This is an overview of 1929 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
The Lane Sisters were a family of American singers and actresses. The sisters were Leota Lane, Lola Lane, Rosemary Lane and Priscilla Lane.
Helen Chandler was an American film and theatre actress, best known for playing Mina Seward in the 1931 horror film Dracula.
Helen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s. She starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Broadway production of Hammerstein and Kern's musical Show Boat in 1927, as well as in the 1932 Broadway revival of the musical, and appeared in two film adaptations, a part-talkie made in 1929 and a full-sound version made in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role. She suffered from bouts of alcoholism, and despite her notable success in the title role of another Hammerstein and Kern's Broadway musical, Sweet Adeline (1929), her stage career was relatively short. Helen Morgan died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 41. She was portrayed by Polly Bergen in the Playhouse 90 drama The Helen Morgan Story and by Ann Blyth in the 1957 biopic based on the television drama.
Words and Music is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by James Tinling and starring Lois Moran, Helen Twelvetrees and Frank Albertson. It was written by Andrew Bennison, with the story by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Jack Edwards.
Salute is a 1929 drama film directed by John Ford and starring George O'Brien, Helen Chandler, William Janney, Stepin Fetchit, Frank Albertson and Ward Bond. It is about the football rivalry of the Army–Navy Game, and two brothers, played by O'Brien and Janney, one of West Point, the other of Annapolis. John Wayne had an uncredited role in the film, as one of three midshipmen who perform a mild hazing.
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.
Kane Richmond was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s, mostly appearing in cliffhangers and serials. He is best known today for his portrayal of the character Lamont Cranston in The Shadow films in addition to his leading role in the successful serials Spy Smasher and Brick Bradford.
St. Louis Blues is a 1929 American two-reel short film starring Bessie Smith. Directed by Dudley Murphy, it is the only known film featuring Bessie Smith, and the soundtrack is her only recording not controlled by Columbia Records. An early sound film, it features an entirely African American cast, with Smith in the role of a woman left alone by her roving lover; in a speakeasy during the Prohibition era, the woman sings the W. C. Handy standard "St. Louis Blues".
Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, also known as Movietone Follies of 1929 and The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, is an American black-and-white and color pre-Code musical film released by Fox Film Corporation.
Romance in the Dark is a 1938 American comedy musical film directed by H. C. Potter and starring Gladys Swarthout, John Boles, John Barrymore, and Claire Dodd. It is one of five films produced by Paramount in the 1930s featuring Gladys Swarthout, a very popular Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano. The studio was attempting to build on the popularity of Grace Moore, another opera singer, who had also expanded her talents into films. It is based upon the play The Yellow Nightingale by Hermann Bahr.
Helen Ware was an American stage and film actress.
Let's Go Places is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical film made by the Fox Film Corporation.
The Love Racket is a 1929 American early sound crime drama film produced and distributed by First National Pictures. It was directed by William A. Seiter and starred Dorothy Mackaill. It is based on a Broadway play, The Woman on the Jury by Bernard K. Burns, and is a remake of a 1924 silent film of the same name which starred Bessie Love. The film is now considered lost.
Sharon Lynn was an American actress and singer. She began playing in silent films but enjoyed her biggest success in the early sound years of motion pictures before fading away in the mid-1930s. She is perhaps best known for portraying Lola Marcel, the villainess in the Laurel and Hardy comedy feature, Way Out West.
Lost Canyon is a 1942 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Harry O. Hoyt. The film stars William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, Lola Lane, Douglas Fowley and Herbert Rawlinson, is a remake of Rustlers' Valley (1937). The film was released on December 18, 1942, by United Artists.
The Girl from Havana is a 1929 American all-talking sound pre-Code crime film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and written by Edwin J. Burke. The film stars Lola Lane, Paul Page, Kenneth Thomson, Natalie Moorhead, Warren Hymer and Joseph W. Girard. The film was released on September 22, 1929, by Fox Film Corporation.
Port of Lost Dreams is a 1934 American drama film directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring William Boyd, Lola Lane and George F. Marion.
Lola Lane was an American actress and one of the Lane Sisters with her sisters Leota, Rosemary, and Priscilla Lane. She appeared on Broadway and in films from the 1920s to 1940s.
Guns for Hire is a 1932 American Western film directed by Lewis D. Collins and starring Lane Chandler, Sally Darling and Neal Hart.
