Overview of the events of 1931 in film
Overview of the events of 1931 in film
The following is an overview of 1931 in film , including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1931 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1931
Rank
Title
Distributor
Domestic rentals
1
City Lights
United Artists
$2,000,000[1]
2
Trader Horn
MGM
$1,642,000[2]
3
Palmy Days
United Artists
$1,601,000[3]
4
The Man Who Came Back
Fox Film
$1,400,000
5
Merely Mary Ann
$1,300,000
6
Arrowsmith Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
United ArtistsParamount
$1,250,000[5] [6]
7
A Connecticut Yankee
Fox Film
$1,200,000[5]
8
Cimarron
RKO
$1,122,000[7]
9
Bad Girl
Fox Film
$1,100,000
10
Possessed
MGM
$1,030,000[2]
Best money stars
Variety reported the following as the biggest male stars in the U.S. in alphabetical order although grouped George Arliss and Ronald Colman together as having equal ranking.[11]
The following were the biggest women names in the U.S. in alphabetical order but again grouped two actresses together to denote they were ranked the same.[11]
Academy Awards
The 4th Academy Awards were awarded to films completed and screened released between August 1, 1930, and July 31, 1931, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences .
Most Nominations: Cimarron (RKO Pictures ) – 7
Major Awards
Most Awards: Cimarron – 3 (Best Picture; Best Adaptation and Best Art Direction )
Cimarron was the first Western to win Best Picture, and would remain the only one to do so for 59 years (until Dances with Wolves won in 1991). It received a then-record seven nominations, and was the first film to win more than two awards.
The 5th Academy Awards were conducted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on November 18, 1932,[12] at a ceremony held at The Ambassador Hotel [12] in Los Angeles, California . The ceremony was hosted by Conrad Nagel .[12] Films screened in Los Angeles between August 1, 1931, and July 31, 1932, were eligible to receive awards.[12]
Most nominations: Arrowsmith (Samuel Goldwyn Productions ) and The Champ (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ) – 4
Major Awards
Most Awards: Bad Girl (Best Director and Best Adaptation ) and The Champ (Best Actor and Best Original Story ) – 2
Note: The Academy Award for Best Picture went to 1932 's Grand Hotel .
Notable films released in 1931
United States unless stated
0-9
A
À Nous la Liberté (Freedom for Us) , directed by René Clair – (France )
Alam Ara (The Light of the World) (lost), directed by Ardeshir Irani – (India )
Alexander Hamilton , directed by John G. Adolfi , starring George Arliss
Alibi (lost), directed by Leslie S. Hiscott – (GB )
Alice in Wonderland , directed by Bud Pollard
Alone (Sola) , directed by Henri Diamant-Berger – (France )
Alone (Odna) , directed by Leonid Trauberg and Grigori Kozintsev – (USSR )
An American Tragedy , directed by Josef von Sternberg , starring Phillips Holmes and Sylvia Sidney
Arrowsmith , directed by John Ford , starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes
B
Bachelor Apartment , starring and directed by Lowell Sherman with Irene Dunne
The Bachelor Father , directed by Robert Z. Leonard , starring Marion Davies and Ray Milland
Bad Girl , directed by Frank Borzage , starring Sally Eilers and James Dunn
Bad Sister , directed by Hobart Henley , starring Conrad Nagel , Sidney Fox , Bette Davis , Humphrey Bogart and ZaSu Pitts
Berlin-Alexanderplatz , directed by Phil Jutzi , starring Heinrich George , based on the 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin – (Germany )
The Black Camel , directed by Hamilton MacFadden , starring Warner Oland , Sally Eilers and Bela Lugosi
Blonde Crazy , directed by Roy Del Ruth , starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell
Bought! , directed by Archie Mayo , starring Constance Bennett
Business Under Distress (To neznáte Hadimršku) , Karel Lamač and Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia )
C
The Champ , directed by King Vidor , starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper
The Cheat , directed by George Abbott , starring Tallulah Bankhead
La Chienne (The Bitch) , directed by Jean Renoir , starring Michel Simon – (France )
Cimarron , directed by Wesley Ruggles , starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne
The Cisco Kid , directed by Irving Cummings , starring Warner Baxter
City Lights , a Charlie Chaplin film
City Streets , directed by Rouben Mamoulian , starring Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sidney
A Connecticut Yankee , directed by David Butler , starring Will Rogers
The Criminal Code , directed by Howard Hawks , starring Walter Huston
D
Daughter of the Dragon , directed by Lloyd Corrigan , starring Anna May Wong , Warner Oland and Sessue Hayakawa
David Golder , directed by Julien Duvivier – (France )
Dishonored , directed by Josef von Sternberg , starring Marlene Dietrich and Victor McLaglen
Down River , directed by Peter Godfrey , starring Charles Laughton – (GB )
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , directed by Rouben Mamoulian , starring Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins
Dracula , directed by Tod Browning , starring Bela Lugosi
Dracula , directed by George Melford , starring Carlos Villarías
