The Lion Has Wings

1939

English

5.6

♡ 2

raf (royal air force)

War

Michael Powell Director

Ian Fleming as Air Officer

Raymond Huntley as Minor Role

Flora Robson as Queen Elizabeth I

Austin Trevor as Schulemburg - German Air Chief of Staff

This early, influential propaganda film blends documentary and studio footage to show the valiant efforts of the Royal Air Force to defend the British people against the Nazis.

The Saint Strikes Back

1939

English

6.2

♡ 3

64%

John Farrow Director

Jonathan Hale as Inspector Henry Fernack

Nella Walker as Mrs. Betty Fernack

Dale Van Sickel as Nightclub Patron

Barry Fitzgerald as Zipper Dyson

Suave private detective Simon "The Saint" Templar arrives in San Francisco and meets Val, a woman whose police inspector father killed himself after being accused of corruption and dismissed from the force. Convinced of the man's innocence, Templar takes it upon himself to vindicate the memory of Val's father. To do so he must take on the city's most dangerous criminal gang, while also battling hostile members of the police department.

U-Boat 29

1939

English

6.9

♡ 15

100%

Michael Powell Director

Graham Stark as Bell Boy

Howard Marion-Crawford as German Officer in Kieler Hof Hotel

Skelton Knaggs as German Sailor looking for Capt. Hardt

Valerie Hobson as The School Mistress

A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.

Beau Geste

1939

English

7.5

♡ 11

92%

83%

Action

Adventure

based on novel or book

William A. Wellman Director

Donald O'Connor as Beau Geste

Nestor Paiva as Corporal Golas

Ray Milland as John Geste

George Chandler as Legionnaire Cordier

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.

Fric-Frac

1939

French

6.9

♡ 7

Claude Autant-Lara Director

René Génin as Blain

Michel Simon as Jo 'Les bras coupés' Arletty

Arletty as Loulou Titys

Titys as (uncredited)

An employee at a jewelry store falls in love with a woman who secretly plans to rob the store.

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery

1939

English

6.2

♡ 4

54%

Thorold Dickinson Director

Terry Kilburn as Errand Boy

Anthony Bushell as John Doyce - Trojan Team Member

Esmond Knight as Raille - Trojan Team Member

Charles Rolfe as Witness

During a charity football match between Arsenal and touring amateur side Trojans, the Trojan's new star player collapses and dies. Inspector Slade of Scotland Yard is called in and declares it was murder. It takes all his ingenuity and another death before the motive is discovered and the killer revealed.

Three Smart Girls Grow Up

1939

English

6.9

♡ 4

67%

Henry Koster Director

Nella Walker as Dorothy Craig

Edward Earle as Executive

Charles Winninger as Judson Craig

Mary Treen as Secretary

Three sisters who believe life is going to be easy, now that their parents are back together, until one sister falls in love with another's fiancé, and the youngest sister plays matchmaker.

The Face at the Window

1939

English

5.9

♡ 2

25%

George King Director

Marjorie Taylor as Cecile de Brisson

Tod Slaughter as Chevalier Lucio del Gardo

Margaret Yarde as La Pinan

Wallace Evennett as Prof. Le Blanc

In 1880, the criminal called The Wolf is responsible for a murderous rampage in France. When the Brisson Bank is robbed in Paris and the employee Michelle is murdered, the wealthy Chevalier Lucio del Gardo is the only chance to save the bank. Chevalier proposes to the owner M. de Brisson to deposit a large amount of gold, but in return he would like to marry his daughter Cecile. However, Cecile is in love with the efficient clerk Lucien Cortier that belongs to the lower classes and refuses the engagement. In order to get rid off the rival, Chevalier uses evidences to incriminate Lucien, manipulating the incompetent Parisian chief of police.

The Man in the Iron Mask

1939

English

7.0

♡ 5

73%

Action

Adventure

based on novel or book

James Whale Director

Herman Hack as Guard

Joan Bennett as Maria Theresa

Alan Hale as Porthos

Peter Cushing as Second Officer

Years have passed since the Three Musketeers, Aramis, Athos and Porthos, have fought together with their friend, D'Artagnan. But with the tyrannical King Louis using his power to wreak havoc in the kingdom while his twin brother, Philippe, remains imprisoned, the Musketeers reunite to abduct Louis and replace him with Philippe.

Trouble Brewing

1939

English

6.3

♡ 3

Anthony Kimmins Director

Phyllis Morris as Cleaning Woman

Basil Radford as Guest at Madame Berdi's

Martita Hunt as Madame Berdi

Googie Withers as Mary Brown

Ealing comedy starring music hall star George Formby. An eager newspaper reporter (Formby) goes undercover to expose a gang of counterfeiters. Posing as a wrestler and waiter in his investigative efforts, George proves a greater menace to public order than the criminals he is chasing.

