MFB: July 1939

Introduction for newcomers

Monthly Film Bulletin
July 1939
Vol. 6 No. 67

The Arizona Wildcat
USA - 1939 - 69m - bw
20th Century Fox (U)
D: Herbert I. Leeds

Beethoven
Un grand amour de Beethoven
(USA: The Life and Loves of Beethoven)
(aka: Beethoven's Great Love)
France - 1936 - 139m - bw
United Curzon (A) (cut)
D: Abel Gance

Blind Alley
USA - 1939 - 69m - bw
Columbia (A)
D: Charles Vidor

Bridal Suite
USA - 1939 - 70m - bw
MGM (A)
D: Wilhelm Thiele

Captain Fury
USA - 1939 - 92m - bw
United Artists (A)
D: Hal Roach

Charlie Chan in Reno

Charlie Chan in Reno
USA - 1939 - 70m - bw
20th Century Fox (A)
D: Norman Foster
Series: Charlie Chan Carries On (1931).

Clipped Wings
USA - 1936 - 63m - bw
Curry (U)
D: Stuart Paton

Code of the Secret Service
USA - 1939 - 58m - bw
First National (A)
D: Noel M. Smith
Series: Secret Service of the Air (1938, May/1939).

Dead Man's Shoes
UK - 1939 - 70m - bw
Associated-British (A)
D: Thomas Bentley

Dodge City
USA - 1939 - 104m - col
First National (A) (cut)
D: Michael Curtiz

Five Came Back
USA - 1939 - 75m - bw
RKO Radio (A)
D: John Farrow

The Girl and the Gambler
USA - 1939 - 63m - bw
RKO Radio (U)
D: Lew Landers

The Girl From Mexico
USA - 1939 - 71m - bw
RKO Radio (U)
D: Leslie Goodwins
Followed by: Mexican Spitfire (1940, Feb/1940), Mexican Spitfire Out West (1940, Dec/1940), Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941, Nov/1941), Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942, Mar/1942), Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost (1942, Jun/1942), Mexican Spitfire's Elephant (1942), Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943, Aug/1943).

Golden Gloves
Ex-Champ
USA - 1939 - 64m - bw
General Film (U)
D: Phil Rosen

The Headleys at Home
(UK: Among Those Present)
USA - 1938 - 69m - bw
Associated-British (U)
D: Chris Beute

The House of Fear
USA - 1939 - 67m - bw
General Film (A)
D: Joe May

Juarez
USA - 1939 - 132m - bw
Warner (A)
D: William Dieterle

The Kid From Kokomo
(UK: Orphan of the Ring)
USA - 1939 - 93m - bw
Warner (A)
D: Lewis Seiler

Let Us Live
USA - 1939 - 68m - bw
Columbia (A)
D: John Brahm

Maisie
USA - 1939 - 75m - bw
MGM (A) (cut)
D: Edwin L. Marin
Followed by: Congo Maisie (1940, Mar/1940), Gold Rush Maisie (1940, Sep/1940), Maisie Was a Lady (1941, Jun/1941), Ringside Maisie (1941, Nov/1941), Maisie Gets Her Man (1942, Aug/1942), Swing Shift Maisie (1943, Jul/1943), Maisie Goes to Reno (1944, Oct/1944), Up Goes Maisie (1946, Mar/1946), Undercover Maisie (1947, Apr/1947).

Man of Conquest
USA - 1939 - 105m - bw
British Lion (U)
D: George Nichols Jr.

Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
USA - 1939 - 68m - bw
First National (A)
D: William Clemens
Series: Nancy Drew-- Detective (1938, Feb/1938).

North of Shanghai
USA - 1939 - 59m - bw
Columbia (A)
D: D. Ross Lederman

-Only Angels Have Wings
USA - 1939 - 121m - bw
Columbia (A)
D: Howard Hawks

The Oregon Trail
(aka: Trail's End)
USA - 1936 - 59m - bw
British Lion (U)
D: Scott Pembroke
Also reviewed: Apr 1936.

