-->
› Unlabelled › 1931 in film

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

- -

In 1931, there were films that have significant happenings.

Top grossing films



Academy Awards



  • Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM
  • Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul
  • Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ
  • Best Actor: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • Best Actress: Marie Dressler - Min and Bill
  • Best Actress: Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet

Note: Prior to 1933, awards were not based on calendar years. And there were two awards given in 1932 for 'Best Actor'. That's how there are 3 'Best Actor', 2 'Best Actress' awards for 1931 films.

Notable films released in 1931


1931 in film

U.S.A. unless stated

  • 24 Hours, starring Clive Brook and Kay Francis
  • À nous la liberté (Freedom for Us), directed by René Clair - (France)
  • Alam Ara (The Light of the World), directed by Ardeshir Irani - the first Indian talkie
  • Alibi directed by Leslie S. Hiscott (Britain)
  • Alice in Wonderland, the first sound version
  • Alone (Odna) - (USSR)
  • An American Tragedy, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Sylvia Sydney
  • Anna Christie, directed by Jacques Feyder, starring Greta Garbo - (Germany)
  • Arrowsmith, directed by John Ford, starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes
  • Bachelor Apartment, starring Irene Dunne and Lowell Sherman
  • Bad Girl, directed by Frank Borzage
  • The Bad Sister, starring Bette Davis
  • Berlin-Alexanderplatz film of the novel by Alfred Döblin - (Germany)
  • The Black Camel, a Charlie Chan mystery starring Warner Oland
  • Blonde Crazy, starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell
  • Bought!, starring Constance Bennett
  • Business Under Distress (To neznáte HadimrÅ¡ku) - (Czechoslovakia)
  • The Champ, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper
  • La Chienne (The Bitch), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Michel Simon - (France)
  • Cimarron, starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne
  • City Lights, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin
  • City Streets, starring Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sidney
  • A Connecticut Yankee, starring Will Rogers
  • The Criminal Code, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Walter Huston
  • David Golder, directed by Julien Duvivier - (France)
  • Dishonored, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Victor McLaglen
  • Down River, 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 and Dwight Frye
  • Elisabeth of Austria starring Lil Dagover and Paul Otto - (Germany)
  • Emil und die Detektive, starring Rolf Wenkhaus, Käthe Haack and Fritz Rasp - (Germany)
  • Expensive Women, starring Dolores Costello and H. B. Warner
  • Five and Ten, starring Marion Davies and Leslie Howard
  • Five Star Final, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson
  • Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Mae Clarke
  • A Free Soul, starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable
  • From Saturday to Sunday (Ze soboty na nedÄ›li) - (Czechoslovakia)
  • The Front Page, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien
  • Girls About Town, directed by George Cukor, starring Kay Francis and Joel McCrea
  • Goldie, starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy
  • The Guardsman, starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
  • Guilty Hands, starring Lionel Barrymore and Kay Francis
  • Hell Divers, starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable
  • Her Grace Commands (Ihre Hoheit befiehlt) - (Germany)
  • Hobson's Choice, directed by Thomas Bentley (Britain)
  • Honor Among Lovers, starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March
  • Huckleberry Finn, starring Jackie Coogan
  • Hyppolit, the Butler (Hyppolit, a lakáj) - (Hungary)
  • I Take This Woman, starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard
  • Indiscreet, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Gloria Swanson and Ben Lyon
  • Iron Man, starring Lew Ayres and Jean Harlow
  • Just a Gigolo, starring Jack Haines
  • Kalidas, the first Tamil sound film, directed by H.M. Reddy (Tamil)
  • Kameradschaft (Comradeship), directed by G.W. Pabst - (Germany)
  • Kiki, starring Mary Pickford
  • Der Kongreß tanzt (Congress Dances), starring Lilian Harvey - (Germany)
  • The Last Flight, starring Richard Barthelmess
  • Limite - (Brazil)
  • Little Caesar, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
  • M, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Peter Lorre and Otto Wernicke - (Germany)
  • The Mad Genius, starring John Barrymore
  • Mädchen in Uniform, directed by Carl Froelich, starring Hertha Thiele - (Germany)
  • The Maltese Falcon, starring Bebe Daniels
  • Marius, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Raimu and Pierre Fresnay - (France)
  • Mata Hari, starring Greta Garbo and Lionel Barrymore
  • Le Million, directed by René Clair - (France)
  • The Millionaire, starring George Arliss
  • The Miracle Woman, directed by Frank Capra, starring Barbara Stanwyck
  • Monkey Business, starring Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo Marx
  • The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (Madamu to nyōbō) - (Japan)
  • Night in Montmartre, directed by Leslie S. Hiscott (Britain)
  • Night Nurse starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ben Lyon
  • Other Men's Women, starring Regis Toomey and Mary Astor
  • Palmy Days, starring Eddie Cantor
  • Pardon Us, starring Laurel and Hardy
  • Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood (Tao hua qi xue ji) - (China)
  • Platinum Blonde, starring Loretta Young, Robert Williams and Jean Harlow
  • Possessed, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
  • Private Lives, starring Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery
  • The Public Enemy, directed by William A. Wellman, starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow and Joan Blondell
  • Quick Millions, starring Spencer Tracy
  • Revenge on the Brother, directed Ebrahim Moradi (Iran)
  • Sally in Our Alley, starring Gracie Fields - (GB)
  • The Secret Six, starring Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
  • Secrets of a Secretary, starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall
  • Sidewalks of New York, starring Buster Keaton
  • The Sin of Madelon Claudet, starring Helen Hayes
  • Smart Money, starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney
  • The Smiling Lieutenant, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins
  • The Speckled Band, directed by Jack Raymond, starring Raymond Massey - (GB)
  • A Spray of Plum Blossoms (Yi jian mei) - (China)
  • The Squaw Man directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Warner Baxter
  • The Stolen Jools, starring Gary Cooper, Laurel and Hardy, and Norma Shearer
  • Street Scene, directed by King Vidor, starring Sylvia Sidney
  • Svengali, starring John Barrymore
  • Tabu, directed by F. W. Murnau
  • Tell England, directed by Anthony Asquith - (GB)
  • Ten Cents a Dance, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ricardo Cortez
  • The Theft of the Mona Lisa (Der Raub der Mona Lisa) - (Germany)
  • This Modern Age, starring Joan Crawford
  • The Threepenny Opera (Die 3 groschen-oper), starring Lotte Lenya - (Germany)
  • Tilly of Bloomsbury, directed by Jack Raymond, starring Sydney Howard, Phyllis Konstam (Britain)
  • Tokyo Chorus (Tokyo no korasu), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
  • Tommi, directed by Yakov Protazanov - (USSR)
  • Tonight or Never, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Gloria Swanson and Melvyn Douglas
  • Waterloo Bridge, directed by James Whale

