1929 In Film

	… 1919; 1920; 1921; 1922; 1923; 1924; 1925; ; 1926; 1927; 1928; 1929; 1930; 1931; 1932; ; 1933; 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939 …;
	In television 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 In radio 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 In music 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932
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Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1929 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1929
Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	The Broadway Melody	MGM	$2,808,000
2	The Cock-Eyed World	Fox Film	$2,700,000
3	Gold Diggers of Broadway	Warner Bros.	$2,540,000
4	Sunny Side Up	Fox Film	$2,190,000
5	Rio Rita	RKO	$1,775,000
6	On with the Show!	Warner Bros.	$1,741,000
7	Say It with Songs	Warner Bros.	$1,715,000
8	Show Boat	Universal	$1,643,000
9	The Desert Song	Warner Bros.	$1,549,000
10	The Hollywood Revue of 1929	MGM	$1,527,000

Events

The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.

February 1 – The Broadway Melody is released by MGM and becomes the first major musical film of the sound era, sparking a host of imitators as well as a series of Broadway Melody films that will run until 1940.
February 18 – The first Academy Awards, or Oscars, are announced for the year ended August 1, 1928.
March 3 – William Fox announces that he has taken control of Loews Inc., including its subsidiary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, buying shares from Marcus Loew's widow and sons and Nicholas Schenck for $50 million. The acquisition eventually falls through.
May 16 – The first Academy Awards are distributed at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
May 26 – Fox Grandeur News is shown in Fox Film's new widescreen 70 mm Grandeur film format
July 13 – The first all color talkie (in Technicolor), On with the Show, is released by Warner Bros. who lead the way in a new color revolution just as they had ushered in that of the talkies.
July 17 – William Fox is badly injured in a car accident which kills his chauffeur.
August 3 – The Cock-Eyed World beats every known gross for any box office attraction throughout the world with a reported first week gross of $173,391 at the Roxy Theatre (New York City).
August 20 – Hallelujah! is the first Hollywood film to contain an entire black cast.
August 22 – First in the Walt Disney Productions' animated short Silly Symphony series, The Skeleton Dance, is released.
September – Paramount Pictures acquires 49% of CBS.
October 24 – Jean Harlow signs a five-year, $100 per week contract with Howard Hughes.
October 30 – Entertainment newspaper Variety report that Wall Street Lays An Egg leading to many prominent showman and film stars losing money on their investments.
November – Warner Bros. gain complete control of First National Pictures buying Fox Film's 36% stake for $10 million
November 10 – Première of John Grierson's documentary film Drifters about North Sea herring fishermen, made for the Empire Marketing Board, effectively inaugurating the British Documentary Film Movement. (It debuts at the private Film Society in London on a double-bill with the U.K. première of Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin.)
November 15 – U.K. release of Atlantic, a film about the sinking of the RMS Titanic which is one of the first British sound-on-film movies and, in its simultaneously-shot German-language version, the first to be released in Germany; also the first Titanic movie with sound.
December – Anti-trust suits are filed against William Fox and Warner Bros. by the US Department of Justice for Fox's acquisition of Loews and Warners' acquisition of the Stanley Corporation of America and First National.

Academy Awards

The 2nd Academy Awards honored the best films released between August 1, 1928, and July 31, 1929. They took place on April 3, 1930, at an awards banquet in the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

Most nominations: In Old Arizona (Fox Film Corporation) – 5

Best Picture: The Broadway Melody (MGM)
Best Director: Frank Lloyd – The Divine Lady
Best Actor: Warner Baxter – In Old Arizona
Best Actress: Mary Pickford – Coquette

Most awards – no film won more than 1 award

Note: Prior to 1933, awards were not based on calendar years. Best Picture, Actress and Director went to 1930 films.

Notable films released in 1929

United States unless stated otherwise.

