Tod Browning was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer. He directed a number of films of various genres between 1915 and 1939, but was primarily known for horror films, and was often cited in the trade press as the Edgar Allan Poe of cinema.
Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in nine films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Johnny Belinda (1948).
The following is an overview of 1930 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Jean Harlow was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the pre-Code era of American cinema. Often nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde", Harlow was popular for her "Laughing Vamp" screen persona. Harlow was in the film industry for only nine years, but she became one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, whose image in the public eye has endured. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Harlow number 22 on its greatest female screen legends of classical Hollywood cinema list.
Kid Galahad is a 1962 American musical film starring Elvis Presley as a boxer. It was released by United Artists in August 1962 and opened at #9 at the American box office. Variety ranked it #37 on its list of the top-grossing films of 1962.
The Prizefighter and the Lady is a 1933 pre-Code Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romance film starring Myrna Loy and the professional boxers Max Baer, Primo Carnera, and Jack Dempsey. The film was adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin and John Meehan from a story by Frances Marion. Marion was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story.
The Unfaithful is a 1947 murder mystery starring Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres and Zachary Scott, and directed by Vincent Sherman. Regarded by some as a film noir, the picture is based on the W. Somerset Maugham-penned 1927 play and William Wyler-directed 1940 film The Letter, which was reworked and turned into an original screenplay by writers David Goodis and James Gunn.
Wife vs. Secretary is a 1936 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Clarence Brown and starring Clark Gable as a successful businessman, Jean Harlow as his secretary, and Myrna Loy as his wife, supported by James Stewart, in one of his first memorable roles, as the secretary's suitor. The film was the fifth of six collaborations between Gable and Harlow and the fourth of seven between Gable and Loy. May Robson portrays Gable's character's meddling mother. The story was based on the short story of the same title by Faith Baldwin, published in Cosmopolitan magazine in May 1935. The screenplay was written by Norman Krasna, John Lee Mahin and Alice Duer Miller.
The Secret Six is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film starring Wallace Beery as "Slaughterhouse Scorpio", a character very loosely based on Al Capone, and featuring Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Marjorie Rambeau and Ralph Bellamy. The film was written by Frances Marion and directed by George W. Hill for MGM.
Suzy is a 1936 American drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone and Cary Grant. The film was partially written by Dorothy Parker, based on a novel by Herbert Gorman. The Academy Award-nominated theme for Suzy, "Did I Remember?", was sung by Virginia Verrill (uncredited).
The Personality Kid is a 1934 American drama film directed by Alan Crosland, starring Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell. The film was based on a story by Gene Towne and C. Graham Baker. It was released by Warner Bros. on July 7, 1934. A young prizefighter's success corrupts him and leads him to neglect his wife.
The Ice Follies of 1939 is a 1939 American musical drama film directed by Reinhold Schünzel, and starring Joan Crawford, James Stewart, Lew Ayres and Lewis Stone.
John Miljan was an American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1924 and 1958.
Remember? is an American romantic comedy released on December 19, 1939, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Robert Taylor, Greer Garson and Lew Ayres. It was rushed into production by MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer to capitalize on the attention and publicity generated by Greer Garson in her first film appearance, Goodbye Mr. Chips, released seven months earlier.
The Unholy Three is a 1930 American Pre-Code melodrama directed by Jack Conway and starring Lon Chaney. Its plot involves a crime spree. The film is a sound remake of the silent 1925 film of the same name, with both films based on the novel The Unholy Three, by Tod Robbins.
Blind Adventure is a 1933 American Pre-Code film directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and starring Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Ralph Bellamy, and Roland Young. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures.
The Doorway to Hell is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Lew Ayres and James Cagney in his second film role. The film was based on the story A Handful of Clouds, written by Rowland Brown. The film's title was typical of the sensationalistic titles of many Pre-Code films. It was marketed with the tagline "The picture Gangland defied Hollywood to make!"
Iron Man is a 1951 American film noir drama sport film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Jeff Chandler, Evelyn Keyes and Stephen McNally. The film features an early appearance by Rock Hudson playing a competing boxer. The film is a remake of a film produced two decades earlier by director Tod Browning, also titled Iron Man.
Hranoush Sidky Bey, better known as Madame Bey, also Hranuş Sıdki Hanım, was an American boxing trainer. She ran a boxing camp for world champion boxers in Chatham Township, New Jersey, in the United States. Her life and boxing camp are documented in the book Madame Bey's: Home to Boxing Legends. Her prominence during the time she operated her boxing camp from 1923 to 1942 is documented in the thousands of press photos taken at her camp. Forgotten today, her camp's namesake was an everyday occurrence in sports sections of newspapers.
Some Blondes Are Dangerous is a 1937 American drama film directed by Milton Carruth and written by Lester Cole. It is based on the 1930 novel Iron Man by W. R. Burnett. The film stars Noah Beery Jr., William Gargan, Nan Grey, Dorothea Kent, Roland Drew, Lew Kelly, Polly Rowles and John Butler. The film was released on November 1, 1937, by Universal Pictures.
