Editing 1939 in film (section)

== Nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Director ==

The year 1939 was one in which the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] nominated ten films for ''Best Picture'':

* ''[[Dark Victory]]''
* ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (Best Picture winner)
* ''[[Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)|Goodbye, Mr. Chips]]''
* ''[[Love Affair (1939 film)|Love Affair]]''
* ''[[Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]]''
* ''[[Ninotchka]]''
* ''[[Of Mice and Men (1939 film)|Of Mice and Men]]''
* ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]''
* ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]''
* ''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]''

These films came from a wide variety of [[film genre]]s and sources for their stories and settings, including: historical fiction (''Gone with the Wind''), contemporary affairs (''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' and ''Of Mice and Men''), love stories, classic novels (''Wuthering Heights''), fantasies/musicals, (''The Wizard of Oz''), [[tragedy|tragic plays]] (''Dark Victory''), westerns (''Stagecoach''), and comedies (''Ninotchka'').

Each of the five nominees for Best Director of 1939 were or went on to become a legendary film director with multiple acclaimed films to his credit: [[Frank Capra]] (previous winner of the award), [[Victor Fleming]], [[John Ford]] (who won a record four Best Director awards), [[Sam Wood]], and [[William Wyler]] (who leads all directors in nominations with 11 while having three wins).{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}