IT'S A WONDERFUL NIGHT FOR OSCAR, OSCAR, OSCAR, WHO WILL WIN - 1939

More often than not, the Academy Award doesn't go to the deserving winner and 1939 was no different. 1939 is considered by film fans and historians to be the best year Hollywood ever had, creatively speaking, and the list of films released that year back that up. 

I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Oscar voters to have had so many terrific films to choose from. 

 The nominees for Best Actor that year is a who's-who of fondly remembered stars, and they were: 

 Robert Donat for "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" 

Mickey Rooney for "Babes in Arms" 

Clark Gable for "Gone With The Wind" 

James Stewart for "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" 

Laurence Olivier for "Wuthering Heights" 

Who won: Robert Donat. Who should have won: Clark Gable. 

Both Robert Donat and Clark Gable were under contract at MGM, the studio that produced the films both actors were nominated for (well, technically, GWTW was produced by David O. Selznick but MGM had bought the distribution rights in exchange for loaning out Mr. Gable). While "Mr. Chips" was well received by critics, it was largely ignored by audiences. 

GWTW, however, was not only a critical success but it was a HUGE box office hit as well (in fact, it's the highest-grossing film of all time, when adjusted for inflation). In an attempt to boost ticket sales for "Mr. Chips," L.B. Mayer (chairman of MGM) secretly campaigned for Donat in the hopes that more moviegoers would rush to see the film that won the award for Best Actor. Robert Donat was awarded the coveted statuette, but Mayer's plan didn't work and the movie sank at the box office. 

Gable, however, turned in a career-defining performance that he is still remembered for to this day, so he really won after all. By the way, Gable was presented with a Best Actor Oscar for his brilliant comedic turn in 1934's "It Happened One Night."