The following is an overview of 1935 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. The cinema releases of 1935 were highly representative of the early Golden Age period of Hollywood. Clark Gable, Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were among the top Hollywood stars, and Jeanette MacDonald was teamed with Nelson Eddy for the first time. A significant number of productions also originated in the UK film industry.
Events February 22 – The Little Colonel premieres starring Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore and Bill Robinson, featuring a famous stair dance with Hollywood's first interracial dance couple February 23 – Gene Autry stars as himself as the Singing Cowboy in the serial The Phantom Empire. He would later be voted the number one Western star from 1937 to 1942. February 27 – Seven-year-old Shirley Temple wins the first special Academy Juvenile Award. March The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment is started in order to educate the Bantu peoples. The Moscow International Film Festival is held for the first time. The jury is chaired by Sergei Eisenstein, and first prize is awarded to The Youth of Maxim May 31 – Fox Film and Twentieth Century Pictures merge to form 20th Century Fox. June 13 – Following the merger of six smaller independent film companies including Monogram Pictures, Mascot Pictures, Liberty Pictures and Majestic Pictures, Herbert J. Yates completed the formation of Republic Pictures. August 15 – Will Rogers who the previous year was voted the Top Money Making Star dies in a plane crash. August 25 – William Boyd appears in his first of 66 films as Hopalong Cassidy in Hop-Along Cassidy. September – Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). September 5 – Gene Autry appears in his first film for the newly formed Republic Pictures – Tumbling Tumbleweeds, named after his second million-selling record. October 12 – Studio Misr is founded in Egypt, sponsored by the country's first national bank. November 30 – The British-made film Scrooge, the first all-talking film version of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol, opens in the U.S. after its U.K. release on November 26. Seymour Hicks plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a role he has played onstage hundreds of times. The film is criticized by some for not showing all of the ghosts physically, and quickly fades into obscurity. Widespread interest does not surface until the film is shown on television in the 1980s, in very shabby-looking prints. It is eventually restored on DVD.
Academy Awards
The 8th Academy Awards were held on March 5, 1936, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Frank Capra. This was the first year in which the gold statuettes were called "Oscars".
Most nominations: Mutiny on the Bounty (MGM) – 8
Major Awards
Best Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Best Director: John Ford – The Informer Best Actor: Victor McLaglen – The Informer Best Actress: Bette Davis – Dangerous
Most Awards: The Informer (RKO) – 4 (Actor, Director, Adaptation, Scoring)
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1935 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1935 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 Mutiny on the Bounty MGM $2,250,000 2 Top Hat RKO $1,782,000 3 China SeasMGM $1,710,000 4 Broadway Melody of 1936 $1,655,000 5 David Copperfield $1,621,000 6 Steamboat Round the Bend 20th Century Fox $1,528,000 7 The Crusades Paramount $1,491,471 8 Roberta RKO $1,467,000 9 In Old Kentucky 20th Century Fox$1,438,000 10 The Littlest Rebel$1,431,000
Top Ten Money Making Stars Exhibitors selected the following as the Top Ten Money Making Stars of the Year in Quigley Publishing Company's annual poll.
RankActor/Actress1.Shirley Temple2.Will Rogers3.Clark Gable4.Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers5.Joan Crawford6.Claudette Colbert7.Dick Powell8.Wallace Beery9.Joe E. Brown10.James Cagney
Notable films See also: United States unless stated.
0–9 The 39 Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll – (GB)
A After Office Hours, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Clark Gable and Constance Bennett Ah, Wilderness!, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore Alice Adams, directed by George Stevens, starring Katharine Hepburn and Fred MacMurray Amphitryon, directed by Reinhold Schünzel, starring Willy Fritsch – (Germany) Anna Karenina, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Greta Garbo and Fredric March Annie Oakley, directed by George Stevens, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Melvyn Douglas The Arizonian, directed by Charles Vidor, starring Richard Dix
B La Bandera, directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Annabella and Jean Gabin – (France) Barbary Coast, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson and Joel McCrea Becky Sharp, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Miriam Hopkins, Cedric Hardwicke and Billie Burke Black Fury, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Paul Muni The Black Room, directed by Roy William Neill, starring Boris Karloff Bordertown, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Paul Muni and Bette Davis Boys Will Be Boys, directed by William Beaudine, starring Will Hay – (GB) Brewster's Millions, directed by Thornton Freeland, starring Jack Buchanan and Lili Damita – (GB) The Bride Comes Home, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray and Robert Young Bride of Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, starring Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester Broadway Melody of 1936, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Jack Benny, Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor and Una Merkel
