The following is an overview of 1934 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Events January 26 – Producer Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000. Goldwyn will decline to adapt the book and sell the rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. February 19 – Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade. April 9 – Danish actress Alice O'Fredericks makes her directorial debut, in partnership with Lau Lauritzen Jr., with Ud i den kolde sne. The pair go on to make a further 26 films together. April 19 – Fox Studios releases Stand Up and Cheer!, with five-year-old Shirley Temple in a relatively minor role. Shirley steals the film and Fox, which had been near bankruptcy, finds itself owning a goldmine. May 18 – Paramount releases Little Miss Marker, with Shirley Temple, on loan from Fox, in the title role. May 25 – The Thin Man series is launched, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, based on stories by Dashiell Hammett. 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. July 28 – Canadian-born actress Marie Dressler, best known for starring in films such as Min and Bill and Emma, dies from cancer in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 65. For her performance in Min and Bill, Dressler received the Academy Award for Best Actress. October 19 – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers wham audiences again with their first joint starring roles in The Gay Divorcee, grossing $1.8 millionRichard Jewel, "RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951", Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1994, p.55 to add to the $1.5 million earned by Flying Down to Rio released at the end of 1933. November 12 – The musical Babes in Toyland debuts, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. December 11 – Fox releases the Sol M. Wurtzel production of Bright Eyes, starring their hot new property, Shirley Temple. Shirley sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop", and wins the first Academy Award ever given to a child, for her endearing portrayal of Shirley Blake. unknown date In France, Robert Bresson makes his directorial debut with the short film, Les affaires publiques.
Academy Awards
The 7th Academy Awards was held on February 27, 1935, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. They were hosted by Irvin S. Cobb. For the first time, the Academy standardized the practice – still in effect, notwithstanding changes to the 93rd and 94th Academy Awards as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – that the award eligibility period for a film would be the preceding calendar year.
Most nominations: One Night of Love (Columbia Pictures) – 6
Major Awards Best Picture: It Happened One Night – Columbia Pictures Best Director: Frank Capra – It Happened One Night Best Actor: Clark Gable – It Happened One Night Best Actress: Claudette Colbert – It Happened One Night
Most Awards: It Happened One Night – 5
It Happened One Night became the first film to perform a "clean sweep" of the top five award categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. This feat would later be duplicated by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1976 and The Silence of the Lambs in 1992. It also was the first romantic comedy to be named Best Picture.
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1934 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1934 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 Kid Millions United Artists $2,000,000 2 Cleopatra Paramount $1,929,161 3 Forsaking All Others MGM $1,399,000. 4 It Happened One Night Columbia $1,366,000 5 Chained MGM $1,301,000 6 Wonder Bar Warner Bros./First National $1,264,000Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 15 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551 7 The Barretts of Wimpole Street MGM $1,258,000 8 Here Comes the Navy Warner Bros. $1,183,000 9 Judge Priest Fox Film $1,176,000 10 Treasure Island MGM $1,164,000
Notable films United States unless stated
# 1860, directed by Alessandro Blasetti – (Italy)
A The Affairs of Cellini, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Frank Morgan, Fredric March, and Constance Bennett All of Me, directed by James Flood, starring Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, and George Raft Amok, directed by Fedor Ozep – (France) Angèle, directed by Marcel Pagnol, starring Fernandel – (France) Anne of Green Gables, directed by George Nicholls Jr., starring Anne Shirley Are We Civilized?, directed by Edwin Carewe, starring William Farnum L'Atalante, directed by Jean Vigo, starring Michel Simon – (France)
B Babes in Toyland, directed by Gus Meins and Charles Rogers, starring Laurel and Hardy Baby, Take a Bow, directed by Harry Lachman, starring Shirley Temple and Claire Trevor The Barretts of Wimpole Street, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Norma Shearer, Fredric March and Charles Laughton The Battle, directed by Nicolas Farkas, starring Charles Boyer, Merle Oberon and John Loder – (GB/France) Belle of the Nineties, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Mae West and Johnny Mack Brown The Big Road (Dàlù), directed by Sun Yu – (China) The Big Shakedown, directed by John Francis Dillon, starring Charles Farrell, Bette Davis, Ricardo Cortez and Glenda Farrell The Black Cat, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi Bolero, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring George Raft and Carole Lombard Boots! Boots!, directed by Bert Tracy, starring George Formby – (GB) Born to Be Bad, directed by Lowell Sherman, starring Loretta Young and Cary Grant Bright Eyes, directed by David Butler, starring Shirley Temple and James Dunn Broadway Bill, directed by Frank Capra, starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, Warner Oland and Una Merkel
