1939 CinSpec Awards

Top 10 Overlooked Films of Oscar's Great Year

The Roaring Twenties starred Bogart and Cagney, but was overlooked.

1939 CinSpec Awards

Starting today, I'll be completing my Decades series (or starting a My Ballot one?) by posting a full lineup of nominees every week. (So, these ballots will be linked on the Awards page with the winner posts.)

Blind Spot: The Rules of the Game (1939)

Octave, André, and Christine.

Directed by Jean Renoir
Produced by Jean Renoir
Written by Jean Renoir and Carl Koch
Starring Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Roland Toutain, Mila Parely, Gaston Modot, Julien Carette, Paulette Dubost, and Jean Renoir

Double Feature: Love Affair (1939) and Wuthering Heights (1939)

Love Affair:

Better known as 1957's remake An Affair to Remember, this heartbreaking melodrama features Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer as lovers who meet on a cruise and agree to meet again, only to have their meeting spoiled. The love story is no epic (88 minutes), but it doesn't have to be. This is an underseen classic romance with great performances. While it is not one of 1939's best films, it is no wonder that this received a Best Picture nomination in a year of ten nominees.

The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (M. Ouspenskaya), Best Writing (Story), Best Art Direction, and Best Original Song. Though it did not win anything, the Best Picture nomination was arguably consolation enough, given that better films like Only Angels Have Wings, Gunga Din, The Roaring Twenties, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame were not nominated for Best Picture.

Wuthering Heights:

This classic from 1939 is a wonderful adaptation of Emily Bronte's famous literary work. Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon are magnificent as Heathcliff the poor stable boy and Cathy - his wealthy adopted sister. With a love story that has endured many cinematic versions, the film rivals the sweeping romance of Scarlett and Rhett in Gone with the Wind. William Wyler's film is one of the very best that 1939 has to offer, and it very much deserved its Best Picture nomination.

The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress (G. Fitzgerald), Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography (B&W), and Best Original Score. It did not win Best Picture, but it did win cinematographer Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane) his only Oscar.

Double Feature: Of Mice and Men (1939) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

As I'm trying to see every Best Picture nominee ever made, I watched two 1939 entries for the first time this week.

Of Mice and Men:

This gem features Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr. as two labor workers in the rural American south in the Great Depression. Both give great performances in a worthy Best Picture nominee that more classic movie fans should see, if they haven't already.

The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Scoring, and Best Sound. However, it definitely deserved additional nominations for Meredith (Best Actor) and Chaney Jr. (Best Supporting Actor).

Goodbye, Mr. Chips:

This beloved classic is just that: a wonderful, emotionally-satisfying piece about a boarding school teacher. Robert Donat is sublime in an Oscar-winning performance, and the film arguably deserved the Best Picture prize.

The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound. Of course, Greer Garson's leading performance was supporting, and the film could have been nominated for Best Art Direction.