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. Jean Harlow's final movie, Saratoga, was domestically the year's top grossing film but internationally, Maytime surpassed it with initial box office of over 4 million dollars.
Events March 26 – London Films abandons production of I, Claudius two weeks after its female lead, Merle Oberon, is injured in a car crash. April 16 – Laurel and Hardy comedy Way Out West premieres in the US. May 7 – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical comedy Shall We Dance premieres in the US. May 11 – Drama Captains Courageous, starring Spencer Tracy, premieres in New York, going into general release on June 25. June 7 – Jean Harlow, one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the decade, dies aged 26 at Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles. The official cause of death is listed as cerebral edema, a complication of kidney failure. June 11 – Marx Brothers comedy 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 year's highest-grossing film, as well as the highest-grossing film of her career. September 20 - Japan's Ministry of Finance sanctions the United States by placing restrictions on the transfer of Hollywood box office revenues from Japan to the United States. 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 opens nationwide on February 4, 1938, and is a massive box office success, briefly holding the record as the highest-grossing sound film of all time. Monogram Pictures, who had merged with Republic Pictures two years earlier, decide to separate and distribute their own films again.
Academy Awards
Best Picture: The Life of Emile Zola – Warner Bros. Best Director: Leo McCarey – The Awful Truth Best Actor: Spencer Tracy – Captains Courageous Best Actress: Luise Rainer – The Good Earth Best Supporting Actor: Joseph Schildkraut – The Life of Emile Zola Best Supporting Actress: Alice Brady – In Old Chicago
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 Saratoga MGM $2,432,000. 2 Maytime $2,183,000 3 The Good Earth $2,002,000 4 Stella Dallas United Artists $2,000,000 5 RosalieMGM $1,946,000 6 Broadway Melody of 1938 $1,889,000 7 Captains Courageous $1,688,000 8 Lost Horizon Columbia $1,683,000 9 A Day at the Races MGM $1,602,000 10 Thin Ice 20th Century Fox $1,590,000
Top ten money-making stars RankActor/Actress1.Shirley Temple2.Clark Gable3.Robert Taylor4.Bing Crosby5.William Powell6.Jane Withers7. (tie)Fred AstaireGinger Rogers8.Sonja Henie9.Gary Cooper10.Myrna Loy
Notable films United States unless stated.
# 100 Men and a Girl, directed by Henry Koster, starring Deanna Durbin, Leopold Stokowski and Adolphe Menjou
A Academy Award Review of Walt Disney Cartoons Action for Slander, directed by Tim Whelan, starring Clive Brook and Ann Todd – (GB) Ali Baba Goes to Town, directed by David Butler, starring Eddie Cantor and Tony Martin Andula Won (Andula vyhrála), directed by Miroslav Cikán, starring Věra Ferbasová – (Czechoslovakia) Angel, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall and Melvyn Douglas Annapolis Salute, directed by Christy Cabanne, starring James Ellison, Marsha Hunt, Harry Carey and Van Heflin Artists and Models, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Jack Benny, Ida Lupino and Richard Arlen The Awful Truth, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant and Ralph Bellamy
B Battle of Greed, directed by Howard Higgin, starring Tom Keene Bezhin Meadow, directed by Sergei Eisenstein – (USSR) Big City, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Luise Rainer and Spencer Tracy Bizarre, Bizarre (Drôle de drame), directed by Marcel Carné, starring Louis Jouvet and Michel Simon – (France) Black Legion, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan Born to the West, directed by Charles Barton, starring John Wayne, Marsha Hunt and John Mack Brown The Bride Wore Red, directed by Dorothy Arzner, starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Robert Young and Billie Burke Brief Ecstasy, directed by Edmond T. Gréville, starring Paul Lukas – (GB) Broadway Melody of 1938, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Robert Taylor, Eleanor Powell and Judy Garland Bulldog Drummond's Revenge, directed by Louis King, starring John Barrymore and John Howard
C Captains Courageous, directed by Victor Fleming, starring Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore and Melvyn Douglas Charlie Chan at the Olympics, directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Warner Oland Confession, directed by Joe May, starring Kay Francis and Basil Rathbone Conquest, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Greta Garbo and Charles Boyer Crossroads (Shízì jiētóu), directed by Shen Xiling, starring Bai Yang and Zhao Dan – (China)
D A Damsel in Distress, directed by George Stevens, starring Fred Astaire, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Joan Fontaine Daughter of Shanghai, directed by Robert Florey, starring Anna May Wong, Philip Ahn and Charles Bickford The Daughter of the Samurai (Die Tochter des Samurai / Atarashiki tsuchi), directed by Arnold Fanck and Mansaku Itami, starring Setsuko Hara and Sessue Hayakawa – (Germany/Japan) A Day at the Races, directed by Sam Wood, starring the Marx Brothers, Allan Jones and Maureen O'Sullivan Dead End, directed by William Wyler, starring Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart and Claire Trevor Double Wedding, directed by Richard Thorpe, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy Dreaming Lips, directed by Paul Czinner, starring Elisabeth Bergner and Raymond Massey – (GB) Duniya Na Mane (Kunku / The Unexpected), directed by V. Shantaram, starring Shanta Apte – (India) The Dybbuk (Der Dibuk), directed by Michał Waszyński – (Poland)
