1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year (2009) (TV)

Director:

Constantine Nasr

Writers:

Gary Leva and
Constantine Nasr

Release Date:

2 July 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Cast

Kenneth Branagh	...	Narrator (voice)
Leonard Maltin	...	Himself - Film Critic and Historian
Thomas Schatz	...	Himself - Author of 'The Genius of the System'
F.X. Feeney	...	Himself - Film Critic and Historian
Scott Eyman	...	Himself - Author of 'Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer'
Jeanine Basinger	...	Herself - Author of 'The Star Machine'
Aubrey Solomon	...	Himself - Author of 'The Films of Twentieth Century-Fox'
Molly Haskell	...	Herself - Author of 'Frankly, My Dear'
George Cukor	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rudy Behlmer	...	Himself - Author of 'Inside Warner Bros.'
Francis Lederer	...	Himself (archive footage)
A.C. Lyles	...	Himself
Joseph McBride	...	Himself - Author of 'Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success'
Frank Capra	...	Himself (archive footage)
Howard Hawks	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard B. Jewell	...	Himself - Author of 'The RKO Story' (as Dr. Richard Jewell)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Maureen O'Hara	...	Herself (archive footage)
Claire Trevor	...	Herself (archive footage)
Daniel Selznick	...	Himself
Ann Rutherford	...	Herself (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Astaire	...	(archive footage)
Humphrey Bogart	...	(archive footage)
Charles Boyer	...	(archive footage)
James Cagney	...	(archive footage)
Joan Crawford	...	(archive footage)
Bette Davis	...	(archive footage)
Olivia de Havilland	...	(archive footage)
Walt Disney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Donat	...	(archive footage)
Irene Dunne	...	(archive footage)
Errol Flynn	...	(archive footage)
John Ford	...	Himself (archive footage)
Clark Gable	...	(archive footage)
Greta Garbo	...	(archive footage)
Judy Garland	...	(archive footage)
Greer Garson	...	(archive footage)
Cary Grant	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bob Hope	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Laughton	...	(archive footage)
Vivien Leigh	...	(archive footage)
Myrna Loy	...	(archive footage)
Louis B. Mayer	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hattie McDaniel	...	Herself (archive footage)
Thomas Mitchell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Edward G. Robinson	...	(archive footage)
Ginger Rogers	...	(archive footage)
Mickey Rooney	...	(archive footage)
Franklin D. Roosevelt	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
David O. Selznick	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Stevens	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Stewart	...	(archive footage)
Spencer Tracy	...	(archive footage)
Lana Turner	...	(archive footage)
Jack L. Warner	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Wayne	...	Himself (archive footage)
Darryl F. Zanuck	...	Himself (archive footage)

Directed by
Constantine Nasr

Writing credits
Gary Leva		and
Constantine Nasr

Produced by
Michael Crawford	....	producer
Victoria Csatar	....	co-producer
George Feltenstein	....	executive producer
Peter Fitzgerald	....	consulting producer
Michael Meadows	....	executive producer
Constantine Nasr	....	producer

Film Editing by
David Creal
Peter Fitzgerald		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Claire Doyle	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Dale Carroll	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Michael Bonner	....	graphics designer

Sound Department
Chris Colley	....	sound mixer
Marla Hettinger	....	sound
Tim Nichol	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
William Hooke	....	camera operator (as Will Hooke)
Adam Rehmeier	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Robert Buttermilch	....	assistant editor
Elizabeth C. Cook	....	assistant editor (as Elizabeth Cook)
Johanna Moyal	....	on-line editor
Brittaney Parbs	....	on-line editing coordinator
Anthony Rose	....	additional editorial
Jason Schwab	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Rachel Glassberg	....	music coordinator

Other crew
Alexandra Broudy	....	researcher
Randal Kaplan	....	researcher
Amy Rodrigue	....	researcher

Thanks
Leith Adams	....	special thanks
Steven Arcieri	....	special thanks
Michael Arick	....	special thanks
Andy Bandit	....	special thanks
Jeanine Basinger	....	special thanks
Rudy Behlmer	....	special thanks
Stacey Behlmer	....	special thanks
Steve Bingen	....	special thanks (as Steven Bingen)
Bob Burns	....	acknowledgment: photographs and film footage provided by
Lea Carlson	....	special thanks
Ned Comstock	....	special thanks
Barry Dagestino	....	special thanks
Rick DeCroix	....	special thanks
Margarita Diaz	....	special thanks
Scott Eyman	....	special thanks
Michael Fallavollita	....	special thanks
F.X. Feeney	....	special thanks
Dan Ford	....	special thanks
John Gallagher	....	special thanks
John A. Gallagher	....	special thanks
Samuel Goldwyn Jr.	....	special thanks (as Sam Goldwyn Jr.)
Molly Haskell	....	special thanks
Omar Herrera	....	special thanks
Richard B. Jewell	....	special thanks (as Dr. Richard B. Jewell)
Roni Lubliner	....	special thanks
A.C. Lyles	....	special thanks
Alice Tlusty Maltin	....	special thanks
Leonard Maltin	....	special thanks
Gregory W. Mank	....	special thanks (as Gregory William Mank)
Joseph McBride	....	special thanks
Geoff Murillo	....	special thanks
Constantine Nasr	....	acknowledgment: photographs and film footage provided by
John M. Poole	....	special thanks
Thomas Schatz	....	special thanks
Aubrey Solomon	....	special thanks
Michael Sragow	....	special thanks
Jeff Stevens	....	special thanks
Alisa Trimble	....	special thanks
Catherine Wyler	....	special thanks (as Catharine Wyler)

Production Companies

• New Wave Entertainment

Distributors

• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2009) (worldwide) (TV)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2010) (Finland) (DVD) (5-disc Gone With the Wind 70th Anniversary Special Edition)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (worldwide) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)  photos and footage provided by (as Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences)
• Streamline Films  photos and footage provided by
• University of Southern California Cinematic Arts Library  photos and footage provided by (as University of Southern California Cinema-TV Library)
• Warner Bros. Archives  photos and footage provided by
• WPA Film Library  photos and footage provided by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

USA:TV-G | Finland:K-11

Company:

New Wave Entertainment

Trivia:

Available on the Gone with the Wind (1939) Ultimate Collector's Edition and Scarlet Edition Blu-Ray releases, as well as the Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD.

Movie Connections:

Features Ninotchka (1939)

And Turner Classic Movies rewrites film history yet again

A barely adequate look at the golden year of 1939, concentrating, as usual, on films owned by TCM and ignoring films they don't own and studios whose libraries they don't have.

Turner not only does this in its documentaries but also in their books.

I certainly can understand them wanting to push the stars and films they own, but please don't call this film history. Though TCM was not listed as the producer, they in fact were - they farmed it out to New Wave Entertainment, which has made many of their documentaries.

Most slighted, as usual, was 20th Century Fox - I'll say this, they did mention it. Usually they leave it out all together. Tyrone Power in 1939 was one of the most popular stars in the world, in the top 10 box office stars - lucky him, they mentioned him once. Amazing.

The documentary said that Gone with the Wind "swept" the Oscars, failing to mention that "The Rains Came" beat it - and the Wizard of Oz - in special effects.

As usual, people watching this walk away believing the only stars were Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, etc. and the rest of them were people who did some acting on the side. After all, if you weren't with MGM, Warners, or RKO, you were nobody.