Panama Lady
USA - 1939 - 65m - bw
RKO Radio (A)
D: Jack Hively

Poison Pen
UK - 1939 - 79m - bw
Associated-British (A)
D: Paul L. Stein

Retour à l'aube
(USA: She Returned at Dawn)
France - 1938 - 80m - bw
Studio One (A) (cut)
D: Henri Decoin

Riding High
(USA: Remember When)
UK - 1937 - 68m - bw
British Lion (U)
D: David MacDonald

Romance of the Redwoods
USA - 1939 - 61m - bw
Columbia (A)
D: Charles Vidor

The Saint in London
USA - 1939 - 77m - bw
RKO Radio (A)
D: John Paddy Carstairs
Series: The Saint in New York (1938, Jul/1938).

The Sun Never Sets
USA - 1939 - 97m - bw
General Film (A)
D: Rowland V. Lee

Sweepstakes Winner

USA - 1939 - 59m - bw
Warner (U)
D: William C. McGann

Tarzan Finds a Son!
USA - 1939 - 82m - bw
MGM (U) (cut)
D: Richard Thorpe
Series: Tarzan the Ape Man (1932, Dec/1955).

There Ain't No Justice
UK - 1939 - 83m - bw
Associated-British (A) (cut)
D: Pen Tennyson

This Man in Paris
(USA: Shadows of the Underworld)
UK - 1939 - 86m - bw
Paramount (A)
D: David MacDonald
Series: This Man is News (1938, Sep/1938).

Tomorrow at Midnight
For Love or Money
USA - 1939 - 76m - bw
General Film (A) (cut)
D: Albert S. Rogell

MFB: June 1939

Introduction for newcomers

Monthly Film Bulletin
June 1939
Vol. 6 No. 66

Big Town Czar
(aka: Fighting the Racketeers)
USA - 1939 - 66m - bw
General Film (A)
D: Arthur Lubin

Boy Slaves
USA - 1939 - 72m - bw
RKO Radio (H)
D: P.J. Wolfson

Buck Rogers (right)

Buck Rogers
USA - 1939 - 237m - 12 chapters - bw
General Film (U)
D: Ford Beebe, Saul A. Goodkind
Also released in a condensed feature-length version entitled Planet Outlaws (1953, Jan/1954), running 71 minutes. Another condensed feature, Destination Saturn (100m), was screened on US TV in 1966.

Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
USA - 1939 - 56m - bw
Paramount (U)
D: James P. Hogan
Series: Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (1937, Oct/1937).

Carrefour
France - 1938 - 84m - bw
United Curzon (U) (cut)
D: Curtis Bernhardt

Confessions of a Nazi Spy
USA - 1939 - 104m - bw
First National (U) (cut)
D: Anatole Litvak

Double Crime on the Maginot Line
Double crime sur la ligne Maginot
(aka: Treachery Within)
France - 1937 - 101m - bw
Viking (A)
D: Félix Gandéra
Also reviewed: Mar 1938 + Sep 1945.

East Side of Heaven
USA - 1939 - 88m - bw
General Film (U)
D: David Butler

The Face at the Window
UK - 1939 - 70m - bw
British Lion (A)
D: George King

The Family Next Door
USA - 1939 - 64m - bw
General Film (U)
D: Joseph Santley

The Fighting Deputy
USA - 1937 - 61m - bw
Equity British (U)
D: Sam Newfield

Fixer Dugan
(UK: Double Daring)
USA - 1939 - 68m - bw
RKO Radio (U) (cut)
D: Lew Landers

Forged Passport
USA - 1939 - 63m - bw
British Lion (U)
D: John H. Auer

The Four Just Men
(USA: The Secret Four)
UK - 1939 - 85m - bw
Associated-British (A) (cut)
D: Walter Forde

