1932 in film

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In television 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 In radio 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
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This is a list of films that were released in 1932.

Events

• Cary Grant's film career begins
• Katharine Hepburn's film career begins
• Shirley Temple's film career begins
• Disney releases Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor
• Santa, first sound film made in Mexico, released
• The term "Tollywood" is first used to describe the cinema of West Bengal, based at Tollygunge

Top-grossing films

Rank	Title	Studio	Actors
1.	Shanghai Express	Paramount	Marlene Dietrich
2.	Grand Hotel	MGM	Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore
3.	A Farewell to Arms	Paramount	Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes
4.	Red Dust	MGM	Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
5.	The Champ	MGM	Wallace Beery
6.	Trouble in Paradise	Paramount	Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall
7.	Love Me Tonight	Paramount	Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald
8.	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Paramount	Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins
9.	Red-Headed Woman	MGM	Jean Harlow
10.	Scarface	United Artists	Paul Muni

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Grand Hotel - MGM

Note: Prior to 1933 awards were not based on calendar years, which is how there are no 'Best Actor' or 'Best Actress' awards for 1932 films. The 1931-32 awards went to 1931 films.

1932 film releases

U.S.A. unless stated

January–March

• January 1932
  • 2 January
    • Emma
  • 14 January
    • Union Depot
  • 15 January
    • Forbidden
    • The Local Bad Man
  • 19 January
    • Broken Lullaby
  • 22 January
    • Charlie Chan's Chance
  • 23 January
    • Taxi!
• February 1932
  • 2 February
    • Shanghai Express
  • 13 February
    • The Beast of the City
  • 18 February
    • Law and Order
  • 20 February
    • Freaks
    • The Man Who Played God
  • 21 February
    • Murders in the Rue Morgue
• March 1932
  • 1 March
    • Impatient Maiden
  • 6 March
    • Business and Pleasure
  • 22 March
    • One Hour with You
  • 24 March
    • Das blaue Licht (Germany)
  • 25 March
    • Tarzan the Ape Man
  • 30 March
    • Santa (Mexico)

April–June

• April 1932
  • 9 April
    • Scarface
  • 12 April
    • Grand Hotel
  • 17 April
    • Young America
  • 18 April
    • Night After Night (France)
• May 1932
  • 6 May
    • Vampyr
  • 7 May
    • The Mouthpiece
  • 14 May
    • Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die Welt? (Germany)
  • 20 May
    • Cruiser Emden
    • Razzia in Sankt Pauli
  • 21 May
    • Attorney for the Defense
  • 28 May
    • As You Desire Me
    • Two Seconds
• June 1932
  • 2 June
    • What Price Hollywood?
  • 3 June
    • I Was Born, But... (Japan)
  • 8 June
    • L'Atlantide (Germany/France)
    • The Dark Horse
  • 25 June
    • Red-Headed Woman

July–September

• July 1932
  • 8 July
    • Million Dollar Legs
  • 18 July
    • Hotel Splendide
  • 28 July
    • White Zombie
• August 1932
  • 4 August
    • American Madness
  • 6 August
    • Downstairs
  • 10 August
    • Horse Feathers
  • 12 August
    • Devil and the Deep
    • Movie Crazy
  • 13 August
    • Jewel Robbery
  • 17 August
    • The Last Mile
  • 18 August
    • The Bartered Bride (Germany)
    • Love Me Tonight
  • 19 August
    • The Age of Consent
  • 20 August
    • Crooner
• September 1932
  • 10 September
    • Big City Blues
  • 13 September
    • Bird of Paradise
  • 16 September
    • Blonde Venus
    • The Most Dangerous Game
  • 17 September
    • Pack Up Your Troubles
  • 22 September
    • Tiger Shark
  • 24 September
    • Smilin' Through
  • 30 September
    • A Bill of Divorcement

