1939 Movies
Take a nostalgic look back at the top movies of 1939, celebrating the films, directors and actors that defined the year and left a lasting legacy in the world of entertainment.
![Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]( "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington")
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Written by: Sidney Buchman
Directed by: Frank Capra
Starring: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains
Country: United States of America
Outline: A naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
source: imdb.com
![Goodbye, Mr. Chips]( "Goodbye, Mr. Chips")
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Directed by: Sam Wood, Sidney Franklin
Country: United States of America
Outline: An aged teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school recalls his career and his personal life over the decades.
source: imdb.com
![Drums Along the Mohawk]( "Drums Along the Mohawk")
Drums Along the Mohawk
Written by: Lamar Trotti
Directed by: John Ford
Starring: Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Edna May Oliver
Country: United States of America
Outline: Newlyweds Gil and Lana Martin establish a farm in the Mohawk Valley but face threats from Indians and Tories as the Revolutionary War begins.
source: imdb.com
![Dodge City]( "Dodge City")
Dodge City
Written by: Robert Buckner
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan
Country: United States of America
Outline: In 1872, Wade Hatton, a Texas cattle agent, becomes the sheriff of Dodge City to restore order to the lawless town. Amidst challenges, he confronts the powerful outlaw Jeff Surrett and his gang.
source: imdb.com
![Jesse James]( "Jesse James")
Jesse James
Written by: Nunnally Johnson
Directed by: Henry King, Irving Cummings
Starring: Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, Henry Hull, Slim Summerville, J. Edward Bromberg, Brian Donlevy, John Carradine, Donald Meek, John Russell, Jane Darwell
Country: United States of America
Outline: After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge. The film portrays their transformation into outlaws and their subsequent exploits.
source: imdb.com
![The Rains Came]( "The Rains Came")
The Rains Came
Written by: Philip Dunne, Julien Josephson
Directed by: Clarence Brown
Starring: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent, Brenda Joyce, Nigel Bruce, Maria Ouspenskaya
Country: United States of America
Outline: Set in British India, the film follows Lady Edwina Esketh, a British aristocrat, as she becomes entangled in a love triangle amidst a devastating plague. The narrative explores themes of love, betrayal, and redemption.
source: imdb.com
![Ninotchka]( "Ninotchka")
Ninotchka
Written by: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Walter Reisch
Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire
Country: United States of America
Outline: A stern Soviet envoy sent to Paris to retrieve exiled aristocrat Grand Duchess Swana finds herself falling in love with an American man.
source: imdb.com
![Stagecoach]( "Stagecoach")
Stagecoach
Written by: Ernest Haycox, Dudley Nichols
Directed by: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine
Country: United States of America
Outline: A group of strangers embark on a perilous journey through dangerous Apache territory in a stagecoach, facing various challenges along the way.
source: imdb.com
![The Hunchback of Notre Dame]( "The Hunchback of Notre Dame")
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Written by: Victor Hugo, Sonya Levien, S.N. Behrman
Directed by: William Dieterle
Starring: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Alan Marshal
Country: United States of America
Outline: Set in 15th-century Paris, the film follows Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer of Notre Dame, and his love for the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda. Their story unfolds amidst the backdrop of social injustice and political intrigue.
source: imdb.com
![The Roaring Twenties]( "The Roaring Twenties")
The Roaring Twenties
Written by: Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay, Robert Rossen
Directed by: Raoul Walsh
Starring: James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Gladys George, Jeffrey Lynn
Country: United States of America
Outline: After World War I, three friends return to America and become involved in the bootlegging business during Prohibition. Their partnership faces challenges as love and rivalry emerge, leading to a tragic conclusion.
source: imdb.com
![On Borrowed Time]( "On Borrowed Time")
On Borrowed Time
Written by: Alice D. G. Miller, Frank O'Neill
Directed by: Harold S. Bucquet
Starring: Lionel Barrymore, Cedric Hardwicke, Beulah Bondi
Country: United States of America
Outline: An elderly man and his grandson outwit Death, who has come to take the man, by trapping him in a tree. Together, they embark on a journey to find the boy's runaway mother.
