1934 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029

The following is an overview of 1934 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

Events

• January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn (formerly of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.
• February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade.
• April 19 - Fox Studios releases Stand Up and Cheer!, with five-year-old Shirley Temple in a relatively minor role. Shirley steals the film and Fox, which had been near bankruptcy, finds itself owning a goldmine.
• May 18 - Paramount releases Little Miss Marker, with Shirley Temple, on loan from Fox, in the title role.
• June 13 - An amendment to the Production Code establishes the Production Code Administration, and requires all films to obtain a certificate of approval before being released.
• October 12 - Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers wham audiences again in their first joint starring roles with The Gay Divorcee grossing $1.8 million^[1] to add to the $1.5 million^[1] earned by Flying Down to Rio released at the end of 1933
• November 12 - The musical Babes in Toyland debuts, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as comic relief.
• December 11 - Fox releases the Sol M. Wurtzel production of Bright Eyes, starring their hot new property, Shirley Temple. Shirley sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop", and wins the first Academy Award ever given to a child, for her endearing portrayal of Shirley Blake.

Top-grossing films

Academy Awards

The 7th Academy Awards was held on February 27, 1935, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Irvin S. Cobb. For the first time, the Academy standardized the practice – still in effect – that the award eligibility period for a film would be the preceding calendar year.

Most nominations: One Night of Love (Columbia Pictures) - 6

Major Awards

• Best Picture: It Happened One Night (Columbia Pictures)
• Best Actor: Clark Gable - It Happened One Night
• Best Actress: Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night
• Best Director: Frank Capra - It Happened One Night

Most Awards: It Happened One Night - 5

It Happened One Night became the first film to perform a "clean sweep" of the top five award categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. This feat would later be duplicated by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1976 and The Silence of the Lambs in 1992. It also was the first romantic comedy to be named Best Picture.

1934 film releases

U.S.A. unless stated

Notable films released in 1934

U.S.A. unless stated

• 1860 - (Italy)

ABC

• All of Me, starring Miriam Hopkins and Fredric March
• Amok, directed by Fedor Ozep - (France)
• Angèle, directed by Marcel Pagnol, starring Fernandel - (France)
• Anne of Green Gables, starring Anne Shirley
• Are We Civilized?, starring William Farnum
• L'Atalante, directed by Jean Vigo, starring Michel Simon - (France)
• Babes in Toyland, starring Laurel and Hardy
• Baby Take a Bow, starring Shirley Temple
• The Barretts of Wimpole Street, starring Norma Shearer, Fredric March and Charles Laughton
• The Battle, starring Merle Oberon, Charles Boyer and John Loder - (GB/France)
• Belle of the Nineties, starring Mae West and Johnny Mack Brown
• The Big Road (Dalu), directed by Sun Yu - (China)
• The Big Shakedown, starring Bette Davis and Charles Farrell
• The Black Cat, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
• Bolero, starring George Raft and Carole Lombard
• Boots! Boots!, starring George Formby - (GB - first film by Blakeley's Productions)
• Born to Be Bad, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, Jackie Kelk
• Bright Eyes, starring Shirley Temple
• Broadway Bill, directed by Frank Capra, starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy
• Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, starring Ronald Colman
• The Captain Hates the Sea, starring Victor McLaglen and John Gilbert in his last film role
• Carolina, starring Janet Gaynor and Lionel Barrymore
• The Case of the Howling Dog, starring Warren William (as Perry Mason)
• The Cat and the Fiddle, starring Ramón Novarro and Jeanette MacDonald
• The Cat's-Paw, starring Harold Lloyd
• Chained, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
• Chapayev - winner of National Board of Review "Best Foreign Film" Award in 1935 - (U.S.S.R.)
• Charlie Chan in London, starring Warner Oland and Ray Milland
• Charlie Chan's Courage, starring Warner Oland
• The Circus Clown, starring Joe E. Brown
• City Limits
• Cleopatra, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Claudette Colbert and Warren William
• The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Robert Donat
• Crime Without Passion, starring Claude Rains

