This Week In Movie History

The MovieFanFare posting for This Week In Movie History had a few interesting points from the Swing Era. 


February 22, 1934: A Depression-weary American public flocks to Frank Capra’s screwball comedy It Happened One Night, starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable.
February 27, 1934: A lawsuit against MGM’s Rasputin and the Empress results in the now-familiar “The events and characters in this film are fictional…” disclaimer.
February 23, 1935: Cowboy Gene Autry saddles up in his first starring role, headlining the unusual sci-fi/western serial The Phantom Empire.
February 27, 1935: It Happened One Night makes Academy Award history by taking Best Picture, Actor, Actress and Director.


I thought the second item, about the "events and characters in this film are fictional . . ." disclaimer, particularly interesting.  Those disclaimers are still in modern movies, but way at the end of the credits and in small print.  In the 1930's, they were much more prominent, but then again, a lot of the credits were more prominent then.  The disclaimer, however, apparently became the source of some humor, because you would see it as a gag in some cartoons from the era.