The year 1933 in film involved many significant events, including the world premiere of Merian C. Cooper's masterpiece King Kong. It also involved the release of three of Busby Berkeley's greatest backstage musicals: 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, and Footlight Parade. However, the Academy Award for Best Picture went to the screen version of Noël Coward's musical extravaganza Cavalcade.
Events The Film Daily Yearbook listed the following as the ten leading news events of the year in North America. The motion picture industry goes under the National Recovery Administration code. Receivers appointed for Paramount Publix, RKO, and Fox Theatres. The film industry takes an eight-week salary cut. The Sirovich bill for a sweeping probe of film industry is defeated. John D. Hertz withdraws as Paramount Publix finance chairman, and Adolph Zukor appoints George J. Schaefer as general manager. Sidney Kent effects financial reorganization of Fox Film Corp., averting receivership, and company shows its first profit since 1930. Ruling of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware creates an "open market" for sound equipment. Nathan Nathanson regains control of Famous Players Canadian circuit. Darryl F. Zanuck quits Warner Bros-First National and with Joseph M. Schenck forms Twentieth Century Pictures, turning out eight productions in the first four months, beginning with The Bowery. Harold B. Franklin resigns as president of RKO Theaters.
Other notable events include: January 11 – Radio City Music Hall in New York City starts screening motion pictures. January 20 – The film Ecstasy premieres in Czechoslovakia; its foreign distribution presents many difficulties as 18-year-old actress Hedy Lamarr is shown naked in it. March – German director Fritz Lang is informed by Joseph Goebbels that the release of Lang's crime-thriller The Testament of Dr. Mabuse will not be permitted by the newly formed Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. The German-language premiere takes place on April 21 in Budapest, Hungary. On April 20, Lang divorces his wife, the film's writer Thea von Harbou, and on July 31, he leaves Germany permanently, initially settling in Paris, France. March 2 – King Kong premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City; opening weekend ticket sales are estimated at US$90,000. March 9 – Punyal na Ginto (The Golden Dagger), the first Filipino-language film made in the Philippines, is released. March 11 – 42nd Street sparks a major comeback for the musical genre. March 15 – Australian actor Errol Flynn makes his screen debut in the lead role of Fletcher Christian in In the Wake of the Bounty. June 6 – Chemical company executive Richard Hollingshead opens a drive-in theater near Camden, New Jersey, according to his U.S patent granted on May 16. The first film shown is Wives Beware. September 6 – Daily Variety, a trade newspaper, is published for the first time in Hollywood. December 29 – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appear on screen together for the first time in Flying Down to Rio. Ang Aswang, the first sound film made in the Philippines, is released. Makata At Paraluman (The Poet and the Maiden), the first talking film in vernacular made in the Philippines, is released. The British Film Institute is founded. The GPO Film Unit is established in the United Kingdom under John Grierson, taking over responsibility for documentary film making from the Empire Marketing Board. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) once again expresses interest in The Wizard of Oz books for a series of animated shorts. But once again, the studio fails to make a deal with the estate of writer L. Frank Baum. The Private Life of Henry VIII becomes the first British film to win an American Academy Award. Featured actor Charles Laughton wins the 1933 Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. The film is the first British production to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The book Upton Sinclair Presents William Fox is published, detailing what William Fox considers to be the conspiracy that forced him from control of Fox Film in 1930.
Academy Awards
The 6th Academy Awards were held on March 16, 1934, at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. They were hosted by Will Rogers, who also presented all of the awards. This was the last time that the Oscars' eligibility period was spread over two different calendar years, creating the longest time frame for which films could be nominated: the seventeen months from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933.
