1933 in film

The following is an overview of 1933 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

In 1933, the top three grossing films in the United States were Queen Christina with $2,887,000; I'm No Angel with $2,850,000 and King Kong with $2,847,000.

Events

• March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.
• June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.
• British Film Institute founded.
• GPO Film Unit 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 cartoons, but they once again failed to make a deal with the estate of creator L. Frank Baum
• Ecstasy, a Czechoslovak film, shocks audiences when actress Hedy Lamarr is seen naked in the film.
• The Private Life of Henry VIII becomes the first British film to win an American Academy Award.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Cavalcade - Fox
• Best Actor: Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII
• Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory

Notable films released in 1933

U.S.A. unless stated

• 42nd Street, Directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Ginger Rogers
• Adorable, directed by William Dieterle, starring Janet Gaynor
• Don Quixote, directed by G.W. Pabst, starring Feodor Chaliapin - (France/GB)
• After Tonight, starring Constance Bennett
• Alice in Wonderland, starring Charlotte Henry and virtually every Paramount star at the time
• Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent
• Beauty for Sale, starring Madge Evans and Alice Brady
• Bed of Roses, starring Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea
• A Bedtime Story, starring Maurice Chevalier
• Bitter Sweet, starring Anna Neagle - (GB)
• The Bitter Tea of General Yen, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Blood Money, starring George Bancroft
• Bombshell, starring Jean Harlow
• The Bowery, starring Wallace Beery and George Raft
• Bureau of Missing Persons, starring Bette Davis and Pat O'Brien
• By Candlelight, directed by James Whale
• Cash, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Robert Donat - (GB)
• Cavalcade, starring Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor and Herbert Mundin
• Der Choral von Leuthen (The Hymn of Leuthen), directed by Carl Froelich - (Germany)
• Counsellor at Law, starring John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels
• Dancing Lady, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
• Daybreak (Tiānmíng) - (China)
• Deluge, starring Sidney Blackmer
• The Deserter - (U.S.S.R.)
• Design for Living, starring Fredric March, Gary Cooper and Miriam Hopkins
• The Devil's Brother, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Dinner at Eight, directed by George Cukor and featuring an all-star cast
• Doctor Bull, starring Will Rogers
• Dora's Dunking Doughnuts, starring Shirley Temple
• Dragnet Girl (Hijosen no onna), starring Kinuyo Tanaka, directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• Duck Soup, directed by Leo McCarey, starring the Marx Brothers
• The Eagle and the Hawk, starring Fredric March, Cary Grant, Carole Lombard
• Ecstasy, starring Hedy Lamarr - (Czechoslovakia)
• The Emperor Jones, starring Paul Robeson
• Employees' Entrance, starring Warren William and Loretta Young
• Ever in My Heart, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Ex-Lady, starring Bette Davis
• Fast Workers, starring John Gilbert and Mae Clarke
• The Flower of Hawaii (Die Blume von Hawaii), directed by Richard Oswald - (Germany)
• Flüchtlinge (Refugees) - (Germany)
• Flying Down to Rio, starring Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond. Also starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their first of 10 films together
• Footlight Parade, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell and Ruby Keeler
• Friday the Thirteenth, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews - (GB)
• Gabriel Over the White House, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Walter Huston, Produced by William Randolph Hearst
• Ganga Bruta, directed by Humberto Mauro, starring Durval Bellini and Déa Selva (Brazil)
• The Ghoul, starring Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke and Ernest Thesiger - (GB)
• The Ghost Camera, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring Ida Lupino, John Mills - (GB)
• Going Hollywood, starring Marion Davies and Bing Crosby
• Gold Diggers of 1933, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers and Warren William
• The Good Companions, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews, Edmund Gwenn and John Gielgud - (GB)
• Goodbye Again, starring Joan Blondell and Warren William
• Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, starring Al Jolson
• Hard to Handle, starring James Cagney
• Heroes for Sale, starring Loretta Young and Richard Barthelmess
• Hold Your Man, starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
• The House on 56th Street, starring Kay Francis
• The House of Dora Green, directed by Henrik Galeen, starring Mady Christians - (Germany)
• I'm No Angel, starring Mae West and Cary Grant. West also wrote the story and screenplay.
• In the Wake of the Bounty, starring Errol Flynn as Fletcher Christian - (Australia)
• International House, starring W. C. Fields, George Burns, Gracie Allen
• The Invisible Man, starring Claude Rains in the title role with Gloria Stuart
• It's Great to Be Alive, directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Raul Roulien and Gloria Stuart
