1939 in film
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Events
Movie historians and film buffs often look back on the year 1939 as "the greatest year in film history" (see below: 1939 in film#Films released in 1939, for a list with over 20 classics). 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 memorable classics when multitudes of other films of the era have been largely forgotten.
August 25 - 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
- Best Picture: Gone with the Wind - David O. Selznick, MGM
- Best Actor: Robert Donat - Goodbye, Mr. Chips
- Best Actress: Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind
Films released in 1939
- Another Thin Man
- The Arsenal Stadium Mystery
- Ask a Policeman
- At the Circus
- Babes in Arms
- Bachelor Mother
- Barricade
- Beau Geste
- Dark Victory
- Daughter of The Tong
- Destry Rides Again
- Dodge City
- Drums Along the Mohawk, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert
- Everything Happens At Night
- The Four Feathers
- Frontier Marshall
- Gone with the Wind
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips
- Gunga Din, starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Sam Jaffe
- Gulliver's Travels
- Hollywood Cavalcade
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Charles Laughton
- Intermezzo
- Jesse James
- King Of The Underworld
- Mexicali Rose
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington starring James Stewart
- Of Mice and Men
- Ninotchka
- Range War, a Hopalong Cassidy western starring William Boyd
- The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu), by Jean Renoir
- The Spy in Black
- Stagecoach, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Berton Churchill
- Stanley And Livingstone
- The Stars Look Down, starring Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood
- The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
- Three Texas Steers , starring John Wayne, directed by George Sherman
- The Wizard of Oz
- The Women, starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell
- Wuthering Heights, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven and Flora Robson
- Wyoming Outlaw, starring John Wayne, directed by George Sherman
Short film series
- Buster Keaton (1917-1941)
- Our Gang (1922-1944)
- Laurel and Hardy (1926-1940)
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 9 - Janet Suzman, actress
- February 23 - Peter Fonda, actor
- March 5 - Samanth Eggar, actress
- March 26 - James Caan, 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
- 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
Deaths
- June 9 - Owen Moore, actor
- August 23 - Sidney Howard, writer
- September 24 - Carl Laemmle, producer
- October 23 - Zane Grey, writer
- December 12 - Douglas Fairbanks, actor
Categories
1939 in film | 1939 films