eddie Albert
Only Angels Have Wings, starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur
Prisioneros de la tierra (Prisoners of the Land) - (Argentina)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland

QRS
Q Planes, starring Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier – (GB)
The Rains Came, starring Tyrone Power and Myrna Loy
Range War, a Hopalong Cassidy western starring William Boyd
Remember?, starring Greer Garson, Robert Taylor, Lew Ayres
The Return of Doctor X, a horror film starring Humphrey Bogart
The Roaring Twenties, starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart
The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu), directed by Jean Renoir – (France)
The Saint in London, starring George Sanders
The Saint Strikes Back, starring George Sanders
Seven Little Australians, directed by Arthur Greville Collins – (Australia)
Son of Frankenstein, starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
De Spooktrein (The Ghost Train) - (Netherlands)
The Spy in Black, directed by Michael Powell, starring Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson – (GB)
Stagecoach, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Berton Churchill, John Carradine
Stanley and Livingstone, starring Spencer Tracy and Cedric Hardwicke
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (Zangiku monogatari), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Susannah of the Mounties, starring Shirley Temple and Randolph Scott

TUV
Tarzan Finds a Son!, starring Johnny Weissmuller
These Glamour Girls, starring Lew Ayres, Lana Turner, Tom Brown
They Made Me a Criminal, starring John Garfield
They Shall Have Music, starring Jascha Heifetz, Joel McCrea, Andrea Leeds, Walter Brennan
The Three Musketeers, starring Don Ameche and The Ritz Brothers
Three Smart Girls Grow Up, starring Deanna Durbin and Robert Cummings
Three Texas Steers, directed by George Sherman, starring John Wayne
Tower of London, starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price
The Trip to Tilsit (Die Reise nach Tilsit) – (Germany)
Union Pacific, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea
Vasilisa the Beautiful (Vasilisa prekrasnaya) – (U.S.S.R.)
The Vyborg Side (Vyborgskaya storona) – (U.S.S.R.)

WXYZ
Way Down South, directed by Leslie Goodwins and Bernard Vorhaus
Wilton's Zoo (Boefje), directed by Douglas Sirk - (Netherlands)
The Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton
The Women, directed by George Cukor, starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell
Wuthering Heights, directed by William Wyler, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Flora Robson
Wyoming Outlaw, starring John Wayne, directed by George Sherman
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, starring W. C. Fields
Young Man's Fancy, directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Anna Lee – (GB)
Young Mr. Lincoln, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda and Alice Brady
Zenobia, directed by Gordon Douglas, starring Oliver Hardy

What do you think?

 

[aeebee50]

I especially like Beau Geste and Gone with the Wind.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

I will always like a year in film with a THIN MAN movie in it.

But 1939 had so much more. It was the Dream Factory at its height. And it was the iconic stars of the silver screen in their prime and a nation tired of Depression enthusiastic to find escape. A perfect storm.

 

[MarkW]

An incredible year for film. There were certainly other years that featured bumper crops of great movies (1946 comes to mind), but there are some incredible, unique milestones in 1939:

-The quintessential epic blockbuster (and still the runaway leader in inflation-adjusted box office receipts), which you do not need me to tell you was Gone With the Wind.

-Probably the leading contender for the title of "most beloved movie ever," in The Wizard of Oz.

-The intersection of the careers of two Swedish-born actresses who shared an ability to fascinate audiences--Greta Garbo in her last noteworthy picture and Ingrid Bergman in her first Hollywood film.

-The revival of the A-picture Western with films like Stagecoach, Union Pacific, Jesse James, etc.

-The emergence of one of the greatest screen icons, James Stewart, as a major star, and a big step forward in the career of another, John Wayne.

-For the foreign film lovers, you have masterpieces from, among others, Renoir, Carné and Mizoguchi, including Renoir's The Rules of the Game, which many film critics and scholars rank as the finest film ever made.

My personal favorites from 1939 include Stagecoach, Only Angels Have Wings, Another Thin Man, and The Four Feathers. There are several others that I like, but these four are the ones I find myself going back and watching over and over.

And a final note about 1939: it was the year when Thomas Mitchell had what quite possibly was the most productive year in cinema history for an actor. He appeared in sizable roles in five films that year--Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Only Angels Have Wings, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. All five films are still well-regarded today, the first three were nominated for Best Picture (do I have to tell you which one won?), and Mitchell himself won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Doc Boone in Stagecoach. Quite a good year's work.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

An incredible year for film. There were certainly other years that featured bumper crops of great movies (1946 comes to mind), but there are some incredible, unique milestones in 1939:

-The quintessential epic blockbuster (and still the runaway leader in inflation-adjusted box office receipts), which you do not need me to tell you was Gone With the Wind.

-Probably the leading contender for the title of "most beloved movie ever," in The Wizard of Oz.

-The intersection of the careers of two Swedish-born actresses who shared an ability to fascinate audiences--Greta Garbo in her last noteworthy picture and Ingrid Bergman in her first Hollywood film.

-The revival of the A-picture Western with films like Stagecoach, Union Pacific, Jesse James, etc.

-The emergence of one of the greatest screen icons, James Stewart, as a major star, and a big step forward in the career of another, John Wayne.

-For the foreign film lovers, you have masterpieces from, among others, Renoir, Carné and Mizoguchi, including Renoir's The Rules of the Game, which many film critics and scholars rank as the finest film ever made.

My personal favorites from 1939 include Stagecoach, Only Angels Have Wings, Another Thin Man, and The Four Feathers. There are several others that I like, but these four are the ones I find myself going back and watching over and over.

And a final note about 1939: it was the year when Thomas Mitchell had what quite possibly was the most productive year in cinema history for an actor. He appeared in sizable roles in five films that year--Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Only Angels Have Wings, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. All five films are still well-regarded today, the first three were nominated for Best Picture (do I have to tell you which one won?), and Mitchell himself won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Doc Boone in Stagecoach. Quite a good year's work.

you have two of my top four in your top four Stagecoach and Another Thin Man. My other two would be GWTW (Hattie McDaniel deserved that Oscar and a whole lot more) and Good-bye Mr. Chips.

Thomas Mitchell was one of the greatest and least appreciated actors ever in American Cinema.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

And a final note about 1939: it was the year when Thomas Mitchell had what quite possibly was the most productive year in cinema history for an actor. He appeared in sizable roles in five films that year--Gone With the Wind, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Only Angels Have Wings, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. All five films are still well-regarded today, the first three were nominated for Best Picture (do I have to tell you which one won?), and Mitchell himself won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Doc Boone in Stagecoach. Quite a good year's work.

Oh the other side, there was Better Davis who starred in four significant films.

At the Circus, starring the Marx Brothers
Confessions of a Nazi Spy, starring Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, Paul Lukas
Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan
Gone with the Wind, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel – Academy Awards for best picture, director, actress and supporting actress
Gunga Din, directed by George Stevens, starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Sam Jaffe
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, directed by William Dieterle, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara
The Little Princess, starring Shirley Temple and Richard Greene
Of Mice and Men, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr.
The Old Maid, starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins
The Roaring Twenties, starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart
The Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton
The Women, directed by George Cukor, starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell

Looks like I've only seen 12 of these movies.

 

[repoman]

For Japan 1954 was a great year.