I’m going crazy – I know that the big two were Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz, but I also know that there many other big movies that year. Every time I see one, I try to commit it to memory for mental movie trivia purposes. I just saw one a couple of weeks ago, and can’t remember what it was. Help me out, cinema buffs! This list is not short.
I’m surprised you didn’t go to http://www.imdb.com – here’s the list of 1939 movies nominated for best picture Oscars.
Dark Victory
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Love Affair
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights
Manhattan’s list is much more inclusive, isn’t it? Wow. I’d forgotten about most of those.
Being old, I have seen many of these movies(NO! Not in first run!)
It should humble people who think that movies today are great. Not that there aren’t great movies in a years’ time these days, but look, just LOOK at what a year brought forth in 1939. Of course, movies were more of a social thing in those days, coming off of a depression, getting ready for war, and not having the mobility of todays society.
Thanks, for the memories, Manny.
One of the greatest movies of all time, in my humble opinion. Personally, I like it better than the Wizard of Oz, though not Gone With the Wind.
1939 was a great year for movies!
Marcel Carne’s marvellous Le Jour se Leve
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Kenji Mizoguchi’s The Story of Late Chrysanthemums
The Cat and the Canary w/Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard
Confessions of a Nazi Spy w/Edward G. Robinson
Gaslight, which is better than the later Ingrid Bergman remake
My personal vote for best of 1939: Howard Hawks’ magnificent Only Angels Have Wings
Let’s not forget that in addition to STAGECOACH, Ford’s YOUNG MR LINOLN.
ALso Hitchock’s JAMAICA INN (no, not one of his best, but…)
THE ROARING TWENTIES
UNION PACIFIC
GUNGA DIN
I MARRIED A WITCH
THE MOON AND SIXPENE
PRIDE OF THE YANKEES
THE GLASS KEY
NOW VOYAGER
MRS MINIVER
…
manhattan and Auntie Pam: Thanks for the links. Goddam - although I said the list was not short, I didn’t suspect that it was that long. I’ve seen most of those movies, but noted some others that I haven’t seen and will try to rent.
The movie I saw recently and was trying to remember was Stagecoach. I love John Ford films, and I love that scene where the young John Wayne makes his appearance – standing in the middle of the road, twirling a rifle in one hand and holding a saddle in the other. That guy was built like a brick telephone booth.
Another favorite from that list is The Women. One of the reasons I like this under-appreciated film because we get to see the comic genius of Rosalind Russell. In my opinion, she steals the movie from all the other great actresses. When I first saw it, I realized with a shock that Lucille Ball was borrowing heavily from RR when she created the Lucy Ricardo character. I always thought Lucy was an original! I like RR’s comedy better.
Anyway, thanks again. Now, where’s my Blockbuster card?
pugluvr said
I could be completely off base, but I think Lucille Ball actually did enough comedy on her own, starting before Rosalind Russell, that the Lucy character was probably a meld of all of her many movie roles. But, in fairness, I haven’t seen The Women in more than 30 years. Guess I go to the library on Monday.
CKDectHavn,
Hate to break it to you, but most of your films are not from 1939.
I Married a Witch, Pride of the Yankees, The Glass Key, Mrs. Miniver, The Moon and Sixpence, and Now, Voyager are all from 1942.
Plus the other three were listed in the above link (only at the bottom)
Great username, BTW. 
Jamaica Inn is awful.
Thanks, SrchiveGuy, you sdaved me from whacking Dex on the nise with a roilled-up newspaper.
I also love “The Women”—one great 1939 film no one’s mentioned is the great screwball comedy “Midnight,” with Claudette Colbert as a runaway gold-digger in Paris, Don Ameche as the cab driver in love with her, and John Barrymore in one of his best later performances as a wacky millionaire. Hilarious!
Personally, though, I will take 1932 over 1939 as the Golden Year of Movies.
P.S. I obviously haven’t had my coffee yet—LOOK at all those typos!!!
OK, just did a little research and boy-oh-boy, 1932 does indeed have 1939 beat all hollow.
Some of the still-famous classic 1932 films:
Red Dust, Shanghai Express, Tarzan the Ape Man, Red-Headed Woman, Love Me Tonight, Grand Hotel, Bill of Divorcement, Mask of Fu Manchu, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, If I Had a Million.
Some lesser-known gems of that year:
Rain (if you think Joan Crawford couldn’t act, catch her in this!), Million Dollar Legs (funniest screwballer ever), One Hour With You, Heart of New York (great Yiddish humor), Are You Listening?, Two Seconds, Downstairs (John Gilbert’s best talkie), Blessed Event (Lupe Velez!), Thirteen Women (Peg Entwistle’s only film), Three on a Match (Warner’s mellerdrammer), Call Her Savage (Clara Bow’s best talkie).
And all pre-Code—Beat THAT, 1939!
Hmmm. I used my copy of Andrew Sarris’ AMERICAN CINEMA, which listed all those films as being from 1939. I’ll have to whollop the book with a wet noodle.
My apologies.
Eve: I loved “Midnight” too. I love Don Ameche! He was good at playing (and not overplaying) a smooth guy. He had just enough cockiness tempered by just enough self-deprecation. I recently saw “Moon Over Miami,” and had no trouble in choosing between Don Ameche and the other doofus (Bob Cummings?) in the first reel.
N.B.: He was good in “Trading Places,” too.
At IMDb, you can search by year:
1932 movies - 1923 matching titles
1939 movies - 1739 matching titles
Of course, all true movie connoisseurs know that the golden year of cinema was 1982, when “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” introduced stoned surfer Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) to the world.
Dare we forget the year of “Caddyshack”, which brought us Carl, the Gopher-Bedeviled Groundskeeper? ( what year was that again?..)
Bill Murray" Hey, you got a pool over there,right?
Chevy Chase: Yeah, a pool and a pond. A pond would be good for you, Carl. "
If you’re going to talk about 1982, then you should not forget the sf (and sf-like) movies of that year:
Bladerunner
The Thing
Star Trek II (the best of the Trek flicks, IMHO)
Tron (I still think it’s a good flick)
Firefox
The Atomic Cafe
(I’ll try to ignore that E.T. ever existed, thank you)
And don’t forget:
Victor/Victoria
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid