1939
by AndreValverde85 | created - 09 Nov 2016 | updated - 26 Feb 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 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: 334,497 | Gross: $198.68M
*[BEST PICTURE]* *Top Rated Movies*
*ACTRESS -- Vivien Leigh
*ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Hattie McDaniel
*ART DIRECTION -- Lyle Wheeler
*CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) -- Ernest Haller, Ray Rennahan
*DIRECTING -- Victor Fleming
*FILM EDITING -- Hal C. Kern, James E. Newcom
*OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Selznick International Pictures
*WRITING (Screenplay) -- Sidney Howard
*SPECIAL AWARD*
To William Cameron Menzies for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind.
*SCIENTIFIC OR TECHNICAL AWARD* (Class III)
2. 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: 428,904 | Gross: $2.08M
[BEST PICTURE] *Top Rated Movies* *MUSIC (Original Score) -- Herbert Stothart *MUSIC (Song) -- "Over The Rainbow," Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg
3. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A 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.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,807
[BEST PICTURE] *ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Thomas Mitchell *MUSIC (Scoring) -- Richard Hageman, Frank Harling, John Leipold, Leo Shuken
4. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
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.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold
Votes: 121,441 | Gross: $9.60M
[BEST PICTURE] *Top Rated Movies* *WRITING (Original Story) -- Lewis R. Foster
5. 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: 11,596
[BEST PICTURE] *ACTOR -- Robert Donat
6. Wuthering Heights (1939)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, Romance
A servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Flora Robson
Votes: 19,776 | Gross: $0.76M
[BEST PICTURE] *CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Gregg Toland
7. Love Affair (1939)
Approved | 88 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman
Votes: 6,430
[BEST PICTURE] Nominated for 6 Oscars.
8. 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: 22,911 | Gross: $1.19M
[BEST PICTURE] Nominated for 4 Oscars.
9. Of Mice and Men (1939)
Passed | 106 min | Adventure, Drama
A mentally disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Charles Bickford
Votes: 6,861
[BEST PICTURE]
Nominated for 5 Oscars.
10. Dark Victory (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance
A young socialite is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and must decide whether or not she'll meet her final days with dignity.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Votes: 12,406
[BEST PICTURE] Nominated for 3 Oscars.
11. Ugly Duckling (1939)
Approved | 9 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A baby duckling is shunned by his family because he is different. He is also rejected by all of the other birds and animals. Finally a mother swan adopts him as one of her brood.
Directors: Jack Cutting, Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske | Stars: Clarence Nash, Amanda Cewel, Tom Cotry
Votes: 3,625
*SHORT SUBJECT (Cartoon) -- Walt Disney, Producer
12. The Rains Came (1939)
Approved | 103 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In India, a married British aristocrat is reunited with an old flame, but she truly has her sights set on a handsome surgeon.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent, Brenda Joyce
Votes: 2,293
*SPECIAL EFFECTS -- Fred Sersen, E. H. Hansen ART DIRECTION -- William Darling, George Dudley CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Arthur Miller FILM EDITING -- Barbara McLean MUSIC (Original Score) -- Alfred Newman SOUND RECORDING -- 20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, E. H. Hansen, Sound Director
13. When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
Passed | 90 min | Drama, Romance
A concert pianist unhappily married to a mentally ill woman falls in love with a waitress.
Director: John M. Stahl | Stars: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Barbara O'Neil, Onslow Stevens
Votes: 755
*SOUND RECORDING -- Universal Studio Sound Department, Bernard B. Brown, Sound Director
14. Busy Little Bears (1939)
Approved | 10 min | Short, Family
Three bear cubs are observed exploring the forests of the Sierra Nevadas, encountering other wildlife, and invading the kitchen of a local ranch house.
Director: John A. Haeseler | Star: Frank Crumit
Votes: 22
*SHORT SUBJECT (One-reel) -- Paramount
15. Sons of Liberty (1939)
Approved | 20 min | Short, Biography, Drama
Set during the American Revolution, this colorful 2 reel short tells the story of Haym Salomon, American patriot and financier of the American Revolution.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Claude Rains, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp, Montagu Love
Votes: 411
*SHORT SUBJECT (Two-reel) -- Warner Bros.
16. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Approved | 106 min | Biography, Drama, History
A depiction of the love/hate relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp
Votes: 6,166
Nominated for 5 Oscars.
