1931 in film

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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 Studio Box office gross rental
1 City Lights United Artists $2,000,000[1]
2 Trader Horn Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,642,000[2]
3 Palmy Days United Artists/Samuel Goldwyn Productions $1,601,000[3]
4 The Man Who Came Back Fox Film Corporation $1,400,000[4]
5 Merely Mary Ann
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 		Fox Film Corporation
Paramount Pictures 		$1,300,000[4]
6 Arrowsmith United Artists/Samuel Goldwyn Productions $1,250,000[5]
7 A Connecticut Yankee Fox Film Corporation $1,200,000[5]
8 Cimarron RKO Radio Pictures $1,122,000[6]
9 Bad Girl Fox Film Corporation $1,100,000[4]
10 Possessed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,030,000[2]

Events[]

  • January 5: RKO acquires the producing and distribution arm of Pathé for $4.6 million.[7]
  • June 20: Monogram Pictures releases its first film, Ships of Hate.[8]
  • July 7: Anti-competitive practices disclosed about certain distributors and producers in Canada.[9]
  • November 17: E. R. Tinker elected president of Fox Films replacing Harley L. Clarke.[9]
  • December 14: RKO refinancing plan approved.[9]

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.[10]

Actor
George Arliss

Ronald Colman

Wallace Beery
Maurice Chevalier
Clark Gable
Edward G. Robinson
Will Rogers

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.[10]

Actress
Constance Bennett
Joan Crawford
Marlene Dietrich
Greta Garbo

Marie Dressler

Janet Gaynor
Norma Shearer

Academy Awards[]

Main article: 4th Academy Awards
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

  • Best Picture: Cimarron – RKO
  • Best Director: Norman Taurog – Skippy
  • Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore – A Free Soul
  • Best Actress: Marie Dressler – Min and Bill

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,[11] at a ceremony held at The Ambassador Hotel[11] in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was hosted by Conrad Nagel.[11] Films screened in Los Angeles between August 1, 1931, and July 31, 1932, were eligible to receive awards.[11]

Most nominations: Arrowsmith (Samuel Goldwyn Productions) and The Champ (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) – 4

Major Awards

  • Best Actor: Wallace Beery – The Champ and Fredric March – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • Best Actress: Helen Hayes – The Sin of Madelon Claudet
  • Best Director: 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[]

April–June[]

July–September[]

October–December[]

Notable films released in 1931[]

United States unless stated

0-9[]

  • 24 Hours, starring Clive Brook and Kay Francis

A[]

Writers: John Farrow (adapted from the play: "The Registered Woman"), John Farrow Stars: Helen Twelvetrees, William Bakewell, Lew Cody

  • À Nous la Liberté (Freedom for Us), directed by René Clair – (France)
  • Alam Ara (The Light of the World), directed by Ardeshir Irani – the first Indian talkie
  • Alexander Hamilton, starring George Arliss
  • Alibi directed by Leslie S. Hiscott (Britain)
  • Alice in Wonderland, the first sound version
  • Alone (Sola) – (France)
  • Alone (Odna) – (USSR)
  • An American Tragedy, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Sylvia Sidney
  • Anna Christie, directed by Jacques Feyder, starring Greta Garbo – (Germany)
  • Arrowsmith, directed by John Ford, starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes

B[]

  • Bachelor Apartment, starring Irene Dunne and Lowell Sherman
  • The Bachelor Father, directed by Robert Z. Leonard; starring Marion Davies and Ray Milland
  • Bad Girl, directed by Frank Borzage
  • Bad Sister, starring Bette Davis
  • Battling with Buffalo Bill, starring Tom Tyler
  • Berlin-Alexanderplatz film of the novel by Alfred Döblin – (Germany)
  • The Black Camel, a Charlie Chan mystery starring Warner Oland
  • Blonde Crazy, starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell
  • Bought!, starring Constance Bennett
  • Business Under Distress (To neznáte Hadimršku) – (Czechoslovakia)

C[]

  • The Champ, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper
  • The Cheat, directed by George Abbott, starring Tallulah Bankhead and Harvey Stephens
  • La Chienne (The Bitch), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Michel Simon – (France)
  • Cimarron, starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne
  • The Cisco Kid, starring Warner Baxter
  • City Lights, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin
  • City Streets, starring Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sidney
  • A Connecticut Yankee, starring Will Rogers
  • The Criminal Code, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Walter Huston

D[]

  • Daughter of the Dragon, starring Anna May Wong
  • David Golder, directed by Julien Duvivier – (France)
  • Dishonored, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Victor McLaglen
  • Down River, 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 and Dwight Frye
  • Dracula, directed by George Melford, starring Carlos Villarías and Barry Norton

E[]

  • Elisabeth of Austria starring Lil Dagover and Paul Otto – (Germany)
  • Emil und die Detektive, starring Rolf Wenkhaus, Käthe Haack and Fritz Rasp – (Germany)
  • Expensive Women, starring Dolores Costello and H. B. Warner

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, starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable
  • From Saturday to Sunday (Ze soboty na neděli) – (Czechoslovakia)
  • The Front Page, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien

G[]

  • Girls About Town, directed by George Cukor, starring Kay Francis and Joel McCrea
  • Goldie, starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy
  • The Guardsman, starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
  • Guilty Hands, starring Lionel Barrymore and Kay Francis

H[]

I[]

  • I Take This Woman, starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard
  • Indiscreet, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Gloria Swanson and Ben Lyon
  • Iron Man, starring Lew Ayres and Jean Harlow
  • It's a Wise Child, directed by Robert Z. Leonard; starring Marion Davies and Polly Moran

J[]

K[]