A

After the Verdict (lost), directed by Henrik Galeen, starring Olga Chekhova – (GB)
Alibi, directed by Roland West, starring Chester Morris and Mae Busch, based on the 1927 stage play Nightstick by Elaine Sterne Carrington
The Alley Cat (Nachtgestalten), directed by Hans Steinhoff, starring Mabel Poulton – (GB/Germany)
The American Prisoner, directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Carl Brisson and Madeleine Carroll – (GB)
Ang Mutya Ng Pamilihan (The Pearl of the Markets), directed by José Nepomuceno – (Philippines)
Applause, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Helen Morgan
Arsenal (Арсенал), directed by Alexander Dovzhenko – (U.S.S.R.)
Asphalt, directed by Joe May, starring Gustav Fröhlich – (Germany)
Atlantic, directed by E. A. Dupont, starring Madeleine Carroll – (GB)
The Awful Truth (lost), directed by Marshall Neilan

P

Pandora's Box (Die Büchse der Pandora), directed by G. W. Pabst, starring Louise Brooks – (Germany)
Paris (lost), directed by Clarence G. Badger, starring Irène Bordoni
Patria Amore, starring Julian Manansala – (Philippines)
Piccadilly, directed by E. A. Dupont, starring Anna May Wong and Gilda Gray – (GB)
Pointed Heels, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring William Powell and Fay Wray

Q

Queen Kelly, directed by Erich von Stroheim, starring Gloria Swanson

R

Rain, documentary directed by Mannus Franken and Joris Ivens – (Netherlands)
Rasputin, directed by Max Neufeld – (Germany)
Redskin, directed by Victor Schertzinger, starring Richard Dix
The Rescue, directed by Herbert Brenon, starring Ronald Colman and Lili Damita
Resia Boroboedoer (Secret of Borobudur) – (Dutch East Indies)
The Return of the Rat, directed by Graham Cutts, starring Ivor Novello and Isabel Jeans – (GB)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Basil Dean, starring Clive Brook
Rio Rita, directed by Luther Reed, starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles
The River (lost), directed by Frank Borzage, starring Charles Farrell and Mary Duncan
The Runaway Princess, directed by Anthony Asquith and Fritz Wendhausen, starring Mady Christians – (GB/Germany)

S

Sa Landas ng Pag-ibig (The Path of Love), directed by José Nepomuceno – (Philippines)
Sally, directed by John Francis Dillon, starring Marilyn Miller, Joe E. Brown and Pert Kelton
Salute, directed by John Ford, and starring George O'Brien, Helen Chandler and Stepin Fetchit
The Saturday Night Kid, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, starring Clara Bow and Jean Arthur
Seven Footprints to Satan, written and directed by Benjamin Christensen, starring Thelma Todd and Creighton Hale
Seven Keys to Baldpate, directed by Reginald Barker, starring Richard Dix, based on the 1913 novel by Earl Derr Biggers and stage play by George M. Cohan
Show Boat, directed by Harry A. Pollard, starring Laura La Plante and Joseph Schildkraut, based on the 1926 novel by Edna Ferber
The Show of Shows, directed by John G. Adolfi
Side Street, directed by Malcolm St. Clair, starring the Moore Brothers
The Silent House, directed by Walter Forde, based on the 1928 novel by John G. Brandon
The Singing Brakeman, a short featuring Jimmie Rodgers
The Single Standard, directed by John S. Robertson, starring Greta Garbo, Nils Asther and Johnny Mack Brown
The Skeleton Dance, a Walt Disney animated short
Smilin' Guns, directed by Henry MacRae, starring Hoot Gibson
Spite Marriage, directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton, starring Buster Keaton
St. Louis Blues, directed by Dudley Murphy, starring Bessie Smith
Den starkaste (The Strongest), directed by Axel Lindblom and Alf Sjöberg – (Sweden)
Stark Mad (lost), directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring H. B. Warner and Louise Fazenda
Street Girl, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Betty Compson
Sunny Side Up, directed by David Butler, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell
Syncopation, directed by Bert Glennon

T

The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Sam Taylor, starring Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks
The Thirteenth Chair, directed by Tod Browning, starring Conrad Nagel and Leila Hyams, based on the 1916 stage play by Bayard Veiller
This Thing Called Love (lost), directed by Paul L. Stein, starring Edmund Lowe and Constance Bennett
The Three Kings (Ein Mädel und drei Clowns), directed by Hans Steinhoff – (GB/Germany)
The Three Passions, directed by Rex Ingram, starring Alice Terry – (GB)
Thunder (lost), directed by William Nigh, starring Lon Chaney and Phyllis Haver
Thunderbolt, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring George Bancroft, Fay Wray and Richard Arlen
A Throw of Dice, directed by Franz Osten – (Germany/GB/India)
The Trespasser, directed by Edmund Goulding, starring Gloria Swanson and Robert Ames
Turksib, documentary directed by Viktor Alexandrovitsh Turin – (U.S.S.R.)

