1933 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

The following is an overview of 1933 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

In 1933, the top three grossing films in the United States were Queen Christina with $2,887,000; I'm No Angel with $2,850,000 and King Kong with $2,847,000.

Events

• March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.
• June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.
• British Film Institute founded.
• GPO Film Unit established in the United Kingdom under John Grierson, taking over responsibility for documentary film making from the Empire Marketing Board.
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) once again expresses interest in the Wizard of Oz books for a series of animated cartoons, but they once again failed to make a deal with the estate of creator L. Frank Baum
• Ecstasy, a Czechoslovak film, shocks audiences when actress Hedy Lamarr is seen naked in the film.
• The Private Life of Henry VIII becomes the first British film to win an American Academy Award.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Cavalcade - Fox
• Best Actor: Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII
• Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory

Notable films released in 1933

U.S.A. unless stated

• 42nd Street, Directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Ginger Rogers
• Adorable, directed by William Dieterle, starring Janet Gaynor
• Don Quixote, directed by G.W. Pabst, starring Feodor Chaliapin - (France/GB)
• After Tonight, starring Constance Bennett
• Alice in Wonderland, starring Charlotte Henry and virtually every Paramount star at the time
• Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent
• Beauty for Sale, starring Madge Evans and Alice Brady
• Bed of Roses, starring Constance Bennett and Joel McCrea
• A Bedtime Story, starring Maurice Chevalier
• Bitter Sweet, starring Anna Neagle - (GB)
• The Bitter Tea of General Yen, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Blood Money, starring George Bancroft
• Bombshell, starring Jean Harlow
• The Bowery, starring Wallace Beery and George Raft
• Bureau of Missing Persons, starring Bette Davis and Pat O'Brien
• By Candlelight, directed by James Whale
• Cash, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Robert Donat - (GB)
• Cavalcade, starring Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor and Herbert Mundin
• Der Choral von Leuthen (The Hymn of Leuthen), directed by Carl Froelich - (Germany)
• Counsellor at Law, starring John Barrymore and Bebe Daniels
• Dancing Lady, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
• Daybreak (Tiānmíng) - (China)
• Deluge, starring Sidney Blackmer
• The Deserter - (U.S.S.R.)
• Design for Living, starring Fredric March, Gary Cooper and Miriam Hopkins
• The Devil's Brother, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Dinner at Eight, directed by George Cukor and featuring an all-star cast
• Doctor Bull, starring Will Rogers
• Dora's Dunking Doughnuts, starring Shirley Temple
• Dragnet Girl (Hijosen no onna), starring Kinuyo Tanaka, directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• Duck Soup, directed by Leo McCarey, starring the Marx Brothers
• The Eagle and the Hawk, starring Fredric March, Cary Grant, Carole Lombard
• Ecstasy, starring Hedy Lamarr - (Czechoslovakia)
• The Emperor Jones, starring Paul Robeson
• Employees' Entrance, starring Warren William and Loretta Young
• Ever in My Heart, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Ex-Lady, starring Bette Davis
• Fast Workers, starring John Gilbert and Mae Clarke
• The Flower of Hawaii (Die Blume von Hawaii), directed by Richard Oswald - (Germany)
• Flüchtlinge (Refugees) - (Germany)
• Flying Down to Rio, starring Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond. Also starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their first of 10 films together
• Footlight Parade, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell and Ruby Keeler
• Friday the Thirteenth, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews - (GB)
• Gabriel Over the White House, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Walter Huston, Produced by William Randolph Hearst
• Ganga Bruta, directed by Humberto Mauro, starring Durval Bellini and Déa Selva (Brazil)
• The Ghoul, starring Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke and Ernest Thesiger - (GB)
• The Ghost Camera, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring Ida Lupino, John Mills - (GB)
• Going Hollywood, starring Marion Davies and Bing Crosby
• Gold Diggers of 1933, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers and Warren William
• The Good Companions, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews, Edmund Gwenn and John Gielgud - (GB)
• Goodbye Again, starring Joan Blondell and Warren William
• Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, starring Al Jolson
• Hard to Handle, starring James Cagney
• Heroes for Sale, starring Loretta Young and Richard Barthelmess
• Hold Your Man, starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
• The House on 56th Street, starring Kay Francis
• The House of Dora Green, directed by Henrik Galeen, starring Mady Christians - (Germany)
• I'm No Angel, starring Mae West and Cary Grant. West also wrote the story and screenplay.
• In the Wake of the Bounty, starring Errol Flynn as Fletcher Christian - (Australia)
• International House, starring W. C. Fields, George Burns, Gracie Allen
• The Invisible Man, starring Claude Rains in the title role with Gloria Stuart
• It's Great to Be Alive, directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Raul Roulien and Gloria Stuart
• Każdemu wolno kochać (Anybody Can Love), by Mieczysław Krawicz - (Poland)
• King Kong, starring Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong
• Ladies They Talk About, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Lady for a Day, directed by Frank Capra, starring Warren William and May Robson
• Lady Killer, starring James Cagney
• Liebelei, directed by Max Ophüls - (Germany)
• Life Is a Dog (Život je pes), directed by Martin Frič - (Czechoslovakia)
• Little Toys (Xiáo wǎnyì), directed by Sun Yu - (China)
• Little Women, directed by George Cukor, starring Katharine Hepburn and Joan Bennett
• Looking Forward, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Lionel Barrymore
• Lot in Sodom, starring Friedrich Haak
• Loyalties, starring Basil Rathbone - (GB)
• Man's Castle, starring Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young
• The Mayor of Hell, starring James Cagney
• Men Must Fight, starring Diana Wynyard
• Midnight Club, starring George Raft and Clive Brook
• Midnight Mary, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Loretta Young
• The Midnight Patrol, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Money for Speed, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring John Loder and Ida Lupino - (GB)
• The Monkey's Paw, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack
• Morning Glory, starring Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
• Mystery of the Wax Museum, starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray
• Okraina (The Outskirts) - (U.S.S.R.)
• One Sunday Afternoon, starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray
• Only Yesterday, starring Margaret Sullavan
• Our Betters, starring Constance Bennett, Gilbert Roland, and Anita Louise
• Parachute Jumper, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Bette Davis, and Frank McHugh
• Passing Fancy (Dekigokoro), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• Peg o' My Heart, starring Marion Davies
• Penthouse, starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy
• Perfect Understanding, starring Gloria Swanson and Laurence Olivier - (GB)
• Pick-Up, starring Sylvia Sydney and George Raft
• Picture Snatcher, starring James Cagney
• Pilgrimage, directed by John Ford
• The Power and the Glory, starring Spencer Tracy
• The Private Life of Henry VIII, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Charles Laughton - (GB)
• The Prizefighter and the Lady, starring Max Baer, Myrna Loy, Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey
• Professional Sweetheart, starring Ginger Rogers
• Queen Christina, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert
• Roman Scandals, starring Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Gloria Stuart
• S.O.S Iceberg (S.O.S. Eisberg), starring Leni Riefenstahl - (Germany)
• Secret of the Blue Room, starring Paul Lukas, Gloria Stuart and Lionel Atwill
• Secrets, starring Mary Pickford in her last film
• She Done Him Wrong, starring Mae West and Cary Grant in his first notable film role
• She Had to Say Yes, starring Loretta Young and Lyle Talbot, directed by Busby Berkeley and George Amy
• The Son of Kong, starring Robert Armstrong and Helen Mack
• Sons of the Desert, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• A Southern Maid, starring Bebe Daniels and Clifford Mollison - (GB)
• 'Spring Silkworms (Chung Can) - (China)
• State Fair, starring Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers and Lew Ayres
• The Story of Temple Drake, starring Miriam Hopkins and Jack La Rue
• The Stranger's Return, starring Miriam Hopkins and Lionel Barrymore
• A Study in Scarlet, starring Reginald Owen
• Supernatural, starring Carole Lombard, Alan Dinehart, Vivienne Osborne and Randolph Scott
• The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Otto Wernicke - (Germany)
• This Day and Age, Cecil B. Demille's now cult-favorite, starring Richard Cromwell and featuring then-teenager: Baby Peggy.
• This Week of Grace' directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Gracie Fields - (Britain)
• Three-Cornered Moon, starring Claudette Colbert and Richard Arlen
• Three Little Pigs, an animated short
• Tillie and Gus, starring Alison Skipworth and W. C. Fields
• Today We Live, starring Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper
• Tonight Is Ours, starring Fredric March and Claudette Colbert
• Topaze, starring John Barrymore and Myrna Loy
• Torch Singer, starring Claudette Colbert
• Tugboat Annie, starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery
• Turn Back the Clock, starring Lee Tracy and Mae Clarke
• The Vampire Bat, starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray
• Viktor und Viktoria - (Germany)
• Voltaire, starring George Arliss
• When Ladies Meet, starring Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery and Myrna Loy
• The World Changes, starring Mary Astor and Paul Muni
• Wild Boys of the Road, starring Frankie Darro and Edwin Phillips
• The Working Man, starring George Arliss and Bette Davis
• You Made Me Love You starring Stanley Lupino and Thelma Todd - (GB)
• Zero for Conduct (Zéro de conduite), directed by Jean Vigo - (France)

Serials

• Clancy of the Mounted
• Fighting with Kit Carson
• Gordon of Ghost City
• The Mystery Squadron
• The Perils of Pauline, starring Evalyn Knapp
• The Phantom of the Air
• The Return of Chandu
• Tarzan the Fearless, starring Buster Crabbe
• The Three Musketeers, starring Jack Mulhall and John Wayne
• The Whispering Shadow, starring Bela Lugosi
• The Wolf Dog, starring Rin Tin Tin

Comedy film series

• Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
• Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
• Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
• Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1945)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Harry Langdon (1924–1936)
• Wheeler and Woolsey (1929–1937)
• The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
• The Three Stooges (1933-1962)

Animated short film series

• Aesop's Film Fables (1921-1933)
• Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Silly Symphonies
  • Birds in the Spring
  • Father Noah's Ark
  • Three Little Pigs
  • Old King Cole
  • Lullaby Land
  • The Pied Piper
  • The Night Before Christmas
• Screen Songs (1929–1938)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Flip the Frog (1930-1933)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren) (1931-1933)
• Betty Boop (1932–1939)
  • Betty Boop's Ker-Choo
  • Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions
  • Is My Palm Read?
  • Betty Boop's Penthouse
  • Snow White
  • Betty Boop's Birthday Party
  • Betty Boop's May Party
  • Betty Boop's Big Boss
  • Mother Goose Land
  • Popeye the Sailor (first Popeye cartoon)
  • The Old Man of the Mountain
  • I Heard
  • Morning, Noon and Night
  • Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party
  • Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
• Popeye (1933-1957)
  • Popeye the Sailor (Betty Boop cartoon)
• Pooch the Pup (1932-1933)
• Willie Whopper (1933-1934)
• ComiColor Cartoons (1933-1936)
• Cubby Bear (1933-1934)
• The Little King (1933-1934)

Births

• January 12 - Liliana Cavani, Italian director
• January 18 - John Boorman, English director
• January 23 - Chita Rivera, actress, dancer and singer
• January 28 - Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
• February 13 - Kim Novak, actress
• February 18 - Mary Ure, Scottish actress (died 1975)
• March 14 - Michael Caine, English actor
• April 5 - Frank Gorshin, actor and comedian (died 2005)
• April 19 - Jayne Mansfield, actress (died 1967)
• April 26 - Carol Burnett, actress, television host and comedienne
• May 23 - Joan Collins, English actress
• June 11 - Gene Wilder, actor
• June 20 - Danny Aiello, actor
• July 29 - Lou Albano, actor, professional wrestler (died 2009)
• August 1 - Dom DeLuise, actor and comedian (died 2009)
• August 2 - Tom Bell, English actor (died 2006)
• August 16 - Julie Newmar, actress, dancer and singer
• August 18 - Roman Polanski, Polish director
• August 25 - Tom Skerritt, actor
• September 18 - Robert Blake, actor
• November 3 - Jeremy Brett, English actor (died 1995)
• November 28 - Hope Lange, actress (died 2003)
• December 15 - Tim Conway, actor and comedian

Deaths

• January 3 – Jack Pickford, Canadian-born American actor and director
• January 25 – Lewis J. Selznick, Ukrainian-born American producer
• February 15 – Pat Sullivan, Australian-born American director/producer of animated films, alleged co-creator of Felix the Cat
• February 26 – Spottiswoode Aitken, American actor
• February 23 – David Horsley, English-born American film executive
• March 8 – Albert Roscoe, American actor
• June 29 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor
• August 18 – James Williamson, Scottish film developer and film director
• August 28 – Helen Dunbar, American actress
• September 24 – Ferdinand Bonn, German actor
• October 5 – Renée Adorée, French actress
• October 30 – Svend Kornbeck, Danish actor
• December 19 – Jimmie Adams, American comedian

Film debuts

• Morris Ankrum - Reunion in Vienna
• Dame Peggy Ashcroft - The Wandering Jew
• Fred Astaire - Flying Down to Rio
• Lucille Ball - The Bowery
• Frances Drake - The Jewel
• Errol Flynn - In the Wake of the Bounty
• Margaret Hamilton - Another Language
• Phil Harris - Melody Cruise
• Will Hay - Know Your Apples
• King Kong
• Dorothy Lamour - Footlight Parade
• Cesar Romero - The Shadow Laughs
• Margaret Sullavan - Only Yesterday