Serials



  • Battling with Buffalo Bill
  • Danger Island
  • Finger Prints
  • The Galloping Ghost, starring Harold Grange
  • Heroes of the Flames
  • King of the Wild
  • The Lightning Warrior, starring Rin Tin Tin
  • The Mystery Trooper
  • The Phantom of the West
  • The Sign of the Wolf
  • The Spell of the Circus
  • The Vanishing Legion

Short film series


1931 in film
  • Laurel and Hardy (1921â€"1943)
  • Charley Chase (1924â€"1940)
  • Buster Keaton (1917â€"1941)
  • Our Gang (1922â€"1944)

Animated short film series



  • Aesop's Film Fables (1921â€"1933)
  • Krazy Kat (1925â€"1940)
  • Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927â€"1938)
  • Mickey Mouse
    • The Birthday Party
    • Traffic Troubles
    • The Castaway
    • The Moose Hunt
    • The Delivery Boy
    • Mickey Steps Out
    • Blue Rhythm
    • Fishin' Around
    • The Barnyard Broadcast
    • The Beach Party
    • Mickey Cuts Up
    • Mickey's Orphans
  • Silly Symphonies
    • Birds of a Feather
    • Mother Goose Melodies
    • The China Plate
    • The Busy Beavers
    • The Cat's Out
    • Egyptian Melodies
    • The Clock Store
    • The Spider and the Fly
    • The Fox Hunt
    • The Ugly Duckling
  • Screen Songs (1929â€"1938)
  • Talkartoons (1929â€"1932)
    • Mask a Raid (featuring Betty Boop)
  • Looney Tunes (1930â€"1969)
  • Flip the Frog (1930â€"1933)
  • Terrytoons (1930â€"1964)
  • Toby the Pup (1930-1931)
  • Merrie Melodies (1931-1969)
  • Scrappy (1931-1941)
  • Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren) (1931-1933)

Births



  • January 5 - Robert Duvall, actor and director
  • January 14 - Caterina Valente, French singer and actress
  • January 17 - James Earl Jones, actor
  • February 6
    • Mamie Van Doren, actress and sex symbol
    • Rip Torn, actor and director
  • February 8 - James Dean, actor (died 1955)
  • February 15 - Claire Bloom, actress
  • March 22 - William Shatner, actor
  • March 26 - Leonard Nimoy, actor and director
  • April 8 - John Gavin, actor, diplomat
  • May 28 - Carroll Baker, actress
  • June 20 - Olympia Dukakis, actress
  • July 1 - Leslie Caron, French actress and dancer
  • July 4 - Stephen Boyd, Irish actor (died 1977)
  • July 11 - Tab Hunter, actor and singer
  • August 31 - Noble Willingham, actor (died 2004)
  • September 10 - Philip Baker Hall, actor
  • September 12 - Ian Holm, English actor
  • September 17 - Anne Bancroft, actress (died 2005)
  • September 21 - Larry Hagman, actor and director (died 2012)
  • September 29 - Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress and sex symbol (died 2015)
  • September 30 - Angie Dickinson, actress
  • November 6 - Mike Nichols German-born director
  • December 11 - Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress

Deaths



  • March 11 - F. W. Murnau, German director (b. 1888)
  • March 24
    • Charles Clary, silent film actor (born 1873)
    • Robert Edeson, stage and screen actor (born 1868)
  • June 7 - Viktor Schwanneke, German actor (born 1880)
  • August 14 - Janie Marèse, French actress (born 1908)
  • November 27 - Lya De Putti, Hungarian actress (born 1899)
  • December 23 - Tyrone Power, Sr., stage and film veteran, father of movie star Tyrone Power (born 1869)

Film debuts



  • Bruce Cabot - Heroes of the Flames
  • Bette Davis - The Bad Sister
  • Lotte Lenya - The Threepenny Opera
  • Otto Preminger director, producer - The Great Love
  • Simone Simon - Durand contre Durand


Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
 
Sponsored Links