1936 in film
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| 19th century |
| 1870s |
The following is an overview of 1936 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Events
- May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film, Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.
- February 15 - first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, is released.
Top-grossing films
| Rank | Title | Studio | Worldwide Rentals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | San Francisco | MGM | $5,273,000[1] |
| 2. | The Great Ziegfeld | MGM | $4,673,000[1] |
| 3. | Rose Marie | MGM | $3,515,000[1] |
| 4. | These Three | United Artists | |
| 5. | Camille | MGM | $2,842,000[1] |
| 6. | Libeled Lady | MGM | $2,723,000[1] |
| 7. | Three Smart Girls | Universal Pictures | |
| 8. | Anthony Adverse | Warner Bros. | $2,750,000[2] |
| 9. | The Charge of the Light Brigade | Warner Bros. | $2,736,000[2] |
| 10. | Follow the Fleet | RKO | $2,707,000[3] |
| 11. | Swing Time | RKO | $2,618,000[3] |
| 12. | Romeo and Juliet | MGM | $2,075,000[1] |
Academy Awards
- Best Picture: The Great Ziegfeld - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Best Actor: Paul Muni - The Story of Louis Pasteur
- Best Actress: Luise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld
- Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan - Come and Get It
- Best Supporting Actress: Gale Sondergaard - Anthony Adverse
Top Ten Money Making Stars
Exhibitors selected the following as the Top Ten Money Making Stars of the Year in Quigley Publishing Company's annual poll.[4]
| Rank | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| 1. | Shirley Temple |
| 2. | Clark Gable |
| 3. | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers |
| 4. | Robert Taylor |
| 5. | Joe E. Brown |
| 6. | Dick Powell |
| 7. | Joan Crawford |
| 8. | Claudette Colbert |
| 9. | Jeanette MacDonald |
| 10. | Gary Cooper |
Top Western stars
A poll of the top Western stars was also published for the first time.[5]
| Rank | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| 1. | Buck Jones |
| 2. | George O'Brien |
| 3. | Gene Autry |
| 4. | William Boyd |
| 5. | Ken Maynard |
| 6. | Dick Foran |
| 7. | John Wayne |
| 8. | Tim McCoy |
| 9. | Hoot Gibson |
| 10. | Buster Crabbe |
1936 film releases
U.S.A. unless stated.
January–March
- January 1936
- 16 January
- 17 January
- 20 January
- 22 January
- 24 January
- 30 January
- February 1936
- 1 February
- 5 February
- 6 February
- 7 February
- 14 February
- 15 February
- 19 February
- 20 February
- 22 February
- 28 February
- 29 February
- March 1936
- 1 March
- 2 March
- 6 March
- 9 March
- 13 March
- 18 March
- 22 March
- 28 March
- 30 March
April–June
- April 1936
- 4 April
- 10 April
- 11 April
- 16 April
- 20 April
- 24 April
- 30 April
- May 1936
- 6 May
- 8 May
- 11 May
- 17 May
- 19 May
- Love in Exile (GB)
- 28 May
- 29 May
- June 1936
- 5 June
- 6 June
- 15 June
- 17 June
- 20 June
- 26 June
July–September
- July 1936
- 10 July
- 16 July
- 22 July
- 24 July
- 28 July
- 29 July
- August 1936
- 10 August
- Where There's a Will (GB)
- 20 August
- 26 August
- East Meets West (UK)
- 28 August
- 10 August
- September 1936
- 1 September
- 2 September
- 4 September
- 6 September
- 9 September
- 10 September
- Dusty Ermine (UK)
- 11 September
- 15 September
- 23 September
- 25 September
- 26 September
- 30 September
- Yiddle with his Fiddle (Poland/U.S.A.)
October–December
- October 1936
- 1 October
- 6 October
- 9 October
- 15 October
- 16 October
- 20 October
- 22 October
- Crime Over London (GB)
- 27 October
- 30 October
- November 1936
- 6 November
- 12 November
- 13 November
- 16 November
- 20 November
- 25 November
- 26 November
- 27 November
- December 1936
- 1 December
- 2 December
- 11 December
- 12 December
- 20 December
- 21 December
- Forget Me Not (UK)
- 24 December
- 25 December
- 26 December
- 31 December
Notable films released in 1936
U.S.A. unless stated.
