1934 in film

Table of contents

1 Events 2 Top Grossing Films of the Year 3 Academy Awards 4 Movies Released 5 Births 6 Deaths

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".

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

• 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
• 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

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

• July 28 - Marie Dressler, Academy Award winning actress (+ 1934)