Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

Best  Picture  Academy  Awards
1931-1940

1927-1931
1931-1940  « « you are here
1941-1950
1951-1960
1961-1970
1971-1980
1981-1990
1991-2000
                         2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
       
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

Before The Academy AwardsOscar-Winning Western Movies

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store Homepage


We're in the Money book by Andrew Bergman  "We're In The Money: Depression America and Its Films" [1971]
by Andrew Bergman

Ivan R. Dee 8½x5¾ pb [11/2007] for $14.95
HarperCollins College 7¾x5¼ pb [6/75] out of print/used
New York Univ Press hardcover [10/71] out of print/used

see also Spirit of America's 'Great Depression' [1929-39] Page
for more books and movies on the subject

Hollywood / Grand Design  
"Grand Design: Hollywood As A Modern Business Enterprise,
1930-1939" [1993] by Tino Balio
(History of The American Cinema, Vol. 5)
Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [1/96] for $23.70
Scribner's 10½x7½ hardcover [2/93] for $99.00
Hollywood in Crisis / Cinema & American Society book by Colin Shindler  "Hollywood In Crisis: Cinema and American Society, 1929-1939" [1996]
by Colin Shindler

Routledge 9x6 pb [7/96] for $43.95
Routledge 9¼x6¼ hardcover [7/96] for $150.00
Hollywood's Best: The Thirties  "Hollywood's Best: The '30s" [1997]
artists include Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Allan Jones, Ruby Keeler, Jeanette MacDonald, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers & James Stewart, and the orchestras of Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman & Artie Shaw
Rhino Records/W.E.A. music CD [10/97] 16 tracks for $10.99
The 1930s  
"The 1930s: American Popular Culture Through History" [2002]
by William H. & Nancy K. Young

Greenwood Press 9x6 hardcover [9/2002] for $54.10
Essential Movies Posters  "Film Posters of The 30s: The Essential Movies of The Decade"
[2003] Edited by Tony Nourmand & Graham Marsh

Aurum Press 11¾x9¾ pb [10/2003] for $15.72

Up from the Vault: Rare Thrillers book by John T. Soister  "Up From The Vault: Rare Thrillers of The 1920s and 1930s" [2004] by John T. Soister
McFarland & Co. 10x7 pb [7/2010] for $39.95
McFarland & Co. 10x7 hardcover [3/2004] out of print/used
covers 21 thrillers {widely-defined} that are well-regarded & eagerly sought, but difficult to find: "The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu"
[1923 silent serial]; "The Unknown Purple" [1923 silent]; D.W. Griffith's "The Sorrows of Satan" [1926 silent]; "While London Sleeps" [1926 silent] starring Rin-Tin-Tin; "The Monkey Talks" [1927 silent] directed by Raoul Walsh; Charlie Chan in "The Chinese Parrot" [1927 silent lost film]; "Stark Mad" [1929 sound film]; "The Unholy Night" [1929] directed by Lionel Barrymore; "High Treason" [1929]; "The Spider" [1931]; Spanish-lang-uage Charlie Chan movie "Eran Trece" [1931]; "The Monkey's Paw" [1933]; "Trick For Trick" [1933]; "Deluge" [1933]; "The Vanishing Shadow" [1934 sound serial]; "The Witching Hour" [1934] directed by Henry Hathaway; "Double Door" [1934]; "Black Moon" [1934]; "Le Golem" [1936]; S.S. Van Dine's Philo Vance in "The Scarab Murder Case" [1937 lost film]; and "Sh! The Octopus" [1937]

Movies of the 30s  "Movies of The 30s" [2006]
by Jürgen Müller

Taschen 10x8¼ pb [10/2006] for $26.39
American Cinema of The 1930s  "American Cinema of The 1930s: Themes & Variations" [2007]
Edited by Ina Rae Hark

Rutgers Univ Press pb [9/2007] for $22.95
Rutgers Univ Press hardcover [9/2007] for $68.00
Golden Age of Cinema  "The Golden Age of Cinema: Hollywood, 1929-1945" [2007]
by Richard B. Jewell

Wiley-Blackwell 9x6 pb [10/2007] for $27.90
Wiley-Blackwell 9x6¼ hardcover [10/2007] for $84.95


NOTE: The Academy Award year was Summer to Summer from 1927-28 to 1931-32;
the 1934 Academy Awards were given for August 1932 to December 1933;
Academy Awards are since given for calendar year.

complete listings of Nov 1931 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1930 to July 1931
or go to the prior page: 1927-1931


1931-32
complete listings of Nov 1932 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1931 to July 1932

   "Grand  Hotel"  [M.G.M. April 1932]
full credits from IMDb

"Arrowsmith"
[Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists Dec 1931]
Directed by John Ford [1894-1973]; based on the 1923 Sinclair Lewis novel; starring Ronald Colman,
Helen Hayes, Richard Bennett, A.E. Anson, Clarence Brooks & Myrna Loy; Oscar nominations
for Best Picture, Best Script/Adaptation, Best Cinematography & Best Art Direction
full credits from IMDb

"Bad Girl" [Fox Aug 1931]
full credits from IMDb

"The Champ" [M.G.M. Nov 1931]
Co-produced & directed by King Vidor [1894-1982]; script by Frances Marion [1886-1973]; starring Wallace Beery,
Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich & Roscoe Ates; won Oscars for Best Actor (Beery) & Best Original Script,
nominated for Best Picture & Best Director; full credits from IMDb