• Każdemu wolno kochać (Anybody Can Love), by MieczysÅ‚aw Krawicz - (Poland)
• King Kong, starring Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong
• Ladies They Talk About, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Lady for a Day, directed by Frank Capra, starring Warren William and May Robson
• Lady Killer, starring James Cagney
• Liebelei, directed by Max Ophüls - (Germany)
• Life Is a Dog (Život je pes), directed by Martin Frič - (Czechoslovakia)
• Little Toys (Xiáo wÇŽnyì), directed by Sun Yu - (China)
• Little Women, directed by George Cukor, starring Katharine Hepburn and Joan Bennett
• Looking Forward, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Lionel Barrymore
• Lot in Sodom, starring Friedrich Haak
• Loyalties, starring Basil Rathbone - (GB)
• Man's Castle, starring Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young
• The Mayor of Hell, starring James Cagney
• Men Must Fight, starring Diana Wynyard
• Midnight Club, starring George Raft and Clive Brook
• Midnight Mary, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Loretta Young
• The Midnight Patrol, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Money for Speed, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring John Loder and Ida Lupino - (GB)
• The Monkey's Paw, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack
• Morning Glory, starring Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
• Mystery of the Wax Museum, starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray
• Okraina (The Outskirts) - (U.S.S.R.)
• One Sunday Afternoon, starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray
• Only Yesterday, starring Margaret Sullavan
• Our Betters, starring Constance Bennett, Gilbert Roland, and Anita Louise
• Parachute Jumper, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Bette Davis, and Frank McHugh
• Passing Fancy (Dekigokoro), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• Peg o' My Heart, starring Marion Davies
• Penthouse, starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy
• Perfect Understanding, starring Gloria Swanson and Laurence Olivier - (GB)
• Pick-Up, starring Sylvia Sydney and George Raft
• Picture Snatcher, starring James Cagney
• Pilgrimage, directed by John Ford
• The Power and the Glory, starring Spencer Tracy
• The Private Life of Henry VIII, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Charles Laughton - (GB)
• The Prizefighter and the Lady, starring Max Baer, Myrna Loy, Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey
• Professional Sweetheart, starring Ginger Rogers
• Queen Christina, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert
• Roman Scandals, starring Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Gloria Stuart
• S.O.S Iceberg (S.O.S. Eisberg), starring Leni Riefenstahl - (Germany)
• Secret of the Blue Room, starring Paul Lukas, Gloria Stuart and Lionel Atwill
• Secrets, starring Mary Pickford in her last film
• She Done Him Wrong, starring Mae West and Cary Grant in his first notable film role
• She Had to Say Yes, starring Loretta Young and Lyle Talbot, directed by Busby Berkeley and George Amy
• The Son of Kong, starring Robert Armstrong and Helen Mack
• Sons of the Desert, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• A Southern Maid, starring Bebe Daniels and Clifford Mollison - (GB)
• 'Spring Silkworms (Chung Can) - (China)
• State Fair, starring Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers and Lew Ayres
• The Story of Temple Drake, starring Miriam Hopkins and Jack La Rue
• The Stranger's Return, starring Miriam Hopkins and Lionel Barrymore
• A Study in Scarlet, starring Reginald Owen
• Supernatural, starring Carole Lombard, Alan Dinehart, Vivienne Osborne and Randolph Scott
• The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Otto Wernicke - (Germany)
• This Day and Age, Cecil B. Demille's now cult-favorite, starring Richard Cromwell and featuring then-teenager: Baby Peggy.
• This Week of Grace' directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Gracie Fields - (Britain)
• Three-Cornered Moon, starring Claudette Colbert and Richard Arlen
• Three Little Pigs, an animated short
• Tillie and Gus, starring Alison Skipworth and W. C. Fields
• Today We Live, starring Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper
• Tonight Is Ours, starring Fredric March and Claudette Colbert
• Topaze, starring John Barrymore and Myrna Loy
• Torch Singer, starring Claudette Colbert
• Tugboat Annie, starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery
• Turn Back the Clock, starring Lee Tracy and Mae Clarke
• The Vampire Bat, starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray
• Viktor und Viktoria - (Germany)
• Voltaire, starring George Arliss
• When Ladies Meet, starring Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery and Myrna Loy
• The World Changes, starring Mary Astor and Paul Muni
• Wild Boys of the Road, starring Frankie Darro and Edwin Phillips
• The Working Man, starring George Arliss and Bette Davis
• You Made Me Love You starring Stanley Lupino and Thelma Todd - (GB)
• Zero for Conduct (Zéro de conduite), directed by Jean Vigo - (France)

Serials

• Clancy of the Mounted
• Fighting with Kit Carson
• Gordon of Ghost City
• The Mystery Squadron
• The Perils of Pauline, starring Evalyn Knapp
• The Phantom of the Air
• The Return of Chandu
• Tarzan the Fearless, starring Buster Crabbe
• The Three Musketeers, starring Jack Mulhall and John Wayne
• The Whispering Shadow, starring Bela Lugosi
• The Wolf Dog, starring Rin Tin Tin

