The following is an overview of 1931 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Events January 5: RKO acquires the producing and distribution arm of Pathé for $4.6 million. March 14: Alam Ara, the first Indian-made sound film, premieres at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay. June 20: Monogram Pictures releases its first film, Ships of Hate. July 7: Anti-competitive practices disclosed about certain distributors and producers in Canada. November 17: E. R. Tinker elected president of Fox Films replacing Harley L. Clarke. December 14: RKO refinancing plan approved.
Academy Awards
The 4th Academy Awards were awarded to films completed and screened released between August 1, 1930, and July 31, 1931, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Most Nominations: Cimarron (RKO Pictures) – 7
Major Awards Best Picture: Cimarron – RKO Best Director: Norman Taurog – Skippy Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore – A Free Soul Best Actress: Marie Dressler – Min and Bill
Most Awards: Cimarron – 3 (Best Picture; Best Adaptation and Best Art Direction)
Cimarron was the first Western to win Best Picture, and would remain the only one to do so for 59 years (until Dances with Wolves won in 1991). It received a then-record seven nominations, and was the first film to win more than two awards.
The 5th Academy Awards were conducted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on November 18, 1932, at a ceremony held at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was hosted by Conrad Nagel. Films screened in Los Angeles between August 1, 1931, and July 31, 1932, were eligible to receive awards.
Most nominations: Arrowsmith (Samuel Goldwyn Productions) and The Champ (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) – 4
Major Awards Best Actor: Wallace Beery – The Champ and Fredric March – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Best Actress: Helen Hayes – The Sin of Madelon Claudet Best Director: Frank Borzage – Bad Girl
Most Awards: Bad Girl (Best Director and Best Adaptation) and The Champ (Best Actor and Best Original Story) – 2
Note: The Academy Award for Best Picture went to 1932's Grand Hotel.
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1931 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1931 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1City Lights United Artists $2,000,000 2Trader Horn MGM $1,642,000. 3Palmy Days United Artists $1,601,000 4The Man Who Came BackFox Film $1,400,000 5 Merely Mary Ann $1,300,000 6ArrowsmithDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde United ArtistsParamount $1,250,000 7A Connecticut Yankee Fox Film $1,200,000Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938) (pg. 942); accessed April 19, 2014 8Cimarron RKO $1,122,000Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56 9Bad Girl Fox Film $1,100,000 10Possessed MGM $1,030,000
Best money stars Variety reported the following as the biggest male stars in the U.S. in alphabetical order although grouped George Arliss and Ronald Colman together as having equal ranking.
ActorGeorge Arliss Ronald ColmanWallace BeeryMaurice ChevalierClark GableEdward G. RobinsonWill Rogers
The following were the biggest women names in the U.S. in alphabetical order but again grouped two actresses together to denote they were ranked the same.
ActressConstance BennettJoan CrawfordMarlene DietrichGreta Garbo Marie DresslerJanet GaynorNorma Shearer
Notable films United States unless stated
# 24 Hours, directed by Marion Gering, starring Clive Brook, Kay Francis and Miriam Hopkins
A À Nous la Liberté (Freedom for Us), directed by René Clair – (France) Alam Ara (The Light of the World) (lost), directed by Ardeshir Irani – (India) Alexander Hamilton, directed by John G. Adolfi, starring George Arliss Alibi (lost), directed by Leslie S. Hiscott – (GB) Alice in Wonderland, directed by Bud Pollard Alone (Sola), directed by Henri Diamant-Berger – (France) Alone (Odna), directed by Leonid Trauberg and Grigori Kozintsev – (USSR) An American Tragedy, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Phillips Holmes and Sylvia Sidney Arrowsmith, directed by John Ford, starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes
B Bachelor Apartment, starring and directed by Lowell Sherman with Irene Dunne The Bachelor Father, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Marion Davies and Ray Milland Bad Girl, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Sally Eilers and James Dunn Bad Sister, directed by Hobart Henley, starring Conrad Nagel, Sidney Fox, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and ZaSu Pitts Berlin-Alexanderplatz, directed by Phil Jutzi, starring Heinrich George, based on the 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin – (Germany) The Black Camel, directed by Hamilton MacFadden, starring Warner Oland, Sally Eilers and Bela Lugosi Blonde Crazy, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell Bought!, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Constance Bennett Business Under Distress (To neznáte Hadimršku), Karel Lamač and Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia)
C The Champ, directed by King Vidor, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper The Cheat, directed by George Abbott, starring Tallulah Bankhead La Chienne (The Bitch), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Michel Simon – (France) Cimarron, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne The Cisco Kid, directed by Irving Cummings, starring Warner Baxter City Lights, a Charlie Chaplin film City Streets, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sidney A Connecticut Yankee, directed by David Butler, starring Will Rogers The Criminal Code, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Walter Huston
