1932 in film
Events
Top grossing films
Academy Awards
Note: Prior to 1933 awards were not based on calendar years, which is how there are no 'Best Actor' or 'Best Actress' awards for 1932 films. The 1931-32 awards went to 1931 films.
Notable films released in 1932
U.S.A. unless stated
- 20,000 Years in Sing Sing
- The Age of Consent
- After the Ball, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Dorothy Wilson, Arline Judge and Richard Cromwell - (U.K.)
- Air Mail
- American Madness, directed by Frank Capra, starring Walter Huston
- As You Desire Me, starring Greta Garbo
- Back Street, starring Irene Dunne and John Boles
- The Bartered Bride (Die verkaufte Braut), directed by Max Ophuls - (Germany)
- The Beast of the City, starring Walter Huston, Jean Harlow and Wallace Ford
- The Big Broadcast, starring Bing Crosby
- Big City Blues, starring Eric Linden and Joan Blondell
- The Big Stampede, starring John Wayne
- A Bill of Divorcement, starring John Barrymore, Billie Burke and Katharine Hepburn in her film debut
- Bird of Paradise, starring Dolores del Río and Joel McCrea
- Das Blaue Licht, starring and directed by Leni Riefenstahl - (Germany)
- Blonde Venus, starring Marlene Dietrich
- Boudu Saved from Drowning (Boudu sauvé des eaux), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Michel Simon - (France)
- Broken Lullaby, starring Lionel Barrymore
- Business and Pleasure
- Cabin in the Cotton, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Richard Barthelmess and Bette Davis
- Call Her Savage, starring Clara Bow
- Dance Pretty Lady, directed by Anthony Asquith (U.K.)
- Dancers in the Dark, starring Miriam Hopkins
- The Dark Horse
- The Dentist, a W.C. Fields short subject produced by Mack Sennett
- Destry Rides Again, starring Tom Mix
- Downstairs, starring John Gilbert, Paul Lukas, Virginia Bruce and Hedda Hopper
- Emma, starring Marie Dressler
- Fanny, directed by Marc Allegret, starring Raimu - (France)
- A Farewell to Arms, starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes
- Flowers and Trees
- Forbidden
- Freaks, directed by Tod Browning
- Goodnight, Vienna - (U.K.)
- Grand Hotel, starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore
- Horse Feathers, starring the Marx Brothers with Thelma Todd
- Hotel Splendide, directed by Michael Powell - (U.K.)
- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Paul Muni
- I Was Born, But... (Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo), directed by Yasujiro Ozu - (Japan)
- If I Had a Million
- Impatient Maiden
- Ivan - (U.S.S.R.)
- Jack's the Boy directed by Walter Forde, starring Jack Hulbert (U.K.)
- Jewel Robbery, starring William Powell and Kay Francis
- Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die Welt? (To Whom Does the World Belong?) - (Germany)
- The Last Mile
- Law and Order
- Lena Rivers
- The Local Bad Man, starring Hoot Gibson
- Love Me Tonight, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald
- The Lucky Number, directed by Anthony Asquith (U.K.)
- The Man Who Played God
- Merrily We Go to Hell, directed by Dorothy Arzner
- Million Dollar Legs
- The Most Dangerous Game, starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, and Leslie Banks
- The Mouthpiece, starring Warren William
- Movie Crazy, a comedy starring Harold Lloyd
- The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff
- Murders in the Rue Morgue, starring Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox and Leon Ames
- Night After Night, starring George Raft and Mae West in her film debut
- The Old Dark House, starring Boris Karloff and Melvyn Douglas
- One Hour with You, starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Genevieve Tobin and Charles Ruggles
- One Way Passage, directed by Tay Garnett, starring William Powell and Kay Francis
- Pack Up Your Troubles, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
- Payment Deferred
- Rain
- Rasputin, Demon with Women (Rasputin, Dämon der Frauen), starring Conrad Veidt - (Germany)
- Red Dust, starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
- Red Haired Alibi
- Red-Headed Woman, starring Jean Harlow
- Scarface, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Paul Muni and Ann Dvorak
- Shanghai Express, starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong and Warner Oland
- The Sign of the Cross
- Smilin' Through, starring Norma Shearer
- Tarzan the Ape Man, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
- Three on a Match, starring Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak and Bette Davis
- Tiger Shark, starring Edward G. Robinson
- Trouble in Paradise, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall
- Two Seconds, starring Edward G. Robinson
- Unheimliche Geschichten remake w/ sound of the 1919 film - (Germany)
- Union Depot, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Joan Blondell
- Vampyr, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer - (Germany, France)
- Virtue, starring Carole Lombard and Pat O'Brien
- War Babies
- What Price Hollywood?, directed by George Cukor, starring Constance Bennett
- What Scoundrels Men Are! (Gli uomini, che mascalzoni!), starring Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
- White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi
- Wooden Crosses (Les croix de bois), directed by Raymond Bernard - (France)
Serials
Short film series
Animated short film series
Births
- January 3 - Dabney Coleman, actor
- January 4 - Carlos Saura, director
- February 6 - François Truffaut, French film director (d. 1984)
- February 13 - Susan Oliver, actress, pilot
- February 18 – Miloš Forman, director
- February 23 - Majel Barrett, United States actress (d. 2008)
- February 27 - Elizabeth Taylor, actress (d. 2011)
- April 4 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian movie director (d. 1986)
- April 10 - Delphine Seyrig, French actress (d. 1990)
- June 18 - David Herriot, Irish actor (d. 2000)
- August 2 - Peter O'Toole, actor
- September 29 - Mehmood, Indian actor, director, producer (d. 2004)
- October 20 - William Christopher, United States actor
- November 15 - Petula Clark, British actress/film composer
- December 7 - Ellen Burstyn, American actress
Deaths
Film debuts