Greatest Single Year in Movie History?

[toef]

Instead of the more typical "best decade" debates (in which opinions generally seem split between the 1970s and whatever the current decade is), how about debating the best single year in movie history?

I know that a lot of film historians consider 1939 to be the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and plenty of film buffs/cinephiles would agree that it was the best year in movies.

For a humorous yet informative look at 1939, here's an excerpt from a book by famous screenwriter/author William Goldman:

You probably don't remember the Oscar winner for '39, but let me list five movies and then you guess:

Golden Boy
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Intermezzo
Juarez
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

To help you along, a few refreshers: Golden Boy introduced us to William Holden; Intermezzo to Ingrid Bergman. Charles Laughton played the Hunchback, Paul Muni starred in Juarez, and Bette Davis was Elizabeth, one of her more famous performances.

The envelope please...

[Show spoiler]

Answer? None of the five. In fact, none of the five even got a Best Picture nomination. But here are the five that did:

Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach

Again, please, the envelope...

~
~
~

Same answer: none of the above. (They nominated more than five pictures back in those days.) And one of the five I didn't list was Wuthering Heights.

Which also didn't win, because '39 was also the year of The Wizard of Oz.

Which also didn't win because Gone With the Wind did.

Pretty impressive year.

So what do you think. If not 1939, then what year was the single greatest in movie history, and why?

[jhiggy23]

I go with 1963 because it has two films I consider to be among the top 7 of all-time: To Kill a Mockingbird and Lawrence of Arabia. No other single year produced two of the top 15 movies of all-time in my personal estimation. Of course, the rest of 1963 wasn't as solid but I think the strength of those two alone propel it into consideration.

[Sussudio]

jhiggy, I would counter with 1939 - Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz released, not to mention this year was during the golden age. An exciting and prosperous year for both audiences and Hollywood. Of course, where anyone places these movies on their top whatever # list is their own opinion, as you state

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Sussudio

jhiggy, I would counter with 1939 - Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz released, not to mention this year was during the golden age. An exciting and prosperous year for both audiences and Hollywood.

Def can't disagree.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I go with 1963 because it has two films I consider to be among the top 7 of all-time: To Kill a Mockingbird and Lawrence of Arabia. No other single year produced two of the top 15 movies of all-time in my personal estimation. Of course, the rest of 1963 wasn't as solid but I think the strength of those two alone propel it into consideration.

Yes, that year also had The Longest Day, Music Man, and Mutiny on the Bounty. Another good year was 1941 with Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon, Sergeant York, Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, and the winner that year, How Green Was My Valley.

[bone crusher]

Pretty hard to know exactly what all came out on which year but from what I know 1995 was big; Braveheart, Heat, Apollo 13, Seven, Toy Story, Casino. There's probably a few others I am missing.

[toef]

Originally Posted by bone crusher

Pretty hard to know exactly what all came out on which year but from what I know 1995 was big; Braveheart, Heat, Apollo 13, Seven, Toy Story, Casino. There's probably a few others I am missing.

The Usual Suspects is another popular movie from that year.

