Thunderbolt is a 1929 American pre-Code proto-noir film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring George Bancroft, Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully Marshall and Eugenie Besserer. It tells the story of a criminal, facing execution, who wants to kill the man in the next cell for being in love with his former girlfriend.
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as the pirate Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his title role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
This is an overview of 1929 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Mystery of the Wax Museum is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery-horror film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, and Frank McHugh. It was produced and released by Warner Bros. and filmed in two-color Technicolor; Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum were the last two dramatic fiction films made using this process.
Francis Healey Albertson was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Psycho (1960).
Mary Brian was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films.
Robert William Armstrong was an American film and television actor noted for playing Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He delivered the film's famous final line: "It wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast."
Harold Goodwin was an American actor who performed in over 225 films.
Kenneth Daniel Harlan was a popular American actor during the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer roles. His career extended into the sound film era, but during that span he rarely commanded leading-man roles, and became mostly a supporting or character actor.
The Stolen Jools is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy short produced by the Masquers Club of Hollywood, featuring many cameo appearances by film stars of the day. The stars appeared in the film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, to raise funds for the National Vaudeville Artists Tuberculosis Sanitarium. The UCLA Film and Television Archive entry for this film says—as do the credits—that the film was co-sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes to support the "fine work" of the NVA sanitarium.
Nine Hours to Rama is 1963 British-American neo noir crime film directed by Mark Robson that follows a fictionalised Nathuram Godse in the hours before he assassinated the Indian independence leader, Gandhi, and police attempts to prevent the murder. It is based on a 1962 novel of the same name by Stanley Wolpert. The film was written by Nelson Gidding and filmed in England and India with mainly white actors in prominent roles. It stars Horst Buchholz, Diane Baker, Jose Ferrer, and Robert Morley. It was shot in CinemaScope DeLuxe Color.
William Grigs Atkinson, known professionally as Paul Cavanagh, was an English film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1928 and 1959.
Willard Robertson was an American actor and writer. He appeared in more than 140 films from 1924 to 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.
Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.
Scandal Sheet is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film directed by John Cromwell and written by Oliver H.P. Garrett, Vincent Lawrence and Max Marcin. The film stars George Bancroft, Kay Francis, Clive Brook, Regis Toomey, Lucien Littlefield, Gilbert Emery and Harry Beresford. The film was released on January 31, 1931, by Paramount Pictures.
The Conquering Horde is a 1931 American pre-Code Western directed by Edward Sloman and written by Emerson Hough, Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt. The film stars Richard Arlen, Fay Wray, Claude Gillingwater, Ian Maclaren, Frank Rice, Arthur Stone and George Mendoza. The film was released on January 31, 1931, by Paramount Pictures. It was a remake of the 1924 silent film North of 36.
Silence is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and Max Marcin and written by Max Marcin, adapted from his play. The film stars Clive Brook, Marjorie Rambeau, Peggy Shannon, Charles Starrett, Willard Robertson, John Wray and Frank Sheridan. It was released on August 29, 1931, by Paramount Pictures.
John Hugh Elliott was an American actor who appeared on Broadway and in over 300 films during his career. He worked sporadically during the silent film era, but with the advent of sound his career took off, where he worked constantly for 25 years, finding a particular niche in "B" westerns.
It Happened in Hollywood is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Richard Dix, Fay Wray and Victor Kilian. The arrival of sound wrecks the career of a leading western actor while his leading lady rises to new heights. Its original working title was Once a Hero.
Madame Spy is a 1934 American adventure film directed by Karl Freund and starring Fay Wray, Oscar Apfel, Edward Arnold and Nils Asther. The film was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is a remake of the 1932 film Under False Flag which was produced by Deutsche Universal, the German subsidiary of the studio, and was itself based on a novel of the same title by Max W. Kimmich.
