Best Drama Movies of 1939

The highest-rated drama films from 1939, ranked by MovieMagicScore based on authentic viewer ratings.

Drama 1938 Drama 1940 All Time Drama

Action Comedy Horror Science Fiction Thriller Romance Animation Documentary Fantasy Crime

Gone with the Wind

1939

The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.

7.9

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1939

After the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. Soon, the naive and earnest new senator has to battle political corruption.

7.8

The Rules of the Game

1939

A weekend at a marquis’ country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut bourgeois acquaintances.

7.5

Daybreak

1939

After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.

7.6

The Roaring Twenties

1939

After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

7.5

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

1939

In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.

7.8

Only Angels Have Wings

1939

A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a major contract.

7.3

Wuthering Heights

1939

The Earnshaws are Yorkshire farmers during the early 19th Century. One day, Mr. Earnshaw returns from a trip to the city, bringing with him a ragged little boy called Heathcliff. Earnshaw's son, Hindley, resents the child, but Heathcliff becomes companion and soulmate to Hindley's sister, Catherine. After her parents die, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up wild and free on the moors and despite the continued enmity between Hindley and Heathcliff they're happy -- until Cathy meets Edgar Linton, the son of a wealthy neighbor.

7.2

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1939

Paris, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the beauty of Esmeralda, a young Romani girl. The hunchback Quasimodo, Frollo's protege and bell-ringer of Notre Dame, lives in peace among the bells in the heights of the immense cathedral until he is involved by the twisted magistrate in his malicious plans to free himself from Esmeralda's alleged spell, which he believes to be the devil's work.

7.3

#10

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

1939

A shy British teacher looks back nostalgically at his long career, taking note of the people who touched his life.

7.4

#11

Young Mr. Lincoln

1939

In this dramatized account of his early law career in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln is born into a modest log cabin, where he is encouraged by his first love, Ann Rutledge, to pursue law. Following her tragic death, Lincoln establishes a law practice in Springfield, where he meets a young Mary Todd. Lincoln's law skills are put to the test when he takes on the difficult task of defending two brothers who have been accused of murder.

7.2

#12

The Women

1939

A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.

7.1

#13

Dark Victory

1939

Socialite Judith Traherne lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele, Judith becomes distraught. After she decides to have surgery to remove the tumor, Judith realizes she is in love with Dr. Steele, but more troubling medical news may sabotage her new relationship, and her second chance at life.

7.0

#14

Love Affair

1939

A French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship. They arrange to reunite six months later, if neither has changed their mind.

7.0

#15

Beau Geste

1939

When three brothers join the Foreign Legion to escape a troubled past, they find themselves trapped under the command of a sadistic sergeant deep in the scorching Sahara. Now the brothers must fight for their lives as they plot mutiny against tyranny and defend a desert fortress against a brutal enemy.

6.9

#16

The Little Princess

1939

A little girl goes in search of her father who is reported missing by the military during the Second Boer War.

6.6

#17

Drums Along the Mohawk

1939

Albany, New York, 1776. After marrying, Gil and Lana travel north to settle on a small farm in the Mohawk River Valley, but soon their growing prosperity and happiness are threatened by the sinister sound of drums that announce dark times of revolution and war.

6.4

Best Drama Movies of 1939

This ranking features the top drama movies released in 1939, sorted by MovieMagicScore viewer ratings. Looking for more? Browse all genres from 1939 or see the best drama movies of all time.