1936 in film

The following is an overview of 1936 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

List of years in film

In television: 1933; 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939

In radio: 1933; 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939

In music: 1933; 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939

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Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1936 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1936
Rank	Title	Studio	Domestic rentals
1	The Great Ziegfeld	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$3,089,000^[1]
2	San Francisco	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$2,868,000^[2]
3	The Plainsman	Paramount Pictures	$2,278,533^[3]
4	After the Thin Man	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$1,992,000^[1]
5	Modern Times	United Artists	$1,800,000^[4]
6	Anthony Adverse	Warner Bros. Pictures	$1,783,000^[5]
7	Strike Me Pink	United Artists/Samuel Goldwyn Productions	$1,700,000^[4]
8	Rose Marie	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$1,695,000^[1]
9	Swing Time	RKO Radio Pictures	$1,624,000^[6]
10	Libeled Lady	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$1,601,000^[1]

Events

January 9 – Silent screen actor John Gilbert, perhaps best known for his appearances in films such as The Merry Widow and The Big Parade, dies suddenly of a heart attack at his Bel Air home, aged 38.
February 15 – first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, is released.
May 29 – Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film, Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.
September 14 – Film producer Irving Thalberg, often referred by many as the "Boy Wonder of Hollywood", dies from pneumonia at his home in Santa Monica, aged 37.

Academy Awards

Best Picture: The Great Ziegfeld – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Director: Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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

United States unless stated.

Notable films released in 1936

United States unless stated.

0–9

15 Maiden Lane, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Claire Trevor and Cesar Romero

A

Accused, directed by Thornton Freeland, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Dolores del Río – (GB)
Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden), directed by Franz Osten, starring Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani – (India)
After the Thin Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart
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)

B

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, starring Robert Livingston
Born to Dance, starring Eleanor Powell and James Stewart
Broken Blossoms, starring Emlyn Williams and Dolly Haas
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.)

C

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

Kundal Lal Saigal and Jamuna in Devdas, Barua's 1936 Hindi version.

Daniel Boone, starring George O'Brien
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)

E

East Meets West, starring George Arliss (UK)
Empty Saddles, starring Buck Jones and Louise Brooks
Everything Is Thunder, starring Constance Bennett (UK)

F

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

G

The Garden of Allah, starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer
The General Died at Dawn, starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll
General Spanky, starring Spanky McFarland
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

H

Hearts Divided, starring Marion Davies and Dick Powell
Hearts in Bondage, starring David Manners and Mae Clarke
Hopalong Cassidy Returns, starring William Boyd

I

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)

J

The Jungle Princess, starring Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland

K

Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (The Emperor of California) – (Germany)
Klondike Annie, starring Mae West and Victor McLaglen

L

Laburnum Grove, starring Edmund Gwenn and Cedric Hardwicke (GB)
The Last of the Mohicans, starring Randolph Scott
The Last Outlaw, starring Harry Carey
The Lawless Nineties, starring John Wayne
Legion of Terror, starring Bruce Cabot
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

M

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

N

Next Time We Love, starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Ray Milland
Night Mail, documentary (GB)

O

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

P

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

Red River Valley, starring Gene Autry
Redes, directed by Fred Zinnemann – (Mexico)
Ramona, starring Don Ameche and Loretta Young
Rebellion, starring Tom Keene and Rita Hayworth
Reefer Madness, (aka Tell Your Children), a cult exploitation film
Rembrandt, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Charles Laughton – (GB)
Road Gang, starring Donald Woods
Robin Hood, Jr. (1936), directed by Leslie Goodwins
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

S

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
Silly Billies starring Wheeler & Woolsey
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

T

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)

W

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

Y

Yiddle with his Fiddle, starring Molly Picon (Poland/U.S.)

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 (1934–1959)

