This is an overview of 1929 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Ida Estelle Taylor was an American actress who was the second of world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey's four wives. With "dark-brown, almost black hair and brown eyes," she was regarded as one of the most beautiful silent film stars of the 1920s.
Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook was an English film actor.
Jetta Goudal was a Dutch-American actress, successful in Hollywood films of the silent film era.
Salome of the Tenements is a 1925 American silent drama film adapted to the screen by Sonya Levien from the Anzia Yezierska novel of the same name. Made by Jesse L. Lasky and Adolph Zukor's Famous Players–Lasky Corporation, a division of Paramount Pictures, it was directed by Sidney Olcott and starred Jetta Goudal and Godfrey Tearle.
British Intelligence is a 1940 spy film set in World War I. It was directed by Terry O. Morse and stars Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay. The film, also known as Enemy Agent, was released in the United States in January 1940. The Warner Bros. B picture was based on a 1918 play Three Faces East written by Anthony Paul Kelly and produced on the stage by George M. Cohan. Two film adaptations of Three Faces East in 1926 and 1930 preceded British Intelligence.
Hollywood on Parade (1932–1934) is a series of short subjects released by Paramount Pictures.
Lady of the Pavements is a 1929 American sound part-talkie romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lupe Vélez, William Boyd, and Jetta Goudal. The screenplay was written by Sam Taylor, with contributions from an uncredited Gerrit Lloyd. While the film has a few talking sequences, the majority of the film features a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process.
Three Faces East is a 1930 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Constance Bennett and Erich von Stroheim. Produced by Daryl Zanuck and released by Warner Brothers it is based on a 1918 Broadway play about World War I spies, Three Faces East, by Anthony Paul Kelly. It was filmed as a silent in 1926. A later remake in 1940 starred Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay was titled British Intelligence.
The Song and Dance Man is a 1926 American silent comedy drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released through Paramount Pictures. It is based on a play by George M. Cohan and was directed by Herbert Brenon. A copy of the film is housed in the Library of Congress collection. Of its original seven reels, only the final five survive.
The Morals of Marcus (1915) is a lost American silent comedy-drama film produced by the Famous Players Film Company and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is based on a 1905 novel by William John Locke, The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne, which was later produced on Broadway in 1907. The star of the play was Marie Doro who makes her motion picture debut in this film version. Both Edwin S. Porter and Hugh Ford take part in the direction of the film. The story was remade in 1921 as Morals with May McAvoy and in 1935 as The Morals of Marcus with Lupe Vélez.
Why Girls Go Back Home is a lost 1926 American silent comedy drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. James Flood directed and Patsy Ruth Miller and Clive Brook starred. Myrna Loy has a feature role. The film is a sequel to Warner Bros.'s 1921 Why Girls Leave Home, which was a box office hit.
Ranson's Folly is a 1926 American silent Western film produced by and starring Richard Barthelmess and co-starring Dorothy Mackaill. It is based on a Richard Harding Davis novel and 1904 play, Ranson's Folly, and was filmed previously in 1910 and in 1915 by Edison.
Open All Night is a 1924 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. Paul Bern, better known as a writer and later husband of Jean Harlow, directed and Viola Dana, Jetta Goudal, and Raymond Griffith starred. The screenplay is based on Paul Morand's 1922 short story collection Open All Night. Actors Viola Dana and "Lefty" Flynn would soon marry after this film.
The Cardboard Lover is a 1928 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Marion Davies, Nils Asther and Jetta Goudal. It was produced by Cosmopolitan Productions and distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
Merton of the Movies is a 1947 American comedy film, based on the 1922 novel of the same name written by Harry Leon Wilson, and the play of the same name written by George S. Kaufmann and Marc Connelly, which opened on Broadway in 1922. It was previously adapted as a 1924 silent film and as the 1932 film Make Me a Star. The 1947 version stars Red Skelton and is directed by choreographer Robert Alton in his directorial debut.
Vanity Fair is a 1915 silent film drama directed by Eugene Nowland and Charles Brabin and starring Mrs. Fiske, a renowned Broadway stage actress. The Edison Company produced and released the film. Mrs. Fiske had starred in the 1899 hit Broadway play Becky Sharp based on William Thackeray's 1848 novel of the same name. Here she recreates the role for Edison's cameras. This film marks Mrs. Fiske's second feature film as she had starred in Tess of the d'Urbervilles for Adolph Zukor in 1913. Despite the popularity of Vanity Fair, Mrs. Fiske never made another motion picture.
The Laughing Lady is a 1929 sound film melodrama directed by Victor Schertzinger, starring Ruth Chatterton and produced and released by Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. It is based on a 1922 British play, The Laughing Lady, by Alfred Sutro. The play was brought to New York in 1923 and put on Broadway starring Ethel Barrymore.
The Pleasure Buyers is a 1925 American silent mystery drama film directed by Chester Withey and starring Irene Rich, Clive Brook, and Gayne Whitman. It was made by Warner Bros. In 1926 it was released in Britain by Gaumont British Distributors.
Big Pal is a 1925 American silent sports drama film directed by John G. Adolfi and starring William Russell, Julanne Johnston and Mary Carr. It was released in Britain in 1926, distributed by Wardour Films.