Frontier Scout
USA - 1938 - 61m - bw
Grand National (U)
D: Sam Newfield

Goodbye, Mr. Chips
UK - 1939 - 114m - bw
MGM (U)
D: Sam Wood

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

The Good Old Days
UK - 1939 - 79m - bw
First National (U)
D: Roy William Neill

The Gorilla
USA - 1939 - 66m - bw
20th Century Fox (H) (cut)
D: Allan Dwan

Grand Jury Secrets
USA - 1939 - 68m - bw
Paramount (A)
D: James P. Hogan

Hotel du Nord
France - 1938 - 95m - bw
United Curzon (A) (cut)
D: Marcel Carné
Also reviewed: Mar 1999.

Invitation to Happiness
USA - 1939 - 97m - bw
Paramount (A)
D: Wesley Ruggles

It's a Wonderful World
USA - 1939 - 86m - bw
MGM (A)
D: W.S. Van Dyke

The Jones Family in Hollywood
USA - 1939 - 60m - bw
20th Century Fox (U)
D: Malcolm St. Clair
Series: Every Saturday Night (1936).

Louise
France - 1939 - 83m - bw
European (A) (cut)
D: Abel Gance

Music Hall Parade
UK - 1939 - 80m - bw
Butcher's (U)
D: Oswald Mitchell

Mystery of the White Room
USA - 1939 - 58m - bw
General Film (A) (cut)
D: Otis Garrett
Series: The Westland Case (1937, Dec/1937).

Mystery Plane
USA - 1939 - 60m - bw
Pathé (U)
D: George Waggner
Series: Tailspin Tommy (1934).

Naughty But Nice
USA - 1939 - 89m - bw
First National (U)
D: Ray Enright

The Oklahoma Kid
USA - 1939 - 85m - bw
Warner (U)
D: Lloyd Bacon

Panama Patrol
USA - 1939 - 67m - bw
Grand National (A)
D: Charles Lamont

Peter the Great
Петр Первый
(USA: Peter the First)
(aka: The Conquests of Peter the Great)
USSR - 1937 - 192m - bw
European (A) (cut)
D: Vladimir Petrov
Released in the USSR in two separate parts. Only the first part appears to have been screened in UK cinemas, cut down from 102 mins to 74m.

Return of the Cisco Kid
USA - 1939 - 70m - bw
20th Century Fox (U)
D: Herbert I. Leeds
Followed by: The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939, Mar/1940), Lucky Cisco Kid (1940, Aug/1940), Viva Cisco Kid (1940, Jun/1940), The Gay Caballero (1940, Feb/1941), Romance of the Rio Grande (1941, Apr/1941), Ride on Vaquero (1941, Aug/1941), The Cisco Kid Returns (1945, Nov/1945), The Cisco Kid in Old New Mexico (1945, Jun/1946), South of the Rio Grande (1945, Apr/1946), The Gay Cavalier (1946, Dec/1946), South of Monterey (1946, May/1947), Beauty and the Bandit (1946, Aug/1947), Riding the California Trail (1947, Nov/1947), Robin Hood of Monterey (1947, Jul/1949), King of the Bandits (1947, Jun/1950), The Valiant Hombre (1949, Jun/1949), The Gay Amigo (1949, Nov/1949), The Daring Caballero (1949, Jan-Feb/1950), Satan's Cradle (1949, Apr-May/1950), The Girl From San Lorenzo (1950, Aug/1950).

Risky Business
USA - 1939 - 65m - bw
General Film (A)
D: Arthur Lubin

Rose of Washington Square
USA - 1939 - 86m - bw
20th Century Fox (A)
D: Gregory Ratoff

Secret Journey
(USA: Among Human Wolves)
UK - 1939 - 72m - bw
Anglo-American (U)
D: John Baxter

Stagecoach
USA - 1939 - 96m - bw
United Artists (U) (cut)
D: John Ford

Stagecoach

Star Reporter
USA - 1939 - 62m - bw
Pathé (A)
D: Howard Bretherton

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
USA - 1939 - 93m - bw
RKO Radio (U)
D: H.C. Potter

