Overview of the events of 1933 in film
Overview of the events of 1933 in film
The following is an overview of 1933 in film , including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1933 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1933
Rank
Title
Distributor
Domestic rentals
1
Roman Scandals
United Artists
$2,443,000[1]
2
I'm No Angel
Paramount
$2,250,000[1]
3
Gold Diggers of 1933
Warner Bros.
$2,202,000[2]
4
She Done Him Wrong
Paramount
$2,200,000[3]
5
Tugboat Annie
MGM
$1,917,000[4]
6
Footlight Parade
Warner Bros.
$1,601,000[2]
7
Dancing Lady
MGM
$1,490,000[4]
8
42nd Street
Warner Bros.
$1,438,000[2]
9
Dinner at Eight
MGM
$1,398,000[4]
10
Little Women
RKO
$1,337,000[5]
Events
The Film Daily Yearbook listed the following as the ten leading news events of the year in North America .[6]
Other notable events include:
January 11 – Radio City Music Hall in New York City starts showing films.[7]
January 20 – The film Ecstasy premieres in Czechoslovakia film; its foreign distribution presents difficulties as 18-year-old actress Hedy Lamarr is seen naked in it.
March – Director Fritz Lang is informed by Joseph Goebbels that release of Lang's crime-thriller The Testament of Dr. Mabuse in Germany will not be permitted by the newly formed Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . The German-language premiere takes place on April 21 in Budapest (Hungary). On April 20, Lang divorces his wife, the film's writer Thea von Harbou , and on July 31 leaves Germany permanently, initially settling in Paris.[8]
March 2 – King Kong premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City;[9] opening weekend takings are estimated at US$90,000.
March 9 – Punyal na Ginto (The Golden Dagger), the first Filipino-language film made in the Philippines, is released.[10]
March 11 – 42nd Street sparks a comeback for musical film .[7]
June 6 – Chemical company executive Richard Hollingshead opens a drive-in theater near Camden, New Jersey , according to his U.S patent granted May 16.[11] [12]
September 6 – Daily Variety , a trade newspaper, is published for the first time in Hollywood.[13]
October 10 – John Wayne appears as Singin' Sandy Saunders in Riders of Destiny .
December 29 – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appear on screen together for the first time in Flying Down to Rio .
Ang Aswang , the first sound film made in the Philippines, is released.[14]
Makata At Paraluman (The Poet and the Maiden), the first talking film in vernacular made in the Philippines, is released.[15]
British Film Institute founded.[16]
GPO Film Unit established in the United Kingdom under John Grierson , taking over responsibility for documentary film making from the Empire Marketing Board .
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) once again expresses interest in The Wizard of Oz books for a series of animated shorts, but once again fail to make a deal with the estate of creator L. Frank Baum .
The Private Life of Henry VIII becomes the first British film to win an American Academy Award . Featured actor Charles Laughton wins the 1933 Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. The film is the first British production to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture .
The book Upton Sinclair Presents William Fox is published, detailing what William Fox considers to be the conspiracy that forced him from control of Fox Film in 1930.
Academy Awards
The 6th Academy Awards were held on March 16, 1934, at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles . They were hosted by Will Rogers and Rogers also presented all of the awards. This was the last time that the Oscars' eligibility period was spread over two different calendar years, creating the longest time frame for which films could be nominated: the seventeen months from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933.
