MGM '39
by chpknock | created - 16 Dec 2020 | updated - 16 Dec 2020 | PublicMGM'S BANNER YEAR OF 1939
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1. Let Freedom Ring (1939)
Passed | 87 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
While the railroad advances westward, agent Jim Knox chooses expedite ways to obtain the land he needs, aided by his fierce Irish lieutenant Mulligan. Everybody expects homecoming lawyer ... See full summary »
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Nelson Eddy, Virginia Bruce, Victor McLaglen, Lionel Barrymore
Votes: 234
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
Passed | 91 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
To avoid his abusive father, a rambunctious boy rafts the Mississippi River with a slave, encountering many wild characters.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley, Rex Ingram
Votes: 1,408
3. It's a Wonderful World (1939)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
When 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.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 3,423
4. Bridal Suite (1939)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, Romance
An American playboy dumps his greedy fiancee and ends up marrying a woman from the Alps.
Director: Wilhelm Thiele | Stars: Annabella, Robert Young, Walter Connolly, Reginald Owen
Votes: 251
5. Lucky Night (1939)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Comedy
A wealthy woman meets a bum on a park bench and marries him the same evening.
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Myrna Loy, Robert Taylor, Joseph Allen, Henry O'Neill
Votes: 641
6. The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Music, Romance
An ice skater jeopardizes her marriage after she becomes a movie star.
Director: Reinhold Schünzel | Stars: Joan Crawford, James Stewart, Lew Ayres, Lewis Stone
Votes: 1,055
7. Lady of the Tropics (1939)
Passed | 92 min | Drama
Playboy Bill Carey woos a half-caste beauty in French Indochina, but her second-class legal status makes a formidable barrier.
Directors: Jack Conway, Leslie Fenton | Stars: Robert Taylor, Hedy Lamarr, Joseph Schildkraut, Gloria Franklin
Votes: 658
8. Broadway Serenade (1939)
Passed | 114 min | Drama
Mary 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... See full summary »
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Jeanette MacDonald, Lew Ayres, Ian Hunter, Frank Morgan
Votes: 287
9. Society Lawyer (1939)
Passed | 77 min | Drama, Music, Mystery
Society lawyer Christopher Durant agrees to defend his friend Phil Siddall when Siddall is arrested for the murder of an ex-girlfriend. With the help of nightclub singer Pat Abbott and ... See full summary »
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Virginia Bruce, Leo Carrillo, Eduardo Ciannelli
Votes: 283
10. Remember? (1939)
Passed | 83 min | Comedy, Romance
A jilted man gives his divorced best friend and his ex-wife - to whom he was previously engaged - a potion that causes them to forget each other. Will they fall in love all over again?
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Robert Taylor, Greer Garson, Lew Ayres, Billie Burke
Votes: 610
11. Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939)
Approved | 70 min | Comedy
Brooklyn residents Joe Turp (William Gargan) and his wife, Ethel (Ann Sothern), travel to Washington D. C. to call on the US President (Lewis Stone)to make a pleas on the behalf of their ... See full summary »
Director: Robert B. Sinclair | Stars: Ann Sothern, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan, William Gargan
Votes: 84
12. Miracles for Sale (1939)
Not Rated | 71 min | Crime, Mystery
Retired performer Mike Morgan sells original illusions to fellow magicians, and although he believes in the supernatural, likes to expose sham psychics. This involves him in some mysterious murders.
Director: Tod Browning | Stars: Robert Young, Florence Rice, Frank Craven, Henry Hull
Votes: 845
13. At the Circus (1939)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Musical
The Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job.
Director: Edward Buzzell | Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kenny Baker
Votes: 6,474
14. The Women (1939)
Not Rated | 133 min | Comedy, Drama
A study of the lives and romantic entanglements of various interconnected women.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland
Votes: 14,908 | Gross: $2.27M
15. Ninotchka (1939)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
A 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.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Bela Lugosi
Votes: 22,912 | Gross: $1.19M
16. They All Come Out (1939)
Passed | 70 min | Crime, Drama
A "Crime Doesn't Pay" morality drama about a young man sentenced to a prison term and attempts by the system to rehabilitate jailed criminals.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Rita Johnson, Tom Neal, Bernard Nedell, Edward Gargan
Votes: 316
17. Within the Law (1939)
Passed | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Shopgirl Mary Turner, sentenced to prison for someone else's theft, is released and takes revenge upon those who wronged her in powerful but lawful ways.
