sheetsadam1 — 1 month ago(February 09, 2026 06:11 PM)

The idea is this: what if the nominees for Best Picture each year weren't nominated? Which films should have taken their place in that scenario? Pick your alternate selections for Best Picture and, if you wish, mention anybody who you feel was overlooked in any other category. No need to confine yourself to the types of films which typically get nominated or to English-language cinema. If you missed the previous years, they can be found on the classic film board.
All films released in 1939 are eligible.
The nominees were:
Gone With the Wind

• Victor Fleming
  Dark Victory
• Edmund Goulding
  Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• Sam Wood
  Love Affair
• Leo McCarey
  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• Frank Capra
  Ninotchka
• Ernst Lubitsch
  Of Mice and Men
• Lewis Milestone
  Stagecoach
• John Ford
  The Wizard of Oz
• Victor Fleming
  Wuthering Heights
• William Wyler
  What a lineup! This is often cited as one of the best years for American film and for good reason. I've watched eight of the ten and all of them are more than worthy. I'd probably have gone with
  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  or
  The Wizard of Oz
  for the winner over
  Gone With the Wind
  , but it's hard to quibble with these picks. Still, the Academy could have perhaps replaced two or three of the less-storied nominees with some of these without losing credibility.
  My alternate picks:
  Young Mr. Lincoln
• John Ford
  Jamaica Inn
• Alfred Hitchcock
  The Roaring Twenties
• Raoul Walsh
  Each Dawn I Die
• William Keighley
  Gunga Din
• George Stevens
  The Women
• George Cukor
  Only Angels Have Wings
• Howard Hawks
  The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• William Dieterle
  Draft Barron Trump