100 or More Best Movies of the 1930s Survey

[SelwynMcGinty]

We have multiple survey threads spanning the decades of film, and we're keeping it rolling with the fearsome 30s!

Once again, it seems prudent to implement a weighted system - this time, participants are asked to list their
Top 25 of theatrical releases between January 1, 1930 and December 31, 1939.

The counting will be as follows:
25 points for the #1 choice, 24 points for the #2 spot, 23 for #3, etc. down the line.
The #25 selection will be afforded 2 points, in order to distinguish it from the Honorable Mentions.

If you'd like to list some Honorable Mentions past 25 selections, please do so -
each title past the 25th will be awarded 1 point.

If indicated that there's no particular order, each selection will be awarded 7 points.

Don't imagine this will be tallied any time soon, so there's plenty of chances to change titles and lists.

Of course, any comments, thoughts, suggestions, questions or any discourse regarding the mighty 30s or anything else are encouraged and appreciated.

As always... thank you to everyone and cheers!

Starting off (this order may be subject to change in the coming days):

1. My Man Godfrey
2. Make Way for Tomorrow
3. Modern Times
4. Heroes for Sale
5. The Rules of the Game
6. Bride of Frankenstein
7. Grand Illusion
8. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
9. Vampyr
10. Freaks
11. The Awful Truth
12. Each Dawn I Die
13. The Thin Man
14. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
15. The Adventures of Robin Hood
16. The Goddess
17. Night Nurse
18. San Francisco
19. Libeled Lady
20. It's a Gift
21. Angels with Dirty Faces
22. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
23. People on Sunday
24. The Roaring Twenties
25. Baby Face

Honorable Mentions: Port of Shadows, Bringing Up Baby, After the Thin Man, Wife vs Secretary,
Dracula, The Black Cat, White Zombie, Island of Lost Souls, She Done Him Wrong,
Million Dollar Legs, Mad Love, M, The Blue Angel, Red Headed Woman,
A Slight Case of Murder, The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, Vivacious Lady, and lots more...

[Damon1281]

1. A Night at the Opera (1935)
2. King Kong (1933)
3. Gone with the Wind (1939)
4. Animal Crackers (1930)
5. M (1931)
6. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
7. Frankenstein (1931)
8. Dracula (1931)
9. The Mummy (1932)
10. A Night at the Opera (1935)
11. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
12. I'm no Angel (1933)
13. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
14. Sabotage (1936)
15. Duck Soup (1933)
16. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
17. 42nd Street (1933)
18. It Happened One Night (1934)
19. The Thin Man (1934)
20. Top Hat (1935)
21. The 39 Steps (1935)
22. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
23. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
24. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
25. Stagecoach (1939)
26. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

It seems unfair to rank these in terms of my favorites, since if I rewatch all of them, I'm sure the order would be different. Due to an upstart UHF channel in the 70's having a midnight show that featured comedy classics, the Marx Brothers probably figure more in my list than they should.
Similarly, many horror films made my list due to multiple early viewings in my life. It's a tough call to rank movies created well before your own life began.

I'll sort these later.

[Cremildo]

01. Queen Christina
02. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
03. Gone with the Wind
04. Fury
05. The Great Ziegfeld
06. City Lights
07. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
08. Modern Times
09. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
10. The Grand Illusion
11. M
12. Mutiny on the Bounty
13. Bride of Frankenstein
14. Grand Hotel
15. It Happened One Night
16. The Public Enemy
17. Lost Horizon
18. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
19. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
20. In Old Chicago
21. Only Angels Have Wings
22. King Kong
23. Captains Courageous
24. My Man Godfrey
25. Ganga Bruta

[Beckford]

