In television: 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939; 1940

In radio: 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939; 1940

In music: 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937; 1938; 1939; 1940

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v t e

The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first American full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1937 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1937
Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	RKO/Walt Disney	$3,996,000^[1]^[2]
2	Saratoga	MGM	$2,432,000^[3]
3	Maytime		$2,183,000^[3]
4	The Good Earth		$2,002,000^[3]
5	Stella Dallas	United Artists	$2,000,000^[4]^[5]
6	Broadway Melody of 1938	MGM	$1,889,000^[3]
7	Captains Courageous	MGM	$1,688,000^[3]
8	Lost Horizon	Columbia	$1,683,000^[6]
9	A Day at the Races	MGM	$1,602,000^[3]
10	Thin Ice	20th Century Fox	$1,590,000^[7]

Events

January 29 – The Good Earth premieres in the U.S.
April 16 – Way Out West premieres in the US.
May 7 – Shall We Dance premieres in the US.
May 11 – Captains Courageous premieres in New York. The film is released nationwide on June 25.
Monogram Pictures, who had merged with Republic Pictures two years earlier, decide to separate and distribute their own films again.
June 7 – Jean Harlow, one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the decade, dies aged 26 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. The official cause of death is listed as cerebral edema, a complication of kidney failure.
June 11 – A Day at the Races premieres in the U.S.
July 9 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.
July 23 – Six weeks after Jean Harlow's death, her final film, Saratoga, is released. It is an instant box office success and becomes the highest-grossing film of Harlow's career.
December 21 – Walt Disney's debut feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length cartoon to be made in America, in Technicolor, and in sound, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. The film is a massive box office success and briefly holds the record as the highest-grossing sound film of all time.

Top ten money-making stars

Rank	Actor/Actress
1.	Shirley Temple
2.	Clark Gable
3.	Robert Taylor
4.	Bing Crosby
5.	William Powell
6.	Jane Withers
7. (tie)	Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers
8.	Sonja Henie
9.	Gary Cooper
10.	Myrna Loy

1937 film releases

Notable films released in 1937

United States unless stated.

A

Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons
Action for Slander, starring Clive Brook and Ann Todd (GB)
Ali Baba Goes to Town, starring Eddie Cantor
Andula Won (Andula vyhrála) (Czechoslovakia)
Angel, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Marlene Dietrich
Annapolis Salute, starring James Ellison
Artists and Models, starring Jack Benny and Ida Lupino
The Awful Truth, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

B

Battle of Greed, starring Tom Keene
Bezhin Meadow, directed by Sergei Eisenstein (U.S.S.R.)
Big City, starring Luise Rainer and Spencer Tracy
Bizarre, Bizarre (Drôle de drame ou L'étrange aventure du Docteur Molyneux), directed by Marcel Carné, starring Louis Jouvet and Michel Simon (France)
Black Legion, starring Humphrey Bogart
Born to the West, starring John Wayne
The Bride Wore Red, directed by Dorothy Arzner, starring Joan Crawford
Brief Ecstasy, starring Paul Lukas (GB)
Broadway Melody of 1938, starring Eleanor Powell and Judy Garland

C

Captains Courageous, starring Freddie Bartholomew and Spencer Tracy
Charlie Chan at the Olympics, starring Warner Oland
Confession, starring Kay Francis and Basil Rathbone
Conquest, starring Greta Garbo and Charles Boyer
Crossroads (Shi zi jie tou) (China)

D

A Damsel in Distress, starring Fred Astaire, George Burns and Gracie Allen
The Daughter of the Samurai (Die Tochter des Samurai / Atarashiki tsuchi), directed by Arnold Fanck and Mansaku Itami (Germany/Japan)
Daughter of Shanghai, starring Anna May Wong and Philip Ahn
A Day at the Races, directed by Sam Wood, starring the Marx Brothers
Dead End, directed by William Wyler, starring Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart, Claire Trevor
Double Wedding, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
Dreaming Lips, directed by Paul Czinner, starring Elisabeth Bergner, Raymond Massey (Britain)
Duniya Na Mane (The Unexpected) (India)
The Dybbuk, Yiddish language film from (Poland)

