Best movies & TV Shows like 1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year

With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.

This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.

A tribute to producer Irving Thalberg.

This iconic American story was written in 1900 by L Frank Baum, a Chicago businessman, journalist, chicken breeder, actor, boutique owner, Hollywood movie director and lifelong fan of all things innovative and technological. His life spanned an era of remarkable invention and achievement in America and many of these developments helped to fuel this great storyteller's imagination. His ambition was to create the first genuine American fairytale and the story continues to fascinate, inspire and engage millions of fans of all ages from all over the world. This documentary explores how The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has come to symbolise the American Dream and includes previously unseen footage from the Baum family archives, still photographs and clips from the early Oz films, as well as interviews with family members, literary experts and American historians as it tells the story of one man's life in parallel to the development of modern America.

This production consists an abbreviated script and highlights most musical numbers from the 1939 film.

Documentary about the making of the 1939 MGM classic film The Wizard of Oz. Includes interviews of cast and crew members, their families and fans of the film.

The time was 1938. The place, Hollywood. This is the story of one of the 456 films made that year, how it was made, and why it has endured.

The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were shorts, through the 1950s when short subjects virtually disappeared from theaters.

A Night at the Movies: The Gigantic World of Epics looks at Hollywood’s biggest screen spectaculars from all sides, including the genre’s beginnings, literary adaptations, great epic directors and actors, the challenges of making big-budget movies, classic set-pieces and epic music scores. The special also looks at how the genre fell out of favor with audiences and filmmakers in the ‘70s and ‘80s, only to be reborn with more recent films like Gladiator, and Dances with Wolves trilogy. Throughout, the special is packed with classic scenes and behind-the-scenes images from such films as The Birth of a Nation (1915), Gone With the Wind (1939), Samson & Delilah (1949), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), El Cid (1961), King of Kings (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).

Historian Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of a centuries-old masterpiece in glass. At 78 feet in height, the famous East Window at York Minster is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the country and it was the creative vision of a single artist - a mysterious master craftsman called John Thornton, one of the earliest named English artists. The East Window of York Minster is far more than a work of artistic genius, it is a window onto the medieval world and the medieval mind - telling us who were once were and who we still are, all preserved in the most fragile medium of all.

The trials and tribulations of David O. Selznick as he attempts to find an actress to play the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939).

E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aired on the E! network, episodes will be updated to reflect the current life or status of the subject.

Battlefield Detectives is a forensic documentary television series that aired on the History Channel from 2003 to 2006. The series explores famous battles focusing on the battlefield itself, and tell its story based on recent scientific research. It uses modern science to examine how the battles were won or lost. According to History Television, "This series approaches the perennially interesting topic of famous battles in a fresh and exhilarating way. Focusing on the battlefield itself, each programme takes an important battle telling its story and posing a puzzling central question about the battle that recent scientific research is helping to illuminate - a contemporary journey of discovery and a compelling story from the past."

Conquistadors is a documentary retelling of the story of the Spanish expeditions of conquest of the Americas. In this 4-part series historian Michael Wood travels in the footsteps of the Spanish expeditions, from Amazonia to Lake Titicaca, and from the deserts of North Mexico to the heights of Macchu Picchu.

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood is a 2011 BBC documentary series written, directed and presented by Paul Merton. The three-part series traces the rise of the American film-making industry in Hollywood through from the early years of film-making to the foundation of the major motion-picture studios and the new class of the film star.

A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.

Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Sir David Attenborough goes back in time to the roots of the tree of life, in search of the very first animals, telling their story with stunning photography, state of the art visual effects and the captivating charm of the world’s favorite naturalist.

A worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made and the story of international cinema through the history of cinematic innovation.

Five programmes that trace a remarkable decade in British film-making through interviews with its stars and directors.

Documentary telling the stories of the men and women who travelled across Egypt to uncover the earliest Christian texts.

A docudrama telling the story of the events that unfolded when a Scottish army led by Robert Bruce tried to drive the English out of Ireland 700 years ago.

Two-part documentary telling the story of the battle for control of the North Sea during the First World War.

Groundbreaking series with unprecedented access to a police murder investigation, telling the true story, as a drama, from the perspective of the police and the victim and suspect's families.

The extraordinary story of how Hollywood changed World War II – and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the interwoven experiences of five legendary filmmakers who went to war to serve their country and bring the truth to the American people: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. Based on Mark Harris’ best-selling book, “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War.”

An immersive 360-degree narrative telling the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. Featuring testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both the winning and losing sides.

Concorde is a two-part documentary telling the story of the supersonic passenger jet.