DEF

• Dames, choreographed by Busby Berkeley, starring Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler
• Dark Hazard, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Death on the Diamond starring Robert Young
• Death Takes a Holiday, starring Fredric March
• The Dream Car - (Hungary)
• Don't Make Grandpa Angry (Nezlobte dědečka) - (Czechoslovakia)
• Evelyn Prentice, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
• Evergreen, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews - (GB)
• Everybody's Woman (La signora di tutti), directed by Max Ophüls, starring Isa Miranda - (Italy)
• Fashions of 1934, starring William Powell and Bette Davis
• Ferdowsi, starring Abdolhossein Sepanta and Ardeshir Irani (Iran)
• Frontier Marshal, starring George O' Brien
• Fog Over Frisco, starring Bette Davis
• Forbidden Territory, starring Gregory Ratoff, Ronald Squire, Binnie Barnes - (GB)
• Forsaking All Others, starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery

GHI

• Gambling, starring George M. Cohan
• Gambling Lady, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• The Gay Bride, starring Carole Lombard
• The Gay Divorcee, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
• The Girl from Missouri, starring Jean Harlow
• Girl o' My Dreams, starring Mary Carlisle, Edward J. Nugent, Lon Chaney Jr., Sterling Holloway
• The Goddess (Shen nu) - (China)
• Grand Canary, starring Warner Baxter
• Le Grand Jeu (The Great Game), directed by Jacques Feyder - (France)
• Great Expectations, starring Henry Hull and Jane Wyatt
• Here Comes the Navy, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien
• Here is My Heart,starring Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle
• Hide-Out, starring Robert Montgomery and Margaret Sullivan
• Hollywood Party, starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jimmy Durante and Lupe Velez
• The House of Rothschild, starring George Arliss and Loretta Young
• I've Got Your Number, starring Joan Blondell and Pat O'Brien
• Imitation of Life, starring Claudette Colbert and Warren William
• It Happened One Night, directed by Frank Capra, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert - winner of 5 Academy Awards
• It's a Gift, starring W. C. Fields

JKL

• Jane Eyre, starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive
• Jimmy the Gent, starring James Cagney and Bette Davis
• Jolly Fellows (Vesyolye rebyata) - the first Russian musical
• Juárez y Maximiliano (Juarez and Maximilian) - (Mexico)
• Judge Priest, starring Will Rogers
• Kid Millions, starring Eddie Cantor
• Kiss and Make-Up, starring Cary Grant, Helen Mack
• The Lady Is Willing, starring Leslie Howard and Cedric Hardwicke - (GB)
• The Last Round-Up, starring Randolph Scott
• Lieutenant Kijé - (U.S.S.R.)
• Liliom, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Charles Boyer - (France)
• Limehouse Blues, starring George Raft and Jean Parker
• Little Man, What Now?, starring Margaret Sullavan and Douglass Montgomery
• The Little Minister, starring Katharine Hepburn and John Beal
• Little Miss Marker, starring Shirley Temple
• A Lost Lady, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• The Lost Patrol, starring Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff and Wallace Ford
• The Lucky Texan, starring John Wayne

MNO

• Madame Du Barry, starring Dolores del Río
• The Man from Utah, starring John Wayne
• Man of Aran (documentary), directed by Robert Flaherty - (GB)
• The Man Who Knew Too Much, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre - (GB)
• The Man with Two Faces, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Managed Money, starring Shirley Temple
• Mandalay, starring Kay Francis
• Manhattan Melodrama, starring Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy
• The Merry Widow (La veuve joyeuse), directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald - (France/USA)
• Les Misérables, directed by Raymond Bernard, starring Harry Baur and Charles Vanel - (France)
• Murder at Monte Carlo, starring Errol Flynn - (GB)
• Mauvaise Graine, directed by Billy Wilder - (FR)
• Now and Forever, starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard
• Now I'll Tell, starring Spencer Tracy
• Of Human Bondage, starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis
• The Old Curiosity Shop, directed by Thomas Bentley - (GB)
• The Old Fashioned Way, starring W. C. Fields
• One More River, directed by James Whale
• One Night of Love, starring Grace Moore
• Operator 13, starring Marion Davies and Gary Cooper
• Our Daily Bread, directed by King Vidor, starring Karen Morley and Tom Keene