E Easy Living, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold and Ray Milland 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 directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, produced and co-written by Luis Buñuel – (Spain) Ever Since Eve, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery
F A Family Affair, directed by George B. Seitz, starring Lionel Barrymore, Cecilia Parker and Mickey Rooney Fire Over England, directed by William K. Howard, starring Flora Robson, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Raymond Massey – (GB) The Firefly, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Allan Jones and Warren William First Lady, directed by Stanley Logan, starring Kay Francis and Preston Foster
G Gangway, directed by Sonnie Hale, starring Jessie Matthews – (GB) Girl Loves Boy, directed by W. Duncan Mansfield, starring Eric Linden and Cecilia Parker The Good Earth, directed by Sidney Franklin, starring Paul Muni and Luise Rainer Good Morning, Boys, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring Will Hay and Graham Moffatt – (GB) La Grande Illusion (The Grand Illusion), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo and Erich von Stroheim – (France) The Great Barrier, directed by Milton Rosmer and Geoffrey Barkas, starring Richard Arlen and Lilli Palmer – (GB) The Great Garrick, directed by James Whale, starring Brian Aherne and Olivia de Havilland The Great O'Malley, directed by William Dieterle, starring Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan Green Fields, directed by Jacob Ben-Ami and Edgar G. Ulmer Gribouille (The Meddler), directed by Marc Allégret, starring Raimu and Michèle Morgan – (France)
H La Habanera, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Zarah Leander – (Germany) Head Over Heels, directed by Sonnie Hale, starring Jessie Matthews – (GB) Heidi, directed by Allan Dwan, starring Shirley Temple and Jean Hersholt High, Wide, and Handsome, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott History is Made at Night, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur The Hound of the Baskervilles (Der Hund von Baskerville), directed by Karel Lamač – (Germany) Humanity and Paper Balloons (Ninjō kami fūsen), directed by Sadao Yamanaka – (Japan) The Hurricane, directed by John Ford, starring Dorothy Lamour, Mary Astor, Raymond Massey and John Carradine
I It Happened in Hollywood, directed by Harry Lachman, starring Richard Dix and Fay Wray It's Love I'm After, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland
J Jump for Glory, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Valerie Hobson – (GB)
K Kid Galahad, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart King Solomon's Mines, directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Cedric Hardwicke and Paul Robeson – (GB) Knight Without Armour, directed by Jacques Feyder, starring Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat – (GB)
L Lancashire Luck, directed by Henry Cass, starring Wendy Hiller – (GB) The Last Gangster, directed by Edward Ludwig, starring Edward G. Robinson and James Stewart The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, directed by Richard Boleslawski, starring Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery and Frank Morgan Law for Tombstone, directed by and starring Buck Jones Layla and Majnun (Leyli va Majnun), directed by Abdolhossein Sepanta – (Iran) The Life of Emile Zola, directed by William Dieterle, starring Paul Muni Lost Horizon, directed by Frank Capra, starring Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt Love from a Stranger, directed by Rowland V. Lee, 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, directed by Sam Wood, starring Gladys George and Warren William Maid of Salem, directed by Frank Lloyd, starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray Make Way for Tomorrow, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi The Man Who Could Work Miracles, directed by Lothar Mendes, starring Roland Young and Ralph Richardson – (GB) The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war), directed by Karl Hartl, starring Hans Albers and Heinz Rühmann – (Germany) Marked Woman, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart Maytime, directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy and John Barrymore Morality Above All Else (Mravnost nade vše), directed by Martin Frič, starring Hugo Haas – (Czechoslovakia)
N Nancy Steele Is Missing, directed by George Marshall and Otto Preminger, starring Victor McLaglen and Peter Lorre Navy Blue and Gold, directed by Sam Wood, starring James Stewart, Robert Young and Lionel Barrymore Night Must Fall, directed by Richard Thorpe, starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell Nothing Sacred, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March
O O-Kay for Sound, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring the Crazy Gang – (GB) Oh, Mr Porter!, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt – (GB) The Old Mill, a Silly Symphonies cartoon directed by Wilfred Jackson On the Avenue, directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll and Alice Faye
P Parnell, directed by John M. Stahl, starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy Pépé le Moko, directed by Julien Duvivier, starring Jean Gabin – (France) The Perfect Specimen, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Errol Flynn and Joan Blondell Pick a Star, directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Patsy Kelly and Jack Haley