1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

Jul 2, 2009

1h 9m

★ 7.5

Overview

This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

Genres

Documentary

TV Movie

Production Companies

New Wave Entertainment

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator (voice)

Kenneth Branagh

Self (archive footage)

Clark Gable

Self (archive footage)

Vivien Leigh

Self (archive footage)

Olivia de Havilland

Self (archive footage)

Judy Garland

Self

Leonard Maltin

Self (archive footage)

Errol Flynn

Self (archive footage)

Bette Davis

Self

Thomas Schatz

Self

F. X. Feeney

Self

Scott Eyman

Self

Jeanine Basinger

The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.

6.2

Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight

Jun 12, 1994

In 1928, Amelia Earhart gains fame by undertaking a transatlantic flight as a passenger. In 1937, she and her navigator Fred Noonan undertake her longest flight: a round-the-world attempt. However, the plane disappears in the process.

5.2

La ruta de don Quijote

Jan 1, 1934

A poetic journey through the paths and places of old Castile that were traveled and visited by the melancholic knight Don Quixote of La Mancha and his judicious squire Sancho Panza, the immortal characters of Miguel de Cervantes, which offers a candid depiction of rural life in Spain in the early 1930s and illustrates the first sentence of the first article of the Spanish Constitution of 1931, which proclaims that Spain is a democratic republic of workers of all kind.

0.0

The Living

Jan 1, 2009

Tells the story of the tragic events in Ukraine in 1932-33, the genocidal Great Famine or the Holodomor, and one Welshman's attempts to tell the world what was happening.

6.4

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case

Feb 26, 1976

Fact-based story of the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr., son and namesake of the famed pilot, and ensuing trial of accused and convicted killer, Bruno Hauptmann.

6.0

Elemental: Hydrogen vs. Hindenburg

May 6, 2017

"Elemental" is the groundbreaking television event from Academy Award-winning executive producer Robert Zemeckis that reveals how the elements of the periodic table have controlled the outcome of human history. This one-hour drama tells the harrowing story of the Hindenburg disaster. Sophisticated cinematography, animation and spectacular visual effects bring this fiery saga to life in a way no audience has seen before.

7.0

Land Without Bread

Dec 1, 1933

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

7.0

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Jun 6, 2018

The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.

6.6

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical

Mar 1, 2006

From an ominous Lecturer, a small 1930s middle American community learns of the Harper Affair, in which young Jimmy Harper finds his life of promise turn into a life of debauchery and murder thanks to the new drug menace marijuana. Along the way, he receives help from his girlfriend Mary and Jesus Himself, but always finds himself in the arms of the Reefer Man and the rest of the denizens of the Reefer Den.

8.0

Poland 1939: When German Soldiers Became War Criminals

Aug 31, 2019

September 1st, 1939. Nazi Germany invades Poland. The campaign is fast, cruel and ruthless. In these circumstances, how is it that ordinary German soldiers suddenly became vicious killers, terrorizing the local population? Did everyone turn into something worse than wild animals? The true story of the first World War II offensive that marks in the history of infamy the beginning of a carnage and a historical tragedy.

1.4

Best Actress

Mar 18, 2000

A Hollywood writer becomes embroiled while investigating into the lives of five fictitious actresses all nominated for the Academy Award for best actress.

6.3

El elefante del rey

Oct 3, 2003

North Sudan, summer 1923. King Alfonso XIII of Spain captures an enormous African elephant, an apparently irrelevant act that, however, will be paramount to understand the Spain of 20th century; an animal from far lands that will become a symbol of the Second Spanish Republic, the communist movement and many other things; a royal hunting that marks the beginning of a bizarre story of jealousy, passion, political intrigues and taxidermy.

7.5

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story

Oct 8, 1999

There's not a person in the world who wouldn't recognize Mickey Mouse. But until now, not many knew the man who originally gave shape, movement and personality to the world's most beloved icon. "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story" takes you behind the scenes to meet Walt Disney's best friend and chief animator.

6.5

My Family and Other Animals

Dec 27, 2005

Escaping the dreary wet weather of 1930s England, an eccentric family uproot and ship themselves to the sunnier climes of the Greek island of Corfu.

6.5

Enid

Nov 16, 2009

A poignant biography of one of the most successful and wildly-read writers of the 20th century. Her stories enthralled children everywhere but her personal struggles often proved too much.

6.8

Hitler's Games, Berlin 1936

Aug 23, 2016

Summer 1936 - The Berlin Olympics, organized by the Nazi regime on the eve of World War II, acted as a grand showcase for a Germany that was athletic, peaceful and rejuvenated. The violence and hate that until then had reigned in the streets of Berlin suddenly vanished. Adolf Hitler became the triumphant host of European countries he would soon try to invade or face in a deadly global conflict.

6.0

The Massie Affair

Apr 18, 2005

In the waning days of summer 1931, Honolulu's tropical tranquility was shattered when a young Navy wife made a drastic allegation of rape against five nonwhite islanders. What unfolded in the following days and weeks was a racially-charged murder case that would make headlines across the nation, enrage Hawai'i's native population, and galvanize the island's law enforcers and the nation's social elite.

0.0

Hollywood Ghost Stories

Oct 30, 1998

A chronicle of alleged ghosts, haunted landmarks and the otherworldly doings of Tinseltown, including a cursed script and haunted homes of the stars. A range of celebrities and parapsychologists provide interviews related to the history of Hollywood hauntings and their own experiences hosted by William Shatner.

5.7

Riding the Rails

Jan 1, 1997

Riding the Rails offers a visionary perspective on the presumed romanticism of the road and cautionary legacy of the Great Depression. The filmmakers relay the experiences and painful recollections of these now-elderly survivors of the rails. Forced to travel more by economic necessity than the spirit of adventure, the film's subjects dispel romantic myths of a hobo existence and its corresponding veneer of freedom. Riding the Rails recounts the hoboes' trade secrets for survival and accounts of dank miseries, loneliness, imprisonment, death, and dispossession. Sixty years later, the filmmakers transport their subjects back to the tracks, where the surging impact of sound and movement resuscitates memories of a shattered adolescence and devastating rite of passage.

7.8

Something the Lord Made

May 30, 2004

A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.