The following is an overview of 1930 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The top ten 1930 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• February 21: Anna Christie, Greta Garbo's first sound film is released, it grosses $1.5 million.
• February 23: Silent screen legend Mabel Normand dies at the age of 37 in Monrovia, California after a lengthy battle with tuberculosis.
• March 10: Release of Goodbye Argentina (Adiós Argentina), the first Argentine film with a (musical) soundtrack. Ada Cornaro has her first starring role and Libertad Lamarque makes her film debut.
• April 6: William Fox sells his interest in Fox Film for $18 million and Harley L. Clarke becomes president.^[8][9]
• May 27: Howard Hughes' epic film Hell's Angels premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and features Jean Harlow in her first major role as well as some impressive aerial sequences. Although not a financial success upon its release due to its bloated budget, the film is acclaimed by critics and launches Harlow as one of the 1930s' biggest stars.
• August 9: Cartoon character Betty Boop appears for the first time on screen, in the animated film Dizzy Dishes.
• September 3: The Hollywood Reporter is first published.
• September 19: The Love Parade receives a record six Academy Award nominations.
• November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm and a very early form of 70mm film. It is the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era, costing over $2 million. The film is praised for its aesthetic quality and realism that will not become commonplace until many decades later. However, due to the new film format and the film's release during the Great Depression, the film will go on to become a financial failure at the box office.

• Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front – Universal Pictures
• Best Director: Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front
• Best Actor: George Arliss – Disraeli
• Best Actress: Norma Shearer – The Divorcee

United States unless stated

• Across the World with Mr & Mrs Martin Johnson
• Hunting Tigers in India
• The Indians Are Coming
• The Jade Box
• The Lightning Express
• The Lone Defender, starring Rin Tin Tin
• Terry of the Times
• The Voice from the Sky

• Buster Keaton (1917–1941)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
  • Another Fine Mess (28 min)
  • Night Owls (21 min)
  • Hog Wild (19 min)
  • Laughing Gravy (21 min)
  • Brats (21 min)
  • Below Zero (20 min)
• Crying for the Carolines (5 min)

• Felix the Cat (1919-1936)
  • April Maze (7 min)
  • Skulls and Sculls
  • Hootchy Cootchy Parlais Vous
• Aesop's Film Fables (1921–1933)
• Krazy Kat (1925–1940)
• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
  • Just Mickey (7 min)
  • The Barnyard Concert (6 min)
  • The Cactus Kid
  • The Fire Fighters
  • The Shindig
  • The Chain Gang
  • The Gorilla Mystery
  • The Picnic
  • Pioneer Days
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
• Silly Symphonies
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • The Cannibal Capers
  • Night
  • Frolicking Fish
  • Arctic Antics
  • Midnight in a Toyshop
  • Monkey Melodies
  • Winter
  • Playful Pan
• Screen Songs (1929–1938)
  • Prisoner's Song (8 min)
• Talkartoons (1929–1932)
  • Dizzy Dishes (first Betty Boop cartoon)
  • Barnacle Bill (second Betty Boop cartoon)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
  • Sinkin' in the Bathtub
  • Congo Jazz
  • Hold Anything
  • The Booze Hangs High
  • Box Car Blues
• Flip the Frog (1930–1933)
  • The Village Barber (7 min)
  • Puddle Pranks (7 min)
  • Cuckoo Murder Case (8 min)
  • Little Orphan Willie
  • Flying Fists (7 min)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Toby the Pup (1930–1931)
  • The Museum
  • Toby the Miner
  • Toby the Fiddler
  • Toby the Showman
  • The Bug House
• "Beary Bear" (1930–1949)
  • "Experiment Gone Wrong"
  • "Hickory's Hijinks"
  • "Piano Problems"
  • "Oh Deer!"
  • "Bushy the Lion"
  • "Trouble in Paris"

