“1939: HOLLYWOOD’s GREATEST YEAR

John Wayne in “STAGECOACH” (1939)

“Gone With the Wind.” “The Wizard of Oz.” “Stagecoach.” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” “Wuthering Heights.”

Vivian Leigh and Hattie McDaniel in “GONE WITH THE WIND”

What these great films have in common is the year in which they hit America’s movie screens. Film critics regard 1939 as the greatest year in Hollywood history, when more memorable movies were released than at any other time.

Throughout 2014, the Kansas City Public Library recreates the movie going experience enjoyed by audiences 75 years earlier. Each week, the free series Hollywood’s Greatest Year will present a movie from 1939.

Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon in “WUTHERING HEIGHTS”

To kick off the series, Yours Truly (Robert W. Butler, former Kansas City Star movie critic, proprietor of this web site, and a member of the Library’s public affairs department) is giving an introductory talk, 1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year, on Sunday, December 29, 2013, at 2 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

The actual films series begins the first Saturday of the new year in the Durwood Film Vault at the Downtown Library, 14 W. 10th. All screenings are at 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays. The first month is dedicated to comedy and features the films “Ninotchka” (Jan. 4), “Bachelor Mother (Jan. 11), “Idiot’s Delight” (Jan. 18) and “Only Angels Have Wings” (Jan. 25).

Janes Stewart in "MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON"

James Stewart in “MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON”

Embracing comedies, musicals, Westerns, heavy-hitting dramas, crime stories, horror, romance – virtually the entire range of films released by the major movie studios — the series includes 1939’s entries from such long-running series as Sherlock Holmes, The Thin Man, Andy Hardy, and Tarzan.

Virtually every star then in front of the camera is represented: Henry Fonda, Greta Garbo, Ginger Rogers, John Wayne, Clark Gable, Jean Arthur, Cary Grant, Laurence Olivier, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Muni, Judy Garland, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney … the list seems endless.

Hope to see you Sunday at the Plaza Library, then on Saturdays throughout the year at the Central Library.

Butler's Cinema Scene