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1929 |
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| 2/1 - |
A report in Variety claims it will cost a total of nearly $3 million to equip cinemas with sound systems. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1/2 - |
Erich von Stroheim is fired as director of Queen Kelly after shooting four hours of footage which amounts to only one-third of his planned running time. The film is not released in the US until 1985. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1/2 - |
MGM’s Broadway Melody, the first all-talking musical feature, premieres in Los Angeles. The film features a musical sequence, ‘The Wedding of the Painted Doll’ filmed in two-strip technicolor. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 3/3 - |
William Fox announces plans to acquire a $50 million shareholding in Loew’s Incorporated, much to the outrage of Louis B. Mayer, chief of MGM, in whom Loew’s have a majority stake. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 10/3 - |
Hearts in Dixie, the first all-black cast film is released. It stars Stepin Fetchit and is directed by Paul Sloane. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 6/4 - |
The Wild Party, ‘It’ Girl Clara Bow’s first sound film is released. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 10/4 - |
US film companies implement a ban on French film imports. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 26/4 - |
Warner Brothers decides to break the boycott on French films, but is pressured into changing its decision by the MPPDA. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 16/5 - |
The first annual Academy Awards are held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. 13 prizes are awarded, and the event is attended by 200 members of the movie industry. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 18/5 - |
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy’s Double Whoopee, featuring an 18-year-old Jean Harlow in an eye-catching role, is released. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 27/5 - |
Paul Fejos’s Broadway, starring Evelyn Brent, is released. The film is the first to be lit entirely by tungsten lamps, and features unusually mobile camera work for an early talking picture thanks to the use of a special crane capable of moving the camera 600 feet per minute. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 28/5 - |
On With the Show, Warner’s full-length colour musical directed by Alan Crosland and starring Arthur Lake and Betty Compson, premieres in New York. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 11/6 - |
Walt Disney’s trademark application for Mickey Mouse’s image is filed with the US Patent Office. The trademark is granted on 12th August 1929. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 22/6 - |
Thunderbolt, Josef von Sternberg’s first talking picture, is released. It stars George Bancroft and Fay Wray. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1/7 - |
The actor’s union Equity calls for a strike against the studios. Their demands are for a 48-hour working week, the exclusion of non-union actors, and a guarantee that no dubbing will be undertaken without an actor’s permission. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 30/7 - |
Street Girl, RKO’s first official release premieres in New York. The musical stars Betty Compson and Jackie Oakie. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 31/7 - |
Mickey Mouse speaks his first words – “hot dog!” – in the animated short The Karnival Kid. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 3/8 - |
Paramount release The Cocoanuts, featuring the Marx Brothers – Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo – in their movie debut, an adaptation of their hit Broadway musical. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 15/6 - |
Ratskin, Charles Mintz’s first sound Krazy Kat animation for Columbia/Screen Gems is released. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 20/8 - |
Hallejulah, director King Vidor’s first sound film is released. The film features an all-black cast. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 22/8 - |
The Skeleton Dance, the first of Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies, is released. The entire film is animated by Disney’s partner Ub Iwerks. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 15/9 - |
Luther Reed’s Rio Rita, starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles, marks RKO’s biggest hit of their first year in business. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 24/9 - |
An agreement is reached between the French and America regarding importation quotas. It is assumed that the advent of sound will serve as protection for the French filmmakers. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 28/9 - |
John Gilbert’s first sound film, His Glorious Night, is released. The microphones are not kind to Gilbert’s voice, coaxing laughter from audiences at inappropriate moments, and the films marks the beginning of the end for the former heartthrob’s career. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| Sep - |
The Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, the first to be made in Fox’s Grandeur 70mm widescreen process is screened on a 28ft x 14ft screen at the Gaiety Theater, Broadway, New York. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| Sep - |
Cinema manager Harry Woodin proposes the idea of Mickey Mouse Club meetings in cinemas to Walt Disney. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 20/10 - |
The Cockeyed World, Raoul Walsh’s sequel to his 1926 smash hit What Price Glory, is released. Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe reprise their roles as Sergeants Flagg and Quirt. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 26/10 - |
Robert Montgomery appears in his first sound film, Sam Wood’s So This is College, as one of a trio of college seniors in love with the same girl. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 26/10 - |
Premiere of Sam Taylor’s The Taming of the Shrew, in which Hollywood royalty Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford co-star. Although they would remain together for a further seven years their marriage was already rumoured to be in trouble. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 2/11 - |
The Embassy on Broadway, New York, the first news cinema, opens for business. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 1/11 - |
Warner Brothers completes its takeover of First National. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 19/11 - |
Ernst Lubitsch’s first talking movie, The Love Parade starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette Macdonald is released. The director is nominated for an Academy Award for best director. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| Nov - |
MGM announces a $2m investment in bringing foreign actors to Hollywood to make French, German and Spanish versions of their films. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| 16/12 - |
Walt Disney Productions is formed. Walt and his wife, Lillian own 60%, Walt’s brother Roy owns the other 40%. [MORE] [ADD] |
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– The seven largest Hollywood studios release a total of 290 films, of which only 38 are silent. Fox, United Artists and Warner Brother make no silent films. 166 films are all-talking, 50 are part-talkie and 36 have music and sound effects but no dialogue. [MORE] [ADD] |
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| – Six Technicolor films are released this year: Gold Diggers of Broadway, On With the Show, and The Show of Shows from Warner Brothers, The Mysterious Island and The Viking From MGM, and Mamba from independent production company Tiffany. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
| – Carl Laemmle appoints his son, Carl Laemmle Jr. as head of production at Universal. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
| – The major Hollywood studios establish vocal training departments to improve their actors’ voices. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
| – 24 frames per second is established as the sound motion picture standard. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
| – The Walter Lantz Studio opens. Their films are distributed by Universal. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
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Other Films of Note |
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Alibi (Roland West) [MORE] [ADD] |
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Applause (Rouben Mamoulian) [MORE] [ADD] |
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Four Devils (F. W. Murnau) [MORE] [ADD] |
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The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (Charles Reisner) [MORE] [ADD] |
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Lucky Star (Frank Borzage) [MORE] [ADD] |
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Les Miserables (Richard Boleslawski) [MORE] [ADD] |
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Noah’s Ark (Michael Curtiz) [MORE] [ADD] |
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The Racket (Lewis Milestone) [MORE] [ADD] |
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Sonny Boy (Archie Mayo) [MORE] [ADD] |
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The Virginian (Victor Fleming) [MORE] [ADD] |