17. First Love (1939)
Approved | 84 min | Comedy, Musical, Mystery
An orphaned boarding school graduate secretly attends a prestigious ball, where she falls for the boyfriend of her snobbish cousin.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Eugene Pallette, Helen Parrish
Votes: 764
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
18. The Great Victor Herbert (1939)
Approved | 91 min | Biography, Music, Musical
A fictionalized version of famous opera composer Victor Herbert where he witnesses the romance, stardom, parenthood, and troubled experiences of his star singers.
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: Allan Jones, Mary Martin, Walter Connolly, Lee Bowman
Votes: 133 | Gross: $0.30M
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
19. Man of Conquest (1939)
Passed | 105 min | History, War, Western
The story of Sam Houston, hero of the Texas revolution, statesman, and first president of the Republic of Texas.
Director: George Nicholls Jr. | Stars: Richard Dix, Gail Patrick, Joan Fontaine, Edward Ellis
Votes: 194
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
20. Beau Geste (1939)
Passed | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three adopted English brothers join the French Foreign Legion in North Africa after one of them steals their adoptive family's famous heirloom sapphire.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy
Votes: 6,523
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
21. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, Romance, War
Newlyweds 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.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver, Eddie Collins
Votes: 6,793 | Gross: $1.00M
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
22. Gulliver's Travels (1939)
Passed | 76 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A doctor washes ashore on an island inhabited by little people.
Directors: Dave Fleischer, Willard Bowsky, Orestes Calpini, Roland Crandall, William Henning, Winfield Hoskins, Thomas Johnson, Frank Kelling, Seymour Kneitel, Robert G. Leffingwell, Grim Natwick, Tom Palmer | Stars: Jessica Dragonette, Lanny Ross, Pinto Colvig, Cal Howard
Votes: 4,854 | Gross: $7.13M
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
23. 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
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
24. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Passed | 116 min | Drama, Romance
In 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.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 12,286 | Gross: $3.27M
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
25. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Passed | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
At 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.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess
Votes: 15,669
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
26. Juarez (1939)
Approved | 125 min | Biography, Drama, History
Louis 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.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains
Votes: 2,555
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
27. Intermezzo (1939)
Approved | 70 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A violinist's piano accompanist retires. He hears his daughter's piano teacher (Ingrid Bergman) play, asks her to play on his next international tour, and they fall in love.
Director: Gregory Ratoff | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Leslie Howard, Edna Best, Ann E. Todd
Votes: 2,906
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
28. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Passed | 100 min | Biography, Drama, History
A fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan
Votes: 9,179
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
29. The Four Feathers (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A 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.
Director: Zoltan Korda | Stars: John Clements, Ralph Richardson, C. Aubrey Smith, June Duprez
Votes: 6,594
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
30. Bachelor Mother (1939)
Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Romance
An 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.
Director: Garson Kanin | Stars: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson
Votes: 4,610
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
31. Gunga Din (1939)
Approved | 117 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
In 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.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Votes: 12,801
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
32. Peace on Earth (1939)
Passed | 9 min | Animation, Short, Drama
Two baby squirrels ask grandpa to explain what "men" are when they hear everyone singing of "peace on earth, goodwill to men". Grandpa tells the story of man's last war.
Director: Hugh Harman | Stars: Mel Blanc, Jeanne Dunne, The Hollywood Choir Boys, Shirley Reed
Votes: 1,751
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
33. Union Pacific (1939)
Passed | 135 min | Drama, Western
In 1862, Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads compete westward across the wilderness toward California.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Preston
Votes: 3,386
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
34. The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
Passed | 113 min | Adventure, History, Romance
Despotic King Louis XIV discovers he has a twin brother who has grown up under the tutelage of his foster father, the patriotic musketeer D'Artagnan.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William, Joseph Schildkraut
Votes: 1,904
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
35. They Shall Have Music (1939)
Passed | 102 min | Drama, Family, Music
A boy runs away from home and ends up at a music school for poor children. When the school suffers hard times, he enlists the aid of violinist Heifetz to save the day.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Jascha Heifetz, Joel McCrea, Andrea Leeds, Gene Reynolds
Votes: 500
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
36. The Pointer (1939)
Approved | 9 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
Mickey and Pluto's hunt for quail turns into a disaster when Mickey wakes up a bear.
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Burt Gillett | Stars: Pinto Colvig, Walt Disney, James MacDonald, Lee Millar
Votes: 692
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
37. The Mikado (1939)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Musical
The son of the Mikado of Japan, a wandering minstrel, falls for a girl who is engaged to her guardian.
Director: Victor Schertzinger | Stars: Kenny Baker, John Barclay, Martyn Green, Sydney Granville
Votes: 826
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
38. Prophet Without Honor (1939)
Approved | 11 min | Short, Biography, Drama
This is the story of Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873), an American Naval officer, who developed the first maps that charted the oceans' winds and currents.
