1937 in film

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The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first American full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)[]

The top ten 1937 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1937
Rank Title Studio Box-office gross rental
1 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Walt Disney/RKO Radio Pictures $4,200,000[1]
2 Saratoga Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $2,432,000[2]
3 Maytime $2,183,000[3]
4 The Good Earth $2,002,000[2]
5 Stella Dallas United Artists/Samuel Goldwyn Productions $2,000,000[4]
6 Broadway Melody of 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,889,000[2]
7 A Star Is Born United Artists/Selznick International Pictures $1,800,000[5]
8 Captains Courageous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,688,000[2]
9 Lost Horizon Columbia Pictures $1,683,000[5]
10 A Day at the Races Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,600,000[2]

Events[]

  • January 29 – The Good Earth premieres in the U.S.
  • April 16 – Way Out West premieres in the US.
  • May 7 – Shall We Dance premieres in the US.
  • May 11 – Captains Courageous premieres in the US.
  • Monogram Pictures, who had merged with Republic Pictures two years earlier, decide to separate and distribute their own films again.
  • June 7 – Jean Harlow, one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the decade, dies aged 26 at Good Samaratan Hospital in Los Angeles. The official cause of death is listed as cerebral edema, a complication of kidney failure.
  • June 11 – A Day at the Races premieres in the U.S.
  • July 9 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.
  • July 23 – Six weeks after Jean Harlow's death, her final film, Saratoga, is released. It is an instant box office success and becomes the highest-grossing film of Harlow's career.
  • December 21 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. The film is a massive box office success and briefly holds the record as the highest-grossing sound film of all time.

Academy Awards[]

Main article: 10th Academy Awards
  • Best Picture: The Life of Emile Zola – Warner Bros.
  • Best Director: Leo McCarey – The Awful Truth
  • Best Actor: Spencer Tracy – Captains Courageous
  • Best Actress: Luise Rainer – The Good Earth
  • Best Supporting Actor: Joseph Schildkraut – The Life of Emile Zola
  • Best Supporting Actress: Alice Brady – In Old Chicago

Top ten money-making stars[]

Rank Actor/Actress
1. Shirley Temple
2. Clark Gable
3. Robert Taylor
4. Bing Crosby
5. William Powell
6. Jane Withers
7. (tie) Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers
8. Sonja Henie
9. Gary Cooper
10. Myrna Loy

1937 film releases[]

January–March[]

April–June[]

July–September[]

October–December[]

Notable films released in 1937[]

United States unless stated.

A[]

B[]

C[]

D[]

  • A Damsel in Distress, starring Fred Astaire, George Burns and Gracie Allen
  • The Daughter of the Samurai (Die Tochter des Samurai / Atarashiki tsuchi), directed by Arnold Fanck and Mansaku Itami (Germany/Japan)
  • Daughter of Shanghai, starring Anna May Wong and Philip Ahn
  • A Day at the Races, directed by Sam Wood, starring the Marx Brothers
  • Dead End, directed by William Wyler, starring Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart, Claire Trevor
  • Double Wedding, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
  • Dreaming Lips, directed by Paul Czinner, starring Elisabeth Bergner, Raymond Massey (Britain)
  • Duniya Na Mane (The Unexpected) (India)
  • The Dybbuk, Yiddish language film from (Poland)

E[]

  • Easy Living, starring Jean Arthur and Edward Arnold
  • The Edge of the World, directed by Michael Powell (GB)
  • Elephant Boy, directed by Robert J. Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, starring Sabu (GB)
  • España 1936, a documentary produced and co-written by Luis Buñuel (Spain)
  • Ever Since Eve, starring Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery

F[]

  • A Family Affair, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
  • Fire Over England, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh (GB)
  • The Firefly, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones
  • First Lady, starring Kay Francis and Preston Foster

G[]

H[]

  • La Habanera, directed by Douglas Sirk (Germany)
  • Head Over Heels, starring Jessie Matthews (GB)
  • Heidi, starring Shirley Temple
  • High, Wide, and Handsome, starring Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott
  • History is Made at Night, starring Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur
  • Humanity and Paper Balloons (Ninjō Kami Fūsen) (Japan)
  • The Hurricane, starring Dorothy Lamour

I[]

J[]

  • Jump for Glory, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Valerie Hobson (GB)

K[]

  • Kid Galahad, starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart
  • King Solomon's Mines, starring Cedric Hardwicke and Paul Robeson (GB)
  • Knight Without Armour, starring Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat (GB)

L[]

M[]

