Clifford Odets' play of a violinist who becomes a prize fighter, Golden Boy, was brought to the screen by Columbia in 1939, with William Holden in the title role. Rouben Mamoulian directed the film.
Another fine film from England was George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, released by M-G-M. Leslie Howard not only played the lead but also codirected the picture with Anthony Asquith. This was the first Shaw play ever screened, and Shaw was delighted with it. Here are Howard and Wendy Hiller gave an unforgettable performance as the flower girl who is transformed into a lady.
The year '39 also saw a reversal of the usual allmale cast, in an all-female screen version of Clare Booth's play, The Women, directed with verve and noise by George Cukor. One of the picture's more ladylike moments is reflected in the shot above, which reveals, in the traditional sequence, Norma Shearer, Joan Fontaine, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, and Mary Boland. Space and the censor do not permit a showing of the lady who sat in the bathtub, impersonated by Joan Crawford.
Early in 1940 came Pinocchio, Walt Disney's first full-length feature since Snow White. Though the story of the puppet who became a boy lacked the sentimental appeal of the previous picture, it had plenty of comedy and excitement and pictorial beauty. Technically, it carried animation to a new height of perfection. Here are four of the chief personages of the picture: Figaro, the kitten; Cleo, the amorous goldfish; Jimmy Cricket, who acted as Pinocchio's conscience; and Pinocchio himself. Like most Disney characters, human beings alone excepted, Pinocchio's hand has only three fingers and a thumb.
Cary Grant and Irene Dunne followed their hilarious The Awful Truth with another successful comedy, My Favorite Wife.
The movie fan of today will accept far sterner fare than the tales of the silent days. For instance, the screen adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Victory, as produced by Paramount in 1940. Two of the principals were Fredric March and Margaret Wycherly.
In the movie version of S. N. Behrman's No Time for Comedy, Rosalind Russell played the part created by Katharine Cornell on the stage.
In screening Christopher Morley's Kitty Foyle, Ginger Rogers essayed the most ambitious role she had attempted since giving up dancing roles to become a serious actress. Her performance won her the 1939-40 Academy award.
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