"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
[Paramount Dec 1931]
full credits from IMDb

"The Guardsman" [M.G.M. Nov 1931]
Directed by Sidney Franklin; based on a Ferenc Molnár play; starring Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne
(Oscar nominated for Best Actor & Best Actress), with Roland Young & Zasu Pitts
full credits from IMDb

"The Music Box" short subject
[Hal Roach/M.G.M. April 1932]
won an Oscar for Best Comedy Short  famous "The Music Box" [1932] short with Laurel & Hardy   A woman buys a player piano as a surprise for her husband and asks the Laurel & Hardy Transfer Co. to deliver it. The location used for filming (the 131 steps) is today a tourist attraction in the Silver Lake district of Hollywood. Produced by Hal Roach, directed by James Parrott; starring Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, with Billy Gilbert & Gladys Gale; won the first Oscar for Best Comedy Short, listed at National Film Registry (1997)
available as part of several Laurel & Hardy video/DVD compilations
full credits from IMDbmovie entry at KGmovie entry at Wikipedia

"Shanghai Express" [Paramount Feb 1932]
Lee Garmes won Oscar Award for Best Cinematography    Shanghai Express movie starring Marlene Dietrich & Anna May Wong  
Shanghai Express movie starring Marlene Dietrich & Anna May Wong  Shanghai Express movie starring Marlene Dietrich & Anna May Wong  
Marlene Dietrich plays 'the notorious White Flower of the Chinese coast', who seeks to protect fellow 'coaster' Anna May Wong and ex-lover Clive Brook from ruthless rebel leader Warner Oland; the highest-grossing film of 1932 in both the USA and Canada; location filming in Southern California; the screenplay for "Shanghai Express" was adapted twice for remakes "Night Plane From Chungking" [May 1943] and "Peking Express"
[July 1951]
• Produced by Adolph Zukor; directed by Josef von Sternberg; screenplay by Jules Furthman, based on the story by Harry Hervey; music by W. Franke Harling; cinematography by Lee Garmes {cinematographer James Wong Howe [1899-1976] created only the rear-projection plates (seen through the train windows}; starring Marlene Dietrich {as Shanghai Lily}, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong {as Hui Fei}, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, Lawrence Grant, Louise Closser Hale, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Emile Chautard, Leonard Carey, George Chung, Wong Chung, Jack Deery, Herbert Evans, Willie Fung, Tom Gubbins, Forrester Harvey, Claude King, James B. Leong, Miki Morita, Minoru Nishida, Mrs. Sojin, Victor Wong; Oscar-nominated for Best Picture & Best Director, won Oscar for Best Cinematography • full credits at IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
Cinema Master Class Blu-ray combo with French subtitles [3/2019] 2 disks for $23.99
Cinema Master Class b&w DVD with French subtitles [3/2019] for $39.99
Turner Classic Movies b&w DVD-R [11/2012] out of prodn/used
Universal Studios Home Ent. b&w VHS [10/93] out of prodn/used
watch 3/2019 French-language promo/trailer [1:55] online at YouTube
watch original trailer [2/2015 upload; 1:40] online at YouTube
"The Legacy of Shanghai Express" fan-made video [2019]
watch 5/2019 video [15:47] online at YouTube

"The Sin of Madelon Claudet"
[M.G.M. Oct 1931]
full credits from IMDb

"What Price Hollywood?"
[R.K.O. Pathé June 1932]
full credits from IMDb


1932-33
complete listings of March 1934 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1932 to December 1933

   "Cavalcade" [Fox Jan 1933]
full credits from IMDb

"42nd Street" [Warner Bros. March 1933]
Directed by Lloyd Bacon; choreography by Busby Berkeley; starring Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels,
George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Una Merkel, Ginger Rogers, Ned Sparks & Dick Powell;
Oscar nominated for Best Picture & Best Sound, listed on the National Film Registry (1998)
full credits from IMDb

"A Farewell to Arms" [Paramount Dec 1932]
full credits from IMDb

"I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang"
[Warner Bros. Nov 1932]
full credits from IMDb

"Lady For A Day" [Columbia Sept 1933]
Directed by Frank Capra [1897-1991]; script by Robert Riskin, based on a Damon Runyon story; starring
Warren William, May Robson, Guy Kibbee, Glenda Farrell, Ned Sparks, Walter Connolly, Jean Parker,
Nat Pendleton, Hobart Bosworth, Robert Emmett O'Connor & Halliwell Hobbes; Oscar nominations for
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Script/Adaptation & Best Actress (MR)
full credits from IMDb

"Little Women"
[R.K.O. Radio Pictures Nov 1933]
full credits from IMDb

"Morning Glory"
[R.K.O. Radio Pictures Aug 1933]
full credits from IMDb

"The Private Life of Henry VIII"
[London Film / United Artists Sept 1933]
full credits from IMDb

"The Prizefighter and The Lady"
[M.G.M./Loew's Nov 1933]
Produced & directed by W.S. Van Dyke; co-written by Frances Marion [1886-1973]; starring Myrna Loy,
Max Baer, Primo Carnera, Jack Dempsey, Walter Huston & Otto Kruger; Oscar nomination for Best Original Script
full credits from IMDb

