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The History of American Cinema: 1934 |
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July - December |
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12/7 - |
William Hays, president of the MPPDA, announces a fine of $25,000 will be levied for any changes that are made to screenplays once they have been passed by the Commission. [ADD] | |||
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11/8 - |
The premiere takes place in Chicago of King Vidor’s Our Daily Bread, the story of an agricultural co-operative’s struggle to survive the Great Depression. [ADD] | |||
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16/8 - |
The premiere takes place of Ray Enright and Busby Berkeley’s Dames. [ADD] | |||
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29/8 - |
The premiere takes place of Rowland V. Lee’s The Count of Monte Cristo. Robert Donat stars as Alexandre Dumas’ tragic hero, while Elissa Landi and Louis Calhern lend support. [ADD] | |||
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31/8 - |
La Cucuracha, the first live-action 3-strip Technicolor film is released. The two-reel short film is financed by Technicolor associate and financier, Jock Whitney, who creates Pioneer Pictures for the purpose, and costs $50,000. [ADD] | |||
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Aug - |
In a four-hour staff meeting, Walt Disney lays out his planes for a full-length animated feature based on the Snow White fairy tale. [ADD] | |||
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15/9 - |
The Scarlet Empress, director Josef von Sternberg’s sixth collaboration with Marlene Dietrich, is released. The sumptuous production is enhanced by Bert Glennon’s lush cinematography. [ADD] | |||
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5/10 - |
Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra, starring Claudette Colbert as the Queen of the Nile, is released. Warren William and Henry Wilcoxon also star. [ADD] | |||
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11/10 - |
Ernst Lubitsch’s adaptation of Franz Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow is released. It stars Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald. [ADD] | |||
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Oct - |
A coalition of 35 national organisations is formed at a meeting held by Grace Goodhue Coolidge, wife of President Coolidge, to protest at film distributors’ practice of block booking. [ADD] | |||
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17/11 - |
Norman Z. McLeod’s It’s a Gift, starring W. C. Fields and his nemesis Baby LeRoy is released. [ADD] | |||
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26/11 - |
Universal’s Imitation of Life, one of few 30s Hollywood films to acknowledge a race problem in the United States, is released. Directed by John M. Stahl, it stars Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers. [ADD] | |||
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28/11 - |
A new board of directors is elected at the bankrupt Paramount Studios following the mass resignation of the previous board. [ADD] | |||
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Nov - |
The Catholic Legion of Decency becomes a permanent pressure group on film morality. [ADD] | |||
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Nov - |
Standards for 35mm positive and negative films are adopted by the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (SMPTE). [ADD] | |||
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28/12 - |
Bing Crosby stars in Frank Tuttle’s Here is My Heart as a famous singer opposite Kitty Carlisle. [ADD] | |||
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28/12 - |
Charlie Chaplin decides against using scenes with dialogue that he has shot with Paulette Goddard for his forthcoming Modern Times. [ADD] | |||
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31/12 - |
Victor Saville’s Evergreen, which stars Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale, Betty Balfour and Barry Mackay, receives its US release. [ADD] | |||
| – Eastman Kodak introduces rem-jet anti-halation backing to its motion picture film stocks to diminish the flare caused by internal reflection of camera parts. [ADD] | ||||
| – The nickname ‘Oscar’ is allegedly given to the gold Academy Award statuette by Hollywood gossip columnist Sidney Sklosky. [ADD] | ||||
| – Weekly cinema attendance increases to 70 million. [ADD] | ||||
| – The major Hollywood studios begin submitting all advertising materials to Advertising Advisory Council (AAC), a department of the MPPDA, for approval prior to distribution. [ADD] | ||||
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| – Louis De Rochemont and Roy E. Larsen of Time Inc., create the March of Time documentary newsreels. [ADD] | ||||
| – Joseph Breen is appointed head of the Production Code Administration (PCA) [ADD] | ||||
Top Ten Money-making Stars of 19341. Will Rogers 2. Clark Gable 3. Janet Gaynor 5. Mae West 7. Bing Crosby 10. Norma Shearer Source: Quigley Poll |
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Other Key American Films of 1934 |
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| The Barretts of Wimpole Street (Sidney Franklin) [ADD] | ||||
| The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich) [ADD] | ||||
| Judge Priest (John Ford) [ADD] | ||||
| Of Human Bondage (John Cromwell) [ADD] | ||||
| The Painted Veil (Richard Boleslawski) [ADD] | ||||
The History of Cinema: 1934 |
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| Australia - Italy | ||||
| France | ||||
| Gt. Britain | ||||
| Japan - USSR | ||||
| USA January - June | ||||