0-9
- 15 Maiden Lane, starring Claire Trevor and Cesar Romero
A-C
- Accused, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Dolores del Río (GB)
- Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden), starring Ashok Kumar (India)
- The Adventures of Pinocchio (Italy)
- After the Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
- Allá en el Rancho Grande (Out on the Great Ranch) (Mexico)
- The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss, starring Cary Grant (GB)
- Anthony Adverse, starring Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland
- Anything Goes, starring Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman
- Augustus the Strong (August der Starke), directed by Paul Wegener - (Germany/Poland)
- Les bas-fonds, (Underworld), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin and Louis Jouvet (France)
- Black Eyes directed by Abdolhossein Sepanta (Iran)
- Blood on Wolf Mountain (Lang shan die xue ji) - (China)
- The Bohemian Girl, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
- The Bold Caballero
- Born to Dance, starring Eleanor Powell and James Stewart
- Bullets or Ballots, starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Blondell
- By the Bluest of Seas (U samogo sinego morya), directed by Boris Barnet (U.S.S.R.)
- Cain and Mabel, starring Marion Davies and Clark Gable
- Camel Through the Eye of a Needle (Velbloud uchem jehly) (Czechoslovakia)
- Camille, starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor
- Captain January, starring Shirley Temple
- The Case Against Mrs. Ames, starring Madeleine Carroll and George Brent
- Ceiling Zero, directed by Howard Hawks, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien
- César, directed by Marcel Pagnol (France)
- The Charge of the Light Brigade, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
- Charlie Chan at the Opera, starring Warner Oland and Boris Karloff
- The Children of Captain Grant
- Circus (Tsirk) (U.S.S.R.)
- Collegiate, starring Frances Langford and Betty Grable
- Come and Get It, starring Edward Arnold and Joel McCrea
- Craig's Wife, starring Rosalind Russell
- The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Le Crime de Monsieur Lange), directed by Jean Renoir (France)
- Crime Over London, directed by Alfred Zeisler (GB)
D-K
- The Desert Island (Lang tao sha) (China)
- Desire, starring Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper
- Devdas (India)
- The Devil-Doll, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan
- Dimples, starring Shirley Temple
- Dodsworth, directed by William Wyler, starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor
- Dracula's Daughter, starring Otto Kruger and Gloria Holden
- Dusty Ermine, directed by Bernard Vorhaus (UK)
- East Meets West, starring George Arliss (UK)
- Empty Saddles, starring Buck Jones and Louise Brooks
- Everything Is Thunder, starring Constance Bennett (UK)
- Follow the Fleet, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
- Forget Me Not, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Beniamino Gigli and Joan Gardner (UK)
- The Four Musketeers (Italy)
- Fury, starring Sylvia Sidney and Spencer Tracy
- The Garden of Allah, starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer
- The General Died at Dawn, starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll
- Girl Friends (Podrugi) (U.S.S.R.)
