Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know About 1938 as a Movie Year
Top-Grossing Films:
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney/RKO Radio Pictures $4,200,000
2. Boys Town, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $2,828,000
3. Alexander’s Ragtime Band. 20th Century Fox $2,630,000
4. Test Pilot, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $2,431,000
5 . You Can’t Take It with You (Best Picture winner) Columbia, $2,137,575
6. Sweethearts Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $2,017,000
7. In Old Chicago. 20th Century Fox $1,964,000
8. The Adventures of Robin Hood, Warner Bros. $1,928,000
9. Tie: Marie Antoinette/If I Were King MGM/Paramount $1,800,000
10. The Adventures of Marco Polo, UA/Goldwyn Productions $1,700,000
You can read our reviews of the above films.
Movie Events
January:
MGM casts Judy Garland in the role of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz film. Ray Bolger is cast as the Tin Woodman and Buddy Ebsen as the Scarecrow. At Bolger’s insistence, the roles are switched between the two actors. Bert Lahr is cast as the Cowardly Lion, in July.
February 4:
Six weeks after its premiere in Los Angeles, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released nationally, becoming a massive box office success, briefly holding record as the highest-grossing sound film of all time.
April 5:
Noel Langley completes the first script for The Wizard of Oz.
April 20:
Leonard Slye appears in first starring role as Roy Rogers in Under Western Stars. One of the most popular Western stars, he was ranked number one from 1943 to 1952 and would become known as “King of the Cowboys.”
May 7:
Lyricist Edgar Yipsel Harburg and composer, Harold Arlen, begin work on the musical score for The Wizard of Oz.
October 13
Shooting starts on The Wizard of Oz on the MGM studio lot, initially with Richard Thorpe as director.
October 21:
Buddy Ebsen suffers from near fatal allergic reaction to aluminum dust used in his Tin Woodman make-up on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Ebsen is replaced by Jack Haley.
December 23:
Margaret Hamilton is severely burned during mishap on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Hamilton, cast in the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, leaves the film for six weeks.
Orson Welles makes Too Much Johnson, starring Joseph Cotten, never completed and first released in 2013.
Popular Movie Stars (rank-ordered)
Shirley Temple
Clark Gable
Sonja Henie
Mickey Rooney
Spencer Tracy
Robert Taylor
Myrna Loy
Jane Withers
Alice Faye
Tyrone Power
Academy Awards: Oscar Year 11
Best Picture: You Can’t Take It with You – Columbia
Best Director: Frank Capra – You Can’t Take It with You
Best Actor: Spencer Tracy – Boys Town
Best Actress: Bette Davis – Jezebel
Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan – Kentucky
Best Supporting Actress: Fay Bainter – Jezebel
Best Actress in Various Groups:
Oscar: Bette Davis, Jezebel
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: Margaret Sullavan, Three Comrades
Venice Film Fest: Norma Shearer, Marie Antoinette
Best Actor in Various Groups:
Oscar: Spencer Tracy, Boys Town
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: James Cagney, Angels with Dirty Faces
Venice Film Fest: Leslie Howard, Pygmalion
Significant Movies
Angels with Dirty Faces, Curtiz
Baker’s Wife, The, Marcel Pagnol
Bringing Up Baby
Lady Vanishes, The, Hitchcock
Olympia, Leni Riefenstahl
