The following is an overview of 1930 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was an American actor, producer, and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best-known for starring in such films as The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Gunga Din (1939), and The Corsican Brothers (1941). The son of Douglas Fairbanks and stepson of Mary Pickford, his first marriage was to actress Joan Crawford.
Kentucky is a 1938 American drama sports film with Loretta Young, Richard Greene, and Walter Brennan. It was directed by David Butler. It is a Romeo and Juliet story of lovers Jack and Sally, set amidst Kentucky horseracing, in which a family feud goes back to the Civil War and is kept alive by Sally's Uncle Peter.
Green Hell is a 1940 American jungle adventure film directed by James Whale, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Bennett.
The Show of Shows is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost almost $800,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor.
Love Is a Racket is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Ann Dvorak. The movie was written by Courtney Terrett from the novel by Rian James, and directed by William A. Wellman.
The Forward Pass is a 1929 American Pre-Code football drama musical film directed by Edward F. Cline, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Loretta Young. John Wayne was an uncredited extra in the film. The film is believed to be lost.
The Life of Jimmy Dolan, released in the UK as The Kid's Last Fight, is a 1933 American pre-Code film starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Loretta Young. John Wayne has a small supporting role as a frightened boxer. The story was based on a 1933 play called "Sucker" by Bertram Millhauser. The film was remade in 1939 as They Made Me a Criminal.
The Corsican Brothers is a 1941 swashbuckler film starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in a dual role as the titular conjoined twins who are separated at birth and raised in entirely different circumstances. Both thirst for revenge against the man who killed their parents, both fall in love with the same woman. The story is very loosely based on the 1844 novella Les frères Corses by French writer Alexandre Dumas, père.
I Like Your Nerve is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by William C. McGann, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Loretta Young. Boris Karloff has a small role.
Blind Alley is a 1939 American film noir crime film directed by Charles Vidor and stars Chester Morris, Ralph Bellamy and Ann Dvorak. The film was adapted from the Broadway play of the same name by James Warwick.
Loose Ankles is a 1930 pre-Code romantic comedy with songs, produced and released by First National Pictures, which had become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film was directed by Ted Wilde and stars Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Louise Fazenda and Edward Nugent. It was a remake of the 1926 silent film titled Ladies at Play, which had been produced by First National Pictures. Both versions were adapted by Gene Towne from the 1926 play Loose Ankles by Sam Janney. Sam Janney was to direct the film but died in a car crash during production.
The Way of All Men is a 1930 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Dorothy Revier and Noah Beery. It was produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film was based on the story entitled "The Sin Flood", by Henning Berger and appeared as a silent in 1922 also directed by Frank Lloyd. In 1931, the studio remade the film in German as The Mask Falls.
One Night at Susie's is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film released by First National Pictures and directed by John Francis Dillon. The movie stars Billie Dove and features Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Helen Ware and Tully Marshall.
The Phantom Thief is a 1946 American mystery crime film directed by D. Ross Lederman and starring Chester Morris, Jeff Donnell and Richard Lane. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures as part of the Boston Blackie series.
The Toilers is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Jobyna Ralston and directed by Reginald Barker. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The soundtrack was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone process using RCA Photophone equipment. In the film, Fairbanks plays one of the toilers, while Ralston plays his sweetheart.
The Girl of the Limberlost is a 1945 American drama film starring Ruth Nelson, Dorinda Clifton, and Loren Tindall, and directed by Mel Ferrer. The film is based on a 1909 novel by Gene Stratton-Porter, which was previously filmed in 1909 as "A Girl of the Limeberlost".
Modern Mothers is a lost 1928 American silent drama film, directed by Phil Rosen. It stars Helene Chadwick, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Ethel Grey Terry, and was released on May 13, 1928.
The Careless Age is a 1929 American sound all-talking pre-Code drama film directed by John Griffith Wray and written by Harrison Macklyn and Harold Shumate. It is based on the 1927 play Diversion by John Van Druten. The film stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Carmel Myers, Holmes Herbert, Kenneth Thomson, and Loretta Young. The film was released by Warner Bros. on September 15, 1929.
Man Crazy is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by John Francis Dillon and written by Dwinelle Benthall, Rufus McCosh, and Perry Nathan. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Jack Mulhall, Edythe Chapman, Phillips Smalley, Walter McGrail, and Ray Hallor. Man Crazy was released on November 27, 1927, by First National Pictures.