And don't forget Babe (since it was nominated for Best Picture, afterall).

~~~

Some others from 1939 that Goldman left off his list, that might be worth noting:

Gunga Din (he actually mentions this in the book, but not in the part I quoted)
Young Mr. Lincoln (the John Ford movie, starring Henry Fonda)
Destry Rides Again (classic western with Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich)
The Four Feathers (the original, obviously not the Heath Ledger remake)
Dark Victory (starring Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and a young Ronald Reagan)

Aside from the movies made that year, 1939 also saw the births of legendary directors/producers Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Joel Schumacher, Wes Craven and the infamous Michael Cimino, as well as actors like F. Murray Abraham, John Cleese, and Harvey Keitel, among others. Crazy year.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by toefer

The Usual Suspects is another popular movie from that year.

And don't forget Babe (since it was nominated for Best Picture, afterall).

Also another great film from 1995 which I think is vastly underrated is Just Cause. I like 1994 as well with the likes of Shawshank Redemption & Pulp Fiction. 2 of the greatest films ever made in my opinion! Got Em!!

[JLant19]

Originally Posted by bone crusher

Pretty hard to know exactly what all came out on which year but from what I know 1995 was big; Braveheart, Heat, Apollo 13, Seven, Toy Story, Casino. There's probably a few others I am missing.

I def agree with 1995. SOOOO many movies from that year that I love.

[Atreyu]

My vote goes to 1939, just watch the TCM documentary on that year to find out why it was the best.

[quetzalcoatl]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I go with 1963 because it has two films I consider to be among the top 7 of all-time: To Kill a Mockingbird and Lawrence of Arabia. No other single year produced two of the top 15 movies of all-time in my personal estimation. Of course, the rest of 1963 wasn't as solid but I think the strength of those two alone propel it into consideration.

Think you can move your vote to 1962 then which is quite a sold year. Since both those titles were Christmas week releases.

Which you can add to that year Dr. No being the first bond movie.
The Longest day which has one of those great studio day casts.
Lolita, The Manchurian Candidate, The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, The Music Man, The Miracle Worker. All cosider very solid films and more.

[zahinn]

I don't think i can go back all those years :P I am only 16 -_-'

But from the last decade I would have to say 2007.
Zodiac
Assassination of Jesse James
No Country for Old Men
There will be blood
Michael Clayton
Juno
Ratatouille
Sunshine
American Gangster
Atonement
Sweeney Todd

Great Year for movies

[silverfang89]

1994 - The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, Clerks, Lion King, Dumb and Dumber, Leon: The Professional, Interview with the Vampire and the list goes on. That's my pick. I found it on world-89.net

[qb2333]

Gone With The Wind (great movie and one of if not highest grossing adjusted for inflation all time).
Wizard of Oz (one of the greatest fantasy or musical movies of all time)
Stagecoach (introduction of John Wayne by John Ford and great western)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra and James Stewart)

Hard to beat

[jabbercash]

Originally Posted by silverfang89

1994 - The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, Clerks, Lion King, Dumb and Dumber, Leon: The Professional, Interview with the Vampire and the list goes on. That's my pick. I found it on world-89.net

Same

[nathanp]

1939, pretty tough to argue with it. Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind almost seal it on their own.

[Good Intentions]

Agree with Blu Titan, 2009 was the best year we have had in a while as far as the overall quality of the flicks to come out. It was a pleasant surprise.

[Evra]

57 was a good year

Bridge Over The River Kwai and 12 Angry Men

[Fighter]

I'm going with the year I was born 1976

Taxi Driver (my personal fav)
Rocky
Marathon Man
All the Presidents Men
The Omen
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Shootist
Network

[toef]

Originally Posted by jstasa51

I'm going with the year I was born 1976

Taxi Driver (my personal fav)
Rocky
Marathon Man
All the Presidents Men
The Omen
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Shootist
Network

'76 is a good year, and I was thinking of making a separate thread about it.

Obviously there have been plenty of years where the movie that won Best Picture may not win if the Academy held a re-vote. But in the book I was reading (Adventures in the Screen Trade, quoted in the original post), Goldman mentions how if the Academy re-voted on the '76 Best Picture Oscar, not only would Rocky probably not win, it might very well come in last place. I'm not sure how many Best Picture winners you can say this for, and Goldman was saying this in 1981, yet it seems even more true another 30 years later.

The 5 nominees in '76:

Taxi Driver
Network
All The President's Men
Bound for Glory
Rocky

The first was maybe too violent for a win during its day.

The second proved to be scarily prescient.

The third possibly changed the outcome of the presidential election (Reagan thinks the reminder of Watergate helped Carter beat Ford).

The fourth is topically significant, considering the current economy.

Rocky was (and is) a feel-good, "dreams come true" story, that Stallone claimed was "the story of my life" during Oscar-season.

A vote for Rocky was a vote for Stallone. Now, based on what Stallone's been like for the last 30 years, they couldn't care less about him, so if the voting were re-held today, I doubt Rocky would win.

But who knows.