Tell No Tales
(aka: A Hundred to One)
USA - 1939 - 69m - bw
MGM (A)
D: Leslie Fenton

The Terror of Tiny Town: With an All Midget Cast. A Rollickin', Rootin', Tootin', Shootin' Drama of the Great Outdoors 
USA - 1938 - 62m - bw
Associated-British (U)
D: Sam Newfield

They Made Me a Criminal
USA - 1939 - 92m - bw
Warner (A) (cut)
D: Busby Berkeley
Series: Dead End (1937, Oct/1937).

Union Pacific
USA - 1939 - 135m - bw
Paramount (U)
D: Cecil B. DeMille

Whispering Enemies
USA - 1939 - 62m - bw
Columbia (A)
D: Lewis D. Collins

Zenobia
(UK: Elephants Never Forget)
USA - 1939 - 73m - bw
United Artists (U)
D: Gordon Douglas

MFB: May 1939

Introduction for newcomers

Alexander Nevsky

Monthly Film Bulletin
May 1939
Vol. 6 No. 65

21 Days
(aka: 21 Days Together)
UK - 1939 - 72m - bw
Columbia (A)
D: Basil Dean

Alexander Nevsky
Александр Невский
(aka: Warrior of Russia)
USSR - 1938 - 112m - bw
The Film Society (U)
D: Sergei M. Eisenstein, Dmitri Vasilyev

Ask a Policeman
UK - 1939 - 83m - bw
MGM (U)
D: Marcel Varnel

Back Door to Heaven
USA - 1939 - 85m - bw
Paramount (A)
D: William K. Howard

La bête humaine
(aka: Judas Was a Woman)
France - 1938 - 100m - bw
United Curzon (A) (cut)
D: Jean Renoir
Also reviewed: Oct 1941 + Apr 1991.

Calling Dr. Kildare
USA - 1939 - 86m - bw
MGM (A)
D: Harold S. Bucquet
Series: Internes Can't Take Money (1937, May/1937).

Christine
Un carnet de bal
(USA: Life Dances On)
(aka: Dance of Life)
(aka: Dance Program)
Fr - 1937 - 144m - bw
Cosmopolitan (A)
D: Julien Duvivier
Also reviewed: Dec 1937.

Dark Victory
USA - 1939 - 104m - bw
First National (A) (cut)
D: Edmund Goulding

Flying Fifty-Five
UK - 1939 - 72m - bw
RKO Radio (U)
D: Reginald Denham

The Four Feathers
UK - 1939 - 129m - col
United Artists (A)
D: Zoltan Korda

Full Speed Ahead
UK - 1939 - 60m - bw
General Film (U)
D: John Hunt

A Gentleman's Gentleman
UK - 1939 - 70m - bw
Warner (U)
D: Roy William Neill

A Girl Must Live
UK - 1939 - 92m - bw
20th Century Fox (A)
D: Carol Reed

The Hardys Ride High
USA - 1939 - 81m - bw
MGM (U)
D: George B. Seitz
Series: A Family Affair (1937, Apr/1937).

The Hound of the Baskervilles
USA - 1939 - 80m - bw
20th Century Fox (A)
D: Sidney Lanfield
Followed by: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939, Jan/1940), Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942, Oct/1943), Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942, Oct/1942), Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1942, Jan/1943), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943), The Spider Woman (1943, Jan/1944), The Scarlet Claw (1944, Sep/1944), The Pearl of Death (1944, Nov/1944), The House of Fear (1944, Jun/1945), The Woman in Green (1945, Aug/1945), Pursuit to Algiers (1945, Jan/1946), Terror by Night (1946, May/1946), Dressed to Kill (1946, Jul/1946).

