1938 in film

Years in film
• 1870s  • 1880s
1890s
1890  • 1891 • 1892 • 1893 • 1894 1895 • 1896 • 1897 • 1898 • 1899
1900s
1900 • 1901 • 1902 • 1903 • 1904 1905 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909
1910s
1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 1915 • 1916 • 1917 • 1918 • 1919
1920s
1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929
1930s
1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939
1940s
1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 •1949
1950s
1950 • 1951 •1952 • 1953 • 1954 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959
1960s
1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969
1970s
1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979
1980s
1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989
1990s
1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999
2000s
2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009

The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence, the roles are switched between the two actors. MGM announces Bert Lahr has been cast as the "Cowardly Lion" on July 25.
• April 5 — Noel Langley completes the first script for The Wizard of Oz.
• May 7 — Lyricist Edgar Yipsel 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.
• October 21 — Buddy Ebsen suffers from a near fatal allergic reaction to the aluminum dust used in his "Tinman" 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, who was cast in the role of the "Wicked Witch", left the film for six weeks.

Top grossing films

North America

• Radio City Revels, starring Jack Oakie and Ann Miller

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

Films released in 1938

• Adiós Buenos Aires
• The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
• Alexander Nevsky, starring Nikolai Cherkasov
• Alexander's Ragtime Band, starring Tyrone Power, Don Ameche and Alice Faye
• The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, starring Edward G. Robinson
• Angels with Dirty Faces, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien
• Ask a Policeman
• La Femme du Boulanger (The Baker's Wife)
• Block-Heads, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
• Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, starring Gary Cooper
• Boys Town, starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney
• Bringing up Baby, starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn
• A Christmas Carol, starring Reginald Owen
• The Citadel, starring Robert Donat and Rosalind Russell; directed by King Vidor
• The Dawn Patrol, starring Errol Flynn
• The Divorce of Lady X, with Laurence Olivier
• The Drum, with Sabu
• Fools For Scandal
• Four Daughters, starring Claude Rains
• Having Wonderful Time Starring Ginger Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
• Holiday, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant
• Jezebel, starring Bette Davis
• La Bête humaine (The Human Beast)
• The Lady Vanishes, starring Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood; directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• The Mad Miss Manton
• A Man to Remember, starring Anne Shirley and Edward Ellis.
• Marie Antoinette, starring Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power
• Merrily We Live, starring Brian Aheme, Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, Patsy Kelly, and Billie Burke
• Pygmalion, starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller
• Radio City Revels
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, starring Shirley Temple
• Red River Range, starring John Wayne
• Room Service, starring the Marx Brothers
• Sweethearts, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy
• Test Pilot, starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy
• There Goes My Heart, Frederic March, Virginia Bruce, Arthur Lake (actor) and Patsy Kelly
• Vivacious Lady, starring Ginger Rogers and James Stewart
• You Can't Take It with You

Serials

• Dick Tracy Returns, starring Ralph Byrd
• The Fighting Devil Dogs, starring Lee Powell and Herman Brix
• Flaming Frontiers
• Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, starring Buster Crabbe
• The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
• Hawk of the Wilderness, starring Herman Brix
• The Lone Ranger
• The Secret of Treasure Island
• The Spider's Web
• Red Barry

Short film series

• Buster Keaton (1917-1941)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921-1943)
• Our Gang (1922-1944)
• The Three Stooges (1934-1959)

Animated short film series

• Krazy Kat (1925-1940)
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927-1938)
• Mickey Mouse (1928-1953)
• Silly Symphonies (1929-1939)
• Screen Songs (1929-1938)
• Looney Tunes (1930-1969)
• Terrytoons (1930-1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931-1969)
• Scrappy (1931-1941)
• Betty Boop (1932-1939)
• Popeye (1933-1957)
• Happy Harmonies (1934-1938)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934-1949)
• Donald Duck (1937-1956)
• Walter Lantz Cartunes (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938-1942)
• The Captain and the Kids (1938-1939)

Births

• January 14 — Jack Jones, singer, actor
• February 23 — Diane Varsi, actress (died 1992)
• April 17 — Pérette Pradier, French actress
• November 13 — Jean Seberg, actress (died 1979)

Deaths

• August 4 - Pearl White, American silent film star
• August 6 - Warner Oland, Swedish-born actor
• December 28 - Florence Lawrence, Hollywood's first "star"

Donate to Wikimedia