- Go West, Young Man, starring Mae West, adapted by her from Lawrence Riley's 1934 stage play Personal Appearance
- Gold Diggers of 1937, directed by Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley
- The Gorgeous Hussy, starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor
- The Great Ziegfeld, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
- Green Pastures, adapted from the 1923 stage play, starring Rex Ingram and Eddie Anderson
- Hearts Divided, starring Marion Davies and Dick Powell
- Hopalong Cassidy Returns, starring William Boyd
- I'll Give a Million (Darò un milione), starring Vittorio De Sica (Italy)
- Intermezzo, starring Ingrid Bergman and Gösta Ekman (Sweden)
- The Invisible Ray, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
- It Had to Happen, starring George Raft and Rosalind Russell
- It's Love Again, starring Jessie Matthews and Robert Young (GB)
- The Jungle Princess, starring Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland
- Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (The Emperor of California) - (Germany)
L-Q
- Laburnum Grove, starring Edmund Gwenn and Cedric Hardwicke (GB)
- The Last of the Mohicans, starring Randolph Scott
- The Lawless Nineties, starring John Wayne
- Let's Go With Pancho Villa (Vámonos con Pancho Villa) (Mexico)
- Libeled Lady, starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
- Limelight, starring Anna Neagle (GB)
- Little Lord Fauntleroy, starring Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello Barrymore, C. Aubrey Smith
- Lloyd's of London, starring Freddie Bartholomew, Madeleine Carroll, Tyrone Power
- Love Before Breakfast, starring Carole Lombard and Preston Foster
- Love in Exile, starring Helen Vinson and Clive Brook (GB)
- Love on the Run. starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
- Man of the Frontier, starring Gene Autry
- The Man Who Changed His Mind, starring Boris Karloff (GB)
- The Man Who Could Work Miracles, starring Roland Young and Ralph Richardson (GB)
- Mayerling, directed by Anatole Litvak starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux (France)
- Men Are Not Gods, starring Miriam Hopkins, Gertrude Lawrence, Rex Harrison (GB)
- A Message to Garcia, directed by George Marshall, starring Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles and Wallace Beery
- Militiaman Bruggler (Standschütze Bruggler) - (Germany)
- The Milky Way, starring Harold Lloyd
- Modern Times, written, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin, with Paulette Goddard
- The Mongolian Boy (Монгол хүү), directed by Ilya Trauberg is released as the first Mongolian film
- The Moon's Our Home, starring Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullavan
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, directed by Frank Capra, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur
- My Man Godfrey, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring William Powell and Carole Lombard
- Next Time We Love, starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Ray Milland
- Night Mail, documentary (GB)
- The Only Son (Hitori musuko), directed by Yasujirō Ozu (Japan)
- Osaka Elegy (Naniwa erejii), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan)
- Our Relations, starring Laurel and Hardy
- Palm Springs, starring Frances Langford and David Niven
- Paradise Road (Ulička v ráji) (Czechoslovakia)
- Pennies from Heaven, starring Bing Crosby and Madge Evans
- The Petrified Forest, starring Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis
- Poppy, starring W.C. Fields
- The Plainsman, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur
- Poor Little Rich Girl, starring Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Jack Haley
- The Prisoner of Shark Island, directed by John Ford, starring Warner Baxter and Gloria Stuart
- Private Number, starring Loretta Young and Robert Taylor
R-Z
- Red River Valley, starring Gene Autry
- Redes, directed by Fred Zinnemann – (Mexico)
- Reefer Madness, (aka Tell Your Children), a cult exploitation film
- Rembrandt, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Charles Laughton – (GB)
- Road Gang, starring Donald Woods
- The Road to Glory, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Lionel Barrymore and Fredric March
- Romeo and Juliet, starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone
- Rose Marie, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy
- Sabotage, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Sylvia Sidney and Oskar Homolka – (GB)
- San Francisco, starring Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy
- Satan Met a Lady, starring Warren William and Bette Davis
- Secret Agent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring John Gielgud and Madeleine Carroll (GB)
- Show Boat, starring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan
- The Singing Kid, starring Al Jolson
- Sisters of the Gion (Gion no shimai), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan)
- Small Town Girl, directed by William Wellman, starring Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, James Stewart
- Sportszerelem (Hungary)
- Spy of Napoleon, directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Richard Barthelmess and Dolly Haas (GB)
- The Story of Louis Pasteur, starring Paul Muni
- Stowaway, starring Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye
- Sutter's Gold, starring Edward Arnold
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Tod Slaughter (GB)
- Swing Time, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
- Tarzan Escapes, starring Johnny Weissmuller
- The Texas Rangers, directed by King Vidor, starring Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie
- Theodora Goes Wild, starring Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas
- These Three, starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea (adapted from Lillian Hellman play The Children's Hour)
- Things to Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies, starring Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwicke (GB)
- Thirteen Hours by Air, starring Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett
- Three Godfathers, starring Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan
- Till We Meet Again, starring Herbert Marshall and Gertrude Michael
- Too Many Parents, debut film for Frances Farmer
- The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, starring Sylvia Sidney, Fred MacMurray, Henry Fonda
- Tudor Rose, starring Cedric Hardwicke, Nova Pilbeam, John Mills (GB)
- The Walking Dead, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Boris Karloff
- Where There's a Will, starring Will Hay - (GB)
- Whom the Gods Love, directed by Basil Dean, starring Stephen Haggard, Victoria Hopper - (GB)
- Wife vs. Secretary, starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy
- Windbag the Sailor, starring Will Hay (GB)
- A Woman Rebels, starring Katharine Hepburn and Herbert Marshall
- Yiddle with his Fiddle, starring Molly Picon (Poland/U.S.A.)
