1939 in film

1939 is considered by some critics to be the greatest year in the history of Hollywood. The ten films nominated for Best Picture at the 12th Academy Awards—Dark Victory, Gone with the Wind, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, and Wuthering Heights—range in genre and are considered classics.Hollywood produced a total of 527 feature films in 1939.
The Empire of Japan possessed a major national film industry in 1939, producing 582 films overall. Over the course of the year, the Film Law brought film production under the direct control of the Japanese government.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1939 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	Gone with the Wind	MGM/Selznick International	$20,000,000
2	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Columbia	$3,500,000
3	Jesse James	20th Century Fox	$2,335,000
4	Babes in Arms	MGM	$2,311,000
5	The Wizard of Oz	MGM	$2,048,000
6	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	MGM	$1,777,000
7	Dodge City	Warner Bros.	$1,668,000
8	The Rains Came	20th Century Fox	$1,656,000
9	The Women	MGM	$1,610,000
10	Drums Along the Mohawk	20th Century Fox	$1,558,000

Events

Film historians often rate 1939 as "the greatest year in the history of Hollywood". Hollywood studios were at the height of their Golden Age of Hollywood|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 (1939 film)|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.
July – Principal photography begins for Germany's first colour feature film, Women Are Better Diplomats, as Joseph Goebbels forces the use of the experimental Agfacolor process.
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 1 – The Film Law goes into effect in Japan as Imperial Rescript no. 66.
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 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

The year 1939 was one in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated ten films for Best Picture:Dark VictoryGone with the Wind Goodbye, Mr. ChipsLove AffairMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonNinotchkaOf Mice and MenStagecoachThe Wizard of OzWuthering Heights
These films came from a wide variety of film genres and sources for their stories and settings, including: historical fiction, contemporary affairs, love stories, classic novels, fantasies/musicals,, tragic plays, westerns, and comedies.
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, Victor Fleming, John Ford, Sam Wood, and William Wyler.

Academy Awards

Best Picture: Gone with the Wind – David O. Selznick; Selznick International, MGM
Best Director: Victor Fleming – [Gone with the Wind (film)|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 (1939 film)|Stagecoach]
Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel – Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind received in all ten Academy Awards from thirteen nominations.

Films by country/region

Serials

Buck Rogers, starring Buster CrabbeDick Tracy's G-Men, starring Ralph ByrdDaredevils of the Red Circle, starring Herman Brix and Charles B. MiddletonFlying G-MenThe Lone Ranger Rides AgainMandrake the Magician, starring Warren HullThe Oregon TrailOverland with Kit CarsonThe Phantom Creeps, starring Bela LugosiScouts to the RescueZorro's Fighting Legion, starring Reed Hadley

Comedy film series

Animated short film series

Krazy Kat Mickey Mouse Silly Symphonies

* The Practical Pig
* The Ugly DucklingLooney Tunes Terrytoons Merrie Melodies Scrappy Betty Boop Popeye Color Rhapsodies Donald Duck Barney Bear Walter Lantz Cartunes The Captain and the Kids Goofy Andy Panda Nertsery Rhyme Cartoons Crackpot Cruise Cartoons Lil' Eightball
''Count Screwloose and J.R.''

