1939 in film

== Events ==
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Film historians often rate 1939 as "the greatest year in the history of Hollywood".Hollywood studios were at the height of their Golden Age, producing a number of exceptional motion pictures, many of which became honored as all-time classic films.
* February 15 – John Ford's Western film Stagecoach starring John Wayne premieres in New York City and Los Angeles.
* 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.
* June 10 – MGM's first successful animated character, Barney Bear, makes his debut in The Bear That Couldn't Sleep.
* August 10 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at the Orpheum Theatre in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Its Hollywood premiere takes place on August 15 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
* October 17 – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington premieres in Washington, D.C.
* November 6 – Hedda Hopper's Hollywood debuts on radio in the United States with gossip columnist Hedda Hopper as host; the show runs until 1951, making Hopper a powerful figure among the Hollywood elite.
* December 15 – The epic historical romance film Gone with the Wind, starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard, premieres at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, with a three-day-long festival. Based on Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel of 1936, it is the longest American film made up to this date (at nearly four hours) and rapidly becomes the highest-grossing film up to this time.
* Canada establishes 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 ==
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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 ==
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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 received in all ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from thirteen nominations.
== 1939 film releases ==
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United States
=== January–March ===
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* January 1939
** 13 January
*** Son of Frankenstein
** 14 January
*** Jesse James
** 27 January
*** Idiot's Delight
** 28 January
*** They Made Me a Criminal
* February 1939
** 3 February
*** Honolulu
** 10 February
*** The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
*** Made for Each Other
** 17 February
*** Gunga Din
*** The Three Musketeers
* March 1939
** 3 March
*** Stagecoach
** 10 March
*** The Ice Follies of 1939
** 13 March
*** Rough Riders' Round-up
** 17 March
*** The Little Princess
** 24 March
*** Midnight
*** Three Smart Girls Grow Up
*** Wuthering Heights, premieres in Los Angeles CA, for US released on April 13
** 29 March
*** The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
** 31 March
*** The Hound of the Baskervilles
=== April–June ===
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* April 1939
** 1 April
*** Dodge City
** 7 April
*** Love Affair
*** The Flying Irishman
*** Wuthering Heights
** 11 April
*** Buck Rogers
** 14 April
*** The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
** 16 April
*** The Face at the Window
** 22 April
*** Dark Victory
** 29 April
*** A Girl Must Live
* May 1939
** 5 May
*** Rose of Washington Square
*** Sorority House
** 6 May
*** Confessions of a Nazi Spy
** 19 May
*** It's a Wonderful World
** 20 May
*** You Can't Get Away With Murder
** 25 May
*** Only Angels Have Wings
** 26 May
*** The Gorilla
* June 1939
** 2 June
*** The Girl From Mexico
** 9 June
*** Young Mr. Lincoln
** 10 June
*** Juarez
** 16 June
*** Tarzan Finds a Son!
** 20 June
*** Good Girls Go to Paris
** 23 June
*** Five Came Back
** 30 June
*** Bachelor Mother
*** The Four Just Men
=== July–September ===
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* July 1939
** 4 July
*** Beau Geste
** 7 July
*** On Borrowed Time
** 13 July
*** The Man in the Iron Mask
** 21 July
*** Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever
** 28 July
*** Goodbye, Mr. Chips
*** Frontier Marshal
* August 1939
** 4 August
*** The Four Feathers
** 6 August
*** Cheer Boys Cheer
** 10 August
*** The Wizard of Oz
** 11 August
*** Lady of the Tropics
** 18 August
*** In Name Only
** 19 August
*** Each Dawn I Die
** 26 August
*** The Angels Wash Their Faces
** 28 August
*** Ask a Policeman
*** Daughter of the Tong
** 31 August
*** The Women
* September 1939
*** The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
** 2 September
*** The Old Maid
** 5 September
*** Golden Boy
** 7 September
*** The Rains Came
** 8 September
*** Blackmail
*** Full Confession
** 9 September
*** Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
** 15 September
*** Babes in Arms
** 22 September
*** Fifth Avenue Girl
** 29 September
*** The Arizona Kid
*** Dancin' Co-Ed
*** Honeymoon in Bali
=== October–December ===
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* October 1939
** 6 October
*** Intermezzo: A Love Story
** 13 October
*** Jamaica Inn
** 17 October
*** Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
** 20 October
*** At the Circus
** 23 October
*** The Roaring Twenties
* November 1939
** 2 November
*** Drums Along the Mohawk
** 3 November
*** The Flying Deuces
** 10 November
*** Allegheny Uprising
*** The Cat and the Canary
*** First Love
** 11 November
*** The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
** 17 November
*** Another Thin Man
*** Tower of London
** 22 November
*** The Amazing Mr. Williams
** 23 November
*** Ninotchka
* December 1939
** 2 December
*** The Return of Doctor X
** 8 December
*** Barricade
** 15 December
*** Gone With the Wind
** 16 December
*** Zorro's Fighting Legion
** 22 December
*** Everything Happens at Night
*** Gulliver's Travels
** 29 December
*** Destry Rides Again
*** The Hunchback of Notre Dame
*** Swanee River
== Notable films released in 1939 ==
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United States unless stated
=== A ===
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* 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
* The Amazing Mr. Williams, starring Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell
* 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
=== B ===
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* 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
* Boy Slaves
* Boys' Reformatory, starring Frankie Darro
* The Bronze Buckaroo, starring Herb Jeffries
=== C ===
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* 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
=== D ===
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* 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 ===
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* 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
=== F ===
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* The Face at the Window, starring Tod Slaughter
* First Love, starring Deanna Durbin and Robert Stack
* Five Came Back, directed by John Farrow, starring Lucille Ball and Chester Morris
* The Flying Deuces, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring Laurel and Hardy
* The Flying Irishman, starring Douglas Corrigan
* The Four Feathers, starring John Clements and Ralph Richardson – (GB)
* The Four Just Men, directed by Walter Forde (GB)
* Frontier Marshal, starring Randolph Scott, Caesar Romero, John Carradine
* Full Confession, starring Victor McLaglen
=== G ===
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* 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 ===
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* 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 ===
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* 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
=== J ===
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* Jamaica Inn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara – (GB)
* Jesse James, directed by Henry King (director), starring Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott
* Juarez, directed by William Dieterle, 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 ===
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* King of the Underworld, starring Humphrey Bogart and Kay Francis
=== L ===
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* 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 ===
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* Made For Each Other, starring Carole Lombard, James Stewart, and Charles Coburn
* 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
=== N ===
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* 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
=== O ===
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* 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 ===
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* 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 ===
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* Q Planes, starring Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier – (GB)
=== R ===
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* 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 ===
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* 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 ===
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* 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
* Tsuchi (Japan)
* The Trip to Tilsit (Die Reise nach Tilsit) – (Germany)
=== U ===
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* Union Pacific, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea
=== V ===
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* Vasilisa the Beautiful (Vasilisa prekrasnaya) – (U.S.S.R.)
* The Vyborg Side (Vyborgskaya storona) – (U.S.S.R.)
=== W ===
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* 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 ===
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* 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
=== Z ===
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* Zenobia, directed by Gordon Douglas, starring Oliver Hardy
* Zorro's Fighting Legion, starring Reed Hadley
Category:1930s in film