Director: Felix E. Feist | Stars: Carey Wilson, Tom Neal
Votes: 169
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
39. Second Fiddle (1939)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A studio publicist discovers a Minnesota skating teacher and takes her to Hollywood. She goes back to Minnesota but he follows her.
Director: Sidney Lanfield | Stars: Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Rudy Vallee, Edna May Oliver
Votes: 544
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
40. Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)
Approved | 108 min | Biography, Drama, War
An English nurse with a great reputation for her work in Belgian hospitals, becomes outraged at the number of Allied soldiers detained in German prisoner-of-war camps during World War I, and devises a secret plan to help hundreds escape.
Director: Herbert Wilcox | Stars: Anna Neagle, Edna May Oliver, George Sanders, May Robson
Votes: 405
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
41. Swanee River (1939)
Approved | 84 min | Biography, Drama, Musical
More fictional than factual biography of Stephen Foster. Songwriter from Pittsburgh falls in love with the South, marries a Southern gal (Leeds), then is accused of sympathizing when the Civil War breaks out.
Director: Sidney Lanfield | Stars: Don Ameche, Andrea Leeds, Al Jolson, Felix Bressart
Votes: 227 | Gross: $0.29M
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
42. 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
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
43. Captain Fury (1939)
Passed | 92 min | Western
An Irish convict sentenced to hard labor in Australia escapes into the outback, and organizes a band of fellow escapees to fight a corrupt landowner.
Director: Hal Roach | Stars: Brian Aherne, Victor McLaglen, Paul Lukas, June Lang
Votes: 324
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
44. Drunk Driving (1939)
Passed | 22 min | Short, Drama
In this Crime Does Not Pay series entry, John Jones is an up and coming businessman who drinks too much but denies he has a problem. One day he mixes drinking and driving, and the tragic consequences hit very close to home.
Director: David Miller | Stars: Dick Purcell, Jo Ann Sayers, Richard Lane, King Baggot
Votes: 182
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
45. Detouring America (1939)
Approved | 7 min | Animation, Comedy, Short
This travelogue across America is filled with sight gags such as the 'Old Reliable' geyser spitting into a spittoon, cliff-dwelling Indians who walk horizontally up and down the faces of ... See full summary »
Director: Tex Avery | Stars: Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce
Votes: 355
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
46. 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
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
47. Eternally Yours (1939)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Anita Halstead, swept off her feet by magician Arturo, finds the results less than magical.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Loretta Young, David Niven, Hugh Herbert, Billie Burke
Votes: 879 | Gross: $0.18M
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
48. Way Down South (1939)
Passed | 61 min | Action, Music
In the pre-Civil War South, a plantation owner dies and leaves all his possessions, including his slaves, to his young son. While the deceased treated his slaves decently, his corrupt ... See full summary »
Directors: Leslie Goodwins, Bernard Vorhaus | Stars: Bobby Breen, Alan Mowbray, Ralph Morgan, Steffi Duna
Votes: 254
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
49. Pacific Liner (1939)
Approved | 76 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The S. S. Arcturus sails from Shanghai to San Francisco, and Dr. Jim Craig takes the post of ship's physician in order to be near Ann Grayson, the ship's nurse. Chief Engineer 'Crusher" ... See full summary »
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Victor McLaglen, Chester Morris, Wendy Barrie, Alan Hale
Votes: 332
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
50. Information Please: Series 1, No. 1 (1939)
10 min | Short, Drama
A film version of the popular radio quiz show Information Please. A panel of famous "experts" - including author Rex Stout and comedian Oscar Levant - answer trivia questions and try to ... See full summary »
Stars: Clifton Fadiman, Rex Stout, John Kieran, Franklin P. Adams
Votes: 38
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
51. She Married a Cop (1939)
Approved | 66 min | Comedy, Musical
At the New York branch of Mammoth Studios, motion picture animator Linda Fay and her boss, Bob Adams, search for a singing voice for their star cartoon, "Paddy the Pig." Linda holds ... See full synopsis »
Directors: Sidney Salkow, Cal Dalton, Ben Hardaway | Stars: Phil Regan, Jean Parker, Jerome Cowan, Dorothea Kent
Votes: 81
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
52. Sword Fishing (1939)
Approved | 10 min | Documentary, Short, Adventure
A group of men are on the sailboat the Scirocco heading down the Pacific coast to go fishing, but not just ordinary fishing. Among the group is archer Howard Hill who has used this skill in... See full summary »
Stars: Howard Hill, Ronald Reagan
Votes: 174
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
53. Five Times Five (1939)
Approved | 20 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
Cecile, Annette, Yvonne, Emile and Marie, the Dionne Quintuplets, turn five years old and have a private birthday party in their garden. Other than the five little French-Canadian ... See full summary »
Director: Frank P. Donovan | Stars: Alexander Woollcott, Annette Dionne, Cecile Dionne, Emilie Dionne
Votes: 13
Nominated for 1 Oscar.
