The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.
Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1938 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Events
January – MGM announces that Judy Garland will be cast in the role of Dorothy Gale in the upcoming The Wizard of Oz film. Ray Bolger is cast as the Tin Woodman and Buddy Ebsen as the Scarecrow. At Bolger's insistence, the roles are switched between the two actors. On July 25, MGM announces Bert Lahr has been cast as the Cowardly Lion. February 24 – The entertainment trade newspaper Variety confirms that the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had bought the rights to adapt L. Frank Baum’s beloved children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the screen April 5 – Noel Langley completes the first script for The Wizard of Oz. April 20 – Leonard Slye appears in his first starring role as Roy Rogers in Under Western Stars. He becomes one of the most popular Western stars being ranked number one from 1943 to 1952 and would become known as "King of the Cowboys". May 7 – Lyricist Yip Harburg and composer Harold Arlen , begin work on the musical score for The Wizard of Oz. October 13 – Filming starts on The Wizard of Oz on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio lot in Culver City, California, initially with Richard Thorpe as director. October 21 – Buddy Ebsen suffers from a near fatal allergic reaction to the aluminum dust used in his Tin Woodman make-up on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Ebsen is replaced by Jack Haley. December 23 – Margaret Hamilton is severely burned during a mishap on the set of The Wizard of Oz. Hamilton, cast in the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, leaves the film for six weeks. Orson Welles makes Too Much Johnson, starring Joseph Cotten. It is never completed and first released only in 2013. Producer George Minter establishes Renown Pictures, a British film distributor.
Academy Awards
Best Picture: You Can't Take It with You – Columbia
Best Director: Frank Capra – You Can't Take It with You
Best Actor: Spencer Tracy – Boys Town
Best Actress: Bette Davis – Jezebel
Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan – Kentucky
Best Supporting Actress: Fay Bainter – Jezebel
1938 film releases
January–March
January 1938
January 6
In Old Chicago
March 1938
March 26
Jezebel
April–June
April 1938
April 7
The Adventures of Marco Polo
April 22
Test Pilot
May 1938
May 12
The Adventures of Robin Hood
June 1938
June 2
Three Comrades
July–September
July 1938
July 8
Marie Antoinette
August 1938
August 5
Alexander's Ragtime Band
August 9
Four Daughters
September 1938
September 9
Boys Town
September 16
Too Hot to Handle
September 29
You Can't Take It with You
October–December
October 1938
October 14
Young Dr. Kildare
November 1938
November 11
If I Were King
December 1938
December 30
Sweethearts
Notable films released in 1938
United States unless stated
A
Adiós Buenos Aires – (Argentina/Spain/Canada) The Adventures of Marco Polo, starring Gary Cooper and Basil Rathbone The Adventures of Robin Hood, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, directed by Norman Taurog Águila o sol (Heads or Tails), starring Cantinflas – (Mexico) Alexander Nevsky, directed by Sergei Eisenstein, starring Nikolai Cherkasov – (U.S.S.R.) Alexander's Ragtime Band, starring Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, Alice Faye Algiers, starring Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, starring Edward G. Robinson Angels with Dirty Faces, starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart
B
Bank Holiday, starring Margaret Lockwood – (GB) La Bête humaine (The Human Beast), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin and Simone Simon – (France) The Big Broadcast of 1938, starring W.C. Fields, Martha Raye, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour Billy the Kid Returns, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Block-Heads, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Blondie, starring Penny Singleton Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, starring Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert Boys Town, starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney Bringing Up Baby, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn – number 14 on the American Film Institute list of best comedy films The Buccaneer, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Fredric March