• January 3
  • Mara Corday, American showgirl, model and actress
  • Robert Loggia, American actor (died 2015)^[10]
• January 10 – Roy E. Disney, American film executive and Walt Disney's nephew (died 2009)^[11]
• January 11
  • Angela Paton, American actress (died 2016)
  • Rod Taylor, Australian actor (died 2015)^[12]
• January 12 – Edgar Landsbury, British-born Irish-American producer
• January 13 – Frances Sternhagen, American actress (died 2023)
• January 19 – Tippi Hedren, American actress^[13]
• January 20 – Henry Woolf, British actor (died 2021)
• January 24 – Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (died 2016)
• January 29 – Benjamin Tatar, American actor (died 2012)
• January 30 – Gene Hackman, American actor^[14]
• February 6 – Allan King, Canadian director (died 2009)
• February 10 – Robert Wagner, American actor
• February 16 – Ricou Browning, American film director, actor, cinematographer and stuntman (died 2023)
• February 20 – Patricia Smith, American actress (died 2011)
• February 22 – Giuliano Montaldo, Italian film director, screenwriter and actor (died 2023)
• February 24 – Barbara Lawrence, American actress, model (died 2013)
• February 27 – Joanne Woodward, American actress
• March 6 – Allison Hayes, American actress (died 1977)
• March 12 – Scoey Mitchell, American actor, writer and director (died 2022)
• March 13 – Harrison Young, American character actor (died 2005)
• March 16 – Lotte Ledl, Austrian actress
• March 21 – Pauline Stroud, British actress (died 2022)
• March 24 – Steve McQueen, American actor (died 1980)
• March 29 – Naser Malek Motiei, Iranian actor, director (died 2018)^[15]
• March 30
  • John Astin, American actor
  • Estella Blain, French actress (died 1982)
• April 1 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress (died 2015)
• April 5
  • Mary Costa, American singer and actress
  • Marietta Marich, American actress, singer, writer, stage director and television host (died 2017)
• April 7 – Andrew Sachs, German-born British actor and writer (died 2016)
• April 13 – Roger Browne, American actor
• April 14 – Bradford Dillman, American actor (died 2018)
• April 18 – Clive Revill, New Zealand actor
• April 19 – Dick Sargent, American actor (died 1994)
• April 21 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (died 1989)
• April 23 – Alan Oppenheimer, American actor
• April 24 – Richard Donner, American director and producer (died 2021)
• April 25 – Paul Mazursky, American director and actor (died 2014)
• April 28 – Carolyn Jones, American actress (died 1983)
• April 29 - Jean Rochefort, French actor (died 2017)
• May 4
  • Lois de Banzie, Scottish-born American actress (died 2021)
  • Doris Leader Charge, American actress (died 2001)
• May 5 – Will Hutchins, American actor
• May 9 – Joan Sims, English actress (died 2001)
• May 11 – Bud Ekins, American actor and stuntman (died 2007)
• May 31 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director and producer
• June 1
  • Pat Corley, American actor (died 2006)
  • Edward Woodward, English actor and singer (died 2009)
• June 4
  • Edward Kelsey, English actor (died 2019)
  • Morgana King, American jazz singer and actress (died 2018)
  • Bill Treacher, English actor (died 2022)
• June 9 - Terry Norris, Australian actor (died 2023)
• June 15 – Odile Versois, French actress (died 1980)
• June 19
  • Gena Rowlands, American actress
  • Diana Sowle, American actress (died 2018)
• June 25 - George Murdock, (died 2012)
• June 29 – Ariadna Welter, Mexican actress (died 1998)
• July 5 - Tommy Cook, American producer, screenwriter and actor
• July 8 - Jerry Vale, American actor and singer (died 2014)
• July 10
  • Bruce Boa, Canadian actor (died 2004)
  • Susan Cummings, German actress (died 2016)
• July 12 - Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, writer, director and singer (died 2023)
• July 13 - Darrell Sandeen, American character actor (died 2009)
• July 18 – Burt Kwouk, British-Chinese actor (died 2016)
• July 20 - Sally Ann Howes, English actress and singer (died 2021)^[16]
• July 21 - Lukas Heller, German-born screenwriter (died 1988)
• July 24 - Jacqueline Brookes, American actress (died 2013)
• July 25 - Annie Ross, British-American singer and actress (died 2020)
• July 28 - Alfie Curtis, British actor (died 2017)
• July 30 - Tony Lip, American actor (died 2013)
• August 1
  • Bill Allison, American actor (died 2016)
  • Julie Bovasso, American actress (died 1991)
  • Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian-American actor and musician (died 2014)
• August 5 - Joan Weldon, American actress, singer (died 2021)
• August 11 - Paul Soles, Canadian actor (died 2021)
• August 12 – Peter Weck, Austrian film director and actor
• August 14 – Liz Fraser, English actress (died 2018)
• August 17 - Harve Bennett, American producer and screenwriter (died 2015)
• August 25 – Sir Sean Connery, Scottish actor (died 2020)
• August 28 - Ben Gazzara, American and director (died 2012)
• September 16 – Anne Francis, American actress (died 2011)
• September 17 - David Huddleston, American actor (died 2016)
• September 21 – Dawn Addams, English actress (died 1985)
• September 26 - Philip Bosco, American actor (died 2018)
• October 1 – Richard Harris, Irish actor (died 2002)
• October 5
  • Skip Homeier, American actor (died 2017)
  • Yuriy Yakovlev, Bulgarian actor (died 2002)
• October 6 - Lou Cutell, American actor (died 2021)
• October 8 - James Olson, American actor (died 2022)
• October 10 - Joan O'Hara, Irish actress (died 2007)
• October 13 - Paul Kent, American actor (died 2011)
• October 23 – Gérard Blain, French actor and director (died 2000)
• October 24 – Jack Angel, American voice actor and former radio personality (died 2021)
• November 3 - Lois Smith, American character actress
• November 5
  • Richard Davalos, American actor (died 2016)
  • Joaquín Martínez, Mexican-born American actor (died 2012)
• November 15 - Whitman Mayo, American actor (died 2001)
• November 20 - Bernard Horsfall, English actor (died 2013)
• November 23 - Robert Easton, American actor (died 2011)
• December 3 – Jean-Luc Godard, French director (died 2022)
• December 9 – Francesco Maselli, Italian director (died 2023)
• December 11 – Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor (died 2022)
• December 13 - Robert Prosky, American actor (died 2008)
• December 17 – Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
• December 20 - Noel Ferrier, Australian actor, television personality and producer (died 1997)

