The following is an overview of 1936 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. The highest grossing international film of the year was San Francisco, earning more than $5 million worldwide.
Events January 9 – Silent screen actor John Gilbert, perhaps best known for his appearances in films such as The Merry Widow and The Big Parade, dies suddenly of a heart attack at his Bel Air home, aged 38. February 15 – The first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, is released. May 29 – Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film, Fury, starring Spencer Tracy, Sylvia Sidney, and Bruce Cabot, is released. September 14 – Film producer Irving Thalberg, often referred by many as the "Boy Wonder of Hollywood", dies from pneumonia at his home in Santa Monica, aged 37.
Academy Awards
Best Picture: The Great Ziegfeld – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Best Director: Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Best Actor: Paul Muni – The Story of Louis Pasteur Best Actress: Luise Rainer – The Great Ziegfeld Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan – Come and Get It Best Supporting Actress: Gale Sondergaard – Anthony Adverse
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1936 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: + Highest-grossing films of 1936 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 The Great Ziegfeld MGM $3,089,000. 2 San Francisco $2,868,000 3 The PlainsmanParamount $2,278,533 4 After the Thin Man MGM $1,992,000 5 Modern Times United Artists $1,800,000 6 Anthony Adverse Warner Bros. $1,783,000Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 16 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551 7 Strike Me Pink United Artists $1,700,000 8 Rose Marie MGM $1,695,000 9 Swing Time RKO $1,624,000Richard Jewel (1994) 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14 No. 1, p.55 10 Libeled Lady MGM $1,601,000
Top Ten Money Making Stars Exhibitors selected the following as the Top Ten Money Making Stars of the Year in Quigley Publishing Company's annual poll.
RankActor/Actress1.Shirley Temple2.Clark Gable3.Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers4.Robert Taylor5.Joe E. Brown6.Dick Powell7.Joan Crawford8.Claudette Colbert9.Jeanette MacDonald10.Gary Cooper
Top Western stars A poll of the top Western stars was also published for the first time.
RankActor/Actress1.Buck Jones2.George O'Brien3.Gene Autry4.William Boyd5.Ken Maynard6.Dick Foran7.John Wayne8.Tim McCoy9.Hoot Gibson10.Buster Crabbe
Notable films United States unless stated.
0–9 13 Hours by Air, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett and ZaSu Pitts 15 Maiden Lane, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Claire Trevor and Cesar Romero
A Accused, directed by Thornton Freeland, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Dolores del Río – (GB) Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden), directed by Franz Osten, starring Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani – (India) After the Thin Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart Allá en el Rancho Grande (Out on the Great Ranch), directed by Fernando de Fuentes, starring Tito Guízar and Esther Fernández – (Mexico) The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss, directed by Alfred Zeisler, starring Cary Grant and Mary Brian – (GB) Anthony Adverse, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, and Gale Sondergaard Anything Goes, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman and Ida Lupino Augustus the Strong (August der Starke), directed by Paul Wegener, starring Michael Bohnen – (Germany/Poland)
B Black Eyes (Cheshmhay-e Siah), directed by Abdolhossein Sepanta – (Iran) Blood on Wolf Mountain (Láng shān dié xuě jì), directed by Fei Mu, starring Li Lili – (China) The Bohemian Girl, directed by James W. Horne and Charley Rogers, starring Laurel and Hardy The Bold Caballero, directed by Wells Root, starring Robert Livingston Born to Dance, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Eleanor Powell, James Stewart and Una Merkel Broken Blossoms, directed by John Brahm, starring Dolly Haas and Emlyn Williams – (GB) Bullets or Ballots, directed by William Keighley, starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell and Humphrey Bogart By the Bluest of Seas (U samogo sinego morya), directed by Boris Barnet – (USSR)
C Cain and Mabel, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Marion Davies and Clark Gable Camel Through the Eye of a Needle (Velbloud uchem jehly), directed by and starring Hugo Haas – (Czechoslovakia) Camille, directed by George Cukor, starring Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor and Lionel Barrymore Captain January, directed by David Butler, starring Shirley Temple The Case Against Mrs. Ames, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Madeleine Carroll and George Brent Ceiling Zero, directed by Howard Hawks, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien César, directed by Marcel Pagnol, starring Raimu – (France) The Charge of the Light Brigade, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland Charlie Chan at the Opera, directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Warner Oland and Boris Karloff The Children of Captain Grant (Deti kapitana Granta), directed by Vladimir Vajnshtok – (USSR) Circus (Tsirk), directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, starring Lyubov Orlova – (USSR) Collegiate, directed by Ralph Murphy, starring Jack Oakie, Frances Langford and Betty Grable Come and Get It, directed by Howard Hawks and William Wyler, starring Edward Arnold, Joel McCrea, and Walter Brennan Craig's Wife, directed by Dorothy Arzner, starring Rosalind Russell and John Boles The Crime of Monsieur Lange (Le Crime de Monsieur Lange), directed by Jean Renoir, starring René Lefèvre – (France) Crime Over London, directed by Alfred Zeisler, starring Margot Grahame and Paul Cavanagh – (GB)
D
