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| 1939 in film | |
|---|---|
| Year | 1939 |
| Notable films | Gone with the Wind; The Wizard of Oz; Stagecoach; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Wuthering Heights |
| Major awards | Academy Awards: Gone with the Wind (Best Picture) |
| Births | Woody Allen; Al Pacino; Jane Fonda; Roger Ebert |
| Deaths | John Held Jr.; Theda Bara |
1939 in film 1939 is often cited as a landmark year in cinema history when Hollywood studios such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, RKO Pictures, and 20th Century Fox produced major releases that reshaped popular culture, while international filmmakers from France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Japan advanced artistic innovation. The year featured landmark works by directors including Victor Fleming, Frank Capra, John Ford, William Wyler, and Alfred Hitchcock, and showcased leading performers such as Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, and James Stewart.
Studios consolidated power as executives like Louis B. Mayer, Jack L. Warner, Samuel Goldwyn, Harry Cohn, and Darryl F. Zanuck greenlit epics and musicals, while labor activism by members of the Screen Actors Guild and leaders including Ruth Gordon prompted contract negotiations. The premiere of Gone with the Wind at the Capitol Theatre (New York City) and the M-G-M publicity campaign elevated promotional strategies alongside premieres such as The Wizard of Oz at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. International tensions linked to the Munich Agreement and the onset of the Invasion of Poland affected distribution networks and censorship practices in countries like Germany and Poland, and studios responded to newsreel demand by distributors including Pathé News and Movietone News.
Top box-office successes included Gone with the Wind from Selznick International Pictures and distributed by MGM, The Wizard of Oz from MGM, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington from Columbia Pictures, Stagecoach from United Artists, and Ninotchka from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Other high earners were Gunga Din (RKO Pictures), Wuthering Heights (Samuel Goldwyn Productions), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (Fox Film Corporation), and Beau Geste (Paramount Pictures).
The year saw releases across genres and nations: Hollywood epics and romances like Gone with the Wind (director Victor Fleming, producer David O. Selznick), musicals such as The Wizard of Oz (musical director Harold Arlen), screwball comedies including Ninotchka (director Ernst Lubitsch), and political dramas like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (director Frank Capra, star Jean Arthur). Western innovation arrived with Stagecoach (director John Ford, star John Wayne), while adaptations included Wuthering Heights (director William Wyler, star Laurence Olivier), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (director Sam Wood, star Robert Donat), and Of Mice and Men (director Lewis Milestone). Notable genre works included Gunga Din (adventure), Beau Geste (action), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Universal Pictures horror revival), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (historical drama starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn), Dark Victory (melodrama starring Bette Davis), and The Roaring Twenties (crime drama starring James Cagney). International entries comprised La grande illusion‑era influences in France with directors such as Jean Renoir’s contemporaries, Italian films emerging under figures like Vittorio De Sica’s peers, German cinema adapting to the Reichsfilmkammer controls, and Japanese films by studios including Toho and directors such as Yasujirō Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi.
The 12th Academy Awards recognized productions including Gone with the Wind winning Best Picture, with winners among artists such as Vivien Leigh (Best Actress) and Hattie McDaniel (Best Supporting Actress) making history as the first African American Oscar winner. Robert Donat won Best Actor for Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and technical achievements honored work by cinematographers and composers within major studios including MGM and Paramount Pictures. The ceremony reflected industry prestige upheld by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences leadership including presidents such as Robert Montgomery and board members drawn from studios like RKO and Warner Bros..
1939 births included future filmmakers and performers: directors and screenwriters such as Woody Allen and Al Pacino (actor), critics like Roger Ebert (film critic), and actors including Jane Fonda, Philippe Noiret, Michael Douglas (born 1944—note: include contemporaries within the era's cohort), and international figures from India and Italy. Notable deaths in film circles that year included silent-era stars and character actors associated with studios like Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as artists affected by political upheavals in Europe and emigrés relocating to Hollywood.
Advances included wider use of three-strip Technicolor in features such as The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, improvements in optical printing, and studio investment in sound recording and scoring by composers from the Hollywood Studio System such as Max Steiner and Alfred Newman. The expansion of studio publicity departments under executives like Sidney Kent and the rise of star vehicles promoted actors through fan magazines such as Photoplay and distributors including National Telefilm Associates. Antitrust pressures foreshadowed legal challenges culminating later in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc..
European cinemas featured auteurs responding to sociopolitical currents: filmmakers linked with Poetic Realism in France and the work of émigré directors moving between Berlin and Paris. British cinema celebrated productions from studios like Ealing Studios and directors including Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed. In Japan, studios such as Shochiku and Toho produced films by Yasujirō Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi that explored modernity and tradition. Italian cinema under the Fascist regime continued state-supported production, while Mexican and Indian cinemas expanded prolific studio systems with stars and directors emerging onto the international stage.
Category:1939 films Category:1939 in cinema Category:Years in film