C The Call of the Wild, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Clark Gable, Loretta Young and Jack Oakie Captain Blood, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone Car of Dreams, directed by Graham Cutts and Austin Melford, starring Grete Mosheim and John Mills – (GB) Carnival in Flanders (La Kermesse héroïque), directed by Jacques Feyder, starring Françoise Rosay – (France) Charlie Chan in Egypt, directed by Louis King, starring Warner Oland Children of Troubled Times (Fēngyún Érnǚ), directed by Xu Xingzhi, starring Yuan Muzhi and Wang Renmei – (China) China Seas, directed by Tay Garnett, starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and Rosalind Russell The Clairvoyant, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Claude Rains and Fay Wray – (GB) Coal Face, documentary directed by Alberto Cavalcanti – (GB) Crime and Punishment, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Edward Arnold and Peter Lorre The Crime of Dr. Crespi, directed by John H. Auer, starring Erich von Stroheim The Crusades, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Loretta Young and Henry Wilcoxon Curly Top, directed by Irving Cummings, starring Shirley Temple and John Boles
D Dandy Dick, directed by William Beaudine, starring Will Hay – (GB) Dangerous, directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Bette Davis and Franchot Tone Dante's Inferno, directed by Harry Lachman, starring Spencer Tracy and Claire Trevor The Dark Angel, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Fredric March, Merle Oberon and Herbert Marshall David Copperfield, directed by George Cukor, starring W. C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lewis Stone and Freddie Bartholomew Death Drives Through, directed by Edward L. Cahn – (GB) Devdas, directed by and starring Pramathesh Barua – (India) The Devil Is a Woman, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Cesar Romero Dinky, directed by D. Ross Lederman and Howard Bretherton, starring Jackie Cooper and Mary Astor Doubting Thomas, directed by David Butler, starring Will Rogers and Billie Burke Drake of England, directed by Arthur B. Woods, starring Matheson Lang – (GB)
E-F The Eleventh Commandment (Jedenácté přikázání), directed by Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia) Escapade, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring William Powell and Luise Rainer Escape Me Never, directed by Paul Czinner, starring Elisabeth Bergner – (GB) Every Night at Eight, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring George Raft and Alice Faye The Farmer Takes a Wife, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonda Foreign Affaires, directed by and starring Tom Walls – (GB) Four Hours to Kill!, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Richard Barthelmess Frisco Kid, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay and Ricardo Cortez Front Page Woman, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Bette Davis and George Brent
G G Men, directed by William Keighley, starring James Cagney, Ann Dvorak and Margaret Lindsay The Ghost Goes West, directed by René Clair, starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker and Eugene Pallette – (GB) The Gilded Lily, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray and Ray Milland The Girl from 10th Avenue, directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Bette Davis The Glass Key, directed by Frank Tuttle, starring George Raft and Edward Arnold Go Into Your Dance, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler and Glenda Farrell Goin' to Town, directed by Alexander Hall, starring Mae West Gold Diggers of 1935, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart and Glenda Farrell The Good Fairy, directed by William Wyler, starring Margaret Sullavan, Herbert Marshall and Frank Morgan The Great Impersonation, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Edmund Lowe
H Hands Across the Table, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray Harmony Lane, directed by Joseph Santley, starring Douglass Montgomery Home on the Range, directed by Arthur Jacobson, starring Jackie Coogan and Randolph Scott Hop-Along Cassidy, directed by Howard Bretherton, starring William Boyd Hyde Park Corner, directed by Sinclair Hill, starring Gordon Harker – (GB)
I-J I Live My Life, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Joan Crawford and Frank Morgan I'll Give a Million (Darò un milione), directed by Mario Camerini, starring Vittorio De Sica – (Italy) In Old Kentucky, directed by George Marshall, starring Will Rogers The Informer, directed by John Ford, starring Victor McLaglen An Inn in Tokyo (Tōkyō no yado), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan) Jánošík, directed by Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia)
L The Last Days of Pompeii, directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Preston Foster and Basil Rathbone Life Begins at 40, directed by George Marshall, starring Will Rogers Little Big Shot, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Glenda Farrell The Little Colonel, directed by David Butler, starring Shirley Temple and Lionel Barrymore Little Mother (Kleine Mutti), directed by Henry Koster, starring Franciska Gaal – (Austria/Hungary) The Littlest Rebel, directed by David Butler, starring Shirley Temple The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone Long Live with Dearly Departed (Ať žije nebožtík), directed by Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia) Lucrezia Borgia (Lucrèce Borgia), directed by Abel Gance, starring Edwige Feuillère – (France)
M Mad Love (aka The Hands of Orlac), directed by Karl Freund, starring Peter Lorre Magnificent Obsession, directed by John M. Stahl, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor Man of the Moment, directed by Monty Banks, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. – (GB) Man on the Flying Trapeze, directed by Clyde Bruckman, starring W. C. Fields The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, directed by Stephen Roberts, starring Ronald Colman and Joan Bennett Men of Action, directed by Alan James, starring Frankie Darro Midshipman Easy, directed by Carol Reed, starring Hughie Green and Margaret Lockwood – (GB) A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, starring James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, Dick Powell and Olivia de Havilland