E

Easy Living, starring Jean Arthur and Edward Arnold
The Edge of the World, directed by Michael Powell (GB)
Elephant Boy, directed by Robert J. Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, starring Sabu (GB)
España 1936, a documentary produced and co-written by Luis Buñuel (Spain)
Ever Since Eve, starring Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery

F

A Family Affair, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
Fire Over England, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh (GB)
The Firefly, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones
First Lady, starring Kay Francis and Preston Foster

G

Gangway, starring Jessie Matthews (GB)
Girl Loves Boy. starring Eric Linden
The Good Earth, starring Paul Muni and Luise Rainer (Academy Award for Best Actress)
Good Morning, Boys, starring Will Hay (GB)
Grand Illusion, directed by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin and Dita Parlo (France)
The Great Barrier, starring Richard Arlen and Lilli Palmer (GB)
The Great Garrick, starring Brian Aherne and Olivia de Havilland
The Great O'Malley, starring Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart
Green Fields – a Yiddish language film
Gribouille (a.k.a. The Meddler), starring Raimu and Michèle Morgan (France)

H

La Habanera, directed by Douglas Sirk (Germany)
Head Over Heels, starring Jessie Matthews (GB)
Heidi, starring Shirley Temple
High, Wide, and Handsome, starring Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott
History is Made at Night, starring Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur
The Hound of the Baskervilles / Der Hund Von Baskerville (German) Sherlock Holmes film directed by Carl Lamac, starring Bruno Guttner as Holmes, and Fritz Odemar as Watson
Humanity and Paper Balloons (Ninjō Kami Fūsen) (Japan)
The Hurricane, starring Dorothy Lamour

I

It Happened in Hollywood, starring Richard Dix and Fay Wray
It's Love I'm After, starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland

J

Jump for Glory, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Valerie Hobson (GB)

K

Kid Galahad, starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart
King Solomon's Mines, starring Cedric Hardwicke and Paul Robeson (GB)
Knight Without Armour, starring Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat (GB)

L

Lancashire Luck, film debut of Wendy Hiller (GB)
The Last Gangster, starring Edward G. Robinson and James Stewart
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, starring Joan Crawford and William Powell
Law for Tombstone, directed by and starring Buck Jones
Layla and Majnun directed by Abdolhossein Sepanta (Iran)
The Life of Emile Zola, starring Paul Muni
Lost Horizon, directed by Frank Capra, starring Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt
Love from a Stranger, starring Ann Harding and Basil Rathbone (GB)
Love Is on the Air, directed by Nick Grinde, starring Ronald Reagan and June Travis

M

Madame X, starring Gladys George and Warren William
Maid of Salem, starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray
Make Way for Tomorrow, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi
The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war) (Germany)
Marked Woman, starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart
Maytime, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy
Morality Above All Else (Mravnost nade vše) (Czechoslovakia)
Murder at the Baskervilles -- see under Silver Blaze below

N

Nancy Steele Is Missing!, starring Victor McLaglen and Peter Lorre
Navy Blue and Gold, starring Robert Young, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore
Night Must Fall, starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell
Nothing Sacred, directed by William Wellman, starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March

O

Oh, Mr Porter!, starring Will Hay (GB)
O-Kay for Sound, starring The Crazy Gang (GB)
The Old Mill, a Silly Symphonies cartoon
On the Avenue, starring Dick Powell and Madeleine Carroll, with songs by Irving Berlin
One Hundred Men and a Girl, starring Deanna Durbin and Leopold Stokowski

P

Parnell, starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy
Pépé le Moko, directed by Julien Duvivier, starring Jean Gabin (France)
Pick a Star, starring Jack Haley
Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves
The Perfect Specimen, starring Errol Flynn, screenplay by the playwright Lawrence Riley et al.
The Prince and the Pauper, starring Errol Flynn
The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Ronald Colman and Madeleine Carroll

Q

Quality Street, starring Katharine Hepburn and Franchot Tone

R

The Road Back, directed by James Whale
Rosalie, starring Eleanor Powell and Nelson Eddy

