1932 in film


The following is an overview of 1932 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Fandom movies:1932

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1932 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
RankTitleDistributorDomestic rentals
1The Sign of the CrossParamount$2,738,993
2The Kid from SpainUnited Artists$2,621,000
3EmmaMGM$1,409,000
4Hell DiversMGM$1,244,000
5Grand HotelMGM$1,235,000
6ProsperityMGM$1,166,000
7Tarzan the Ape ManMGM$1,112,000
8Smilin' ThroughMGM$1,004,000
9Strange InterludeMGM$957,000
10Horse FeathersParamount$945,000

Events

The Film Daily Yearbook listed the following as the ten leading headline events of the year.
  • Sidney Kent leaves Paramount Pictures and joins Fox Film.
  • Merlin H Aylesworth succeeds Hiram S Brown as president of RKO.
  • Jesse L. Lasky leaves Paramount and becomes an independent producer for Fox.
  • Sam Katz leaves Paramount.
  • James R Grainger leaves Fox and is succeeded by John D Clark, formerly of Paramount.
  • Publix and Fox decentralization of cinemas.
  • New industry program, including standard exhibition contract along lines of 5-5-5, proposed by Motion Picture Theater Owners of America and Allied.
  • Joe Brandt retires from Columbia Pictures, joins World-Wide, and later resigns again.
  • Two Radio City theaters open, under direction of "Roxy", with coincident acquisition of the Rockefeller interests of 100,000 shares of RKO stock and 100,000 shares of RCA stock.
  • Experimentation with exclusive runs.
Other notable events include:

Top Ten Money Making Stars

Exhibitors selected the following as the Top Ten Money Making Stars for 1931–1932 in Quigley Publishing Company's first annual poll.
RankActor/Actress
1.Marie Dressler
2.Janet Gaynor
3.Joan Crawford
4.Charles Farrell
5.Greta Garbo
6.Norma Shearer
7.Wallace Beery
8.Clark Gable
9.Will Rogers
10.Joe E. Brown

Academy Awards

The 5th Academy Awards were conducted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on November 18, 1932, at a ceremony held at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was hosted by Conrad Nagel. Films screened in Los Angeles between August 1, 1931, and July 31, 1932, were eligible to receive awards.
Major awards:
Note: Prior to 1933 awards were not based on calendar years, which is how there are no Best Actor, Best Actress or Best Director awards for 1932 films. The 1931–32 awards went to 1931 films.

Notable films

United States unless stated

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C

D

E–F

G–H

I

J–K

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N–O

P

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U–V

W–Y

1932 film releases

United States unless stated

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Serials

Ordered by release date:

Short film series

Ordered by release date:

Animated short film series

Ordered by release date of the film series. This list only includes shorts released in 1932:

Births

Deaths