Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1935 as a Movie Year
Research in Progress (April 15, 2023)
My Oscar Book:
Events
February 23:
Gene Autry stars as the Singing Cowboy in the serial The Phantom Empire, resulting in becoming the top Western star from 1937 to 1942, way before John Wayne.
February 27:
Shirley Temple, age 7, wins the first ever Oscar Juvenile Award.
May:
Republic Pictures is formed after merger of smaller companies including Monogram Pictures, Mascot Pictures, Liberty Pictures and Majestic Pictures.
May 31:
Fox Film and Twentieth Century Pictures merge to form 20th Century Fox.
August 15:
Will Rogers, the Top Money Making Star, dies in a plane crash.
August 25:
William Boyd appears in the first of 66 films as Hopalong Cassidy in Hop-Along Cassidy.
September:
Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
September 5:
Gene Autry appears in his first film for Republic Pictures, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, named after his second million-selling record.
November 30:
The British film Scrooge, the first talking version of Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol, opens in the U.S. Seymour Hicks plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a role he had played onstage.
Box-Office Hits:
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
Rank Title Studio Box office
1. Mutiny on the Bounty (Best Picture Oscar winner) MGM, $2,250,000
2 Top Hat RKO Radio Pictures $1,782,000
3 China Seas Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,710,000
4 The Crusades Paramount Pictures $1,700,000
5 Broadway Melody of 1936 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $1,655,000
6 David Copperfield $1,621,000
7 Love Me Forever Columbia Pictures $1,600,000
8 Steamboat Round the Bend 20th Century Fox $1,528,000
9 The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Paramount Pictures $1,500,000
10 Roberta RKO Radio Pictures $1,467,000
Analysis:
Two of the top-grossing movies were Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie musicals.
Four of the 10 popular features are movie musicals, signaling the height of this genre during the Depression era.
Most Popular Movie Stars (by rank)
Shirley Temple
Will Rogers
Clark Gable
Fred Astaire–Ginger Rogers
Joan Crawford
Claudette Colbert
Dick Powell
Wallace Beery
Joe E. Brown
James Cagney
Acting Awards (by Various Groups)
Best Actor
Best Actor Oscar: Victor McLaglen (The Informer)
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: Charles Laughton (for Mutiny on the Bounty and Ruggles of Red Gap)
Venice Film Fest: Pierre Blancher (Crime and Punishment)
1935: Movies That Matter
39 Steps, The
Ah, Wilderness
Alice Adams (O Nom)
Anna Karenina ($)
Becky Sharp
Big Broadcast 1936 ($)
Bride Came Home ($)
The Bride of Frankenstein
Broadway Melody (O Nom, $)
Captain Blood (O Nom, $)
Ceiling Zero
China Seas
David Copperfield (O Nom, $)
G Men ($)
Gold Diggers of l935 ($)
Gorgeous Hussy ($)
Informer, The (O Nom, $)
In Old Kentucky ($)
Little Rebel ($)
Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The (O Nom, $)
The Lost Patrol ($)
Magnificent Obsession ($)
Midsummer Night’s Dream, A (O Nom, $)
Les Miserables (O Nom, $)
Mutiny on the Bounty (O Awa, $)
Naughty Marietta (O Nom)
A Night at the Opera (Nat. Reg)
Peter Ibbertson, Hathaway
Ruggles of Red Gap (O Nom)
Sylvia Scarlett
Top Hat (O Nom, Nat Reg, $)
Whole Town’s Talking, The ($)
Index
$=Box-office hit
Nat Reg=Films designated for National Preservation
O Nom=Oscar Nominated Picture
O Awa=Oscar Award Picture
Life Begins at 40
Anna Karenina
Bride Came Home
Captain Blood
China Seas
The Crusaders
David Copperfield
Magnificent Obsession
A Night at the Opera
Story of Louis Pasteur, The
Streamboat Round the Bend
Other Significant Films (check with above list)
Anna Karenina
Bride Came Home
Broadway Melody of 1936
Captain Blood
China Seas
The Crusades
David Copperfield
G-Men
Going to Town
In Old Kentucky
Les Miserable
The Littlest Rebel]
Lives of a Bengal Lancer
Mutiny on Bounty
Night at the Opera
Roberta
She Married Her Boss
Steamboat Round the Bend
Thanks a Million
Top Hat
