1939 in film - WikiHQ

1939 is often rated by film historians as "the greatest year in the history of Hollywood". Hollywood studios were at the height of their Golden Age, producing a number of exceptional motion pictures, many of which became honored as all-time classic films. The ten films nominated for Best Picture at the 12th Academy Awards—Dark Victory, Gone with the Wind, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, and Wuthering Heights—range in genre and are considered classics. Hollywood produced a total of 527 feature films in 1939.

The Empire of Japan possessed a major national film industry in 1939, producing 582 films overall. Over the course of the year, the Film Law brought film production under the direct control of the Japanese government.

Events

February 15 – John Ford's Western film Stagecoach starring John Wayne premieres in New York City and Los Angeles.
March 31 – Release of the 20th Century Fox film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, first of a Sherlock Holmes film series starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson.
June 10 – MGM's first successful animated character, Barney Bear, makes his debut in The Bear That Couldn't Sleep.
July – Principal photography begins for Germany's first colour feature film, Women Are Better Diplomats, as Joseph Goebbels forces the use of the experimental Agfacolor process.
August 10 – The Wizard of Oz premieres at the Orpheum Theatre in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Its Hollywood premiere takes place on August 15 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
October 1 – The Film Law goes into effect in Japan as Imperial Rescript no. 66.
November 6 – Hedda Hopper's Hollywood, hosted by gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, is first broadcast on radio in the United States with; the show runs until 1951, making Hopper a powerful figure among the Hollywood elite.
December 15 – The epic historical romance film Gone with the Wind, starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard, premieres at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, with a three-day-long festival. Based on Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel of 1936, it is the longest American film made up to this date (at nearly four hours) and rapidly becomes the highest-grossing film up to this time.
Canada establishes a National Film Commission, predecessor of the National Film Board of Canada, with John Grierson as first Commissioner.

Nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Director

The year 1939 was one in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated ten films for Best Picture:

Dark Victory
Gone with the Wind (Best Picture winner)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Love Affair
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
The Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights

These films came from a wide variety of film genres and sources for their stories and settings, including: historical fiction (Gone with the Wind), contemporary affairs (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Of Mice and Men), love stories, classic novels (Wuthering Heights), fantasies/musicals, (The Wizard of Oz), tragic plays (Dark Victory), westerns (Stagecoach), and comedies (Ninotchka).

Each of the five nominees for Best Director of 1939 were or went on to become a legendary film director with multiple acclaimed films to his credit: Frank Capra (previous winner of the award), Victor Fleming, John Ford (who won a record four Best Director awards), Sam Wood, and William Wyler (who leads all directors in nominations with 11 while having three wins).

Academy Awards

Best Picture: Gone with the Wind – David O. Selznick; Selznick International, MGM
Best Director: Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind
Best Actor: Robert Donat – Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Best Actress: Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind
Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Mitchell – Stagecoach
Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel – Gone with the Wind (first African-American to win an Academy Award)

Gone with the Wind received in all ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from thirteen nominations.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1939 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"

|+ Highest-grossing films of 1939

! Rank !! Title !! Distributor !! Domestic rentals

! style="text-align:center;"| 1

| Gone with the Wind

| MGM/Selznick International

| $20,000,000

! style="text-align:center;"| 2

| Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

| Columbia

| $3,500,000

! style="text-align:center;"| 3

| Jesse James

| 20th Century Fox

| $2,335,000

! style="text-align:center;"| 4

| Babes in Arms

| rowspan="3"|MGM

| $2,311,000

! style="text-align:center;"| 5

| The Wizard of Oz

| $2,048,000

! style="text-align:center;"| 8

| The Rains Came

| 20th Century Fox

| $1,656,000