1939

Released just in time for Oscar season, 1939 commemorates the most amazing year in American movie history, a year that saw the release of some of the best loved classic films and the summit of Hollywoods glamor and cultural achievement. 1939 profiles the making of six of the most significant films of 1939: Gone with the Wind, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Wizard of Oz, covering each film from the origins of the script to the finished films debut and critical receptions. The story of each film is thoroughly illustrated with authentic production photos that give amazing behind-the-scenes glimpses of old Hollywood at work. Readers will get an exciting glimpse into how some of Hollywoods most renowned talents thought and worked, with vivid portrayals of giants like John Ford and Frank Capra in action on the set. Covering the foibles, passions, inspirations and sometimes disordered personal lives of writers, producers, directors, actors and technicians, 1939 is a masterful portrait of Hollywood at work and play plus a scandalously delightful sourcebook of movieland gossip thats shocking even today. 1939 tells such amazing behind-the-scenes stories as: Which set in The Hound of the Baskervilles was so large and complex that the actors actually got lost inside it. Why the best line in Twains novel does not appear in the film of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Why Shirley Temple was not cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Why it was nearly impossible to film in the perfect replica of the U.S. Senate chamber that Frank Capra built for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Plus many more inside stories, production details, and personal revelations about the greatest movie stars of all time. The perfect combination of film history, artistic appreciation, historical insight, and gossip, 1939: The Making of Six Great Films from Hollywoods Greatest Year is a book that no movie fan should miss.