"Rasputin and The Empress"
[M.G.M. March 1933]
Directed by Richard Boleslawski; script by Charles MacArthur; starring John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore,
Lionel Barrymore, Diana Wynyard, Tad Alexander, C. Henry Gordon, Edward Arnold & Mischa Auer;
Oscar nomination for Best Original Script
full credits from IMDb

"Smilin' Through" [M.G.M. Sept 1932]
full credits from IMDb

"State Fair" [Fox Feb 1933]
full credits from IMDb


1934
complete listings of February 1935 Academy Awards for films of 1934 calendar year

"It  Happened  One  Night"  [Columbia Pictures Feb 1934]
the first Oscar 'grand slam': won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress & Best Script
          
It Happened One Night poster directed by Frank Capra  
The father of a spoiled, spunky socialite annuls her marriage, so she jumps off his yacht and runs away. An out-of-work reporter realizes he has a choice story when he meets her on a cross-country bus, and he trades his silence and help for an exclusive. But during their travels together, they reluctantly fall in love – though neither is able to admit to it. • Produced & directed by Frank Capra [1897-1991]; script by Robert Riskin, based on the novel "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams; starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Jameson Thomas, Alan Hale & Ward Bond; listed on National Film Registry, 1993
Criterion Collection all- region 4k HD b&w Blu-ray [1/2014] for $28.95
Sony Special Edition b&w DVD [12/99] for $14.99
Sony b&w VHS [6/94] for $16.99
full credits from IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
watch official trailer [2/2018 upload; 1:22] online at YouTube
blue 27"x40" poster from Amazon for $19.99black 24"x36" poster from Amazon for $13.99
Night Bus novel [1933] by Samuel Hopkins Adams  
"Night Bus" novel [1933] by Samuel Hopkins Adams [1871-1958], Cover Art by Sandor Klein
The novelette or short story was first published in the August 1933 Cosmopolitan Magazine Fiction Issue, then published as Dell paperback #3, also in 1933. (Magazine not found on Amazon, the paperback is quite rare.)
Dell #3 mass pb [1933] out of print/scarce
author entry at Wikipedia

"The Barretts of Wimpole Street"
[M.G.M. Sept 1934]
full credits from IMDb

"Cleopatra" [Paramount Oct 1934]
full credits from IMDb

"The Gay Divorcee" [R.K.O. Radio Oct 1934]
full credits from IMDb

"Imitation of Life" [Universal Nov 1934]
full credits from IMDb

"Manhattan Melodrama"
[M.G.M./Loew's May 1934]
full credits from IMDb

"Of Human Bondage" [R.K.O. Radio July 1934]
full credits from IMDb

"The  Thin  Man"  [M.G.M. May 1934]
Thin Man movie poster   Nick Charles, a detective, has just retired but is pulled back into service by the disappearance of a friend, Clyde Wynant (the actual 'thin man') just after Wynant's girlfriend is found dead. Nick and his wife Nora consume martinis and exchange witticisms; the martini glasses pile up as do the dead bodies, until the murderer is revealed at a dinner-party gathering of all the suspects. Directed by W.S. VanDyke; script by Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich, based on Dashiell Hammett's novel; starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell, Asta & Cesar Romero; Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Script & Best Actor (WP); listed on the National Film Registry (1997)
Warner b&w DVD keepcase [8/2005] for $17.99
Warner b&w DVD snapcase [10/2002] out of prodn/used
Warner b&w VHS [7/2001] out of prodn/used
M.G.M./Warner b&w VHS [6/94] out of prodn/many used
full credits from IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
The Thin Man novel by Dashiell Hammett  based on "The Thin Man" novel [1934] by Dashiell Hammett [1894-1951]
Detective Nick Charles has just married a wealthy socialite and retired, but is pulled back to work by the disappearance of a friend, inventor Clyde Wynant (the actual 'thin man') just after Wynant's girlfriend is found dead. The characteristics of Nick & Nora's casual drunkenness and witty banter were created by Hammett in the novel, and maintained thru the six feature films. The murderer is revealed at a dinner-party gathering of all the suspects.
Vintage 8x5 pb [8/92] for $10.36
Otto Penzler hardcover [7/96] for $39.95
Mystery Masters UNABR audio CD [3/2005] for $22.76
book entry at Wikipedia
Complete Thin Man Collection DVD boxed set  
"The Complete Thin Man Collection" DVD boxed set
Warner b&w DVD [8/2005] 7 disks for $44.99
includes all six 'Thin Man' feature films, plus radio show episode, tv series episode, cartoons & shorts (including Robert Benchley's "How To Be A Detective") and other extras
more details (synopses, sequels, DVDs, books, posters, links) on
BlackHat Mystery Bookstore's 'The Thin Man' Movies Page

"Viva Villa!" [M.G.M. April 1934]
Viva Villa!   Directed by Jack Conway & Howard Hawks; starring Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo & Fay Wray; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Script, Best Sound, won for Best Asst Director
Warner Video b&w VHS [4/93] for $14.95
full credits from IMDb


1935

   "Mutiny  On  The  Bounty"
[M.G.M. Nov 1935]

full credits from IMDb

"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
[Warner Bros. Oct 1935]
Co-directed by William Dieterle & Max Reinhardt; starring James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, Dick Powell,
Mickey Rooney, Victor Jory, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Olivia de Havilland, Frank McHugh,
Arthur Treacher, Billy Barty & Anita Louise; Oscar nominations for Best Picture & Best Assistant Director,
won Oscars for Best Cinematography & Best Editing
full credits from IMDb

