1939 in film

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The year 1939 in film involved some significant events.

Events

Movie historians and film buffs often look back on the year 1939 as "the greatest year in film history". Hollywood was at the height of its Golden Age, and this particular year saw the release of an unusually large number of exceptional movies, many of which have been honored as all-time classics, when multitudes of other films of the era have been largely forgotten.

August 15 - The Wizard of Oz premieres in the US.

December 15 - Gone with the Wind premieres in Atlanta, Georgia, USA with a 3-day festival.

Top grossing films

North America

Academy Awards

Films released in 1939

Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, and Fay Holden
Another Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
The Arsenal Stadium Mystery
At the Circus
Babes in Arms
Bachelor Mother
Barricade
Beau Geste, starring Gary Cooper and Ray Milland
Boys' Reformatory
Dark Victory, starring Bette Davis (favorite role)
Daughter of The Tong
Destry Rides Again, starring James Stewart
Dodge City, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
Drums Along the Mohawk, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert
Everything Happens At Night
The Four Feathers starring John Clements and Ralph Richardson
Frontier Marshal
Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson
The Gorilla (1939)
Gunga Din, featuring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Sam Jaffe
Gulliver's Travels
The Hardys Ride High, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, and Fay Holden
Hollywood Cavalcade, starring Alice Faye, Don Ameche, J. Edward Bromberg, Alan Curtis
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara
In Name Only, starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis
Intermezzo, starring Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard
Jesse James, starring Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, and Randolph Scott
Judge Hardy and Son Starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, and Fay Holden
King Of The Underworld
Le Jour se lève (Daybreak)
Mexicali Rose, starring Gene Autry
Midnight
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, and Claude Rains
Of Mice and Men, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr.
On Dress Parade, starring The Dead End Kids
Only Angels Have Wings, with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur
On Your Toes, screenplay by the playwright Lawrence Riley et al. (film mentioned in article)
Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Q Planes, starring Ralph Richardson and Sir Laurence Olivier
Range War, a Hopalong Cassidy western starring William Boyd
The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu), by Jean Renoir
The Son of Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff
The Spy in Black
Stagecoach, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Berton Churchill
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Stanley and Livingstone, starring Spencer Tracy and Sir Cedric Hardwicke
The Stars Look Down, starring Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Three Texas Steers, starring John Wayne, directed by George Sherman
The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland and Ray Bolger
The Women, with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell
Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon, Sir Laurence Olivier, David Niven and Flora Robson
Wyoming Outlaw, starring John Wayne, directed by George Sherman
Young Mr. Lincoln, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda

Serials

Buck Rogers, starrng Buster Crabbe
Dick Tracy's G-Men, starring Ralph Byrd
Daredevils of the Red Circle, starring Herman Brix and Charles Middleton
Flying G-Men
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
Mandrake the Magician, starring Warren Hull
The Oregon Trail
Overland With Kit Carson
The Phantom Creeps, starring Bela Lugosi
Scouts to the Rescue
Zorro's Fighting Legion, starring Reed Hadley

Short film series

Animated short film series

Krazy Kat (1925-1940)
Mickey Mouse (1928-1953)
Silly Symphonies (1929-1939)
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)
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)
Nertsery Rhyme Cartoons (1939)
Crackpot Cruise Cartoons (1939)
Lil' Eightball (1939)
Count Screwloose and J.R. (1939)

Births

January 10 - Sal Mineo, actor (+ 1976)
February 3 - Michael Cimino, director
February 6 - Mike Farrell, American actor
February 9 - Janet Suzman, actress
February 23 - Peter Fonda, actor
March 5 - Samantha Eggar, actress
March 26 - James Caan, actor
April 7 - Wayne Rogers, American actor
April 7 - Francis Ford Coppola, director, producer, writer
April 12 - Alan Ayckbourn, writer
April 13 - Paul Sorvino, actor
May 13 - Harvey Keitel, actor
May 19 - Nancy Kwan, actress
May 25 - Ian McKellen, actor
May 30 - Michael J. Pollard, actor
July 22 - Terence Stamp, actor
July 30 - Peter Bogdanovich, director
July 31 - France Nuyen, actress
August 2 - Wes Craven, director, producer, writer
August 12 - George Hamilton, actor
August 25 - John Badham, director
August 29 - Joel Schumacher, director
August 30 - Elizabeth Ashley, actress
September 1 - Lily Tomlin, actress
September 18 - Frankie Avalon, actor, singer
September 29 - Larry Linville, American actor (d. April 10, 2000)
October 8 - Paul Hogan, actor
October 22 - Tony Roberts, actor
October 24 - F. Murray Abraham, actor
October 27 - John Cleese, actor
October 28 - Jane Alexander, actress
November 22 - Allen Garfield, actor

Film Debuts

Deaths

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