S

Saratoga, starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in her last film
The Seven Ravens (Germany)
Seventh Heaven, starring James Stewart and Simone Simon
Shall We Dance, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Sidewalks of London (a.k.a. St. Martin's Lane), starring Charles Laughton, Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison (GB)
Il signor Max, starring Vittorio De Sica (Italy)
Silver Blaze (British), a Sherlock Holmes film directed by Thomas Bentley, starring Arthur Wontner as Holmes, Ian Fleming as Watson and Lyn Harding as Moriarty; released in U.S. as Murder at the Baskervilles
Skeleton on Horseback (Bílá nemoc), directed by and starring Hugo Haas (Czechoslovakia)
Slave Ship, starring Warner Baxter and Wallace Beery
Slim, starring Henry Fonda
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, first American feature-length animated film. Directed by David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen, starring Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Harry Stockwell, Roy Atwell, Pinto Colvig, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw, Billy Gilbert, Eddie Collins, Moroni Olsen, and Stuart Buchanan
The Soldier and the Lady
Something to Sing About, directed by Victor Schertzinger, starring James Cagney, Evelyn Daw, William Frawley
Song at Midnight (Ye ban ge sheng) (China)
Souls at Sea, starring Gary Cooper and George Raft
Stage Door, starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers
Stand-In, starring Leslie Howard, Joan Blondell, Humphrey Bogart
A Star Is Born, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March
Stella Dallas, starring Barbara Stanwyck
Storm in a Teacup, starring Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison (GB)
Street Angel (Malu tianshi), starring Zhou Xuan (China)

T

The Tale of the Fox (Germany)
That Certain Woman, starring Bette Davis and Henry Fonda
The Three Garridebs, starring Louis Hector, in the first televised adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes character.^[8]
They Gave Him a Gun, starring Spencer Tracy and Gladys George
They Won't Forget, starring Claude Rains
Thin Ice, starring Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power
Think Fast, Mr. Moto, starring Peter Lorre
This Is My Affair, starring Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck
Thunder in the City, starring Edward G. Robinson, Nigel Bruce, Ralph Richardson (GB)
To New Shores, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Zarah Leander (Germany)
Topper, starring Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young
Tovarich, starring Claudette Colbert and Charles Boyer
Tři vejce do skla (Three eggs in a glass) (Czechoslovakia)
True Confession, starring Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, John Barrymore

V

The Vicar of Bray, starring Stanley Holloway
Victoria the Great, starring Anna Neagle and Anton Walbrook (GB)

W

Way Out West, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
Wee Willie Winkie, starring Shirley Temple
Wells Fargo, starring Joel McCrea
What Did the Lady Forget? (Shukujo wa nani wo wasureta ka), directed by Yasujirō Ozu (Japan)
Wise Girl, starring Miriam Hopkins and Ray Milland
Without Dowry (Bespridannitsa) (U.S.S.R.)
Woman Chases Man, starring Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea
The Woman I Love, starring Paul Muni and Miriam Hopkins

Y

Yoshiwara, directed by Max Ophüls, starring Sessue Hayakawa (France)
You Can't Have Everything, starring Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Gypsy Rose Lee
You Only Live Once, starring Henry Fonda and Sylvia Sidney
Young and Innocent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (GB)
You're a Sweetheart
You're Only Young Once, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden

Z

Znachor (The Miracle Man) (Poland)

Comedy film series

Harold Lloyd (1913–1938)
Charlie Chaplin (1914–1940)
Lupino Lane (1915–1939)
Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
Laurel and Hardy (1921–1945)
Our Gang (1922–1944)
Wheeler and Woolsey (1929–1937)
The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Animated short film series

Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
Silly Symphonies
- Woodland Café
- Little Hiawatha
- The Old Mill
Screen Songs (1929–1938)
Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
Terrytoons (1930–1964)
Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
Scrappy (1931–1941)
Betty Boop (1932–1939)
Popeye (1933–1957)
Happy Harmonies (1934–1938)
Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
Meany, Miny, and Moe (1936-1937)
Donald Duck (1937–1956)

