Oscars 1940
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1. 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: 11,589
2. 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: 334,212 | Gross: $198.68M
3. 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: 121,366 | Gross: $9.60M
4. 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: 19,765 | Gross: $0.76M
5. 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
6. 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: 53,748
7. 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
8. 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: 6,520
9. 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: 12,400
10. 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: 22,887 | Gross: $1.19M
11. 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: 6,421
12. 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: 6,791 | Gross: $1.00M
13. 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: 323
14. 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
15. 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: 763
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: 6,161
17. 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
18. Topper Takes a Trip (1938)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
To gain entry to Heaven, a ghost attempts to reunite a divorcing couple as a good deed.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray
Votes: 1,470
19. 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: 15,656
20. 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: 3,381
21. 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
22. 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: 6,851
23. 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
24. 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: 4,845 | Gross: $7.13M
25. 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: 403
26. 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: 2,181
27. 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: 542
28. 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: 12,278 | Gross: $3.27M
29. 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: 2,903
30. 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: 499
31. 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: 80
32. 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
33. 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
34. 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
35. 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: 3,619
36. 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
37. 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: 690
38. 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: 1,750
39. 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
40. 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
41. 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
42. 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
43. 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: 410
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
45. 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
46. 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
47. 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: 355 | Gross: $0.25M
48. 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: 9,177
49. 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: 4,609
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