The following is an overview of 1930 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Events February 21: Anna Christie, Greta Garbo's first sound film is released, it grosses $1.5 million. February 23: Silent screen legend Mabel Normand dies at the age of 37 in Monrovia, California after a lengthy battle with tuberculosis. March 10: Release of Goodbye Argentina (Adiós Argentina), the first Argentine film with a (musical) soundtrack. Ada Cornaro has her first starring role and Libertad Lamarque makes her film debut. April 6: William Fox sells his interest in Fox Film for $18 million and Harley L. Clarke becomes president. May 27: Howard Hughes' epic film Hell's Angels premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and features Jean Harlow in her first major role as well as some impressive aerial sequences. Although not a financial success upon its release due to its bloated budget, the film is acclaimed by critics and launches Harlow as one of the 1930s' biggest stars. August 9: Cartoon character Betty Boop appears for the first time on screen, in the animated film Dizzy Dishes. September 3: The Hollywood Reporter is first published. September 19: The Love Parade receives a record six Academy Award nominations. November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm and a very early form of 70mm film. It is the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era, costing over $2 million. The film is praised for its aesthetic quality and realism that will not become commonplace until many decades later. However, due to the new film format and the film's release during the Great Depression, the film will go on to become a financial failure at the box office.
Academy Awards
Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front – Universal Pictures Best Director: Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front Best Actor: George Arliss – Disraeli Best Actress: Norma Shearer – The Divorcee
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1930 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1930 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 Whoopee! United Artists $2,655,000 2Check and Double Check RKO $1,751,000Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56 3 All Quiet on the Western Front Universal $1,634,000 4Hell's Angels United Artists $1,600,000 5The Big House MGM $1,279,000. 6Common Clay Fox Film $1,246,000 7Min and Bill MGM $1,223,000 8Song o' My Heart Fox Film $1,200,000 9Son of the GodsFirst National $1,069,000Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 10 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551 10The Dawn Patrol $1,061,000
Notable films released in 1930 United States unless stated
A Abi and Rabi, starring and directed by Ovanes Ohanian – (Iran) Abraham Lincoln, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Walter Huston and Una Merkel L'Âge d'Or (The Golden Age), directed by Luis Buñuel – (France) All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Lew Ayres and Louis Wolheim Alraune, directed by Richard Oswald – (Germany) Animal Crackers, directed by Victor Heerman, starring the Marx Brothers Anna Christie, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Greta Garbo The Arizona Kid, directed by Alfred Santell, starring Warner Baxter and Carole Lombard
B The Bad Man, directed by Clarence G. Badger, starring Walter Huston The Bat Whispers, directed by Roland West, starring Chester Morris and Una Merkel The Benson Murder Case, directed by Frank Tuttle, starring William Powell Big Boy, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Al Jolson The Big House, directed by George Hill, starring Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and Robert Montgomery The Big Pond, directed by Hobart Henley, starring Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert The Big Trail, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring John Wayne Billy the Kid, directed by King Vidor, starring Johnny Mack Brown and Wallace Beery Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings – (Germany) The Blood of a Poet (Le Sang d'un Poète), directed by Jean Cocteau – (France) Borderline, directed by Kenneth Macpherson, starring Paul Robeson – (GB) Bride of the Regiment (lost), directed by John Francis Dillon, starring Walter Pidgeon Bright Lights, directed by Michael Curtiz
C Call of the Flesh, directed by Charles Brabin, starring Ramón Novarro The Cat Creeps (lost), directed by Rupert Julian, starring Helen Twelvetrees Chasing Rainbows, directed by Charles Reisner, starring Charles King, Bessie Love, Jack Benny and Marie Dressler Check and Double Check, directed by Melville W. Brown, starring Amos 'n' Andy Children of Pleasure, directed by Harry Beaumont City Girl, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Mary Duncan and Charles Farrell Common Clay (lost), directed by Victor Fleming, starring Constance Bennett and Lew Ayres The Cuckoos, directed by Paul Sloane, starring Wheeler & Woolsey
D Danger Lights, directed by George B. Seitz, starring Louis Wolheim, Robert Armstrong and Jean Arthur The Dawn Patrol, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Neil Hamilton The Devil to Pay!, directed by George Fitzmaurice, starring Ronald Colman, Loretta Young and Myrna Loy The Divorcee, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Norma Shearer, Chester Morris, Conrad Nagel and Robert Montgomery Dixiana, directed by Luther Reed, starring Bebe Daniels and Wheeler & Woolsey Doughboys, directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Buster Keaton and Cliff Edwards
E Earth (Zemlya), directed by Alexander Dovzhenko – (U.S.S.R.) Elstree Calling, directed by Adrian Brunel and Alfred Hitchcock – (GB) Escape!, directed by Basil Dean, starring Gerald du Maurier and Edna Best – (GB)