The Cat and the Canary

1939

English

7.1

♡ 9

72%

Action

alligator

based on play or musical

Elliott Nugent Director

Elizabeth Patterson as Aunt Susan

Douglass Montgomery as Charlie Wilder

Nydia Westman as Cicily

Paulette Goddard as Joyce Norman

Ten years after the death of millionaire Cyrus Norman, his will is to be read out to his six relatives, including Joyce Norman and Wally Campbell. Organized by Norman's lawyer, Crosby, the six meet at Norman's eerie New Orleans Gothic mansion. During the reading, the superstitious housekeeper declares that someone will be dead by midnight. Wally fears for Joyce when she is declared the sole inheritor, but all are alarmed when Crosby turns up dead.

I grandi magazzini

1939

Italian

6.5

♡ 1

Mario Camerini Director

Vittorio De Sica as Bruno Zacchi

Nino Crisman as L'ispettore dei magazzini

Nino Marchetti as L'ispettore dell'inchiesta

Giuseppe Rinaldi as Uno sciatore

In a massive department store the driver romances the shopgirl. The problem is that the manager also has his eye on her, and some employees seem to be pilfering goods from the place.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1939

English

7.8

♡ 15

94%

87%

Action

based on novel or book

William Dieterle Director

Walter Hampden as Archdeacon

Maureen O'Hara as Esmeralda

Charlie Hall as Mercury

Louis Jean Heydt as Minor Role

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.

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

1939

English

6.9

♡ 9

86%

husband wife relationship

H.C. Potter Director

Frank Faylen as Adjutant

Frank Coghlan Jr. as Boy in Montage

Donald MacBride as Hotel Manager

Bill Patton as Undetermined Secondary Role

In 1911, minor stage comic, Vernon Castle meets the stage-struck Irene Foote. A few misadventures later, they marry and then abandon comedy to attempt a dancing career together. While they're performing in Paris, an agent sees them rehearse and starts them on their brilliant career as the world's foremost ballroom dancers. However, at the height of their fame, World War I begins.

Peace on Earth

1939

English

7.5

♡ 9

Hugh Harman Director

Sara Berner as Baby Squirrel

Bernice Hansen as Baby Squirrel

Martha Wentworth as Grandma Squirrel

Mel Blanc as Grandpa Squirrel

Two baby squirrels ask grandpa to explain what "men" are when he comes in singing "peace on earth, goodwill to men". Grandpa tells the story of man's last war. This classic animation short was an Academy Award Best Short Subject, Cartoons nominee.

Disputed Passage

1939

English

6.4

♡ 4

Frank Borzage Director

Keye Luke as Andrew Abbott

Philip Ahn as Dr. Fung

David S. Horsley as Intern

James P. Hogan as Messenger Boy

A doctor's medical studies are threatened by his infatuation with a Chinese girl. The girl returns to China, but complications ensue when she runs into him in Nanking during a Japanese bombing raid.

Juarez

1939

English

6.9

♡ 4

71%

William Dieterle Director

Mickey Kuhn as Agustín de Iturbide y Green

Gilbert Roland as Colonel Miguel Lopez

Martin Garralaga as Negroni

Jason Robards Sr. as (uncredited)

The newly-named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota arrive in Mexico to face popular sentiment favoring Benito Juárez and democracy.

The Real Glory

1939

English

6.5

♡ 2

80%

39%

Action

based on novel or book

Henry Hathaway Director

Reginald Owen as Capt. Steve Hartley

Gary Cooper as Dr. Bill Canavan

Kay Johnson as Mabel Manning

Elmo Lincoln as U.S. Captain

Fort Mysang, southern Philippine Islands, under US rule, 1906. A small group of army officers and native troops resist the fierce and treacherous attacks of the ruthless Alisang and his fanatical followers.

Three Texas Steers

1939

English

5.4

♡ 8

29%

George Sherman Director

Billy Curtis as Hercules

Collette Lyons as Lillian

Carole Landis as Nancy Evans

Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith / Willie the Gorilla

Nancy Evans, lovely circus owner, has a ranch that she's never visited, but for sentimental reasons won't sell to Mike Abbott. Her partners, secretly in league with Abbott, sabotage the circus to force Nancy to sell the ranch; instead, she goes there to live. Will her neighbors, the Three Mesquiteers, be a match for the secret swindlers? And what's so valuable about that run-down ranch anyway?