Earlier this month I published a blahg about my goal of watching as many films from 1939 that I possibly can. 1939 has always been touted as a banner year for films with great films like “The Wizard Of Oz,” “Gone With The Wind,” “Stagecoach,” “Ninotchka,” and “Goodbye Mr. Chips” being some of the classics released. In my blahg MY 1939 FILMS WATCH LIST – PART ONE, I gave a write up of sorts on the first 30 films I’ve watched from my list. So far, I’ve managed to watch 75 films and it’s time for Part Two and a review of the next 30.
Let’s start off by recapping the list of 75 films I’ve watched so far:
- A Child Is Born
- Disputed Passage
- We Are Not Alone
- Dust Be My Destiny
- The Girl From Mexico
- Frontier Marshall
- Good Girls Go To Paris
- Honolulu
- The Three Musketeers
- Cheer Boys Cheer
- The Amazing Mr. Williams
- Off The Record
- The Frozen Limits (fell asleep)
- Where’s That Fire
- The Kid from Kokomo
- The Ice Follies of 1939
- All Women Have Secrets (1939)
- A Girl Must Live (1939)
- $1000 a Touchdown (1939)
- …One Third of a Nation… (1939)
- Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939)
- Arizona Legion (1939)
- Persons in Hiding
- Allegheny Uprising
- Ask A Policeman (Will Hayes)
- Gone With The Wind
- Society Lawyer
- Code of the Secret Service (1939)
- Secret Service of the Air (1939)
- Young Abe Lincoln
- The Little Princess
- East Side of Heaven
- Destry Rides Again
- Dodge City
- Smashing The Money Ring
- The Wizard Of Oz
- Midnight
- Stagecoach
- Made For Each Other
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
- 20,000 Men a Year (1939)
- Flying Deuces
- Only Angels Have Wings
- Judge Hardy and Son
- Charlie McCarthy Detective
- Discoveries
- Across the Plains
- Back Door to Heaven
- Hitler – Beast of Berlin
- Barricade
- In Name Only
- King of the Underworld
- At The Circus
- The Real Glory
- Women On The Wind
- Gunga Din
- Rulers of the Sea
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
- The Hound Of The Baskervilles
- Beau Geste
- After The Thin Man
- The Mysterious Miss X
- The Hardys Riding High
- Three Smart Girls Grow Up
- First Love
- Ambushed
- Bad Boy
- Bad Lands
- Bad Little Angel
- I Met A Murderer
- Boy Friend
- Coast Guard
- Boy Trouble
- Disbarred
- She Married a Cop
The majority of films on this list have not had DVD releases so I’ve been downloading copies of the more obscure films with the result that some of the versions I have found have ranged from excellent all the way down to just fair. In my last blahg I noted about the film $1000 a Touchdown that the “only print I could find of this movie was on YouTube and the video quality was good but the audio wasn’t. I had to watch it with generated subtitles and the subtitles didn’t always seem to match what was being said.” This time around, I culled through my DVD collection and pulled a number of the 1939 films that had been released on DVD. Still, there’s some rarer films being reviewed this time but I think you’ll recognize the more famous ones.
31.) The Little Princess. There are some great Shirley Temple films but this is by far, one of my favourites. The Father of Shirley’s character, Sara, is called up to fight in the second Boer War. She’s sent to board at Miss Minchin’s school for girls. Her Father goes missing, his money to keep her dries up, and Sara is relegated to poorer and more dismal lodgings. Do things get better? Does her Father come home? You’ll just have to watch this film. Cesar Romero and Arthur Treacher have great supporting roles and the ending with Queen Victoria and Sara will have you in tears. Great film!
32.) East Side Of Heaven. This is one of two films with Bing Crosby released in 1939. The other is “The Star Maker.” This time Bing’s costarring with Joan Blondell, one of my favourites. Last time, there were four Joan Blondell films reviewed in my part one blahg. Mischa Auer’s also along for the ride. IMDB’s desription: A man finds himself the father, by proxy, of a ten-month-old baby and becomes involved in the turbulent lives of the child’s family. Fun stuff with some nice singing by Bing and comedy antics by Blondell and Auer.