C The Captain Hates the Sea, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Victor McLaglen and John Gilbert Carolina, directed by Henry King, starring Janet Gaynor and Lionel Barrymore The Case of the Howling Dog, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Warren William and Mary Astor The Cat and the Fiddle, directed by William K. Howard, starring Ramón Novarro, Jeanette MacDonald and Frank Morgan The Cat's-Paw, directed by Sam Taylor, starring Harold Lloyd and Una Merkel Chained, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Otto Kruger Chapayev, directed by the Vasilyev Brothers, starring Boris Babochkin – (USSR) Charlie Chan in London, directed by Eugene Forde, starring Warner Oland and Ray Milland Charlie Chan's Courage (lost), directed by Eugene Forde, starring Warner Oland The Circus Clown, directed by Ray Enright, starring Joe E. Brown City Limits, directed by William Nigh, starring Frank Craven and Sally Blane Cleopatra, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Claudette Colbert and Warren William Colonel Blood, directed by W. P. Lipscomb, starring Frank Cellier – (GB) The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Robert Donat Crime Without Passion, directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, starring Claude Rains
D Dames, directed by Ray Enright, starring Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell and ZaSu Pitts Dark Hazard, directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Edward G. Robinson and Glenda Farrell David Harum, directed by James Cruze, starring Will Rogers Death on the Diamond, directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Robert Young Death Takes a Holiday, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Fredric March Don't Make Grandpa Angry (Nezlobte dědečka), directed by Karel Lamač, starring Vlasta Burian, Čeněk Šlégl and Adina Mandlová – (Czechoslovakia) The Dream Car (Meseautó), directed by Béla Gaál and starring Zita Perczel and Jenő Törzs – (Hungary)
E Evelyn Prentice, directed by William K. Howard, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and Una Merkel Evergreen, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews – (GB) Everybody's Woman (La signora di tutti), directed by Max Ophüls, starring Isa Miranda – (Italy)
F Fashions of 1934, directed by William Dieterle, starring William Powell and Bette Davis Ferdowsi, directed by Abdolhossein Sepanta – (Iran) Flirtation Walk, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and Pat O'Brien Fog Over Frisco, directed by William Dieterle, starring Bette Davis, Margaret Lindsay and Lyle Talbot Forbidden Territory, directed by Phil Rosen, starring Gregory Ratoff and Binnie Barnes – (GB) Forsaking All Others, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery Four Frightened People, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall Frontier Marshal, directed by Lewis Seiler, starring George O' Brien
G Gambling, directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring George M. Cohan Gambling Lady, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea and Pat O'Brien The Gay Bride directed by Jack Conway, starring Carole Lombard, Chester Morris and ZaSu Pitts The Gay Divorcee directed by Mark Sandrich, starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Alice Brady The Girl from Missouri, directed by Jack Conway, starring Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone and Lewis Stone Girl o' My Dreams, directed by Ray McCarey, starring Mary Carlisle, Edward J. Nugent and Lon Chaney Jr. Glamour, directed by William Wyler, starring Paul Lukas and Constance Cummings The Goddess (Shen nu), directed by Wu Yonggang, starring Ruan Lingyu – (China) Grand Canary, directed by Irving Cummings, starring Warner Baxter and Madge Evans Le Grand Jeu (The Great Game), directed by Jacques Feyder, starring Marie Bell and Pierre Richard-Willm – (France) Great Expectations, directed by Stuart Walker, starring Henry Hull and Jane Wyatt
H Heat Lightning, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, and Preston Foster Here Comes the Navy, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien and Gloria Stuart Here is My Heart, directed by Frank Tuttle, starring Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle Hide-Out, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Robert Montgomery, Maureen O'Sullivan and Edward Arnold Hollywood Party, starring Laurel and Hardy, Jimmy Durante and Lupe Vélez The House of Rothschild, directed by Alfred L. Werker, starring George Arliss, Loretta Young, Boris Karloff and Robert Young
I Imitation of Life, directed by John M. Stahl, starring Claudette Colbert and Warren William The Iron Duke, directed by Victor Saville, starring George Arliss – (GB) It Happened One Night, directed by Frank Capra, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert It's a Gift, directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring W. C. Fields I've Got Your Number, directed by Ray Enright, starring Joan Blondell, Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell
J Jane Eyre, directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive Jew Süss, directed by Lothar Mendes, starring Conrad Veidt – (GB) Jimmy the Gent, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring James Cagney and Bette Davis Jolly Fellows (Vesyolye rebyata), directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, starring Lyubov Orlova – (USSR) Juárez y Maximiliano (Juarez and Maximilian), directed by Miguel Contreras Torres and Raphael J. Sevilla – (Mexico) Judge Priest, directed by John Ford, starring Will Rogers
K The Key, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring William Powell and Edna Best Kid Millions, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Eddie Cantor, Ann Sothern and Ethel Merman Kiss and Make-Up, directed by Harlan Thompson, starring Cary Grant and Helen Mack
L The Lady Is Willing, directed by Gilbert Miller, starring Leslie Howard and Cedric Hardwicke – (GB) The Last Round-Up, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Randolph Scott