1939 in film

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For the 1989 film, see 1939 (film). For the 2009 film, see Glorious 39.

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The year 1939 in film is widely considered the greatest year in film history. The ten Best Picture-nominated movies that year include classics in multiple genres. [1]

Top-grossing films (U.S.)[]

The top ten 1939 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1939
Rank Title Studio Box office gross rental
1 Gone with the Wind Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Selznick International Pictures $18,000,000[2]
2 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Columbia Pictures $3,500,000[3]
3 Jesse James 20th Century Fox $2,335,000[4]
4 Babes in Arms Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $2,311,000[5]
5 The Wizard of Oz $2,048,000[5]
6 Gunga Din RKO Radio Pictures $1,888,000[6]
7 Goodbye, Mr. Chips Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,777,000[5]
8 Dodge City Warner Bros. $1,668,000[7]
9 The Rains Came 20th Century Fox $1,656,000[4]
10 The Women Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,610,000[5]

Events[]

Film historians often rate 1939 as "the greatest year in the history of Hollywood".[8][9] Hollywood films produced in Southern California were at the height of their Golden Age (in spite of many cheaply made or undistinguished films' also being produced, something to be expected with any year in commercial cinema), and during 1939 there are the premieres of an outstandingly large number of exceptional motion pictures, many of which become honored as all-time classic films.

    • June 10 – MGM's first successful animated character, Barney Bear, made his debut in The Bear That Couldn't Sleep.
    • August 15 – The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
    • October 17 – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington premiered in Washington, D.C.
    • December 15 – Gone with the Wind premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, with a three-day-long festival.
    • March 31 – Release of the 20th Century Fox film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, first of a Sherlock Holmes film series starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson.
  • Canada established a National Film Commission, predecessor of the National Film Board of Canada, with John Grierson as first Commissioner.

Nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Director[]

The year 1939 was one in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated ten films for Best Picture:

  • Dark Victory
  • Gone with the Wind (Best Picture winner)
  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips
  • Love Affair
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  • Ninotchka
  • Of Mice and Men
  • Stagecoach
  • The Wizard of Oz
  • Wuthering Heights

These films came from a wide variety of film genres and sources for their stories and settings, including: historical fiction (Gone with the Wind), contemporary affairs (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Of Mice and Men), love stories, classic novels (Wuthering Heights), fantasies/musicals, (The Wizard of Oz), tragic plays (Dark Victory), westerns (Stagecoach), and comedies (Ninotchka).

Each of the five nominees for Best Director of 1939 were or went on to become a legendary film director with multiple acclaimed films to his credit: Frank Capra (previous winner of the award), Victor Fleming, John Ford (who won a record four Best Director awards), Sam Wood, and William Wyler (who leads all directors in nominations with 11 while having three wins).[citation needed]

Academy Awards[]

Main article: 12th Academy Awards
  • Best Picture: Gone with the Wind – David O. Selznick; Selznick International, MGM
  • Best Director: Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind
  • Best Actor: Robert Donat – Goodbye, Mr. Chips
  • Best Actress: Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind
  • Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Mitchell – Stagecoach
  • Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel – Gone with the Wind (first African American to win an Academy Award)

Gone with the Wind receives in all ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from thirteen nominations.

1939 film releases[]

United States

January–March[]

April–June[]

July–September[]

October–December[]

Notable films released in 1939[]

United States unless stated

A[]

B[]

C[]

D[]

  • Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan
  • Daughter of the Tong, starring Evelyn Brent and Grant Withers
  • Days of Jesse James, directed by Joseph Kane, starring Roy Rogers
  • 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

E[]

F[]

G[]

  • The Girl from Mexico, starring Lupe Vélez
  • 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. Academy Award for best actor. – (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

H[]

  • 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
  • Honolulu, starring Eleanor Powell, Burns and Allen
  • 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

I[]

J[]

  • 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

K[]

L[]

  • 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

M[]

N[]

O[]

  • 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, Rita Hayworth and Jean Arthur

P[]

  • Prisioneros de la tierra (Prisoners of the Land) – (Argentina)
  • The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland

Q[]

  • Q Planes, starring Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier – (GB)

R[]

  • 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)

S[]

  • 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
  • Swanee River, starring Don Ameche

T[]

U[]

  • Union Pacific, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea

V[]

  • Vasilisa the Beautiful (Vasilisa prekrasnaya) – (U.S.S.R.)
  • The Vyborg Side (Vyborgskaya storona) – (U.S.S.R.)