33.) Destry Rides Again. In Part One, I reviewed James Stewart’s role in “The Ice Follies of 1939.” At least this film was a much better starring role for Stewart. He’s brought in to help clean up a corrupt town. The local Sheriff doesn’t think much of him but Stewart proves himself against bad guy Brian Donlevy. Marlene Dietrich sings the songs and Mischa Auer’s back again in this one for comic relief.
34.) Dodge City. Another western and another corrupt town to be set right. This time the law is Errol Flynn with his sidekicks Alan Hale and Guinn Williams. Bruce Cabot is the bad guy and Olivia de Havilland is Flynn’s love interest. No singing in this one and not much comic relief but there’s lots of gun play in Dodge City. Errol Flynn is good but what’s Dodge City without James Arness as Matt Dillon? That’s a Gunsmoke reference and the only one I’m going to make.
35.) Smashing The Money Ring. Last time, I reviewed the first two films in the Brass Bancroft series of films with Ronald Reagan and Eddie Foy Jr. Those were “Code Of The Secret Service” and “Secret Service of The Air.” This time, Brass goes undercover as a convict to infiltrate a counterfeit ring. Always fun. I’m not sure who’s the better comedian in these films, Reagan or Eddie Foy Jr. The Brass Bancroft films are lighthearted fare but enjoyable.
36.) The Wizard of Oz. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Except there are no Tigers and Bears. What you get, however, is a talented cast including Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, and the Munchkins! You also get a great story with incredible songs. I can’t watch this film without singing along. A few years ago my daughter Abbie and I got to see the film on the big screen in our local theatre. If you ever get a chance to see it in a theatre, you have to go! Still one of my favourite films of all time.
37.) Midnight. A screwball comedy with Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, and John Barrymore. I’m going to rely on the IMDB synopsis again for this one: A chorus girl stranded in Paris is set up by a millionaire to break up his wife’s affair with another man, while being romantically pursued by a cab driver. You can guess who the chorus girl is but the millionaire is Barrymore and Don Ameche is the cab driver. It drags in the middle but it’s got a funny ending with Monty Woolley as a judge. I have always like Woolley and Claudette Colbert, for my money, is a highly underrated actress. Don Ameche chews up the scenes in his role and is another reason to see this movie.
38.) Stagecoach. This was my second film to watch from 1939 with John Wayne. The first, reviewed in Part One, was Allegheny Uprising. This time John Wayne is The Ringo Kid who has broken out of prison to avenge the murder of his brother and father. The Ringo Kid joins the Stagecoach when his horse goes lames. Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell, and Andy Devine are along for the Stagecoach ride. Lots of drama and action and a good starring role for John Wayne. John Ford is the director on this one and he directed “Young Abe Lincoln” which I reviewed last time.
39.) Made For Each Other. James Stewart is back again and this time his wife is played by Carol Lombard. He’s a young lawyer whose mother moves in with the happy couple and makes life difficult for the pair. Another favourite actor of mine, Charles Coburn, plays Stewart’s boss. This one is strictly melodrama but well acted by all and certainly worth watching.
40.) Goodbye, Mr. Chips. The book was written by James Hilton and in the golden age of cinema, his films were made into great films. In Part One, I reviewed “We Are Not Alone.” “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” is an outstanding film with Robert Donat portraying Charles Edward Chipping a professor at Brookfield school for boys. The film is a flashback of his life as an educator and as a husband to beautiful Greer Garson. Garson and Donat are two of the finest British actors. This is a beautiful film with stellar acting. It should be seen at least once by everyone. There was a musical remake in 1969 with Peter O’Toole and Petulia Clark. I had avoided watching the remake but finally got around to watching it after rewatching the original. I enjoyed the 1969 film despite my hesitation but the 1939 film is by far the best.
41.) 20,000 Men a Year. This is the second Randolph Scott film that I have viewed from my 1939 watch-list. The first, reviewed last time, was “Frontier Marshall.” It won’t be the last Randolph Scott film from 1939 I’ll review but that won’t be until Part Three. This is also the first film in this second blahg that I didn’t have on DVD. I don’t think there’s been a DVD release of this one. Randolph Scott is a pilot who disobeys orders and loses his job. He then starts a flying school sponsored by the government that will hopefully produce 20,000 pilots a year. The flying scenes and the ending are good but otherwise a dull film.
