I’ve been excited to write this blahg for some time. I’d set a goal for myself that seems almost unbelievable but I’m moving right along with it. I don’t want to write too much of an introduction because that might spoil a few things so I’ll just get into it.
In my previous blahg, UNPACKING THE 2025 FALSE DUCKS NEW YEAR’S DAY VIDEO RAMBLE…FINALLY!, I wrote the following: “I’ve read for years that 1939 was one of the greatest years for films. Just look at the list below of strong classic films from 1939:
Gone with the Wind
Stagecoach
The Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Ninotchka
Destry Rides Again
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Dark Victory
Young Mr. Lincoln
Of Mice and Men
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Babes in Arms
Beau Geste
That is just a sampling of 1939 films. I set a goal of watching as many films from 1939 that I possibly can. Some have had DVD releases and are already in my collection. Others can be viewed online but sometimes the prints are not great. I have a list of just over 400 films from 1939 and I’ve watched almost 50 films from that year. I’ll update my progress and thoughts in a later blahg.”
Well, this is that later blahg. So far I’ve watched around 60 films. Here’s the list of viewed films:
- 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
- Where’s That Fire
- The Kid from Kokomo
- The Ice Follies of 1939
- All Women Have Secrets
- A Girl Must Live
- $1000 a Touchdown
- …One Third of a Nation…
- Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever
- Arizona Legion
- Persons in Hiding
- Allegheny Uprising
- Ask A Policeman
- Gone With The Wind
- Society Lawyer
- Code of the Secret Service
- Secret Service of the Air
- 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
- 20,000 Men a Year
- 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
- King of the Underworld
- At The Circus
- The Real Glory
- Women On The Wind
- Gunga Din
- Rulers of the Sea
- The Hound Of The Baskervilles
- Beau Geste
- After The Thin Man
- The Mysterious Miss X
There were a few 1939 films that I decided not to watch over the past couple of months. These are films that I watched recently or within the last six months. Here are some of those films:
- Bachelor Mother
- Blondie Brings Up Baby
- Blondie Meets the Boss
- Blondie Takes a Vacation
- Chicken Wagon Family
- Dark Victory
- Everything Happens at Night
- Second Fiddle
The last two films, “Everything Happens At Night” and “Second Fiddle” were part of my Sonja Henie viewing that I took on last year.
I talked about my Sonja Henie kick in the blahg, THIS IS 150ISH, PART TWO. You’ll have to scroll down to 133. “Have You Watched Any Good Movies Lately?” I will still count the Sonja Henie films and the others I watched last year as part of my grand total but I won’t offer any review of those at this time. My viewing of the 1939 films have been all over the map. I started watching some by going alphabetically down the list and then I started watching some of the bigger classics by pulling out the DVDs. Finally, others I watched by actor or actress and tried to find the films they were in that were released in 1939. It certainly made for some interesting watching. Some were only available online and some of those were not the greatest prints. This “Part One” blahg will highlight the first 30 films on my viewed list.
1.) A Child Is Born. I’ll rely on online sources to provide descriptions of the plot of some of these films. Here’s the outline for “A Child Is Born”: “Film about several mothers at hospital maternity ward. The nurses care for the mothers and their new born babies. The relationship that are formed with the mothers to be and the expectant fathers.” I enjoyed this one. A bit melodramatic with babies being born to different mothers and how they reacted to it. Some nod to the mental health struggles some women have giving birth. Not an easy film to find but well worth watching.
2.) Disputed Passage. This might have been the first film I watched, even before “A Child Is Born.” I bought the blu-ray before Christmas but I don’t think I watched it until after New Year’s. Great acting in this one. Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff, and John Howard in a story about a driven medical student, Howard, under the tutelage of Tamiroff who is a great Doctor but an even more driven mentor. Enter Dorothy Lamour and John Howard’s doctor has to choose between love or continuing to work with Tamiroff. It ends up in the war torn Orient and becomes an even more dramatic film. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
3.) We Are Not Alone. This is based on a James Hilton book. Many of his books like “Random Harvest”, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”, and “Lost Horizon” have been turned into excellent films. The plot for this one goes: “A doctor hires a woman as a nanny for his son. When his wife becomes jealous, tragedy consumes all involved.” I really liked this one but the ending is not for everyone. My wife thought the film was too tragic but it’s a compelling film nonetheless.
