This is an overview of 1929 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.
Fritz Kortner was an Austrian stage and film actor and theatre director.
Alexander Mackendrick was an American director and professor. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and later moved to Scotland. He began making television commercials before moving into post-production editing and directing films, most notably for Ealing Studios where his films include Whisky Galore! (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Maggie (1954), and The Ladykillers (1955).
Roger MacDougall was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and director.
Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination is a 1923 German silent film directed and co-written by Arthur Robison, and starring Fritz Kortner and Ruth Weyher. It is considered part of German Expressionism.
Whisky Galore! is a 1949 British comedy film produced by Ealing Studios, starring Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson. It was the directorial debut of Alexander Mackendrick; the screenplay was by Compton Mackenzie, an adaptation of his 1947 novel Whisky Galore, and Angus MacPhail. The story—based on a true event, the running aground of the SS Politician—concerns a shipwreck off a fictional Scottish island, the inhabitants of which have run out of whisky because of wartime rationing. The islanders find out the ship is carrying 50,000 cases of whisky, some of which they salvage, against the opposition of the local Customs and Excise men.
The Curse of the Hidden Vault is a 1964 black and white West German crime film directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb and starring Harald Leipnitz, Eddi Arent, Siegfried Schürenberg and Klaus Kinski. It is based on the 1908 novel Angel Esquire by Edgar Wallace, previously made into a British silent film.
The Crouching Beast is a 1935 British war thriller film directed by Victor Hanbury and starring Fritz Kortner, Wynne Gibson and Richard Bird. It was shot at Welwyn Studios with sets designed by the art director Duncan Sutherland. Based on the novel Clubfoot by Valentine Williams, the film was distributed by the Hollywood studio RKO Pictures in order to fulfil its British quota. However it was considerably more expensive than many of the quota quickies produced by American companies during the era.
Margaret Leila Vyner, also known by her married name Margaret Williams was an Australian-born model and actress who appeared in British films. She collaborated with husband Hugh Williams on a number of successful theatre projects in the 1950s and 1960s.
Little Friend is a 1934 British drama film directed by Berthold Viertel and starring Matheson Lang, Nova Pilbeam and Lydia Sherwood. The film was based on a novel by Ernst Lothar and adapted for the screen by Margaret Kennedy and Christopher Isherwood. The score is by the Austrian composer then in exile Ernst Toch.
Evensong is a 1934 British musical film directed by Victor Saville and starring Evelyn Laye, Fritz Kortner and Emlyn Williams. It is loosely based on the story of the singer Nellie Melba. It was shot the Lime Grove Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alfred Junge.
Chu Chin Chow is a 1934 British musical film directed by Walter Forde and starring George Robey, Fritz Kortner and Anna May Wong. It was an adaptation of the hit musical Chu Chin Chow by Oscar Asche and Frederick Norton. It was shot at the Islington Studios of Gainsborough Pictures in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ernö Metzner.
Abdul the Damned is a 1935 British drama film directed by Karl Grune and starring Fritz Kortner, Nils Asther and John Stuart. It was made at the British International Pictures studios by Alliance-Capitol Productions. It is set in the Ottoman Empire in the years before the First World War, during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and the constitutionalist Young Turks who dethroned him.
Red Wagon is a 1933 British drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Charles Bickford, Anthony Bushell and Greta Nissen. The screenplay involves a circus owner who falls in love with a lion tamer.
The House Opposite is a 1931 British crime film directed by Walter Summers and starring Henry Kendall, Frank Stanmore and Arthur Macrae. It was shot at Elstree Studios outside London. It was based on the 1931 novel The House Opposite by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon. It follows a police officer who pursues a gang of blackmailers.
The Night of Queen Isabeau is a 1920 German silent historical drama film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Fern Andra, Fritz Kortner, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski and Elsa Wagner. The film depicts the marriage between the mad Charles VI of France and his wife Queen Isabeau. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film is now considered a lost film, but contemporary reviews praised Wiene's direction. The story revolves around insanity, a common theme in his films.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1929 German silent mystery film directed by Richard Oswald and starring Carlyle Blackwell, Alexander Murski, Livio Pavanelli. The film is an adaptation of the 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. It was the last Sherlock Holmes adaptation in the silent film era. The film boasted an unusually international cast, including American actor Carlyle Blackwell, German actor Fritz Rasp, British actress Alma Taylor, Russian actor Alexander Murski and Italian actor Livio Pavanelli.
The Woman One Longs For is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Marlene Dietrich, Fritz Kortner and Frida Richard. It was based on the novel of the same title by Max Brod, published in Vienna by Paul Zsolnay Verlag in 1927. Made partly at the Babelsberg Studios and the Terra Studios, the film premiered on 29 April 1929 at the Mozartsaal in Berlin. The film's art direction was by Robert Neppach. It is also known by the alternative title The Three Lovers.
