1931 in film explained
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 Artists
Paramount | $1,250,000[4] [5] |
|---|
| 7 | A Connecticut Yankee | Fox Film | $1,200,000 |
|---|
| 8 | Cimarron | RKO | $1,122,000[6] |
|---|
| 9 | Bad Girl | Fox Film | $1,100,000 |
|---|
| 10 | Possessed | MGM | $1,030,000 | |
|---|
Events
- January 5: RKO acquires the producing and distribution arm of Pathé for $4.6 million.[7]
- March 14: Alam Ara, the first Indian-made sound film, premieres at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay.
- June 20: Monogram Pictures releases its first film, Ships of Hate.
- July 7: Anti-competitive practices disclosed about certain distributors and producers in Canada.[8]
- November 17: E. R. Tinker elected president of Fox Films replacing Harley L. Clarke.[8]
- December 14: RKO refinancing plan approved.[8]
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.[9]
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.[9]
Academy Awards
See main article: 4th Academy Awards.
See main article: 5th 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,[10] at a ceremony held at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was hosted by Conrad Nagel. Films screened in Los Angeles between August 1, 1931, and July 31, 1932, were eligible to receive awards.
Most nominations: Arrowsmith (Samuel Goldwyn Productions) and The Champ (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) – 4
Major Awards
Wallace Beery – The Champ and Fredric March – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Helen Hayes – The Sin of Madelon Claudet
Frank Borzage – Bad Girl
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.
1931 film releases
January–March
- January 1931
- 3 January
- 9 January
- 17 January
- 26 January
- February 1931
- 3 February
- 14 February
- 28 February
- March 1931
- 5 March
- 6 March
- 7 March
- 14 March
- 20 March
- 21 March
- 29 March
April–June
- April 1931
- 4 April
- 6 April
- 15 April
- 18 April
- 23 April
- 24 April
- 30 April
- May 1931
- 1 May
- 11 May
- 16 May
- 22 May
- June 1931
- 13 June
- 20 June
- 21 June
- 27 June
- 28 June
July–September
- July 1931
- August 1931
- 1 August
- 7 August
- 8 August
- 14 August
- 15 August
- 22 August
- 29 August
- September 1931
- 1 September
- 5 September
- 12 September
- 18 September
- 19 September
- 23 September
- 26 September
- 30 September
October–December
- October 1931
- 10 October
- 24 October
- 31 October
- November 1931
- 1 November
- 7 November
- 9 November
- 10 November
- 21 November
- 28 November
- December 1931
- 2 December
- 3 December
- 7 December
- 10 December
- 12 December
- 17 December
- 24 December
- 26 December
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
- 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
- , 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
Serials
Short film series
Animated short film series
Births
- January 1 - Mona Hammond, British actress (died 2022)
- January 3 – Conrad Brooks, né Biedrzycki, American actor and producer (died 2017)
- January 5 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
- January 9 - Paul Mantee, American actor (died 2013)
- January 13 - Rip Taylor, American actor and comedian (died 2019)
- January 14 – Caterina Valente, French singer and actress
- January 17 – James Earl Jones, American actor
- January 20 - Jack Grinnage, American actor
- January 22 - Mary Castle, American actress (died 1998)
- January 25 - Dean Jones, American actor (died 2015)
- January 26 – Mary Murphy, American actress (died 2011)
- January 29 – Leslie Bricusse, English-born film composer and lyricist (died 2021)
- January 30 - Read Morgan, American actor (died 2022)
- February 6
- Bryan O'Byrne, American character actor and acting coach (died 2009)
- Rip Torn, American actor and director (died 2019)
- Mamie Van Doren, American actress and sex symbol
- February 8 – James Dean, American actor (died 1955)
- February 9 - Barbara Young, English actress (died 2023)
- February 14
- February 15
- February 18 - Laura Valenzuela, Spanish television presenter and actress (died 2023)
- February 20 - Karl Spiehs, Austrian producer (died 2022)
- February 24 – Dominic Chianese, American actor
- February 26 - Shay Duffin, Irish character actor (died 2010)
- February 28 - Gavin MacLeod, American actor (died 2021)
- March 5 - George Ogilvie, Australian director and actor (died 2020)
- March 8 - Gerald Potterton, British-Canadian director, writer, producer and animator (died 2022)
- March 15 - James Ellis, Irish actor (died 2014)
- March 20 – Hal Linden, American actor, director and musician
- March 22 – William Shatner, Canadian actor
- March 26 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor and director (died 2015)
- March 27 - Marion Brash, American actress (died 2022)
- April 1 – Ita Ever, Estonian actress (died 2023)
- April 8 – John Gavin, American actor and diplomat (died 2018)
- April 17 – Esteban Siller, Mexican voice actor (died 2013)
- May 5 - Brian O'Shaughnessy, British actor (died 2001)
- May 10 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2016)
- May 15 - K. S. Sethumadhavan, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2021)
- May 16 - Frank Albanese, American actor (died 2015)
- May 18 – Robert Morse, American actor and singer (died 2022)
- May 19 - James Greene, Northern Irish actor (died 2021)
- May 23
- May 24 – Michael Lonsdale, British-French actor (died 2020)
- May 28
- June 2 - Peter Cummins, Australian character actor
- June 3 – Carmen Dell'Orefice, American supermodel and actress
- June 7 - Virginia McKenna, English actress
- June 14 – Marla Gibbs, American actress, singer, comedian, writer and producer
- June 20
- July 1 – Leslie Caron, French actress and dancer
- July 2
- July 4 – Stephen Boyd, Irish actor (died 1977)
- July 5 – António de Macedo, Portuguese filmmaker, writer, university professor and lecturer (died 2017)
- July 6
- July 10 – Nick Adams, American actor and screenwriter (died 1968)
- July 11 – Tab Hunter, American actor and singer (died 2018)
- July 14 – Mirella Ricciardi, Kenyan photographer, writer and actress
- July 24 – Ermanno Olmi, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2018)
- July 27 – Jerry Van Dyke, American actor, musician and comedian (died 2018)
- July 28 – Darryl Hickman, American actor, voice artist, screenwriter and television executive (died 2024)
- August 1 - Pat Heywood, Scottish actress (died 2024)
- August 19
- August 23 – Barbara Eden, American actress
- August 12 – William Goldman, American screenwriter and novelist (died 2018)
- August 31 – Noble Willingham, American actor (died 2004)
- September 4 – Mitzi Gaynor, American actress, singer and dancer
- September 10 – Philip Baker Hall, American actor (died 2022)
- September 12
- September 13 – Barbara Bain, American actress
- September 17 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (died 2005)
- September 20 - Ned Tanen, American producer (died 2009)
- September 21 – Larry Hagman, American actor and director (died 2012)
- September 29
- September 30 – Angie Dickinson, American actress
- October 10 – Román Chalbaud, Venezuelan director (died 2023)
- October 12 - Yvonne Gilan, Scottish actress (died 2018)
- October 19 - Rubens de Falco, Brazilian actor (died 2008)
- October 21 – Vivian Pickles, English actress
- October 25 - Bob Gurr, American amusement ride designer and Imagineer
- October 30 - Ann Roth, American costume designer and actress
- November 3 – Monica Vitti, Italian actress (died 2022)
- November 5 - Gil Hill, American actor (died 2016)
- November 6 – Mike Nichols, German-born director (died 2014)
- November 10 – Don Henderson, English actor (died 1997)
- November 12 – Mary Louise Wilson, American actress, singer and comedian
- November 18 - Brad Sullivan, American character actor (died 2008)
- November 30 – Jack Ging, American actor (died 2022)
- December 2 – Nadja Regin, Serbian actress (died 2019)
- December 3 - Jaye P. Morgan, retired American singer, actress and game show panellist
- December 9
- December 11
- December 20 - Mala Powers, American actress (died 2007)
- December 23 – Ronnie Schell, American actor and stand-up comedian
- December 24 - Robert Ridgely, American actor (died 1997)
- December 28 – Martin Milner. American actor (died 2015)
Deaths
- March 11 – F. W. Murnau, German director (born 1888)
- March 24
- April 9 - Thomas Santschi, American screen actor (born 1880)
- June 7 – Viktor Schwanneke, German actor (born 1880)
- August 14 – Janie Marèse, French actress (born 1908)
- September 13 – Lawrence D'Orsay, English actor (born 1853)
- October 18 - Thomas Edison, inventor (born 1847)
- November 27 – Lya De Putti, Hungarian actress (born 1899)
- December 23 – Tyrone Power, Sr., stage and film veteran, father of movie star Tyrone Power (born 1869)
References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Book: Block . Alex Ben . Wilson . Lucy Autrey . George Lucas's blockbusting: a decade-by-decade survey of timeless movies, including untold secrets of their financial and cultural success . New York, New York . ItBooks . 2010.
- Book: Finler
, Joel Waldo
. The Hollywood Story . Wallflower Press . 2003 . 978-1-903364-66-6.
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Block . Alex Ben . Wilson . Lucy Autry . George Lucas's blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success . registration . March 30, 2010 . 160–161 . . 978-0-0619-6345-2.
- .
- News: Jones, Lon. Which Cinema Films Have Earned the Most Money Since 1914?. . . Melbourne . March 4, 1944 . August 6, 2012 . 3 Supplement: The Argus Weekend magazine . National Library of Australia.
- https://archive.org/stream/international193738quig#page/942/mode/2up/search/%22box+office%22 Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938) (pg. 942)
- News: Film World . . Perth . October 19, 1934 . April 19, 2014 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
- Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56
- News: Variety. Att'y Gen Scans R-K-O-Pathe Deal on Plea of Defeated Insurgents. 3. January 7, 1931. May 8, 2018.
- Book: The Film Daily Yearbook 1932. Ten Leading Events in the News of Motion Pictures During the Year 1931. 9. May 8, 2018.
- News: Six Best Money Stars. January 5, 1932. Variety. 1.
- Web site: The 5th Academy Awards – 1933 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120904093854/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/5th.html . 2012-09-04 .
