[benbess]

Well, I might be the only one voting, but I would vote for:

The Wizard of Oz

There are few reasons for this. First, Oz is one of the best, most iconic, and most close-to-perfect movies ever made. It has almost everything, including amazing costumes, set designs, and special effects, plus fabulous performances in every role. And in contrast to some "kids" movies today, it has genuine drama and emotion, as well as lot of comedy, and, maybe most importantly, a sense of wonder.

Over the years, I've come to really like Gone With the Wind, but parts of it are tainted with racism, and the whole concept of the book and movie fed in a rather unfortunate way into the "Lost Cause" syndrome.

GWTW is still one of my top 20 films of the 40s, and would maybe even still be number 2 for me for this year, but to me it's not the Best Picture of this 1939. It's a great film, but I personally feel that the Academy did not make the right choice for this year.

But, there are number of other near great to great films from 1939 that could give GWTW a run for its money even for the second spot, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, Of Mice and Men, Dark Victory, etc.