Films of 1939
These are the films I have seen from the year 1939.
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- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsLewis StoneMickey RooneyCecilia ParkerYoung Andy develops a crush on his drama teacher. Meanwhile, Judge Hardy has his own problems after he gets conned into forming a phony aluminum corporation.
- DirectorBusby BerkeleyStarsMickey RooneyJudy GarlandCharles WinningerA group of vaudevillians struggling to compete with talkies hits the road hoping for a comeback. Frustrated to be left behind, all of their kids put on a show themselves to raise money for the families and to prove they've got talent, too.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsGinger RogersDavid NivenCharles CoburnAn unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.
- DirectorGregory RatoffStarsAlice FayeWarner BaxterCharles WinningerIn China in the 1930s a singer (Faye) and journalist (Baxter) meet on a train attacked by bandits.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsGary CooperRay MillandRobert PrestonThree adopted English brothers join the French Foreign Legion in North Africa after one of them steals their adoptive family's famous heirloom sapphire.
- DirectorWilhelm ThieleStarsAnnabellaRobert YoungWalter ConnollyAn American playboy dumps his greedy fiancee and ends up marrying a woman from the Alps.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsJeanette MacDonaldLew AyresIan HunterMary Hale, a singer, and Jimmy Seymour, a pianist/composer, are a showbiz couple working in The Big Apple in small nightclubs hoping to hit it big. One night, Broadway producer Larry Bryant spots Mary and is taken with her beauty and golden voice. He asks her to audition for Mr. Collier and have Jimmy accompany her. After hearing Mary, Collier wants Mary to be in his show. Jimmy encourages a reluctant Mary to go on the road without him. Soon, Mary's talent is noticed and her role in the show increases, while Harriet Ingalls, the show's original star, is pushed out. She quits, promising to seek revenge. After 5 weeks on the road, Mary returns home. She is now a big star, while Jimmy's career has gone nowhere, and he feels threatened by Mary's success. Jimmy, while waiting for Mary to dress, starts to read a Broadway magazine. Seeing pictures of Mary with Larry, he pours himself a drink and another till he's drunk. Larry stops by, and Ingalls suddenly appears and accuses Mary and Larry of having an affair. Jimmy leaves believing Ingalls' lies. Mary follows Jimmy trying to reason with him - a heated argument occurs. Mary leaves Jimmy and files for divorce. Two years pass and Jimmy, now successful, goes to see Mary - wanting her back - but discovers that Mary and Larry are leaving for London that night to get married.
- DirectorRalph SteinerWillard Van DykeStarsMorris CarnovskyA prescient documentary about city planning, which presents idyllic suburbs and nuclear families as a solution to the chaos, poverty and social decay of industrialized inner cities.
- DirectorS. Sylvan SimonStarsLana TurnerRichard CarlsonArtie Shaw and His OrchestraAfter discovering his star dancer is expecting and can't perform, film producer H.W. Workman and his publicist concoct a scheme to stage a college dance contest to find a new star.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsBette DavisGeorge BrentHumphrey BogartA young socialite is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and must decide whether or not she'll meet her final days with dignity.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsMarlene DietrichJames StewartMischa AuerDeputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandAnn SheridanA Texas cattle agent witnesses first hand, the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsClaudette ColbertHenry FondaEdna May OliverNewlyweds Gil and Lana Martin try to establish a farm in the Mohawk Valley but are menaced by Indians and Tories as the Revolutionary War begins.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsSonja HenieRay MillandRobert CummingsTwo competing reporters fall in love with the daughter of a Nobel Prize winner living in hiding.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsGinger RogersWalter ConnollyVerree TeasdaleFeeling unwanted by his wife and children, a wealthy industrialist hires an unemployed young woman to pose as his mistress.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsChester MorrisLucille BallWendy BarrieA plane has engine trouble while flying over a jungle inhabited by cannibals.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsJohn ClementsRalph RichardsonC. Aubrey SmithA British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
- DirectorSam WoodSidney FranklinStarsRobert DonatGreer GarsonTerry KilburnAn aged teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school recalls his career and his personal life over the decades.
- DirectorGarson KaninStarsJohn BarrymorePeter HoldenVirginia WeidlerIn 1923, Gregory Vance, a widower with two children, is a former scholar who has turned from book-to-bottle. He works, slightly, as a night-watchman and his children, who know him for what he is and what he isn't, are his only admirers. Then, it is discovered that he is the only registered voter in a key precinct and the politicians, from both parties, arrive in droves bearing inducements. What he does about this situation, and the relatives who want to take his children away from him make up the story.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineVictor McLaglenIn 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsLewis StoneMickey RooneyCecilia ParkerJudge Hardy and family travel to Detroit to claim an inheritance where they experience life as millionaires and learn the cost of riding high.
