Best Movies of 1939

The highest-rated films from 1939 according to MovieMagicScore. Rankings based purely on what viewers actually think.

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Gone with the Wind

1939 · 4,220 ratings

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 · 1,127 ratings

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 Wizard of Oz

1939 · 5,994 ratings

Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.

7.6

Stagecoach

1939 · 1,183 ratings

A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the process.

7.6

The Rules of the Game

1939 · 628 ratings

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

7.5

Ninotchka

1939 · 410 ratings

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

7.5

Daybreak

1939 · 243 ratings

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 · 252 ratings

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 · 123 ratings

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

#10

Only Angels Have Wings

1939 · 258 ratings

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

#11

Wuthering Heights

1939 · 293 ratings

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

#12

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1939 · 207 ratings

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

#13

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

1939 · 132 ratings

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

7.4

#14

Young Mr. Lincoln

1939 · 184 ratings

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

#15

The Hound of the Baskervilles

1939 · 211 ratings

When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.

7.1

#16

Destry Rides Again

1939 · 181 ratings

Tom Destry, son of a legendary frontier peacekeeper, doesn’t believe in gunplay. Thus he becomes the object of widespread ridicule when he rides into the wide-open town of Bottleneck, the personal fiefdom of the crooked Kent.

7.2

#17

The Women

1939 · 168 ratings

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

7.1

#18

The Ugly Duckling

1939 · 177 ratings

An outcast duckling's search for a family to accept him leads to constant rejection before learning his true identity as a swan.

7.0

#19

Another Thin Man

1939 · 129 ratings

Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.

7.1

#20

Dark Victory

1939 · 151 ratings

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

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About 1939 Movies

These are the best-rated movies released in 1939 according to MovieMagicScore. Our ranking system aggregates genuine viewer ratings to give you an honest picture of what audiences actually think about these films.

From blockbusters to indie gems, discover what made 1939 memorable in cinema based on the collective opinion of movie lovers worldwide.

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