42.) Flying Deuces. Laurel and Hardy. Should I say more? I will. This film has been in public domain with poor prints existing for years. Finally VCI put out this restored Blu Ray (that’s the image to the right). Stan and Ollie join the French Foreign Legion so Ollie can forget the woman who wouldn’t marry him. Hilarity ensues. This is a bit of a remake of their short from 1931 called “Beau Hunks” where they first joined the Legion after Ollie is jilted. There’s a restored print of “Beau Hunks” available to be viewed on YouTube:
43.) Only Angels Have Wings. Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. What a pair! Cary Grant plays the manager of a air-freight company at a South American trading port. Jean Arthur is on a boat layover and meets and falls for Cary Grant. There’s some exciting flying scenes in this one and that’s coincidental because the two previous films just reviewed, “Flying Deuces” and “20,000 Men A Year” also have exciting flying scenes. The acting’s the thing in this one. Thomas Mitchell is also in this one.
44.) Judge Hardy and Son. There were three Andy Hardy films with Mickey Rooney in 1939. Last time I reviewed “Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever.” There will be a third one when I get around to Part Three. Lewis Stone plays Judge Hardy and Mickey Rooney plays his son Andy. A poor couple is about to be evicted from their home and Judge Hardy is trying to find the woman’s daughter with the help of Andy. Andy has to woo almost every girl in town to find the one whose mother might be the daughter of the couple in trouble. The Andy Hardy films have a certain formula with Andy getting in trouble and then getting out of it with the help of his Father. This one was more enjoyable that “Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever.”
45.) Charlie McCarthy Detective. I thought I would like this one. After all, it had ventriloquial figures Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd along with their handler Edgar Bergen. Wikipedia entry: Scotty Hamilton is a reporter who works for a crooked editor. Bill Banning is another reporter who is about to expose the editor’s ties to the mob. When the editor is killed, both reporter Banning and mobster Tony Garcia are suspected. However, Hamilton’s friend Edgar Bergen solves the case (without much help from Charlie McCarthy). I dozed off again during this one. That hadn’t happened since watching “The Frozen Limits,” number 13 from last time. I expected more and got less.
46.) Discoveries. I couldn’t even find a movie poster for this one. The best I could do is find the sheet music for the song “There’ll Always Be An England” that was introduced in this film. Not much of a movie. Some British talent want to be part of a program put on by a promoter. Some fun with actors dressed as Laurel and Hardy and Groucho Marx, I think. I dosed during the last part. Skip it.
47.) Across the Plains. The film is about two brothers who are separated when they are young and who meet again as adults, one good and one bad. Short film around 59 minutes. Just okay. Would have been better as an episode of a western show like Gunsmoke. I guess you can tell by now, I like Gunsmoke. Sorry, I guess I was going to make another Gunsmoke reference after all.
48.) Back Door To Heaven. Frankie is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The only one who ever really cared for him was his school teacher and a girl from his class. He ends up going to reform school and then prison. Years later he’s in trouble with the law although he tries to do good. He has to get back to his hometown for a reunion that’s celebrating his old teacher. No celebrities in this one but the story was okay.
49.) Hitler – Beast of Berlin. I went on a bit of an Alan Ladd kick. This was one of the films he made in 1939. The story concerns a man and his wife who lead an anti-Nazi propaganda movement. After an inadvertent betrayal, the husband is thrown into a concentration camp. Alan Ladd plays the lead’s brother-in-law. I’ve seen some better anti-Nazi films but this was an early one that predicted a lot of the atrocities that the Nazis, under Hitler, would wreak on Germany. Definitely worth a watch.
50.) Barricade. Alice Faye and Warner Baxter meet on a train and get off in Mongolia. There’s lots of marauding Mongolians and the couple have to hide out in an American Embassy. Can they and the others barricade themselves in and survive the marauders? Tense but interesting film. Watch for Arthur Treacher in a supporting role like he was in “The Little Princess” that I reviewed earlier.
51.) In Name Only. I’m going to throw this one in here because I don’t know exactly when I watched it. I know it was before the film I would review as number 51. Unlike 45 through 50, I had this one on DVD. Here’s another Cary Grant film and yet another Carole Lombard film. Kay Francis plays Cary Grant’s wife who doesn’t treat him nicely so he ends up taking up with Carole Lombard. Yes, definitely a melodrama but great acting all around. After this film, I started to look into other Kay Francis films.