D Daughter of the Dragon, directed by Lloyd Corrigan, starring Anna May Wong, Warner Oland and Sessue Hayakawa David Golder, directed by Julien Duvivier – (France) Dishonored, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Victor McLaglen Down River, directed by Peter Godfrey, starring Charles Laughton – (GB) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, starring Bela Lugosi Dracula, directed by George Melford, starring Carlos Villarías
E Elisabeth of Austria (Elisabeth von Österreich), directed by Adolf Trotz, starring Lil Dagover and Paul Otto – (Germany) Emil and the Detectives (Emil und die Detektive), directed by Gerhard Lamprecht, starring Rolf Wenkhaus, Käthe Haack and Fritz Rasp – (Germany) Expensive Women, directed by Hobart Henley, starring Dolores Costello
F Five and Ten, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Marion Davies and Leslie Howard Five Star Final, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, starring Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff A Free Soul, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable From Saturday to Sunday (Ze soboty na neděli), directed by Gustav Machatý – (Czechoslovakia) The Front Page, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien
G Girls About Town, directed by George Cukor, starring Kay Francis, Joel McCrea and Lilyan Tashman Goldie, directed by Benjamin Stoloff, starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy The Guardsman, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne Guilty Hands, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Lionel Barrymore and Kay Francis
H Her Grace Commands (Ihre Hoheit befiehlt), directed by Hanns Schwarz, starring Willy Fritsch and Käthe von Nagy – (Germany) Hobson's Choice (lost), directed by Thomas Bentley – (GB) Honor Among Lovers, directed by Dorothy Arzner, starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Gareth Gundrey – (GB) Huckleberry Finn, directed by Norman Taurog, starring Jackie Coogan Hyppolit, the Butler (Hyppolit, a lakáj), directed by István Székely – (Hungary)
I I Take This Woman, directed by Marion Gering, starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard Indiscreet, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Gloria Swanson and Ben Lyon Iron Man, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lew Ayres and Jean Harlow It's a Wise Child, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Marion Davies
J Just a Gigolo, directed by Jack Conway, starring William Haines
K Kalidas (lost), directed by H. M. Reddy – (Tamil) Kameradschaft (Comradeship), directed by G. W. Pabst – (Germany) Kiki, directed by Sam Taylor, starring Mary Pickford Der Kongreß tanzt (The Congress Dances), directed by Erik Charell, starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, Conrad Veidt and Lil Dagover – (Germany)
L The Last Flight, directed by William Dieterle, starring Richard Barthelmess The Last Kiss, first full-length film produced in Dhallywood, Bangladesh Limite, directed by Mário Peixoto – (Brazil) Little Caesar, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Glenda Farrell
M M, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Peter Lorre – (Germany) The Mad Genius, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring John Barrymore Mädchen in Uniform, directed by Leontine Sagan, starring Hertha Thiele – (Germany) The Maltese Falcon, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez and Una Merkel Marius, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Raimu and Pierre Fresnay – (France) Mata Hari, directed by George Fitzmaurice, starring Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lewis Stone and Lionel Barrymore Le Million, directed by René Clair – (France) The Millionaire, directed by John G. Adolfi, starring George Arliss The Miracle Woman, directed by Frank Capra, starring Barbara Stanwyck Monkey Business, directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring the Marx Brothers My Sin, directed by George Abbott, starring Tallulah Bankhead and Fredric March
N The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (Madamu to nyōbō), directed by Heinosuke Gosho – (Japan) A Night in Montmartre, directed by Leslie S. Hiscott – (GB) Night Nurse, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell and Clark Gable
O Other Men's Women, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Grant Withers, Regis Toomey and Mary Astor
P Palmy Days, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring Eddie Cantor Pardon Us, directed by James Parrott, starring Laurel and Hardy Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Buster Keaton The Peach Girl (Tao hua qi xue ji), directed by Bu Wancang, starring Ruan Lingyu – (China) Peludópolis (lost), directed by Quirino Cristiani – (Argentina) Platinum Blonde, directed by Frank Capra, starring Loretta Young, Robert Williams and Jean Harlow Possessed, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable Private Lives, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery The Public Enemy, directed by William A. Wellman, starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow and Joan Blondell
Q Quick Millions, directed by Rowland Brown, starring Spencer Tracy
R A Brother's Revenge (Enteghm-e baradar), directed Ebrahim Moradi – (Iran)
S Sally in Our Alley, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Gracie Fields – (GB) Secret Service, directed by J. Walter Ruben, starring Richard Dix The Secret Six, directed by George Hill, starring Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable Secrets of a Secretary, directed by George Abbott, starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall Sidewalks of New York, directed by Zion Myers and Jules White, starring Buster Keaton, Anita Page and Cliff Edwards The Sin of Madelon Claudet, directed by Edgar Selwyn, starring Helen Hayes The Sleeping Cardinal, directed by Leslie S. Hiscott, starring Arthur Wontner – (GB) Smart Money, directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney The Smiling Lieutenant, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins