1931 in film
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| Years in film |
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| 1870s |
The following is an overview of 1931 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Top grossing films
| Rank | Title | Studio | Actors | Worldwide Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Frankenstein | Universal | Boris Karloff | $12,000,000 |
| 2. | Cimarron | RKO | Richard Dix and Irene Dunne | $1,383,000 |
| 3. | Mata Hari | MGM | Greta Garbo | $2,227,000 |
| 4. | City Lights | United Artists | Charlie Chaplin | $5,019,181 |
| 5. | A Free Soul | MGM | Norma Shearer | |
| 6. | Dracula | Universal | Bela Lugosi | |
| 7. | Private Lives | MGM | Norma Shearer | |
| 8. | No Limit | Paramount | Clara Bow | |
| 9. | The Public Enemy | Warner Bros. | James Cagney and Jean Harlow | |
| 10. | The Smiling Lieutenant | Paramount | Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins |
Academy Awards
- Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM
- Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul
- Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ
- Best Actor: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- Best Actress: Marie Dressler - Min and Bill
- Best Actress: Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet
Note: Prior to 1933, awards were not based on calendar years. And there were two awards given in 1932 for 'Best Actor'. That's how there are 3 'Best Actor', 2 'Best Actress' awards for 1931 films.
1931 film releases
January–March
- January 1931
- 3 January
- 9 January
- 16 January
- 17 January
- 30 January
- February 1931
- March 1931
- 6 March
- 14 March
- 21 March
- 29 March
April–June
- April 1931
- 4 April
- 6 April
- 15 April
- 18 April
- 23 April
- 30 April
- May 1931
- 1 May
- 11 May
- 16 May
- 22 May
- June 1931
- 13 June
- 20 June
- 21 June
- 27 June
- 28 June
July–September
- July 1931
- 11 July
- August 1931
- 1 August
- 7 August
- 8 August
- 13 August
- 15 August
- 22 August
- 29 August
- September 1931
- 1 September
- 5 September
- 19 September
- 26 September
- 30 September
October–December
- October 1931
- 3 October
- 10 October
- 21 October
- 24 October
- 31 October
- November 1931
- 7 November
- 9 November
- 21 November
- December 1931
- 3 December
- 12 December
- 17 December
- 26 December
- 31 December
Notable films released in 1931
U.S.A. unless stated
- 24 Hours, starring Clive Brook and Kay Francis
- À nous la liberté (Freedom for Us), directed by René Clair - (France)
- Alam Ara (The Light of the World), directed by Ardeshir Irani - the first Indian talkie
- Alibi directed by Leslie S. Hiscott (Britain)
- Alice in Wonderland, the first sound version
- Alone (Odna) - (USSR)
- An American Tragedy, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Sylvia Sydney
- Anna Christie, directed by Jacques Feyder, starring Greta Garbo - (Germany)
- Arrowsmith, directed by John Ford, starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes
- Bachelor Apartment, starring Irene Dunne and Lowell Sherman
- Bad Girl, directed by Frank Borzage
- Bad Sister, starring Bette Davis
- Berlin-Alexanderplatz film of the novel by Alfred Döblin - (Germany)
- The Black Camel, a Charlie Chan mystery starring Warner Oland
- Blonde Crazy, starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell
- Bought!, starring Constance Bennett
- Business Under Distress (To neznáte Hadimršku) - (Czechoslovakia)
- The Champ, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper
- La Chienne (The Bitch), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Michel Simon - (France)
- Cimarron, starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne
- City Lights, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin
- City Streets, starring Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sidney
- A Connecticut Yankee, starring Will Rogers
- The Criminal Code, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Walter Huston
- David Golder, directed by Julien Duvivier - (France)
- Dishonored, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Victor McLaglen
- Down River, starring Charles Laughton - (GB)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins
- Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, starring Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye
- Elisabeth of Austria starring Lil Dagover and Paul Otto - (Germany)
- Emil und die Detektive, starring Rolf Wenkhaus, Käthe Haack and Fritz Rasp - (Germany)
- Expensive Women, starring Dolores Costello and H. B. Warner
- Five and Ten, starring Marion Davies and Leslie Howard
- Five Star Final, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson
- Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, starring Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Mae Clarke
- A Free Soul, starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable
- From Saturday to Sunday (Ze soboty na neděli) - (Czechoslovakia)
- The Front Page, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien
- Girls About Town, directed by George Cukor, starring Kay Francis and Joel McCrea
- Goldie, starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy
- The Guardsman, starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
- Guilty Hands, starring Lionel Barrymore and Kay Francis
- Hell Divers, starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable
- Her Grace Commands (Ihre Hoheit befiehlt) - (Germany)
- Hobson's Choice, directed by Thomas Bentley (Britain)
- Honor Among Lovers, starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March
- Huckleberry Finn, starring Jackie Coogan
- Hyppolit, the Butler (Hyppolit, a lakáj) - (Hungary)
- I Take This Woman, starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard
- Indiscreet, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Gloria Swanson and Ben Lyon
- Iron Man, starring Lew Ayres and Jean Harlow
- Just a Gigolo, starring Jack Haines
- Kalidas, the first Tamil sound film, directed by H.M. Reddy (Tamil)
- Kameradschaft (Comradeship), directed by G.W. Pabst - (Germany)
- Kiki, starring Mary Pickford
- Der Kongreß tanzt (Congress Dances), starring Lilian Harvey - (Germany)
- The Last Flight, starring Richard Barthelmess
- Limite - (Brazil)
- Little Caesar, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
- M, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Peter Lorre and Otto Wernicke - (Germany)
- The Mad Genius, starring John Barrymore
- Mädchen in Uniform, directed by Carl Froelich, starring Hertha Thiele - (Germany)
- The Maltese Falcon, starring Bebe Daniels
- Marius, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Raimu and Pierre Fresnay - (France)
- Mata Hari, starring Greta Garbo and Lionel Barrymore
- Le Million, directed by René Clair - (France)
- The Millionaire, starring George Arliss
- The Miracle Woman, directed by Frank Capra, starring Barbara Stanwyck
- Monkey Business, starring Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo Marx
- The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (Madamu to nyōbō) - (Japan)
- Night in Montmartre, directed by Leslie S. Hiscott (Britain)
- Night Nurse starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ben Lyon
- Other Men's Women, starring Regis Toomey and Mary Astor
- Palmy Days, starring Eddie Cantor
- Pardon Us, starring Laurel and Hardy
- Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood (Tao hua qi xue ji) - (China)
- Platinum Blonde, starring Loretta Young, Robert Williams and Jean Harlow
- Possessed, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
- Private Lives, starring Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery
- The Public Enemy, directed by William A. Wellman, starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow and Joan Blondell
- Quick Millions, starring Spencer Tracy
- Revenge on the Brother, directed Ebrahim Moradi (Iran)
- Sally in Our Alley, starring Gracie Fields - (GB)
- The Secret Six, starring Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
- Secrets of a Secretary, starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall
- Sidewalks of New York, starring Buster Keaton
- The Sin of Madelon Claudet, starring Helen Hayes
- Smart Money, starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney
- The Smiling Lieutenant, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins
- The Speckled Band, directed by Jack Raymond, starring Raymond Massey - (GB)
- A Spray of Plum Blossoms (Yi jian mei) - (China)
- The Squaw Man directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Warner Baxter