U

The Unholy Night, directed by Lionel Barrymore, starring Ernest Torrence and Roland Young

V

The Vagabond Lover, directed by Marshall Neilan, starring Rudy Vallée and Marie Dressler
The Virginian, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Gary Cooper, Walter Huston, Richard Arlen and Mary Brian

W

Wait and See, starring and directed by Walter Forde – (GB)
Wall Street, directed by Roy William Neill, starring Ralph Ince and Aileen Pringle
Welcome Danger, directed by Clyde Bruckman, starring Harold Lloyd
Where East Is East, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lon Chaney, Lupe Vélez and Estelle Taylor
The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü), directed by Arnold Fanck and G. W. Pabst, starring Leni Riefenstahl – (Germany)
Why Be Good?, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Colleen Moore and Neil Hamilton
Wild Orchids, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone and Nils Asther
Wolf Song, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Gary Cooper, Lupe Vélez and Louis Wolheim
Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond), directed by Fritz Lang – (Germany)
The Woman in White, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Blanche Sweet, based on the 1859 novel by Wilkie Collins – (GB)
Wonder of Women (lost), directed by Clarence Brown, starring Lewis Stone and Leila Hyams
The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna), directed by Hanns Schwarz – (Germany)
Words and Music, directed by James Tinling
The Wrecker (Der Würger), directed by Géza von Bolváry – (GB/Germany)

Serials

The Ace of Scotland Yard, 10 chapters (215 minutes)
The Black Book, 10 chapters
The Diamond Master, 10 chapters
The Fatal Warning, 10 chapters (200 min)
The Fire Detective, 10 chapters
The King of the Kongo, 10 chapters (213 min)
The Pirate of Panama, 12 chapters
Queen of the Northwoods, 10 chapters
Tarzan the Tiger, 15 chapters (266 min)

Short film series

Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
Our Gang (1922–1944)
Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)

Animated short film series

Felix the Cat (1919–1936)
Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1933)
Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
- Homeless Homer
- Yanky Clippers
- Hen Fruit
- Sick Cylinders
- Hold ‘em Ozzie
- The Suicide Sheik
- Alpine Antics
- The Lumberjack
- The Fishing Fool
- Stage Stunts
- Stripes and Stars
- The Wicked West
- Ice Man's Luck
- Nuts and Jolts
- Jungle Jingles
- Weary Willies
- Saucy Sausages
Inkwell Imps (1927–1929)
Mickey Mouse
- The Barn Dance
- The Opry House
- When The Cat's Away
- The Barnyard Battle
- The Plow Boy
- The Karnival Kid
- Mickey's Follies
- Mickey's Choo-Choo
- The Jazz Fool
- Jungle Rhythm
- The Haunted House
- Wild Waves
Silly Symphonies
- The Skeleton Dance
- El Terrible Toreador
- Springtime
- Hell's Bells
- The Merry Dwarfs
Screen Songs (1929–1938)
Talkartoons (1929–1932)

Births

January 1 – Haruo Nakajima, Japanese actor (died 2017)
January 3 – Sergio Leone, Italian director, producer and screenwriter (died 1989)
January 7 – Terry Moore, American actress
January 8 – Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-born actor (died 2015)
January 9 – Ulu Grosbard, Belgian-American theatre and film director and film producer (died 2012)
January 20 – Arte Johnson, American actor (died 2019)
January 31 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress (died 2010)
February 4 – Jerry Adler, American actor
February 8 – Claude Rich, French actor (died 2017)
February 10 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer (died 2004)
February 14
- Roman Kłosowski, Polish actor (died 2018)
- Allan Miller, American actor and director
- Vic Morrow, American actor (died 1982)
February 22
- James Hong, American actor, voice actor, producer and director of Chinese descent
- Donald May, American actor (died 2022)
- Rebecca Schull, American actress
March 4 - Columba Domínguez, Mexican actress (died 2014)
March 10 - Harry Bugin, American actor and musician (died 2005)
March 11 – Timothy Carey, American actor (died 1994)
March 13 – Peter Breck, American actor (died 2012)
March 16 - Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress (died 2023)
March 23 – Mark Rydell, American actor, director and producer
March 24 – Pat Renella, American actor (died 2012)
March 27 – Anne Ramsey, American actress (died 1988)
March 30 - Richard Dysart, American actor (died 2015)
April 1
- Barbara Bryne, British-American actress (died 2023)
- Jane Powell, American actress, singer and dancer (died 2021)
April 5 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (died 2001)
April 10
- Liz Sheridan, American actress (died 2022)
- Max von Sydow, Swedish actor (died 2020)
April 12 - Elspet Gray, Scottish actress (died 2013)
April 15 – Mariano Laurenti, Italian director and actor (died 2022)
April 17 – Michael Forest, American actor
April 28 – Bhanu Athaiya, Indian costume designer (died 2020)
May 2 – Eddie Garcia, Filipino actor (died 2019)
May 4 – Audrey Hepburn, British actress (died 1993)
May 5 – Ilene Woods, American actress and singer (died 2010)
May 8 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese singer and actress (died 2007)
May 10 - George Coe, American actor (died 2015)
May 11 - Margaret Kerry, American actress and director
May 17 – Miriam Byrd-Nethery, American actress (died 2003)
May 23 – Paul Wexler, American actor (died 1979)
May 25 – Ann Robinson, American actress
May 26 – Lloyd Reckord, Jamaican actor and filmmaker (died 2015)
May 28 – Shane Rimmer, Canadian actor (died 2019)
May 31
- Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (died 2014)
- Fakhri Khorvash, Iranian actress (died 2023)
June 3 – Chuck Barris, American game show host (died 2017)
June 8 – Gastone Moschin, Italian actor (died 2017)
June 16 – Gerson da Cunha, Indian actor (died 2022)
June 17 – James Shigeta, American actor, singer and musician of Japanese descent (died 2014)
June 20 – Bonnie Bartlett, American actress
June 23 – Claude Goretta, Swiss producer and director (died 2019)
July 5 – Katherine Helmond, American actress (died 2019)
July 11 – David Kelly, Irish actor (died 2012)
July 21
- Asta Vihandi, Estonian opera singer, actress and dancer (died 1993)
- John Woodvine, English actor
July 22 - Perry Lopez, American actor (died 2008)
July 23 – Maya Buzinova, Russian animator (died 2022)
July 31
- Pat Cooper, American actor and comedian (died 2023)
- Don Murray, American actor (died 2024)
August 1 – Camillo Milli, Italian actor (died 2022)
August 12 - John Bluthal, Australian actor and comedian (died 2018)
August 15 – George Martin, American actor (died 2010)
August 21
- Vija Artmane, Latvian actress (died 2008)
- John McMartin, American actor (died 2016)
August 23 – Vera Miles, American actress
August 28 – Ken Gampu, South African actor (died 2003)
September 2 – Hal Ashby, American director (died 1988)
September 3 – Irene Papas, Greek actress (died 2022)
September 4 – Nina Urgant, Russian actress (died 2021)
September 5
- Edward S. Feldman, American producer (died 2020)
- Bob Newhart, American actor and comedian
September 11 – Eve Brent, American actress (died 2011)
September 18 – Elizabeth Spriggs, English actress (died 2008)
September 20
- Kurt Kren, Austrian experimental director (died 1998)
- Vittorio Taviani, Italian director (died 2018)
September 21 – Elsa Raven, American character actress (died 2020)
September 22 – Maria Charles, English actress, director and comedian (died 2023)
September 25 – Barbara Walters, American broadcast journalist and television personality (died 2022)
September 28 - Frances Taylor Davis, American dancer and actress (died 2018)
October 2 – Moses Gunn, American actor (died 1993)
October 14 – Norbert Gastell, German voice actor (died 2015)
October 15 - Witold Sobociński, Polish actor (died 2018)
October 16
- Jane Griffiths, English actress (died 1975)
- Fernanda Montenegro, Brazilian actress
October 24 – Clifford Rose, English actor (died 2021)
October 28
- Jack Hedley, British actor (died 2021)
- Joan Plowright, English actress
November 6 – June Squibb, American actress
November 12
- Etchika Choureau, French actress (died 2022)
- Grace Kelly, American-Monégasque actress (died 1982)
November 15 – Ed Asner, American actor (died 2021)
November 20 – Jerry Hardin, American actor
November 21 – Niall Tóibín, Irish actor and comedian (died 2019)
November 28 – Berry Gordy, American producer
November 30
- Dick Clark, American television and radio personality, television producer and actor (died 2012)
- Joan Ganz Cooney, American television writer and producer
December 1 – David Doyle, American actor (died 1997)
December 6 – Alain Tanner, Swiss film director (died 2022)
December 8 – Paddy O'Byrne, Irish radio broadcaster and actor (died 2013)
December 9 – John Cassavetes, American actor, director (died 1989)
December 13 – Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor (died 2021)