N[]

  • Nancy Steele Is Missing!, starring Victor McLaglen and Peter Lorre
  • Navy Blue and Gold, starring Robert Young, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore
  • Night Must Fall, starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell
  • Nothing Sacred, directed by William Wellman, starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March

O[]

P[]

Q[]

R[]

S[]

  • Saratoga, starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in her last film
  • The Seven Ravens (Germany)
  • Seventh Heaven, starring James Stewart and Simone Simon
  • Shall We Dance, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
  • Sidewalks of London (a.k.a. St. Martin's Lane), starring Charles Laughton, Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison (GB)
  • Il signor Max, starring Vittorio De Sica (Italy)
  • Silver Blaze, starring Arthur Wontner
  • Skeleton on Horseback (Bílá nemoc), directed by and starring Hugo Haas (Czechoslovakia)
  • Slave Ship, starring Warner Baxter and Wallace Beery
  • Slim, starring Henry Fonda
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, first American feature-length animated film. Directed by David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen, starring Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Harry Stockwell, Roy Atwell, Pinto Colvig, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw, Billy Gilbert, Eddie Collins, Moroni Olsen, and Stuart Buchanan
  • The Soldier and the Lady
  • Something to Sing About, directed by Victor Schertzinger, starring James Cagney, Evelyn Daw, William Frawley
  • Song at Midnight (Ye ban ge sheng) (China)
  • Souls at Sea, starring Gary Cooper and George Raft
  • Stage Door, starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers
  • Stand-In, starring Leslie Howard, Joan Blondell, Humphrey Bogart
  • A Star Is Born, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March
  • Stella Dallas, starring Barbara Stanwyck
  • Storm in a Teacup, starring Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison (GB)
  • Street Angel (Malu tianshi), starring Zhou Xuan (China)

T[]

  • The Tale of the Fox (Germany)
  • That Certain Woman, starring Bette Davis and Henry Fonda
  • The Three Garridebs, starring Louis Hector, in the first televised adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes character.[6]
  • They Gave Him a Gun, starring Spencer Tracy and Gladys George
  • They Won't Forget, starring Claude Rains
  • Thin Ice, starring Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power
  • Think Fast, Mr. Moto, starring Peter Lorre
  • This Is My Affair, starring Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck
  • Thunder in the City, starring Edward G. Robinson, Nigel Bruce, Ralph Richardson (GB)
  • To New Shores, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Zarah Leander (Germany)
  • Topper, starring Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young
  • Tovarich, starring Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer
  • Tři vejce do skla (Three eggs in a glass) (Czechoslovakia)
  • True Confession, starring Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, John Barrymore

V[]

W[]

Y[]

Z[]

Serials[]

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)
  • Wheeler and Woolsey (1929–1937)
  • The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
  • The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Animated short film series[]

  • Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
  • Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
  • Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
  • Silly Symphonies
    • Woodland Café
    • Little Hiawatha
    • The Old Mill
  • Screen Songs (1929–1938)
  • Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
  • Terrytoons (1930–1964)
  • Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
  • Scrappy (1931–1941)
  • Betty Boop (1932–1939)
  • Popeye (1933–1957)
  • Happy Harmonies (1934–1938)
  • Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
  • Meany, Miny, and Moe (1936-1937)
  • Donald Duck (1937–1956)

Births[]