PQRS

• The Painted Veil, starring Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall
• Pardon My Pups, a Shirley Temple short
• Peck's Bad Boy, directed by Edward F. Cline, starring Jackie Cooper
• Plunder of Peach and Plum (Taoli Jie) - (China)
• The Private Life of Don Juan, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Merle Oberon - (GB)
• Radio Parade of 1935, starring Will Hay - (GB)
• The Return of Bulldog Drummond, starring Ralph Richardson and Ann Todd - (GB)
• The Richest Girl in the World, starring Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea and Fay Wray
• Riptide, starring Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery
• The Rise of Catherine the Great, starring Elisabeth Bergner and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - (GB)
• Road House, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Violet Loraine and Gordon Harker (GB)
• Le Roi des Champs-Élysées (The King of the Champs-Élysées), starring Buster Keaton - (France)
• Sadie McKee, starring Joan Crawford
• The Scarlet Empress, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and John Lodge
• The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon - (GB)
• Servants' Entrance, starring Janet Gaynor
• She Loves Me Not, starring Miriam Hopkins and Bing Crosby
• Shirin and Farhad starring Roohangiz Saminejad. (Iran)
• The Silver Streak, starring Charles Starrett
• Sing as We Go, starring Gracie Fields and Stanley Holloway - (GB)
• Six of a Kind, starring Charles Ruggles, Mary Boland and W. C. Fields
• Something Always Happens, directed by Michael Powell, starring, Ian Hunter, Nance O'Neil, Peter Gawthorne, Muriel George - (GB)
• The Song of Ceylon, documentary directed by Basil Wright - (GB)
• Song of the Fishermen (Yu guang qu) - (China)
• Spitfire, starring Katharine Hepburn
• The St. Louis Kid, starring James Cagney
• Stand Up and Cheer! starring Warner Baxter and Madge Evans, featuring 5-year-old Shirley Temple.
• A Story of Floating Weeds (Ukikusa monogatari), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)

TUV

• The Tars - (Netherlands)
• Tarzan and His Mate, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
• The Thin Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
• Thirty-Day Princess, starring Sylvia Sydney and Cary Grant
• Those Were the Days, directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Will Hay and John Mills - (GB)
• The Trail Beyond, starring John Wayne
• Treasure Island, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper
• Twentieth Century, directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard
• Twenty Million Sweethearts, starring Pat O'Brien, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers
• Unfinished Symphony, directed by Anthony Asquith (GB/Austria)
• Viva Villa!, starring Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo and Fay Wray

WXYZ

• Waltzes from Vienna, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Esmond Knight and Jessie Matthews - (GB)
• We're Not Dressing, starring Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard
• We're Rich Again, starring Edna May Oliver and Billie Burke
• What Every Woman Knows, starring Helen Hayes
• Whirlpool, starring Jack Holt and Jean Arthur
• The White Parade, starring Loretta Young
• A Wicked Woman, starring Mady Christians, Jean Parker and Charles Bickford
• The Woman of the Port (La Mujer del Puerto) - (Mexico)
• Wonder Bar, starring Al Jolson
• Workers, Let's Go (Hej rup!), directed by Martin Frič - (Czechoslovakia)
• You Can't Buy Everything, starring May Robson and Jean Parker
• You're Telling Me!, starring W. C. Fields
• Young and Beautiful
• Zouzou, directed by Marc Allégret, starring Jean Gabin and Josephine Baker - (France)

Serials

• Burn 'Em Up Barnes (released June 16) (12-chapter Mascot Pictures action), starring Frankie Darro and (as Barnes) Jack Mulhall
• Mystery Mountain (released December 3) (12-chapter Mascot Pictures western), starring Ken Maynard
• The Lost Jungle
• The Law of the Wild, starring Rin Tin Tin
• Pirate Treasure
• The Red Rider (released July 16) (15-chapter Universal Pictures western), starring Buck Jones
• Tailspin Tommy (released October 29) (12-chapter Universal Pictures action), starring Maurice Murphy
• The Vanishing Shadow
• Young Eagles

