This year marks the 75th anniversary of 1939. That year is widely acknowledged as the greatest year in Hollywood cinema, although fans of 1944, 1950, 1968, 1972 and even 2007 may have a few points in their favor. Still, there's no denying that the year that saw both The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind released was easily the best the Studio System ever gave audiences.

While Warner Bros. Home Video might like today's consumers to think that these are the only two great movies released that year, the fact is that they weren't. In order for an entire 12-month period to be great, there has to be a lot more than two examples to prove the theory. Hollywood was a bustling world unto itself, with all the major studios – not just MGM – producing unbelievably good films with the best talent available.

In 1939, John Ford, William Wyler, Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Cecil B. DeMille, Howard Hawks, Frank Capra and Michael Curtiz were directing stars like Henry Fonda, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert and more.

That year gave us not one great John Ford film, but three. There were more great Westerns beyond Stagecoach and there were more great dramas beyond Gone with the Wind. After all, there were TEN movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar that year, but that just scratches the surface. So, it's time to take a personal trip on the “Great Movie Ride” that is 1939.

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10. Of Mice And Men - directed by Lewis Milestone, Hal Roach Studios

John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath may be the best John Steinbeck adaptation, but any discussion of that topic without a mention of the original 1939 adaptation of Of Mice and Men is invalid. Lewis Milestone (All Quiet On The Western Front, Oceans 11) directed this version, which was nominated for Best Picture. Despite that, this film has fallen into obscurity, which is sad. Burgess Meredith, who you all know as Rocky’s coach, plays George, while Lon Chaney Jr. gives his career-defining performance as Lennie.

There’s no way to underscore how great Chaney is as Lennie. Sadly, Chaney was relegated to B-movies and horror films after The Wolfman and never really reached the greatness that his father did.
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9. Union Pacific - directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount

In 1939, Cecil B. DeMille still had a few more years to go before becoming a parody of himself. He had continued to show his strengths as an epic filmmaker throughout the ‘30s, with amazing work like Cleopatra and The Sign of the Cross and he concluded that run with Union Pacific. Like all DeMille films, this is an epic and here, he sets his sights on the railroad. Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck headline the film, which features a stunning battle with Native Americans while they are holed up in a train.

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8. Bachelor Mother - directed by Garson Kanin, RKO

This is my wildcard and one of my absolute favorite comedies. I saw this with an audience at the TCM Classic Film Festival and that just validated my love for it. Picture this: Ginger Rogers and David Niven are mother and father of a baby even though they hate each other...and Rogers isn’t really the baby’s mother. Oh, and old reliable Charles Coburn is the proud grandfather of the baby and no one can convince him that he’s not really related to the baby. How awesome does that sound?

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7. The Rains Came - directed by Clarence Brown, 20th Century Fox

If you think the wave of disaster movies in the 1970s was something new, I have news for you - it wasn’t. In fact, all those disaster movies owe a lot to The Rains Came, which features a flood to end all floods. It is so spectacular that it beat The Wizard of Oz for the Special Effects Oscar of 1939. Oh, and the rest of the movie - with Tyrone Power, Myrna Loy and George Brent - is pretty good. Just please avoid the 1955 remake, The Rains of Ranchipur, if you can.

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6. Goodbye Mr. Chips - directed by Sam Wood, MGM

Goodbye Mr. Chips is the reason why Clark Gable didn’t win Best Actor for Gone with the Wind. Robert Donat plays the title teacher, who becomes beloved by his students and his beautiful wife, played by Greer Garson. It’s Hollywood at its sentimental best.

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5. Love Affair - directed by Leo McCarey, RKO

An Affair To Remember wasn’t the first or the last time that an affair was sparked at sea. In fact, An Affair To Remember’s director, Leo McCarey, filmed that story 18 years before with Love Affair. The couple in this film are just as glamorous as Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne in the lead roles. It is every bit as tear-jerking as the remake and just as good.

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4. Gunga Din - directed by George Stevens, RKO

“You’re a finer man than I, Gunga Din.” Without Gunga Din, there are no adventure movies and especially no Indiana Jones. Sadly, Cary Grant never returned to the type of role he had here, so savor every moment of this joyful movie. He rejected the idea of playing the romantic lead here and got the more fun role of Cutter. And the audience can’t miss how much fun Grant is having.

Plus, this movie really establishes George Stevens as a great director. Before this, he was just a regular assignment guy at RKO, but Gunga Din sets him on a road that would include stops at The Talk of The Town, The More The Merrier, A Place in the Sun, Shane and Giant.

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3. Only Angels Have Wings - directed by Howard Hawks, Columbia

Only Angels Have Wings really sets up the best of Howard Hawks’ movies, putting him on the road to defining his style. Cary Grant and Jean Arthur shine in a story about pilots in South America, plus there’s 1939’s good luck charm - Thomas Mitchell. It also introduces the world to Rita Hayworth, as this was her first big film.

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2. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - directed by Frank Capra, Columbia

If there’s one movie from 1939 that could have legitimately topped Gone with the Wind for the Best Picture Oscar, it is Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Capra is at his best here and Mr. Smith was his defining film.

1. Young Mr. Lincoln - directed by John Ford, 20th Century Fox

John Ford made three movies in 1939 - Young Mr. Lincoln, Drums Along the Mohawk and Stagecoach. Sure, Stagecoach is the best known of the trio, but Young Mr. Lincoln feels somehow more special than that film. The portrayal of a president who has gone down in history as a saint-like savior as a real human being is pulled off remarkably. For this film viewer, Young Mr. Lincoln is like a beautiful ode to what makes America great - the dream that our legendary figures started out just like us. Plus, this is Henry Fonda’s greatest role.

Other great American 1939 movies include Mitchell Leisen’s Midnight, Michael Curtiz’s Dodge City, Edmund Goulding’s Dark Victory, William Wyler’s Wuthering Heights and Raoul Walsh’s The Roaring Twenties.