Ten Best Films of the 1930's (With Pictures and More)

Submitted by CaptMal on Sat, 11/11/2006 - 03:45
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  1. Grand Hotel (1932)
  2. Written by William A. Drake, based on the play by Vicki Baum
  3. Directed by Edmund Goulding
  7. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens.
  9. Country: USA
  11. IMDb: 7.6/10
  13. Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
  15. What the Critics Are Saying:
  17. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 4/5
  18. "This anthology of life at various levels won an Oscar for best picture."
  20. Modern Times (1936)
  21. Written by Charles Chaplin
  22. Directed by Charles Chaplin
  26. Buck up. Never say die. We'll get along.
  28. Country: USA
  30. IMDb: 8.4/10
  32. Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
  34. What the Critics Are Saying:
  36. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
  37. "I go to a lot of movies, and I can't remember the last time I heard a paying audience actually applaud at the end of a film. But this one did."
  39. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 4/5
  40. "Charlie Chaplin must have had a crystal ball when he created Modern Times. His satire of life in an industrial society has more relevance today than when it was made."
  42. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
  43. Written by Sidney Buchman, based on a story by Lewis R. Foster
  44. Directed by Frank Capra
  48. You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading "the land of the free" in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say, "I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will." Boys ought to grow up remembering that.
  50. Country: USA
  52. IMDb: 8.4/10
  54. Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
  56. What the Critics Are Saying:
  58. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 5/5
  59. "His passionate filibuster against this corruption remains one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in film history."
  61. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
  62. Written by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde, based on a story by Wilde
  63. Directed by Howard Hawks
  67. Now, it isn't that I don't like you, Susan, because, after all, in moments of quiet, I'm strangely drawn toward you, but...well, there haven't been any quiet moments.
  69. Country: USA
  71. IMDb: 8.0/10
  73. Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
  75. What the Critics Are Saying:
  77. Michelle Kung, Entertainment Weekly - A
  78. "Mixing crackerjack must-haves, like the Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn romps Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story, with lesser-known laffers, Warner's Classic Comedies Collection does a genre proud."
  80. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 5/5
  81. "Bringing Up Baby is guaranteed to have you falling out of your seat with helpless laughter."
  83. Stage Door (1937)
  84. Written by Morrie Ryskind and Anthony Veiller, based on the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman
  85. Directed by Gregory La Cava
  89. I see that, in addition to your other charms, you have that insolence generated by an inferior upbringing.
  91. Country: USA
  93. IMDb: 7.7/10
  95. Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
  97. What the Critics Are Saying:
  99. Entertainment Weekly - A-
  100. "Compared with the acerbic All About Eve, and even with the ebullient Band Wagon, Stage Door is a kinder, more sentimental backstage yarn, focusing on the dreams of a group of actresses living in a boardinghouse."
  102. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 4/5
  103. "A funny and tender taste of New York theatrical life."
  105. Frankenstein (1931)
  106. Written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort, based on the novel by Mary Shelley, the play by Peggy Webling, and an adaptation by John L. Balderston
  107. Directed by James Whale
  111. Now I know what it feels like to be God!
  113. Country: USA
  115. IMDb: 8.1/10
  117. Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
  119. What the Critics Are Saying:
  121. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 4/5
  122. "Despite all the padding, greasepaint, and restrictive, awkward costuming, Boris Karloff gives a strong, sensitive performance in this 1931 horror classic--with only eyes and an occasional grunt to convey meaning."
  124. Aleksandr Nevskiy (1938)
  125. Written by Sergei M. Eisenstein and Pyotr Pavlenko
  126. Directed by Sergei M. Eistenstein and Dmitri Vasilyev
  130. The strength of a sword is measured by the arm that wields it!
  132. Country: Soviet Union
  134. USA Title: Alexander Nevsky
  136. IMDb: 7.8/10
  138. Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
  140. What the Critics Are Saying:
  142. Entertainment Weekly - A-
  143. "Eisenstein was able to inject narrative drama into what is little more than a series of skirmishes, culminating in the film's famous battle on the ice."
  145. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 4/5
  146. "As with all state-commissioned art, the situations can be corny, but the direction is superb."
  148. The Thin Man (1934)
  149. Written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett
  150. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke
  154. Now, don't make a move or that dog will tear you to shreds.
  156. Country: USA
  158. IMDb: 8.0/10
  160. Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
  162. What the Critics Are Saying:
  164. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times - Great Movie
  165. "The movie is based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett, one of the fathers of noir, and it does technically provide clues, suspects and a solution to a series of murders, but in tone and intent it's more like an all-dialogue version of an Astaire and Rogers musical, with elegant people in luxury hotel penthouses and no hint of the Depression anywhere in sight."
  167. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 4.5/5
  168. "The delight of this fun film is the banter between its stars. You'll like their little dog, too."
  170. King Kong (1933)
  171. Written by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose, based on an idea by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace
  172. Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
  176. Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.
  178. Country: USA
  180. IMDb: 8.1/10
  182. Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
  184. What the Critics Are Saying:
  186. Steve Daly, Entertainment Weekly - A
  187. "The movie looks improved over earlier video and TV copies, and still packs a wallop despite way-corny dialogue."
  189. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times - Great Movie
  190. "But King Kong is more than a technical achievement. It is also a curiously touching fable in which the beast is seen, not as a monster of destruction, but as a creature that in its own way wants to do the right thing."
  192. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 5/5
  193. "The movie, about the giant ape who is captured on a prehistoric island and proceeds to tear New York City apart until his final stand on the Empire State Building, is the stuff of which legends are made."
  195. The Awful Truth (1937)
  196. Written by Viña Delmar, based on the play by Arthur Richman
  197. Directed by Leo McCarey
  201. In the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to what he's been thinking about all winter.
  203. Country: USA
  205. IMDb: 8.0/10
  207. Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
  209. What the Critics Are Saying:
  211. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, DVD & Video Guide - 4/5
  212. "Leo McCarey won an Oscar for directing this prime example of the screwball comedies that made viewing such a delight in the 1930s."
  214. Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly - A
  215. "Leo McCarey's Awful Truth, with Irene Dunne, boasts adroit marital high jinks, and George Stevens' Talk of the Town puts Grant in an unusual spot — as a dirt-smudged fugitive falsely accused of murder and arson, yet obliged to get laughs with sight gags and Jean Arthur."
Author Comments: 

Last Addition: Stage Door (1937, Gregory La Cava) (#5)

Last Removal: M (1931, Fritz Lang)