- The Stolen Jools, starring Gary Cooper, Laurel and Hardy, and Norma Shearer
- Street Scene, directed by King Vidor, starring Sylvia Sidney
- Svengali, starring John Barrymore
- Tabu, directed by F. W. Murnau
- Tell England, directed by Anthony Asquith - (GB)
- Ten Cents a Dance, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ricardo Cortez
- The Theft of the Mona Lisa (Der Raub der Mona Lisa) - (Germany)
- This Modern Age, starring Joan Crawford
- The Threepenny Opera (Die 3 groschen-oper), starring Lotte Lenya - (Germany)
- Tilly of Bloomsbury, directed by Jack Raymond, starring Sydney Howard, Phyllis Konstam (Britain)
- Tokyo Chorus (Tokyo no korasu), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
- Tommi, directed by Yakov Protazanov - (USSR)
- Tonight or Never, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Gloria Swanson and Melvyn Douglas
- Waterloo Bridge, directed by James Whale
Serials
- Battling with Buffalo Bill
- Danger Island
- Finger Prints
- The Galloping Ghost, starring Harold Grange
- Heroes of the Flames
- King of the Wild
- The Lightning Warrior, starring Rin Tin Tin
- The Mystery Trooper
- The Phantom of the West
- The Sign of the Wolf
- The Spell of the Circus
- The Vanishing Legion
Short film series
- Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
- Charley Chase (1924–1940)
- Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
- Our Gang (1922–1944)
Animated short film series
- Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1933)
- Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
- Mickey Mouse
- The Birthday Party
- Traffic Troubles
- The Castaway
- The Moose Hunt
- The Delivery Boy
- Mickey Steps Out
- Blue Rhythm
- Fishin' Around
- The Barnyard Broadcast
- The Beach Party
- Mickey Cuts Up
- Mickey's Orphans
- Silly Symphonies
- Birds of a Feather
- Mother Goose Melodies
- The China Plate
- The Busy Beavers
- The Cat's Out
- Egyptian Melodies
- The Clock Store
- The Spider and the Fly
- The Fox Hunt
- The Ugly Duckling
- Screen Songs (1929–1938)
- Talkartoons (1929–1932)
- Mask a Raid (featuring Betty Boop)
- Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
- Flip the Frog (1930–1933)
- Terrytoons (1930–1964)
- Toby the Pup (1930-1931)
- Merrie Melodies (1931-1969)
- Scrappy (1931-1941)
- Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren) (1931-1933)
Births
- January 5 - Robert Duvall, actor and director
- January 14 - Caterina Valente, French singer and actress
- January 17 - James Earl Jones, actor
- February 6
- Mamie Van Doren, actress and sex symbol
- Rip Torn, actor and director
- February 8 - James Dean, actor (died 1955)
- February 15 - Claire Bloom, actress
- February 24 - Dominic Chianese, actor
- March 22 - William Shatner, actor
- March 26 - Leonard Nimoy, actor and director (died 2015)
- April 8 - John Gavin, actor, diplomat
- May 28 - Carroll Baker, actress
- June 20 - Olympia Dukakis, actress
- July 1 - Leslie Caron, French actress and dancer
- July 4 - Stephen Boyd, Irish actor (died 1977)
- July 11 - Tab Hunter, actor and singer
- August 31 - Noble Willingham, actor (died 2004)
- September 10 - Philip Baker Hall, actor
- September 12 - Ian Holm, English actor
- September 17 - Anne Bancroft, actress (died 2005)
- September 21 - Larry Hagman, actor and director (died 2012)
- September 29 - Anita Ekberg, Swedish actress and sex symbol (died 2015)
- September 30 - Angie Dickinson, actress
- November 6 - Mike Nichols German-born director (died 2014)
- December 11 - Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress
Deaths
- March 11 - F. W. Murnau, German director (b. 1888)
- March 24
- Charles Clary, silent film actor (born 1873)
- Robert Edeson, stage and screen actor (born 1868)
- June 7 - Viktor Schwanneke, German actor (born 1880)
- August 14 - Janie Marèse, French actress (born 1908)
- November 27 - Lya De Putti, Hungarian actress (born 1899)
- December 23 - Tyrone Power, Sr., stage and film veteran, father of movie star Tyrone Power (born 1869)
Film debuts
- Bruce Cabot - Heroes of the Flames
- Bette Davis - Bad Sister
- Lotte Lenya - The Threepenny Opera
- Otto Preminger director, producer - The Great Love
- Simone Simon - Durand contre Durand
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