1939: Hollywood's Best Year Revisited in July
70th Anniversary of Studios’ Finest Year is Saluted by Cable's TCM
For fans of vintage film, just the mention of 1939 is a Pavlovian rite of passage, making mouths water and eyes glaze over in a cinematic-style swoon.
Hollywood Hit Its Stride as 1930s Ended
1939 often is regarded as the single greatest year in American film history. Indeed, it would be difficult to identify another 12-month period in which more classic films were produced within the Hollywood studio system.
In 1939, Europe may have been girding for war. But back in Hollywood, the dream factories were cranking out product like crazy.
Something strange and wonderful was happening, too: the assembly lines were producing gem after gem -- westerns like John Ford's Stagecoach; musicals like The Wizard of Oz; actioners such as Only Angels Have Wings; adaptations including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
All Ten Best Picture Nominees to Screen in July
Fortunately for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in 1939 the organization was still allowing 10 films to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
For decades now, the Academy has limited the Best Picture category to five nominated films. Coincidentally, last week the Academy stunned many by announcing that for 2009, 10 films again would receive Best Picture nominations. The Academy hasn’t allowed that many in the category since 1943, when Casablanca took the top award.
Network to Present 39 Great Films from '39
TCM will air 39 movies on Thursday evenings (and into Friday mornings) in July as part of its festival 1939 – 70th Anniversary of Hollywood’s Greatest Year. The diversity of these “top 10” films is impressive – and each one is a genuine classic.
Two mix love and politics – Ninotchka (with Greta Garbo) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. There’s the “women’s picture,” Dark Victory, with Bette Davis. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a socially-conscious meditation on friendship and loyalty.
Two period romances are included – Wuthering Heights and Goodbye, Mr. Chips – along with the modern romance Love Affair.
The western is represented by Stagecoach.
And two films nearly define the Hollywood studio system – the musical fantasy The Wizard of Oz and the romantic Civil War saga Gone With the Wind, which won the Best Picture sweepstakes of 1939.
James Stewart Robbed of Oscar in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Let’s look a little closer at three of the nominated pictures that didn't win the big prize:
Producer-Director Frank Capra’s populist Mr. Smith (July 24, 2 a.m. ET) stars James Stewart as an ostensibly rustic idealist tapped by crooked politicians to serve out the term of a U.S. senator who died in office. At first an unwitting stooge, Stewart wises up, then stands up to the political bosses, who include two of Hollywood’s greatest character actors – Claude Rains and Edward Arnold.
This is the film that should have won Stewart his first Oscar as best actor. He’s superb as Jefferson Smith, the leader of a Boy Scout-style organization whose heroic filibuster on the Senate floor remains among the best (and most famous) political scenes ever put on film. There’s plenty of “Capra-corn” here, but the film is especially memorable forthe way it depicts political corruption, and for how altruism -- embodied by Stewart – can make a difference, even in dire circumstances.
Jean Arthur co-stars as Smith’s cynical secretary who is slowly won over by Smith’s dogged determination to do the right thing.
Capra’s excellent company of supporting players includes Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi, Eugene Pallette and Guy Kibbee.
Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne Light Up Love Affair
Love Affair (July 31, 5;15 a.m. ET) is among the most romantic films ever made in America. Director Leo McCarey applied just the right, light touch with leads Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. They play strangers who fall in love on a cruise – with the whole ship (and later the world) eavesdropping . It’s a perfect blend of light comedy and, later, high melodrama after they reach port in New York.
This beloved film has been remade twice – McCarey’s own 1957 An Affair to Remember (with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) and Warren Beatty’s 1994 version, which restored the original title and co-starred his wife, Annette Bening.
In Love Affair, Boyer is beyond suave as an international playboy who struggles with the knowledge he’s – gulp -- actually fallen in love. It’s a textured and nuanced performance for the French star who often was much better than the American material he was offered. (Boyer’s other notable 1930s Hollywood romances include Algiers and History is Made at Night.)
Irene Dunne’s patented coy bemusement is in full flower here, masking a woman who’s inwardly fearful of her lover’s lover boy reputation -- and also alarmed by her growing feelings for him.
The film features a third fine performance by the great Maria Ouspenskaya, as Boyer’s grandmother.
If you’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle, you’ll know something big is about to happen in Love Affair when the Empire State Building comes into view.
John Wayne's Career-Making Role as Ringo Kid in Stagecoach
A quick word about Stagecoach (July 10, 12:30 a.m. ET). John Ford’s seminal western depicts a cross-section of society making a dangerous trip west through Indian country. This was the film which established John Wayne’s film persona – the rough and rugged cowboy with a heart of gold and a code of honor.
With some variations, Wayne pretty much rode this horse for the rest of his film career.
Stagecoach also is notable for its influence on other directors, notably Orson Welles. He studied it endlessly before shooting his directorial debut -- a little picture called Citizen Kane.
TCM’s salute to 1939 will include two documentaries: 1939, a new film created for Warner Home Video and narrated by actor/filmmaker Kenneth Branagh; and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic, a 1990 look at the musical hosted by Angela Lansbury.
For a complete rundown of all 39 pictures in TCM’s1939 festival, check out the network’s website.
Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Gone With the Wind
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