The MONTIES: 1939 - It's all about THE WOMEN...

We have arrived at the golden year of 1939, which many are in agreement as the best year ever for films. You would be hard pressed to find a better year than 1939. So many great films came out that year and you could easily expand all the categories by 5 and it wouldn't seem like filler. Well I have made my choices and some of you might be surprised that I did not choose Gone With The Wind as the film of the year. On with the show.

BEST FILM:

GONE WITH THE WIND
THE WIZARD OF OZ
NINOTCHKA
DARK VICTORY
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
DODGE CITY
DESTRY RIDES AGAIN
LOVE AFFAIR
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
THE WOMEN (winner)

Oh its gonna be one of those nights by dear friends as The Women upsets heavy favorite Gone With The Wind. Don't get me wrong, GWTW is a certifiable classic and a true epic. But I enjoyed The Women a heckuva lot more. An all star cast of some of the top actresses in film in one of the best comedies ever made. Some might say, that Monty has lost his mind,, choosing The Women over Gone With The Wind. But if you have ever seen this film, you will understand why I chose it. All the women in the film give superb performances and the whole film is just a joy to watch. Some dramatic scenes pop up every now and then but the light frothy comedy is always front and center. Best film of 1939. Hands down.

BEST DIRECTOR:



VICTOR FLEMING - GONE WITH THE WIND
FRANK CAPRA - MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
GEORGE CUKOR - THE WOMEN (winner)
ERNST LUBITSCH - NINOTCHKA
GEORGE MARSHALL - DESTRY RIDES AGAIN

Let me tell ya something...when a man can direct a film whose entire cast is nothing but women, and he can direct said film so flawlessly and get such memorable performances from each and every actress in the film..by god he deserves a Montie. Now Victor Fleming did a truly amazing job on Gone With The Wind, but let's be fair..he got an uncredit assist from Cukor on that film as well. So for the year of 1939, George Cukor is the director of the year. In my book anyway. Cukor wasn't known as the women's film director for nothing.

BEST ACTOR:



CLARK GABLE - GONE WITH THE WIND (winner)
JAMES STEWART - MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
CHARLES LAUGHTON - THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
LAURENCE OLIVIER - WUTHERING HEIGHTS
CARY GRANT - IN NAME ONLY

Clark Gable gives his best performance as the scoundrel Rhett Butler. I never saw Robert Donat in Goodbye Mr. Chips, who beat out Clark for an Oscar as Best Actor, so I can't say if I would have given him a Montie instead of Gable. But since I haven't seen that film, I do know that Gable is perfect in his amazing performance as Rhett. I can honestly say that as fact.

BEST ACTRESS:



BETTE DAVIS - DARK VICTORY
VIVIEN LEIGH - GONE WITH THE WIND (winner)
GRETA GARBO - NINOTCHKA
JUDY GARLAND - THE WIZARD OF OZ
IRENE DUNNE -  LOVE AFFAIR

Without a doubt, Vivien Leigh gives an outstanding performance as Scarlett O'Hara. I mean I can't see anyone else doing a better job in this role as Leigh did. The scheming and conniving O'Hara is not a particulary easy character to love but thanks to Leigh's wonderful performance, you can only sit back and just revel in all her grandstanding scenes.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:



MELVYN DOUGLAS - NINOTCHKA
CLAUDE RAINS - MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
FRANK MORGAN - THE WIZARD OF OZ (winner)
THOMAS MITCHELL - STAGECOACH
DAVID NIVEN - WUTHERING HEIGHTS

I'm going to go with Frank Morgan in The Wizard of Oz because the man was amazing in this film. In several different roles. He was of course The Wizard of Oz, but also was Professor Marvel, The Gatekeeper, The Carriage Driver and a guard. Wow! He was all over this movie. Here ya go Frank..a well deserved Montie.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:



MARGARET HAMILTON - THE WIZARD OF OZ
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND - GONE WITH THE WIND
HATTIE MCDANIEL - GONE WITH THE WIND
ROSALIND RUSSELL - THE WOMEN (winner)
JOAN CRAWFORD - THE WOMEN (winner)

Another tough choice as all 5 women gave superlative performances. And like 1937's Stage Door, when Lucille Ball and Eve Arden tied and walked away with Monties, there is another tie between two women from the same film. And guess what?...it's not from Gone With The Wind. That's right, I give Monties to Rosalind Russell and Joan Crawford for their terrific performances as Slyvia Fowler and Crystal Allen respectively. Good showing girls.

So that wraps up the first decade of the Monties. I would love to hear everyone's reactions to my picks of 1939. And I say to all the die hard GWTW fans, no hard feelings ok.

Final count..The Women walks away with 4 Monties: Film, Director, Supporting Actress (2) and Gone With The Wind grabs 2 Monties for Actor and Actress.