4.) Dust Be My Destiny. John Garfield’s early films like this one and “They Made Me A Criminal” (also 1939 but still on the to be watched list) have him as a misunderstood youth who runs afoul of the law. In this one he’s been made hard by his attitude and even harder by not staying on the right side of things. He meets Priscilla Lane and he tries even harder to go straight but not everything goes well for him. An enjoyable but slightly predictable film.
5.) The Girl From Mexico. Plot: “An advertising executive goes to Mexico looking for talent and finds a hot-tempered singer, who goes to New York to stay with him, his aunt and uncle, and decides to steal him from his fiancé.” Lupe Velez was a spitfire. She could sing and dance and her acting seemed to be on fast-forward. I dozed during this one so it failed to keep my interest. If you want to see some hilarious acting between Lupe Velez and Laurel & Hardy from a few years previous, 1934, then check out this clip from “Hollywood Party”:
6.) Frontier Marshall. An early story of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday trying to bring law and order to Tombstone. I found this an enjoyable but short western. Two interesting things about this movie were the appearance of Caesar Romero as Doc Holliday and the comedian Eddie Foy Jr. appearing in the role of his father Eddie Foy Sr. Eddie Foy Jr. will show up in a few other movies from my 1939 list.
7.) Good Girls Go To Paris. I went on a little Joan Blondell binge at one point so a number of her films are on my list. This film pairs Joan Blondell and Melvyn Douglas. They made a few films together including this one, “There’s Always A Woman,” and “She Played With Fire.” Blondell and Douglas work well together. Joan is a waitress who falls for Melvyn, a professor, and gets more than she bargained for when she eventually meets his fiancé and her family. A nice comedy.
8.) Honolulu. Last year I started collecting and watching the films of Robert Young. This is one that I didn’t get around to until now. Young plays two roles. He’s a tired movie star who switches places with his doppelganger who is a businessman in Hawaii. The problem is that the businessman has a fiancé in Honolulu but the movie star met a singer/dancer on the boat ride over played by Eleanor Powell. The plot is weak but the best thing about this is the comedy team of George Burns and Gracie Allen. They don’t appear together until the end of the film. George is the movie star’s manager trying to keep the lookalike businessman from getting back to Hawaii and Gracie is Eleanor Powell’s gal pal. Gracie steals every scene she’s in.
9.) The Three Musketeers. I was very disappointed in this one. When I read that it starred Don Ameche with The Ritz Brothers, I thought comedy and swashbuckling would abound. Swashbuckling yes, Comedy no. The only other thing to note about this film is this entry from Wikipedia:
In the Leave it to Beaver episode “The Book Report” (1963), young Beaver Cleaver gets in trouble at school when he is assigned to write a book report about the Dumas novel, but instead of actually doing his homework and reading it, just watches the movie on television and bases his report on the film’s comedic scenes and Ritz Brothers’ zany antics.
10.) Cheer Boys Cheer. This is a British comedy film about the attempt of Ironside Brewery to take over the smaller Greenleaf Brewery. The son of the owner of Ironside Brewery falls in love with the daughter of the owner of Greenleaf. Hilarity ensues. Notable as well for the appearances of Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott. Both actors appeared in a number of comedies with British comic Will Hay. A number of those films also appear on my watch list.
11.) The Amazing Mr. Williams. Back to Joan Blondell and Melvyn Douglas again. He’s a police detective trying to solve crimes and she’s his fiancé who wants him to give up police work and find something safer. Good luck with that Joan! Another great comedy pairing from this duo!
12.) Off The Record. Joan Blondell is back again but this time she’s the fiancé of Pat O’Brien. “Two newspaper reporters, Thomas “Breezy” Elliott and Jane Morgan, inadvertently send a boy named Mickey Fallon to reform school after they write an exposé of the illegal slot-machine racket the boy was a spotter for. Guilt-ridden, Jane convinces Breezy that they should marry in order to adopt Mickey so they can get him out of reform school.” Another great comedy with Blondell and this time she finally moves from fiancé to bride.
13.) The Frozen Limits. A great premise for this film. A group of British pioneers decide to take part in the 1898 Alaska and Yukon goldrush having read about it in the newspaper which wrapped up their fish and chips. Their main problem is that it is now 1939. Unfortunately I dozed off during this one. Another British comedy and Moore Marriott is back again. Unfortunately, even he couldn’t save this film.
14.) Where’s That Fire. This is the third film I watched with Moore Marriott and the second one with Graham Moffatt. Luckily, it also starred Will Hay. The combination of those three British comics make this a funny film. “A hapless fire crew are given the ultimatum: put out a fire successfully or else be sacked. They fail miserably, and their ancient fire engine is stolen by criminals attempting to steal the crown jewels from the Tower of London.” You’ll either like it or you won’t. British humour isn’t for everyone but it was funny to me.