- DirectorIrving CummingsBuster KeatonMalcolm St. ClairStarsAlice FayeDon AmecheJ. Edward BrombergStarting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharles LaughtonMaureen O'HaraCedric HardwickeIn 15th-century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
- DirectorReinhold SchünzelStarsJoan CrawfordJames StewartLew AyresAn ice skater jeopardizes her marriage after she becomes a movie star.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsNorma ShearerClark GableEdward ArnoldA group of disparate travelers are caught and thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are closed at the beginning of World War II.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsClaudette ColbertJames StewartGuy KibbeeWhen a tycoon (Ernest Truex) is accused of murder, the private eye (James Stewart) tracking him finds himself roped in as an accessory and attempts to evade police, kidnapping a poetess (Claudette Colbert) along the way.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMaureen O'HaraRobert NewtonCharles LaughtonIn Cornwall, 1819, a young woman discovers she's living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.
- DirectorHenry KingIrving CummingsStarsTyrone PowerHenry FondaNancy KellyAfter railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsJean GabinJacqueline LaurentArlettyAfter committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniBette DavisBrian AherneLouis Napoleon III (Claude Rains) takes advantage of the American Civil War to circumvent the Monroe Doctrine and expand his power by helping Emperor Maximilian von Habsburg (Brian Aherne) to add Mexico to his empire.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsMickey RooneyLewis StoneFay HoldenJudge Hardy, trying to find a relative of an aged couple to prevent them from losing their home, enlists the aid of his son Andy.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsIrene DunneCharles BoyerMaria OuspenskayaA French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsCarole LombardJames StewartCharles CoburnWhile on a business trip, an ambitious young lawyer meets and immediately falls in love with a stranger. They wed the following day, and tragedy soon strikes.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsRobert YoungAnn SothernRuth HusseyA showgirl stranded in a Wyoming town ends up being hired as a maid at a ranch.
- DirectorNorman FosterStarsPeter LorreJoseph SchildkrautLionel AtwillDisguised as an Austrian archaeologist, Moto helps unearth the priceless crown of the legendary Queen of Sheba and sans disguise defends it from a variety of thugs and criminals.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartJean ArthurClaude RainsA 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.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGreta GarboMelvyn DouglasIna ClaireA stern Soviet woman sent to Paris to supervise the sale of jewels seized from Russian nobles finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLon Chaney Jr.Burgess MeredithBetty FieldA mentally disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsBette DavisMiriam HopkinsGeorge BrentThe arrival of an ex-lover on a young woman's wedding day sets in motion a chain of events which will alter her and her cousin's lives forever.
- DirectorHarold S. BucquetStarsLionel BarrymoreCedric HardwickeBeulah BondiA cantankerous old man takes in his beloved, orphaned grandson, whom he must protect at all costs with the help of an agent of Death and a magical apple tree.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsVera ZorinaEddie AlbertAlan HaleA young hoofer quits vaudeville to become a composer and hooks up with a Russian ballet troupe.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRita HayworthAt a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air-freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.
- DirectorSam WoodWilliam WylerStarsDavid NivenOlivia de HavillandMay WhittyMan about town and first class cricketer A.J. Raffles keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend with her parents, Lord and Lady Melrose. A necklace presents an irresistible temptation, but also in attendance is Scotland Yard's finest, finally on the trail.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
- DirectorHarold S. BucquetStarsLew AyresLionel BarrymoreLionel AtwillDr. Gillespie's cancer has gotten worse, and to force him to take a rest instead of pursuing a sulfa-drug/pneumonia study, Kildare refuses to assist Gillespie, and instead accepts a case of hysterical blindness. She's also the daughter of a millionaire who could help the hospital.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsBoris KarloffBasil RathboneBela LugosiReturning to the ancestral castle long after the death of the monster, the son of Dr. Frankenstein meets a mad shepherd who is hiding the comatose creature. To clear the family name, he revives the creature and tries to rehabilitate him.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy DevineA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
- DirectorHenry KingOtto BrowerStarsSpencer TracyNancy KellyRichard GreeneTasked by his editor, American reporter Henry M. Stanley travels to a dangerous and uncharted region of East Africa to find the missing Scottish pioneer missionary Dr. David Livingstone.
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsDon AmecheLoretta YoungHenry FondaThe story of how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersEdna May OliverThe story of the dancing team who taught the world to two-step.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsAlice FayeConstance BennettNancy KellyFlyer enters a cross-country aerial derby, becomes rival to a wealthy society flyer, competes in parachute jumps and has love affairs.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsGlenda FarrellBarton MacLaneTom KennedyTorchy Blane has to solve a blackmail case.
- DirectorNoel M. SmithStarsJane WymanAllen JenkinsTom KennedyTorchy Blane and Steve McBride try to nab a gangster by tracking his moll.a/k/a 'Torchy Plays with Dynamite'
- DirectorRay McCareyStarsGlenda FarrellBarton MacLaneTom KennedyTorchy conducts a one woman campaign against a corrupt mayor and crime boss, and when the reform candidate is murdered, she takes up the banner.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsBarbara StanwyckJoel McCreaAkim TamiroffIn 1862, Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads compete westward across the wilderness toward California.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsNorma ShearerJoan CrawfordRosalind RussellA study of the lives and romantic entanglements of various interconnected women.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMerle OberonLaurence OlivierDavid NivenA servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.