October–December

• October 1932
  • 8 October
    • The Big Stampede
  • 12 October
    • Rain
  • 14 October
    • The Big Broadcast
  • 15 October
    • Cabin in the Cotton
    • Faithless
  • 20 October
    • The Old Dark House
  • 21 October
    • Trouble in Paradise
  • 22 October
    • Red Dust
  • 25 October
    • Virtue
  • 28 October
    • Fanny (France)
  • 29 October
    • Three on a Match
  • 30 October
    • Night After Night
• November 1932
  • 2 November
    • Scarlet Dawn
  • 3 November
    • Air Mail
  • 4 November
    • Odds 777
    • Spring Shower (Hungary/France)
  • 7 November
    • Payment Deferred
  • 10 November
    • I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
  • 11 November
    • Boudu Saved from Drowning
  • 24 November
    • Call Her Savage
  • 30 November
    • The Sign of the Cross
• December 1932
  • 2 December
    • If I Had a Million
  • 3 December
    • A Simple Case
  • 8 December
    • A Farewell to Arms
  • 16 December
    • Anton Spelec, Sharp-Shooter (Czechoslovakia)
    • Fast Life
  • 22 December
    • The Mummy
    • They Just Had to Get Married
  • 23 December
    • Rasputin and the Empress
  • 24 December
    • 20,000 Years in Sing Sing
  • 28 December
    • The Animal Kingdom
  • 30 December
    • Back Street