52.) King Of The Underworld. It stars Humphrey Bogart and Kay Francis. I wanted to check it out for Kay Francis who was a great actress but is all but forgotten now. Bogart is an underworld criminal and Kay Francis is the wife of a Doctor who is killed while tending to one of Bogart’s crew. The catch is she’s a Doctor as well and no one trusts her after her husband dies because they think she’s linked with the underworld as well. She eventually practises in a small town and meets up with Bogart and sets out to bring him down. A very nice film with Bogart doing what he does best but Kay Francis holds her own.
53.) At The Circus. Earlier, in number 42, I reviewed the great comedy team of Laurel and Hardy in “Flying Deuces.” This time it’s another comedy team, the Marx Brothers. Grouch, Chico, and Harpo in a picture about a circus and some underhanded individuals. No, the Marx brothers are not the underhanded ones. Eve Arden is along for the ride. My favourite scene happens near the beginning when attorney J. Cheever Loophole, played by Groucho, tries to get on the circus train in the pouring rain. Chico keeps inviting him on the train and prevents him from getting on the train at the same time. Harpo is hilarious as always.
54.) The Real Glory. IMDB description: A small American contingent tries to train rural tribesmen to defend themselves against fanatical Muslim radicals in 1906 Philippines. This one stars Gary Cooper and David Niven. A buddy buddy picture in the jungle. Lots of action and an interesting story. Throw in a love interest for Gary Cooper and you get a good film.
55.) Women On The Wind. This was the other Kay Francis film released in 1939. It’s not as good as “In Name Only” and “King Of The Underworld.” Kay is an aviator in the women’s air derby from Los Angeles to Cleveland. Yet another film with great and suspenseful flying scenes but it’s just okay. Still, I like Kay Francis and it’s worth seeing it for her.
56.) Gunga Din. It’s another buddy buddy film set against the revival of the murderous Thuggee cult. Cary Grant, Victor McLagen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. are the buddies. Sam Jaffe plays their guide, Gunga Din. Lots of action and yet another famous film released in 1939. This is my third film viewed with Cary Grant from 1939. “In Name Only” and “Only Angels Have Wings” were reviewed earlier. You’ll like this one.
57.) Rulers Of The Sea. This was on my list for Alan Ladd. Unfortunately he only has a very brief role as a sailor. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. of “Gunga Din” is back in this one as a sailor who invests money and time to help an inventor sail the first steam-powered ship to cross the North Atlantic from Britain to New York. Unbelievable in some spots but a good story nonetheless.
58.) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. It doesn’t get better than that. This time they’re up against Professor Moriarty who is on a murderous spree to try and cover up what he’s really up to and to try and outwit Holmes. Good luck with that Moriarity! This was the second of fourteen films starring Rathbone and Bruce. The first was “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” Forgive me, I watched them out of order.
59.) The Hound of the Baskervilles. Holmes and Watson, in the first film portrayed by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. This time they’re on the Scottish moors dealing with murders and a murderous hound. There’s more Doctor Watson than Sherlock Holmes in this one but that’s okay with me because Nigel Bruce is a very entertaining Watson. I highly recommend all 14 films in the series.
60.) Beau Geste. This is the last film in this Part Two series and what a great film to end on. It’s back to the French Foreign Legion but this time with Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston and a very cruel scene chewing villain played by Brian Donlevy (formerly the bad buy in “Destry Rides Again). This is the other 1939 film that Gary Cooper made along with “The Real Glory” which I reviewed earlier in this blahg. There’s two mysteries in this film. Why is there a legion post in the desert full of dead soldiers and what happened to the Blue Water gem? You’ll have to watch it to the end to learn the solutions. Apparently there was a 1926 silent version with Ronald Coleman that was even better than this one. It would have to go a long way to be better than this one. I’ll let you know if I ever watch it.
That’s it for this time. I’ve watched 75 films so far from 1939 but I don’t plan on writing a third part until I get to 90. Maybe I’ll stretch that out to 100. That would be a good goal. There’s a few interesting ones in the next batch and some stinkers too. You’ll just have to wait.