Births

January 4 – Dyan Cannon, American actress
January 7 – Harvey Evans, American actor (d. 2021)
January 10 - John M. Watson Sr., American actor and musician (d. 2006)
January 11 – Felix Silla, Italian actor, musician, stunt artist and voice artist (d. 2021)
January 12 – Shirley Eaton, English actress and model
January 14 – Stefano Satta Flores, Italian actor and voice actor (d. 1985)
January 15 – Margaret O'Brien, American actress
January 16 – Lorraine Bayly, Australian actress, singer, director and writer
January 17 - Dick Durock, American actor and stuntman (d. 2009)
January 24 – Julie Gregg, American actress (d. 2016)
January 30 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
January 31 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008)
February 1 – Garrett Morris, American comedian, actor and singer
February 2 – Tom Smothers, American comedian and musician (d. 2023)
February 14 – Soher Al Bably, Egyptian actress (d. 2021)
February 17 – Benjamin Whitrow, English actor (d. 2017)
February 19 – David Margulies, American actor (d. 2016)
February 21 – Gary Lockwood, American actor
February 24 - Shawn Elliott, American actor and singer (d. 2016)
February 25 – Tom Courtenay, English actor
February 27 – Barbara Babcock, American character actress
March 2 – BarBara Luna, American actress
March 3 - Bobby Driscoll, American actor (d. 1968)
March 5 – Sal Borgese, Italian actor
March 10 – Joe Viterelli, American actor (d. 2004)
March 21 – Bill Capizzi, American voice actor (d. 2007)
March 22 – Angelo Badalamenti, American screen composer (d. 2022)
March 23 – Tony Burton, American actor (d. 2016)
March 30
- Warren Beatty, American actor and director
- James D. Brubaker, American film producer (d. 2023)
April 1 – Jordan Charney, American character actor
April 2 – Ken Olfson, American actor (d. 1997)
April 3 – Lawrence Dane, Canadian actor and producer (d. 2022)
April 6
- Terrence Hardiman, English actor (d. 2023)
- Billy Dee Williams, American actor
April 13
- Corinne Cole, American actress
- Edward Fox, English actor
April 15
- Uldis Pūcītis, Latvian actor (d. 2000)
- Frank Vincent, American actor (d. 2017)
April 18 - Robert Hooks, American actor and producer
April 19 – Elinor Donahue, American actress
April 20 – George Takei, American actor, author and activist
April 22 – Jack Nicholson, American actor
April 27 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (d. 1992)
May 5 – John Martino, American actor
May 8 – Shin Seong-il, South Korean actor (d. 2018)
May 12
- George Carlin, American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic and author (d. 2008)
- Susan Hampshire, English actress
May 13 – Zohra Lampert, American actress
May 16 – Yvonne Craig, American actress (d. 2015)
May 19 – Pat Roach, English actor and professional wrestler (d. 2004)
June 1 – Morgan Freeman, American actor and director
June 2 – Sally Kellerman, American actress and singer (d. 2022)
June 10 – Luciana Paluzzi, Italian actress
June 11
- Johnny Brown, American actor and singer (d. 2022)
- Chad Everett, American actor (d. 2012)
June 14 – Jørgen Leth, Danish director
June 16 – Charmian May, English character actress (d. 2002)
June 17 - Arthur Schmidt, American film editor (d. 2023)
June 26 – Sombat Metanee, Thai actor and film director (d. 2022)
June 28 – Richard Bright, American actor (d. 2006)
July 2 – Polly Holliday, American retired actress
July 6 – Ned Beatty, American character actor (d. 2021)
July 12 – Bill Cosby, American stand-up comedian and actor
July 16 – Ada Rogovtseva, Ukrainian actress
July 19 - Richard Jordan, American actor (d. 1993)
July 20
- Ken Ogata, Japanese actor (d. 2008)
- Timothy Scott, American actor (d. 1995)
July 21 – Gray Frederickson, American film producer (d. 2022)
July 25 – Paul Collins, British actor
July 28 – Viktor Merezhko, Russian screenwriter, actor, writer and television presenter (d. 2022)
August 3 – Steven Berkoff, British actor and playwright
August 5 – Alan Howard, English actor (d. 2015)
August 6 – Barbara Windsor, English comedy actress (d. 2020)
August 8 – Dustin Hoffman, American actor
August 14
- Fran Bennett, American actress (d. 2021)
- Alberta Nelson, American actress (d. 2006)
August 15 – Ella Mitchell, American actress
August 16 – Lorraine Gary, American retired actress
August 19 – Evadne Baker, English actress (d. 1995)
August 26 – Kenji Utsumi, Japanese actor (d. 2013)
September 1 – Tsai Chin, Chinese actress, singer and director
September 4
- Mikk Mikiver, Estonian actor and director (d. 2006)
- Nicholas Worth, American character actor (d. 2007)
September 6 – Jo Anne Worley, American actress, comedian and singer
September 7
- Cüneyt Arkın, Turkish film actor, producer and director (d. 2022)
- John Phillip Law, American actor (d. 2008)
September 10 – Brian Murray, South African actor and theatre director (d. 2018)
September 13
- Don Bluth, American director and producer
- Meeli Sööt, Estonian actress
September 21
- Ron Cobb, American-Australian graphic and film designer (d. 2020)
- Aarne Üksküla, Estonian actor (d. 2017)
September 24 - Dee Pollock, American actor (d. 2005)
September 26 - Jerry Weintraub, American producer and actor (d. 2015)
October 7 – Clive Graham, British actor (d. 2007)
October 10
- Vic Tablian, Armenian-British actor
- Peter White, American actor (d. 2023)
October 11 – Ron Leibman, American actor (d. 2019)
October 15 – Linda Lavin, American actress and singer
October 21 – Édith Scob, French actress (d. 2019)
October 22 – Alan Ladd Jr., American film producer (d. 2022)
November 4 – Loretta Swit, American actress
November 5 – Harris Yulin, American actor
November 17 – Peter Cook, English satirist and comedic actor (d. 1995)
November 21
- Ingrid Pitt, Polish-born British actress (d. 2010)
- Marlo Thomas, American actress and producer
November 23 – Dora Cadavid, Colombian actress, singer and announcer (d. 2022)
November 27 – Rodney Bewes, English actor (d. 2017)
November 30 – Ridley Scott, English director and producer
December 4
- Max Baer Jr., American actor, producer, comedian and director
- David Bailie, South African actor (d. 2021)
December 7 – Kenneth Colley, English actor
December 8 – James MacArthur, American actor (d. 2010)
December 9 – Darwin Joston, American actor (d. 1998)
December 12 - Connie Francis, American singer and actress
December 16 – Joyce Bulifant, American actress
December 21 – Jane Fonda, American actress
December 29 – Barbara Steele, English actress
December 30 – Zaldy Zshornack, Filipino actor (d. 2002)
December 31 – Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor

Deaths

January 2 – Ross Alexander, 29, American actor, Captain Blood, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Flirtation Walk
January 23 – Marie Prevost, 40, Canadian-born American actress, The Marriage Circle, The Racket, The Godless Girl, Cain and Mabel
February 3 – Marija Leiko, 49, Latvian film actress, The Green Alley, The Rats
May 1 – Snitz Edwards, 69, Austro-Hungarian-born American actor, The Thief of Bagdad, The Phantom of the Opera, Seven Chances, College
May 10 – William Tedmarsh, 61, English-American silent film actor
June 7
- Jean Harlow, 26, American actress, The Public Enemy, Libeled Lady, Suzy, Red Dust
- Monroe Owsley, 37, American actor, Holiday, Indiscreet, The Keyhole, Ex-Lady
June 25 – Colin Clive, 37, British actor, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein
September 21 – Osgood Perkins, 45, American actor, Scarface, Gold Diggers of 1937
November 13 – Mrs. Leslie Carter, 75, American stage and screen actress, Becky Sharp, Rocky Mountain Mystery
December 21 – Ted Healy, 41, American actor and creator of The Three Stooges, San Francisco, Mad Love, Beer and Pretzels, Soup to Nuts

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

Events

Academy Awards

Top ten money-making stars

1937 film releases

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

Notable films released in 1937

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

V

W

Y

Z

Serials

Comedy film series

Animated short film series

Births

Deaths

Debuts

References

Sources

External links