Comedy film series

• Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
• Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
• Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
• Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1945)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Harry Langdon (1924–1936)
• Wheeler and Woolsey (1929–1937)
• Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
• The Three Stooges (1933–1962)

Animated short film series

• Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Silly Symphonies (1929-1939)
  • The China Shop
  • The Grasshopper and the Ants
  • Funny Little Bunnies
  • The Wise Little Hen
  • The Flying Mouse
  • Peculiar Penguins
  • The Goddess of Spring
• Screen Songs (1929–1938)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Betty Boop (1932–1939)
  • She Wronged Him Right
  • Red Hot Mamma
  • Ha! Ha! Ha!
  • Betty in Blunderland
  • Betty Boop's Rise to Fame
  • Betty Boop's Trial
  • Betty Boop's Lifeguard
  • Poor Cinderella (first and only Betty Boop cartoon in colour)
  • There's Something About a Soldier
  • Betty Boop's Little Pal
  • Betty Boop's Prize Show
  • Keep in Style
  • When My Ship Comes In
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Willie Whopper (1933-1934)
• ComiColor Cartoons (1933–1936)
• Cubby Bear (1933-1934)
• The Little King (1933-1934)
• Happy Harmonies (1934-1938)
• Cartune Classics (1934-1935)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934-1949)
• Amos 'n' Andy (1934)

Births

• January 20 - Tom Baker, British actor
• January 22 - Bill Bixby, American actor (died 1993)
• February 11 - Tina Louise, American actress
• March 22 - May Britt, Swedish actress
• March 26 - Alan Arkin, American actor
• March 27 - Peter Schamoni, German director (died 2011)
• March 31 - Shirley Jones, American singer and actress
• April 24 - Shirley MacLaine, American actress
• May 3 - Ivan Andonov, Bulgarian film director (died 2011)
• May 10 - Jeanine Basinger, American film historian
• May 24 - Kiril Gospodinov, Bulgarian actor (died 2003)
• June 1 - Pat Boone, American singer and actor
• July 1
  • Jamie Farr, American actor
  • Jean Marsh, English actress (Upstairs, Downstairs)
  • Ester Pajusoo, Estonian actress
• July 5 - Nikolay Binev, Bulgarian actor (died 2003)
• July 8 - Marty Feldman, English comedian and actor (died 1982)
• August 24 - Kenny Baker, English-born actor (died 2016)
• September 20
  • Sophia Loren, Italian actress
  • Karen Sharpe, American actress
• September 28 - Brigitte Bardot, French actress
• November 5 - Kira Muratova, Russian director (died 2018)
• November 11 - Nadine Trintignant, French director, producer and screenwriter
• November 13 - Garry Marshall, American director, actor, producer, writer and voice artist (died 2016)
• December 9 - Judi Dench, English actress
• December 28 - Maggie Smith, English actress
• December 30 - Russ Tamblyn, American actor

Deaths

• March 21 - Lilyan Tashman, 34, American actress (cancer)
• May 31 - Lew Cody, 50, American actor
• June 8 - Dorothy Dell, 19, American actress (road accident)
• July 6 - Harry A. Pollard, 55, American actor & director
• July 28 - Marie Dressler, (born 1868), Canadian-born American Academy Award winning actress (cancer)

Debuts

• Gene Autry - In Old Santa Fe
• Donald Duck - The Wise Little Hen
• Alice Faye - George White's Scandals
• Alec Guinness - Evensong
• Rita Hayworth - Cruz Diablo
• Bob Hope - Going Spanish
• Margaret Lockwood - Lorna Doone
• Keye Luke - The Painted Veil
• Ann Miller - Anne of Green Gables
• Anne Revere - Double Door
• Rosalind Russell - Evelyn Prentice
• Ann Rutherford - Student Tour
• George Sanders - Love, Life and Laughter
• Ann Sheridan - Search for Beauty
• James Stewart - Art Trouble
• Robert Taylor - Handy Andy

References