15.) The Kid from Kokomo. Pat O’Brien and Joan Blondell, the stars of 1939’s “Off The Record” are back again. I told you I went on a Joan Blondell watching spree. “A fight promoter (O’Brien) finds his new fighter, Homer Baston, in the sticks, a country hick left by his mother when he was young and he won’t leave his home as he is still waiting for her to return to him. Promoter “Square Shooting Murph” (O’Brien) cons him into coming with him by telling him the exposure in the papers will help him find her. Murphy later hires an old drunk woman, Maggie Manell, to play the part of “mom”. Blondell is along for the ride as O’Brien’s girlfriend. There’s a double wedding at the end but O’Brien and Blondell aren’t one of the happy couples. Not a bad little comedy.
16.) The Ice Follies of 1939. James Stewart, Joan Crawford and Lew Ayres star in a film about ice skating and big ice skating productions. You would think that with three big stars that this film would have been better. Stick with Sonja Henie films if you want to see really good ice skating.
17.) All Women Have Secrets. The plot will tell you everything you need to know: Three young couples, all having financial struggles, decide to risk getting married. Joe Tucker and new wife Susie begin their new life living in a trailer. Slats Warwick is in a continuous quarrel with bride Jennifer, whose allowance from her parents is keeping them afloat. The couple having the hardest time is John and Kay Gregory, a pre-med student whose studies barely give him time to juggle part-time jobs and a singer who finds work in a nightclub, but hasn’t yet broken the news to her husband that she’s expecting a baby. I don’t have much else to say about this film. Pretty forgettable.
18.) A Girl Must Live. A British romance comedy. Is that a rom-com if the phrase hadn’t been invented yet? A young woman runs away from a boarding school and tries to get work using her famous mother’s name. The second half of the film ends up in a country mansion with an Earl pursuing the young woman. He catches her. You can probably pass on this one, too.
19.) $1000 a Touchdown. 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. Another film with funny stars like Joe. E. Brown and Martha Raye where the pairing doesn’t guarantee a good film. Martha inherits a run down University and hires Brown as the football coach. The big football game can only be won by paying the opposing team $1,000 a touchdown to throw the game. An unbelievable plot and hardly worth the effort.
20.) …One Third of a Nation… The only film title I’ve heard of that starts and ends with “…”. The “one third of nation” it refers to are the people that live in tenements. Interesting story of a tenement that catches fire and injuries a young boy. His sister goes after the owner of the building to do the right thing and fix up the tenement but the snag is that the new owner is her love interest. Held my interest.
21.) Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever. In case you’ve lived under a rock, Mickey Rooney was Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films released from 1937 to 1958. Three of the films were released in 1939, “The Hardys Ride High,” Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever,” and “Judge Hardy and Son.” I watched them out of order because I didn’t realize until later that “The Hardys Ride High” came before the other two. It’s on my “to watch list.” Andy Hardy is a high school student who suffers the trials and tribulations of being a teenager and dealing with his family and his father who is a local Judge. The plot of “Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever”: Andy Hardy is upset that his girlfriend, Polly Benedict, has fallen for Lieutenant Charles Copley. Soon, however, Andy develops a crush on his drama teacher, Rose Meredith. After Andy’s play is chosen for the school’s annual production, he seizes the opportunity to spend time with his spring time crush. Andy’s dad, Judge Hardy, knows that his son is destined for heartache, so he talks to the teacher about it. Then, he decides to let Andy and Rose navigate the ups and downs of young love by themselves. The Andy Hardy films are always enjoyable and are available on DVD.
22.) Arizona Legion. Back to the westerns. Should I even say? I guess I will, the bad guy played by George O’Brien is actually undercover with the Arizona Rangers. He finds the leader of a gang of thieves and finds love along the way. Not bad but not great either. Worth a watch.
23.) Persons in Hiding. Look at the poster. “She’s the woman behind the killer behind the gun!” It’s based on the book Persons in Hiding, credited to J. Edgar Hoover. “Beautiful Dorothy Bronson has a big thirst for luxury, perfume and furs, due to this, she turns thief Freddie Martin into a notorious armed robber for her needs, and eventually gets him sent to Alcatraz.” She was definitely the mastermind. Kept my interest. Have I said that before?