'Shakespeare On Film' Festival at Magic Lantern

"Broadway Melody of 1936"
[M.G.M. Sept 1935]
Broadway Melody of 1936 poster   Directed by Roy Del Ruth; won Oscar for Best Dance Direction, nominated for Best Picture & Best Original Script
full credits from IMDb

"Captain Blood" [Warner Bros. Dec 1935]
Captain Blood video   A British surgeon is wrongly condemned to slavery in the Caribbean; he escapes and steals a ship and becomes a pirate. Directed by Michael Curtiz; based on the 1922 Rafael Sabatini novel; starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, Ross Alexander, Guy Kibbee & J. Carrol Naish; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Script, Best Score
Warner b&w DVD [4/2005] for $14.98
Warner b&w VHS [5/2001] out of stock/used
RCA filmscore by Korngold CD [6/91] for $10.99
Soundtrack Factory CD [7/2000] for $13.98
full credits from IMDb

Pirate Film Festival at Magic Lantern

"David Copperfield" [M.G.M. Oct 1935]
Directed by George Cukor; starring Freddie Bartholomew, Edna May Oliver, Elizabeth Allan, Hugh Walpole,
Basil Rathbone, Fay Chaldecott, Una O'Connor, Lionel Barrymore, Violet Kemble Cooper, Elsa Lanchester,
Jean Cadell, W.C. Fields, Roland Young, Lewis Stone, Frank Lawton, Madge Evans, Hugh Williams &
Maureen O'Sullivan; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Assistant Director & Best Editing
full credits from IMDb

"Gold Diggers of 1935"
[Warner Bros./First National March 1935]
full credits from IMDb

"The Informer"
[R.K.O. Radio Pictures May 1935]
Directed by John Ford [1894-1973]; starring Victor McLaglen
full credits from IMDb

"The Lives of A Bengal Lancer" [Paramount Jan 1935]
full credits from IMDb

"Ruggles of Red Gap" [Paramount Feb 1935]
full credits from IMDb

Directed by Leo McCarey; written by Humphrey Pearson, Walter DeLeon & Harlan Thompson,
based on the novel by Harry Leon Wilson; nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033PSH7M

"The Scoundrel" [Paramount April 1935]
Co-written & co-directed by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur; won Oscar for Best Original Script
full credits from IMDb

"Top Hat"
[R.K.O. Radio Pictures Sept 1935]
full credits from IMDb


1936
complete listings of March 1937 Academy Awards for films of 1936 calendar year

   "The  Great  Ziegfeld"
[M.G.M. March 1936]

full credits from IMDb

"A Tale of Two Cities"
[M.G.M. Dec 1936]
full credits from IMDb

"Anthony Adverse" [Warner Bros. Aug 1936]
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy; won Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (GS), Best Cinematography, Best Editing,
Best Music Score, nominated for Best Picture, Best Assistant Director, Best Art Direction
full credits from IMDb

"The Charge of The Light Brigade"
[Warner Bros. Oct 1936]
full credits from IMDb

"Dodsworth"
[Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists Sept 1936]
full credits from IMDb

"Mr.  Deeds  Goes  To  Town"
[Columbia April 1936]
Mr. Deeds Goes To Town   A small-town tuba player inherits a fortune from a distant relative; he moves to the big city and fends off a stream of city slickers, embezzlers, moochers & phonies, and a greedy opera committee. Then a hot-shot female reporter gets him in her sights... Produced & directed by Frank Capra [1897-1991]; script by Robert Riskin, based on a story by Clarence Budington Kelland; starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander, Douglass Dumbrille, Raymond Walburn, H.B. Warner, Ruth Donnelly & George 'Gabby' Hayes; won Oscar for Best Director, nominated for Best Picture, Best Script, Best Actor, Best Sound
Sony b&w DVD [2/2000] for $17.99
Sony b&w VHS [5/2002] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb

"Romeo  and  Juliet" [M.G.M. Sept 1936]
Directed by George Cukor; starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Edna May Oliver,
Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith, Andy Devine, Henry Kolker, Robert Warwick & Reginald Denny;
Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (NS), Best Supporting Actor (BR), Best Art Direction
full credits from IMDb

'Shakespeare On Film' Festival at Magic Lantern

"San  Francisco" [M.G.M. June 1936]
San Francisco   Directed by W.S. Van Dyke; starring Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy & Jack Holt; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor (Tracy), Best AD, won for Best Sound
Warner Video color VHS [11/90] for $14.95
Great Music Themes soundtrack CD [11/97] out of print/used
full credits from IMDb

"The Story of Louis Pasteur" [Warner Bros. Feb 1936]
full credits from IMDb

"Theodora Goes Wild" [Columbia Nov 1936]
full credits from IMDb


1937
complete listings of March 1938 Academy Awards for films of 1937 calendar year

   "The  Life  of  Emile  Zola"
[Warner Bros. Aug 1937]

full credits from IMDb

"A Star Is Born"
[Selznick/United Artists April 1937]
Produced by David O. Selznick; co-written & directed by William A. Wellman; starring Janet Gaynor, Fredric March,
Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander, Owen Moore, Peggy Wood, Elizabeth Jenns, Edgar Kennedy,
J.C. Nugent & Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams; won Oscar for Best Original Story & Honorary Oscar for color photography;
Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (FM), Best Actress (JG), Best Assistant Director
full credits from IMDb

