We present results of magnetooptical investigations of bismuth-containing ferrite-garnet films with the easy axis of magnetization parallel to the specimen surface. Measurements were conducted for incident light with energies in the range 1.5–3.2 eV for transverse [equatorial Kerr effect (EKE)] and for longitudinal [meridional intensity effect (MIE)] magnetizations of thin-layer specimens. It is shown that the EKE differs from zero when the films are opaque, and it is established that the EKE peak in the region ħΩ ∼ 2.8 eV increases with increasing bismuth concentration. For longitudinal magnetization, conditions for observing magnetooptical interference were realized. The experimental curves agree well with the theoretical ones.