1931 Top Box Office Movies

This movie page looks at 1931 Top Box Office Movies.  Finding box office information for movies made in the 1930s and 1940s is extremely difficult.   For somebody looking for box office information on 1931 it is very very frustrating.  Over the years, we have researched and collected information on over 36,000 movies.  So we figured we would show all the 1931 movies in our database.

To make this list a movie had to be made in 1931.  Obviously many movies made in 1930 earned box office dollars in 1931.  On the other side many movies made in 1931 made money in 1932 and later.  This page looks at 141 1931 Top Box Office Movies.  The movies are listed in a massive table that lets you rank the movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.

The following massive table only includes the movies made in 1931 that are in our database.  Since we are constantly adding new movies to our database….this page will quickly become obsolete.  We will try and update this page on a regular basis.

Charlie Chaplin in 1931’s City Lights

Our UMR Top 50 of 1931

1931 Top Box Office Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort 1931 Top Box Office Movies by the stars or in some cases the director of the movie.
  • Sort 1931 Top Box Office Movies by domestic actual box office grosses
  • Sort 1931 Top Box Office Movies by domestic adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
  • Sort 1931 Top Box Office Movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each 1931 Top Box Office Movies received.
  • Sort 1931 Top Box Office Movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking Score (UMR).  Our UMR score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Bela Lugosi in 1931’s Dracula

Top earners in 1931 for Adjusted USA Box Office:

Adjusted Worldwide Box Office:

  1. Trader Horn (1931) $529,631,856.00
  2. Mata Hari (1931) $291,670,350.00
  3. The Lady Who Dared (1931) $139,390,077.00
  4. Hell Divers (1931) $273,093,399.00
  5. Bought! (1931) $173,763,773.00
  6. Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) $190,318,670.00
  7. Local Boy Makes Good (1931) $144,445,058.00
  8. Alexander Hamilton (1931) $131,302,224.00
  9. A Free Soul (1931) $179,703,311.00
  10. Parlor Bedroom and Bath (1931) $124,478,018.00
  11. Possessed (1931) $192,340,633.00
  12. Sidewalks of New York (1931) $108,049,463.00
  13. Dance Fools Dance (1931) $160,241,793.00
  14. Inspiration (1931) $142,423,050.00
  15. The Mad Genius (1931) $85,681,305.00
  16. Reducing (1931) $190,192,273.00
  17. Sporting Blood (1931) $112,851,651.00
  18. Private Lives (1931) $142,170,311.00
  19. The Millionaire (1931) $105,521,967.00
  20. Strangers May Kiss (1931) $160,747,226.00
  21. The Secret Six (1931) $125,615,414.00
  22. Politics (1931) $172,752,764.00
  23. The Phantom of Paris (1931) $82,269,252.00
  24. Cimarron (1931) $185,642,815.00
  25. The Easiest Way (1931) $114,115,353.00
  26. The Squaw Man (1931) $88,335,142.00
  27. Guilty Hands (1931) $86,692,314.00
  28. Born To Love (1931) $82,016,459.00
  29. Beau Ideal (1931) $72,664,822.00
  30. This Modern Age (1931) $112,598,912.00
  31. Young Donovan’s Kid (1931) $78,098,893.00
  32. Kiss Me Again (1931) $48,527,449.00
  33. Sit Tight (1931) $97,813,150.00
  34. Laughing Sinners (1931) $96,675,844.00
  35. The Common Law (1931) $90,117,024.00
  36. Svengali (1931) $62,934,076.00
  37. Gentleman’s Fate (1931) $64,324,166.00
  38. West of Broadway (1931) $58,890,140.00
  39. The Star Witness (1931) $82,016,513.00
  40. Smart Money (1931) $76,203,271.00
  41. Stepping Out (1931) $57,626,357.00
  42. Cracked Nuts (1931) $77,972,542.00
  43. Peace O’Reno (1931) $72,032,948.00
  44. Father’s Son (1931) $61,417,599.00
  45. Caught Plastered (1931) $69,379,111.00
  46. Little Caeser (1931) $132,945,051.00
  47. The Finger Points (1931) $79,741,757.00
  48. The Road To Singapore (1931) $66,346,175.00
  49. Chances (1931) $62,049,464.00
  50. The Guardsman (1931) $64,450,518.00
  51. Devotion (1931) $68,494,534.00
  52. The Public Enemy (1931) $118,412,073.00
  53. Night Nurse (1931) $86,818,701.00
  54. Men Call It Love (1931) $48,780,188.00
  55. Broadminded (1931) $59,774,716.00
  56. Children of Dreams (1931) $59,774,716.00
  57. Millie (1931) $80,247,244.00
  58. Everything’s Rosie (1931) $34,752,767.00
  59. Safe In Hell (1931) $41,324,145.00
  60. The Maltese Falcon (1931) $50,928,539.00
  61. The Hot Heiress (1931) $59,965,687.00
  62. The Reckless Hour (1931) $39,175,829.00
  63. Gold Dust Gertie (1931) $56,109,871.00
  64. Compromised (1931) $31,087,930.00
  65. Illicit (1931) $69,252,715.00
  66. I Like Your Nerve (1931) $39,428,568.00
  67. The Last Flight (1931) $56,868,141.00
  68. Transgression (1931) $39,175,838.00
  69. The Bargain (1931) $32,857,155.00
  70. Captain Applejack (1931) $24,769,202.00
  71. Men Of The Sky (1931) $28,939,525.00
  72. Party Husband (1931) $38,417,577.00
  73. The Gay Diplomat (1931) $16,554,942.00
  74. 50 Million Frenchmen (1931) $54,340,691.00
  75. Woman Hungry (1931) $32,983,498.00
  76. God’s Gift to Women (1931) $21,230,752.00