The 30’s
My Personal Favorites

1. GOLD-DIGGERS OF 1935(‘35-Busby Berkeley) Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart
2. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME(‘39-William Dieterle) Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara
3. FLYING DOWN TO RIO(‘33-Thornton Freeland) Dolores del Rio, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
4. FOOTLIGHT PARADE(‘33-Lloyd Bacon) James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell
5. ROSE MARIE(‘36-W.S. Van Dyke) Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy
6. IT’S A GIFT(‘34-Norman Z. McLeod) W.C. Fields, Kathleen Howard
7. OVER THE MOON(‘39-Thornton Freeland) Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison
8. MARIE ANTOINETTE(38-W.S. Van Dyke) Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power
9. THE INVISIBLE RAY(‘36-Lambert Hillyer) Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
10. THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST(’38-Robert Z. Leonard) J. MacDonald, Nelson Eddy
11. THE COWBOY STAR(36-David Selman) Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith
12. SHE HAD TO SAY YES(‘33-Busby Berkeley) Loretta Young, Lyle Talbot
13. HOT SATURDAY(‘32-William A. Seiter) Nancy Carroll, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott
14. CAPTAIN BLOOD(35-Michael Curtiz) Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland
15. SECOND FIDDLE(‘39-Sidney Lanfield) Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power
16. SWING TIME(‘36-George Stevens) Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
17. THE MIKADO(‘39-Victor Schertzinger) Kenny Baker, Jean Colin
18. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS(’37-David Hand) animated
19. THE BIG TRAIL(’30-Raoul Walsh) John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill
20. THE PRIVATE LIFE OF DON JUAN(‘34-Alexander Korda) Douglas Fairbanks
21. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN(35-James Whale) Boris Karloff, Colin Clive
22. NEAR THE RAINBOW’S END(‘30-J.P. McGowan) Bob Steele, Louise Lorraine
23. CONFESSION(‘37-Joe May) Kay Francis, Jane Bryan, Basil Rathbone
24. SHE’S GOT EVERYTHING(RKO-Joseph Santley) Ann Sothern, Gene Raymond
25. EARTHWORM TRACTORS(’36-Ray Enright) Joe E. Brown, June Travis

HONORABLE MENTION (chronological)

[Show spoiler]ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT(’30-Lewis Milestone)
DIE DREI VOM DER TANKSTELLE(’30-Viktor Thiele)
HEADIN’ NORTH(’30-J.P. McCarthy)
KING OF JAZZ(’30-John Murray Anderson)
MENSCHEN AM SONNTAG('30-Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer)
MOROCCO('30-Josef von Sternberg)
DER KONGRESS TANZT(’31-Erik Charell)
THE RIDIN’ FOOL(’31-J.P. McCarthy)
SAFE IN HELL(’31-William Wellman)
TRANSATLANTIC(’31-William K. Howard)
THE BIG BROADCAST(’32-Frank Tuttle)
BLONDE VENUS(’32-Josef von Sternberg)
DIE VERKAUFTE BRAUT(’32-Max Ophuls)
THE RIDER OF DEATH VALLEY(’32-Albert S. Rogell)
42nd STREET(’33-Lloyd Bacon)
EKSTASE(’33-Gustav Machaty)
THE GHOUL(’33-T. Hayes Hunter)
MOONLIGHT AND PRETZELS(’33-Karl Freund)
PEG O’ MY HEART(’33-Robert Z. Leonard)
DAMES(’34-Ray Enright)
EVERGREEN(’34-Victor Saville)
FOUR HOURS TO KILL!(’34-Mitchell Leisen)
THE PAINTED VEIL(’34-Richard Boleslawski)
THE SCARLET EMPRESS(’34-Josef von Sternberg)
YOU’RE TELLING ME!(’34-Erle C. Kenton)
ALICE ADAMS(’35-George Stevens)
THE CRUSADES(’35-Cecil B. DeMille)
THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN(’35-Josef von Sternberg)
MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE(’35-Clyde Bruckman)
METROPOLITAN(’35-Richard Boleslawski)
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM(’35-Max Reinhardt, William Dieterle)
THE RIDER OF THE LAW(’35-R.N. Bradbury)
STEAMBOAT ROUND THE BEND(’35-John Ford)
WE’RE ONLY HUMAN(’35-James Flood)
WEREWOLF OF LONDON(’35-Stuart Walker)
CHEER UP(’36-Leo Mittler)
COLLEEN(’36-Alfred E. Green)
DESIRE(’36-Frank Borzage)
FOLLOW THE FLEET('36-Mark Sandrich)
THE GIRL ON THE FRONT PAGE(’36-Harry Beaumont)
RAMONA(’36-Henry King)
STOWAWAY(’36-William A. Seiter)
THINGS TO COME(’36-William Cameron Menzies)
THE AWFUL TRUTH(’37-Leo McCarey)
CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS(’37-Bruce Humberstone)
FAIR WARNING(’37-Bruce Humberstone)
FEATHER YOUR NEST(’37-William Beaudine)
THE FIREFLY(’37-Robert Z, Leonard)
FLIGHT FROM GLORY(’37-Lew Landers)
KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR(’37-Jacques Feyder)
LOST HORIZON(’37-Frank Capra)
NIGHT CLUB SCANDAL(’37-Ralph Murphy)
NON-STOP NEW YORK(’37-Robert Stevenson)
SLIM(’37-Ray Enright)
THANK YOU, MR. MOTO(’37-Norman Foster)
THIN ICE(’37-Sidney Lanfield)
ALEXANDER NEVSKY(’38-Sergei Eisenstein)
CONVICT 99(’38-Marcel Varnel)
DER BLAUFUCHS(’38-Viktor Tourjansky)
LA MARSEILLAISE(’38-Jean Renoir)
LITTLE MISS BROADWAY(’38-Irving Cummings)
NUMBERED WOMAN(’38-Karl Brown)
SAILING ALONG(’38-Sonnie Hale)
THE SONG OF THE SCARLET FLOWER(’38-Teuvo Tulio)
SUEZ(’38-Allan Dwan)
SWEETHEARTS(’38-W.S. Van Dyke)
VOLGA-VOLGA(’38-Grigori Aleksandrov)
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES(’39-Alfred L. Werker)
DAY-TIME WIFE(’39-Gregory Ratoff)
FIRST LOVE('39-Henry Koster)
GONE WITH THE WIND(’39-Victor Fleming)
HALLO JANINE!(’39-Carl Boese)
JESSE JAMES(’39-Henry King)
LADY OF THE TROPICS(’39-Jack Conway)
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK(’39-James Whale)
THE MARSHAL OF MESA CITY(’39-David Howard)
THE RAINS CAME(’39-Clarence Brown)
STAND UP AND FIGHT(’39-W.S. Van Dyke)
THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL(’39-Irving Cummings)
THE UNDER-PUP('39-Richard Wallace