Daniel Boone, directed by David Howard, starring George O'Brien The Desert Island (Lang tao sha), directed by Wu Yonggang – (China) Desire, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper Devdas, directed by Pramathesh Barua, starring K. L. Saigal – (India) The Devil Doll, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan Dimples, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Shirley Temple and Frank Morgan Dodsworth, directed by William Wyler, starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor and David Niven Dracula's Daughter, directed by Lambert Hillyer, starring Otto Kruger and Gloria Holden Dusty Ermine, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring Anthony Bushell and Jane Baxter – (GB)
E East Meets West, directed by Herbert Mason, starring George Arliss – (GB) Empty Saddles, directed by Lesley Selander, starring Buck Jones and Louise Brooks Everything Is Thunder, directed by Milton Rosmer, starring Constance Bennett – (GB)
F Follow the Fleet, directed by Mark Sandrich, starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Randolph Scott Forget Me Not, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Beniamino Gigli and Joan Gardner – (GB) The Four Musketeers (I quattro moschettieri), directed by Carlo Campogalliani – (Italy) Fury, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, and Bruce Cabot
G The Garden of Allah, directed by Richard Boleslawski, starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer The General Died at Dawn, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll General Spanky, directed by Fred Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas, starring Spanky McFarland Girl Friends (Podrugi), directed by Lev Arnshtam, starring Zoya Fyodorova – (USSR) Go West, Young Man, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Mae West, Warren William and Randolph Scott Gold Diggers of 1937, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Dick Powell, Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell The Gorgeous Hussy, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone, Melvyn Douglas and James Stewart The Great Ziegfeld, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer and Frank Morgan Green Pastures, directed by Marc Connelly and William Keighley, starring Rex Ingram and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
H Hearts Divided, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Marion Davies and Dick Powell Hearts in Bondage, directed by Lew Ayres, starring James Dunn, David Manners and Mae Clarke Home Guardsman Bruggler (Standschütze Bruggler), directed by Werner Klingler – (Germany) Hopalong Cassidy Returns, directed by Nate Watt, starring William Boyd
I Intermezzo, directed by Gustaf Molander, starring Gösta Ekman and Ingrid Bergman – (Sweden) The Invisible Ray, directed by Lambert Hillyer, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi It Had to Happen, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring George Raft and Rosalind Russell It's Love Again, directed by Victor Saville, starring Jessie Matthews and Robert Young – (GB)
J The Jungle Princess, directed by Wilhelm Thiele, starring Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland
K Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (The Emperor of California), directed by and starring Luis Trenker – (Germany) Klondike Annie, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Mae West and Victor McLaglen
L Laburnum Grove, directed by Carol Reed, starring Edmund Gwenn and Cedric Hardwicke – (GB) The Last of the Mohicans, directed by George B. Seitz, starring Randolph Scott The Last Outlaw, directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Harry Carey and Hoot Gibson The Lawless Nineties, directed by Joseph Kane, starring John Wayne Legion of Terror, directed by Charles C. Coleman, starring Bruce Cabot Let's Go With Pancho Villa (Vámonos con Pancho Villa), directed by Fernando de Fuentes – (Mexico) Libeled Lady, directed by Jack Conway, starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy Limelight, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Anna Neagle – (GB) Little Lord Fauntleroy, directed by John Cromwell, starring Freddie Bartholomew and Dolores Costello Lloyd's of London, directed by Henry King, starring Freddie Bartholomew, Madeleine Carroll and Tyrone Power Love Before Breakfast, directed by Walter Lang, starring Carole Lombard, Preston Foster and Cesar Romero Love in Exile, directed by Alfred L. Werker, starring Clive Brook and Helen Vinson – (GB) Love on the Run, directed by W. S. Van Dyke. starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone The Lower Depths (Les Bas-fonds), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin – (France)
M The Man Who Changed His Mind, directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Boris Karloff – (GB) Mayerling, directed by Anatole Litvak starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux – (France) Men Are Not Gods, directed by Walter Reisch, starring Miriam Hopkins and Gertrude Lawrence – (GB) A Message to Garcia, directed by George Marshall, starring Wallace Beery, Barbara Stanwyck and John Boles The Milky Way, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Harold Lloyd and Adolphe Menjou Modern Times, a Charlie Chaplin film, with Paulette Goddard The Moon's Our Home, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Margaret Sullavan, Henry Fonda and Walter Brennan Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, directed by Frank Capra, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur My Man Godfrey, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring William Powell and Carole Lombard
N Next Time We Love, directed by Edward H. Griffith, starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Ray Milland Night Mail, documentary directed by Harry Watt and Basil Wright – (GB)
O The Only Son (Hitori musuko), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan) Osaka Elegy (Naniwa erejī), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Isuzu Yamada – (Japan) Our Relations, directed by Harry Lachman, starring Laurel and Hardy
P Palm Springs, directed by Aubrey Scotto, starring Frances Langford, Guy Standing and David Niven Paradise Road (Ulička v ráji), directed by Martin Frič, starring Hugo Haas – (Czechoslovakia) Pennies from Heaven, directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring Bing Crosby, Madge Evans and Louis Armstrong