Notable films released in 1932

U.S.A. unless stated

• 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis
• The Age of Consent, directed by Gregory La Cava
• Air Mail, directed by John Ford
• American Madness, directed by Frank Capra, starring Walter Huston
• The Animal Kingdom, starring Leslie Howard, Ann Harding and Myrna Loy
• Anton Spelec, Sharp-Shooter (Anton Špelec, ostrostřelec), directed by Martin Frič - (Czechoslovakia)
• As You Desire Me, starring Greta Garbo
• L'Atlantide, directed by G.W. Pabst, starring Brigitte Helm - (Germany/France)
• Attorney for the Defense, starring Edmund Lowe and Evelyn Brent
• Back Street, starring Irene Dunne and John Boles
• The Bartered Bride (Die verkaufte Braut), directed by Max Ophüls - (Germany)
• The Beast of the City, starring Walter Huston, Jean Harlow and Wallace Ford
• The Big Broadcast, starring Bing Crosby
• Big City Blues, starring Eric Linden and Joan Blondell
• The Big Stampede, starring John Wayne
• A Bill of Divorcement, starring John Barrymore, Billie Burke and Katharine Hepburn in her film debut
• Bird of Paradise, starring Dolores del Río, Joel McCrea and Lon Chaney, Jr.
• Das blaue Licht (The Blue Light), starring and directed by Leni Riefenstahl - (Germany)
• A Blonde Dream, starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch and Willi Forst - (Germany)
• Blonde Venus, directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant
• Boudu Saved from Drowning (Boudu sauvé des eaux), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Michel Simon - (France)
• Broken Lullaby, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Lionel Barrymore
• Business and Pleasure, starring Will Rogers
• Cabin in the Cotton, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Richard Barthelmess and Bette Davis
• Call Her Savage, starring Clara Bow
• Charlie Chan's Chance, starring Warner Oland and H.B. Warner
• Cruiser Emden, directed by Louis Ralph - (Germany)
• Dance Pretty Lady, directed by Anthony Asquith (Britain)
• Dancers in the Dark, starring Miriam Hopkins and Jack Oakie
• The Dark Horse, starring Warren William and Bette Davis
• The Dentist, a W. C. Fields short produced by Mack Sennett
• Destry Rides Again, starring Tom Mix
• Devil and the Deep, starring Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton and Cary Grant
• Downstairs, starring John Gilbert, Paul Lukas, Virginia Bruce and Hedda Hopper
• Emma, starring Marie Dressler
• F.P.1 (F.P.1 antwortet nicht) - (Germany)
• Faithless, starring Tallulah Bankhead and Robert Montgomery
• Fanny, directed by Marc Allegret, starring Raimu - (France)
• A Farewell to Arms, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes
• Fast Life, starring William Haines and Madge Evans
• Flowers and Trees, a Walt Disney animated short
• Forbidden, directed by Frank Capra, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• Freaks, directed by Tod Browning
• Goodnight, Vienna, directed by Herbert Wilcox, starring Jack Buchanan and Anna Neagle - (GB)
• Grand Hotel, starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore
• Horse Feathers, starring the Marx Brothers with Thelma Todd
• Hotel Splendide, directed by Michael Powell - (GB)
• I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Paul Muni
• I Was Born, But... (Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• If I Had a Million, an anthology comedy film with an all-star cast including W.C. Fields, May Robson, George Raft, Charles Laughton and Gary Cooper
• Impatient Maiden, starring Lew Ayres and Mae Clarke
• Island of Lost Souls, an adaptation of H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen and Bela Lugosi
• Ivan - directed by Alexander Dovzhenko - (U.S.S.R.)
• Jack's the Boy directed by Walter Forde, starring Jack Hulbert - (GB)
• Jewel Robbery, starring William Powell and Kay Francis
• Kuhle Wampe oder: Wem gehört die Welt? (To Whom Does the World Belong?) - (Germany)
• The Last Mile, starring Preston Foster
• Law and Order, starring Walter Huston and Harry Carey
• The Local Bad Man, starring Hoot Gibson
• Love Me Tonight, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald (as Jeanette Mac Donald)
• The Lucky Number, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Gordon Harker - (GB)
• The Man Who Played God (aka The Silent Voice), starring George Arliss and Bette Davis
• Merrily We Go to Hell, directed by Dorothy Arzner, starring Fredric March and Sylvia Sidney
• The Midshipmaid, starring Jessie Matthews - (GB)
• Million Dollar Legs, starring Jack Oakie and W. C. Fields
• The Most Dangerous Game, starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks and Robert Armstrong, involving much of the same cast and crew of the following year's King Kong.
• The Mouthpiece, starring Warren William
• Movie Crazy, a comedy starring Harold Lloyd
• The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff
• Murders in the Rue Morgue, starring Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox and Leon Ames
• Night After Night, starring George Raft and Mae West in her film debut
• Night at the Crossroads (La Nuit du carrefour), directed by Jean Renoir - (France)
• Odds 777 - (Denmark)
• The Old Dark House, directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Ernest Thesiger and Raymond Massey
• One Hour with You, starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Genevieve Tobin and Charles Ruggles
• One Way Passage, directed by Tay Garnett, starring William Powell and Kay Francis
• Pack Up Your Troubles, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Payment Deferred, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Sullivan
• Rain, starring Joan Crawford and Walter Huston
• Rasputin and the Empress, starring John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore
• Rasputin, Demon with Women (Rasputin, Dämon der Frauen), starring Conrad Veidt - (Germany)
• Razzia in Sankt Pauli (Raid in St. Pauli) - (Germany)
• Red Dust, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable
• The Red-Haired Alibi, starring Merna Kennedy Theodore Von Eltz Grant Withers and Shirley Temple
• Red-Headed Woman, starring Jean Harlow
• Rome Express, directed by Walter Forde, starring Conrad Veidt and Esther Ralston - (GB)
• Santa - (Mexico)
• Scarface, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft and Boris Karloff
• Scarlet Dawn, directed by William Dieterle, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Nancy Carroll
• Shanghai Express, starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong and Warner Oland
• Sherlock Holmes
• The Sign of the Cross, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Fredric March and Claudette Colbert
• A Simple Case (Prostoy sloochay) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Smilin' Through, starring Norma Shearer
• Spring Shower (Tavaszi zápor) - (Hungary/France)
• Tarzan the Ape Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
• Taxi!, starring James Cagney and Loretta Young
• They Just Had to Get Married, starring Slim Summerville and Zasu Pitts
• Three Modern Women, directed by Bu Wancang, starring Ruan Lingyu and Jin Yan – (China)
• Three on a Match, starring Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak and Bette Davis
• Tiger Shark, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Trouble in Paradise, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall
• Two Seconds, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Unheimliche Geschichten - (Germany)
• The Undertaker (Funebrák), directed by Karel Lamač - (Czechoslovakia)
• Union Depot, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Joan Blondell
• Vampyr, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer - (Germany/France)
• Virtue, starring Carole Lombard and Pat O'Brien
• What Price Hollywood?, directed by George Cukor, starring Constance Bennett
• What Scoundrels Men Are! (Gli uomini, che mascalzoni!), starring Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• White Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi
• Wooden Crosses (Les croix de bois), directed by Raymond Bernard - (France)
• Young America, starring Spencer Tracy

Serials

• The Airmail Mystery
• Detective Lloyd
• The Devil Horse
• Heroes of the West
• The Hurricane Express, starring John Wayne
• The Jungle Mystery
• The Last Frontier
• The Last of the Mohicans
• The Lost Special
• The Shadow of the Eagle, starring John Wayne

Short film series

• Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921-1943)
• Shirley Temple (1932–1946)

Animated short film series

• Flowers and Trees (1933)
• Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1933)
• Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927–1938)
• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Silly Symphonies
  • The Bird Store
  • The Bears and the Bees
  • Just Dogs
  • Flowers and Trees
  • King Neptune
  • Bugs in Love
  • Babes in the Woods
  • Santa's Workshop
• Screen Songs (1929–1938)
• Talkartoons (1929-1932)
  • Minnie the Moocher (featuring Betty Boop)
  • Sink or Swim S.O.S (featuring Betty Boop)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Flip the Frog (1930–1933)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren) (1931–1933)
• Betty Boop (1932-1939)
  • Stopping the Show
  • Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee
  • Betty Boop, M.D.
  • Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle
  • Betty Boop's Ups and Down
  • Betty Boop for President
  • I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You
  • Betty Boop's Museum
• Pooch the Pup (1932-1933)

Births

• January 3 - Dabney Coleman, actor
• January 4
  • Carlos Saura, director
  • Richard Stahl, actor (died 2006)
• January 22 - Piper Laurie, actress
• February 6 - François Truffaut, French film director (died 1984)
• February 13 - Susan Oliver, actress, (died 1990)
• February 14 - Alexander Kluge, German director
• February 18 – Miloš Forman, director
• February 23 - Majel Barrett, actress (died 2008)
• February 27 - Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress (died 2011)
• March 31 - Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director (died 2013)
• April 1 - Debbie Reynolds, singer, actress, dancer
• April 4
  • Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet director (died 1986)
  • Anthony Perkins, actor (died 1992)
• April 10
  • Delphine Seyrig, French actress (died 1990)
  • Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor (died 2015)
• April 27 - Anouk Aimée, French actress
• June 6 - Anne Claire Poirier, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• June 18 - David Herriot, Irish actor (died 2000)
• June 22 - Prunella Scales English actress
• August 2 - Peter O'Toole, Anglo-Irish actor (died 2013)
• September 29 - Mehmood Ali, Indian actor, director, producer (died 2004)
• October 13 - Dušan Makavejev, Serbian director
• October 20 - William Christopher, actor
• November 10 - Roy Scheider, actor (died 2008)
• November 13 - Richard Mulligan, actor (died 2000)
• November 15 - Petula Clark, British actress, film composer
• November 22 - Robert Vaughn, actor (died 2016)
• December 7 - Ellen Burstyn, actress

Deaths

• February 15 - Minnie Maddern Fiske, American stage star made silent films
• June 30 - Bruno Kastner, German actor
• July 17 - Rasmus Rasmussen, Norwegian actor
• August 1 - James R. Quirk, American editor and publisher of Photoplay magazine
• August 10 - Rin Tin Tin, canine actor
• September 1 - Guy Oliver, American actor
• September 16 - Peg Entwistle, British-born American actress
• November 27 - Evelyn Preer, American actress, singer

Film debuts

• Ingrid Bergman - Landskamp
• Robert Donat - Over Night
• Cary Grant - This Is the Night
• Katharine Hepburn - A Bill of Divorcement
• Alan Ladd - Tom Brown of Culver
• John Mills - Midshipmaid Gob
• David Niven - There Goes the Bride
• Dick Powell - Blessed Event
• Kate Smith - The Big Broadcast
• Jacques Tati - Oscar, champion de tennis
• Shirley Temple - Runt Page
• Mae West - Night After Night