Director: Gustav Machatý | Stars: Ruth Hussey, Tom Neal, Paul Kelly, William Gargan
Votes: 332
18. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Unrated | 114 min | Drama, Romance
An aged teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school recalls his career and his personal life over the decades.
Directors: Sam Wood, Sidney Franklin | Stars: Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills
Votes: 11,597
19. Tell No Tales (1939)
Passed | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Michael Cassidy is the editor of a failing newspaper. A scoop would be welcome to boost the sales and to avoid closure. To this end, he decides to personally track down a gang of kidnappers.
Director: Leslie Fenton | Stars: Melvyn Douglas, Louise Platt, Gene Lockhart, Douglass Dumbrille
Votes: 413
20. Another Thin Man (1939)
Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
An explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in new parents Nick and Nora to sort things out.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger
Votes: 8,169 | Gross: $3.32M
21. Sergeant Madden (1939)
Passed | 80 min | Drama, Romance
A highly respected Irish cop is pleased when his son follows him onto the force. Unfortunately, the son is more interested in rewards than in upholding the law. After he shoots a child ... See full summary »
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Wallace Beery, Tom Brown, Alan Curtis, Laraine Day
Votes: 198
22. Northwest Passage (1940)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Langdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected.
Directors: King Vidor, Jack Conway, W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 3,908
23. The Hardys Ride High (1939)
Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Family
Judge Hardy and family travel to Detroit to claim an inheritance where they experience life as millionaires and learn the cost of riding high.
Director: George B. Seitz | Stars: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
Votes: 471
24. Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Young 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.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
Votes: 706
25. Judge Hardy and Son (1939)
Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Family
Judge Hardy, trying to find a relative of an aged couple to prevent them from losing their home, enlists the aid of his son Andy.
Director: George B. Seitz | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker
Votes: 507 | Gross: $0.25M
26. The Kid from Texas (1939)
Passed | 71 min | Comedy, Romance, Sport
A loud-mouthed Texas cowpuncher tries his hand at polo, finding himself at odds with high society and trying to save a floundering Wild West show.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon | Stars: Dennis O'Keefe, Florence Rice, John Hubbard, Jessie Ralph
Votes: 152
27. Calling Dr. Kildare (1939)
Passed | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Dr. Gillespie tries to teach Jimmy Kildare a lesson by tossing him into a street clinic. Only Kildare gets called to take a bullet out of a suspected murderer, and when the cops collar him ... See full summary »
Director: Harold S. Bucquet | Stars: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 583
28. I Take This Woman (1940)
Passed | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A doctor (Spencer Tracy) marries a suicidal woman (Hedy Lamarr) but begins to doubt her fidelity.
Directors: W.S. Van Dyke, Frank Borzage, Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, Verree Teasdale, Kent Taylor
Votes: 715
29. Maisie (1939)
Approved | 75 min | Comedy, Drama
A showgirl stranded in a Wyoming town ends up being hired as a maid at a ranch.
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Robert Young, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey, Ian Hunter
Votes: 691
30. Congo Maisie (1940)
Approved | 71 min | Comedy, Drama
Brooklyn showgirl Maisie gets stranded in the African jungle with a romantic doctor.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Ann Sothern, John Carroll, Rita Johnson, Shepperd Strudwick
Votes: 511
31. Fast and Loose (1939)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Mystery, Crime
Rare booksellers Joel and Garda Sloane are engaged to find who is stealing rare books from a private library.
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Reginald Owen, Ralph Morgan
Votes: 700
32. Fast and Furious (1939)
Passed | 73 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Rare book dealers Joel and Garda take a summertime jaunt to the seashore where he becomes involved in a beauty pageant as investor and judge - much to her chagrin.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey, Lee Bowman
Votes: 876
33. Balalaika (1939)
Approved | 102 min | Musical, Romance
A Russian prince disguised as a worker and a cafe singer secretly involved in revolutionary activities fall in love.