Most nominations: Cavalcade (Fox Film); A Farewell to Arms (Paramount Pictures) and Lady for a Day (Columbia Pictures) – 4
Major awards: Best Picture: Cavalcade – Fox Film Best Director: Frank Lloyd – Cavalcade Best Actor: Charles Laughton – The Private Life of Henry VIII Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn – Morning Glory
Most Awards: Cavalcade – 3 (Outstanding Production; Best Director; Best Art Direction)
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten films released in 1933 by box office earnings in North America are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1933 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 Roman Scandals United Artists $2,443,000 2 I'm No Angel Paramount $2,250,000 3 Gold Diggers of 1933 Warner Bros. $2,202,000 4 She Done Him Wrong Paramount $2,200,000 5 The Bowery United Artists/Twentieth Century $2,000,000Everett Aaker, The Films of George Raft, McFarland & Company, 2013, pp. 42-43 6 Tugboat Annie MGM $1,917,000 7 Footlight Parade Warner Bros. $1,601,000 8 Dancing Lady MGM $1,490,000 9 42nd Street Warner Bros. $1,438,000 10 Dinner at Eight MGM $1,398,000
Notable films United States unless stated
# 42nd Street, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Una Merkel and Dick Powell
A Adorable, directed by William Dieterle, starring Janet Gaynor After Tonight, directed by George Archainbaud, starring Constance Bennett and Gilbert Roland Alice in Wonderland, directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring Charlotte Henry, Richard Arlen, Gary Cooper, W. C. Fields, Cary Grant and Jack Oakie Ann Vickers, directed by John Cromwell, starring Irene Dunne and Walter Huston
B Baby Face, directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent Beauty for Sale, directed by Richard Boleslawski, starring Madge Evans, Alice Brady and Una Merkel Bed of Roses, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea A Bedtime Story, directed by Norman Taurog, starring Maurice Chevalier and Helen Twelvetrees Berkeley Square, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Leslie Howard Bitter Sweet, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Anna Neagle – (GB) The Bitter Tea of General Yen, directed by Frank Capra, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther Blood Money, directed by Rowland Brown, starring George Bancroft Bombshell, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien and Una Merkel The Bowery, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Wallace Beery, George Raft, Jackie Cooper and Fay Wray Bureau of Missing Persons, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Bette Davis, Lewis Stone, Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell By Candlelight, directed by James Whale
C Cash, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Robert Donat and Edmund Gwenn – (GB) Cavalcade, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook Convention City (lost), directed by Archie Mayo, starring Joan Blondell, Adolphe Menjou, Dick Powell and Mary Astor Counsellor at Law, directed by William Wyler, starring John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels
D Dancing Lady, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone Daybreak (Tiānmíng), directed by Sun Yu – (China) Deluge, directed by Felix E. Feist, starring Sidney Blackmer The Deserter (Dezertir), directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin – (U.S.S.R.) Design for Living, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Fredric March, Gary Cooper and Miriam Hopkins The Devil's Brother, directed by Hal Roach, starring Laurel and Hardy Dick Turpin, directed by Victor Hanbury, starring Victor McLaglen – (GB) Dinner at Eight, directed by George Cukor, starring Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Lee Tracy and Billie Burke Doctor Bull, directed by John Ford, starring Will Rogers Don Quixote, directed by G.W. Pabst, starring Feodor Chaliapin – (France/GB) Dora's Dunking Doughnuts, directed by Harry Edwards, starring Shirley Temple Dragnet Girl (Hijōsen no Onna), directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Kinuyo Tanaka – (Japan) Duck Soup, directed by Leo McCarey, starring the Marx Brothers
E The Eagle and the Hawk, directed by Stuart Walker, starring Fredric March, Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Jack Oakie Ecstasy (Extase), directed by Gustav Machatý, starring Hedy Lamarr – (Czechoslovakia) The Emperor Jones, directed by Dudley Murphy, starring Paul Robeson Employees' Entrance, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Warren William and Loretta Young Ever in My Heart, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Otto Kruger and Ralph Bellamy Ex-Lady, directed by Robert Florey, starring Bette Davis and Gene Raymond
F Fast Workers, directed by Tod Browning, starring John Gilbert The Flower of Hawaii (Die Blume von Hawaii), directed by Richard Oswald – (Germany) Flying Down to Rio, directed by Thornton Freeland, starring Dolores del Río, Gene Raymond, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire Footlight Parade, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell Friday the Thirteenth, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews – (GB)
G Gabriel Over the White House, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Walter Huston and Franchot Tone Ganga Bruta (Brutal Gang), directed by Humberto Mauro, starring Durval Bellini and Déa Selva (Brazil) The Ghost Camera, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring Ida Lupino and John Mills – (GB) The Ghoul, directed by T. Hayes Hunter, starring Boris Karloff and Cedric Hardwicke – (GB) Going Hollywood, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Marion Davies, Bing Crosby and Patsy Kelly Gold Diggers of 1933, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Warren William, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers The Good Companions, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews, Edmund Gwenn and John Gielgud – (GB) Goodbye Again, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Warren William and Joan Blondell
H Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Al Jolson and Frank Morgan Hard to Handle, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring James Cagney Heroes for Sale, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Richard Barthelmess, Aline MacMahon and Loretta Young Hold Your Man, directed by Sam Wood, starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable The House on 56th Street, directed by Robert Florey, starring Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez and Gene Raymond The House of Dora Green (Salon Dora Green), directed by Henrik Galeen, starring Mady Christians – (Germany) The Hymn of Leuthen (Der Choral von Leuthen), directed by Carl Froelich, starring Otto Gebühr – (Germany)
I I Loved a Woman, directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Edward G. Robinson and Kay Francis I'm No Angel, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Mae West (the writer) and Cary Grant In the Wake of the Bounty, directed by Charles Chauvel, starring Errol Flynn – (Australia) International House, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring W. C. Fields, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Bela Lugosi The Invisible Man, directed by James Whale, starring Gloria Stuart and Claude Rains It's Great to Be Alive, directed by Alfred L. Werker, starring Gloria Stuart
K Każdemu wolno kochać (Anybody Can Love), directed by Mieczysław Krawicz – (Poland) The Kennel Murder Case, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring William Powell and Mary Astor The Keyhole, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Kay Francis, George Brent and Glenda Farrell