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 9 – K Callan, American author and actress
January 18 – Tim Barlow, English actor (d. 2023)
January 22 – Nyree Dawn Porter, English actress (d. 2001)
January 27 – Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
January 28 – Alan Alda, American actor
February 3 - Jeanine Basinger, American film historian
February 4 - Gary Conway, American actor and screenwriter
February 11 – Burt Reynolds, American actor (d. 2018)
February 12
- Joe Don Baker, American character actor
- Paul Shenar, American actor (d. 1989)
February 14
- Joan O'Brien, American actor, singer
- Andrew Prine, American actor (d. 2022)
February 17 - Jim Brown, American actor (d. 2023)
February 29 - Alex Rocco, American actor (d. 2015)
March 1 – Georgina Spelvin, born Shelley Graham, American pornographic film actress
March 5 – Dean Stockwell, American actor (d. 2021)
March 8 - Sue Ane Langdon, American actress
March 19 – Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
March 23 - Luisa Mattioli, Italian actress (d. 2021)
April 12 - Charles Napier, American character actor (d. 2011)
April 19 - Andy Romano, American actor (d. 2022)
May 1 – Danièle Huillet, French director (d. 2006)
May 4 - Eleanor Coppola, American documentary filmmaker, artist, and writer
May 9
- Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)
- Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (d. 2023)
May 14 – Bobby Darin, American singer, songwriter, actor (d. 1973)
May 17 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and performance artist (d. 2010)
May 20 - Anthony Zerbe, American actor
May 23 - Charles Kimbrough, American actor (d. 2023)
May 27 - Louis Gossett Jr., American actor
May 28 - John Wilder, American producer, writer and former actor
May 30 - Keir Dullea, American actor
June 3 – Larry McMurtry, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2021)
June 4 – Bruce Dern, American actor
June 8 - James Darren, American actor, director and singer
June 22 - Kris Kristofferson, American retired actor, musician and songwriter
June 24
- Robert Downey Sr., American actor and director (d. 2021)
- Paul L. Smith, American-Israeli actor and director (d. 2012)
July 1 - Ron Masak, American actor (d. 2022)
July 5 – Shirley Knight, American actress (d. 2020)
July 9 - Dick Richards, American director, producer and screenwriter
July 24
- Ruth Buzzi, American actress, comedian and singer
- Mark Goddard, American actor
July 25 - August Schellenberg, Canadian actor (d. 2013)
August 5 - John Saxon, American actor (d. 2020)
August 13 – Vyjayanthimala, Indian actress, politician, dancer and singer
August 15 - Pat Priest, American actress
August 16 - Anita Gillette, American actress
August 17 – Floyd Westerman, American musician, political activist, and actor (d. 2017)
August 18 – Robert Redford, American actor and director
August 20 – Philip Voss, British actor (d. 2020)
August 25 – Hugh Hudson, English director (d. 2023)
September 7 – Bruce Gray, Canadian actor (d. 2017)
September 11 - Charles Dierkop, American character actor
September 14 - Walter Koenig, American actor and screenwriter
September 19 - Anna Karen, British-South African actress (d. 2022)
September 20
- Andrew Davies, Welsh writer
- Pepper Martin, Canadian-American actor (d. 2022)
September 21 - Burr DeBenning, American character actor (d. 2003)
September 24 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer, animator, actor and screenwriter (d. 1990)
October 8 - Leonid Kuravlyov, Russian actor (d. 2022)
October 9 – Brian Blessed, English actor
October 16
- Peter Bowles, English actor (d. 2022)
- Irina Demick, French actress (d. 2004)
October 19 - Tony Lo Bianco, Italian-American actor
October 23 - Philip Kaufman, American director and screenwriter
October 24 – David Nelson, American actor, director and producer (d. 2011)
October 26 - Shelley Morrison, American actress (d. 2019)
October 28 - Joe Spinell, American character actor (d. 1989)
November 9 – Teddy Infuhr, American child actor (d. 2007)
November 19 - Dick Cavett, American television personality, comedian and former talk show host
November 25 - Matt Clark, American actor
November 27 – Joel Barcellos, Brazilian actor (d. 2018)
December 3 - Mary Alice, American actress (d. 2022)
December 5 - John Erwin, American voice actor
December 6 - David Ossman, American writer and comedian
December 8 – David Carradine, American actor and martial artist (d. 2009)
December 10 – Howard Smith, American journalist, director and producer (d. 2014)
December 13 - Cliff Emmich, American actor (d. 2022)
December 22 – Hector Elizondo, American actor
December 23
- Frederic Forrest, American actor (d. 2023)
- James Stacy, American actor (d. 2016)
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)
- Frank Rice, American actor (b. 1892)
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. 1878)
July 11 - James Murray, American actor (b. 1901)
September 14 – Irving Thalberg, American film producer (b. 1899)
October 17 – Suzanne Bianchetti, French actress (b. 1889)

Debuts

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ Turk, Edward Baron (1998). Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald. University of California Press. pp. 364-365. ISBN 0-520-21202-9.
^ Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813123240.
^ ^a ^b Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 356–357. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
^ Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 16 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^ Richard Jewel (1994) 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14 No. 1, p.55
^ "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.

External links

List of 1936 films at IMDb
List of 1936 deaths at IMDb
List of 1936 births at IMDb

[Mannix-1] The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

[HollywoodDivaBook-2] Turk, Edward Baron (1998). Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald. University of California Press. pp. 364-365. ISBN 0-520-21202-9.

[3] Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813123240.

[HollywoodStoryBook-4] Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 356–357. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.

[5] Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 16 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551

[rko-6] Richard Jewel (1994) 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14 No. 1, p.55

[1936Poll-7] "The Biggest Money Making Stars of 1936". Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Company. January 9, 1937. p. 13. Retrieved April 24, 2018.

[8] "Exhibitors Name Biggest Western Draws". Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Company. January 9, 1937. p. 18. Retrieved April 24, 2018.

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