  • Kalidas, the first Tamil sound film, directed by H.M. Reddy (Tamil)
  • Kameradschaft (Comradeship), directed by G.W. Pabst – (Germany)
  • Kiki, starring Mary Pickford
  • Der Kongreß tanzt (Congress Dances), starring Lilian Harvey – (Germany)

L[]

  • The Last Flight, starring Richard Barthelmess
  • Limite – (Brazil)
  • Little Caesar, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

M[]

  • M, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Peter Lorre and Otto Wernicke – (Germany)
  • The Mad Genius, starring John Barrymore
  • Mädchen in Uniform, directed by Carl Froelich, starring Hertha Thiele – (Germany)
  • The Maltese Falcon, starring Ricardo Cortez
  • Marius, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Raimu and Pierre Fresnay – (France)
  • Mata Hari, starring Greta Garbo and Lionel Barrymore
  • Le Million, directed by René Clair – (France)
  • The Millionaire, starring George Arliss
  • The Miracle Woman, directed by Frank Capra, starring Barbara Stanwyck
  • Monkey Business, starring Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo Marx
  • My Sin, starring Tallulah Bankhead and Fredric March

N[]

O[]

P[]

Q[]

R[]

S[]

T[]

  • Tabu, directed by F. W. Murnau
  • Tell England, directed by Anthony Asquith – (GB)
  • Ten Cents a Dance, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ricardo Cortez
  • The Theft of the Mona Lisa (Der Raub der Mona Lisa) – (Germany)
  • This Modern Age, starring Joan Crawford
  • The Threepenny Opera (Die 3 groschen-oper), starring Lotte Lenya – (Germany)
  • Tilly of Bloomsbury, directed by Jack Raymond, starring Sydney Howard, Phyllis Konstam (Britain)
  • Tokyo Chorus (Tokyo no korasu), 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[]

  • Waterloo Bridge, directed by James Whale

Serials[]

Short film series[]

Animated short film series[]

Births[]

  • January 3 – Conrad Brooks, né Biedrzycki, American actor and producer (died 2017)
  • January 5 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
  • January 14 – Caterina Valente, French singer and actress
  • January 17 – James Earl Jones, American actor
  • January 29 – Leslie Bricusse, English-born film composer and lyricist (died 2021)
  • February 6
    • 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 15 – Claire Bloom, English actress
  • February 24 – Dominic Chianese, American actor
  • 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)
  • April 1 – Ita Ever, Estonian actress
  • April 8 – John Gavin, American actor and diplomat (died 2018)
  • May 10 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2016)
  • May 15 - K. S. Sethumadhavan, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2021)
  • May 18 – Robert Morse, American actor and singer
  • May 23 – Barbara Barrie, American actress
  • May 24 – Michael Lonsdale, British-French actor (died 2020)
  • May 28 – Carroll Baker, American actress
  • June 3 – Carmen Dell'Orefice, American supermodel and actress
  • June 14 – Marla Gibbs, American actress, singer, comedian, writer and producer
  • June 20
    • Olympia Dukakis, Greek-American actress (died 2021)
    • James Tolkan, American actor
  • July 1 – Leslie Caron, French actress and dancer
  • July 2 – Robert Ito, Canadian actor of Japanese ancestry
  • July 4 – Stephen Boyd, Irish actor (died 1977)
  • July 5 – António de Macedo, Portuguese filmmaker, writer, university professor and lecturer (died 2017)
  • July 6 – Della Reese, American jazz and gospel singer, actress and ordinated minister (died 2017)
  • 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
  • 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
  • September 12 – Ian Holm, English actor (died 2020)
  • September 13 – Barbara Bain, American actress
  • September 17 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (died 2005)
  • September 21 – Larry Hagman, American actor and director (died 2012)
  • September 29 – Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress and sex symbol (died 2015)
  • September 30 – Angie Dickinson, American actress
  • October 10 – Román Chalbaud, Venezuelan director
  • October 21 – Vivian Pickles, English actress
  • November 3 – Monica Vitti, Italian actress
  • November 6 – Mike Nichols, German-born director (died 2014)
  • November 10 – Don Henderson, English actor of stage, television and screen (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
  • December 2 – Nadja Regin, Serbian actress (died 2019)
  • December 3 - Jaye P. Morgan, retired American singer, actress and game show panelist
  • December 11 – Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress
  • December 23 – Ronnie Schell, American actor and stand-up comedian
  • December 28 – Martin Milner. American actor (died 2015)

Deaths[]

  • March 11 – F. W. Murnau, German director (born 1888)
  • March 24
    • Charles Clary, silent film actor (born 1873)
    • Robert Edeson, stage and screen actor (born 1868)
  • 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)
  • 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)

Film debuts[]

References[]

Citations
  1. ^ Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autry (March 30, 2010). George Lucas's blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. It Books. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-0-0619-6345-2.
  2. ^ a b The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles, California: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ^ Jones, Lon (March 4, 1944). "Which Cinema Films Have Earned the Most Money Since 1914?". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 3 Supplement: The Argus Weekend magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b c Finler 2003, pp. 356–357.
  5. ^ a b Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938) (pg. 942); accessed April 19, 2014
  6. ^ "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M150.
  7. ^ "Att'y Gen Scans R-K-O-Pathe Deal on Plea of Defeated Insurgents". Variety. January 7, 1931. p. 3. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  8. ^ Ships of Hate at the American Film Institute Catalog
  9. ^ a b c Ten Leading Events in the News of Motion Pictures During the Year 1931. The Film Daily Yearbook 1932. p. 9. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Six Best Money Stars". Variety. January 5, 1932. p. 1.
  11. ^ a b c d "The 5th Academy Awards – 1933". Archived from the original on 2012-09-04.
Bibliography
  • Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autrey (2010). 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.
  • Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
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