The following is an overview of 1934 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Pleasantville is a 1998 American teen fantasy comedy-drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Gary Ross. It stars Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, J. T. Walsh, and Reese Witherspoon, with Don Knotts, Paul Walker, Marley Shelton, and Jane Kaczmarek in supporting roles. The story centers on two siblings who wind up trapped in a 1950s TV show, set in a small Midwest town, where residents are seemingly perfect.
Marguerita Maria Christians, known as Mady Christians, was an Austrian-born German-American actress who had a successful acting career in theatre and film in the United States until she was blacklisted during the McCarthy period.
Charles Ambrose Bickford was an American actor known for supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Farmer's Daughter (1947) and Johnny Belinda (1948). His other roles include Whirlpool (1950), A Star Is Born (1954) and The Big Country (1958).
Dorothy Lyman is an American television actress, director, and producer. She is most known for her work as Gwen Frame on Another World, on All My Children as the original Opal Sue Gardner, as Rebecca Whitmore on Generations, and on the sitcom Mama's Family as Naomi Harper.
Chesty Anderson, U.S. Navy is a 1976 R-rated comedy film featuring Shari Eubank as Chesty Anderson, a WAVE in the United States Navy.
Jean Parker was an American film and stage actress. A native of Montana, indigent during the Great Depression, she was adopted by a family in Pasadena, California, at age ten. She initially aspired to be an illustrator and artist, but was discovered at age 16 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executive Louis B. Mayer after a photograph of her was published in a Los Angeles newspaper when she won a poster contest.
"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" is a popular song composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the 1939 musical Too Many Girls. Introduced by Richard Kollmar and Marcy Westcott in the stage musical, early hit versions were recorded by Benny Goodman and by Jimmy Dorsey .
It was then performed by Trudy Erwin and Richard Carlson in the 1940 film adaptation produced by RKO. The song was later interpolated into the score of the 1957 film Pal Joey, sung by Frank Sinatra, and has become a jazz standard.
Seventh Heaven is an American romantic drama film released in 1937 by 20th Century Fox, directed by Henry King and starring Simone Simon and James Stewart. The supporting cast features Jean Hersholt, Gregory Ratoff, Gale Sondergaard, and John Qualen.
Heidi is a 1937 American musical drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Julien Josephson and Walter Ferris, loosely based on Johanna Spyri's 1880 children's book of the same name. The film stars Shirley Temple as the titular orphan, who is taken from her grandfather to live as a companion to Klara, a spoiled, disabled girl. It was a success and Temple enjoyed her third consecutive year as number one box office draw.
The Woman on the Beach is a 1947 American film noir directed by Jean Renoir and starring Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan, and Charles Bickford. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is a love triangle drama about Scott, a conflicted U.S. Coast Guard officer (Ryan), and his pursuit of Peggy, a married woman (Bennett). Peggy is married to Tod, a blind former artist (Bickford).
Marcia Mae Jones was an American film and television actress whose prolific career spanned 57 years.
Dynamite is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Conrad Nagel, Kay Johnson, Charles Bickford, and Julia Faye. Written by Jeanie MacPherson, John Howard Lawson, and Gladys Unger, the film is about a convicted murderer scheduled to be executed, whom a socialite marries simply to satisfy a condition of her grandfather's will. Mitchell Leisen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction.
Letter from an Unknown Woman is a 1948 American drama romance film released by Universal-International and directed by Max Ophüls. It was based on the 1922 novella of the same name by Stefan Zweig. The film stars Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians, and Marcel Journet (actor).
Sandy Parker was a Canadian professional wrestler. She debuted in 1969, wrestling in Canada, the United States, and Japan. In Japan, she worked for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, holding numerous titles, and she was the first Black woman to win the WWWA World Single Championship in 1973. She also had an unofficial NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship reign with partner Sue Green. Wrestling journalist and historian Dave Meltzer has categorised Parker as "one of the best women professional wrestlers of the early 1970s".
No Other Woman is a 1933 American pre-Code melodrama film starring Irene Dunne, and featuring Charles Bickford, Gwili Andre and Eric Linden. It was directed by J. Walter Ruben from a screenplay by Wanda Tuchock and Bernard Schubert, based on the play Just a Woman by Eugene Walter, which ran for 136 performances on Broadway in 1916, and was previously made into silent films called Just a Woman in 1918 and 1925.
The Birth of a Nation is a 2016 historical drama film written and directed by Nate Parker in his directorial debut. It is based on the story of Nat Turner, the enslaved man who led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. The film stars Parker as Turner, with Armie Hammer, Mark Boone Jr., Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith, Gabrielle Union, Penelope Ann Miller, and Jackie Earle Haley in supporting roles. Parker also petitioned financiers to invest in the film, ultimately getting $8.5 million in production budget, and started filming in May 2015 in Georgia. The film's title is an ironic callback to the 1915 KKK-focused silent film.
Romance of the Redwoods is a 1939 American adventure film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Charles Bickford, Jean Parker and Gordon Oliver. It is based on the 1899 short story The White Silence by Jack London.
Sylvie's Love is a 2020 American romantic drama film, written, directed and produced by Eugene Ashe. The film stars Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Regé-Jean Page, Aja Naomi King, and Eva Longoria.
Whispers is a 1990 Canadian horror film directed by Douglas Jackson and starring Victoria Tennant, Jean LeClerc, Chris Sarandon, Peter MacNeill, and Linda Sorenson. It follows a writer who, after killing her stalker, finds that he seems to have returned from beyond the grave. It is based on the 1980 novel by American suspense author Dean Koontz.