Births

January 4 – Burt Sugarman, American film producer
January 8 – Ruth Maleczech, American actress
January 9 – Susannah York, English actress
January 10 – Sal Mineo, American actor
January 17 – Maury Povich, American television personality
January 22 – Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor and martial artist
January 26 – Scott Glenn, American actor
January 30 – János Zsombolyai, Hungarian cinematographer, film director and screenwriter
February 3 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer and screenwriter
February 6 – Mike Farrell, American actor
February 9 – Janet Suzman, South African actress and director
February 10 – Peter Purves, British actor and television presenter
February 16 – Angelo Infanti, Italian actor
February 20 – Antonina Girycz, Polish actress
February 23 – Denis Arndt, American actor
February 24 – Marisa Mell, Austrian actress
February 28 – Tommy Tune, American dancer, choreographer and actor
March 1 – David Weatherley, British-born New Zealand actor
March 4
*John Moreno, British actor
*Robert Shaye, American actor and producer
*Carlos Vereza, Brazilian actor
March 5
*Samantha Eggar, English actress
*Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian actor, comedian and singer
March 7 – Michael Chow, Chinese-born British-American former actor
March 14
*Raymond J. Barry, American actor
*Héctor Bonilla, Mexican actor
March 21 – Marino Masé, Italian actor
March 26 - Phillip R. Allen, American actor
March 28 – Vic Vargas, Filipino actor
March 29 – Terence Hill, Italian actor, director, screenwriter and producer
April 1 – Ali MacGraw, American actress
April 5 – Roger Davis, American actor
April 7 – Francis Ford Coppola, director; producer; screenwriter
April 9 – Romeo Vasquez, Filipino actor
April 11 – Louise Lasser, American actress, writer and director
April 13 – Paul Sorvino, American actor
April 22 – Mark Jones, English actor
April 23
*David Birney, American actor and director
*Lee Majors, American actor
May 4 – Paul Gleason, American actor
May 7
*Ruggero Deodato, Italian director and screenwriter
*Marco St. John, American actor
May 13 – Harvey Keitel, American actor
May 15 – Barbara Hammer, American filmmaker
May 18 – Hark Bohm, German actor, screenwriter and director
May 19
*James Fox, English actor
*Nancy Kwan, Chinese-American actress
May 22 – Paul Winfield, American actor
May 23 – Reinhard Hauff, German film director
May 25
*Ian McKellen, English actor
*Dixie Carter, American actress
May 28 – Beth Howland, American actress
May 30 – Michael J. Pollard, American actor
June 4 – Henri Pachard, American film director
June 8
*Bernie Casey, American actor
*Geoffrey Hutchings, English actor
*Pat Laffan, Irish actor
June 11 – Christina Crawford, American actress
June 15 - Daniel Richter, American mime and actor
June 20 - Peter MacDonald, English director, cinematographer and producer
June 24 – Michael Gothard, English actor
June 25 – Barbara Montgomery, American actress and director
June 30 - John Fortune, English actor
July 1
*Karen Black, American actress, screenwriter and singer-songwriter
*Ines Aru, Estonian actress
July 5 – Sergio Di Stefano, Italian actor and voice actor
July 14 – Sid Haig, American actor
July 15
*Abdulhussain Abdulredha, Kuwaiti actor
*Patrick Wayne, American actor
July 16 – Corin Redgrave, British actor, political activist
July 21 – Sondra James, American sound coordinator and actress
July 22 - Gila Almagor, Israeli actress
July 28 – Charles Cyphers, American actor
July 30 – Peter Bogdanovich, American director, producer and screenwriter
July 31 – France Nuyen, French actress
August 1 – Terry Kiser, American actor
August 2
*Wes Craven, American director; producer; screenwriter
*Robert Wall, American actor and martial artist
August 4 – Mapita Cortés, Mexican actress
August 6 - Steve Kahan, American character actor
August 7 – Anjanette Comer, American actress
August 9 – Bulle Ogier, French actress
August 12
*Oliver Ford Davies, English actor and writer
*George Hamilton, American actor
August 16 - Carole Shelley, English actress
August 20 – Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor
August 21 – Clarence Williams III, American actor
August 23 – Fernando Luján, Mexican actor
August 25 – John Badham, English-American director
August 29 – Joel Schumacher, American film director, producer and screenwriter
August 30 – Elizabeth Ashley, American actress
September 1 – Lily Tomlin, American actress, comedian and producer
September 5
*William Devane, American actor
*George Lazenby, Australian actor
September 8 - DeVeren Bookwalter, American actor and director
September 9 - Arthur Dignam, Australian actor
September 10 – David Stratton, English-born Australian film critic and historian
September 11 – Tom Dreesen, American actor and stand-up comedian
September 13 – Richard Kiel, American actor and voice artist
September 22 - Bette Bourne, British actor, drag queen, campaigner and activist
September 23 – Janusz Gajos, Polish actor
September 27 – Garrick Hagon, Canadian film, stage, television and radio actor
September 28 - Sandra Dorsey, American actress
September 29 – Werner Pochath, Austrian actor
September 30 – Len Cariou, Canadian actor and director
October 5 – Carmen Salinas, Mexican actress and comedian
October 6 – Ellen Travolta, American actress
October 8 – Paul Hogan, Australian comedian and actor
October 10 - Laurel Cronin, American actress and singer
October 13 – Melinda Dillon, American actress
October 17 – Robert F. Lyons, American actor
October 18 – Salme Poopuu, Estonian actress and filmmaker
October 21 - Peter Vere-Jones, English-born New Zealand actor
October 22 – Tony Roberts, American actor
October 23
*Stanley Anderson, American character actor
*Edith Díaz, Puerto Rican actress
October 24 – F. Murray Abraham, American actor
October 25 – Nikos Nikolaidis, Greek film director
October 27 – John Cleese, English actor, comedian and producer
October 28 – Jane Alexander, American actress
October 29 – Elizabeth Moody, English-born New Zealand actress and director
October 31 – Ron Rifkin, American actor
November 1 - Barbara Bosson, American actress
November 8 – Meg Wynn Owen, Welsh actress
November 10
*Anton Gorchev, Bulgarian actor
*Russell Means, Native American actor
November 13 – G. R. Perera, Sri Lankan actor
November 15 – Yaphet Kotto, American actor
November 17 - Yuya Uchida, Japanese singer and actor
November 18
*Max Phipps, Australian actor
*Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
November 22 – Allen Garfield, American actor
November 23 - Maria Gladys, Brazilian actress
November 26
*Mark Margolis, American actor
*Tina Turner, American-born Swiss singer, songwriter and actress
November 27 – Ulla Strömstedt, Swedish actress
December 3 - Don Calfa, American character actor
December 4 – Jimmy Hunt, American actor
December 13
*Eric Flynn, British actor
*Akiko Wakabayashi, Japanese actress
December 20 - Kathryn Joosten, American actress
December 27 – John Amos, American actor
December 28 – Gloria Manon, American actress