"The Awful Truth" [Columbia Oct 1937]
Directed by Leo McCarey; won Oscar for Best Director; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Screenplay,
Best Actress (ID), Best Supporting Actor (RB), Best Editing; listed on National Film Registry (1996)
full credits from IMDb

"Black Legion" [Warner Bros. Jan 1937]
Directed by Archie Mayo; starring Humphrey Bogart & Ann Sheridan; Oscar nom for Best Original Story
full credits from IMDb

"Camille" [M.G.M. Jan 1937]
full credits from IMDb

"Captains Courageous" [M.G.M. June 1937]
full credits from IMDb

"Dead End"
[Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists Aug 1937]
Directed by William Wyler; written by Lillian Hellman, from a play by Sidney Kingsley; starring Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea,
Humphrey Bogart, Wendy Barrie, Claire Trevor, Allen Jenkins, Marjorie Main, Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan,
Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell & Bernard Punsly; Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (CT),
Best Cinematography (Gregg Toland) & Best Art Direction
full credits from IMDb

source of the spin-off "Dead End Kids" series and "Bowery Boys" series

"The Good Earth" [M.G.M. Aug 1937]
full credits from IMDb

"In Old Chicago" [Fox Dec 1937]
full credits from IMDb

"Lost  Horizon"  [Columbia March 1937]
Lost Horizon poster by James Montgomery Flagg   A British author-diplomat-adventurer is kidnapped to an isolated Himalayan valley where inhabitants live for centuries. Produced & directed by Frank Capra [1897-1991]; script by Robert Riskin, based on James Hilton's novel; starring Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Sam Jaffe, H.B. Warner, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard, Thomas Mitchell, Margo & Isabel Jewell; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best A.D., Best Supporting Actor {HBW), Best Music (Dimitri Tiomkin) & Best Sound; won Oscars for Best Art Direction & Best Film Editing
Sony b&w DVD [8/99] for $24.88
Sony b&w VHS [6/97] out of prodn/used
Soundtrack Factory soundtrack CD [1/99] for $11.99
full credits from IMDb
Lost Horizon 1933 novel  "Lost Horizon: The Haunting Novel of Love In Shangri-La" [1933]
by James Hilton [1900-54]

chosen to be the first novel published in paperback form, as Pocket Book #1
Pocket mass pb [1/88] for $6.99
Harper 8x5½ pb [6/2004] for $9.97
Amereon 8¾x6 hardcover [6/93] for $24.95
Reader's Digest hardcover [1/90] out of prodn/many used
book entry at Wikipedia; book/movie fansite

"One Hundred Men and A Girl"
[Universal Sept 1937]
Deanna Durbin hires unemployed friends to form a symphony orchestra
Directed by Henry King; Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Original Story, Best Editing, Best Sound,
won Oscar for Best Music Score; full credits from IMDb

"Stage Door" [R.K.O. Radio Pictures Oct 1937]
full credits from IMDb


1938
complete listings of February 1939 Academy Awards for films of 1938 calendar year

"You Can't Take It With You"
[Columbia August 1938]
Best Picture Oscar  won Oscar for Best Director  You Can't Take It With You  
You Can't Take It With You  
The son of a wealthy, snobbish family plans to marry the lovely daughter of a free-spirited & loving family presided over by a wise grandfather. Produced & directed by Frank Capra [1897-1991]; script by Robert Riskin, based on the hit Broadway play {below}; music by Dimitri Tiomkin; starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Spring Byington, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, Samuel S. Hinds, Donald Meek, H.B. Warner, Halliwell Hobbes, Dub Taylor, Mary Forbes, Lillian Yarbo & Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson; won Oscars for Best Picture & Best Director, Oscar nominated for Best Script, Best Supporting Actress (SB), Best Cinematography, Best Editing & Best Sound
Sony b&w DVD [2/2003] for $26.99
Sony b&w VHS [6/97] out of prodn/many used
full credits from IMDb

Pulitzer Prize-winning stageplay by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman
Dramatists Play Service 8x5½ pb playscript [1/98] for $7.50
credits for 2-year Broadway run [Dec 1936 - Dec 1938] at IBDb

"The Adventures of Robin Hood"
[Warner Bros. May 1938]
The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 movie starring Errol Flynn   Filmed in Technicolor; England's King Richard is away on a Crusade to the Holy Land, and when Richard is captured for ransom by Leopold of Austria, Prince John seizes power, aided by Sir Guy and the High Sheriff. But loyal Saxon Robin Locksley gathers a band of resistance fighters, becomes outlaw Robin Hood, woos Lady Marian, and thwarts the bad guys by robbing from the rich to aid the overtaxed peasants. Co-produced by Hal B. Wallis & Jack L. Warner; directed by Michael Curtiz & William Keighley; starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Alan Hale, Melville Cooper, Ian Hunter & Howard Hill; nominated for Best Picture Oscar, won Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Editing & Best Original Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold); listed on the National Film Registry (1995)
Warner Home Video color Blu-ray [8/2008] for $19.49
Warner Home Video Special Edition color DVD [9/2003] 2 disks for $21.99
M.G.M. color VHS [12/93] out of prodn/many, many used
Oscar-winning soundtrack by Erich Korngold: Soundtrack Factory audio CD [5/2000] for $16.99
27"x40" poster from Amazon for $19.99
full credits at IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia

