The following is an overview of 1930 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1930 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Events
February 21: Anna Christie, Greta Garbo's first sound film is released, it grosses $1.5 million. February 23: Silent screen legend Mabel Normand dies at the age of 37 in Monrovia, California after a lengthy battle with tuberculosis. March 10: Release of Goodbye Argentina (Adiós Argentina), the first Argentine film with a (musical) soundtrack. Ada Cornaro has her first starring role and Libertad Lamarque makes her film debut. April 6: William Fox sells his interest in Fox Film for $18 million and Harley L. Clarke becomes president. May 27: Howard Hughes' epic film Hell's Angels premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and features Jean Harlow in her first major role as well as some impressive aerial sequences. Although not a financial success upon its release due to its bloated budget, the film is acclaimed by critics and launches Harlow as one of the 1930s' biggest stars. August 9: Cartoon character Betty Boop appears for the first time on screen, in the animated film Dizzy Dishes. September 3: The Hollywood Reporter is first published. September 19: The Love Parade receives a record six Academy Award nominations. November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm and a very early form of 70mm film. It is the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era, costing over $2 million. The film is praised for its aesthetic quality and realism that will not become commonplace until many decades later. However, due to the new film format and the film's release during the Great Depression, the film will go on to become a financial failure at the box office.
Academy Awards
Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front – Universal Pictures
Best Director: Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front
Best Actor: George Arliss – Disraeli
Best Actress: Norma Shearer – The Divorcee
Notable films released in 1930
United States unless stated
A
Abi and Rabi, starring and directed by Ovanes Ohanian – (Iran) Abraham Lincoln, directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Walter Huston and Una Merkel L'Âge d'Or (The Golden Age), directed by Luis Buñuel – (France) All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Lew Ayres and Louis Wolheim Alraune, directed by Richard Oswald – (Germany) Animal Crackers, directed by Victor Heerman, starring the Marx Brothers Anna Christie, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Greta Garbo The Arizona Kid, directed by Alfred Santell, starring Warner Baxter and Carole Lombard
B
The Bad Man, directed by Clarence G. Badger, starring Walter Huston
The Bat Whispers, directed by Roland West, starring Chester Morris and Una Merkel The Benson Murder Case, directed by Frank Tuttle, starring William Powell Big Boy, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Al Jolson The Big House, directed by George Hill, starring Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and Robert Montgomery The Big Pond, directed by Hobart Henley, starring Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert The Big Trail, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring John Wayne Billy the Kid, directed by King Vidor, starring Johnny Mack Brown and Wallace Beery Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings – (Germany) The Blood of a Poet (Le Sang d'un Poète), directed by Jean Cocteau – (France) Borderline, directed by Kenneth Macpherson, starring Paul Robeson – (GB) Bride of the Regiment (lost), directed by John Francis Dillon, starring Walter Pidgeon Bright Lights, directed by Michael Curtiz
C
Call of the Flesh, directed by Charles Brabin, starring Ramón Novarro
The Cat Creeps (lost), directed by Rupert Julian, starring Helen Twelvetrees
Chasing Rainbows, directed by Charles Reisner, starring Charles King, Bessie Love, Jack Benny and Marie Dressler Check and Double Check, directed by Melville W. Brown, starring Amos 'n' Andy Children of Pleasure, directed by Harry Beaumont City Girl, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Mary Duncan and Charles Farrell Common Clay (lost), directed by Victor Fleming, starring Constance Bennett and Lew Ayres The Cuckoos, directed by Paul Sloane, starring Wheeler & Woolsey