1939 is generally regarded as the greatest year ever for the movies. Why? Well, just take a look at this partial list and see how many have wound up on one or another list of the 100 greatest movies of all time:
Beau Geste
Destry Rides Again
Gunga Din
Dodge City
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Intermezzo
Only Angels Have Wings
Private Life of Elizabeth and Essex
The Roaring Twenties
The Women
The Rules of the Game
And those aren't even the movies that tagged nominations for Best Picture at the 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
Wuthering Heights
(More than five movies could be nominated back then.)
Pretty amazing list if you are the type of person who doesn't consider a movie made before 1980 to be an oldie but a goodie. When AFI put out the list of nominees for their very first list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, 1939 was tied with 1942 for the most, with 11 movies represented in each year. Frankly, the inclusion of 1942 alongside 1939 as a great year for movies is a bit of mystery since only Casablanca, Cat People, and The Magnificent Ambersons have really stood the test of time as unqualified masterpieces, while a Yankee Doodle Dandy and The Pride of the Yankees simply have not aged well. There's really no argument that 1939 has to be considered the best year ever for movies. Or is there? Consider this list of rather extraordinary cinematic accomplishments:
Airplane!
Atlantic City
Berlin Alexanderplatz
The Big Red One
Breaker Morant
Caddyshack
The Empire Strikes Back
Flash Gordon
Kagemusha
Melvin and Howard
My Brilliant Career
Return of the Secaucus Seven
The Shining
The Stunt Man
And now for those that copped Oscar nominations:
Coal Miner's Daughter
The Elephant Man
Ordinary People
Raging Bull
Tess
Beau Geste
Destry Rides Again
Gunga Din
Dodge City
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Intermezzo
Only Angels Have Wings
Private Life of Elizabeth and Essex
The Roaring Twenties
The Women
The Rules of the Game
And those aren't even the movies that tagged nominations for Best Picture at the 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
Wuthering Heights
(More than five movies could be nominated back then.)
Pretty amazing list if you are the type of person who doesn't consider a movie made before 1980 to be an oldie but a goodie. When AFI put out the list of nominees for their very first list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, 1939 was tied with 1942 for the most, with 11 movies represented in each year. Frankly, the inclusion of 1942 alongside 1939 as a great year for movies is a bit of mystery since only Casablanca, Cat People, and The Magnificent Ambersons have really stood the test of time as unqualified masterpieces, while a Yankee Doodle Dandy and The Pride of the Yankees simply have not aged well. There's really no argument that 1939 has to be considered the best year ever for movies. Or is there? Consider this list of rather extraordinary cinematic accomplishments:
Airplane!
Atlantic City
Berlin Alexanderplatz
The Big Red One
Breaker Morant
Caddyshack
The Empire Strikes Back
Flash Gordon
Kagemusha
Melvin and Howard
My Brilliant Career
Return of the Secaucus Seven
The Shining
The Stunt Man
And now for those that copped Oscar nominations:
Coal Miner's Daughter
The Elephant Man
Ordinary People
Raging Bull
Tess
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Comments
Yeah I thought it was this year also. Great article.
Nice article
Great article
...continue to amaze us recently--it never seems to get into the heads of producers that "it's the script, stupid." No wonder I hear from screenplay writers who work for hire that they're getting more and more frustrated when their original creations only end up a tenth of what could have made the film better.
Tim, I'm in agreement on 1980 being similar to that magical year of 1939 in both timeless (and innovative) movies. But I think the early to mid 90's come somewhat close to those two eras as the end of another golden period--particularly 1994. Case in point (though obviously subjective): "Forrest Gump", "The Shawshank Redemption", "Pulp Fiction", "The Lion King" and...yes, "Four Weddings and a Funeral." ;) A lot of those received Oscar nods that year and seemed to influence just about every movie you saw for the rest of the 90's (and 2000's) in animation, crime/prison dramas and British comedy ensembles. Those five I mentioned aren't necessarily in my Top Five of all-time favorites, but at least one is. Yes, you guessed it--"Forrest Gump" is probably my favorite movie of the 1990's as trite as that sounds. What's telling is that I can't really name any movies from the 2000's yet that I think could rival anything I already have in my Top Five from the past. So while special effects cont
Whoa! What a relief! I read your headline and thought you might be saying this year...lol
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