THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407270131
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Frank Roberts
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
``Gone With the Wind,'' ``The Women,'' ``Stagecoach,'' ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,'' ``The Wizard of Oz'' - what do they have in common?
They and other cinematic gems are products of Hollywood's hottest year - 1939.
Obviously, it was not planned that way. But movie history records that end-of-the-Depression year as the most productive, as far as classy projects are concerned.
Nowadays, one or two blockbusters sometimes carry the year. But 55 years ago, theaters were filled with blockbusters, many of which are considered classics.
The biggie, of course, was ``GWTW'' - the product of 10 screenwriters, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, and three directors. The $4 million flick - a giveaway price by today's standards - won eight Oscars. Who didn't win? The guy who brought the audience in - Clark Gable.
``The Women'' was directed by George Cukor, who needed diplomacy in dealing with his all-female cast. Norma Shearer wanted her name above that of Joan Crawford in the ads. Crawford wanted her name on top, as did Rosalind Russell, who took four days of ``sick'' leave to make her point. MGM put all their names above the title. No Oscars.
``Stagecoach'' is a gem of a western that transformed John Wayne from B-movie actor to star. It was the first of many projects the actor shared with director John Ford. It was filmed in Arizona's Monument Valley.
``Dark Victory'' starred Bette Davis and George Brent, who enjoyed one another's company off screen as well as on. Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan co-starred in this tear-jerker, which had Davis going blind, dying of a brain tumor and chewing scenery.
Greta Garbo starred in ``Ninotchka,'' a Communism-versus-capitalism comedy. It was a hit because, the ads emphasized, ``Garbo laughs.'' It was her next-to-last movie. She did ``Two-Faced Woman'' two years later, then decided she wanted to be alone.
Leslie Howard took violin lessons from Jascha Heifetz for his role in another tear-jerker. ``Intermezzo'' co-starred Ingrid Bergman, another Scandinavian actress who was a hot property in those days.
Frank Capra, one of the few directors whose name was above the title, had a major hit in ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'' When Mr. Smith got there, he gave the politicians a fit. Still sounds like a good idea. One D.C. politico said of the movie, ``It stinks.''
But the voters loved it and its perfectly cast star, Jimmy Stewart.
Robert Donat was the English schoolteacher in ``Goodbye Mr. Chips,'' which introduced Greer Garson to American audiences. MGM head Louis B. Mayer had seen her on stage in Britain and signed her up.
Ah - and there is ``The Wizard of Oz,'' a '39 flop described by The New Yorker critic this way: ``No imagination, good taste or ingenuity. A real stinkeroo.'' Don't know where he is today, but the film, which originally bombed at the box office, is still going strong. By the way, Judy Garland was 16 when she played 12-year-old Dorothy.
Those were the major movies of '39. Other hits that year included ``Destry Rides Again,'' ``Gunga Din,'' ``The Hunchback of Notre Dame,'' ``Young Mr. Lincoln,'' ``Of Mice and Men,'' ``You Can't Cheat an Honest Man'' and ``Beau Geste.''
It was also a year for series - Charlie Chan, Dr. Kildare, Mr. Moto, Andy Hardy, Gene Autry.
That year there were 15,000 motion picture theaters (one screen per theater) and 85 million paid admissions weekly, four times today's audience. ILLUSTRATION: File photos
ABOVE: Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett
O'Hara starred in the classic motion picture, ``Gone With the
Wind.''
BELOW: Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley and Ray Bolger starred in
``The Wizard of Oz,'' a box-office flop but a television sensation.
Both films were among the gems of Hollywood's hottest year - 1939.
by CNB