source: en.wikipedia.org
![Of Mice and Men]( "Of Mice and Men")
Of Mice and Men
Written by: John Steinbeck, Eugene Solow, Robert Wallsten
Directed by: Lewis Milestone
Starring: Burgess Meredith, Lon Chaney Jr., Charles Bickford, Roman Bohnen, Bob Steele
Country: United States of America
Outline: Based on John Steinbeck's novel, the film follows two displaced workers, George and Lennie, as they seek employment during the Great Depression. Their dream of owning a farm together is challenged by the harsh realities they face.
source: imdb.com
![Beau Geste]( "Beau Geste")
Beau Geste
Written by: P.C. Wren, Robert Carson, Lillie Hayward
Directed by: William A. Wellman
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, J. Carrol Naish
Country: United States of America
Outline: The film tells the story of three brothers who join the French Foreign Legion and are stationed in the Sahara Desert. They face challenges of loyalty, honor, and survival as they confront the harsh conditions and enemies.
source: imdb.com
![La fin du jour]( "La fin du jour")
La fin du jour
Written by: Julien Duvivier, Charles Spaak
Directed by: Julien Duvivier
Starring: Victor Francen, Michel Simon, Madeleine Ozeray, Louis Jouvet, Charles Granval
Country: France
Outline: The film portrays the lives of elderly actors residing in a retirement home, focusing on their personal struggles and relationships as they reflect on their past careers and confront the realities of aging.
source: imdb.com
![Only Angels Have Wings]( "Only Angels Have Wings")
Only Angels Have Wings
Written by: Charles Lederer
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Starring: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Thomas Mitchell, Allyn Joslyn
Country: United States of America
Outline: A group of American airmen in a South American country risk their lives to deliver mail across treacherous mountain passes, while dealing with personal conflicts and romantic entanglements.
source: imdb.com
![The Old Maid]( "The Old Maid")
The Old Maid
Written by: Edmund Goulding, Edwin Justus Mayer
Directed by: Edmund Goulding
Starring: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale
Country: United States of America
Outline: Two cousins, one a spinster and the other a widow, navigate love and loss in post-Civil War New York, leading to a complex relationship and a family secret.
source: imdb.com
![Wuthering Heights]( "Wuthering Heights")
Wuthering Heights
Written by: Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Flora Robson, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Country: United States of America
Outline: A traveler named Lockwood is caught in the snow and stays at the estate of Wuthering Heights, despite the cold behavior of his host Heathcliff. Late that night, after being shown into an upstairs room that was once a bridal chamber, Lockwood is awakened by a cold draft and finds the window shutter flapping back and forth. Just as he is about to close it, he feels an icy hand clutching his and hears a woman outside calling, "Heathcliff, let me in! I'm lost in the moors. It's Cathy!" Lockwood calls Heathcliff and tells him what he saw, whereupon the enraged Heathcliff throws him out of the room. Once Lockwood is gone, Heathcliff frantically calls out to Cathy and runs down the stairs and into the snowstorm. Ellen, the housekeeper, tells the amazed Lockwood that he has seen the ghost of Cathy Earnshaw, Heathcliff's only great love, who died years ago. When Lockwood says that he doesn't believe in ghosts, Ellen tells him that he might if she told him the story of Cathy, and he asks her to do so, intrigued.
source: en.wikipedia.org
![Destry Rides Again]( "Destry Rides Again")
Destry Rides Again
Written by: Felix Jackson, Henry Myers
Directed by: George Marshall
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Brian Donlevy, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger
Country: United States of America
Outline: A gunfighter is hired as the new sheriff of a small town, where he faces off against a corrupt saloon owner and his henchmen, bringing law and order to the lawless town.
source: imdb.com
![The Hound of the Baskervilles]( "The Hound of the Baskervilles")
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Written by: Ernest Pascal
Directed by: Sidney Lanfield
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Richard Greene, Wendy Barrie, Lionel Atwill, John Carradine
Country: United States of America
Outline: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, who was found dead in his garden from heart failure, with the footprints of a gigantic hound nearby. They uncover a family curse involving a demonic dog that has killed several Baskervilles in the region of Devonshire. Holmes and Watson work to protect Sir Henry Baskerville, the latest heir, from the same fate. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hound_of_the_Baskervilles_%281939_film%29?utm_source=openai))
source: imdb.com
What happened in 1939?
Discover what the world looked like in 1939: