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The 25 Best Movies of the 1930s, Ranked

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The 1920s might have been roaring , but by all accounts, the 1930s were depressing . The entire decade was largely defined by the Great Depression, which began near the end of 1929 and lasted until 1939… a year that saw little relief on a global scale, given it saw the start of World War II , which went on to define much of the 1940s. Hard times, indeed, but at least cinema was as good as ever.

Hardships were plentiful, but filmgoers found escapism and comfort in the movies of the time, which had advanced technologically since the prior decade, given the advent of sound in movies in 1927. The 1930s was also a time when color film started to get a little more widespread, even if the majority of releases remained in black-and-white. There are plenty of films from this decade that still resonate , with some of the best ranked below, starting with the great and ending with the greatest.

25 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1939)

Director: william dieterle.

Though its horror elements are somewhat downplayed, 1939’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame still has enough unsettling and bold imagery to be counted among the greatest gothic horror movies of all time . It takes place in the late 1400s, and has a story that involves a twisted Chief Justice, a hunchback who works for him, and a young woman who both men develop feelings for.

The story is more well-known among audiences today for the animated Disney version, which is good in its own right, of course, but changes various things about the original story to be more family-friendly. The 1939 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is more mature and gritty, and all in a way that still holds up while retaining a certain level of power and emotional impact , even when watched today.

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24 'Scarface' (1932)

Director: howard hawks.

Yes, 1983’s Scarface , starring a bombastic Al Pacino , is an epic crime classic, but it undeniably owes a great deal to 1932’s Scarface , which tells a very similar rise-and-fall story, and arguably codified that sort of narrative within the crime genre. Tony Camonte comes from very little, achieves a great deal of power and success in a short time, and then finds himself beginning to lose it all, due to his temper and other negative attributes.

There is a certain thrill in watching a character achieve a great deal of power so rapidly, even with the inevitability that it’s all going to be for nothing by the end. These sorts of gangster movies are morality plays , after all, and though 1932’s Scarface has understandably aged a little when compared to other crime movies, it still packs a punch and makes for a very engaging watch.

Scarface (1932)

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23 'Duck Soup' (1933)

Director: leo mccarey.

The Marx Brothers were an iconic comedic team that made plenty of classic comedies that are still beloved to this day ( Bill Hader’s a fan, for example ). They were at their peak during the 1930s, both in terms of quantity and quality of films, and when it comes to selecting their arguable masterpiece, it seems fair to single out 1933’s Duck Soup .

With a nice and short runtime of just 69 minutes, Duck Soup never slows down for a second, telling a madcap and loose story about a war between two fictional countries being started for the pettiest of reasons. Along the way, there’s plenty of wordplay, slapstick violence, and even a handful of musical numbers for good measure. It’s hard to imagine someone coming away from such a rush of a film without feeling at least a little bit entertained.

22 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938)

Directors: michael curtiz and william keighley.

Robin Hood is a legendary fictional character, and one who never seems to go out of style when it comes to film adaptations. These include Kevin Costner playing the character in 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves , Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe teaming up to make Robin Hood in 2010 , and even Sean Connery playing an aging version of the character in 1976’s Robin and Marian . There’s also, of course, the animated Disney version of the story from 1973.

However, what’s arguably the definitive Robin Hood movie came out way back in 1938, and was called The Adventures of Robin Hood . It’s a fast-paced, action-packed, and overall breezy take on the classic legend surrounding a man who takes from the rich and redistributes their wealth to the poor. Overall, the film feels incredibly well-balanced when it comes to delivering action, adventure, romance, and even some comedic relief.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

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21 'Freaks' (1932)

Director: tod browning.

Freaks was one of the most controversial films of its decade, and to this day, it’s still able to divide viewers over the question of how it handles its lead characters, called “Freaks” by the title, though they are humanized in the film itself. Perhaps the arguments more surround how far that humanization goes, and whether it sufficiently does the job of not overstepping boundaries or making monsters out of people who have various deformities.

It is ultimately something of a horror movie, though arguably more of a drama , being set in and around a circus, and focusing on how various performers are made to feel like freaks, given they get gawked at by circus attendees. Freaks does show their point of view and their struggles, with the film ultimately being about them fighting back against their label and status within the circus. It’s a sad, strange, and sometimes unsettling film, and one of the boldest and most challenging of its era for sure.

20 'The Roaring Twenties' (1939)

Director: raoul walsh.

Okay, Scarface (1932) is very good, but if you had to pick one old-school gangster movie from the 1930s to label as the very best, there’s a good argument to be made that The Roaring Twenties is most deserving. Not only do you get James Cagney at his very best in the lead role (the guy could play a gangster like no one else), but it also has Humphrey Bogart in a key supporting role, with the two combining to make this a real powerhouse film, when it comes to the acting.

And everything else is great, too, with a dramatic and well-paced story set during the titular decade, and following two friends who work together on a successful bootlegging operation during the Prohibition era. As tends to happen in these sorts of movies, things fall apart, with the second half of The Roaring Twenties feeling explosive and even tragic, making it one of the most impactful crime movies of its decade .

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19 'Les Misérables' (1934)

Director: raymond bernard.

Forget about the musical version from 2012 ; 1934’s Les Misérables is where it’s at, being one of many film adaptations of the Victor Hugo novel of the same name, and arguably the best. Running for close to five hours, this French-produced take on Les Misérables feels like a true and fitting epic , showcasing how numerous characters – each dealing with their own tragic lives – cross paths during a tumultuous time in French history.

It's something of a miracle that Les Misérables works so well, and over such a long runtime, too, given the wide-scale stuff surrounding revolution and class warfare feels appropriately grand, and the smaller, more character-focused moments are fittingly intimate and emotional . It does take a while to watch, but patient viewers will be rewarded immensely with a truly great adaptation of an epic novel.

18 'Bringing Up Baby' (1938)

Screwball comedies were all the rage back in the 1930s, likely because life during the Great Depression was a struggle for most, and films that provided non-stop laughs and cartoonish situations proved understandably cathartic. Of these very silly and entertaining movies featuring characters who could talk a mile (or two) a minute, Bringing Up Baby is undoubtedly one of the very best.

The narrative of Bringing Up Baby is largely concerned with two mismatched people who are forced into a series of chaotic misadventures together , with an unlikely romance developing… though the film’s ultimately more focused on comedy than romance. Beyond simply being very funny and packed with timeless humor, the movie also proved influential in a rather unexpected way: influencing Christopher Reeve in his iconic portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman.

Bringing Up Baby

17 'the bride of frankenstein' (1935), director: james whale.

There are numerous movies in the Frankenstein series , but the best of them might well be 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein , which can also count itself among the greatest sequels in cinema history . It picks up from where things were left off in 1931’s Frankenstein , predominantly being about Frankenstein’s monster seeking revenge against his creator, and also requesting that Dr. Frankenstein builds him a female mate.

The Bride of Frankenstein delivers when it comes to being an old-school blend of horror and science fiction, sure, but it’s also a surprisingly emotional film about wanting to be loved, feeling lonely, and the ways that passionate feelings can tear one apart . That it also does all this while adding in a subtle amount of meta humor/commentary that feels exceptionally ahead of its time only makes it more impressive and deserving of its classic status.

The Bride of Frankenstein

16 'the testament of dr. mabuse' (1933), director: fritz lang.

The legendary Fritz Lang fled Germany in the 1930s , predominantly because of Adolf Hitle r and the Nazi Party’s rise to power, but he managed to make a couple of masterpieces early in the decade before resuming his filmmaking career in Hollywood. One of these was The Testament of Dr. Mabuse , which is a sequel of sorts to 1922’s Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler , a crime epic about the cat-and-mouse game between a powerful criminal and a determined detective.

1933’s The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is arguably even better than that 1922 film, now benefiting from having sound without falling back on dialogue as a way to over-explain things; it’s still a bold film visually, and one that uses images to tell much of its story . It’s an eerie blend of crime, horror, and thriller genres, and still feels unpredictable and exciting to watch, as well as clearly being an influential work for the mystery and thriller genres as a whole.

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15 'I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang' (1932)

Director: mervyn leroy.

Movies about fugitives never really go out of style; just ask Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones , who both gave great performances in 1993’s The Fugitive , released more than 60 years after the similarly great I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang . The premise of this 1932 film is nice and simple, as the descriptive title would imply, focusing on one man’s perilous journey to survive the world after escaping from a particularly brutal form of imprisonment .

It's easy to see how I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang proved influential, because it’s all about a man being on the run for a crime he didn’t commit; the sort of premise Alfred Hitchcock explored a great many times during his career, too, many of them being of the same decade – or later – than this film. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang really holds up, and is still able to thrill and provoke thought more than 90 years on from its initial release.

14 'Stagecoach' (1939)

Director: john ford.

It might be hard to believe, but John Wayne wasn’t a huge star for many of the early years of his career, with a few lead roles, but more often supporting or even uncredited extra roles popping up in his filmography during the late 1920s and much of the 1930s. As such, Stagecoach was a particularly significant film within his body of work , as it arguably made him a true star, and in the decades following, he remained an iconic figure within the American film industry.

Stagecoach is also up there as one of John Ford’s greatest works as a director , and indeed, both Johns would work together plenty more times – tending to find great success – post- Stagecoach , too. This 1939 Western has plenty of adventure and broad drama , following a group of people making a perilous journey on the titular stagecoach. It’s an essential film, and also one where it’s easy to see its influence on the Westerns that followed in its wake.

13 'The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum' (1939)

Director: kenji mizoguchi.

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum is an early classic of Japanese cinema, telling a patiently paced and quite heavy story that plays out during the late 1800s. Narratively, it follows two people from different classes in Japanese society who fall in love, despite such a thing being taboo, and the struggles they face trying to make it in the world on their own while doing something many disapprove of.

It's one of those movies that deals with a subject that isn’t particularly relevant anymore, or at least not as plainly; it’s still resonant because divisions within society due to class still exist, and such things can still make bonds between otherwise similar human beings difficult. That’s all to say that The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum isn’t exactly a fun film, but it’s beautifully shot and very well-acted , overall feeling ahead of its time from a technical perspective for sure.

12 'Trouble in Paradise' (1932)

Director: ernst lubitsch.

Trouble in Paradise is a fast-paced and funny romance/crime movie , narratively beginning by showing how two thieves – a man and a woman – who are both partners-in-crime and ordinary partners operate. Things get complicated, however, when a particularly high-stakes job leads to the man falling in love with the woman he was supposed to be targeting for the job in question, leading to a love triangle and an overall messy situation.

It was one of numerous iconic films written and directed by Ernst Lubitsch , and up there as one of his very best, thanks to the creative way it handles a seemingly simple plot and its frequent use of humor. Trouble in Paradise also might be an ideal movie to show anyone who believes films from the 1930s can’t measure up to more modern-day comedies , because this one still feels fresh and frequently hilarious.

11 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' (1939)

Director: frank capra.

As might have become clear from aforementioned examples (and some films yet to be mentioned), 1939 was a particularly strong year in film history, both within the American film industry and for international cinema as a whole. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of many great movies released during this legendary year for cinema, and follows what happens when a genuinely kind yet naïve man gets appointed to the United States Senate.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is, unsurprisingly, a movie largely about politics, but it tackles this subject in a way that feels easy to understand as well as gently humorous, making it an effective character drama and satirical film simultaneously . Its message about standing up to corruption, even if difficult, does still ring true and has the capacity to inspire, and that the film also has a great James Stewart performance at its center certainly doesn’t hurt, either.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

10 'only angels have wings' (1939).

Only Angels Have Wings is yet another compelling 1939 release, this one being noteworthy for the way it combines a drama/adventure premise with a surprisingly effective romance-heavy story . It stars Cary Grant (in one of his best non-comedic roles ) and Jean Arthur , centering on how the former deals with suddenly being reunited with an ex-lover, while the latter’s character is a traveler who seems to be developing feelings for Grant’s character.

It's a movie that has engaging characters and a simple story that becomes compelling, largely because of the charisma of the actors and the way their characters interact. At its core, Only Angels Have Wings is admittedly simple from a narrative perspective , but it all works well and combines its various elements into something that’s supremely entertaining and very easy to watch and enjoy, even today.

Only Angels Have Wings

9 'the wizard of oz' (1939), director: victor fleming.

The Wizard of Oz is The Wizard of Oz . It’s about as iconic as movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood get, and to this day, it’s still a definitive live-action fantasy movie to which many others inevitably get compared. It takes place in the fantastical land of Oz, following Dorothy and a bunch of unlikely companions as she sets off on a quest of self-discovery, with the end goal hopefully being a return to the real world.

Not just a fantasy movie, The Wizard of Oz is also an iconic family movie (with a few admittedly creepy moments) and a musical, filled with songs you won’t be able to forget , even if you want to. It may not hold up as much as some other classics from the 1930s, but for its influence and by recognizing how impressive it would’ve seemed for its time, it’s still worth considering as an absolute classic of American cinema.

The Wizard of Oz

8 'all quiet on the western front' (1930), director: lewis milestone.

For a couple of brief decades, World War I was The Great War ; a conflict on such a scale that led to immense devastation, so much so that the likes of it seemed as though it would never be equaled or topped. Of course, World War II would prove even worse and more destructive, but effective World War I movies serve as reminders that just because said war wasn’t as huge, that doesn’t mean it was any easier for the people involved in it.

All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the best of the best when it comes to intense and gripping World War I movies, telling a powerful anti-war story about how several young soldiers have their lives ruined by participating in such a brutal conflict. It’s not as stomach-churning or visceral as later war movies, but for 1930, this version of All Quiet on the Western Front is surprisingly violent and undeniably sad , making it a deserving early winner of the Best Picture Oscar (the third film overall to win the prize).

7 'Grand Illusion' (1937)

Director: jean renoir.

As World War II loomed towards the end of the 1930s, 1937 saw the release of a classic war movie that would have to rank as one of the best to center around the First World War. That movie was Grand Illusion , and it follows prisoners from different backgrounds who are forced to work together if they want to stand a chance at escaping from their increasingly high-security prisoner-of-war camps.

Directed by famed French filmmaker Jean Renoir , Grand Illusion is a film that time has been mightily kind to, because it’s still possible for it to have the same impact on current-day audiences it likely had back in 1937. It’s a definitive “prison escape” movie and also a surprisingly thought-provoking film about class and divisions within society, retaining its relevance because of how successfully it covers an ambitious number of ideas and themes.

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6 'The Rules of the Game' (1939)

Two years on from Grand Illusion , Jean Renoir made a film that was arguably even better with 1939’s The Rules of the Game , which has some similar thematic content while feeling quite different tonally. Here, the look at class comes about due to the film taking place on a country estate over a weekend, with a sometimes funny, sometimes bleak look at the differences in lifestyles between the wealthy spending leisure time there and their servants required to keep it all running.

The Rules of the Game has held up incredibly well over the years, and is also notable for being a personal favorite of writer/director Paul Schrader . Plenty of the observations about social inequality remain regrettably relevant to this date, and it’s even possible to see The Rules of the Game’s influence on more modern dramedies/social satires with similar thematic content, like Parasite and Knives Out .

• Wizard of Oz

25 Best Films of the 1930s, According to Leonard Maltin

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The film industry experienced a period of unprecedented growth in the 1930s, despite the economic downturn of the Great Depression. Movies became an inexpensive entertainment option (admission was 25 cents, less than $5 today), and an easy escape for a public weary of the strains of everyday life. The decade also saw the release of films now considered among the greatest movies of all time , and their popularity brought in audiences in droves. According to a 2002 study by The University of Dayton , an astounding 80 million people in the United States went to the movies every week in 1930, approximately 65% of the nation's population.

America's obsession with the movies was spurred by the advent of talking pictures, led by the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927. By 1930, dozens of "talkies" were being released each year, and the quality of those films were raised by some now-legendary filmmakers. Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin has named the 25 best films of the 1930s, including both domestic and foreign films. It's part of his larger list of 100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century , and the 25 masterpieces are listed below, in alphabetical order.

The 39 Steps (1935)

The 39 Steps features a favorite subject for director Alfred Hitchcock: a common man caught up in international espionage. It's a theme Hitchcock would revisit several times, including The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest , and the aptly titled film, The Wrong Man. Arguably the first time Hitchcock perfected the formula was with The 39 Steps .

Here, Robert Donat ( Goodbye, Mr. Chips ) plays a man who goes on the run after a secret agent is murdered in his apartment. Along the way, he gets handcuffed to an innocent witness (Madeleine Carroll), heightening the suspense and comedy. This fast-paced, clever, and witty film hinted at the stylized classics that were to come from Hitchcock.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Errol Flynn was never better as jolly old England's swashbuckling rogue, and The Adventures of Robin Hood is still the definitive cinematic take on the character. Olivia de Havilland is a perfect Maid Marion, a year before her Oscar-nominated role of Melanie in Gone With the Wind . Nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture (it lost to You Can't Take it with You ), the film won three, including Best Original Score.

Related: Best Classic Comedies of the 1930s

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

A surprisingly profound and emotional film , director Lewis Milestone's adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque novel, All Quiet on the Western Front , follows a young German boy (Lew Ayers) who gets caught up in the nation's frenzy for war. He joins the army, but his dreams of being a war hero are shattered with the bloody realities of battle. Ayers' performance is memorable, highlighted with a speech near the end of the film, in which he chastises students at his alma mater who are eager to follow his path into military service. The film won Best Picture and Best Director for Milestone.

Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Bride of Frankenstein is the rare sequel that surpasses the original , which is really saying something, considering how great of a film Frankenstein is. Bride , however, expands on the first film in all the right ways. The Monster has an actual character arc, the "horror" aspects are explored in different ways, and Elsa Lanchester is introduced as an intriguing new character under James Whale's direction. Over the years, there has been talk of remakes of Bride of Frankenstein with various A-list actress, but a new take would not only feel redundant, it would be offensive.

City Lights (1931)

Although most films had already switched to "talkies" in 1931, Chaplin's City Lights defied the movement, and it's a better film for it. Chaplin's "Little Tramp" saves a drunk millionaire from committing suicide, who then pledges to be his best friend. The problem is, the millionaire doesn't recognize him when he's sober, leading to some hilarious sequences.

It complicates the Tramp's pursuit of a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill), and the story is much more touching without dialogue. The film's final scene is beautifully acted, and will either elicit a smile or a tear, but hopefully both.

Dodsworth (1936)

The 1930s usually handled troubled marriages and divorces as comedic plot devices, but William Wyler's Dodsworth is a rare exception. This dramatic tale about a couple (Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton) navigating the end of their marriage relies less on melodrama and more on frank, insightful dialogue and great acting. Nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Huston), the film only won one, for Best Art Direction.

Dracula (1931)

Bela Lugosi is absolutely chilling as the Count in Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula , and the legendary actor seems to relish every line he delivers in this classic. Dwight Frye's Renfield is every bit as good in a film that holds up despite the lack of graphic content. There have been plenty of remakes which have introduced nearly countless variations on the vampire theme, with some great actors in the role, but Lugosi's unparalleled performance as Dracula still remains the best to date.

Duck Soup (1933)

Groucho Marx plays the unhinged prime minister of a fictional country in Duck Soup , a riotous mockery of both politics and war. Easily the best of all the Marx Brothers films , the jokes come at machine-gun speed, with puns and physical gags aplenty. The film is best known for its "mirror" gag featuring Harpo, which he famously recreated for a classic episode of I Love Lucy 20 years later.

Frankenstein (1931)

James Whale's horror classic, based on the Mary Shelley novel , stars Colin Clive as the doomed Dr. Frankenstein, obsessed with his quest to regenerate life. Boris Karloff is both terrifying and empathetic as The Monster. As good as Frankenstein is, its sequel is arguably a better film overall, and Mel Brooks' spoof Young Frankenstein has forever ruined some of the film's most dramatic moments.

Gone with the Wind (1939)

The king of cinematic epics, Gone with the Wind is still an impressive viewing experience, with some iconic performances and a grand adaptation of the Margaret Mitchell novel. Vivien Leigh won an Oscar for Best Actress as the feisty Scarlett O'Hara, and the film won Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. It's a film that demands to be seen in theaters , thanks to the Oscar-winning cinematography.

The Grand Illusion (1937)

An Oscar nominee for Best Picture, The Grand Illusion is a French-language film set during World War I stars Jean Gabin as French Captain de Boeldieuh, who is captured and held in a prison camp by German commandant von Rauffenstein, played by Erich von Stroheim. The two are from the upper class in their two countries, and find more in common with each other than with their own, lower-class countrymen, even as the French plan an escape. It's a fascinating film about our common humanity from director and co-writer Jean Renoir.

It Happened One Night (1934)

If you're only familiar with Clark Gable from Gone with the Wind , sit down and watch It Happened One Night as soon as you can (it's usually available on streaming). Gable plays a very different character than Rhett Butler, and is arguably more magnetic and interesting.

Here, he plays a hard-drinking reporter who discovers that a woman traveling incognito on a bus is actually an heiress (Claudette Colbert) on the run from her father. He follows along, looking for a story, but the two fall in love. This classic screwball comedy from Frank Capra was the first film to win the five major Oscars : Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Riskin).

It's a Gift (1934)

By the mid-1930s, most Americans were hoping for a better life, and comedy legend W.C. Fields tapped into that attitude — and found laughs — in It's a Gift , one of his best films. Fields plays the sarcastic owner of a small, struggling grocery store, and uses his inheritance money to buy an orange farm in California, sight unseen. The family travels cross-country, only to find the farm isn't all it turned out to be.

King Kong (1933)

Nearly a century after its release, King Kong still reigns. The big monkey from Skull Island is still the best monster to ever emerge from Hollywood, thanks in large part to the work of special effects pioneer Willis O'Brien and the film's breakneck pace from director Merian C. Cooper. The angelic Fay Wray deserves a lot of credit for being the beauty to the beast, and even though you see O'Brien's fingerprints in the fur due to the stop-motion animation, Kong still has a soul. It's proof that movies rally are magic.

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

One of two Alfred Hitchcock films on Maltin's list, The Lady Vanishes is a highly-entertaining mystery surrounding the disappearance of an old woman while on board a moving train. A musician (Michael Redgrave) and a woman traveling to her wedding (Margaret Lockwood) team up to solve the mystery, with a surprising twist.

Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne play a couple of scene-stealing cricket fans trying to avoid getting involved in the mystery, so they don't miss a match they're traveling to. While so many later Hitchcock films are considered essential viewing , The Lady Vanishes is an often-forgotten film that deserves more recognition.

Fritz Lang's superbly atmospheric thriller M , about a manhunt for a child killer, features a creepy, first-rate performance from Peter Lorre ( The Maltese Falcon , 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ). M is surprisingly dark for its time, and Lang crafts an emotionally complex tale of authorities unable to sole the crime and the German underworld criminals who take the matter into their own hands. There's an unexpected ending to this incredible film from the Metropolis director, and still a powerful viewing experience nearly a century after its release.

Modern Times (1936)

Modern Times is Chaplin's satire of work in the industrial age, framed within a love story with real-life wife Paulette Goddard. Several fantastic set pieces highlight the film, particularly the factory scenes and the department store sequence. It's the filmmaker's final silent film, which he wrote and directed himself, and ranks among Chaplin's finest films ever , although some consider it his best.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Frank Capra was one of the defining directors of Hollywood's golden age, and yet, one of his best pictures is largely forgotten by modern film fans. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town stars Gary Cooper as an average guy who inherits $20 million, and decides to give it away to those in need. Jean Arthur is fantastic as a reporter who uses some deception to figure out Deeds' motives. The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, but it won only one: Best Director for Capra.

A Night at the Opera (1935)

The Marx Brothers elevate mayhem to an art form in A Night at the Opera , a constantly hilarious comedy that ranks among the best of the comedians' careers. The brothers crash an opera performance, much to the chagrin of the high society attendees. The mockery of the upper class features some classic bits, most notably the hilarious "contract clauses" scene.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Walt Disney's first animated feature film is still his greatest. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is an absolutely beautiful adaptation of the Grimm fairy tale, and a landmark in Hollywood history. The hallmarks of the Disney signature style are all there, with the dwarfs as cartoonish caricatures, animal companions, a truly scary villain , and of course, timeless music. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score, it didn't win, although it was given an honorary award for "significant screen innovation," with one large award and seven small statuettes given to Disney.

Sons of the Desert (1933)

In Sons of the Desert , legendary comedy duo Laurel and Hardy play two henpecked husbands who scheme to go to their lodge's convention after their wives forbid it. Of course, their plan backfires spectacularly, leading to some great physical gags as they try to cover up their lies.

Related: 10 Biggest Box Office Hits of the 1930s, Ranked

Laurel and Hardy are hardly well-known to young movie fans today, but thanks to streaming, a number of their films are available for discovery. In addition, a colorized version of Sons of the Desert is available to watch on YouTube for free.

Stagecoach (1939)

The film that made John Wayne a movie star, Stagecoach marked the first time that Wayne worked with legenday director John Ford . Wayne plays The Ringo Kid, an outlaw who helps lead a stagecoach through Apache country while they are on the warpath. Noted character actor Thomas Mitchell ( Gone With The Wind , It's a Wonderful Life ) won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, playing a doctor with a drinking problem who finds redemption along the perilous stagecoach journey. It also won Best Original Score out of seven nominations overall, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Swing Time (1936)

The sixth film pairing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers is arguably their best film together. In Swing Time , Fred plays "Lucky" Garnett, a dancer who travels to New York City to make enough money to marry his fiancé (Betty Furness), only to fall in love with his new dancing partner Penny Carroll (Ginger Rogers). The George Stevens ( Giant, Shane ) film is punctuated with some fantastic song and dance numbers, most notably "The Way You Look Tonight," which won an Oscar for Best Original Song.

The film's only blight is a sequence in which Astaire tap dances in blackface. Although the use of blackface in musicals was common at the time, Astaire only did it this once, reportedly in tribute to Bill "Mr. Bojangles" Robinson, a tap dancer he respected. The "tribute" has aged badly, but the context of his motivations is worth noting here.

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Trouble in Paradise is yet another witty romantic comedy from the kind of golden age rom-coms, director Ernst Lubitsch ( The Shop Around the Corner ). This early film features Herbert Marshall as a thief who partners with a pickpocket (Miriam Hopkins) to rip off the beautiful owner of a perfume company (Kay Francis). Although the two criminals are in love, their plot gets complicated when the thief falls in love with his target.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

A fantasy film without equal, The Wizard of Oz is perfection on every level. Judy Garland's portrayal of Dorothy Gale is iconic even beyond her memorable songs, even if she is technically too old for the role. Margaret Hamilton and Ray Bolger lead the supporting cast, and director Victor Fleming keeps the film's suspension of disbelief intact to such a degree, the flying monkeys are still terrifying under all these years.

`It's amazing to think that the Oscar-winning song "Over The Rainbow" was very nearly cut from the film. The Wizard of Oz also won an Oscar for Best Original Score, and Garland was awarded a special miniature Oscar for her performance.

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15 Best Films Of The 1930s

Just a few short years after the introduction of sound, 1930s cinema would explode with possibilities. Filmmakers creatively experimented with not just musicals, introducing song and dance to the big screen, but screwball comedies, which featured fast-paced, witty dialogue that title cards in silent film never would have been able to keep up with. As Hollywood experienced an early golden age, the world was plunged into an economic depression, which the movies would respond to with both social issue films as well as glittery escapism. Indeed, the films of this decade seem to fall largely into those categories: Movies that were made to shine a light on the problems that their audiences faced and those made to distract them. 

From horror to comedy, romance to war, the 1930s saw Hollywood diversifying and churning out films that catered to fans of different genres. With the studios operating like well-oiled machines (often at the cost of their stars' happiness and well-being), their biggest obstacle was making sure nothing they made would run afoul of the newly implemented Hays Production Code , which dictated what films could and could not show. A decade of contrasts, the turbulent 1930s produced some of the most interesting and creative films of the 20th century.

Fritz Lang's "M" remains one of the darkest cinematic entries of the 1930s, with Peter Lorre playing a child murderer who spends the entire film attempting to evade justice for his crimes. "M" creeps along the seedy underbelly of Berlin (both Lang and Lorre would eventually go on to have successful careers in Hollywood, but in 1931 were still working within Germany), so deeply disturbing that it almost feels like a precursor to the criminal antics of film noir a decade or so later. 

Lang cultivates an atmosphere that is foreboding and distasteful, and it's shocking to realize that he doesn't include violent content at all, relying on the gruesome imaginations of audiences to fill in the blanks. Graham Greene described Peter Lorre's expressive face in the film, saying that his "marbly pupils in the pasty spherical face are like eye-pieces of a microscope through which you can see laid flat on the slide the entangled mind of a man: love and lust, nobility and perversity, hatred of itself and despair jumping out at you from the jelly."

Death Takes a Holiday

Do you remember the Brad Pitt movie "Meet Joe Black," in which he stars as Death himself, who decides to explore the world for a little while in a human body? It's actually a remake of "Death Takes a Holiday," a 1934 film starring Fredric March, who takes a break from escorting souls to their eternal rest to learn a bit about this whole humanity business. He poses as a foreign prince and, having been human for all of five minutes, he promptly falls in love with a beautiful young woman. 

Now that he has someone he cares about and by extension, something to lose, he understands a bit more why he and his veil of death are so feared. "Death Takes a Holiday" was a financial success for Paramount, and its philosophical musings seemed to have struck a chord with audiences — the studio reportedly received thousands of letters from fans who claimed that the film's depiction of death helped them come to terms with their own mortality.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Animation existed well before Walt Disney started putting together storyboards with adorable, cheery animals, but "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" would prove that animated films could serve as more than just brief entertainment to be doled out before the main feature. In the right hands, these movies could be as artistically inspired and (perhaps more importantly, to studios) financially viable as their live-action counterparts. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a classic fairy tale about a beautiful princess who is cast out by her jealous stepmother and finds a home in the woods with a troupe of eccentric miners. 

The animation is delicate and incredibly detailed, giving the film an old-world atmosphere, and each of the dwarfs has such a distinct personality and unique relationship with Snow White that nearly 100 years later, we still know each of their names. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was the first feature-length success for Walt Disney. It earned him an honorary Academy Award (which, charmingly, featured one full-sized Oscar and seven miniatures) and to this day, it holds the record for the highest-grossing animated film (adjusted for inflation and accounting for several re-releases, that is).

City Lights

By the time "City Lights" came out in 1931, Charlie Chaplin had been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood for over a decade, having transitioned from comedy shorts into feature-length films that he directed. "City Lights" is one of his better films and undeniably his most romantic. He takes the character of the Tramp and casts him as an unlikely romantic lead, falling in love with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) who mistakes him for a millionaire. 

Their relationship is allowed to blossom unhindered until she is given the chance to have an operation that will restore her sight and reveal his deception once and for all. Despite the raggedy outfit and ill-fitting shoes, Chaplin's Tramp usually seems comfortable in his skin, but in "City Lights," he is shaken by the knowledge that he isn't good enough for the woman he loves. It's this emotional note that makes the performance so emotionally affecting.

"Scarface: The Shame of a Nation" stands at a crossroads in film history. It marks the transition between the pre-Code era and the censorship of the Hays Production Code better than any other movie. It stars Paul Muni as a Chicago gangster (loosely based on Al Capone) who climbs the ladder of a criminal bootlegging syndicate until he essentially runs the South Side. But he's ambitious, perhaps too much so, because the temptation to pick a fight with the North Side gangs is too powerful to resist. 

His crimes catch up with him (as they must do, according to the Hays Code ), leading to a standoff with the police that will inevitably end badly for him. Muni's performance as Tony would define the gangster genre, creating an almost animalistic figure whose presence is equal parts magnetic and ominous. The cynical depiction of the American Dream (the film ends on a twinkling billboard proclaiming that "The World Is Yours") in "Scarface" is a reflection of a 1930s cultural landscape that had lost its sense of optimism.

A film that feels somehow incredibly ahead of its time, "Ninotchka" is a clash of juxtapositions — capitalism and communism, utilitarianism and decadence, femininity and masculinity — cheekily bound together in a way that only director Ernst Lubitsch could pull off. Greta Garbo stars as Ninotchka, a stern-faced Soviet who travels to Paris to conduct a study on Western engineering. However, it isn't long before her strong communist ideals are shaken by both the relentless temptations of capitalist opulence and the appeal of a certain charming French count (Melvyn Douglas). 

The film portrays a gently satirical interpretation of Soviet Russia that still manages to capture an atmosphere of paranoia and intrigue in which neighbors turn in neighbors to the secret police. Garbo is at her best here, bringing humor and poignancy to Ninotchka's internal struggle with two incredibly distinct cultures. Despite any offense it may have caused Stalin and his cronies (it was, unsurprisingly, immediately banned in the U.S.S.R. and its satellites ), it was a tremendous critical success and was nominated for four Academy Awards  in 1940.

The Wizard of Oz

It would simply be impossible not to include "The Wizard of Oz." It's not just one of the most important films of the 1930s. It's one of the most important films of all time. With so many iconic moments — the dramatic transition from dull sepia to full Technicolor, Judy Garland's melancholy rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," the harrowing flight of the Wicked Witch of the West's troupe of monkeys — "The Wizard of Oz" has embedded itself into the cultural landscape in a way that few movies have. 

Garland plays Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas who is swept away to the land of Oz in a tornado and must confront the Wicked Witch of the West to find her way back home. The charm of Garland's performance made her a Hollywood star, and she grounds the film in a plaintive, earnest reality whenever it starts to feel overwhelmed by its more fantastical elements. Visually imaginative and brimming with vivid color, "The Wizard of Oz" evokes a sense of magic in its world of make-believe.

In 1938, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant teamed up on two screwball comedies that went on to define the genre. The first was "Bringing Up Baby," which is arguably the more famous of the two, and the second is "Holiday," which is underrated but delightful in its own way. Grant stars as a self-made man who has worked his entire life and is determined to retire while he's still young and can enjoy himself. 

So what's the problem? His fiancee, Julia, to whom he has rather impulsively proposed after meeting her on vacation, expects him to take on a respectable position at her wealthy father's company. After meeting her family, it becomes clear that the woman with whom he has the most chemistry is not Julia but her sister Linda (Hepburn), the black sheep. They are a delight together and have such a joyful camaraderie on screen that it's easy to see why they would become one of the most memorable pairings of the 1930s.

It Happened One Night

"It Happened One Night" is remembered most distinctly for two things, both of which highlight the tightrope of sexuality that films from this period were forced to walk. The first is Claudette Colbert, as Ellie, famously lifting up her skirt to expose her leg in an effort to attract a ride as she and Peter (Clark Gable) hitchhike — a move that was so scandalous that Colbert used a stunt double (until she realized that her legs were sexier than the double's, and she agreed to do the scene). 

The second is the iconic "Wall of Jericho," a sheet hung between Ellie and Peter to divide the room that they share, preserving some modicum of respectability and making it clear to audiences that there was no funny business going on between the characters. This veneer of propriety made their chemistry all the more electric, and Gable's shirtless scenes had such an impact on viewers that it was believed that he  tanked the undershirt industry overnight . "It Happened One Night" was also a massive critical success, winning the big five Academy Awards : best picture, best actor, best actress, best director, and best writing.

When Tod Browning turned in his cut of "Freaks," a disturbing morality tale set against a backdrop of a carnival freak show, MGM didn't know what to make of it. The film stars a cast of real-life carnival show workers and tells the story of a trapeze artist who schemes to marry Hans (Harry Earles), a wealthy little person in the show, but when the community of "freaks" learn of her plans to steal from and humiliate him, they take their revenge on her — with grotesque consequences. 

When the film was released, it horrified audiences, even after Browning allegedly cut an alternate editing that was even more gruesome than what eventually made it into the final version. Art director Merrill Pye said of a test screening, "Halfway through the preview, a lot of people got up and ran out. They didn't walk out. They ran out." Despite this, "Freaks" has since gone on to develop a reputation as one of the most interesting films of the 1930s thanks to a surprisingly empathetic portrayal of its "freak" characters that showcases their strong sense of loyalty to their community and their ability to adapt to their disabilities and lead largely independent lives.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

With the advent of sound and more sophisticated film techniques, 1930s Hollywood was suddenly awash with huge, splashy adventure films. And each of these needed a handsome, outrageously charismatic leading man, preferably one who knew his way around a sword. Enter Errol Flynn, one of the most iconic swashbucklers of the 1930s. Here, he plays the legendary Robin Hood, freshly returned from the Crusades and eager to right the wrongs of the evil Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone — who else?) and King John, who have launched a campaign of heavy taxation. 

With exciting, imaginative fight sequences and a tremendous amount of chemistry between Flynn and his co-star Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marion, this is perhaps the definitive version of the Robin Hood story. It was a significant success upon release, winning three Academy Awards for best art direction, best film editing, and best original score.

The 39 Steps

You've probably had a few bad days in your time, but we're willing to bet that you've never accidentally found yourself embroiled in an espionage plot, forced to flee London to evade both the police and foreign spies who want to kill you for the information you now have. Alas, that's the fate of Richard (Robert Donat) in "The 39 Steps." When a female spy is killed in his apartment, he is tasked with finishing her mission — all while being implicated in her murder. 

Not only is "The 39 Steps" one of Alfred Hitchcock's most effective thrillers (and that's saying something), but it also has a special place in the history of romantic cinema. To the best of our knowledge, it's one of the first on-screen examples of the trope in which an initially hostile couple is handcuffed to each other and forced to work together until they inevitably fall in love. Fast-paced, clever, and packed with twists and turns, "The 39 Steps" is a true gem of the era.

All Quiet on the Western Front

"War is hell," is a sentiment that we've all become acquainted with over the past century or so, but at the time of World War I when battles were supposed to be glorious, it was still something of a novel thing to say. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is based on a German anti-war novel by Erich Maria Remarque released in the 1920s. It follows the experiences of a group of German teenagers as they are sent to the front. Initially, they're full of patriotic zeal but quickly learn of the horrors of the trenches. 

The scope of "All Quiet on the Western Front" is incredibly impressive. It is visually expansive while still managing to remain intimately focused on the lives of the young soldiers. Their growing disillusionment is heartbreaking to watch, especially when the characters return home on leave and have to witness the ignorant saber-rattling of the older generations. It would, perhaps inevitably, go on to be banned in Nazi Germany  for its perceived anti-German message.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Starring Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is one of the most interesting pre-Code horror films of the 1930s. March stars as the titular scientist, obsessed with the idea of splitting man into the two opposite sides of his nature: the good and the evil. One night, he drinks a potion that separates the two aspects of his personality. Dr. Jekyll remains the pure-of-heart, sexually repressed gentleman he's always been, and Mr. Hyde, a bestial, lascivious creature, roams the night in search of pleasures to soothe his id. 

The film serves as a commentary on the duality of man and makes the argument that suppressing the darker impulses of his nature only serves to make them that much more powerful. However, the most impressive component of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" lies in its groundbreaking special effects. There's an incredible sequence in which Jekyll drinks the potion and, with the use of specific lighting and carefully applied makeup, his face morphs on-screen into that of Hyde. March would win an Academy Award for his performance in the film, making it the earliest horror movie to receive awards attention.

Design for Living

Polyamory seems like a thoroughly modern invention, a trend only possible in the socially liberated present when relationships outside the traditional heterosexual, monogamous marriage are embraced. At least, it would seem that way if you hadn't seen "Design for Living," a pre-Code gem that, in its depiction of a romantic threesome, feels very much ahead of its time. Gary Cooper and Fredric March star as George and Tom, a pair of American artists (one a painter, the other a playwright) living in Paris when they meet the beautiful Gilda (Miriam Hopkins) and quickly fall in love with her. 

The only issue? She isn't interested in deciding which of them she likes best. Despite their best efforts to woo her, she seems to be most in love with whichever one happens to be around her at that given time. So rather than risk losing her or their friendship, they finally embrace the idea of one big, happy romance between the three of them. As radical as the film seems, it was toned down from the original play by Noel Coward, which more explicitly explored the romantic attraction between George and Tom.

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The Best Movies of the 1930s

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City Lights https://www.flickchart.com/movie/CA103CCA4C 1931 , 87 min.

Charles Chaplin   •    Starring: Charles Chaplin ,  Virginia Cherrill ,  Florence Lee

Comedy Drama    •    Comedy    •    Drama

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M https://www.flickchart.com/movie/8678F7CC4C 1931 , 99 min.

Fritz Lang   •    Starring: Peter Lorre ,  Ellen Widmann ,  Inge Landgut

Crime Thriller    •    Crime    •    Foreign Language Film

It Happened One Night https://www.flickchart.com/movie/A67A0AEA7F 1934 , 105 min.

Frank Capra   •    Starring: Clark Gable ,  Claudette Colbert ,  Walter Connolly

Comedy    •    Newspaper Film    •    Pre-Code Hollywood

Modern Times https://www.flickchart.com/movie/96DB0B3E2D 1936 , 87 min.

Charles Chaplin   •    Starring: Charles Chaplin ,  Henry Bergman ,  Chester Conklin

Comedy    •    Satire    •    Silent Film

Grand Illusion https://www.flickchart.com/movie/06CB4F7D4C 1937 , 114 min.

Jean Renoir   •    Starring: Jean Gabin ,  Dita Parlo ,  Pierre Fresnay

Anti-War Film    •    Drama    •    Escape Film

The Rules of the Game https://www.flickchart.com/movie/D762BD412C 1939 , 110 min.

Jean Renoir   •    Starring: Nora Gregor ,  Paulette Dubost ,  Mila Parely

Comedy Drama    •    Drama    •    Ensemble Film

The Thin Man https://www.flickchart.com/movie/BD771A80F4 1934 , 91 min.

W.S. Van Dyke   •    Starring: William Powell ,  Nat Pendleton ,  Minna Gombell

Based-on-20th-Century-Literature    •    Comedy Thriller    •    Comedy

Bringing Up Baby https://www.flickchart.com/movie/4E00EBD4B0 1938 , 102 min.

Howard Hawks   •    Starring: Katharine Hepburn ,  Cary Grant ,  Charles Ruggles

Comedy    •    Romance    •    Romantic Comedy

The Wizard of Oz https://www.flickchart.com/movie/0830295BAC 1939 , 101 min.

Victor Fleming   •    Starring: Judy Garland ,  Frank Morgan ,  Ray Bolger

Adventure    •    Based-on-19th-Century-Literature    •    Based-on-Theatre

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington https://www.flickchart.com/movie/95B5E7C43F 1939 , 129 min.

Frank Capra   •    Starring: James Stewart ,  Jean Arthur ,  Claude Rains

Americana    •    Comedy Drama    •    Drama

Duck Soup https://www.flickchart.com/movie/B10788C9F9 1933 , 68 min.

Leo McCarey   •    Starring: Harpo Marx ,  Groucho Marx ,  Chico Marx

Absurd Comedy    •    Comedy    •    Farce

The Lady Vanishes https://www.flickchart.com/movie/32A021BCAD 1938 , 97 min.

Alfred Hitchcock   •    Starring: Margaret Lockwood ,  Michael Redgrave ,  Paul Lukas

Bride of Frankenstein https://www.flickchart.com/movie/5C88310710 1935 , 75 min.

James Whale   •    Starring: Boris Karloff ,  Elsa Lanchester ,  Colin Clive

Based-on-19th-Century-Literature    •    Gothic Film    •    Horror

My Man Godfrey https://www.flickchart.com/movie/12D880A2E7 1936 , 94 min.

Gregory La Cava   •    Starring: William Powell ,  Carole Lombard ,  Alice Brady

Comedy of Manners    •    Comedy    •    Romance

Stagecoach https://www.flickchart.com/movie/9A51AC2B06 1939 , 96 min.

John Ford   •    Starring: John Wayne ,  Claire Trevor ,  Thomas Mitchell

Action    •    Adventure Drama    •    Adventure

A Night at the Opera https://www.flickchart.com/movie/6AD7457263 1935 , 91 min.

Sam Wood   •    Starring: Groucho Marx ,  Chico Marx ,  Harpo Marx

The 39 Steps https://www.flickchart.com/movie/E313FB9BE2 1935 , 86 min.

Alfred Hitchcock   •    Starring: Robert Donat ,  Madeleine Carroll ,  Lucie Mannheim

Based-on-20th-Century-Literature    •    Chase Movie    •    Escape Film

Frankenstein https://www.flickchart.com/movie/7F7F6FBD21 1931 , 71 min.

James Whale   •    Starring: Colin Clive ,  Mae Clarke ,  John Boles

The Adventures of Robin Hood https://www.flickchart.com/movie/A4837DA794 1938 , 102 min.

Michael Curtiz, William Keighley   •    Starring: Errol Flynn ,  Basil Rathbone ,  Olivia de Havilland

Adventure    •    Costume Adventure    •    Fairy Tales and Legends

Top Hat https://www.flickchart.com/movie/C0674B68B8 1935 , 101 min.

Mark Sandrich   •    Starring: Fred Astaire ,  Ginger Rogers ,  Edward Everett Horton

Comedy    •    Musical Comedy    •    Musical Romance

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The 30 best movies of the 1930s, revisiting the decade that began transforming film.

I love the 1930s decade in film—it's an era that was perfectly imperfect. By the time the year 1930 rolled around, film as an entertainment medium had mostly advanced past the silent film era, and progressed into what was known as "talkies"—aka films where you could actually here the actors speak. While not quite the 1940s from a technical standpoint, the 1930s was the decade that saw the emergence of actors like Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant transforming into huge stars. It also set the foundation for remakes that would end up transforming popular culture decades later ( Scarface for example), and the latter half of the decade gave us classics like The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939). Today we're going to be taking an in-depth dive into the best movies of the 1930s.

If you're a history nerd like me, you'll especially find this list interesting because you'll be able to see the connections and references between these films and more "modern-day" movies if you will. If you are just beginning to dive into the decade film-wise, hopefully we've given you some good suggestions to start you off with that you'll enjoy.

RELATED: The 30 Best Movies of the 1920s for Old Hollywood Fans

1. It Happened One Night (1934)

• Directed by: Frank Capra
• Watch it if you like: Laws of Attraction

Starring Clark Gable as a no-nonsense new reporter and Claudette Colbert as a heiress who typically always gets her way, this Frank Capra directed flick is something of a romantic screwball comedy that is both hilarious and slightly edgy (for the 1930s at least). It's a typical guy ends up for falling for a girl he really has no business falling for type of flick, but there's an element to this film that's quite endearing. After all, it was the first ever movie to win all five the big Academy Awards categories. That's precisely why you should give it a watch.

2. King Kong (1933)

• Directed by: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
• Watch it if you like: The newer versions of King Kong

If you are a lover of King Kong , you might be fascinated to learn that the origins of the film actually date back to 1933. You may be even more fascinated should you choose to give the 1933 version a watch. Sure it lacks the technological advancements of the more modern versions, but that's exactly what makes it so great—you can see the early versions of filmmakers and editors playing around with the concepts that would be introduced decades later. The film stars Robert Armstrong and Ann Darrow as a director and actress who take a trip to the Indian Ocean to shoot a movie. Along the way, Ann gets kidnapped by natives who prepare her as a sacrifice for...you guessed it...Kong.

3. Suicide Squad (1935)

• Directed by: Raymond K. Johnson
• Watch it if you like: Land of the Blind

While we would like to tell you that 1935's Suicide Squad is a precursor to the supervillain/anti-hero film series and comics, there's actually no connection whatsoever. That said, the plot line is one that's still very much interesting as it's about a firefighter (Norman Foster) whose heads gets filled with arrogance after commanding a lot of attention for his stunts. In that way he could possibly compare to Tony Stark aka Iron-Man , but that's a bit of reach. Suicide Squad doesn't need a superhero comparison as it holds its own weight, and we consider it to be a very good film.

4. The Mandarin Mystery (1936)

• Directed by: Ralph Staub
• Watch it if you like: L.A. Confidential

Pro tip: Trying watching an Old Hollywood mystery at night (even better if it's raining). It's a total vibe that will actually relax even though it's a mystery. There's something really great about detective movies from this era—they aren't the most dynamic from a film/technical standpoint, but the storytelling and acting is elite, and I actually think more current filmmakers should be pulling from these early movies as they mastered the concept of simplicity. The Mandarin Mystery is about two murders that somehow end up involving a $50,000 Chinese Mandarin stamp that's represents the motive. Simple and interesting.

5. Big Business Girl (1931)

• Directed by: William A. Seiter
• Watch it if you like: The Devil Wears Prada

1930s New York movies are always a fun watch. Big Business Girl stars Loretta Young as a the lonely wife of jazz band leader who's working for a rather grouchy boss at an ad agency. Determined to make a name for herself, the young woman has to learn the ins and outs of mastering the chaotic world that is New York City. Fun Fact: Big Business Girl is an American pre-Code First National sound comedy film, meaning it paved the way for future comedies.

6. A Night at the Opera (1935)

• Directed by: Sam Wood
• Watch it if you like: The Phantom of the Opera

If you like operas/musicals, then you'll enjoy A Night at the Opera , which features a star cast that includes the names of Groucho Marx, Allan Jones, Kitty Carlisle, Chico and Harpo Marx, and more. A Night at the Opera has an enjoyable storyline that only the 1930s could produce, tunes that will get stuck in your head, and a leap of talent. Again, something to watch if you enjoy great music and musicals.

7. The Girl from Chicago (1932)

• Directed by: Oscar Micheaux
• Watch it if you like: When the Bough Breaks

At some point we'll be doing a deep dive into The Girl from Chicago because it's one of the earliest movies that feature an all-Black cast. It's not the first (that goes to a film called The Homesteader which was also directed by Micheaux), but it's still a pivotal one as it explored the concept of mystery/crime, with a secret service agent taking on the role of investigating the murder of a numbers runner in New York. This was an independent film on a lower than low budget filmed in an era that hadn't progressed yet from technological standpoint (even compared to the late 1930s), so the quality won't be the best you've ever seen, but this movie is a piece of history.

8. Tarzan Escapes (1936)

• Directed by: Richard Thorpe, John Farrow, George B. Seitz, William A. Wellman
• Watch it if you like: Tarzan

It's Tarzan and Jane, but the 1936 version. Tarzan Escapes keeps it close to the story we're familiar with—Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) falls for Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller), and wants to live life with him out in the wilderness. Her family absolutely does not approve and wants her home. Not only that, but they also want Tarzan put away into captivity. Once again, another film where it's fascinating to see an "early version" so to speak.

9. Swing Time (1936)

• Directed by: George Stevens
• Watch it if you like: Saturday Night Fever

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made a total of ten films together, and 1936's Swing Time is their sixth. In it, Astaire stars as a dancer and gambler extraordinaire named Lucky Garnett who gets cold feet ahead the wedding to his fiancee (Betty Furness), which leads to the event being called off. Lucky begs for a second chance, which her father grants on the condition that he can randomly come up with $25,000. He heads to New York to do so, but instead ends of meeting a pretty dance teacher (Rogers) that kind of makes him not want to marry his fiancee anymore. Guess it wasn't meant to be.

10. A Shriek in the Night (1933)

• Directed by: Al Ray
• Watch it if you like: M3GAN

The 1930s were the decade where the mystery genre really began being played around with by directors and actors, and A Shriek in the Night is an example of that. Don't let the negative ratings fool you—unless the review was one actually done during the time period it was released (there were certain films that newspaper journalists got assigned to and would cover within their respective columns), I don't think there's a way you can judge a film that was released decades ago in a completely fair manner without expecting more based on modern films you've seen. A Shriek in the Night is about two rival reporters (Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot) who fall for each other while investigating a serial killer. That's not a film concept you see very often, which makes it interesting and worth the watch in my opinion.

11. Hopalong Cassidy (1935)

• Directed by: Howard Bretherton
• Watch it if you like: The Old Way

I must admit that my favorite era of western films is the 1960s/1970s because I think everything lined up perfectly as far as the actors, fashion, and music. I'm also a little bit biased and think that you can't get the full scope of a western without color—only because imagery is such a big part of western movies, and you don't get to see that in its totality with a black and white film. So may not agree with me and that's cool, but I can definitely appreciate how earlier decades like the 1930s laid the groundwork for what would follow. Hopalong Cassidy does just that as it tells the story of a ranch foreman (William Boyd) intent on stirring the pot by trying to star a war between two cattlemen and by helping out a gang.

Stirring the pot may not even be the correct word because that's a lot of damage he was trying to do.

12. The Beast of the City (1932)

• Directed by: Charles Brabin
• Watch it if you like: Pain Hustlers

Jean Harlow, one of the renowned actresses of the 1930s, stars as mob girl named Daisy Stevens, who gets into a relationship with a cop (Wallace Ford) who unbeknownst to her is the "cop brother" of a police investigation (Walter Huston) who is leaving no stone unturned in investigation of mob activities happening in the Chicago area (there's a connection present between all three). Brabin's directorial style was one that really highlighted Harlow's acting skills, which is a reason why this can present a case for being a top five or ten in her catalog.

13. The Prince and the Pauper (1937)

• Directed by: William Keighley
• Watch it if you like: The modern versions of The Prince and the Pauper

You’ve seen the newer versions of The Prince and the Pauper , so you might as well see the 1930s version right. As is the case with some of the other recognizable titles on this list that have had remakes, the storyline stays within the realm of what we know…a poor boy named Tom Canty (Billy Mauch) and The Prince of Wales (Bobby Mauch) switching identities (and the results that come with it), but it’s definitely cool seeing the story told circa 1937. Dare we say—it might have even had an impact on the later films.

14. Holiday (1938)

• Directed by: George Kukor
• Watch it if you like: This Means War

According to critics, Katharine Hepburn was “box office poison” in the late 1920s and early 1930s, so to see her bounce back and turn the tables on them to elevate her star status to the next level had to been a great “in your face” moment for her (and knowing how feisty Hepburn was…she probably did have herself a hearty laugh). The combination of Cary Grant, Hepburn, and Henry Kolker makes this a film worth watching.

15. Twentieth Century (1934)

• Directed by: Howard Hawks
• Watch it if you like: Marriage Story

If the Barrymore name sounds familiar, it’s acting is quite literally in their family lineage. John Barrymore takes the reins here in Twentieth Century , which is about a Broadway actor with crappy luck (Barrymore), running into a former actress flame (Carol Lombard) that he's determined to win back. Getting her back, however, is not going to be as easy as he thought as there are obstacles (in the form of other men) that are standing in his way.

16. The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935)

• Directed by: Leslie S. Hiscott
• Watch it if you like: A Haunting in Venice

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes is an Old Hollywood mystery you’re certain to enjoy if you love detective movies. The film stars Arthur Wontner as Holmes, who decides to take one final case before bidding farewell. Along the way, Mr. Holmes gets some twists, turns, and spots some familiar foes in the process of trying to solve the mystery. Can he get the job done? Or will he fail? You’ll have to watch for that.

17. Alice in Wonderland (1933)

• Directed by: Norman Z. McLeod
• Watch it if you like: The newer versions of Alice in Wonderland

Does the title Alice in Wonderland sound familiar? Alice In Wonderland’s origins date back to Lewis Carroll’s novel. Now as far as the movies go, before you can even get to Johnny Depp’s 2010 version (or even the 1950s Disney version), you’ve got to start here with the 1930s. It’s kind of cool seeing how they originally did the first adaptation with actors, then switched to animation, then went back to live action, etc. Talk about playing around with a concept.

18. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

• Directed by: Victor Fleming
• Watch it if you like: The Wiz

“We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!” The Wizard of Oz has an extensive background as well, and from a film perspective, many people don’t know that this 1939 version with Judy Garland is technically a remake. The first time The Wizard of Oz was tried on film was roughly a decade prior as a silent film. That said, if Judy Garland’s version is a “remake,” it’s one of the best remakes ever, and should be required viewing for all film lovers.

19. Monte Carlo Nights (1934)

• Directed by: William Nigh
• Watch it if you like: The Ritual Killer

Honestly, I would like to see Monte Carlo Nights redone as it’s about a man convicted murder who escapes from jail to try to prove his innocence. We’ve seen bits and pieces kind of taken from this in different ways (I.E. the first Mission Impossible, or any other movie where a wrongfully convicted person is trying to clear their name), but not quite like this. Add in the current Monte Carlo scenery and you’ve got yourself not just a thriller, but a visually stunning film. If you’re a director and reading this, make sure to give me a shoutout if you do this!

20. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

• Directed by: David Hand, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Wilfred Jackson, Ben Sharpsteen, Perce Pearce
• Watch it if you like: The modern version of Snow White

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs seems like an obvious choice because you can’t deny its impact and groundwork for future films. If you are shocked that Snow White has a 1930s version, you are certainly not the one. Side note: It might be cool to one day do a side by side comparison of the two to make note of similarities and differences). 

21. Call of the Wild (1935)

• Directed by: William A. Wellman
• Watch it if you like: The more modern versions of Call of the Wild

If you enjoyed Call of the Wild in novel/more modern formats, then you’ll most likely enjoy this film adaptation with Clark Gable, which is actually a visually stunning picture that kind of looks like a winter wonderland. Sure the chances of finding the love of your life in the Alaskan wilderness is quite slim, but that’s what movies are for right? To bring to life the things that would probably never happen in real life.

22. Slightly Honorable (1939)

• Directed by: Tay Garnett
• Watch it if you like: The Fugitive

Slightly Honorable centers around the concept of a politician (Edward Arnold) who frames a lawyer (Pat O’ Brien) for murder. Basically, this guy is just running around rampantly killing people, and he’s putting it all on this lawyer which is wild. When you’ve got multiple false accusations to your name you’ve got to clear it, so this movie takes you through the ins and outs of the lawyer trying to prove his innocence.

23. A Christmas Carol (1938)

• Directed by: Edwin L. Marin
• Watch it if you like: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

A little Christmas movie is something that you might find enjoyable if you’re reading this list during the holidays. A Christmas Carol is what paved the way for all of these modern Christmas movies, and is regarded as the original X-Mas classic. You get the story of grouchy Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen) who’s mean to everybody around him because he hates Christmas. However, certain things happen around Scrooge that begins to make him have a change of heart.

24. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

• Directed by: Busby Berkeley, Mervyn LeRoy
• Watch it if you like: Burlesque

Gold Diggers of 1933 will have you bopping, grooving, and unleashing your spirit fingers in one of the most fun musicals of the decade. The definition of making lemons out of lemonade, the story centers around a bunch of showgirls who lost their jobs due to the Great Depression. So what do they do to obtain more work? They embark on a journey to make a musical centered around the Depression. It’s not without obstacles though…there’s a plan to have the show shutdown, and in order to save it, the girls have to become…gold diggers.

25. Murder in the Museum (1934)

• Directed by: Melville Shyer
• Watch it if you like: Above Suspicion

Murder in the Museum is another fun mystery film from the 1930s to partake in, and the riveting twists and turns will have you thoroughly entertained from start to finish. What’s it about you ask? Well, the film centers around a carnival musician, his boss, and concessionaire all being accused of a murder that happened in their vicinity. They didn’t do it though, so who did? Well, we’re not going to spoil it!

26. Scarface (1932)

• Directed by: Howard Jackson
• Watch it if you like: The 1983 version of Scarface

The 1983 version of Scarface recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, so now seems like a good time to revisit its 1932 predecessor, which was equally as controversial. A film that defines the “early gangster” genre, Paul Muni has the honors of being Tony in the film, and the storyline is a lot different from Pacino’s version. That alone is a good enough reason to watch because you’re practically getting two different movies despite the same name and Al Capone inspiration.

27. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

• Directed by: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
• Watch it if you like: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Errol Flynn’s charming take as the iconic Robin Hood is one that will capture your attention if you love the general story of Robin Hood. As adventurous as what a 1930s adventure film could possibly get, Flynn invites into a wonderful mythical world that’s only enhanced by his captivating performance. The foray into the adventure world is one that can be appreciated considering the limited resources filmmakers had during that era. They made it work to the best of their abilities though.

28. Jezebel (1938)

• Directed by: William Wyler
• Watch it if you like: Be a Wicked Woman

Jezebel is one of Bette Davis’ most regarded roles as she plays a spoiled young woman with such a horrible attitude that her boyfriend is on the cusp of breaking up with fiancée. She eventually pushes him too far in a showing that results in him calling off the engagement, and upon finally returning, the young woman tries to win him back. Only it just might be too late.

29. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

• Watch it if you like: Post Grad

Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant reunited again for 1938’s Bringing Up Baby , which isn’t just a screwball comedy, but a pure comedy period. This movie is absolutely hilarious and I believe that everybody needs to see it at least once in their lives because chaos and non-sense that occurs is quite unlike anything that’s been seen since. Other films have tried it (and they’ve been funny in their own way), but it hasn’t matched the exact energy of Bringing Up Baby .

30. Gone With the Wind (1939)

• Watch it if you like: Atonement

If you were wondering when we were going to get to Gone With the Wind, we indeed made you wait until our very last entry. Gone With the Wind is not a film that’s without controversy (even in present day), as it tells the life story of Scarlett O’ Hara (Vivien Leigh), and her life during the Civil War and Reconstruction along with her somewhat messy romantic relationships. To this day, Gone With the Wind is still being heavily analyzed and written about, which is rare for films to achieve decades after their release. That’s why it remains a must-watch.

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10 Best 1930s Movies: Dive Into The Golden Age of Hollywood

The 1930s marked a significant period in the history of cinema. It was the decade when sound technology became widely available, and movies began to evolve from silent films to “talkies.”

The 1930s also saw the emergence of the Golden Age of Hollywood, with major studios such as MGM, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures producing some of the most iconic films in history.

Best 1930s Movies

Some of the best-known movies of all time were made during this decade, and the films of the 1930s continue to be celebrated for their innovation, storytelling, and technical achievements.

1. The Rules of the Game (1939)

The Rules of the Game is a 1939 French film directed by Jean Renoir, and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. The film is a satirical look at the decadent lives of the French upper class and their attitudes towards love and relationships.

The film is known for its complex narrative structure, which weaves together multiple storylines and characters. It features a large ensemble cast of French actors, including Nora Gregor, Marcel Dalio, and Jean Renoir himself.

The Rules of the Game is often praised for its subtle yet incisive commentary on French society, as well as its masterful direction and cinematography. It has been noted for its use of deep focus photography, which allows for multiple planes of action to be captured in a single shot.

The film’s climactic hunting scene is particularly renowned for its stunning visuals and technical prowess.

Despite its critical acclaim, The Rules of the Game was initially a commercial failure and was heavily censored due to its provocative content. However, it has since been re-evaluated and is now regarded as a classic of French cinema and a masterpiece of world cinema.

• English (Subtitle)

2. L’Atalante (1934)

“L’Atalante” is a French film released in 1934, directed by Jean Vigo and starring Michel Simon and Dita Parlo.

The film tells the story of a young couple, Jean and Juliette, who get married and move onto a barge, the L’Atalante, to begin their life together.

The couple is accompanied by the captain, Pere Jules (Michel Simon), who becomes a sort of mentor to Jean as they navigate the canals of France.

However, as their journey continues, tensions arise between the couple and they become increasingly isolated from each other, until they are finally reunited by a chance encounter with a traveling street performer.

“L’Atalante” is considered a masterpiece of French cinema, renowned for its poetic and dreamlike visuals, its unconventional storytelling, and its exploration of the themes of love, desire, and isolation.

The film is noted for its innovative use of sound and music, and for the mesmerizing performances of its cast, particularly Michel Simon as the eccentric and lovable Pere Jules.

Despite its initial commercial failure, “L’Atalante” has since become a classic of world cinema, influencing generations of filmmakers with its unique vision and style.

• Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
• Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo, Michel Simon (Actors)
• Jean Vigo (Director) - Albert Riéra (Writer) - Jacques Louis-Nounez (Producer)
• (Playback Language)
• Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)

3. City Lights (1931)

“City Lights” is a 1931 silent romantic comedy-drama film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. The film tells the story of a tramp (Chaplin) who falls in love with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and sets out to earn money to pay for her eye surgery.

The film is known for its iconic scenes, including the tramp’s encounter with a drunken millionaire (Harry Myers), and the touching final scene in which the flower girl finally sees the tramp for the first time.

“City Lights” is also celebrated for its blending of comedy and drama, its use of music to underscore the emotional moments, and its expressionistic visual style.

Despite being released during the sound era, “City Lights” was a silent film, and it was Chaplin’s last such film. It remains one of his most beloved works, and is considered a masterpiece of silent cinema.

The film’s timeless themes of love, poverty, and friendship, as well as its memorable characters and moments, continue to captivate audiences around the world.

• Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers (Actors)
• Charles Chaplin (Director) - Charles Chaplin (Writer) - Charles Chaplin (Producer)
• Audience Rating: G (General Audience)

4. The Grand Illusion (1937)

“The Grand Illusion” is a 1937 war drama film directed by Jean Renoir and starring Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay, and Erich von Stroheim. The film tells the story of a group of French soldiers during World War I who are captured by the Germans and placed in a prisoner-of-war camp.

The film explores themes of class, nationality, and human connection as the prisoners, who come from different backgrounds and social classes, form friendships and attempt to escape from their captors.

The film also depicts the changing nature of warfare during the early 20th century and the erosion of traditional social structures in the face of modern technology and ideology.

“The Grand Illusion” is considered a masterpiece of French cinema and has been praised for its innovative storytelling, complex characters, and powerful message of humanity and fraternity.

The film’s themes of international cooperation and solidarity have resonated with audiences and critics for generations, and it continues to be recognized as one of the most important and influential films ever made.

Upon its initial release, “The Grand Illusion” was banned in Germany and Italy due to its anti-war message and sympathetic portrayal of French soldiers.

However, the film went on to win numerous awards and accolades, including the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

• Grand Illusion (1937) ( La Grande Illusion )
• Grand Illusion (1937)
• La Grande Illusion
• Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim, Gaston Modot (Actors)
• Jean Renoir (Director) - Grand Illusion (1937) ( La Grande Illusion ) (Producer)

5. Modern Times (1936)

“Modern Times” is a comedy film released in 1936, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. The film follows the story of Chaplin’s famous character, “The Tramp,” as he struggles to survive in the modern industrialized world of the Great Depression.

The film is known for its sharp satire of industrialization and the dehumanizing effects of modern technology, as well as Chaplin’s signature physical comedy and slapstick humor.

It features several memorable scenes, including Chaplin’s character getting caught up in the gears of a factory machine and a hilarious sequence in which he tries to feed an automatic feeding machine.

“Modern Times” was a critical and commercial success and is considered one of Chaplin’s greatest works.

It was praised for its social commentary, innovative use of sound and music, and Chaplin’s masterful performance.

The film has become a classic of the silent era and has been hailed as a masterpiece of cinema.

• Dick Alexander, Hank Mann, Charlie Chaplin (Actors)
• Charlie Chaplin (Director) - Charlie Chaplin (Writer) - Charlie Chaplin (Producer)
• English (Playback Language)

6. M (1931)

M is a classic German thriller film released in 1931, directed by Fritz Lang. The movie tells the story of a city gripped by fear and panic due to a serial killer who preys on young children.

The police launch a massive manhunt, but the killer, played by Peter Lorre, manages to evade them by hiding in plain sight. The film follows the killer’s descent into madness and the efforts of both the police and the criminal underworld to capture him.

M is notable for its exploration of themes of justice, morality, and the psychology of crime. It is also notable for its innovative use of sound and camera techniques, as well as Peter Lorre’s haunting and powerful performance as the killer.

The film is considered a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema and a landmark in the history of crime thrillers. Its innovative approach to storytelling and its exploration of complex themes have made it a classic that continues to inspire filmmakers today.

If you’re a fan of thrillers or interested in the history of cinema, M is a must-watch. Its powerful storytelling and haunting performances make it a timeless classic that continues to captivate audiences today.

• Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke (Actors)
• Fritz Lang (Director)
• English, Korean (Subtitles)

7. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

“The Wizard of Oz” is a 1939 musical fantasy film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley.

The film tells the story of a young girl named Dorothy Gale (Garland) who is swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado and transported to the magical land of Oz.

In order to find her way back home, Dorothy sets out on a quest to see the Wizard of Oz, meeting new friends along the way, including a scarecrow (Bolger), a tin man (Haley), and a cowardly lion (Lahr).

The film is notable for its stunning use of color, imaginative set design, and memorable songs, including the classic “Over the Rainbow.” It has become a cultural icon and a beloved classic, known for its enduring themes of friendship, perseverance, and the power of imagination.

The performances in “The Wizard of Oz” are exceptional, particularly Garland’s portrayal of Dorothy, which has become one of the most iconic roles in cinematic history.

The supporting cast is also memorable, with Bolger, Haley, and Lahr bringing humor and heart to their respective roles.

Overall, “The Wizard of Oz” is a timeless classic that continues to captivate audiences of all ages. Its innovative use of technology, memorable music, and heartwarming story have made it a beloved staple of American cinema.

• Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger (Actors)
• Victor Fleming (Director) - Noel Langley (Writer) - Mervyn LeRoy (Producer)

8. Gone with the Wind (1939)

Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American epic historical romance film directed by Victor Fleming, and is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made.

The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Margaret Mitchell and stars Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in iconic roles as Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, respectively.

The story follows the life of Scarlett O’Hara, a headstrong Southern belle, and her experiences during the American Civil War and Reconstruction.

The film is notable for its grand scale, lush cinematography, and iconic score by Max Steiner. It also features some of the most memorable lines in film history, including the famous line spoken by Rhett Butler: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Gone with the Wind was a critical and commercial success upon its release, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time until the release of The Sound of Music in 1965. It won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Vivien Leigh.

However, the film has also been criticized for its portrayal of African Americans and its romanticized depiction of the antebellum South. Despite this, it remains a beloved classic and a landmark in Hollywood history.

• Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland (Actors)
• Victor Fleming (Director)

9. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

“Bringing Up Baby” is a classic American screwball comedy released in 1938, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

The film tells the story of David Huxley (Cary Grant), a mild-mannered paleontologist who is on the verge of completing his most important project when he meets Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), a free-spirited heiress who proceeds to disrupt his life in a series of hilarious mishaps.

As Susan drags David into one zany adventure after another, including the care and feeding of a pet leopard named Baby, the two eventually fall in love and realize they are meant to be together.

“Bringing Up Baby” is renowned for its fast-paced dialogue, slapstick humor, and the sparkling chemistry between Hepburn and Grant.

The movie has become a quintessential example of the screwball comedy genre, a style of comedy that emerged in the 1930s and was marked by witty banter, eccentric characters, and madcap situations.

The film was not a commercial success upon its initial release, but it has since become a beloved classic, celebrated for its timeless humor and the enduring appeal of its two stars.

• Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles (Actors)
• Howard Hawks (Director) - Dudley Nichols (Writer) - Howard Hawks (Producer)

10. L’Age d’Or (1930)

“L’Age d’Or” is a 1930 surrealist film directed by Luis Buñuel and written by Buñuel and Salvador Dali. The film is a scathing critique of bourgeois society and organized religion, and features a series of disjointed and shocking scenes that challenge traditional cinematic narrative.

The film tells the story of a couple who attempt to consummate their love in various locations, only to be thwarted by societal conventions and authority figures.

The film is known for its surreal and subversive imagery, including a scene in which the couple is interrupted by a group of bishops playing cards, and another in which a group of people worship a statue made of human excrement.

Upon its release, “L’Age d’Or” was met with controversy and was quickly banned by the French government, who cited its blasphemous content and portrayal of sexuality. Despite this, the film has since become a cult classic and is revered as a pioneering work of the surrealist movement.

“L’Age d’Or” offers a provocative and thought-provoking commentary on the role of society and religion in shaping human behavior and desire. Its use of avant-garde imagery and techniques, combined with its biting social commentary, make it a landmark work of cinema history.

3 Characteristics of 1930s Movies

The Rise of Sound: The 1930s saw the introduction and widespread adoption of sound technology, which revolutionized the film industry.

Sound films, also known as “talkies,” allowed for the inclusion of dialogue, music, and other sound effects, making movies a more immersive experience for audiences.

The Great Depression: The 1930s was a decade of economic hardship, and the film industry responded with movies that provided an escape from the difficulties of everyday life.

Many films of the era were escapist in nature, featuring lavish musical numbers, grand adventure stories, and glamorous Hollywood stars.

The Rise of Genre Films: The 1930s saw the rise of many popular film genres that continue to be popular today.

These included musicals, gangster films, horror movies, and screwball comedies. The popularity of these genres was due in part to their ability to provide audiences with a sense of excitement, humor, or horror, depending on the genre.

3 Reasons To Watch 1930s Movies

Historical Significance: The 1930s were a transformative decade in the history of cinema, marked by the rise of sound technology, the advent of full-color films, and the growth of the Hollywood studio system.

Watching movies from this era offers a unique window into the evolution of film as an art form and a cultural phenomenon.

Classic Storytelling: Many of the most iconic films of all time were made in the 1930s, including beloved classics like Gone with the Wind, King Kong, and The Wizard of Oz.

These films continue to captivate audiences today with their timeless storytelling, memorable characters, and groundbreaking visual effects.

Social and Political Commentary:

The 1930s were also a time of great social and political upheaval, with the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, and the looming threat of war.

Many films from this era reflect these turbulent times, offering sharp social and political commentary on issues like poverty, racism, and war.

Watching these films can provide valuable insights into the history of the era and the ways in which popular culture reflected and influenced the broader society.

Best 1930s Movies – Wrap Up

In the 1930s, Hollywood saw the rise of the “talkies,” or films with synchronized sound. This decade marked a major shift in the film industry, with studios producing a wide range of films that reflected the cultural and political climate of the time.

Some of the best movies of the 1930s include:

“The Wizard of Oz” (1939)

“Gone with the Wind” (1939)

“King Kong” (1933)

“It Happened One Night” (1934)

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)

“Frankenstein” (1931)

“Modern Times” (1936)

“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939)

“Bringing Up Baby” (1938)

“The Thin Man” (1934)

These films showcased the diverse styles and genres of 1930s cinema, from classic musicals and romances to horror and science fiction.

The 1930s also saw the rise of notable filmmakers such as Frank Capra, James Whale, and Busby Berkeley, who left an indelible mark on Hollywood history.

Overall, the 1930s was a decade of innovation and creativity in filmmaking, and the movies produced during this time continue to captivate audiences today.

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The 1930s was a big time for movies. Even the Great Depression couldn't get in the way of telling a great story. The 1930s saw innovation in a variety of genres, from horror films to animated classics. Some of these films would even prove to be classics people grow up with even decades later.

RELATED: 10 Box Office Flops That Were Saved By Syndication The great thing about looking at films from past decades is the benefit of hindsight. Many beloved 1930s films were flops or critical disappointments when released, but have gained a place in pop culture regardless. After all, anything that could shake off a bad first impression without doing anything must have done something right.

10 Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first feature-length animated film from the United States. Based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, a young princess, Snow White, flees for her life from her murderous stepmother , but soon finds refuge in the home of seven kind dwarfs.

Unfortunately, the witch will soon find where Snow White is hiding and has a fate worse than death in store for her. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs endured financial problems and doubts from critics, but ended up being the film that started Disney's animated legacy.

9 The Thin Man

The Thin Man is a Christmas murder-mystery comedy . Former detective Nick Charles and his socialite wife Nora take the case to find a missing person known as the "Thin Man," with their dog Asta tagging along.

The Thin Man had five sequels, After the Thin Man and Song of the Thin Man , most of which made use of the misconception that the "Thin Man" referred to Nick. Over the years, The Thin Man has received praise from the likes of Akira Kurosawa and Roger Ebert.

8 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington starts with the death of a senator and a governor tasked with finding his replacement. On the advice of his children, and with the help of a coin toss, the choice is Mr. Jefferson Smith, effectively the "all-American boy" all grown up and the leader of the Boy Rangers.

RELATED: 10 Popular Movies With Sequels You've Never Heard Of The naive Mr. Smith will soon get a first-hand look at the beast that is politics. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is also famously apolitical for a film about politics, dividing the story between majority and minority leaders rather than any parties.

7 Gone With The Wind

Gone with the Wind sees the life and loves of Scarlett O'Hara, the iconic Southern Belle, throughout the Civil War and the Reconstruction era.

Gone with the Wind proved to be one of the highest-grossing films of all time and has become famous for Hattie McDaniel's historic Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress. Gone with the Wind also became popular in Japan, becoming one of the highest-grossing foreign films in the country and garnering six Japanese dubs. Gone with the Wind has not been without issue, however, as the film has also been criticized for its romantic take on American history.

6 Frankenstein

Frankenstein adapts Mary Shelley's classic work of horror. The scientist Frankenstein seeks to bring life back into dead body parts, bringing forth the creature that would soon become synonymous with his very name, at least in pop culture. Famous for horrifying audiences, Frankenstein even opens with actor Edward Van Sloan warning audiences this is their last chance to leave their seats.

Frankenstein would garner sequels, including Bride of Frankenstein just a few years later. Frankenstein would also solidify various aspects of the story throughout the years; Frankenstein's assistant Fritz, for example, would inspire countless "Igors" over the years.

5 Duck Soup

The Marx Brothers' comedy Duck Soup sees unconventional politician Rufus T. Firefly made the ruler of the financially-disadvantaged Freedonia. War looms in the background with neighboring Sylvania.

RELATED: 10 Worst Movies That Were Box Office Hits At the time of its release, Duck Soup was compared unfavorably to other Marx Brothers' productions. Over the years, Duck Soup has risen to be considered one of the Marx Brothers' best works. Throughout the decades, Duck Soup has often been played in schools and after-school programs thanks to its historical merit, often bringing the Marx Brothers to younger generations.

4 Bringing Up Baby

Bringing Up Baby is considered a quintessential screwball comedy. Awkward paleontologist, David Huxley needs to get a donation from an elderly widow the night before his wedding. However, David soon crosses paths with lively heiress Susan Vance, who becomes smitten with him and ropes him into bringing a tame leopard, "Baby," to her aunt. A comedy of errors soon ensues, especially when Susan's aunt is none other than the wealthy widow David needs to impress.

Bringing Up Baby was a flop during its initial release. Over the years, however, it has often ended up on lists as one of the greatest films ever made.

Dracula is an early 1930s horror film based on the 1924 Dracula stage show, itself based on Bram Stoker's famous novel. Bela Lugosi is cast as the titular vampire, Dracula , who targets young women.

Dracula proved popular enough to garner a few spin-offs, such as Dracula's Daughter and Son of Dracula . Dracula also influenced later, unrelated horror films , like The Mummy . A Spanish-language Dracula film was also made alongside the English-language film. There is one caveat to Dracula 's popularity: the Spanish-language Dracula has often been praised as superior to its English-language counterpart by critics.

2 Death Takes A Holiday

Death Takes a Holiday is a film adaptation of the Italian stage show La morte in vacanza . Death itself, interested in human nature, specifically why people fear him, takes on the form of a mortal human for three days. All the while, no one on Earth can die. Going by Prince Sirki, Death falls in love with a mortal woman named Grazia. Death must sacrifice Grazia to save her life, but love ultimately conquers all.

RELATED: 10 Worst Mistakes Made By Animated Movie Heroes In popular culture, Death Takes a Holiday is also known as the basis for the 1990s film Meet Joe Black .

1 The Wizard Of Oz

The Wizard of Oz , based on L. Frank Baum's fantasy novels, revolves around a young farm girl, Dorothy Gale, who is swept up by a cyclone and taken to the magical world of Oz. In a dangerous, mysterious land filled with good and bad witches, Dorothy must seek out the titular Wizard of Oz in the hopes of being sent back home.

Along the way, Dorothy befriends a few other characters who could also use some help from the Wizard. Dorothy will need their help, as she's also made an enemy of a certain wicked witch. Over the years, television airings of The Wizard of Oz would become a family event, especially around the holidays .

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The horror of the faces: That is the overwhelming image that remains from a recent viewing of the restored version of “M,” Fritz Lang 's famous 1931 film about a child murderer in Germany. In my memory it was a film that centered on the killer, the creepy little Franz Becker, played by Peter Lorre. But Becker has relatively limited screen time, and only one consequential speech--although it's a haunting one. Most of the film is devoted to the search for Becker, by both the police and the underworld, and many of these scenes are played in closeup. In searching for words to describe the faces of the actors, I fall hopelessly upon “piglike.”

What was Lang up to? He was a famous director, his silent films like "Metropolis” worldwide successes. He lived in a Berlin where the left-wing plays of Bertolt Brecht coexisted with the decadent milieu re-created in movies like " Cabaret .” By 1931, the Nazi Party was on the march in Germany, although not yet in full control. His own wife would later become a party member. He made a film that has been credited with forming two genres: the serial killer movie and the police procedural. And he filled it with grotesques. Was there something beneath the surface, some visceral feeling about his society that this story allowed him to express?

When you watch "M,” you see a hatred for the Germany of the early 1930s that is visible and palpable. Apart from a few perfunctory shots of everyday bourgeoisie life (such as the pathetic scene of the mother waiting for her little girl to return from school), the entire movie consists of men seen in shadows, in smokefilled dens, in disgusting dives, in conspiratorial conferences. And the faces of these men are cruel caricatures: Fleshy, twisted, beetle-browed, dark-jowled, out of proportion. One is reminded of the stark faces of the accusing judges in Dreyer's “Joan of Arc,” but they are more forbidding than ugly.

What I sense is that Lang hated the people around him, hated Nazism, and hated Germany for permitting it. His next film, "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse” (1933), had villains who were unmistakably Nazis. It was banned by the censors, but Joseph Goebbels, so the story goes, offered Lang control of the nation's film industry if he would come on board with the Nazis. He fled, he claimed, on a midnight train -- although Patrick McGilligan's new book, Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast , is dubious about many of Lang's grandiose claims.

Certainly "M” is a portrait of a diseased society, one that seems even more decadent than the other portraits of Berlin in the 1930s; its characters have no virtues and lack even attractive vices. In other stories of the time we see nightclubs, champagne, sex and perversion. When "M” visits a bar, it is to show closeups of greasy sausages, spilled beer, rotten cheese and stale cigar butts.

The film's story was inspired by the career of a serial killer in Dusseldorf. In "M,” Franz Becker preys on children -- offering them candy and friendship, and then killing them. The murders are all offscreen, and Lang suggests the first one with a classic montage including the little victim's empty dinner plate, her mother calling frantically down an empty spiral staircase, and her balloon--bought for her by the killer--caught in electric wires.

There is no suspense about the murderer's identity. Early in the film we see Becker looking at himself in a mirror. Peter Lorre at the time was 26, plump, baby-faced, clean-shaven, and as he looks at his reflected image he pulls down the corners of his mouth and tries to make hideous faces, to see in himself the monster others see in him. His presence in the movie is often implied rather than seen; he compulsively whistles the same tune, from "Peer Gynt,” over and over, until the notes stand in for the murders.

The city is in turmoil: The killer must be caught. The police put all their men on the case, making life unbearable for the criminal element ("There are more cops on the streets than girls,” a pimp complains). To reduce the heat, the city's criminals team up to find the killer, and as Lang intercuts between two summit conferences -- the cops and the criminals -- we are struck by how similar the two groups are, visually. Both sit around tables in gloomy rooms, smoking so voluminously that at times their very faces are invisible. In their fat fingers their cigars look fecal. (As the criminals agree that murdering children violates their code, I was reminded of the summit on drugs in " The Godfather .”)

"M” was Lang's first sound picture, and he was wise to use dialogue so sparingly. Many early talkies felt they had to talk all the time, but Lang allows his camera to prowl through the streets and dives, providing a rat's-eye view. One of the film's most spectacular shots is utterly silent, as the captured killer is dragged into a basement to be confronted by the city's assembled criminals, and the camera shows their faces: hard, cold, closed, implacable.

It is at this inquisition that Lorre delivers his famous speech in defense, or explanation. Sweating with terror, his face a fright mask, he cries out: "I can't help myself! I haven't any control over this evil thing that's inside of me! The fire, the voices, the torment!” He tries to describe how the compulsion follows him through the streets, and ends: "Who knows what it's like to be me?”

This is always said to be Lorre's first screen performance, although McGilligan establishes that it was his third. It was certainly the performance that fixed his image forever, during a long Hollywood career in which he became one of Warner Bros.' most famous character actors (" Casablanca ,” "The Maltese Falcon,” "The Mask of Dimitrios”). He was also a comedian and a song-and-dance man, and although you can see him opposite Fred Astaire in "Silk Stockings” (1957), it was as a psychopath that he supported himself. He died in 1964.

Fritz Lang (1890-1976) became, in America, a famous director of film noir. His credits include "You Only Live Once” (1937, based on the Bonnie and Clyde story), Graham Greene's "Ministry of Fear” (1944), " The Big Heat ” (1953, with Lee Marvin hurling hot coffee in Gloria Grahame's face) and "While the City Sleeps” (1956, another story about a manhunt). He was often accused of sadism toward his actors; he had Lorre thrown down the stairs into the criminal lair a dozen times, and Peter Bogdanovich describes a scene in Lang's "Western Union” where Randolph Scott tries to burn the ropes off his bound wrists. John Ford , watching the movie, said, "Those are Randy's wrists, that is real rope, that is a real fire.”

For years "M” was available only in scratchy, dim prints. Even my earlier laserdisc is only marginally watchable. This new version, restored by the Munich Film Archive, is not only better to look at but easier to follow, since more of the German dialogue has been subtitled. (Lorre also recorded a soundtrack in English, which should be made available as an option on the eventual laserdisc and DVD versions.) Watching the new print of "M,” I found the film more powerful than I remembered, because I was not watching it through a haze of disintegration.

And what a haunting film it is. The film doesn't ask for sympathy for the killer Franz Becker, but it asks for understanding: As he says in his own defense, he cannot escape or control the evil compulsions that overtake him. Elsewhere in the film, an innocent old man, suspected of being the killer, is attacked by a mob that forms on the spot. Each of the mob members was presumably capable of telling right from wrong and controlling his actions (as Becker was not), and yet as a mob they moved with the same compulsion to kill. There is a message there somewhere. Not "somewhere,” really, but right up front, where it's a wonder it escaped the attention of the Nazi censors.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Rated NR adult theme makes it unsuitable for children

117 minutes

Peter Lorre as Franz Becker

Otto Wernicke as Inspector Lohmann

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The 85+ Best Movies of 1930

List of the best movies of 1930, with movie trailers when available. These top movies of 1930 are listed by popularity, so the movies with the most votes are at the top. This list consists of all different movie genres, but each film was released in 1930. You can filter this list of films that came out in 1930 for various bits of information, such as who directed the movie and what genre it is. Think the best 1930 movie isn't as high as it should be? Vote up your favorite so it will rise to the top.

This list features All Quiet on the Western Front, Woman Hungry and more.

This list answers the questions, "What are the best movies from 1930?" and "What are the most popular movies of 1930?"

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The 10 Best Movies of the 1930s, Ranked

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World Wars... The Great Depression... The people of the 1930s needed a solid distraction from cold, hard world around them. Luckily, the "moving picture" had recently been invented and evolved beyond silent short films into Technicolor feature films.

This Golden Age of Hollywood loved a good epic, romance, or family flick, relying on big studios and star contracts to entice audiences. This crucial decade in cinema history became the forerunner for so many of today's popular genres, technologies, and styles.

Here are some of the greatest and most iconic movies from the 1930s that showcase the best of what this decade of cinema had to offer.

10. Frankenstein (1931)

Directed by James Whale

Starring Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff

Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi (1h 10m)

7.8 on IMDb — 94% on RT

Frankenstein is a tale as old as time, and one we've all come to know. Written by Mary Shelley, the Gothic classic tells the story of a mad scientist who creates a creature out of different body parts.

The experiment leaves Victor Frankenstein with a hideous-looking semi-conscious monster that's out for revenge. Filmmakers have retold this story time and again, but one of the very best versions remains the early adaptation by James Whale.

Boris Karloff perfectly embodies The Monster in this iconic pre-Code talkie, where the real horror goes beyond that of beasts and shadows and into the existential. In fact, The Monster proves to be not so bad and instead a tragic hero of childlike sensitivity.

9. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Directed by Frank Capra

Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains

Comedy, Drama (2h 9m)

8.1 on IMDb — 97% on RT

Jimmy Stewart was Hollywood's sweetheart; the everyman hero that all audiences could relate to and root for.

In Frank Capra's endearing political drama, Stewart plays a leader of the Boy Rangers with a strong moral compass. Jefferson Smith is elected as Senator, but becomes disillusioned by the corruption around him. A brave idealist who refuses to keep quiet, Mr. Smith goes to make change.

Sure, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington might be a little corny, but what's wrong with instilling some hope in audiences every now and again? Especially back during a decade full of war and hardship!

8. King Kong (1933)

Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot

Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi (1h 40m)

7.9 on IMDb — 97% on RT

Comparing the visual effects of King Kong to modern day films is a kind of mad experience. Back in 1931, the miniature models and matte painting techniques of this fantasy-drama were ground-breaking.

It's incredible to see how far technology has come, but just because the stop-motion animation isn't up to today's standards doesn't mean King Kong isn't a masterpiece.

You probably know the story, but we'll remind you of it anyway: while location scouting for his newest jungle movie, director Carl Denham discovers an enormous ape that kidnaps his lead actress. Once rescued, Carl decides to capture the ape back.

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack really changed the game with this one, directing the first installment of what would become the King Kong franchise.

7. M (1931)

Directed by Fritz Lang

Starring Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut

Crime, Mystery, Thriller (1h 39m)

8.3 on IMDb — 100% on RT

A German thriller from legendary director Fritz Lang, M is Lang's first movie with sound. Peter Lorre stars as Hans Beckert in his breakthrough role: a child serial killer who despises his own homicidal urges.

Set in Berlin, Beckert is chased down by criminals and given an improvised lawyer for his "trial." It's all a bit sketchy, but brilliant to watch. Musical motifs and an avalanche of smooth tracking shots make M a great movie to study—or just sit back and appreciate!

Anti-heroes were a lot less common back in the 1930s, with most movies having a cut-and-dry hero that viewers could aspire to be. M challenged this idea, and also became an early example of the procedural drama.

6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Directed by David Hand, Perce Pearce, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Wilfred Jackson, and Ben Sharpsteen

Starring Adriana Caselotti, Roy Atwell, Pinto Colvig

Animation, Adventure, Family (1h 23m)

7.6 on IMDb — 97% on RT

I bet you thought it was "Mirror, mirror," huh?

This one might be a kids' film, but it was also a landmark in the development of Disney and animation as a whole. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first feature movie from Walt Disney, later leading to a string of animated classics (the next one being Pinocchio in 1940).

Adriana Caselotti is the voice of the orphaned princess, who hides away from the huntsman out for her heart (literally) in a little woodland cottage with seven dwarfs.

Based on the 1812 Brothers Grimm fairy tale, this musical was directed by David Hand and painstakingly drawn by a host of animators for whom we don't have enough room to credit all here.

The cultural significance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs makes it an interesting watch for adults, tapping into the nostalgia of their childhood days spent watching old-school Disney. The hand-drawn cel animation still holds up today, playing out like a postcard come to life.

5. Stagecoach (1939)

Directed by John Ford

Starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine

Adventure, Drama, Western (1h 36m)

7.8 on IMDb — 100% on RT

This list wouldn't be complete without a Western, now would it? Stagecoach is one of renowned director John Ford's best movies, adapted from the short story The Stage to Lordsburg by Ernest Haycox.

John Wayne stars as the outlaw Ringo Kid, whose mere presence threatens the other passengers bound for New Mexico. An alcoholic, a salesman, and a disgraced lady are also on board the Overland stagecoach, riding through the West in anticipation of an Apache attack.

Stagecoach's clear direction, colorful characters, and grand-yet-rugged visuals transformed the reputation of Westerns from B-movies into sophisticated cinema. It might seem the same as any other Western, but that's because it was one of the first!

4. Modern Times (1936)

Directed by Charlie Chaplin

Starring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman

Comedy, Drama, Romance (1h 27m)

8.5 on IMDb — 98% on RT

Charlie Chaplin was beloved for his ability to make audiences both laugh and cry in a single sitting. Back in the 30s, films were either comedy or drama, not both. No, that was too revolutionary an idea!

Chaplin's iconic caricature of The Tramp—a childlike hobo with a heart of gold and cursed bad luck—featured in many of his movies. Modern Times is one of the best of those movies.

Modern Times follows The Tramp's stint working in a factory. The stress and monotony of the assembly line—still pretty new at the time—causes The Tramp to have a nervous breakdown.

Then, he's arrested for being a supposed Communist, accidentally ingests some cocaine, and crashes a paddy wagon. That's all followed by multiple more arrests. It sounds pretty wild for an old silent movie, but audiences ate it up—and so did we!

Chaplin's talented visual gags have aged well over the years, and Modern Times offers a keen observation on the mechanization of human beings.

3. The 39 Steps (1935)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim

Crime, Mystery, Thriller (1h 26m)

7.6 on IMDb — 96% on RT

Alfred Hitchcock is the king of thriller, the pioneer of the slasher genre, and the director of the first British talkie. One of his first masterpieces was The 39 Steps , which established many of his trademarks: crime, murder, blonde women, cameo appearances, and the use of a MacGuffin.

An espionage adventure that Orson Welles publicly praised, The 39 Steps grounds its far-fetched narrative in finely tuned pacing and cinematography, with Hitchcock famously relying on storyboards to intricately plan out every detail.

Robert Donat stars as Richard Hannay, who mistakenly gets embroiled in a spy ring while vacationing in London. The 39 Steps was remade in 1959 by Ralph Thomas, and is even set for another remake—a Netflix adaptation starring Benedict Cumberbatch in 2022.

2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Directed by Victor Fleming

Starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger

Adventure, Family, Fantasy (1h 42m)

8.1 on IMDb — 98% on RT

Everybody has seen The Wizard of Oz , right? It's hard to believe this family classic was a financial flop at the box office, but that was likely due to its crippling production problems rather than unpopularity.

Judy Garland headlines in her defining role, playing the sweet-natured Dorothy Gale at just sixteen years old. Dorothy sings her way down the yellow brick road in the magical land of Oz, hoping that the Emerald City will provide the answers she needs to get back home.

There are a whole host of rumors circling around this film—some confirmed, some ludicrous—which only adds to its popularity and intrigue. The Wizard of Oz had four directors (Victor Fleming ultimately got the credit) and implemented an early use of Technicolor, which only piled onto the stress of production.

1. Gone With the Wind (1939)

Starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell

Drama, Romance, War (3h 58m)

8.2 on IMDb — 90% on RT

Get ready for a blast to the past with this epic war drama, directed by Victor Fleming. Based on the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, where Scarlett O'Hara lives an idyllic life on the Tara plantation in Georgia.

But her dreamy lifestyle doesn't last long when the South is ripped apart by battle. This classic period drama traces Scarlett's troubled journey, falling for the cynical-yet-charming Rhett Butler (played by Clark Gable).

Scarlett is a rare example of an anti-heroic protagonist in a sweeping 30s romance movie—and a female one at that! She's spoiled, selfish, and insecure, yet intelligent and surprisingly enduring, defying society's expectation that women should remain delicate.

Keep going with our complete series of articles on all the most popular and iconic movies by every decade:

• The Best Movies of the 1930s
• The Best Movies of the 1940s
• The Best Movies of the 1950s
• The Best Movies of the 1960s
• The Best Movies of the 1970s
• The Best Movies of the 1980s
• The Best Movies of the 1990s

1930s Movies: A Guide to the Golden Age of Cinema

By: Author Valerie Forgeard

Posted on April 6, 2024

Categories Entertainment

The 1930s were a transformative decade for cinema, marking a significant period in film history that you might find as fascinating as it was challenging. During this era, Hollywood saw a surge in creating films that would later be considered classics.

The backdrop of the Great Depression might have cast a shadow over the United States, but the glimmer of the silver screen offered a much-needed escape for many.

It’s intriguing to think about how, even as economic hardship gripped the nation, your grandparents or great-grandparents might have been sitting in darkened theaters, transported to different worlds by the magic of 1930s movies.

This was a time when Hollywood began to truly hone its craft , navigating the transition from silent films to the talkies that you’re accustomed to today.

The 1930s introduced a new era of stars and iconic films that would leave an indelible mark on cinema. From the unsettling charm of Universal Horror classics to the screwball comedies that lightened hearts, these films shaped the film industry and reflected and influenced the society of the time.

Whether it’s the captivating allure of the incomparable Greta Garbo or the swashbuckling adventures of Errol Flynn, these films continue to be a testament to Hollywood’s golden age .

As you explore the rich tapestry of 1930s cinema, you’ll discover how filmmakers of the time were pioneers, pushing the boundaries of storytelling and technical innovation despite the financial constraints of the Great Depression. They gave the world a treasure trove of genres, from drama to musicals to romance, all while setting the stage for the future of storytelling through film.

This decade in film history is not just a collection of titles; it’s a mosaic of the human spirit’s resilience, a glimpse into the cultural zeitgeist of the times, and a source of inspiration that continues to resonate in today’s cinematic landscape.

Influential Directors of the 1930s

The 1930s were a defining decade in cinema, not only for the captivating stories brought to the screen but also for the trailblazing directors behind them. These filmmakers crafted narratives that have stood the test of time, displaying a remarkable interplay of creativity and technical skill that continues to influence the industry today.

Frank Capra

Frank Capra is a name synonymous with the 1930s era of filmmaking. His work, including the politically charged film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , showcased his ability to combine social commentary with a populist sentiment, making him a household name and a star among directors.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock , referred to as the “Master of Suspense,” made significant strides during this period. His film The Lady Vanishes is a testament to his ability to blend tension with wit, solidifying his distinctive style that captivates audiences even now.

John Ford took the reins of the Western genre with his classic Stagecoach . The movie not only redefined the Westerns of its time but also highlighted Ford’s unparalleled knack for storytelling and his subtle yet significant contributions to character development.

Fritz Lang’s The Testament of Dr. Mabuse represents the fusion of intense psychological thrills with groundbreaking visual effects. Lang’s films are rich with innovation, often embedding deep themes of intrigue and morality.

Tod Browning

Tod Browning created works that pushed the boundaries of conventional cinema. His most daring production, Freaks , challenges the audience’s perception of beauty and horror, creating an indelible impact that has left its mark on the genre.

James Whale

James Whale is revered for his contributions to the horror genre, particularly with films like Frankenstein and its sequel Bride of Frankenstein . These films portray Whale’s ability to stir emotions and use visual storytelling to explore complex themes of humanity and identity.

The directors of the 1930s laid the groundwork for future filmmakers, each bringing their unique vision and innovative techniques to silver-screen storytelling. Their works are a testament to the enduring power of cinema.

Iconic Films and Their Impact

The 1930s was a transformative era for cinema, with films that not only achieved monumental success but also left an indelible mark on pop culture. The decade’s iconic films showcased a range of genres, each contributing uniquely to the tapestry of film history.

Drama and Romance

Gone with the Wind set the benchmark for epic storytelling, combining romance with the harrowing backdrop of the Civil War. This film’s unprecedented success underscored the audience’s love for grand romantic dramas and featured memorable performances from Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Meanwhile, It Happened One Night , starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, redefined love stories with its blend of humor and romance, prompting a slew of romantic-comedies for decades to come.

Comedy and Satire

The Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup was a masterclass in comedy, lacing political satire with slapstick humor. On the other hand, Bringing Up Baby highlighted the chemistry between Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, showcasing a screwball comedy at its finest, with its fast-paced dialogue and improbable situations.

Adventure and Fantasy

Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling adventure, The Adventures of Robin Hood , brought a historical legend to vibrant life. In fantasy, The Wizard of Oz invited audiences on a technicolor quest, becoming a cultural cornerstone with its memorable music, quotes, and the universal theme of home. King Kong , directed by Merian C. Cooper, was a spectacle of adventure and special effects, forever impacting the standards for movie monsters and visual storytelling.

Horror and Suspense

The genre of horror was marked by films like James Whale’s Frankenstein and Tod Browning’s Dracula , both introducing iconic characters portrayed by Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, respectively. These films established the foundation for on-screen horror and suspense, fascinating audiences with tales of the macabre.

The 1930s were also the golden age of musicals, with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs being the first full-length animated film, setting a high bar for quality and commercial success. Add to that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing their way into film history with Swing Time , epitomizing the elegance and optimism that musicals brought to audiences during difficult times.

Evolution of Film Industry

The 1930s marked a period of significant transformation in the film industry, with technological innovations like sound and color revolutions shaping cinema.

From Silent to Sound

In the 1930s, you witnessed the transition from the silent era to sound films , or “talkies.” This evolution began with The Jazz Singer in 1927, a film that not only included synchronized dialogue but also made history, prompting a swift move away from silent productions to sound films throughout the industry. The incorporation of sound changed the way stories were told, placing greater emphasis on dialogue and scripts.

The Advent of Technicolor

The introduction of Technicolor brought films to life in vivid color, enhancing the storytelling experience. The “ The Adventures of Robin Hood ” in 1938 is a notable example that showcased the dramatic impact of this technology with its lush green forests and richly colorful costumes, setting new standards for visual storytelling in cinema.

Hollywood’s Golden Age

You’re looking at what’s considered Hollywood’s Golden Age , where the quality and success of films were on the rise. Hollywood became synonymous with high-caliber cinema, characterized by intricate scripts and a focus on storytelling quality. During this period, Hollywood established itself as a beacon of cinematic excellence worldwide.

Rise of the Studio System

The studio system took root in this era, with major studios controlling the production, distribution, and exhibition of films. This system created an assembly line of sorts for movie-making, fostering a prolific output of films and allowing studios to cultivate star power through long-term actor contracts.

Censorship and The Hays Code

Censorship played a significant role in shaping films of that time through “The Hays Code .” Adopted in 1934, this set of industry moral guidelines dictated the content that was permissible for public consumption. The Hays Code influenced everything from the depiction of on-screen relationships to the level of violence and crime portrayed, leading to subtle storytelling techniques to skirt regulations.

Social and Political Themes

In the 1930s, movies not only served as entertainment but also mirrored and subtly influenced social and political sentiments of the time. They explored topics from war to economic struggle, and from rampant corruption to the need for escape.

Depiction of War and Heroism

Dramas like All Quiet on the Western Front provided a stark view of war’s impact on soldiers and their families. This intense anti-war film took you through a journey of disillusionment, showcasing the brutal reality of World War I and transforming its characters from naive youths to weary veterans.

The Great Depression

Your understanding of the Great Depression could be deepened by films that depicted the struggle and resilience of American families during this era. These movies often had underlying themes of social unity and collective perseverance in the face of severe economic hardship.

Corruption and Society

You might find Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, as a prime example of how 1930s cinema critiqued corruption within society, in this case, the U.S. Senate. Its storyline emphasized the power of an idealistic hero combating the corrupted status quo.

Film as Escapism

To provide relief from everyday stresses, genres like fantasy, adventure, musicals, and comedies flourished. These films offered you a chance to escape into worlds of wonder, laughter, and spectacle, giving a temporary respite from the pressing issues of the day.

Notable Actors and Actresses

The 1930s cinema landscape was adorned with a constellation of shining stars. You could witness such talent as Jean Harlow , the original “blonde bombshell,” captivating audiences with her luminous screen presence and undeniable charm.

Charlie Chaplin , a master of silent film, continued to enchant your heart through the decade, even as talkies became the norm. His iconic character The Tramp remains a fixture of cinematic history.

Meanwhile, Humphrey Bogart began his ascent to becoming a leading man known for his tough-guy roles, leaving an indelible mark with performances that would become legendary.

Greta Garbo was your symbol of the enigmatic and exquisite talent of the era. The Swedish-born actress’s allure was matched by an acting prowess that made her one of the most memorable actresses of her time.

James Stewart started to establish himself as the everyman in American cinema, a role he would grow into more fully in the following decade.

You’d also be remiss not to glide onto the dance floor with the dynamic duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers . Their on-screen partnership defined the golden age of musicals with elegant and elaborate dance sequences.

Finally, if you have a penchant for the thrilling and the chilling, you would have surely appreciated Boris Karloff , whose portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster terrified and fascinated moviegoers.

These actors and actresses are to be credited for their foundational roles in the cinematic art and legacy that you enjoy to this day.

Influence on Modern Cinema

The 1930s were integral in shaping the films you enjoy today, from pioneering narratives to the inception of visual wizardry. Dive into the ways this Golden Age left an indelible mark on the facets of modern filmmaking.

Narrative and Storytelling

During the 1930s, the foundation for complex storytelling were laid which you see on your screens now. With landmark films like King Kong showcasing epic tales, your favorite modern blockbusters often echo the intricate scriptwriting and narrative techniques birthed in this era.

Visual and Special Effects

The captivating visuals and special effects you witness in contemporary cinema can trace their lineage to the ’30s. Revolutionary films of that time, such as King Kong , introduced techniques that have been refined to create the stunning visual effects used in today’s films. For a blast from the past that still resonates with modern VFX artists, look no further than this groundbreaking classic.

Genre Development

The 1930s saw the flourishing of several genres that remain popular:

• Gangster: The gritty underbelly of the crime world was brought to life, influencing countless modern gangster epics.
• Romance: With sweeping love stories, the era cemented techniques in capturing hearts that are replicated to this day.
• Comedy: A touchstone for humor, these years injected a blend of wit and slapstick that can still be found in comedies.
• Musical: The all-singing, all-dancing spectaculars of the 1930s set the stage for the vibrant musicals that have your toes tapping.
• Horror: Finally, the primal fears addressed by horror films then continue to inspire the spine-tingling stories that send shivers down your spine now.

By understanding these traditions, you can appreciate how your current movie experiences are part of a long, storied history of cinematic innovation.

You’ve journeyed through the captivating era of 1930s Hollywood , a period that truly revolutionized cinema. The legacy left by this Golden Age is evident in the continually referenced and celebrated films like The Wizard of Oz and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. These classics not only set a high standard but also became a nostalgic part of many film enthusiasts’ collections.

As you reflect on the 1930s, take note of the technological advancements—like the use of color and sound—that your favorite modern films owe to this trailblazing decade. Remember, the stars of yesteryears, such as Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, shaped the very essence of what it means to be a Hollywood icon.

Through heartwarming musicals and gripping dramas, the influence of the 1930s resonates even in contemporary cinema. Rest assured that the magic of this Golden Age will continue to enchant audiences, inspiring new generations of filmmakers and actors.

As you enjoy the plethora of modern-day movies, recognize the indelible marks made by the 1930s—a timeless chapter in film history.

100 Greatest Movies Of The 1930s

1. Gone with the Wind

2. The Wizard of Oz

3. The Rules of the Game

4. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

5. City Lights

7. Modern Times

8. King Kong

9. All Quiet on the Western Front

10. The Grand Illusion

11. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

12. Little Caesar

13. The 39 Steps

14. It Happened One Night

15. Stagecoach

16. L'Atalante

17. Scarface

18. Bringing Up Baby

19. Frankenstein

21. The Adventures of Robin Hood

22. Bride of Frankenstein

23. Duck Soup

24. The Public Enemy

25. Grand Hotel

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All Quiet on the Western Front

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Director Lewis Milestone's brilliant anti-war polemic, headlined by an unforgettable performance from Lew Ayres, lays bare the tragic foolishness at the heart of war.

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Best 19 Movies From the 1930s

Last Updated on October 6, 2021 by

The 1930s offered some great movies which have now become iconic classics. In this post, we list the best 19 movies from the 1930s. Some are iconic classics you may have heard of, and others are less well-known.

Duck Soup (1933)

In fantasy land Freedonia, the cranky Rufus T. Firefly is elected president and immediately causes trouble when he declares war on neighboring Sylvania, solely because of a wealthy woman. The Marx brothers’ big breakthrough and perhaps the best movie . Humor has never been more screwed and together the brothers complement each other well.

King Kong (1933)

A film production travels to a tropical island to film in nature. Their recording, however, may not last long because they soon discover that the island is ruled by none other than the giant gorilla Kong, who quickly takes a liking to the lead actress in the film.

It Happened One Night (1934)

A spoiled and rich heiress escapes from his home conditions and gets help along the way by a young man. What she doesn’t know, though, is that he’s really a reporter looking for a yummy story.

The real father of the Screwballs branch. Here, social classes clash wildly in the classic Frank Capra spirit. Fun scenes are mixed with hints of boring class divisions and pride.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

During the devastating First World War, we get to follow a young aspiring German soldier who is sent to the Western Front. However, war is not as glamorous as it sounds and slowly his mind and psychological well-being are broken down during the fighting. A lavish movie that really touches on and a precursor to many of the war films of movie history. The scenes on the western front are both horrifying and psychologically stressful to witness. War is hell.

City lights (1931)

The little trumpet falls in love with a poor florist and thinks he must maintain an illusion that he is capable of winning her heart. The light of the city is a charming little story with a big heart. Some of Charlie Chaplin’s funniest sequences can be found here. A given favorite is when the little trunk tries to stop a drunk stranger from killing himself.

Frankenstein (1931)

The young scientist Henry Frankenstein has become obsessed with the idea of reproducing life. Together with his hunchbacked assistant Fritz, he has plundered graves to sew together a body for the brain he will soon reactivate. On a stormy night, the experiment locks and what has been previously dead is pulsed. The only problem is that the brains they have installed do not really have the features they expected.

Frankenstein is not only visually striking but also emotionally powerful. Boris Karloff’s masterful role interpretation of the “monster” is multi-faceted and gripping. How he chooses to make the monster “human” is a genesis that has left great footprints in film history. A groundbreaking horror film that still has a unique place in popular history.

Freaks (1932)

A circus with malformed individuals, “freaks”, such as side entertainment, gets into trouble when the beautiful woman, whose trapeze number is one of the highlights of the circus, marries a short growth among the “freaks.” The others immediately suspect that she is only looking for his money and problems almost immediately.

A very daring film for its time with a theme that has not been told in the same way since then. Tod Browning had to fight hard for the movie to be made and was forced almost immediately after just a few screenings to cut it for 20 minutes. Nevertheless, the clipped version holds up well and delivers a good message about what it really means to be human, despite physical and psychological differences.

Scarface (1932)

In the iconic gangster role Scarface – Chicago’s latest gangster, we get to follow Tony Camonte’s journey from undercutter to a dreaded mafia boss. The journey is characterized by violence and is bordered by rivalry. It doesn’t get any easier either when Tony opens his eyes to his boss’s girlfriend.

Director Howard Hawks Scarface – Chicago’s latest gangster is a stylish film that influences filmmakers even today. Notice the near-surreal symbolism found a bit here and was in the precise imagery.

We previously made a comparison between Scarface – Chicago’s latest gangster and Brian De Palma’s remake, Scarface, from 1981 starring Al Pacino. Watch out and read about the two fights between the two films.

42nd Street (1933)

To help his girlfriend Dorothy breakthrough, wealthy Abner sees to it that the King of Broadway, Julian Marsh, sets up a new musical starring Dorothy. The secret sick Marsh is driving his ensemble harder and more mercilessly. When Dorothy breaks an ankle, one of the driving girls, Peggy, gets the chance to become Broadway’s new star.

42nd Street is as much a fantastic dance film as a criticism of the sexism that characterizes the entertainment industry and society at large. The views, however, seem to fall apart if the film is a criticism or rather an involuntary reflection of how carefree the open and self-evident objectification of the woman was. What is, on the other hand, a big consensus is that this archetype for “backstage musicals” is characterized by cool and innovative dance numbers.

Modern Times (1936)

Charlie Chaplin is back as the little trunk and this time he is wrestling with the advancement of industrial society.

Modern times contain several of Chaplin’s perhaps best comic moments such as the automated food machine, the moment when he suddenly becomes the leader of a protest train and when he iconically gets stuck and becomes “one” with the machines. In addition to this, the film also raises questions about where our society is headed and how we should deal with it.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Snow White lives at the castle of his stepmother who is queen. She is forced to clean daily because the queen is jealous of her beautiful appearance and eventually orders a hunter to kill her. Snow White escapes to the forest and ends up in a small cabin among seven dwarfs.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are, by several souls, one of the great milestones in film history. It is perhaps the really first cartoon feature film that won ground and at the same time the first color film. Disney was only a small studio before the film’s success and demand for more cartoons increased in avalanche afterward.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

The isolated Quasimodo bell ring is heavily controlled by its rigorous master, prosecutor Claude Frollo. One day when Gypsy girl Esmeralda flees into Notre Dame Cathedral, everything changes.

Notre Dame’s ringmaster is one of literature’s most fascinating and captivating stories. William Dieterie’s 1939 film still stands as the best cinematography. Charles Laughton makes an unbelievably strong role interpretation as the humpback bell.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dorothy Gale is swept away by a tornado and ends up in the fantasy land of Oz. Together with a scarecrow, a sheet metal man and a lion, she travels through the country in search of a magician who can help her return home.

A timeless classic that, in addition to humor and a charming adventure, gives us something to think about when it comes to what it means to dare to live and find oneself. The Magician from Oz made Judy Garland a star and secured her name in the history books. Not least thanks to her performance of the song “Over the Rainbow”.

Staggering heights (1939)

This follows the tragic fate of the residents of Northern England on the Wuthering Heights farm. The young stallion boy Heathcliff falls in love with the Lord’s daughter Cathy, a forbidden love despised by the rest of the family. Built on Emily Brontë’s novel of the same name.

It is difficult to find a more well-told dark story of 19th-century aristocracy and injustice in England. Heathcliff is a metaphor for unfairly treated society and a lesson in what blind love and hatred do to us as human beings. A masterpiece!

No danger on the roof (1938)

Paleontologist Professor David needs only one more leg to complete his large dinosaur skeleton, but at the same time, he must also secure a million-dollar donation to the museum. However, everything goes awry when he suddenly meets the whirring woman Susan and her tame leopard.

One of the screwballs genre’s great masterpieces where Cary Grant really gets to play out her entire comic register. Fathers are mixed with physical humor and quick replicas.

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

A woman traveling through Europe by train meets an elderly lady who later suddenly disappears. But no one else on the train claims to have seen the older lady or believes in the woman’s story. Suddenly, she is in danger of life.

Alfred Hitchcock’s last British film before the trip to Hollywood is a psychological story mixed with English charm. It takes some unexpected turns and delivers nice surprises before the end.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

With King Rikard captured on his way home from the crusade, Prince John seizes power and rules the country with tyranny. It is up to Robin Locksley to take up arms and lead the rebellion against the false monarch.

The silent film fair Douglas Fairbanks as Robin Hood in all glory, but it was Errol Flynn who made the character immortal. Never before has the man who takes from the rich and gives to the poor been cunning and more righteous. A beautifully lavish color film with fantastic supporting roles by, among others, Claude Rains as Prince John and Olivia de Havilland as Lady Marian.