24.) Allegheny Uprising. Another western and another one that’s been released on DVD. T
his time it’s John Wayne. “In 1759, in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Valley, local settlers and Indian fighters try to persuade the British authorities to ban the trading of alcohol and arms with the marauding Indians.” Not your typical John Wayne western but thoroughly enjoyable.
25.) Ask A Policeman. Another Will Hay film with Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott. Local Police Sergeant played by Will Hay stages a fabricated crime wave, with the help of his two officers, to save their jobs – then find themselves involved in the real thing. Fast paced British comedy. You’ll enjoy this one.
26.) Gone With The Wind. Yes, that “Gone With The Wind.” I hadn’t seen it in years and wanted to watch it so I went looking for it in our Clark Gable collection. Well, it’s my friend Bryan’s collection, housed at my home, and he wasn’t a fan of this film so he never picked up the DVD. I bought it last year so I could watch it but never got around to it until I started this 1939 films project. I think it holds up really well. Of course there are some stereotypes of African Americans that don’t hold up well but the film is extremely well done. Everyone should see this film at least once. Civil War and plantations. I don’t think I need to go on.
27.) Society Lawyer. “Walter Pidgeon is society lawyer Christopher Durant agrees to defend his friend Phil Siddall after Siddall is arrested for the murder of an ex-girlfriend. With the help of nightclub singer Pat Abbott and crime boss Tony Gazotti (a former client), Durant launches his own investigation of the murder in order to prove his friend’s innocence.” This one was short at only 77 minutes. I like Walter Pidgeon’s acting and it’s interesting to see a high class lawyer have to work with criminals to try and solve a case. He’s more of a detective than a lawyer but it works.
28.) Code of the Secret Service. A few years ago I bought a used DVD box set titled “Brass Bancroft of the Secret Service Mysteries Collection.” These were a series of films starring Ronald Reagan. I always meant to watch the films but they got put in pile and then mislaid. I finally had an excuse to watch them, being three of the films were released in 1939, “Secret Service Of The Air,” “Code of the Secret Service,” and “Smashing the Money Ring.” A fourth film, “Murder In The Air” was released in 1940. I accidentally put in the wrong disc and watched “Code Of The Secret Service” first. In this one, Brass Bancroft, played by Reagan, and his wisecracking sidekick Gabby, played by Eddie Foy Jr., are looking for stolen plates behind a counterfeit ring. I mentioned during my review of “Frontier Marshall” that Foy Jr. would show up again. He’s in all the Bancroft films and they’re all fun to watch…not just because of Foy.
29.) Secret Service of the Air. After discovering my mistake, I got around to watching this film which is the first in the Brass Bancroft series. The Secret Service needs a pilot to infiltrate a smuggling ring. They turn to commercial airline and former military pilot “Brass” Bancroft (Ronald Reagan), who has applied to join the Secret Service. Gabby, Eddie Foy Jr., is back again for comedy relief in another great action film from Reagan.
30.) Young Abe Lincoln. I’ve always enjoyed this film. Henry Fonda is the young Abe Lincoln who is trying one of his first big cases. Check out this dialogue between Abe Lincoln, Fonda, and a witness to the crime, J. Palmer Cass, played by Ward Bond:
Abe Lincoln: [cross-examining Cass] J. Palmer Cass.
John Palmer Cass: Yes, sir.
Abe Lincoln: What’s the “J” stand for?
John Palmer Cass: John.
Abe Lincoln: Anyone ever call you Jack?
John Palmer Cass: Yeah, but…
Abe Lincoln: Why “J. Palmer Cass?” Why not “John P. Cass?”
John Palmer Cass: Well, I…
Abe Lincoln: Does “J. Palmer Cass” have something to hide?
John Palmer Cass: No.
Abe Lincoln: Then what do you part your name in the middle for?
John Palmer Cass: I got a right to call myself anything I want as long as it’s my own name!
Abe Lincoln: Well then if it’s all the same to you, I’ll call you Jack Cass.
A very funny scene. Get it? Jack Cass? Jackass? I love that exchange and Fonda really looks like a young Abe Lincoln. Directed by the great John Ford. Ford and Fonda, the stuff of legends.
That’s it for part one. I’ve got another 30 to review and probably another 340 more on my list. The last count was 424 films released in 1939 but who knows if I’ll ever get them all watched. I’m aiming for 100 but we’ll see. In another 14 years it will be 2039 and I’ll be 77. Something to look forward to.
Tags: 1939, gone with the wind, Scott Henderson, Scott Henderson. False Ducks