Serials
- Ace Drummond, starring John (Dusty) King
- The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
- The Black Coin
- The Clutching Hand
- Custer's Last Stand
- Darkest Africa, starring Clyde Beatty
- Flash Gordon, starring Buster Crabbe
- The Phantom Rider
- Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island, starring Ray Mala
- Shadow of Chinatown
- Undersea Kingdom, starring Ray Corrigan
- The Vigilantes Are Coming
Comedy film series
- Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
- Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
- Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
- Buster Keaton (1917–1928)
- Laurel and Hardy (1927-1940)
- Our Gang (1922–1944)
- Harry Langdon (1924-1936)
- Wheeler & Woolsey (1929–1937)
- The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
- The Three Stooges (1933–1962)
Animated short film series
- Felix the Cat (1919-1936)
- Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
- Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
- Silly Symphonies
- Elmer Elephant
- Three Little Wolves
- Toby Tortoise Returns
- Three Blind Mousketeers
- The Country Cousin
- Mother Pluto
- More Kittens
- Screen Songs (1929–1938)
- Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
- Terrytoons (1930–1964)
- Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
- Scrappy (1931–1941)
- Betty Boop (1932–1939)
- Popeye (1933–1957)
- ComiColor Cartoons (1933-1936)
- Happy Harmonies (1934–1938)
- Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
- Rainbow Parades (1935-1936)
- Meany, Miny, and Moe (1936-1937)
Births
- January 22 - Nyree Dawn Porter, English actress (d. 2001)
- January 27 - Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
- January 28 - Alan Alda, American actor
- February 11 - Burt Reynolds, American actor (d. 2018)
- March 1 - Georgina Spelvin, pornographic film actress
- March 5 - Dean Stockwell, American actor
- March 19 - Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
- May 1 - Danièle Huillet, French director (d. 2006)
- May 9 - Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
- May 17 - Dennis Hopper, American actor and performance artist (d. 2010)
- June 4 - Bruce Dern, American actor
- July 5 - Shirley Knight, American actress
- August 13 - Vyjayanthimala, Indian actress, politician, dancer and singer
- August 18 - Robert Redford, American actor and director
- August 25 - Hugh Hudson, English director
- October 9 - Brian Blessed, English actor
- October 16 - Irina Demick, French actress (d. 2004)
- December 8 - David Carradine, American actor and martial artist (d. 2009)
- December 10 - Howard Smith, American journalist, director and producer (d. 2014)
- December 23 - Frederic Forrest, American actor
- December 25 - Ismail Merchant, Indian film producer (d. 2005)
- December 29 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress (d. 2017)
Deaths
- January 9 – John Gilbert, American actor (b. 1897)
- January 24 - Harry T. Morey, American actor (b. 1873)
- February 20 - Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
- February 28 - Justus Hagman, Swedish actor (b. 1859)
- April 6 - Väinö Lehmus, Finnish actor (b. 1886)
- June 17 - Henry B. Walthall, American actor (b. 1897)
- September 14 - Irving Thalberg, American film producer (b. 1899)
- October 17 - Suzanne Bianchetti, French actress (b. 1889)
Debuts
- Lloyd Bridges - Freshman Love
- Gloria DeHaven - Modern Times
- Van Heflin - A Woman Rebels
- Tony Martin - Follow the Fleet
- Anthony Quinn - The Milky Way
- Margaret Rutherford - Dusty Ermine
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ a b Glancy, H Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television. 15.
- ^ a b Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994
- ^ "The Biggest Money Making Stars of 1936". Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Company. January 9, 1937. p. 13. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
- ^ "Exhibitors Name Biggest Western Draws". Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Company. January 9, 1937. p. 18. Retrieved April 24, 2018.