  • January 4 – Dyan Cannon, American actress
  • January 12 - Shirley Eaton, English actress and model
  • January 14 – Stefano Satta Flores, Italian actor and voice actor (d. 1985)
  • January 15 – Margaret O'Brien, American actress
  • January 30 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
  • January 31 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
  • February 1 - Garrett Morris, American comedian, actor and singer
  • February 2 - Tom Smothers, American comedian and musician
  • February 14 - Soher Al Bably, Egyptian actress (d. 2021)
  • February 21 - Gary Lockwood, American actor
  • February 25 – Tom Courtenay, English actor
  • February 27 - Barbara Babcock, American character actress
  • March 2 - BarBara Luna, American actress
  • March 30 – Warren Beatty, American actor and director
  • April 6 – Billy Dee Williams, American actor
  • April 15
  • April 19 - Elinor Donahue, American actress
  • April 20 - George Takei, American actor, author and activist
  • April 22 – Jack Nicholson, American actor
  • April 27 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (d. 1992)
  • May 5 - John Martino (actor), actor
  • May 8 – Shin Seong-il, South Korean actor (d. 2018)
  • May 12 – George Carlin, American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic and author (d. 2008)
  • May 13 - Zohra Lampert, American actress
  • May 16 – Yvonne Craig, American actress (d. 2015)
  • June 1 – Morgan Freeman, American actor and director
  • June 2 – Sally Kellerman, American actress and singer
  • June 10 – Luciana Paluzzi, Italian actress
  • June 11 - Johnny Brown (actor), American actor and singer
  • June 14 – Jørgen Leth, Danish director
  • June 26 – Sombat Metanee, Thai actor and film director
  • June 28 - Richard Bright (actor), American actor ((d. 2006)
  • July 2 - Polly Holliday, American retired actress
  • July 6 – Ned Beatty, American character actor (d. 2021)
  • July 12 - Bill Cosby, American stand-up comedian and actor
  • July 16 – Ada Rogovtseva, Ukrainian actress
  • July 20 – Ken Ogata, Japanese actor (d. 2008)
  • August 3 – Steven Berkoff, British actor and playwright
  • August 6 – Barbara Windsor, English comedy actress (d. 2020)
  • August 8 – Dustin Hoffman, American actor
  • August 14 – Alberta Nelson, American actress (d. 2006)
  • August 16 - Lorraine Gary, American retired actress
  • August 26 – Kenji Utsumi, Japanese actor (d. 2013)
  • September 4 – Mikk Mikiver, Estonian actor and director (d. 2006)
  • September 5 – William Devane, American actor
  • September 6 - Jo Anne Worley, American actress, comedian and singer
  • September 7
    • Cüneyt Arkın, Turkish film actor, producer and director
    • John Phillip Law, American actor (d. 2008)
  • September 10 - Brian Murray, South African actor and theatre director (d. 2018)
  • September 13
    • Don Bluth, American director and producer
    • Meeli Sööt, Estonian actress
  • September 21
    • Ron Cobb, American-Australian graphic and film designer (d. 2020)
    • Aarne Üksküla, Estonian actor (d. 2017)
  • October 15 - Linda Lavin, American actress and singer
  • October 21 – Édith Scob, French actress (d. 2019)
  • November 4 - Loretta Swit, American actress
  • November 5 – Harris Yulin, American actor
  • November 21
    • Ingrid Pitt, Polish-born British actress (d. 2010)
    • Marlo Thomas, American actress and producer
  • November 27 – Rodney Bewes, English actor (d. 2017)
  • November 30 - Ridley Scott, English director and producer
  • December 4 - Max Baer Jr., American actor, producer, comedian and director
  • December 7 – Kenneth Colley, English actor
  • December 9 – Darwin Joston, American actor (d. 1998)
  • December 16 - Joyce Bulifant, American actress
  • December 21 – Jane Fonda, American actress
  • December 29 – Barbara Steele, English actress
  • December 30 – Zaldy Zshornack, Filipino actor (d. 2002)
  • December 31 – Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor

Deaths[]

  • January 2 – Ross Alexander, 29, American actor, Captain Blood, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Flirtation Walk
  • January 23 – Marie Prevost, 40, Canadian-born American actress, The Marriage Circle, The Racket, The Godless Girl, Cain and Mabel
  • February 3 – Marija Leiko, 49, Latvian film actress, The Green Alley, The Rats
  • May 1 – Snitz Edwards, 69, Austro-Hungarian-born American actor, The Thief of Bagdad, The Phantom of the Opera, Seven Chances, College
  • May 10 – William Tedmarsh, 61, English-American silent film actor
  • June 7 – Jean Harlow, 26, American actress, The Public Enemy, Libeled Lady, Suzy, Red Dust
  • June 25 – Colin Clive, 37, British actor, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein
  • September 21 – Osgood Perkins, 45, American actor, Scarface, Gold Diggers of 1937
  • November 13 – Mrs. Leslie Carter, 75, American stage and screen actress, Becky Sharp, Rocky Mountain Mystery
  • December 21 – Ted Healy, 41, American actor and creator of The Three Stooges, San Francisco, Mad Love, Beer and Pretzels, Soup to Nuts

Debuts[]

References[]

  1. ^ Block & Wilson 2010, p. 255
  2. ^ a b c d e The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ^ Turk, Edward Baron "Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald" (University of California Press, 1998)
  4. ^ Box Office Information for Stella Dallas
  5. ^ a b "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M162 to 166.
  6. ^ First Actor to Portray Sherlock Holmes on TV; Guinness World Records online; retrieved November 2016

Sources[]

  • Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autrey, eds. (2010). George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-By-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-177889-6.
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