"Alexander's Ragtime Band"
[Fox Aug 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"Angels With Dirty Faces"
[First National/Warner Bros. Nov 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"Boys Town" [M.G.M. Sept 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"The Citadel" [M.G.M. Nov 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"Four Daughters"
[First National/Warner Bros. Aug 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"The  Grand  Illusion"
[France June 1937, U.S.A. Sept 1938]
Grand Illusion  Complex, profound, and heartbreakingly human look at the illusions inherent in war & heroism, social class & individual character, romantic love, religion – all are trapped in illusion. Co-written & directed by Jean Renoir; starring Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim & Marcel Dalio; nominated for Best Picture Oscar
Criterion b&w DVD w/English subtitles [11/99] for $34.76
TimelessVideo b&w VHS w/English subtitles [8/97] for $14.99
Criterion b&w VHS w/English subtitles [11/99] for $29.95
Sound Track Factory audio CD [9/2000] for $13.28
full credits from IMDb

"Jezebel" [Warner Bros. March 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"Marie Antoinette" [M.G.M./Loew's Aug 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"Pygmalion" [M.G.M. Dec 1938]
full credits from IMDb

"Test Pilot" [M.G.M. April 1938]
full credits from IMDb


1939
complete listings of February 1940 Academy Awards for films of 1939 calendar year

"Gone  With  The  Wind"
[Selznick/M.G.M. Dec 1939]
won Best Picture Oscar  won Best Director Oscar  won Best Screenplay Oscar  

Gone With The Wind poster  

Beautiful and selfish Scarlett O'Hara loses her first love, and takes up with renegade Rhett Butler at the start of the War Between The States; she refuses to admit her love for Rhett and eventually loses him and her beloved Tara plantation. Produced by David O. Selznick; directed by Victor Fleming; starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Evelyn Keyes, Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, Victor Jory, Jane Darwell, Ward Bond & Yakima Canutt; won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Color Cinematography, Best Actress [VL], Best Supporting Actress [HM], Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Honorary Oscar for "outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood"; Oscar nominations for Best Actor [Gable], Best Supporting Actress [OdH], Best Special Effects, Best Music Score [Max Steiner] & Best Sound; listed on National Film Registry (1989)
Warner 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition color Blu-ray [DUE Nov 2009] pre-order for $56.49
Warner 70th Anniversary Limited Edition color DVD [DUE Nov 2009] pre-order for $45.49
Warner Collector's Edition color DVD set [11/2004] 4 disks for $27.99
Warner Special Edition color DVD [1/2006] 2 disks for $13.99
Warner color VHS [3/2000] 2 tapes - out of prodn/many used
Rhino/WEA soundtrack CD [6/97] for $11.98
full credits from IMDb

Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With The Wind'   based on Margaret Mitchell's novel [Scribner Sept 1936]
awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1937; listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels (10/2005)
Warner Books mass pb [8/93] for $7.99
Warner Books 8¼x5½ pb [4/99] for $10.85
Scribner 8½x6 hardcover [facsimile] for $17.82

Margaret 'Peggy' Mitchell [1900-49] section on the "G.W.T.W." Page


1939 movie official website

more "G.W.T.W." stuff (synopsis, books, posters, sequels, links) on
Magic Lantern's "Gone With The Wind" 1939 Movie Page

"Dark Victory"
[First National/Warner Bros. April 1939]
full credits from IMDb

"Goodbye, Mr. Chips"
[M.G.M. July 1939]
full credits from IMDb

"Gunga Din" [R.K.O. Jan 1939]
Gunga Din poster  In XIXth Century India, three happy-go-lucky British sergeants and a native water-bearer stand off an army of Thugee rebels at Khyber Pass. Directed by George Stevens; story by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur, based loosely on the poem by Rudyard Kipling [1865-1936]; script by Joel Sayre & Fred Guiol; starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Sam Jaffe; Oscar nomination for Best B&W Cinematography, listed on National Film Registry (1999)
Warner b&w DVD [12/2004] for $14.99
Turner b&w VHS [5/93] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb

"Love Affair"
[R.K.O. Radio Pictures March 1939] Produced, co-written & directed by Leo McCarey; starring Irene Dunne,
Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman, Astrid Allwyn & Maurice Moscovitch; Oscar nominations for Best Picture,
Best Original Script, Best Actress (ID), Best Supporting Actress (MO), Best Original Song, Best Art Direction
full credits from IMDb

"Mr.  Smith  Goes  To  Washington"
[Columbia Oct 1939]
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington poster  A classic struggle between good & evil: A naive Boy Scout leader is appointed U.S. Senator on a lark; threatened by his idealism, the corrupt system in Washington, DC first tries to bribe him, then manufactures a scandal. Directed by Frank Capra [1897-1991]; script by Sidney Buch- man, based on a story by Lewis R. Foster; starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, Eugene Pallette, Harry Carey, Beulah Bondi, H.B. Warner & William Demarest; won an Oscar for Best Original Story, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor, two Best Supporting Actors (Rains & Carey), Best Music (Dimitri Tiomkin), Best Art Direction, Best Editing & Best Sound; listed on National Film Registry (1989)
Sony b&w DVD [2/2000] for $19.99
Sony b&w VHS [2/2000] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDbwatch official trailer [1:41] at YouTube