W[]

  • 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

Y[]

Z[]

Serials[]

Comedy film series[]

  • Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
  • Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
  • Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
  • Laurel and Hardy (1927–1945)
  • Our Gang (1922–1944)
  • The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
  • The Three Stooges (1933–1962)

Animated short film series[]

  • Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
  • Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
  • Silly Symphonies (1929–1939)
    • The Practical Pig
    • The Ugly Duckling
  • Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
  • Terrytoons (1930–1964)
  • Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
  • Scrappy (1931–1941)
  • Betty Boop (1932–1939)
  • Popeye (1933–1957)
  • Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
  • Donald Duck (1937–1956)
  • Barney Bear (1939–1954)
  • Walter Lantz Cartunes (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938–1942)
  • The Captain and the Kids (1938–1939)
  • Goofy (1939–1955)
  • Andy Panda (1939–1949)
  • (1939 only)
  • (1939 only)
  • Lil' Eightball (1939 only)
  • Count Screwloose and J.R. (1939 only)

Births[]

  • January 10 – Sal Mineo, American actor (died 1976)
  • January 26 – Scott Glenn, American actor
  • January 30 – János Zsombolyai, Hungarian cinematographer, film director and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • February 3 – Michael Cimino, director; producer; screenwriter (died 2016)
  • February 9 – Janet Suzman, South African actress and director
  • February 24 – Marisa Mell, Austrian actress (d. 1992)
  • February 28 – Tommy Tune, American dancer, choreographer and actor
  • March 4 – Robert Shaye, American actor and producer
  • March 5
    • Samantha Eggar, English actress
    • Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian actor, comedian and singer (d. 1995)
  • March 14 - Héctor Bonilla, Mexican actor
  • March 28 – Vic Vargas, Filipino actor (d. 2003)
  • April 1 – Ali MacGraw, American actress
  • April 7 – Francis Ford Coppola, director; producer; screenwriter
  • April 9 – Romeo Vasquez, Filipino actor (died 2017)
  • April 13 – Paul Sorvino, American actor
  • April 23 – Lee Majors, American actor
  • May 4 – Paul Gleason, American actor (died 2006)
  • May 13 – Harvey Keitel, American actor
  • May 15 – Barbara Hammer, American filmmaker (died 2019)
  • May 19 – James Fox, English actor
  • May 22 – Paul Winfield, American actor (died 2004)
  • May 23 – Reinhard Hauff, German film director
  • May 25 – Ian McKellen, English actor
  • May 30 – Michael J. Pollard, American actor (died 2019)
  • June 4 – Henri Pachard, American film director (died 2008)
  • June 25 – Barbara Montgomery, American actress and director
  • July 1 – Ines Aru, Estonian actress
  • July 5 – Sergio Di Stefano, Italian actor and voice actor (died 2010)
  • July 15 – Abdulhussain Abdulredha, Kuwaiti actor (died 2017)
  • July 16 – Corin Redgrave, British actor, political activist (died 2010)
  • July 30 – Peter Bogdanovich, American director; producer; screenwriter
  • July 31 – France Nuyen, French actress
  • August 2 – Wes Craven, American director; producer; screenwriter (died 2015)
  • August 4 – Mapita Cortés, Mexican actress (died 2006)
  • August 9 – Bulle Ogier, French actress
  • August 12 – George Hamilton, American actor
  • August 20 – Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor (died 2004)
  • August 23 – Fernando Luján, Mexican actor (died 2019)
  • August 25 – John Badham, English-American director
  • August 29 – Joel Schumacher, American film director, producer and screenwriter (died 2020)
  • August 30 – Elizabeth Ashley, American actress
  • September 1 – Lily Tomlin, American actress; comedian; producer
  • September 5 – George Lazenby, Australian actor
  • September 18 - Frankie Avalon, American singer and actor
  • September 23 – Janusz Gajos, Polish actor
  • September 27 – Garrick Hagon, Canadian film, stage, television and radio actor
  • October 8 – Paul Hogan, Australian comedian and actor
  • October 18 – Salme Poopuu, Estonian actress and filmmaker (died 2017)
  • October 22 – Tony Roberts, American actor
  • October 24 – F. Murray Abraham, American actor
  • October 25 – Nikos Nikolaidis, Greek film director (died 2007)
  • October 27 – John Cleese, English actor, comedian and producer
  • October 28 – Jane Alexander, American actress
  • November 10 – Anton Gorchev, Bulgarian actor (died 2000)
  • November 15 – Yaphet Kotto, American actor (died 2021)
  • November 22 – Allen Garfield, American actor

Deaths[]

Debuts[]

References[]

  1. ^ Giltz, Michael (February 15, 2008). "Michael Giltz: DVDs: 1939 – The Best Year For Movies...Ever!". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  2. ^ "York's 4,000,000". Variety. December 31, 1941. p. 20. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  3. ^ Eyman, Scott (1993). Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise. ISBN 0-8018-6558-1. Ninotchka's financial returns were less than those of the year's biggest hit, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which made $3.5 million, but considerably more than other hits like The Old Maid ($1.4 million), Only Angels Have Wings ($1.1 million), or The Rains Came ($1.65 million).
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M162 to 166.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  6. ^ Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p57
  7. ^ Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 20 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  8. ^ Fristoe, Roger. "Introduction to 1939, Hollywood's Greatest Year". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  9. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (October 2, 2009). "1939: Film's finest year". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
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