I Killed the Count
(USA: Who is Guilty?)
UK - 1939 - 69m - bw
Grand National (A)
D: Frederic Zelnik

I'm From Missouri
USA - 1939 - 80m - bw
Paramount (U)
D: Theodore Reed

Innocence
Panenství
(USA: Virginity)
Czechoslovakia - 1937 - 84m - bw
Cosmopolitan (A)
D: Otakar Vavra

Jamaica Inn
UK - 1939 - 108m - bw
Associated-British (A)
D: Alfred Hitchcock
Also reviewed: Aug 1979.

J’étais une aventurière
(aka: I Was an Adventuress)
France - 1938 - 103m - bw
Unity (A)
D: Raymond Bernard

The Kid From Texas
USA - 1939 - 71m - bw
MGM (U)
D: S. Sylvan Simon

The Lady's From Kentucky
USA - 1939 - 67m - bw
Paramount (U)
D: Alexander Hall

The Lambeth Walk
(USA: Me and My Girl)
UK - 1939 - 84m - bw
MGM (U)
D: Albert de Courville

Let Freedom Ring
USA - 1939 - 87m - bw
MGM (U)
D: Jack Conway

Lucky Night
USA - 1939 - 82m - bw
MGM (A)
D: Norman Taurog

Man's Heritage
Spirit of Culver
USA - 1939 - 89m - bw
General Film (U)
D: Joseph Santley

The Missing People
UK - 1939 - 73m - bw
Grand National (A)
D: Jack Raymond
Series: The Mind of Mr. Reeder (1939, Mar/1939).

Nancy Drew... Reporter

The Modern Miracle

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

USA - 1939 - 98m - bw

20th Century Fox (U)

D: Irving Cummings

Nancy Drew... Reporter

USA - 1939 - 68m - bw
Warner (U)
D: William Clemens
Series: Nancy Drew-- Detective (1938, Feb/1939).

On Trial
USA - 1939 - 61m - bw
Warner (A)
D: Terry O. Morse

Orphans of the Street
USA - 1938 - 64m - bw
British Lion (U)
D: John H. Auer

Pride of the Navy
USA - 1939 - 63m - bw
British Lion (U)
D: Charles Lamont

Prison Train
USA - 1938 - 64m - bw
Grand National (A)
D: Gordon Wiles

The Saint Strikes Back

USA - 1939 - 64m - bw
RKO Radio (A)
D: John Farrow
Series: The Saint in New York (1938, Jul/1938).

Secret Service of the Air
USA - 1939 - 61m - bw
First National (U)
D: Noel M. Smith
Followed by: Code of the Secret Service (1939, Jul/1939), Smashing the Money Ring (1939), Murder in the Air (1940).

Sergeant Madden
USA - 1939 - 80m - bw
MGM (A)
D: Josef von Sternberg

Society Smugglers
USA - 1939 - 70m - bw
General Film (U)
D: Joe May

Spies of the Air
UK - 1939 - 62m - bw
Associated-British (A)
D: David MacDonald

Two images from Spirit of Culver
(UK: Man's Heritage)

Streets of New York
USA - 1939 - 73m - bw
Pathé (A)
D: William Nigh

Trouble in Sundown
USA - 1939 - 60m - bw
RKO Radio (U)
D: David Howard

Twelve Crowded Hours
USA - 1939 - 64m - bw
RKO Radio (A)
D: Lew Landers

Twenty-One Days
[see: 21 Days]

Two Gun Justice
USA - 1938 - 57m - bw
Curry (U)
D: Alan James

Whistling Bullets
USA - 1937 - 57m - bw
Exclusive (U)
D: John English

Winner Take All
USA - 1939 - 61m - bw
20th Century Fox (U)
D: Otto Brower
Series: Speed to Burn (1938, Aug/1938).

Women in the Wind
USA - 1939 - 63m - bw
Warner (A)
D: John Farrow

Wuthering Heights
USA - 1939 - 104m - bw
United Artists (A)
D: William Wyler

Yes, My Darling Daughter
USA - 1939 - 86m - bw
First National (A) (cut)
D: William Keighley