1939 – film’s fantastic year.

The other night we watched John Ford’s Revolutionary War drama, Drums Along the Mohawk, from 1939. That year is widely considered to be the greatest year in movie history. It was certainly a busy one for Ford, who also made Stagecoach and Young Mr. Lincoln that very same year.

These days we have to work at it to come up with five features that are truly worth being nominated for the Academy Award. But in 1939, the stars were in alignment and the Gods were smiling. Just consider this list of films that debuted during that golden, halcyon year:

The Wizard of Oz

Gone with the Wind

Wuthering Heights

Dark Victory

Goodbye Mr. Chips

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Ninotchka

Of Mice and Men

Dodge City

The Women

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Beau Geste

Destry Rides Again

The Four Feathers

Gunga Din

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Oklahoma Kid

Only Angels Have Wings

I’m betting that most readers have never seen most of these, other than Oz and Gone with the Wind. But many of them are downright classics that have helped shape the face of every piece of cinema that's come since. So if it's been a while since you've watched a movie made before 1960, maybe it's time to savor a little history and go take a drink from the well.