• January 31 – Dorothy Seastrom, American actress (born 1903)
• February 23 – Mabel Normand, American actress (born 1893)
• July 7 – Arthur Conan Doyle, British author and creator of Sherlock Holmes (born 1859)
• August 26 – Lon Chaney, American actor (born 1883)
• September 14 – Tommy Mintz, American actor, assistant director (born 1906)
• September 15 – Milton Sills, American actor (born 1882)
• November 8 – Clare Eames, American actress (born 1894)
• December 15 – Diane Ellis, American actress (born 1909)

• Robert Adair – Journey's End
• Felix Aylmer – Escape!
• Joan Blondell – The Office Wife
• Humphrey Bogart – Up the River
• Bob Burns – Up the River
• James Cagney – Sinners' Holiday
• John Carradine – Bright Lights
• Elisha Cook Jr. – Her Unborn Child
• Buster Crabbe – Good News
• Bing Crosby – King of Jazz
• Constance Cummings – The Criminal Code
• Jan Duggan – Dixiana
• Irene Dunne – Leathernecking
• Jimmy Durante – Roadhouse Nights
• Sally Gray – The School for Scandal
• John Hamilton – Dangerous Nan McGrew
• Rex Harrison – The Great Game
• Miriam Hopkins – Fast and Loose
• Shemp Howard – Soup to Nuts
• Victor Jory – Renegades
• Hedy Lamarr – Money on the Street
• Charles Lane – City Girl
• Frank McHugh – The Dawn Patrol
• Jay Novello – The Jade Box
• Laurence Olivier – The Temporary Widow
• Maureen O'Sullivan – So This Is London
• Cecilia Parker – King of Jazz
• Ginger Rogers – Young Man of Manhattan
• Harry Shannon – Heads Up
• Penny Singleton – Good News
• Spencer Tracy – Up the River
• Barbara Weeks – Whoopee!