54. The Rules of the Game (1939)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély
Votes: 31,345
55. A Chump at Oxford (1940)
Approved | 62 min | Comedy, Family
As a reward for capturing a bank robber, Stan and Ollie get scholarship to Oxford, but are met with resentment by other students.
Director: Alfred J. Goulding | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Forrester Harvey, Wilfred Lucas
Votes: 4,308
56. The Little Princess (1939)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A little girl is left by her father in an exclusive seminary for girls, when her father fights in the Second Boer War. Later, when he is presumed dead she is forced to become a servant.
Directors: Walter Lang, William A. Seiter | Stars: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter
Votes: 6,741
57. Allegheny Uprising (1939)
Approved | 81 min | Adventure, Drama, History
In 1759, in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Valley, local settlers and Indian fighters try to persuade the British authorities to ban the trading of alcohol and arms with the marauding Indians.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, George Sanders, Brian Donlevy
Votes: 1,802
58. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Approved | 99 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Returning 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.
Director: Rowland V. Lee | Stars: Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill
Votes: 11,703
59. Tower of London (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, History
In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King ... See full summary »
Director: Rowland V. Lee | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter
Votes: 2,232
60. There's No Tomorrow (1939)
82 min | Drama
After an unhappy marriage, a woman of the world is forced to become a dancer in a cabaret in order to raise her young son.
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Edwige Feuillère, Jorge Rigaud, Daniel Lecourtois, Mady Berry
Votes: 475
61. The Cat and the Canary (1939)
Approved | 72 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
When an eccentric family meets in their uncle's remote, decaying mansion on the tenth anniversary of his death for the reading of his will, murder and madness follow.
Director: Elliott Nugent | Stars: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, John Beal, Douglass Montgomery
Votes: 3,770
62. Never Say Die (1939)
Approved | 82 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A wealthy hypochondriac and an heiress are both experiencing romantic complications, prompting them to marry each other.
Director: Elliott Nugent | Stars: Martha Raye, Bob Hope, Andy Devine, Alan Mowbray
Votes: 639
63. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Passed | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Three men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane, Gladys George
Votes: 15,545
64. In Name Only (1939)
Approved | 94 min | Drama, Romance
After a wealthy man finds out his wife is a gold digger, he meets and falls for a widowed mother, and complications ensue.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Kay Francis, Charles Coburn
Votes: 3,549
65. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
Passed | 80 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigate the legend of a supernatural hound, a beast that may be stalking a young heir on the fog-shrouded moorland that makes up his estate.
Director: Sidney Lanfield | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Richard Greene, Wendy Barrie
Votes: 11,695
66. 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: 14,907 | Gross: $2.27M
67. Dust Be My Destiny (1939)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, resulting... See full summary »
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: John Garfield, Priscilla Lane, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh
Votes: 962
68. The Flying Deuces (1939)
Approved | 69 min | Comedy, Family, War
Ollie has fallen in love with the innkeeper's daughter in Paris. The only problem - she's very much in love with her husband. To forget her he joins the Foreign Legion with Stan. Bad idea.
Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 5,745
69. Destry Rides Again (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Western
Deputy sheriff Destry tames the town of Bottle Neck, including saloon singer Frenchy.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger
Votes: 12,557 | Gross: $0.35M
70. They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A champion boxer on the lamb, believed to have committed murder while drunk, takes refuge and finds redemption at a farm for delinquent youths.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: John Garfield, Claude Rains, The Dead End Kids, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 2,590
71. 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: 8,168 | Gross: $3.32M
72. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
Approved | 85 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
The master sleuth hunts his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, who is planning the crime of the century.
Director: Alfred L. Werker | Stars: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Ida Lupino, Alan Marshal
Votes: 7,471
73. 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
74. Dodge City (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Western
A Texas cattle agent witnesses first hand, the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 5,766
75. Jesse James (1939)
GP | 106 min | Western
After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
Directors: Henry King, Irving Cummings | Stars: Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott
Votes: 4,949
76. Nancy Drew... Reporter (1939)
Approved | 68 min | Comedy, Crime, Family
Nancy Drew, contest-reporter for the local newspaper, clears a young woman of murder charges.
