| 1930 |
 Chronomedia index
Numbers after entries link to the list of references. |
links and notes |
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| January 7 |
Picture telegraphy service opened between London and Berlin using the Siemens-Karolus
system; the charge is provisionally fixed at £1 for a 15 sq.ins picture. |
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| January 8 |
 Granada Cinema in Dover, England, is opened by Sidney and Cecil Bernstein as the first
in a proposed cinema circuit replacing that inherited from their father, Alexander Bernstein, that was
sold off in 1928. Russian-born designer Theodore Komisarjevsky, who later designs many other Granada cinemas,
creates the auditorium in a Moorish style, the foyer in Louis XV. |
Theodore Komisarjevsky |
| January 16 |
RCA demonstrates large screen television at RKO-58th Street Theatre, New York. The
system employs a rotating-lens disc, Kerr cell and carbon arc light source giving a 7.5ft x 10ft of 60 lines. |
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| January |
Leon Schlesinger begins production of the Looney Tunes cartoon series,
funded by Warner Bros to plug songs for which they have publishing rights. |
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| February 10 |
BBC acquires news agency tape tickers from which it edits news bulletins. |
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| February |
First successful short-wave radio relay broadcast from London to Tokyo. |
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| early |
Short silent film Morgenstunde hat Gold im Munde (The early bird catches the
worm) specially made for low-definition television by F Banneitz of Commerz-Film AG, Berlin for
Deutscher Reichs-Rundfunkgesellschaft. |
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| early |
NBC’s pioneer experimental television station, W2XBS, begins
test transmissions in New York. |
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| March 14 |
Experimental sound and vision transmissions of Baird 30-line television system begin
from the Brookmans Park transmitter, vision on 261.3m, sound on 356.3m. |
â March 31 |
| March 22 |
First radio broadcast from a ‘talkie’
soundtrack in BBC programme Diversion No 2. |
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| March 24 |
Experimental television station W2XBS in New York televises a
religious service for the first time. |
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| March 31 |
Synchronisation of Baird television pictures and sound is achieved. |
á March 14 |
| March 31 |
John Logie Baird installs a Televisor receiver at 10 Downing Street, London, the prime minister’s residence.
The following week, Ramsey MacDonald writes to Baird, 'When I look at the transmissions I feel that the most
wonderful miracle is being done under my eye. ... You have put something in my room which will never let
me forget how strange is this world—and how unknown.' |
Click on image to see the letter |
| March |
International Broadcasting Company (IBC) is formed by Captain Leonard Plugge to produce
sponsored English-language programmes for transmission from European radio stations. With headquarters at
11 Hallam Street, adjacent to the building site of the BBC's new Broadcasting
House, its production subsidiary is the Universal Programme Company. |
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| April 1 |
 World premiere of Der Blaue
Engel (The Blue Angel) in its German-language version at the Gloria Palast cinema in Berlin. It is
the most successful and most expensive German film to date, costing RM2m. |
â July 4 |
| April |
Soviet government forms Intorgkino to control all film import-export business.
[0036] |
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| April |
Cinema-television demonstration is given in Chicago by Ulysses A Sanabria. The images
measure 2ft x 5ft. |
à 1931 |
| April |
MPPDA (Hays Office) ratifies the self-censorship Production Code, devised by
Martin Quigley and Rev Daniel A Lord to counter calls for federal film censorship. |
à 1934 July |
| May 22 |
General Electric Company (GEC) screens a cinema-television demonstration at Proctor's
Theater, Schenectady, NY. The system is similar to RCA's. The screen image
of 6ft x 7ft is half the brightness of conventional carbon arc projection. |
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| May 23 |
Press show of the first Australian sound film, Fellers, produced by Artaus Films. |
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| May 26 |
 Song of a
nightingale is broadcast live by the BBC from a wood in Berkshire. [Photo source: BBC] |
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| May/June |
Sovkino is replaced by a vertically integrated Soyuzfilm to manage all Soviet domestic
film and cinema activity. [0036] |
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| June 6 |
MPPDA (Hays Office) adopts an Advertising Code. |
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| June |
Japan’s NHK establishes its Technical Research
Laboratories and begins work on television research. |
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| summer |
Australian radio broadcasters ABC, 2UW, 3DB, 4BH and
5AD collaborate to provide coverage of the cricket test match series in England. |
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| July 4 |
Premiere of the English-language version of
The Blue Angel in London. |
â December 5 |
| July 14 |
 First
television drama transmitted from the Baird studio: Luigi Pirandello’s The
Man with a Flower in his Mouth [right]. |
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| July |
The Manchester Guardian publishes the first television drama review. |
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| July |
Patents war between US and German sound film technology rivals comes to an end at a
Paris conference with the agreement that Tobis and Klangfilm will have exclusive access to mainland
European markets. Only Denmark is excluded because of patent claims by Petersen and Poulsen. The rest
of the world is allocated either to Western Electric and RCA or is open to competition. The technical
standards are made compatible around the world. |
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| July 28 |
 First UK public demonstration of large screen television.