"Ninotchka" [M.G.M. Oct 1939]
Ninotchka 1939 romantic comedy movie directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Greta Garbo & Melvyn Douglas  Three Russian agents are sent to Paris to sell jewelry confiscated during the Revolution; a former Russian noblewoman enlists a British count to retreive her family's jewelry, the three agents are seduced by Western decadence, and stiff agent Ninotchka Ivanoff is sent to bring the jewels and agents back. Co-produced & directed by Ernst Lubitsch; written by Melchior Lengyel, Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder & Walter Reisch; starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Bela Lugosi, Sig Ruman & Felix Bressart; Oscar nomi- nations for Best Picture, Best Original Story, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Garbo); listed on National Film Registry (1990); listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (5/2005)
Warner Home Video b&w DVD [9/2005] for $5.79
M.G.M. Video b&w VHS [1/99] out of prodn/many used
11"x17" square 'Garbo laughs!' poster from Amazon for $14.99
full credits at IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
Ninotchka critical text edited by Richard J. Anobile  
"Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka Starring Greta Garbo" script & critical text [1975]
Edited by Richard J. Anobile

Flare/Avon pb [4/75] out of print/used
Universe/Darien House 11x8¾ hardcover [4/75] out of print/many used

"Of  Mice  &  Men"  [Hal Roach 1939]
Mice & Men 1939  Directed by Lewis Milestone; starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr., Charles Bickford, Roman Bohnen, Bob Steele & Noah Beery Jr.; nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Music (Aaron Copland), Best Sound
Image Ent b&w DVD [3/2001] for $17.99
Image Ent b&w VHS [3/2001] for $29.98
full credits from IMDb
Mice & Men book   based on the novel [Covici-Friede Feb 1937] by John Steinbeck [1902-68]
Penguin 8.4x5½ pb [1/2002] for $8.80
Penguin ABR audio [10/92] 2 tapes read by Gary Sinise for $12.76

"Stagecoach" [United Artists Feb 1939]
Stagecoach movie  Passengers on a stagecoach – the famous Ringo Kid, a drunken doctor, a pregnant woman, a crooked bank manager & others – learn that Geronimo is on the warpath. Co-produced & directed by John Ford [1894-1973]; script by Dudley Nichols from the short story by Ernest Haycox; starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, Louise Platt & Tim Holt; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, Best B&W Cinema- tography, Best Art Direction, won Best Music, Best Supporting Actor (Mitchell); listed at National Film Registry 1995
Criterion b&w Blu-ray [DUE May 2010] for $29.49
Warner Video b&w DVD [10/97] out of prodn/many used
Warner Video b&w VHS [6/97] out of prodn/many used
full credits from IMDb
John Ford's Stagecoach  
"John Ford's Stagecoach" [2002]
Edited by Barry Keith Grant

Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 pb [12/2002] for $22.99
"Stagecoach" [1992] critical text by Edward Buscombe
British Film Institute 7½x5½ pb [9/92] for $10.17

"The  Wizard  of  Oz"
[M.G.M./Loew's Aug 1939]
Wizard of Oz poster   A cyclone picks up a house, a girl, and her dog Toto and transports them to the strange land of Oz, where she meets a Tin Woodsman, a Cowardly Lion, and a Scarecrow. They travel together along the Yellow Brick Road, fighting witches & flying monkeys to get to the Emerald City, where they finally confront the terrible Wizard of Oz. Produced by Mervyn LeRoy, directed by Victor Fleming; based on the novel by L. Frank Baum [1856-1919]; starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin & Terry {as Toto}; won Oscars for Best Music Score & Best Song, Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Color Cinematography, Best Special Effects & Best Art Direction, Juvenile Award for Judy Garland; listed on National Film Registry (1989)
Warner Home Video 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray set [9/2009] 5 disks for $52.99
Warner Collector's Edition color DVD pkg [10/2005] 3 disks for $36.99
Warner Special Edition color DVD set [10/2005] 2 disks for $19.99
Rhino/W.E.A. Special Edition soundtrack CD [9/98] for $18.98
Rhino/W.E.A. Deluxe Edition soundtrack CD [7/95] for $22.99
full credits from IMDb

1939 movie official website
Judy Garlend & Frank Morgan 'great & powerful Oz' soundbite [38-second wav file]

further details on Magic Lantern's
"The Wizard of Oz" 1939 Movie Page

"Wuthering Heights"
[Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists April 1939]
full credits from IMDb

"Young Mr. Lincoln"
[Fox June 1939]
Directed by John Ford [1894-1973]; script by Lamar Trotti; starring Henry Fonda {as Abe}, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver,
Arleen Whelan, Eddie Collins, Pauline Moore, Richard Cromwell, Donald Meek, Judith Dickens, Eddie Quillan, Milburn
Stone, Spencer Charters & Ward Bond; Oscar nomination for Best Original Script; listed on National Film Registry (2003)
full credits from IMDb


1940
complete listings of February 1941 Academy Awards for films of 1940 calendar year

   "Rebecca"
[Selznick/United Artists March 1940]

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel; starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce, Reginald Denny & C. Aubrey Smith; won Oscars for Best Picture & Best B&W Cinematography, Oscar noms for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor [LO], Best Actress [JF], Best Supporting Actress [JA], Best B&W Art Direction, Best Music Score, Best Special Effects & Best Film Editing; full credits from IMDb