Explore the evolution of sci-fi from its origins as a small genre with a cult following to the blockbuster pop-cultural phenomenon we know today. In each episode, James Cameron introduces one of the “Big Questions” that humankind has contemplated throughout the ages and reaches back into sci-fi’s past to better understand how our favorite films, TV shows, books, and video games were born.

A unique portrait of how art and activism for black people in film are indivisible from race and cinema.

Three part series hosted by Jonathan Ross, telling the story of Eric and Ernie's attempts to break America. Over the course of five years in the 1960s, Morecambe and Wise made multiple trips to New York to appear on the USA's biggest variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show. The untold story of their attempt to make it in the States is documented for the first time, including footage that has never been shown on British television before.

History series telling the glorious and gory story of the city's rise to power.

In this four-part documentary series, leading Hollywood actors undertake a fascinating journey into their family's past by re-tracing the footsteps of their grandparents during World War Two. We follow the moving, personal stories of Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Carey Mulligan as they travel to historic locations, from the beaches of Dunkirk to prisoner of war camps in Asia, to learn about the war their grandparents experienced. All of the actors have unanswered questions about the scars war left on their grandparents, and in each episode one of the actors explore how six years changed the lives of their family and the world forever while learning about the life and death decisions that their grandparents faced.

In post-World War II Hollywood, an ambitious group of aspiring actors and filmmakers will do almost anything to make their showbiz dreams come true.

Broadcaster and journalist Samira Ahmed goes on a remarkable journey to places rarely seen, as she travels through Iran, telling the story of a complex and fascinating people, culture and history.

Telling the story of a group of rival engineers who created the most transformative invention of the 20th century, this docuseries explores over a century of innovation from Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, Ford, Porsche, Rolls Royce and more.

Set against 40 years of music history, this six-part documentary series takes a deep dive into the paradox of America’s criminalization of the genre and its fascination with the street culture that created it and still exists within it. Instead of telling the story of hip hop from the top down, this documentary tells the story from the streets up, as it reveals the untold story of how America’s streets helped shape hip hop culture from an expression of survival and defiance into music’s most dominant genre.

Josh Gates goes on the adventure of a lifetime when he and Christopher Lloyd set off to track down the most iconic movie car in Hollywood history, The DeLorean Time Machine from "Back to the Future," and deliver the vehicle to Michael J. Fox.

A new original Sky Sports documentary telling the definitive story of the astonishing championship fight between Hamilton and Verstappen, featuring exclusive interviews with those at the centre of the epic battles, drama and huge controversy that shaped 2021.

Journeying to the far reaches of our planet, this eight part series follows some of the world's most amazing species, telling extraordinary stories that are dramatic, thrilling, funny and sometimes heart-breaking, but always full of hope.

Granted unparalleled access, Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan takes viewers on an adventure behind the curtains of Industrial Light & Magic, the special visual effects, animation and virtual production division of Lucasfilm. Learn what inspired some of the most legendary filmmakers in Hollywood history, and follow their stories from their earliest personal films to bringing George Lucas’ vision to life.

A four-part documentary telling the story of LGBTQIA+ horror and the relationship between queer audiences and horror, and the queer horror community as a whole.

Tracing a century of movie and TV history, these four documentary specials explore the unparalleled global impact of Warner Bros. on art, commerce, and culture.

The story of the tumultuous defamation trial between superstar Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard.

The story behind the rise and fall of Bob Guccione, at his height one of the wealthiest men in America, who made millions with Penthouse magazine by taking on Playboy and pushing the world of adult entertainment further than ever before.

This new CBC documentary series uses contemporary interviews and archival footage to chronicle Canada’s long history of anti-Black racism, including episodes on police brutality and the rise of hip-hop music.

After Michael Heseltine announced his retirement from the House of Commons and to tie in with the publication of his memoirs 'Life in the Jungle' in September 2000, LWT made a two part documentary telling his story.

A documentary series telling inspirational stories from the world of sport.

Community members tell the histories, experiences, outlooks, and aspirations of 11 different First Nations, illuminating the cultures, the stories, and the resilience of Indigenous peoples whose homelands now host Canada.

This documentary traces the life and work of the legendary "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford, silent film star, movie pioneer and keen businesswoman. Pickford's life also parallels an even larger story, telling of the birth of the cinema itself.

A detailed look at the events leading up to the blacklisting of Hollywood writers and artists. In October 1947 nineteen Hollywood personalities were subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities to testify about their knowledge or possible involvement in the American Communist Party. The first ten to be called refused to cooperate, claiming their first amendment rights, were cited for contempt of Congress and sent to prison. They became known as the "Hollywood Ten" and this is their story.