Most nominations: Cavalcade (Fox Film ); A Farewell to Arms (Paramount Pictures ) and Lady for a Day (Columbia Pictures ) – 4
Major awards:
Most Awards: Cavalcade – 3 (Outstanding Production; Best Director; Best Art Direction )
Notable films released in 1933
United States unless stated
0-9
A
Adorable , directed by William Dieterle , starring Janet Gaynor
After Tonight , directed by George Archainbaud , starring Constance Bennett and Gilbert Roland
Alice in Wonderland , directed by Norman Z. McLeod , starring Charlotte Henry , Richard Arlen , Gary Cooper , W. C. Fields , Cary Grant and Jack Oakie
Ann Vickers , directed by John Cromwell , starring Irene Dunne and Walter Huston
B
Baby Face , directed by Alfred E. Green , starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent
Beauty for Sale , directed by Richard Boleslawski , starring Madge Evans , Alice Brady and Una Merkel
Bed of Roses , directed by Gregory La Cava , starring Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea
A Bedtime Story , directed by Norman Taurog , starring Maurice Chevalier and Helen Twelvetrees
Berkeley Square , directed by Frank Lloyd , starring Leslie Howard
Bitter Sweet , directed by Herbert Wilcox , starring Anna Neagle – (GB )
The Bitter Tea of General Yen , directed by Frank Capra , starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther
Blood Money , directed by Rowland Brown , starring George Bancroft
Bombshell , directed by Victor Fleming , starring Jean Harlow , Lee Tracy , Frank Morgan , Franchot Tone , Pat O'Brien and Una Merkel
The Bowery , directed by Raoul Walsh , starring Wallace Beery , George Raft , Jackie Cooper and Fay Wray
Bureau of Missing Persons , directed by Roy Del Ruth , starring Bette Davis , Lewis Stone , Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell
By Candlelight , directed by James Whale
C
Cash , directed by Zoltan Korda , starring Robert Donat – (GB )
Cavalcade , directed by Frank Lloyd , starring Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook
Convention City (lost), directed by Archie Mayo , starring Joan Blondell , Adolphe Menjou , Dick Powell and Mary Astor
Counsellor at Law , directed by William Wyler , starring John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels
D
Dancing Lady , directed by Robert Z. Leonard , starring Joan Crawford , Clark Gable and Franchot Tone
Daybreak (Tiānmíng) , directed by Sun Yu – (China )
Deluge , directed by Felix E. Feist , starring Sidney Blackmer
The Deserter (Dezertir) , directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin – (U.S.S.R. )
Design for Living , directed by Ernst Lubitsch , starring Fredric March , Gary Cooper and Miriam Hopkins
The Devil's Brother , directed by Hal Roach , starring Laurel and Hardy
Dick Turpin , directed by Victor Hanbury , starring Victor McLaglen – (GB )
Dinner at Eight , directed by George Cukor , starring Marie Dressler , John Barrymore , Wallace Beery , Jean Harlow , Lionel Barrymore , Lee Tracy and Billie Burke
Doctor Bull , directed by John Ford , starring Will Rogers
Don Quixote , directed by G.W. Pabst , starring Feodor Chaliapin – (France /GB )
Dora's Dunking Doughnuts , directed by Harry Edwards , starring Shirley Temple
Dragnet Girl (Hijōsen no Onna) , directed by Yasujirō Ozu , starring Kinuyo Tanaka – (Japan )
Duck Soup , directed by Leo McCarey , starring the Marx Brothers
E
The Eagle and the Hawk , directed by Stuart Walker , starring Fredric March , Cary Grant , Carole Lombard and Jack Oakie
Ecstasy (Extase) , directed by Gustav Machatý , starring Hedy Lamarr – (Czechoslovakia )
The Emperor Jones , starring Paul Robeson
Employees' Entrance , starring Warren William and Loretta Young
Ever in My Heart , starring Barbara Stanwyck
Ex-Lady , starring Bette Davis
F
G
Gabriel Over the White House , directed by Gregory La Cava , starring Walter Huston , Produced by William Randolph Hearst
Ganga Bruta , directed by Humberto Mauro , starring Durval Bellini and Déa Selva (Brazil )
The Ghoul , starring Boris Karloff , Cedric Hardwicke and Ernest Thesiger – (GB )
The Ghost Camera , directed by Bernard Vorhaus , starring Ida Lupino , John Mills – (GB)
Going Hollywood , starring Marion Davies , Bing Crosby , Patsy Kelly , Fifi D'Orsay and Sterling Holloway
Gold Diggers of 1933 , directed by Mervyn LeRoy , starring Joan Blondell , Ruby Keeler , Dick Powell , Ginger Rogers and Warren William
The Good Companions , directed by Victor Saville , starring Jessie Matthews , Edmund Gwenn and John Gielgud – (GB )
Goodbye Again , starring Joan Blondell and Warren William
H
I
K
L
Ladies They Talk About , starring Barbara Stanwyck
Lady for a Day , directed by Frank Capra , starring Warren William and May Robson
Lady Killer , starring James Cagney