Director: Reinhold Schünzel | Stars: Nelson Eddy, Ilona Massey, Charles Ruggles, Frank Morgan
Votes: 357 | Gross: $0.25M
34. Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
Passed | 82 min | Action, Adventure, Family
Tarzan finds a boy from a crashed plane and raises him with Jane in the jungle. A search party comes looking for the plane.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Johnny Sheffield, Ian Hunter
Votes: 3,624 | Gross: $2.27M
35. Bad Little Angel (1939)
Approved | 72 min | Drama
A Bible-guided Victorian orphan befriends a bootblack in a strange town.
Director: Wilhelm Thiele | Stars: Virginia Weidler, Gene Reynolds, Guy Kibbee, Ian Hunter
Votes: 310
36. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young 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.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,926 | Gross: $2.08M
37. These Glamour Girls (1939)
Passed | 79 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A drunken college boy invites a taxi dancer to spend the weekend at his snobbish school.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon | Stars: Lew Ayres, Lana Turner, Tom Brown, Richard Carlson
Votes: 515
38. Babes in Arms (1939)
Unrated | 94 min | Comedy, Musical
A 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.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee
Votes: 2,849
39. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A 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.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 334,509 | Gross: $198.68M
40. Henry Goes Arizona (1939)
Passed | 66 min | Western, Comedy, Drama
An actor from New York inherits a ranch in Arizona.
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Frank Morgan, Virginia Weidler, Guy Kibbee, Slim Summerville
Votes: 243
41. 6,000 Enemies (1939)
Passed | 62 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A tough prosecutor who has sent dozens of criminals to prison finds himself framed on a bribery charge and winds up in prison himself.
Director: George B. Seitz | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Rita Johnson, Paul Kelly, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 265
42. Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939)
Passed | 59 min | Mystery
Detective Nick Carter is brought in to foil spies at the Radex Airplane Factory, where a new fighter plane is under manufacture.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Rita Johnson, Henry Hull, Stanley Ridges
Votes: 517
43. The Earl of Chicago (1940)
Approved | 87 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Silky has always moved booze. During prohibition, he smuggled it from Canada, but now that it is legal, he produces his own brand. Seven years before, he sent Doc to prison because Doc was ... See full summary »
Directors: Richard Thorpe, Victor Saville | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Edward Arnold, Reginald Owen, Edmund Gwenn
Votes: 408
44. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Not Rated | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut
Votes: 38,532 | Gross: $0.20M
45. Dancing Co-Ed (1939)
Passed | 84 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After 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.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon | Stars: Lana Turner, Richard Carlson, Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, Artie Shaw
Votes: 534
46. Thunder Afloat (1939)
Passed | 95 min | Romance, Drama, War
In a New England port town, Pop Thorson and Rocky Blake are rival tugboat owners. Thorson's boat has sunk in the shallow water while docked, and he is certain Blake sabotaged it for winning a lucrative contract of military supplies.
Director: George B. Seitz | Stars: Wallace Beery, Chester Morris, Virginia Grey, Douglass Dumbrille
Votes: 247
47. Stronger Than Desire (1939)
Passed | 78 min | Drama
Wealthy socialite Elizabeth Flagg is courted by persistent Michael McLain, despite her protests that she is a married woman. McLain is just charming enough to attract Elizabeth into a ... See full summary »
Director: Leslie Fenton | Stars: Virginia Bruce, Walter Pidgeon, Lee Bowman, Ann Dvorak
Votes: 314
48. On Borrowed Time (1939)
Passed | 99 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A 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.
Director: Harold S. Bucquet | Stars: Lionel Barrymore, Cedric Hardwicke, Beulah Bondi, Una Merkel
Votes: 2,252
49. Blackmail (1939)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
John Ingram, successful oil field firefighter, is really a chain gang escapee. Someone out of his past finds him.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Hussey, Gene Lockhart, Bobs Watson
Votes: 861
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