1933 in film

Events

• March 2 – King Kong premieres in New York City.
• June 6 – The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) once again expresses interest in the Wizard of Oz books for a series of animated cartoons, but they once again failed to make a deal with creator L. Frank Baum
• Ecstasy, a Czechoslovak film, shocks audiences when female actor, Hedy Lamarr is seen naked in the film.

Top grossing films

1. I'm No Angel
2. 42nd Street
3. She Done Him Wrong
4. Peg o' My Heart
5. Going Hollywood

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Cavalcade – Fox
• Best Actor: Charles Laughton – The Private Life of Henry VIII
• Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn – Morning Glory

Movies released

Movies released in 1933 include:

• 42nd Street – starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Ginger Rogers – Directed by Lloyd Bacon
• Alice in Wonderland, starring Charlotte Henry
• Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• The Bitter Tea of General Yen, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Blood Money, starring George Bancroft
• Bombshell, starring Jean Harlow
• The Bowery, starring Wallace Beery and George Raft
• Cavalcade, starring Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor and Herbert Mundin
• Counsellor at Law, starring John Barrymore
• Dancing Lady, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable
• Design for Living, starring Fredric March and Gary Cooper
• The Devil's Brother, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Dinner at Eight, featuring an all-star cast
• Duck Soup, starring the Marx Brothers
• Employees' Entrance, starring Warren William and Loretta Young
• Flying Down to Rio, starring Dolores del Rio and Gene Raymond
• Footligh Parade, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell and Ruby Keeler
• Going Hollywood, starring Marion Davies and Bing Crosby
• Gold Diggers of 1933, starring Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers and Warren William
• Hallelujah, I'm a Bum, starring Al Jolson
• Hold Your Man, starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow
• I'm No Angel, starring Mae West and Cary Grant. West also wrote the story and screenplay.
• In the Wake of the Bounty, starring Errol Flynn as Fletcher Christian.
• Każdemu wolno kochać, by Mieczysław Krawicz
• King Kong, starring Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong
• Ladies They Talk About, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Lady for a Day, starring Warren William and May Robson
• Lady Killer, starring James Cagney
• Liebelei
• Little Women, starring Katharine Hepburn
• Man's Castle, starring Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young
• The Mayor of Hell, starring James Cagney
• Morning Glory, starring Katharine Hepburn
• Mystery of the Wax Museum, starring Lionell Atwill and Fay Wray
• One Sunday Afternoon, starring Gary Cooper
• Parachute Jumper, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Bette Davis, and Frank McHugh
• Peg o' My Heart, starring Marion Davies
• Penthouse, starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy
• Picture Snatcher, starring James Cagney
• The Power and the Glory, starring Spencer Tracy
• The Private Life of Henry VIII, starring Charles Laughton
• The Prizefighter and the Lady, starring Max Baer, Myrna Loy, Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey
• Professional Sweetheart, starring Ginger Rogers
• Queen Christina, starring Greta Garbo
• Secret of the Blue Room, starring Paul Lukas, Gloria Stuart and Lionel Atwill
• Secrets, starring Mary Pickford in her last film
• She Done Him Wrong, starring Cary Grant amd Mae West
• The Son of Kong, starring Robert Armstrong and Helen Mack
• Sons of the Desert, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• State Fair, starring Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers and Lew Ayres
• The Story of Temple Drake, starring Miriam Hopkins and Jack La Rue
• A Study in Scarlet, starring Reginald Owen
• Supernatural, starring Carole Lombard, Alan Dinehart, Vivienne Osborne and Randolph Scott
• Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, directed by Fritz Lang
• Tillie and Gus, starring Alison Skipworth and W.C. Fields
• Tonight Is Ours, starring Fredric March and Claudette Colbert
• Topaze, starring John Barrymore and Myrna Loy
• Torch Singer, starring Claudette Colbert
• Tugboat Annie, starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery
• Turn Back the Clock, starring Lee Tracy and Mae Clarke
• The Vampire Bat, starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray
• When Ladies Meet, starring Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery and Myrna Loy
• Wild Boys of the Road, starring Frankie Darro and Edwin Phillips
• The Working Man, starring George Arliss and Bette Davis

Births

• January 18 – John Boorman, director
• February 18 – Mary Ure, actress
• March 22 – May Britt, Swedish actress
• April 19 – Jayne Mansfield, actress
• May 20 – Danny Aiello, American actor
• October 9 – Judy Tyler, actress

Deaths

• January 3 – Jack Pickford, actor, Hollywood's first "bad boy"
• January 25 – Lewis J. Selznick, producer
• February 15 – Pat Sullivan, director/producer of animated films, alleged co-creator of Felix the Cat
• February 23 – David Horsley, pioneer film executive
• October 5 – Renée Adorée, actress