"Abe Lincoln In Illinois"
[R.K.O. Radio Pictures Feb 1940]
based on the Pulitzer-winning 1938-39 hit Broadway stageplay by Robert E. Sherwood [1896-1955] • full credits from IMDb

"All This, and Heaven Too"
[Warner Bros. July 1940]
full credits from IMDb

"Foreign Correspondent"
[Walter Wanger/United Artists Aug 1940]
full credits from IMDb

"The Grapes of Wrath" [Fox Jan 1940]
won Oscar for Best Director  Jane Darwell won Oscar for Best Supporting Actress    
When America was devastated by the 'Dust Bowl' drought, many farmers lost their land, and many of them migrated to California. Steinbeck's epic novel revealed to the world the plight of a family of 'Okies' (from Oklahoma), and caused society to make changes in 'The System'. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize, and is listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Novels (10/2005).
John Ford's movie remains an unforgettable experience even 70 years later.

Grapes of Wrath movie directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda  Directed by John Ford [1894-1973]; based on the novel by John Steinbeck [1902-68], script by Nunnally Johnson; starring Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin & Dorris Bowdon; won Oscars for Best Director & Best Supporting Actress (Darwell), nominated for Best Picture, Best Script, Best Actor (Fonda), Best Editing, Best Sound; listed in National Film Registry 1989
full credits from IMDbmovie entry at Wikipedia
date of Blu-ray release not known
Fox/MGM 'Ford At Fox Edition' b&w DVD [12/2007] for $17.99
Fox b&w DVD [4/2004] for $10.99
extras on both DVDs include Darryl F. Zanuck docufilm from A&E Biography; F.D.R. segment & three 1934 drought segments from Movietone News; still gallery, trailers & outtakes
Fox b&w VHS [10/99] for $13.99

Grapes of Wrath novel by John Steinbeck  "Grapes of Wrath" novel [Viking April 1939] by John Steinbeck
Kindle Edition from Penguin Publng [2006 edition] for $12.99
Penguin 8¼x5¾ pb [1/2002] for $11.03
Bantam mass pb [1964] out of print/used
Penguin 7½x5 library hardcover [3/2006] for $20.59
Penguin UNABR audio [10/98] 12 tapes read by Dylan Baker - out of prodn/used
book entry at Wikipedia

more details (synopsis, docufilms, posters, books, links) on
Magic Lantern's "The Grapes of Wrath" 1940 Movie Page

"The  Great  Dictator"
[United Artists Oct 1940]
Chaplin's Great Dictator movie  Chaplin's first talkie; an amnesiac Jewish barber (Chaplin) is released from hospital unaware of a resemblance to his country's new dictator, Adenoid Hynkle (also Chaplin). Temporary favoritism of the Jews is soon replaced with shipment to concentration camps; the barber and a sympathetic officer escape and are captured by enemy forces, who believe that the barber is the dictator. The bogus dictator then delivers a lyrical four-minute radio speech advocating peace. Written & directed by & starring Charles Chaplin; co-starring Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell & Billy Gilbert; Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Script, Best Actor (CC), Best Supporting Actor (JO), Best Original Score; listed on the National Film Registry in 1997
Warner special edition DVD [7/2003] 2 disks for $26.99
Image Ent b&w DVD [4/2000] out of stock/used
Creative Design Limited Edition DVD [7/2003] 3 disks / out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDbofficial movie site

Chaplin's "The Greatest Speech Ever Made" excerpted from "The Great Dictator" [1940]
watch 9/2013 video [4:38] on YouTube

"The  Great  McGinty"
[Paramount August 1940]
The Great McGinty  A political boss turns a bum into a successful crooked politician; when McGinty marries an honest woman, his career is in jeopardy. Written & directed by Preston Sturges; starring Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff, Muriel Angelus, Allyn Joslyn, William Demarest, Arthur Hoyt & Thurston Hall; won Oscar for Best Original Screenplay
Universal b&w VHS [3/92] out of prodn/used
DVD as part of the Preston Sturges Collection box set
Universal DVD box set [11/2006] 7 disks for $41.99
full credits from IMDb

"Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman"
[R.K.O. Radio Pictures Dec 1940]
full credits from IMDb

"The Letter" [Warner Bros. Nov 1940]
full credits from IMDb

"The Long Voyage Home"
[Walter Wanger/United Artists Nov 1940]
Produced & directed by John Ford [1894-1973]; script by Dudley Nichols, based on stage plays by Eugene O'Neill;
starring John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Barry Fitzgerald, Wilfrid Lawson, John Qualen, Mildred Natwick
& Ward Bond; Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best B&W Cinematography, Best Editing,
Best Special Effects, Best Original Score; full credits from IMDb

"Our Town"
[Sol Lesser/United Artists May 1940]
full credits from IMDb

"The Philadelphia Story"
[M.G.M. Dec 1940]
full credits from IMDb

"The Westerner"
[Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists Sept 1940]
The Westerner   Directed by William Wyler; starring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Doris Davenport, Fred Stone & Forrest Tucker; won Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Brennan), nominated for Best Script, Best Art Direction
MGM/UA b&w VHS [9/2001] for $9.94
HBO Video b&w DVD [9/98] out of stock/used
full credits from IMDb

Online sales in association with  browse Oscar winners on DVD at Amazon

back to homepage | Next Decade: 1941-1950