[apricissimus]

1. Modern Times
2. City Lights
3. Angel
4. Dodsworth
5. Stella Dallas
6. Trouble in Paradise
7. Stagecoach
8. The Good Fairy
9. It's Love I'm After
10. Gone with the Wind
11. The Wizard of Oz
12. It Happened One Night
13. Mr. Smith Goes to Washinton
14. The Thin Man
15. Miracle Woman
16. Ladies They Talk About
17. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
18. Make Way for Tomorrow
19. A Star Is Born
20. Gold Diggers of 1933
21. Ninotchka
22. The Blue Angel
23. The Divorcee
24. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
25. Baby Face

[AKORIS]

Reserved

King Kong
The Wizard Of Oz
Gone With The Wind
Dracula
The Raven
The Black Cat
The Roaring Twenties
Frankenstein
The Thin Man
The Bride Of Frankenstein
Public Enemy

[hasslein]

1. King Kong
2. Duck Soup
3. The Wizard of Oz
4. Horse Feathers
5. Animal Crackers
6. A Night at the Opera
7. At the Circus
8. Adventures of Robin Hood
9. Alice in Wonderland
10. Roaring 20s
11. Each Dawn I Die
12. Angels with Dirty Faces
13. Frankenstein
14. Bride Frankenstein
15. Public Enemy
16. Life Emile Zola
17. M
18. Most Dangerous Game
19. Monkey Business
20. Captain Blood
21. Snow White
22. Dracula
23. A Day at the Races
24. Gunga Din
25. Mutiny on the Bounty

[Juan de Internet]

1. Trouble in Paradise
2. Dark Victory
3. It Happened One Night
4. Jezebel
5. The Awful Truth
   
6. Dodsworth
7. Pygmalion
8. Stage Door
9. Gold Diggers of 1933
10. Only Angels Have Wings
    
11. The Merry Widow (1934)
12. Holiday
13. Libeled Lady
14. People on Sunday
15. Love Affair
    
16. My Man Godfrey
17. San Francisco
18. A Star Is Born (1937)
19. 42nd Street
20. Shall We Dance
    
21. Platinum Blonde
22. Midnight
23. Love Me Tonight
24. Footlight Parade
25. Wuthering Heights

Honorable Mentions

• Alexander's Ragtime Band
• Make Way for Tomorrow
• Gone With the Wind
• Merrily We Go to Hell
• Waterloo Bridge (1931)
• The Prisoner of Zenda
• The Thin Man
• Wife vs. Secretary
• Captain Blood
• The 39 Steps
• One Hour With You
• Stella Dallas
• Sabotage
• The Roaring Twenties
• Imitation of Life (1934)
• Cesar
• Marius
• Fanny
• Little Women (1933)
• The Lady Vanishes
• Baby Face
• The Good Fairy
• The Smiling Lieutenant

