1934 in film - Definition and Overview

Events

• January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn (of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) finally purchased the film rights to The Wizard of Oz from Frank J. Baum for $40,000.00.
• 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 show. Fox, which had been near bankruptcy, owns a gold mine.
• 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.
• November 12 - The musical Babes in Toyland debuts, featuring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as comic relief (see Laurel and Hardy).
• December 11 - Fox releases Bright Eyes, starring their hot new property, Shirley Temple. Shirley sings "On the Good Ship Lollypop".

Top grossing films

1. Viva Villa!
2. The Black Cat
3. Let's Try Again

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: It Happened One Night - Columbia
• Best Actor: Clark Gable - It Happened One Night
• Best Actress: Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night

Movies released

Movies released in 1934 include:

• Anne of Green Gables, starring Anne Shirley
• The Barretts of Wimpole Street, starring Charles Laughton, Fredric March, Maureen O'Sullivan, and Norma Shearer
• Belle of the Nineties, starring Mae West
• The Black Cat, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
• Bright Eyes, starring Shirley Temple
• Broadway Bill, starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy; directed by Frank Capra
• Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, starring Ronald Colman
• Burn 'Em Up Barnes, starring Jack Mulhall
• The Case of the Howling Dog, starring Warren William as Perry Mason
• The Cat and the Fiddle, starring Ramon Novarro and Jeanette MacDonald
• Charlie Chan in London, starring Warner Oland
• Charlie Chan's Courage, starring Warner Oland
• The Circus Clown, starring Joe E. Brown
• The Clairvoyant, starring Claude Rains and Fay Wray
• Cleopatra, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Claudette Colbert
• The Count of Monte Cristo starring Robert Donat
• Crime Without Passion starring Claude Rains
• Dames, a Busby Berkeley musical starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, ZaSu Pitts, Berton Churchill and Hugh Herbert. Director: Ray Enright
• Dark Hazard, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Death on the Diamond starring Robert Young
• Death Takes a Holiday, starring Fredric March
• Fashions of 1934, starring William Powell and Bette Davis
• Fog Over Frisco, starring Bette Davis
• Forsaking All Others, starring Robert Montgomery, Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
• 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
• Here Comes the Navy, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien
• The House of Rothschild, starring George Arliss and Loretta Young
• Imitation of Life, starring Claudette Colbert and Warren William
• It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, directed by Frank Capra
• It's a Gift, starring W.C. Fields
• Jimmy the Gent, starring James Cagney and Bette Davis
• Judge Priest, starring Will Rogers
• Kid Millions, starring Eddie Cantor
• Let's Try Again, starring Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard
• Little Man, What Now?, starring Margaret Sullavan
• The Little Minister, starring Katharine Hepburn and John Beal
• Little Miss Marker, starring Shirley Temple
• The Lost Patrol, starring Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff and Wallace Ford
• The Lucky Texan, starring John Wayne
• Madame DuBarry, starring Dolores del Rio
• The Man From Utah, starring John Wayne
• Man of Aran (Documentary)
• The Man Who Knew Too Much, a Hitchcock thriller starring Leslie Banks and Peter Lorre
• The Man with Two Faces, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Manhattan Melodrama, starring Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy
• The Merry Widow, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald
• Mystery Mountain
• Of Human Bondage, starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis
• The Old Fashioned Way, starring W.C. Fields
• Our Daily Bread, starring Karen Morley and Tom Keene
• The Richest Girl in the World, starring Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea and Fay Wray
• Riptide, starring Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery
• The Scarlet Empress, starring Marlene Dietrich
• The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon
• Six of a Kind, starring Charles Ruggles, Mary Boland and W.C. Fields
• Spitfire, starring Katharine Hepburn
• The St. Louis Kid, starring James Cagney
• Stand Up and Cheer! starring Warner Baxter and Madge Evans, and featuring five-year-old Shirley Temple.
• The Star Packer, starring John Wayne
• Tarzan and His Mate, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
• The Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
• The Trail Beyond, starring John Wayne
• Treasure Island, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper
• Triumph des Willens, a Nazi propaganda film directed by Leni Riefenstahl
• Twentieth Century, starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard
• Twenty Million Sweethearts, starring Pat O'Brien, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers
• Villa, Villa!, starring Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo and Fay Wray
• We're Not Dressing, starring Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard
• We're Rich Again, starring Edna May Oliver and Billie Burke
• A Wicked Woman, starring Mady Christians, Jean Parker and Charles Bickford
• Wonder Bar, starring Al Jolson
• You're Telling Me!, starring W.C. Fields

Births

• January 22 - Bill Bixby, television actor (+ 1993)
• February 11 - Tina Louise, actress.
• September 20 - Sophia Loren, Italian actress.

Deaths

• January 30, Dorothy Dell, 19, actress, road accident
• July 28 - Marie Dressler, Academy Award winning actress