My Main Sources

Source 1: Eddie Mannix MGM Ledgers

Source 2: C.J. Tevlin RKO Ledgers

Source 3: William Schaefer Warner Brothers Ledgers

Source 4: Year In Review Variety Editions

Source 5: Grand Design: Hollywood As A Modern Business Enterprise 1930-1942 by Tino Balio

Source 6: Twentieth Century-Fox A Corporate and Financial History by Aubrey Solomon

Source 7:  Wikipedia

Source 8:  IMDb.com

Source 9:  “Revenue sharing and the coming of sound” by H. Mark Glancy

Source 10: Hollywood Power Stats by Christopher Reynolds

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41 thoughts on “1931 Top Box Office Movies”

  1. \”Little Caesar\” is spelled wrong as \”Little Caeser\”, and it appears Min and Bill, a 1930 movie, is still in the worldwide list.

    Reply

  2. Hello Bruce.
    Great Page Bruce. I’ve discovered that “Min and Bill” was a 1930 release and that two of the films in your 1932 Page belong here in 1931. Both “Five Star Final” and “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” were released in 1931. You also have “Arrowsmith” on both pages.
    “Arrowsmith” is a 1931 film.
    Thanks for another great page. I had fun with this one.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lyle….good catches as always. Adjusted those years….now I just have to get the database to recognize the changes….glad you had fun with this page. Probably going to be doing a 1930 page….and then going to the 1960s. Good feedback as always.

      Reply

  3. First of all: Wedding Gratulations from Germany to the Cogerson Family 😉

    1931 brought 3 great Sylvia Sidney vehicles, 2 great Dietrich movies (always had a weakness for Dishonoured, SPOILER ALERT Marlene refreshing her make up before ……. being shot in the final scene),
    one of my favorite Garbo’s, Mata Hari, Frankenstein, Dracula, 2 early Stanwyck favorites, Night Nurse and The Miracle Woman, Platinum Blonde with rising Jean Harlow and work horse Loretta Young, Public Enemy, 2 John Gilbert movies with the lovely Marian Marsh, Svengali and The mad Genius and Edward G. Robinson in Little Ceasar. Those films are my “picks” for 1931, although others, like Chaplin’s City Lights or the Marx Brother’s Monkey Business would be on any film critics list discussing the best movies of 1931…they are just not my cup of tea. 1931 also was significant for the start of one of Hollywood’s best loved actresses, Bette Davis, who had a minor part in Bad Sister. No sign of what was going to come here…while her later rival Joan Crawford was already a well established box office attraction.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lupino….thanks for the wedding good wishes….yesterday was the end of a very long stressful process….but it ended with a great wedding…so all that effort was well worth it.

      Sylvia was just getting rolling in 1931….as was Marlene. I like your “picks” of 1931….I have seen 6 from the Lupino favorties. I liked City Lights….thought Monkey Business was ok….but I am not a huge Marx Brothers fan….but that is “fighting” words around here…as people like Steve love them….lol.

      Good points on Bette and Joan….I agree with them 100%….thanks for the comment and the feedback.

      Reply

  4. Wow, 1931 seems such a long time ago and yet there are probably people still alive who went to the cinema as children. Many of these movies still stand up well today. Frankenstein is superb. As a kid I loved Dracula but I think the first half works brilliantly while the second half of Dracula in London is a bit creaky. Public Enemy, The Little Caesar, both Cagney and Robinson still shine.
    P.s. Talking about movies in the 30’s, I watched Bringing Up Baby yesterday. The character actors are absolutely brilliant. I can’t believe that the film was a flop.
    Also I went to see Shape of Water last week, I have to say, highly overrated.

    Reply

    1. Hey Chris….thanks for the movie thoughts on 1931 movies…..good points on Frankenstein and Dracula. I like the second half of Dracula….but I see your point on that half of the movie. The Cagney/Robinson gangster movies are awesome. Bringing Up Baby is the movie that introduced me to Cary Grant and classic movies…..I agree with your review 100%. As for The Shape of Water….I liked it….but love was far far away….lol. Good stuff as always.

      Reply

  5. Hello,
    I have seen not so much may be 15 films fron this box office year
    My fav are Morocco and Dishonored and in this film which is a very romantic film( Cooper should get the part of Victor Mac Laglen and unfortunetly he did not wanted the part because Sternberg was not his best friend, c’est très dommage because the film would be even better)
    Anyway at the end of this film there is three or four scenes which are simply wonderfull visually speaking and with this wonderfull light by Lee Garmes and Sternberg;
    It is fun to read some title like Iron Man or Just a Gigolo, Millie etc;
    Bruce, i hope your problèmes with the bad things of the net are so far away;;;;
    And thank you for this very good page
    Good day
    Pierre

    Reply

    1. Hey Pierre. Thanks for checking out our latest classic yearly movie review page. I am impressed with your 15 1931 movies watched. Thanks for the breakdown on Morocco and Dishonored. I agree it is a shame that Cooper did not want that part. Dishonored would have been a much better followup to their Morocco. As for our internet problems….hopefully we are making some head way…so far this morning things are looking good…..a new widget called Spam Busters is now patroling the website. It is off to a good start.

      Reply

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