Comedy film series

• Harold Lloyd (1913â€"1938)
• Charlie Chaplin (1914â€"1940)
• Lupino Lane (1915â€"1939)
• Buster Keaton (1917â€"1944)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921â€"1945)
• Our Gang (1922â€"1944)
• Harry Langdon (1924â€"1936)
• Wheeler and Woolsey (1929â€"1937)
• The Marx Brothers (1929â€"1946)
• The Three Stooges (1933-1962)

Animated short film series

• Aesop's Film Fables (1921-1933)
• Krazy Kat (1925â€"1940)
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927â€"1938)
• Mickey Mouse (1928â€"1953)
• Silly Symphonies
  • Birds in the Spring
  • Father Noah's Ark
  • Three Little Pigs
  • Old King Cole
  • Lullaby Land
  • The Pied Piper
  • The Night Before Christmas
• Screen Songs (1929â€"1938)
• Looney Tunes (1930â€"1969)
• Flip the Frog (1930-1933)
• Terrytoons (1930â€"1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931â€"1969)
• Scrappy (1931â€"1941)
• Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren) (1931-1933)
• Betty Boop (1932â€"1939)
  • Betty Boop's Ker-Choo
  • Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions
  • Is My Palm Read?
  • Betty Boop's Penthouse
  • Snow White
  • Betty Boop's Birthday Party
  • Betty Boop's May Party
  • Betty Boop's Big Boss
  • Mother Goose Land
  • Popeye the Sailor (first Popeye cartoon)
  • The Old Man of the Mountain
  • I Heard
  • Morning, Noon and Night
  • Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party
  • Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
• Popeye (1933-1957)
  • Popeye the Sailor (Betty Boop cartoon)
• Pooch the Pup (1932-1933)
• Willie Whopper (1933-1934)
• ComiColor Cartoons (1933-1936)
• Cubby Bear (1933-1934)
• The Little King (1933-1934)

Births

• January 12 - Liliana Cavani, Italian director
• January 18 - John Boorman, English director
• January 23 - Chita Rivera, actress, dancer and singer
• January 28 - Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
• February 13 - Kim Novak, actress
• February 18 - Mary Ure, Scottish actress (died 1975)
• March 14 - Michael Caine, English actor
• April 5 - Frank Gorshin, actor and comedian (died 2005)
• April 19 - Jayne Mansfield, actress (died 1967)
• April 26 - Carol Burnett, actress, television host and comedienne
• May 23 - Joan Collins, English actress
• June 11 - Gene Wilder, actor
• June 20 - Danny Aiello, actor
• July 29 - Lou Albano, actor, professional wrestler (died 2009)
• August 1 - Dom DeLuise, actor and comedian (died 2009)
• August 2 - Tom Bell, English actor (died 2006)
• August 16 - Julie Newmar, actress, dancer and singer
• August 18 - Roman Polanski, Polish director
• August 25 - Tom Skerritt, actor
• September 18 - Robert Blake, actor
• November 3 - Jeremy Brett, English actor (died 1995)
• November 28 - Hope Lange, actress (died 2003)
• December 15 - Tim Conway, actor and comedian

Deaths

• January 3 â€" Jack Pickford, Canadian-born American actor and director
• January 25 â€" Lewis J. Selznick, Ukrainian-born American producer
• February 15 â€" Pat Sullivan, Australian-born American director/producer of animated films, alleged co-creator of Felix the Cat
• February 26 â€" Spottiswoode Aitken, American actor
• February 23 â€" David Horsley, English-born American film executive
• March 8 â€" Albert Roscoe, American actor
• June 29 â€" Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor
• August 18 â€" James Williamson, Scottish film developer and film director
• August 28 â€" Helen Dunbar, American actress
• September 24 â€" Ferdinand Bonn, German actor
• October 5 â€" Renée Adorée, French actress
• October 30 â€" Svend Kornbeck, Danish actor
• December 19 â€" Jimmie Adams, American comedian

Film debuts

• Morris Ankrum - Reunion in Vienna
• Dame Peggy Ashcroft - The Wandering Jew
• Fred Astaire - Flying Down to Rio
• Lucille Ball - The Bowery
• Frances Drake - The Jewel
• Errol Flynn - In the Wake of the Bounty
• Margaret Hamilton - Another Language
• Phil Harris - Melody Cruise
• Will Hay - Know Your Apples
• King Kong
• Dorothy Lamour - Footlight Parade
• Cesar Romero - The Shadow Laughs
• Margaret Sullavan - Only Yesterday