The following is an overview of 1932 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Maureen O'Sullivan was an Irish actress, who played Jane in the Tarzan series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She starred in dozens of feature films across a span of more than half a century and performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, Fredric March, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, the Marx Bros. and Woody Allen. In 2020, she was listed at number eight on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Richard Thorpe was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
William Joseph Patrick O'Brien was an American film actor with more than 100 screen credits. Of Irish descent, he often played Irish and Irish-American characters and was referred to as "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence" in the press. One of the best-known screen actors of the 1930s and 1940s, he played priests, cops, military figures, pilots, and reporters. He is especially well-remembered for his roles in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Some Like It Hot (1959). He was frequently paired onscreen with Hollywood star James Cagney. O'Brien also appeared on stage and television.
Tarzan the Ape Man is a 1932 pre-Code American action adventure film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith and Maureen O'Sullivan. It was Weissmuller's first of 12 Tarzan films. O'Sullivan played Jane in six features between 1932 and 1942. The film is loosely based on Burroughs' 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, with the dialogue written by Ivor Novello. The film was directed by W. S. Van Dyke. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released two remakes of Tarzan, the Ape Man in 1959 and in 1981, but each was a different adaptation of Rice Burroughs' novel. It is also the first appearance of Tarzan's famous yell.
Tarzan and His Mate is a 1934 American pre-Code action adventure film based on the Tarzan character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Directed by Cedric Gibbons, it was the second in the Tarzan film series and starred Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.
Tugboat Annie is a 1933 American pre-Code film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, written by Norman Reilly Raine and Zelda Sears, and starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat. Dressler and Beery were MGM's most popular screen team at that time, having recently made the bittersweet Min and Bill (1930) together, for which Dressler won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Cecilia Parker was a Canadian-born American film actress. She was best known for portraying Marian Hardy, the sister of Andy Hardy in eleven of the Andy Hardy film series.
Patricia Ellis was an American film actress of the 1930s.
Maude Eburne was a Canadian character actress of stage and screen, known for playing eccentric roles.
The Blue Eagle is a 1926 American action film directed by John Ford. Prints of the film exist in the Library of Congress film archive and in the UCLA Film and Television Archive, but one reel is missing.
David Howard was an American film director. He directed 46 films between 1930 and 1941, 29 of them westerns starring George O'Brien, including the acclaimed Mystery Ranch (1932). He was born as David Paget Davis III in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and died in Los Angeles, California.
Skyscraper Souls is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic drama film starring Warren William, Anita Page, Maureen O'Sullivan, Gregory Ratoff, and Verree Teasdale. Directed by Edgar Selwyn, it is based on the 1931 novel Skyscraper by Faith Baldwin.
Ghost-Town Gold is a 1936 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and was the second entry of the 51-film series of Western "Three Mesquiteers" B-movies. It was based on the 1935 novel of the same name by William Colt MacDonald.
My Dear Miss Aldrich is a 1937 low-budget comedy film starring Maureen O'Sullivan, Walter Pidgeon, and Edna May Oliver about a young woman who inherits a New York City newspaper and decides to become a reporter rather than a publisher.
The Silver Lining is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Alan Crosland and written by Claire Corvalho and Gertrude Orr. Starring Maureen O'Sullivan, Betty Compson, John Warburton, and Montagu Love. it was released on April 16, 1932, by United Artists.
Robbers' Roost is a 1955 American Western film directed by Sidney Salkow and written by John O'Dea, Sidney Salkow and Maurice Geraghty. The film stars George Montgomery, Richard Boone, Sylvia Findley, Bruce Bennett, Peter Graves and Tony Romano. It is based on the 1932 novel Robbers' Roost by Zane Grey. The film was released on May 30, 1955, by United Artists.
Mystery Ranch is a 1932 American pre-Code Western film directed by David Howard and written by Alfred A. Cohn. The film stars George O'Brien, Cecilia Parker, Charles Middleton, Charles Stevens, Forrester Harvey and Noble Johnson. The film was released on July 1, 1932, by Fox Film Corporation.
The Golden West is a 1932 American Pre-Code Western film directed by David Howard and written by Gordon Rigby. The film stars George O'Brien, Janet Chandler, Marion Burns, Arthur Pierson, Onslow Stevens and Emmett Corrigan. It is based on the novel The Last Trail by Zane Grey. The film was released on October 30, 1932, by Fox Film Corporation. It is based on a novel by Zane Grey.
Smoke Lightning is a 1933 American Pre-Code Western film directed by David Howard and written by Sidney D. Mitchell and Gordon Rigby. The film stars George O'Brien, Nell O'Day, Betsy King Ross, Frank Atkinson, Clarence Wilson and Morgan Wallace. It is based on the story "Cañon Walls" by Zane Grey. The film was released on February 17, 1933, by Fox Film Corporation.