[RiotNarita]

1 The Adventures of Robin Hood
2 Another Thin Man
3 Dodge City
4 The Roaring Twenties
5 The Invisible Man
6 The Cat and the Canary
7 Wuthering Heights
8 Beau Geste
9 Libeled Lady
10 Bride of Frankenstein
11 Midnight
12 Mutiny on the Bounty
13 Stagecoach
14 King Kong
15 Bachelor Mother
16 Mystery of the Wax Museum
17 The Scarlet Empress
18 Shanghai Express
19 Captain Blood
20 Destry Rides Again
21 The Thin Man
22 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
23 The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
24 They Won’t Forget
25 The Spy in Black
- The Lady Vanishes
- It’s Love I’m After
- The Kennel Murder Case
- Five Came Back
- Trouble for Two

[ophone]

My knowledge about films from the 1930s is severely lacking.

Nevertheless I've got a favourite one from that decade:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930: Lewis Milestone)
Much better than its recent remake.

[Whipsnade]

1. Modern Times
2. Scarface
3. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
4. Destry Rides Again
5. The Invisible Man

TBC

[principehomura]

01) Modern Times (C. Chaplin, 1936)
02) La Regle du Jeu (J. Renoir, 1939)
03) It Happened One Nigt (F. Capra, 1934)
04) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfes (D. Hand, 1937)
05) The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934)
06) The Scarlet Empress (J. von Sternberg, 1934)
07) Nothing Sacred (W. Wellman, 1937)
08) Bringing Up Baby (H. Hawks, 1938)
09) The Lady Vanishes (A. Hitchcock, 1938)
10) Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (F. Lang, 1933)
11) The Miracle Woman (F. Capra, 1931)
12) Design for Living (E. Lubitsch, 1933)
13) The Big Trail (R. Walsh, 1930)
14) Dishonored (J. von Sternberg, 1931)
15) City Lights (C. Chaplin, 1931)
16) Hands Across the Table (M. Leisen, 1935)
17) After the Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1936)
18) The Wizard of Oz (V. Fleming, 1939)
19) The Public Enemy (W. Wellman, 1931)
20) M (F. Lang, 1931)
21) No Man of Her Own ( W. Ruggles, 1932)
22) Twentieth Century (H. Hawks, 1934)
23) My Man Godfrey (G. La Cava, 1936)
24) The Princess Comes Across (W.K. Howard, 1936)
25) The Awful Truth (L. McCarey, 1937)

[SelwynMcGinty]

@Beckford, even though we don't have all that much overlap, your lists never disappoint.
Glad we agree on the delightful It's a Gift.

I had never even heard of Hot Saturday, Non Stop New York or the Mikado film adaptation, I'll be investigating those.

[merlinjones]

1) Gone With the Wind
2) The Wizard of Oz
3) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
4) It Happened One Night
5) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
6) King Kong
7) The Hunchback of Notre Dame
8) The Adventures of Robin Hood
9) Mutiny on the Bounty
10) Lost Horizon
11) Lady for a Day
12) Platinum Blonde
13) The Awful Truth
14) Miracle Woman
15) Tarzan and His Mate
16) The Bride of Frankenstein
17) Bringing Up Baby
18) Stagecoach
19) Waterloo Bridge
20) Frankenstein
21) Dracula
22) The Mummy
23) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
24) Modern Times
25) Duck Soup
A Night at the Opera

[REPULSION-65]

1. Gone with the Wind (1939)
2. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
3. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
4. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
5. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
6. It Happened One Night (1934)
7. The 39 Steps (1935)
8. Frankenstein (1931)
9. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
10. Captain Blood (1935)

11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
12. M (1931)
13. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
14. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
15. Stagecoach (1939)
16. Wuthering Heights (1939)
17. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
18. Island of Lost Souls (1932)
19. The Invisible Man (1933)
20. King Kong (1933)

21. Dracula (1931)
22. Freaks (1932)
23. Scarface (1932)
24. Vampyr (1932)
25. The Most Dangerous Game (1932)