Liebelei , directed by Max Ophüls – (Germany )
Life Is a Dog (Život je pes), directed by Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia )
Little Toys (Xiáo wǎnyì), directed by Sun Yu – (China )
Little Women , directed by George Cukor , starring Katharine Hepburn and Joan Bennett
Looking Forward , directed by Clarence Brown , starring Lionel Barrymore
Lot in Sodom , starring Friedrich Haak
Loyalties , starring Basil Rathbone – (GB )
M
Man's Castle , starring Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young
The Mayor of Hell , starring James Cagney
Men Must Fight , starring Diana Wynyard
Midnight Club , starring George Raft and Clive Brook
Midnight Mary , directed by William A. Wellman , starring Loretta Young
The Midnight Patrol , starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
Money for Speed , directed by Bernard Vorhaus , starring John Loder and Ida Lupino – (GB )
The Monkey's Paw , directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack
Morning Glory , starring Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Mr. Skitch , starring Will Rogers
Mystery of the Wax Museum , starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray
O
P
Parachute Jumper , starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , Bette Davis and Frank McHugh
Passing Fancy (Dekigokoro), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan )
Peg o' My Heart , starring Marion Davies , Onslow Stevens and J. Farrell MacDonald
Penthouse , starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy
Perfect Understanding , starring Gloria Swanson and Laurence Olivier – (GB )
Pick-Up , starring Sylvia Sidney and George Raft
Picture Snatcher , starring James Cagney
Pilgrimage , directed by John Ford
The Power and the Glory , starring Spencer Tracy
The Private Life of Henry VIII , directed by Alexander Korda , starring Charles Laughton – (GB )
The Prizefighter and the Lady , starring Max Baer , Myrna Loy , Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey
Professional Sweetheart , starring Ginger Rogers
Q-R
S
S.O.S Iceberg (S.O.S. Eisberg), starring Leni Riefenstahl – (Germany )
Secret of the Blue Room , starring Paul Lukas , Gloria Stuart and Lionel Atwill
Secrets , starring Mary Pickford in her last film
She Done Him Wrong , starring Mae West and Cary Grant in his first notable film role
She Had to Say Yes , starring Loretta Young and Lyle Talbot , directed by Busby Berkeley and George Amy
The Son of Kong , starring Robert Armstrong and Helen Mack
Sons of the Desert , starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
A Southern Maid , starring Bebe Daniels and Clifford Mollison – (GB )
Spring Silkworms (Chung Can) – (China )
State Fair , starring Janet Gaynor , Will Rogers and Lew Ayres
Storm at Daybreak , starring Walter Huston and Kay Francis
The Story of Temple Drake , starring Miriam Hopkins and Jack La Rue
The Stranger's Return , starring Miriam Hopkins and Lionel Barrymore
A Study in Scarlet , Sherlock Holmes film written by Robert Florey, directed by Edwin Marin, starring Reginald Owen as Holmes and Warburton Gamble as Watson
Supernatural , starring Carole Lombard , Alan Dinehart , Vivienne Osborne and Randolph Scott
T
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse , directed by Fritz Lang , starring Otto Wernicke – (Germany )
This Day and Age , Cecil B. Demille 's now cult-favorite, starring Richard Cromwell and featuring then-teenager: Baby Peggy .
This Is America , the first full-length documentary feature film ever made.[17]
This Week of Grace ' directed by Maurice Elvey , starring Gracie Fields – (Britain )
Three-Cornered Moon , starring Claudette Colbert and Richard Arlen
Three Little Pigs , an animated short
Tillie and Gus , starring Alison Skipworth and W. C. Fields
Today We Live , starring Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper
Tonight Is Ours , starring Fredric March and Claudette Colbert
Topaze , starring John Barrymore and Myrna Loy
Torch Singer , starring Claudette Colbert
Tugboat Annie , starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery
Turn Back the Clock , starring Lee Tracy and Mae Clarke
V-W
The Vampire Bat , starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray
Viktor und Viktoria – (Germany )
Voltaire , starring George Arliss
When Ladies Meet , starring Ann Harding , Robert Montgomery and Myrna Loy
The Wandering Jew , starring Conrad Veidt
What! No Beer? , starring Buster Keaton
The White Rose , directed by Mohammed Karim , starring Mohammed Abdel Wahab – (Egypt )
The World Changes , starring Mary Astor and Paul Muni
Wild Boys of the Road , starring Frankie Darro and Edwin Phillips
The Working Man , starring George Arliss and Bette Davis
Y-Z