Director: William Clemens | Stars: Bonita Granville, John Litel, Frankie Thomas, Dickie Jones
Votes: 1,462
77. Midnight (1939)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
A chorus girl stranded in Paris is set up by a millionaire to break up his wife's affair with another man, while being romantically pursued by a cab driver.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore, Francis Lederer
Votes: 5,607
78. The Old Maid (1939)
Approved | 95 min | Drama
The 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.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent, Donald Crisp
Votes: 4,062
79. Le Jour Se Leve (1939)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Arletty, Jules Berry
Votes: 8,275 | Gross: $0.03M
80. 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: 6,472
81. Made for Each Other (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
While 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.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn, Lucile Watson
Votes: 4,106
82. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
Not Rated | 148 min | Drama, Romance
The adopted son of a legendary actor, and an aspiring star himself, turns to his infant brother's wet nurse for support and affection - only for her to give up everything for her beloved's glory.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Shôtarô Hanayagi, Kôkichi Takada, Ryôtarô Kawanami, Kinnosuke Takamatsu
Votes: 4,401
83. 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
84. Each Dawn I Die (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, George Raft, Jane Bryan, George Bancroft
Votes: 3,735
85. 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
86. The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Approved | 93 min | Biography, Drama, Musical
The story of the dancing team who taught the world to two-step.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver, Walter Brennan
Votes: 2,790 | Gross: $1.12M
87. The Return of Doctor X (1939)
Passed | 62 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A hotshot reporter and a young doctor team up to investigate a series of grisly murders and a mysterious sample of synthetic blood.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Dennis Morgan
Votes: 2,559
88. U-Boat 29 (1939)
77 min | Thriller, War
A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.
Director: Michael Powell | Stars: Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Sebastian Shaw, Marius Goring
Votes: 2,461
89. The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
Passed | 85 min | Action, Western
During the Oklahoma Land Rush, the lawlessness is exacerbated by the McCord gang's feud with the Kincaids, who are trying to bring law and justice to the region.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Donald Crisp
Votes: 2,654
90. Five Came Back (1939)
Passed | 75 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A plane has engine trouble while flying over a jungle inhabited by cannibals.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Wendy Barrie, John Carradine
Votes: 2,359
91. 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
92. Golden Boy (1939)
Approved | 99 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
A poor young Italian man who is a virtuoso on the violin wishes to become a champion boxer to make a fortune for his family. But what is the road to success and happiness, and what is the price?
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, William Holden, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 2,182
93. Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)
Passed | 74 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Charlie's investigation of a phony psychic during the 1939 World Exposition on San Francisco's Treasure Island leads him to expose a suicide as murder.
Director: Norman Foster | Stars: Sidney Toler, Cesar Romero, Pauline Moore, Victor Sen Yung
Votes: 1,880
94. Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
Approved | 104 min | Drama, War
FBI agent Ed Renard investigates the pre-war espionage activities of the German-American Bund.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, George Sanders, Francis Lederer, Paul Lukas
Votes: 2,139
95. Invisible Stripes (1939)
Passed | 81 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ex-con who wants to go straight has difficulties trying to reintegrate into society while on parole.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: George Raft, Jane Bryan, William Holden, Humphrey Bogart
Votes: 1,923 | Gross: $0.11M
96. The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)
Unrated | 64 min | Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi
When Dr. Savaard's experiment in cryonics is interrupted by the short-sighted authorities, his volunteer dies, and he is condemned to death. He vows vengeance if he can survive his own hanging.
Director: Nick Grinde | Stars: Boris Karloff, Lorna Gray, Robert Wilcox, Roger Pryor
Votes: 1,965
97. Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)
Approved | 83 min | Comedy, Romance
Feeling unwanted by his wife and children, a wealthy industrialist hires an unemployed young woman to pose as his mistress.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale, James Ellison
Votes: 1,796
98. Idiot's Delight (1939)
Approved | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 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.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn
Votes: 1,713
99. Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)
Approved | 71 min | Crime, Mystery, Romance
Mary Whitman, an old friend of Charlie's in Reno for a divorce, finds herself accused of murdering the woman her husband planned to marry after the decree became final.
Director: Norman Foster | Stars: Sidney Toler, Ricardo Cortez, Phyllis Brooks, Slim Summerville
Votes: 1,514
100. Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
Approved | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Tasked 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.
Directors: Henry King, Otto Brower | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Nancy Kelly, Richard Greene, Walter Brennan
Votes: 1,543
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