F Fast and Loose, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, starring Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard and Frank Morgan Feet First, directed by Clyde Bruckman, starring Harold Lloyd The Florodora Girl, directed by Harry Beaumont, starring Marion Davies The Flute Concert of Sanssouci (Das Flötenkonzert von Sans-souci), directed by Gustav Ucicky, starring Otto Gebühr – (Germany) Follow Thru, directed by Laurence Schwab and Lloyd Corrigan, starring Charles 'Buddy' Rogers Free and Easy, directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Buster Keaton, Anita Page and Robert Montgomery
G The Girl Said No, directed by Sam Wood, starring William Haines, Leila Hyams and Marie Dressler Good News, directed by Nick Grinde, starring Bessie Love and Cliff Edwards
H Hell's Angels, directed by Howard Hughes, starring Jean Harlow and Ben Lyon Her Man, directed by Tay Garnett, starring Helen Twelvetrees High Society Blues, directed by David Butler, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell Hold Everything (lost), directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Joe E. Brown Holiday, directed by Edward H. Griffith, starring Ann Harding and Mary Astor
I Imperial and Royal Field Marshal (C. a k. polní maršálek), directed by Karel Lamač – (Czechoslovakia) Ingagi, directed by William S. Campbell
J Journey's End, directed by James Whale, starring Colin Clive – (GB/US) Just Imagine, directed by David Butler
K King of Jazz, directed by John Murray Anderson, starring Paul Whiteman, John Boles and Laura La Plante
L Ladies Love Brutes, directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring George Bancroft, Mary Astor and Fredric March Ladies of Leisure, directed by Frank Capra, starring Barbara Stanwyck A Lady to Love, directed by Victor Sjöström, starring Vilma Bánky and Edward G. Robinson Leathernecking, directed by Edward F. Cline, starring Irene Dunne Let's Go Native, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Jack Oakie and Jeanette MacDonald Liliom, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Charles Farrell and Rose Hobart Lightnin', directed by Henry King, starring Will Rogers, Louise Dresser and Joel McCrea Loose Ankles, directed by Ted Wilde, starring Loretta Young and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Lord Byron of Broadway, directed by Harry Beaumont and William Nigh The Lottery Bride, directed by Paul L. Stein, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Joe E. Brown and ZaSu Pitts
M Madam Satan, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Kay Johnson Mamba, directed by Albert S. Rogell, starring Jean Hersholt and Eleanor Boardman Mammy, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Al Jolson The Man from Blankley's (lost), directed by Alfred E. Green, starring John Barrymore and Loretta Young A Man from Wyoming, directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Gary Cooper Manslaughter, directed by George Abbott, starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March Min and Bill, directed by George Hill, starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery Montana Moon, directed by Malcolm St. Clair, starring Joan Crawford and Johnny Mack Brown Monte Carlo, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Jack Buchanan and Jeanette MacDonald Morocco, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and Adolphe Menjou Murder!, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Herbert Marshall – (GB) (Le Mystère de la chambre jaune), directed by Marcel L'Herbier – (France)
N Nerone (lost), directed by Alessandro Blasetti, starring Ettore Petrolini – (Italy) Night Birds, directed by Richard Eichberg – (Germany/GB) Not So Dumb, directed by King Vidor, starring Marion Davies
O The Other (Der Andere), directed by Robert Wiene – (Germany) Outside the Law, directed by Tod Browning, starring Edward G. Robinson and Mary Nolan
P Paid, directed by Sam Wood, starring Joan Crawford, Robert Armstrong and Marie Prevost Paramount on Parade, an all-star revue Peacock Alley, directed by Marcel de Sano, starring Mae Murray People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag), directed by Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer – (Germany) Prix de Beauté (Beauty Prize), directed by Augusto Genina, starring Louise Brooks – (France) Puttin' On the Ritz, directed by Edward Sloman, starring Harry Richman and Joan Bennett
Q Queen High, directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, starring Charles Ruggles, Frank Morgan, and Ginger Rogers
R Raffles, directed by George Fitzmaurice, starring Ronald Colman and Kay Francis Reaching for the Moon, directed by Edmund Goulding, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Bebe Daniels Renegades, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy and Noah Beery Sr. The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu, directed by Rowland V. Lee, starring Warner Oland, Jean Arthur and Neil Hamilton The Rogue Song (lost), directed by Lionel Barrymore, starring Lawrence Tibbett The Royal Family of Broadway, directed by George Cukor and Cyril Gardner, starring Fredric March and Mary Brian
S Show Girl in Hollywood, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Alice White Son of the Gods, directed by Frank Lloyd. starring Richard Barthelmess and Constance Bennett Song o' My Heart, directed by Frank Borzage, starring John McCormack The Song of Love (La canzone dell'amore), directed by Gennaro Righelli – (Italy) Soup to Nuts, directed by Benjamin Stoloff, starring Ted Healy and His Stooges Spring Is Here, directed by John Francis Dillon St. Jorgen's Day (Prazdnik svyatogo Yorgena), directed by Yakov Protazanov – (U.S.S.R.) Street of Chance, directed by John Cromwell, starring William Powell, Jean Arthur and Kay Francis Sweet Kitty Bellairs, directed by Alfred E. Green, starring Claudia Dell and Walter Pidgeon
T Tarakanova, directed by Raymond Bernard – (France) The Temporary Widow, directed by Gustav Ucicky, starring Lilian Harvey and Laurence Olivier – (GB/Germany) Three Faces East, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Constance Bennett and Erich von Stroheim The Three from the Filling Station (Die Drei von der Tankstelle), directed by Wilhelm Thiele, starring Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch – (Germany) Tom Sawyer, directed by John Cromwell, starring Jackie Coogan