Conducted by Baird at London Coliseum variety theatre using screen composed of 2,100 lamps operated by
mechanical commutator switch to give picture of 30ins x 70ins. The system is used in the theatre programme
for three weeks. |
Click on picture for more |
| July 30 |
RCA installs a large-screen television system at an
RKO cinema in Schenectady, NY. The screen is five feet high. |
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| August 9 |
First appearance of Betty Boop in Max Fleischer's Dizzy Dishes animated short. |
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| August 20 |
Allan DuMont makes his first experimental television transmissions. |
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| August 26 |
Philo Farnsworth’s electronic television system is granted the patent that was
applied for in 1927 but delayed by RCA legal actions. |
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| September 13 |
Screening of Madhuri, first Indian film to include synchronous sound in an
otherwise silent movie, for one song by Sulochana (real name Ruby Meyers). |
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| September 23 |
In Germany, Johannes Ostermeier patents the photographic flashbulb. |
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| October 9 |
First talking picture made in Denmark is premièred: Eskimo, directed by G Schneevogt. |
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| October 22 |
BBC Symphony Orchestra makes its first broadcast. |
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| October 30 |
Première of first Romanian talkie: Ciuleandra, directed by Martin Berger. |
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| November 5-13 |
Baird closed circuit television transmissions at Hairdressing Fair of Fashion
include the first advertising: for the Eugène Method of permanent hair waving. |
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| November |
The Scophony Company is first registered in the UK for television development purposes. |
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| December 5 |
US premiere of The Blue Angel (English version)
at the Rialto cinema, New York. It takes a record $60,000 in its first week. |
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| December 29 |
Radio Luxembourg begins broadcast on 208m MW (not yet used for English-language services). |
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| December |
Number of US cinemas: 21,700, of which 13,500
have sound installations. Total in UK is 4,000 of which 2,725 have sound. |
|
| l |
UK: 195 new cinemas built during year with 292,000 seats; 3,651 halls wired for sound,
bringing total to 63 per cent. Start of the ‘super-cinema’ building period. |
|
| l |
US gross cinema revenue is $730m; Hollywood studios combined net profit is $52m. |
|
| l |
Associated British Cinemas now has 120 cinemas. |
|
| l |
British International Pictures (BIP), owner of Elstree
Studios, acquires British Instructional Pictures (Proprietors)
and its Welwyn Studios. [0019] |
|
| l |
Barrandov studios built in Czechoslovakia. |
|
| l |
Paramount merges with Publix and becomes Paramount Publix Corporation. |
|
| l |
Newly formed film companies: Monogram (USA, production), Europa Film (Sweden, production),
Gaumont-Franco-Films-Aubert (GFFA, France, vertically integrated production/distribution/exhibition). |
|
| l |
The peak year for two-strip Technicolor releases: seven from Warner Bros, four from First
National, two from Paramount and one each from MGM, United Artists (Whooppee!, produced by Goldwyn)
and Universal (King of Jazz)—a total of 16 films. |
|
| l |
Hell's Angels, produced and directed by Howard Hughes, is the most
expensive film ever made, partly because it had started as a silent production in 1927 and has
been re-shot for sound and is partly in colour. |
|
| l |
Cash prizes for Australian films, as recommended by the Royal Commission in
1928, are instigated but a lack of suitable productions means that only a
third prize is awarded. The scheme is dropped after the following year's awards. |
|
| l |
First sound films are produced in several countries.
• Belgium: La Famille Klepkens, directed by Gaston Schoukens and Paul Flon;
• Brazil: Acabaram-se os Otarios, directed by Luis de Barros;
• China: Singsong Girl Red Peony, starring Butterfly Wu and directed by Chang
Shih-chuan for Star Film Company;
• Cuba: El Caballero de Max, directed by Jaime San-Andrews using the Vitaphone system;
• Czechoslovakia [Czech]: Tonka of the Gallows, directed by Karel Anton
(see also 1932);
Greece: I Apachides ton Athinon
The Apaches of Athens), a Dag Films musical, directed by Dimitrios Gaziadis;
• Italy: La Canzone dell’ Amore, directed by Genarro Righelli;
• Poland: The Morals of Madame Dulska, directed by B Newolyn;
• Switzerland: Bünzli’s Grossstadtabenteur, directed by Robert Wohlmut.
• USSR: The Earth Thirsts, directed by Yuli Raizman. |
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| l |
First film made in Iran: Abi va Rabi, directed by Ovanes Ohahian. |
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| l |
First film society in India, Punjab Cinema Art Society, is founded in Lahore. |
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| l |
NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories established in Japan. |
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| l |
RCA introduces Model PG-30 16mm amateur sound film projector in US. |
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| l |
RCA grants a non-exclusive licence for its sound system to Pathé-Cinéma for
France and francophone territories in North Africa. |
|
| l |
Baird Television transmissions from Long Acre, London
are picked up by amateur enthusiasts in the Mediterranean. |
|
| l |
Foundation of BBC National Programme. |
|
| l |
Car radios introduced in US. Complete installation weighs 30 kg and can be as
big as an adult person. First adopters are taxi drivers, who charge extra for allowing passengers to listen. |
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| l |
V K Zworykin transfers his television experiments to
the RCA Laboratories at David Sarnoff’s suggestion. |
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| l |
Bell Telephone Laboratories in the US demonstrates the principle of 'dummy head'
stereo sound recording, simulating the interaural spacing of the human head. |
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| l |
British Actors’ Equity Association (Equity, the performers’ trades union) is founded. |
|
| l |
Two French inventors, Couplex and Givelet, invent an
electronic organ, using 'radiophonic lamps' (valves) in place of pipes. |
|
| l |
Mickey Mouse cartoon strip is first published in the New York Mirror. |
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