1936 Olympic Games long jump medal ceremony – on the podium from left to right are Naoto Tajima (Japan – bronze), Jesse Owens (USA – gold), and Luz Lang (Germany – silver)
1936 was another wonderful year for movies. Screwball comedies were getting into gear with some timeless classics like Our Man Godfrey. Fred and Ginger were offering up some of their best work in Swing Time and Follow the Fleet and Yasujiro Ozu and Charlie Chaplin made their first sound films, The Only Son and Modern Times.
Producer Irving Thalberg died at age 37 and Deanna Durbin made her her first feature film at age 14. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine was the first three-strip Technicolor feature shot entirely on location. Beggar’s Wedding (Italy) (aka Nozze Vagabonde) was the first 3-D talkie film to encourage the use of 3D polarizing glasses by its viewing audience. Sir Arthur Bliss’s score to Things to Come became the first official soundtrack to be issued on LP records to the public. The British Broadcasting Corporation launched the world’s first regular television service, broadcasting 2 hours a day, 6 days a week.
In the USA, Franklin Roosevelt was reelected by a landslide. A record heat wave struck North America, already suffering from the Dust Bowl, killing thousands and destroying crops. The average price for a movie ticket was 25 cents and a gallon of gasoline cost around 20 cents. There was no universal federal minimum wage legislation and the unemployment rate was about 17%.
Astaire and Rogers dancing to “Pick Yourself Up” in Swing Time
Edward the VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India from January 20 to December 11, when he abdicated and was succeeded by his younger brother Albert who chose the regal name George VI.
Nazi troops enter the Rhineland
Elsewhere, the world appeared inexorably headed toward calamity. Pro-democratic militarist Keisuke Okada stepped down as Prime Minister of Japan and was replaced by radical militarist Koki Hirota. War continued between Japanese and Chinese forces in Manchuria. The Rome-Berlin axis was formed. Italy annexed Ethiopia. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, German troops marched into the Rhineland. The Spanish Civil War began. The first of the Moscow show trials was held as part of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge.
The films I hope to get to for 1936 can be found here: http://www.imdb.com/list/eBl1zIKZCOA/
Jesse Owens at 1936 Olympic Games to “Time” by Hans Zimmer
