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The History of American Cinema: 1939

January - September

15/2 -

The premiere of John Ford’s Stagecoach takes place two weeks before it goes on general release on 2^nd March.   Ford’s first western in thirteen years, it marks his first collaboration with John Wayne, whose 80^th film this is, and also his first film shot in Monument Valley.   Also in the picture are Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, John Carradine and Andy Devine. [ADD]

16/3 -

Leo McCarey’s Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer and Maria Ouspenskaya, is released. [ADD]

29/3 -

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard marry in the small town of Kingman, Arizona. [ADD]

13/4 -

Sam Goldwyn’s Wuthering Heights, directed by William Wyler, is released.   Covering only half of Emily Bronte’s novel, it stars British stars Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon as the doomed lovers.   The film does poor business. [ADD]

23/4 -

Tyrone Power weds Annabella, his French co-star in the 20^th-Century-Fox production Suez (1938).   At 34, Annabella is nine years older than Power. [ADD]

6/5 -

As war looks increasingly likely in Europe, Warner Bros release Confessions of a Nazi Spy, starring Edward G. Robinson as an FBI agent who infiltrates a network of Nazi spies operating in America.   The film is based on the exploits of real-life agent Leon G. Turrou. [ADD]

15/5 -

Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings is released.   The film stars Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess and Rita Hayworth. [ADD]

9/6 -

German actress Marlene Dietrich becomes an American citizen. [ADD]

14/6 -

Motion Picture Mothers Inc, a charitable organization, is founded by the mothers of movie stars. [ADD]

12/8 -

The premiere of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz takes place at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin five days before its Hollywood gala premiere at Graumann’s Chinese Theater.   Based on the children’s book by L. Frank Baum, and the studio’s most expensive film to date, it makes a star of Judy Garland its 17-year-old star (cast after MGM failed to obtain the services of Shirley Temple or Deanna Durbin), and requires four directors to bring it to completion.   Judy’s companions on the yellow brick road are Jack Haley as the Tin Man, Ray Bolger as the scarecrow, and Bert Lahr as the cowardly lion. [ADD]

14/8 -

Janet Gaynor, winner of the first Best Actress Academy Award, marries costume designer Adrian. [ADD]

21/8 -

George Schaefer, president of RKO, announces that Orson Welles has signed a contract with the company.   24-year-old Welles is pretty much given free rein to do as he likes on a film project of his own choosing, and receives an advance of $150,000.   He will also receive a 25% cut of the gross distribution receipts of all films he makes. [ADD]

1/9 -

George Cukor’s The Women, featuring an all-female cast in an adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce’s hit stage play, is released.   The cast includes Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine, Marjorie Main and Paulette Goddard.   Shot in black-and-white, the film features a Technicolor fashion show sequence. [ADD]

1/9 -

20^th Century-Fox release The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the first in a series, starring Basil Rathbone as Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective and Nigel Bruce as his bumbling sidekick Watson.   The film tells the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles and is directed by Sidney Lanfield. [ADD]

15/9 -

Paramount’s remake of their own silent 1926 hit Beau Geste is released.   The well-bred Geste brothers are played by Gary Cooper, Ray Milland and Robert Preston, while the role of the sadistic Sergeant Markof is taken by Brian Donlevy.   Director William Wellman shot the film on location in Arizona. [ADD]

22/9 -

Ingrid Bergman’s first American film, Intermezzo – A Love Story, is released.   A remake of her Swedish film of the same name from 1936, the film co-stars Leslie Howard and is directed by Gregory Ratoff. [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1939