Deaths

January 19 – Tom Ricketts, 86, English actor, director, Love Bound, Thrill of Youth
January 25 – Helen Ware, 61, American actress, Morning Glory, Abraham Lincoln
February 22 – Joe Brandt, 56, American film producer and co-founder of C.B.C. which became Columbia Pictures
April 22 – Ann Murdock, 48, American actress, Outcast, Please Help Emily
May 5 – Clara Schønfeld, 82, Danish actress, Master of the House, Praesten i Vejlby
June 9 – Owen Moore, 54, Irish actor, A Star is Born, She Done Him Wrong, The Red Mill, Cinderella
August 23 – Sidney Howard, 48, American writer, Gone with the Wind, Dodsworth, Arrowsmith, A Lady to Love
September 24 – Carl Laemmle, 72, German producer, Frankenstein, Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, The [Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)|The Phantom of the Opera]
October 13 – Ford Sterling, 55, American actor, Tango Tangles, The Show-Off, Between Showers
October 23 – Zane Grey, 67, American writer, Fighting Caravans, Riders of the Purple Sage, Western Union, Born to the West
October 28 – Alice Brady, 46, American actress, My Man Godfrey, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Gay Divorcee, In Old Chicago
November 7 – Kirsti Suonio, 67, Finnish stage and film actress, Substitute Wife
November 13 – George Nicholls, Jr., 42, American director, Anne of Green Gables, Man of Conquest
December 12 – Douglas Fairbanks, 56, American actor, The Thief of Bagdad, The Black Pirate, Robin Hood, Mr. Robinson Crusoe, and the father of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.