E
F
Five and Ten , directed by Robert Z. Leonard , starring Marion Davies and Leslie Howard
Five Star Final , directed by Mervyn LeRoy , starring Edward G. Robinson
Frankenstein , directed by James Whale , starring Boris Karloff , Colin Clive and Mae Clarke
A Free Soul , directed by Clarence Brown , starring Norma Shearer , Leslie Howard , Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable
From Saturday to Sunday (Ze soboty na neděli) , directed by Gustav Machatý – (Czechoslovakia )
The Front Page , directed by Lewis Milestone , starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien
G
H
Hell Divers , directed by George Hill , starring Wallace Beery , Clark Gable and Conrad Nagel
Her Grace Commands (Ihre Hoheit befiehlt) , directed by Hanns Schwarz , starring Willy Fritsch and Käthe von Nagy – (Germany )
Hobson's Choice (lost), directed by Thomas Bentley – (GB )
Honor Among Lovers , directed by Dorothy Arzner , starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March
The Hound of the Baskervilles , directed by Gareth Gundrey – (GB )
Huckleberry Finn , directed by Norman Taurog , starring Jackie Coogan
Hyppolit, the Butler (Hyppolit, a lakáj) , directed by István Székely – (Hungary )
I
J
K
L
M
M , directed by Fritz Lang , starring Peter Lorre – (Germany )
The Mad Genius , directed by Michael Curtiz , starring John Barrymore
Mädchen in Uniform , directed by Leontine Sagan , starring Hertha Thiele – (Germany )
The Maltese Falcon , directed by Roy Del Ruth , starring Bebe Daniels , Ricardo Cortez and Una Merkel
Marius , directed by Alexander Korda , starring Raimu and Pierre Fresnay – (France )
Mata Hari , directed by George Fitzmaurice , starring Greta Garbo , Ramon Novarro , Lewis Stone and Lionel Barrymore
Le Million , directed by René Clair – (France )
The Millionaire , directed by John G. Adolfi , starring George Arliss
The Miracle Woman , directed by Frank Capra , starring Barbara Stanwyck
Monkey Business , directed by Norman Z. McLeod , starring the Marx Brothers
My Sin , directed by George Abbott , starring Tallulah Bankhead and Fredric March
N
O
P
Palmy Days , directed by A. Edward Sutherland , starring Eddie Cantor
Pardon Us , directed by James Parrott , starring Laurel and Hardy
Parlor, Bedroom and Bath , directed by Edward Sedgwick , starring Buster Keaton
The Peach Girl (Tao hua qi xue ji) , directed by Bu Wancang , starring Ruan Lingyu – (China )
Peludópolis (lost), directed by Quirino Cristiani – (Argentina )
Platinum Blonde , directed by Frank Capra , starring Loretta Young , Robert Williams and Jean Harlow
Possessed , directed by Clarence Brown , starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
Private Lives , directed by Sidney Franklin , starring Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery
The Public Enemy , directed by William A. Wellman , starring James Cagney , Jean Harlow and Joan Blondell
Q
R
S
Sally in Our Alley , directed by Maurice Elvey , starring Gracie Fields – (GB )
Secret Service , directed by J. Walter Ruben , starring Richard Dix
The Secret Six , directed by George Hill , starring Wallace Beery , Lewis Stone , Johnny Mack Brown , Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
Secrets of a Secretary , directed by George Abbott , starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall
Sidewalks of New York , directed by Zion Myers and Jules White , starring Buster Keaton , Anita Page and Cliff Edwards
The Sin of Madelon Claudet , directed by Edgar Selwyn , starring Helen Hayes
The Sleeping Cardinal , directed by Leslie S. Hiscott , starring Arthur Wontner – (GB )
Smart Money , directed by Alfred E. Green , starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney
The Smiling Lieutenant , directed by Ernst Lubitsch , starring Maurice Chevalier , Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins
The Speckled Band , directed by Jack Raymond , starring Raymond Massey – (GB )
A Spray of Plum Blossoms (Yī jiǎn méi) , directed by Bu Wancang , starring Ruan Lingyu – (China )
The Squaw Man , directed by Cecil B. DeMille , starring Warner Baxter and Lupe Vélez
The Stolen Jools , directed by William C. McGann
Street Scene , directed by King Vidor , starring Sylvia Sidney and Estelle Taylor
The Struggle , directed by D.W. Griffith
Svengali , directed by Archie Mayo , starring John Barrymore and Marian Marsh
T
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas , directed by F. W. Murnau
Tell England , directed by Anthony Asquith and Geoffrey Barkas – (GB )
Ten Cents a Dance , directed by Lionel Barrymore , starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ricardo Cortez
The Theft of the Mona Lisa (Der Raub der Mona Lisa) , directed by Géza von Bolváry – (Germany )
This Modern Age , directed by Nick Grinde , starring Joan Crawford and Neil Hamilton
The Threepenny Opera (Die 3 Groschen-Oper) , directed by G. W. Pabst , starring Lotte Lenya – (Germany )
Tilly of Bloomsbury , directed by Jack Raymond , starring Sydney Howard and Phyllis Konstam – (GB )
Tokyo Chorus (Tōkyō no kōrasu) , directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan )
Tommi , directed by Yakov Protazanov – (USSR )
Tonight or Never , directed by Mervyn LeRoy , starring Gloria Swanson and Melvyn Douglas
W