Deaths

January 5 – Marc McDermott, Australian actor (born 1881)
February 18
- Hardee Kirkland, American stage and screen actor (born 1868)
- William Russell, American actor (born 1884)
February 24 – Frank Keenan, American actor (born 1858)
May 9 – Fred C. Truesdell, stage & film actor (born 1870)
May 12 – Charles Swickard, German-American director and actor (born 1861)
July 2 – Gladys Brockwell, American actress (born 1894)
July 3 – Dustin Farnum, American stage & silent screen star (born 1874)
July 6 – Cliff Bowes, American comedian (born 1894)
August 2 – Mae Costello, American actress (born 1882)
September 2 – Paul Leni, German film and art director (born 1885)
October 3 – Jeanne Eagels, American actress (born 1890)
October 31 – Norman Pritchard, actor, Olympic athlete (born 1877)
November 2 – Leo D. Maloney, actor and director (born 1888)
November 24 – Raymond Hitchcock, American actor (born 1865)

Film debuts

Adrienne Ames – Sally
Eve Arden – Song of Love
Hooper Atchley – Love at First Sight
Lew Ayres – The Sophomore
Virginia Bruce - The Love Parade
Lita Chevret – Fox Movietone Follies of 1929
Mae Clarke – Big Time
D. A. Clarke-Smith – Atlantic
Jackie Cooper – Fox Movietone Follies of 1929
Cecil Cunningham – Their Own Desire
Henry Daniell – The Awful Truth
Frances Dee – Words and Music
James Dunn - In the Nick of Time
Maurice Evans – White Cargo
Glenda Farrell – Lucky Boy
Frank Fay - The Show of Shows
Norman Foster - Gentlemen of the Press
Kay Francis – Gentlemen of the Press
Paulette Goddard – The Locked Door
Minna Gombell – The Great Power
Gavin Gordon - The Medicine Men
Betty Grable – Happy Days
Dorothy Granger – Words and Music
Danny Green – The Crooked Billet
John Huston – The Shakedown
Walter Huston – Gentlemen of the Press
Warren Hymer – Speakeasy
Dean Jagger – The Woman from Hell
Vi Kaley – Piccadilly
Pert Kelton – Sally
Franziska Kinz – Diary of a Lost Girl
Florence Lake – New Year's Eve
Allan Lane – Not Quite Decent
Lola Lane – Speakeasy
Charles Laughton – Piccadilly
Anderson Lawler – River of Romance
Peter Lorre – The Missing Wife
Jeanette MacDonald – The Love Parade
Fred MacMurray – Girls Gone Wild
Marx Brothers - The Cocoanuts
Raymond Massey – High Treason
Frank McHugh - If Men Played Cards as Women Do
Nina Mae McKinney - Hallelujah
Marilyn Miller - Sally
Robert Montgomery – The Single Standard
Dennis Morgan - The Canary Murder Case
Una O'Connor – Dark Red Roses
Lee Patrick – Strange Cargo
George Raft – Queen of the Night Clubs
Gene Raymond - The Marriage Playground
Rene Ray – High Treason
Claire Rochelle – Tanned Legs
Ginger Rogers - A Day of a Man of Affairs
Regis Toomey – Alibi
Lupita Tovar – The Veiled Woman
Lee Tracy – Salute
Rudy Vallée - Rudy Vallée and His Connecticut Yankees
Nella Walker – Tanned Legs
Johnny Weissmuller – Glorifying the American Girl
Wheeler & Woolsey - Rio Rita

References

External links

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