1939 in film
The year 1939 in film is widely considered the greatest year in film history. The ten Best Picture-nominated films that year include classics in multiple genres.[1]
For the 1989 film, see 1939 (film). For the 2009 film, see Glorious 39.February 15 – 's Western film Stagecoach starring John Wayne premieres in New York City and Los Angeles.
John Ford
March 31 – Release of the 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.
20th Century Fox
June 10 – MGM's first successful animated character, , makes his debut in The Bear That Couldn't Sleep.
Barney Bear
August 10 – 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.
The Wizard of Oz
November 6 – Hedda Hopper's Hollywood debuts on radio in the United States with gossip columnist as host; the show runs until 1951, making Hopper a powerful figure among the Hollywood elite.
Hedda Hopper
December 15 – The epic historical romance film , 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.
Gone with the Wind
establishes a National Film Commission, predecessor of the National Film Board of Canada, with John Grierson as first Commissioner.
Canada
Film historians often rate 1939 as "the greatest year in the history of Hollywood".[7][8] 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.
Dark Victory
(Best Picture winner)
Gone with the Wind
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Love Affair
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
The Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights
The year 1939 was one in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated ten films for Best Picture:
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).
: Hattie McDaniel – Gone with the Wind (first African American to win an Academy Award)
Best Supporting Actress
Gone with the Wind received in all ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from thirteen nominations.
Son of Frankenstein
Honolulu
Stagecoach
Flying G-Men
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
The Oregon Trail
Overland with Kit Carson
Scouts to the Rescue
(1914–1940)
Charlie Chaplin
(1915–1939)
Lupino Lane
(1917–1944)
Buster Keaton
(1927–1945)
Laurel and Hardy
(1922–1944)
Our Gang
(1929–1946)
The Marx Brothers
(1934–1959)
The Three Stooges
(1925–1940)
Krazy Kat
(1928–1953)
Mickey Mouse
Silly Symphonies
(1930–1969)
Looney Tunes
(1930–1964)
Terrytoons
(1931–1969)
Merrie Melodies
(1931–1941)
Scrappy
(1932–1939)
Betty Boop
(1933–1957)
Popeye
(1934–1949)
Color Rhapsodies
(1937–1956)
Donald Duck
(1939–1954)
Barney Bear
(also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938–1942)
Walter Lantz Cartunes
(1938–1939)
The Captain and the Kids
(1939–1955)
Goofy
(1939–1949)
Andy Panda
(1939 only)
Nertsery Rhyme Cartoons
(1939 only)
Crackpot Cruise Cartoons
(1939 only)
Lil' Eightball
(1939 only)
Count Screwloose and J.R.
January 17 – , American television personality
Maury Povich
January 26 – , American actor
Scott Glenn
January 30 – , Hungarian cinematographer, film director and screenwriter (died 2015)
János Zsombolyai
February 6 – , American actor
Mike Farrell
February 9 – , South African actress and director
Janet Suzman
February 28 – , American dancer, choreographer and actor
Tommy Tune
John Moreno
Samantha Eggar
March 7 – , Chinese-born British-American former actor
Michael Chow
Raymond J. Barry
March 29 – , Italian actor, director, screenwriter and producer
Terence Hill
April 1 – , American actress
Ali MacGraw
April 5 – , American actor
Roger Davis
April 7 – , director; producer; screenwriter
Francis Ford Coppola
April 11 – , American actress, writer and director
Louise Lasser
David Birney
Ruggero Deodato
May 13 – , American actor
Harvey Keitel
James Fox
May 23 – , German film director
Reinhard Hauff
June 11 – , American actress
Christina Crawford
June 25 – , American actress and director
Barbara Montgomery
Karen Black
Abdulhussain Abdulredha
July 22 - , Israeli actress
Gila Almagor
July 28 – , American actor
Charles Cyphers
July 31 – , French actress
France Nuyen
August 1 – , American actor
Terry Kiser
Wes Craven
August 7 – , American actress
Anjanette Comer
August 9 – , French actress
Bulle Ogier
Oliver Ford Davies
August 25 – , English-American director
John Badham
August 30 – , American actress
Elizabeth Ashley
September 1 – , American actress; comedian; producer
Lily Tomlin
William Devane
September 11 – , American actor and stand-up comedian
Tom Dreesen
September 23 – , Polish actor
Janusz Gajos
September 27 – , Canadian film, stage, television and radio actor
Garrick Hagon
September 30 – , Canadian actor and director
Len Cariou
October 6 – , American actress
Ellen Travolta
October 8 – , Australian comedian and actor
Paul Hogan
October 22 – , American actor
Tony Roberts
October 24 – , American actor
F. Murray Abraham
October 27 – , English actor, comedian and producer
John Cleese
October 28 – , American actress
Jane Alexander
October 31 – , American actor
Ron Rifkin
Anton Gorchev
Max Phipps
Denis Arndt
Mark Margolis
Eric Flynn
December 27 – , American actor
John Amos
February 22 – , 56, American film producer and co-founder of C.B.C. which became Columbia Pictures
Joe Brandt
August 23 – , 48, American writer, Gone with the Wind, Dodsworth, Arrowsmith, A Lady to Love
Sidney Howard
September 24 – , 72, German producer, Frankenstein, Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera
Carl Laemmle
October 23 – , 67, American writer, Fighting Caravans, Riders of the Purple Sage, Western Union, Born to the West
Zane Grey
October 28 – , 46, American actress, My Man Godfrey, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Gay Divorcee, In Old Chicago
Alice Brady
December 12 – , 56, American actor, The Thief of Bagdad, The Black Pirate, Robin Hood, Mr. Robinson Crusoe, and the father of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Douglas Fairbanks
– Rosa de Sangue
Regina Bianchi
– Follie del secolo
Diana Dei
– United But Not Mixed
Lupe del Castillo
– Unexpected Father
Anne Gwynne
– Homeland
Bruni Löbel
– An Adventure of Salvator Rosa
Rina Morelli
– The Light Ahead
David Opatoshu
– Le père Lebonnard
Dina Sassoli
– First Love
Robert Stack
– Coast Guard
Craig Stevens
– Apple Seller