1939

Film Decades: 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, starring Mickey Rooney and Rex Ingram
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
  • Allegheny Uprising, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne
  • Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
  • The Angels Wash Their Faces, starring Ann Sheridan and the Dead End Kids
  • The Amazing Mr. Williams, starring Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell
  • Another Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
  • The Arizona Kid, starring Roy Rogers
  • The Arsenal Stadium Mystery – (GB)
  • Ask a Policeman, starring Will Hay, Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott – (GB)
  • At the Circus, starring the Marx Brothers
  • Babes in Arms, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
  • Bachelor Mother – starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven
  • Bad Lands, starring Robert Barrat and Robert Coote
  • Barricade, starring Alice Faye and Warner Baxter
  • Beau Geste – directed by William Wellman, starring Gary Cooper and Ray Milland
  • Bel Ami – (Germany)
  • Blackmail, starring Edward G. Robinson
  • Blue Montana Skies, starring Gene Autry
  • Boy Slaves
  • Boys’ Reformatory, starring Frankie Darro
  • Blue Montana Skies
  • The Bronze Buckaroo, starring Herb Jeffries
  • The Cat and the Canary, starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard
  • Cesta do hlubin študákovy duše – (Czechoslovakia)
  • Charlie Chan at Treasure Island, starring Sidney Toler
  • Charlie Chan in Reno, starring Sidney Toler and Ricardo Cortez
  • Cheer Boys Cheer, starring Nova Pilbeam (GB)
  • Confessions of a Nazi Spy, starring Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, Paul Lukas
  • Dark Victory – starring Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan
  • Daughter of the Tong, starring Evelyn Brent and Grant Withers
  • Days of Jesse James, directed by Joseph Kane, starring Roy Rogers
  • Destry Rides Again – directed by George Marshall, starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart
  • Dodge City – directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
  • Drums Along the Mohawk- directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert
  • Each Dawn I Die – directed by William Keighley, starring James Cagney and George Raft
  • The Empress Wu Tse-tien – (China)
  • Eva tropí hlouposti (Eva Fools Around) – (Czechoslovakia)
  • Everything Happens at Night, starring Sonja Henie and Ray Milland
  • Fifth Ave Girl – starring Ginger Rogers and Walter Connolly
  • First Love, starring Deanna Durbin and Robert Stack
  • Five Came Back, directed by John Farrow, starring Lucille Ball and Chester Morris
  • The Flying Deuces, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring Laurel and Hardy
  • The Flying Irishman, starring Douglas Corrigan
  • The Four Feathers, starring John Clements and Ralph Richardson – (GB)
  • The Four Just Men, directed by Walter Forde (GB)
  • Frontier Marshal – starring Randolph Scott, Cesar Romero, John Carradine
  • Full Confession – starring Victor McLaglen
  • The Girl from Mexico, starring Lupe Velez
  • A Girl Must Live, directed by Carol Reed, starring Margaret Lockwood – (GB)
  • Golden Boy – directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou and William Holden
  • Gone with the Wind** – directed by Victor Fleming, starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel – Academy Awards for best picture, director, actress and supporting actress
  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips, directed by Sam Wood, starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson – (GB)
  • Gulliver’s Travels, starring Jessica Dragonette and Lanny Ross
  • Gunga Din – directed by George Stevens, starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Sam Jaffe, Joan Fontaine
  • The Hardys Ride High, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
  • Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence, starring Glenn Ford
  • Hello Janine!, starring Marika Rökk – (Germany)
  • Hollywood Cavalcade, starring Alice Faye, Don Ameche, J. Edward Bromberg, Alan Curtis
  • Honolulu, starring Eleanor Powell, Burns and Allen
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles – first in Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame – directed by William Dieterle, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Hara
  • I Met a Murderer, starring James Mason – (GB)
  • Idiot’s Delight – starring Clark Gable and Norma Shearer
  • In Name Only – starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Kay Francis
  • Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday, starring Gordon Harker and Alastair Sim – (GB)
  • Intermezzo – starring Ingrid Bergman and Leslie Howard
  • It’s a Wonderful World – directed by W.S. Van Dyke, starring James Stewart and Claudette Colbert
  • Jamaica Inn – directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Hara – (GB)
  • Jesse James – starring Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott
  • Juarez, starring Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Brian Aherne
  • Le Jour se lève (Daybreak), directed by Marcel Carné, starring Jean Gabin and Arletty – (France)
  • Judge Hardy and Son, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
  • King of the Underworld – starring Humphrey Bogart and Kay Francis
  • The Lambeth Walk, directed by Albert de Courville, starring Lupino Lane and Sally Gray – (GB)
  • The Last Turning (Le Dernier Tournant), starring Michel Simon – (France)
  • Lenin in 1918 (Lenin v 1918 godu) – (USSR)
  • Let Us Live, starring Maureen O’Sullivan and Henry Fonda
  • The Little Princess, starring Shirley Temple and Richard Greene
  • Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer
  • Lucky Night, starring Myrna Loy and Robert Taylor
  • Made For Each Other – starring Carole Lombard, James Stewart, and Charles Coburn
  • Maisie, starring Robert Young and Ann Sothern
  • The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William
  • Man of Conquest – starring Richard Dix, Gail Patrick, Joan Fontaine
  • Mexicali Rose – starring Gene Autry
  • Midnight, starring Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche
  • The Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, first British film shot in Technicolor – (GB)
  • Million Dollar Legs, starring Betty Grable
  • Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation – starring Peter Lorre
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains
  • Mr. Wong in Chinatown, starring Boris Karloff
  • The Mystery of Mr. Wong, starring Boris Karloff
  • Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, starring Bonita Granville
  • Never Say Die, starring Martha Raye and Bob Hope
  • Ninotchka – directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Bela Lugosi
  • Of Mice and Men, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr.
  • Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise, a comedy short starring The Three Stooges
  • The Oklahoma Kid – starring James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Donald Crisp
  • The Old Maid, starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins
  • On Borrowed Time, starring Lionel Barrymore and Cedric Hardwicke
  • On Dress Parade, starring The Dead End Kids
  • On the Night of the Fire (aka The Fugitive), starring Ralph Richardson – (GB)
  • On Your Toes, screenplay by Lawrence Riley, starring Vera Zorina and Eddie Albert
  • Only Angels Have Wings – starring Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth and Jean Arthur
  • Prisioneros de la tierra (Prisoners of the Land) – (Argentina)
  • The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex – directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Vincent Price
  • Q Planes, starring Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier – (GB)
  • The Rains Came, starring Tyrone Power and Myrna Loy
  • Range War, a Hopalong Cassidy western starring William Boyd
  • Remember?, starring Greer Garson, Robert Taylor, Lew Ayres
  • The Return of Doctor X – a horror film starring Humphrey Bogart
  • The Roaring Twenties – starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart
  • The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu), directed by Jean Renoir – (France)
  • The Saint in London, starring George Sanders
  • The Saint Strikes Back, starring George Sanders
  • Seven Little Australians, directed by Arthur Greville Collins – (Australia)
  • Son of Frankenstein, – starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
  • De Spooktrein (The Ghost Train) – (Netherlands)
  • The Spy in Black, directed by Michael Powell, starring Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson – (GB)
  • Stagecoach – directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Berton Churchill, John Carradine
  • Stanley and Livingstone – starring Spencer Tracy and Cedric Hardwicke
  • The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (Zangiku monogatari), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
  • The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle – starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
  • Susannah of the Mounties – starring Shirley Temple and Randolph Scott
  • Swanee River, starring Don Ameche
  • Tarzan Finds a Son!, starring Johnny Weissmuller
  • These Glamour Girls, starring Lew Ayres, Lana Turner, Tom Brown
  • They Made Me a Criminal, starring John Garfield
  • They Shall Have Music, starring Jascha Heifetz, Joel McCrea, Andrea Leeds, Walter Brennan
  • The Three Musketeers, starring Don Ameche and The Ritz Brothers
  • Three Smart Girls Grow Up, starring Deanna Durbin and Robert Cummings
  • Three Texas Steers – directed by George Sherman, starring John Wayne
  • Tower of London – starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price
  • Tsuchi (Japan)
  • The Trip to Tilsit (Die Reise nach Tilsit) – (Germany)
  • Union Pacific – directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea
  • Vasilisa the Beautiful (Vasilisa prekrasnaya) – (U.S.S.R.)
  • The Vyborg Side (Vyborgskaya storona) – (U.S.S.R.)
  • Way Down South, directed by Leslie Goodwins and Bernard Vorhaus
  • Wilton’s Zoo (Boefje), directed by Douglas Sirk – (Netherlands)
  • The Wizard of Oz – directed by Victor Fleming, starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Margaret Hamilton
  • The Women – directed by George Cukor, starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine
  • Wuthering Heights – directed by William Wyler, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Flora Robson
  • Wyoming Outlaw – directed by George Sherman, starring John Wayne
  • Yes, My Darling Daughter – directed by William Keighley, starring Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn
  • You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man, starring W.C. Fields
  • Young Man’s Fancy, directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Anna Lee – (GB)
  • Young Mr. Lincoln – directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda and Alice Brady
  • Zenobia, directed by Gordon Douglas, starring Oliver Hardy
  • Zorro’s Fighting Legion, starring Reed Hadley