Gone with the Wind (1939)

On Plantation Tara, Scarlett O’Hara lives with her family and has until now lived a stable life in uncertainty about the world’s concerns. But all that is about to change as the American Civil War approaches. The desire for war around the southern states is not uniform, but it is certain that no one will change from the devastating war that is approaching.

One of the film history’s most magnificent and epic films ever. The story of Scarlett O’Hara and her beloved country Tara is a poignant tale of courage and stubbornness. Gone with the wind is changing at a fast pace and despite its almost four hours, is a fast and very confident adventure drama.

Stagecoach (1939)

A bunch of strangers ends up on a stagecoach on their way to New Mexico from Arizona. Onboard is also Ringo the kid, a known lawless. Together, they must work together to avoid the aggressive Indians in the area and come to terms with life.

John Wayne had made western films for several years but this was his big breakthrough. Director John Ford revolutionized the film industry with new technology and put the western genre on the map.

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1930: 5 1931: 5.5 1932: 7 1933: 4 1934: 5 1935: 3.5 1936: 3* 1937: 4 1938: 6 1939: 11**

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‘Mean Girls’ Reboot Is Dividing Letterboxd Reviewers—Here Are This Year’s Most Divisive Major Films

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Film buffs and amateur critics on the movie-centric social network Letterboxd couldn’t settle on whether musical comedy “Mean Girls”—a remake of the 2004 hit—was a must-see or a dud, making it the most divisive film on the site’s list of popular movies , according to data Letterboxd shared with Forbes—as “Mean Girls” leads a pack of 2024 films that left users somewhere between amazed and disappointed.

"Mean Girls" hit theaters on Jan. 12. (Photo by John Lamparski/WireImage)

Letterboxd selected the year’s most divisive movies from its most engaged-with 2024 films by identifying movies closest to having an even amount of ratings between a half-star and five stars—meaning users couldn’t reach a consensus.

Mean Girls: The musical remake has an average rating of 2.7 out of five stars, posting nearly the same number of two and four-star reviews from users who believed it couldn’t stack up to the 2004 version and others who lauded singer-songwriter Reneé Rapp’s antagonistic role in the movie as Regina George.

The Idea of You: An Amazon romantic comedy based on a book of the same name, “The Idea Of You” starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine has an average rating of 2.5, primarily receiving three-star reviews as users gushed over the two lead actors.

I Saw the TV Glow: The A24-distributed horror-drama is the most highly-reviewed flick on the list with a 3.6-star rating fueled by split reviews at the higher end, with most users praising its queer themes and “shot-selections that simultaneously impact you emotionally while also feeling like a nightmare you can’t seem to wake up from. ”

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: The second crossover movie featuring King Kong and Godzilla in three years has a 2.8-star rating on Letterboxd with a near identical number of two and four-star reviews fueled by unimpressed users and those who enjoyed the “ goofball blockbuster monster movie .”

Damsel: The Milly Bobby Brown-led fantasy adventure movie has an average rating of 2.5, but despite the lackluster average, users seemed to somewhat enjoy the movie, with one user calling the Netflix exclusive a “ movie so dumb it’s actually quite fun ” and another characterizing it as, “ Enjoyable Netflix slop. ”

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What Did Users Think Of The Other Divisive Letterboxd Movies?

6. Argyle (2.3 stars) : “Absolutely appalling…I had a blast with it,” George Clark wrote in a one-star review .

7. Miller’s Girl (1.8 stars) : “Jenna ortega girl i’m going to get you a new agent just hold tight …. dear god,” Grace wrote in a one-star review .

8. The Strangers: Chapter 1 (1.9 stars) : “I wish the strangers would’ve put me out of my misery halfway through the movie,” Tyler wrote in a one-star review .

9. Under Paris (2.2 stars) : “Legit one of the funnier ‘secretly serious’ movies I’ve ever seen,” David Ehrlich said in a two-star review .

10. The Garfield Movie (2.6 stars) : “The amount of effort I put into clearing out my email is the same amount of effort Chris Pratt puts into voice acting. (None),” CinemaJoe said in a two-star review .

The movies on this list are featured on the first page of Letterboxd’s most popular movies from this year, meaning out of all the movies released so far in 2024, the above received the most activity (ratings, reviews, likes, etc.) from users. Letterboxd selected the most divisive movies from that list by identifying the films closest to having a uniform distribution of ratings, or an even share between the minimum and maximum star ratings.

What To Watch For

Francis Ford Coppola’s upcoming sci-fi drama “Megalopolis” could prove to be the most divisive movie on Letterboxd this year. Slated for a Sept. 27 release date, the movie has only been rated by a little more than 1,500 people on Letterboxd, some of which likely watched the movie through its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, when critics were left polarized . Letterboxd ratings for “Megalopolis” are wildly split, posting the exact same number of two-star and five-star reviews that have contributed to an average rating of three stars.

Key Background

Letterboxd, a social media app allowing users to track their movie consumption and share their opinions, was launched in 2011 and has since developed a reputation for wacky, creative user reviews . A majority of the movies at the top of Letterboxd’s list of most popular movies so far this year have not broken past the three-star average and range from averages as low as 1.67 stars (“Mother of the Bride”) to 4.5 stars (“Dune: Part Two). Users have employed the increasingly popular movie cataloging service to keep track of the movies they watch and want to watch, most notably using it to share reviews that range from serious, analytical takes to clever, satirical one-liners that may or may not have anything to do with their opinions about a movie.

Further Reading

Audiences Surprised That New ‘Mean Girls’ Is A Musical. Here’s Why Film Studios Don’t Emphasize That (Forbes)

Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Explained: All The Hype And Controversies As Movie Nears Cannes Debut (Forbes)

Letterboxd started as a cinephile’s best-kept secret. Now studios want in (Los Angeles Times)

Letterboxd Founders on Selling Their Company, Expanding Into TV: ‘We Need Some Mentorship to Take Us to the Next Level’ (Variety)

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Cast of original 'Beverly Hills Cop' movie is back for 'Axel F': Where were they?

As movie cast reunions go, few will generate more nostalgic laughs than the one assembled for “Beverly Hills Cop: Alex F.”

The fourth installment in the franchise ( streaming now on Netflix ) comes 40 years after the original Eddie Murphy launch pad, and 30 years after the third movie in the series.

But John Landis’ 1994 film “Beverly Hills Cop III” fared less well at the box office than its predecessors and noticeably excluded a few key players, including John Ashton as the lovable but tough cop John Taggart and Paul Reiser as affable detective Jeffrey Friedman.

This time, the core “Cop” team is back, including Taggart and Reiser, as well as Bronson Pinchot as art dealer Serge. A few newcomers to Murphy’s humor-meets-mayhem camp include Taylour Paige as his daughter Jane, Kevin Bacon as Captain Grant, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as cop Bobby Abbott.

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"We had done three 'Beverly Hills Cop' movies, but the third one is a little soft compared to the other two, and it’s because we don’t have all of the people from the original," Murphy tells USA TODAY.

"Now, we're back with John back as Taggart, we've got Paul, we’ve got Bronson, you just needed all the ingredients that were in the first picture," he says. "Everyone who was alive − well, except for Lisa Eilbacher (she played Axel's sleuthing pal Jenny), who is very much still alive − but everyone else, we brought them back. And it was so good to be back on set with them."

We take a quick look at what some of those original “Cop” cast members have been up to over the decades:

Eddie Murphy

Murphy’s huge success with “Beverly Hills Cop” was followed a steady string of movies with mixed box-office results, including “The Golden Child” and “Another 48 Hrs.”

But in 1988, Murphy found his comedic grove again, teaming up with pal Arsenio Hall for “Coming to America,” a premise he’d return to in 2021’s “Coming 2 America.” He played multiple characters, a nod to his idol Peter Sellers, and would again showcase his chameleon talents in 1996’s “The Nutty Professor.”

The 63-year-old star's resume is too lengthy and diverse to summarize. Suffice to say, he’s recorded albums as a vocalist, created two classic stand-up specials (“Delirious” and “Raw”), made voicing a donkey cool (“Shrek”), won a Primetime Emmy for his "Saturday Night Live" hosting return, was given the Mark Twain Prize for humor , and is the proud father of 10 children.

Judge Reinhold

Reinhold, 67, rocketed to fame on the heels of his likable if befuddled police officer in “Beverly Hills Cop,” boasting a pal-next-door appeal that would later be claimed by actors such as Jason Segel. While Reinhold tried to parlay that success into leading roles, his movie “Vice Versa” was a flop . Reinhold returned to his supporting role niche, both in the “Cop” sequels and the Tim Allen star vehicle series “The Santa Clause.”

Many TV fans may best know Reinhold for his 1994 Emmy-nominated “Seinfeld” stint, in which he played a “close talker” (someone who stands uncomfortably close during a conversation) who develops an unnatural affection for Jerry’s parents.

John Ashton

Ashton, 76, was another working actor whose role in “Beverly Hills Cop” made him suddenly recognizable. But nevertheless, his bread and butter would remain character roles in a long string of movies and TV shows over the subsequent decades.

While his most high-profile non-Taggart role was that of a rival bounty hunter in the cult classic movie “Midnight Run,” Ashton spent nearly 40 years, from 1974 to 2012, appearing in countless TV series, including “Kojak,” “Wonder Woman,” “M*A*S*H,” “Dallas” and “Law & Order: SVU.”

Bronson Pinchot

Pinchot, 65, made a name for himself shortly out of Yale, the year before “Cop” came out, when he appeared in the Tom Cruise classic “Risky Business.” His performance as the outrageous and wildly accented art dealer in “Cop” then led to memorable appearances in movies such as “After Hours,” “True Romance” and “The First Wives Club.”

While he has largely been away from Tinseltown’s spotlight in the past decades, Pinchot has made a name for himself as an audiobook narrator, with some 400 plus titles to his credit so far, ranging from Flannery O’Connor novels to the “Memoirs of General William T. Sherman.”

Paul Reiser

Reiser, 68, is another actor who before “Cop” appeared in a now-classic film, 1982’s “Diner.” His success in Murphy’s cop comedy eventually led to NBC greenlighting a sitcom Reiser co-created, “Mad About You” (1992 to 1999), in which he co-starred with Helen Hunt as his onscreen wife. While that series won a host of awards, 2011’s “The Paul Reiser Show” lasted but a few episodes.

Reiser is less known for his considerable musical skills. He co-composed the theme song for “Mad About You,” and has collaborated with singers such as Melissa Manchester. His early forays as a musical act eventually bombed enough for him to turn to stand-up comedy.

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‘Mother, Couch’ Review: The Family That Stays Together

A stubborn matriarch played by Ellen Burstyn lodges in a furniture store and wages emotional warfare with her adult children.

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By Glenn Kenny

In a furniture store devoid of customers, an elderly matriarch, referred to only as “Mother” and played by Ellen Burstyn, has settled on a couch. That is, she’s really settled on a couch. She’s sitting on it and refusing to budge. She promises that if anyone tries to move or carry her off the couch, she will struggle to the extent that, “I will fall and hit my head so hard it will burst.”

No one in “Mother, Couch” is inordinately pragmatic, or else this movie, written and directed by Niclas Larsson, adapted from a novel by Jerker Virdborg, would be much shorter. Granted, Burstyn’s character, first seen in black wraparound sunglasses and sporting a helmet-like flip hairdo, is a formidable figure. And stranding her multi-accented adult children (it’s explained, weakly) in the store with her over a few days is one way to effect yet another cinematic contemplation on Why Families Are Dysfunctional.

Mother’s children are Ewan McGregor’s David, buttoned-down and flying apart; Rhys Ifans’s Gruffudd, medium shambolic by default; and Lara Flynn Boyle’s Linda, snarling and swearing a blue streak.

Apple, meet tree: Mother is stubborn, and frankly mean, albeit more formal in her language. “I never wanted any children, David,” she practically snarls after having given this son a nasty cut on the palm that won’t heal. Hey! Symbolism! Or, one should say, another bit of symbolism.

While the film’s premise may suggest black comedy (and the sometimes fake-jaunty, fake-portentous score by Christopher Bear underscores that idea), Burstyn’s character, which the actor plays with her customary expertise, is so utterly disagreeable that viewing the picture is a mostly anxious experience with not much of a reward at the end, which shifts to magic realist mode for lack of anywhere better to go.

Mother Couch Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes. In theaters.

‘Boneyard’ Review: There Isn’t Nearly Enough for Mel Gibson or 50 Cent to Do in Clunky Serial Killer Thriller

A real-life serial killing spree makes for mediocre pulp fiction in Asif Akbar’s exploitative take on the West Mesa Murders.

By Dennis Harvey

Dennis Harvey

Film Critic

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You might expect a film that begins with Mel Gibson announcing, “The Bible says we should rejoice in our suffering,” to be a little more high-minded than “ Boneyard .” But this trashy trawl through a fictionalized version of the “West Mesa Murders” — a still-unsolved southwestern crime spree in our century’s early years — is the kind of dubiously moralizing exploitation exercise that makes “Sound of Freedom” look like a noble class act by comparison. 

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Fitting that profile precisely is heavyset, bespectacled loner Caesar (Weston Cage Coppola), whom we see lurking ominously in the vicinity of various young women, “pros” and otherwise. But then suspicion also falls on Officer Tate (Michael Sirow), known as “the sleaziest cop on the beat,” who’s known to have had questionable exchanges with nearly all the late victims — as well as possibly drug cartels, human traffickers, etc. 

Mostly kept on the narrative margins — though he frequently windbags hard-boiled philosophical nuggets in voiceover narration — Petrovick tries to center himself by telling us, “This case was … personal.” He’d lost a daughter to a drive-by shooting some years earlier. But then this is the kind of cliché-riddled enterprise in which it’s “personal” for everybody , as nearly all the principal figures have some contrived backstory of similar tragic loss. The script’s jumble of subplots, flashbacks and digressions has scant binding structural integrity. It seems more focused on giving each featured player a Big Scene of crying or violent hysteria — even if their part is so brief, it gets practically nothing else. 

Prolific writer-director-producer Akbar, who’s had his name on a couple dozen under-the-radar films in the last few years, does not demonstrate much aptitude for handling actors. So the cast is pretty much left to its own devices, to wildly uneven effect. Gibson, co-writer-producer Vincent E. McDaniel (as Tate’s narcotics department superior) and several others maintain some degree of dignity and credibility. Zehetner and Van Holt’s teaming is defeated by poor writing, while those playing villainous roles are given way too much leeway to ham it up. A few participants seem completely hapless — perhaps the most conspicuous and bewildering among them being Jackson, who’s done way too much screen work in the 20 years since “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” to excuse a turn this stilted. 

Though kept watchable by Joshua Reis’ cinematography and R.J. Cooper’s editorial pace, “Boneyard” lacks momentum, tension and atmosphere — it has the approximate texture of a TV procedural episode, complete with faux-urgent shaky cam. Portentous percussive thumps from Andrew Morgan Smith’s original score only underline those lacks.

It’s perhaps a blessing that there are relatively few actual murder scenes, as Akbar mostly cuts from women getting into strangers’ cars to the assassin’s shovel digging graves. But while the actresses playing prostitutes or other prey here generally succeed in lending their roles some sympathy, the film lacks the expertise to actually generate a sense of mortal peril. It ends with a dedication “to victims of the West Mesa Murders,” yet leaves you with the tainted feeling that those unfortunate young women have simply been ill-used once again, by a B-movie that doesn’t even do them the favor of being good. 

Reviewed online, June 29, 2024. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 97 MIN.

• Production: A Lionsgate release of a Flix Financial production, in association with The Film Post, Dream Syndicate, Dream Team Prods., Busy Day Prods., Tetrad Studios, 120dB Films, Filmlens, One Dollar Studios. Producers: Colin Bates, Asif Akbar, Vincent E. McDaniel, Tamas Nadas, Marc Danon, Roy Scott MacFarland. Executive producers: Randall J. Bacon, Danny R. Carmona, Joseph Lanius, Dean Scheske, Paul Gneco, Niten Ved, Stephen Hays, Peter Graham, Samuel A. Levine, Ford Corbett, Ron Weisberg, Anovath Airr Phanthip, Zueli Zhang, Lance Kawas, Fadi Assaf, RJ Collins, Daniel Schultejann, Alexandra Schultejann. Co-producers, John Henry, Justin Griffin, Philip Tan, JJ Rogers, Jon Keeyes, Mandi Murro.
• Crew: Director: Asif Akbar. Screenplay: Vincent E. McDaniel, Asif Akbar, Hank Byrd, Koji Steven Sakai. Camera: Joshua Reis. Editor: R.J. Cooper. Music: Andrew Morgan Smith.
• With: Mel Gibson, Brian Van Holt, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Nora Zehetner, Michael Sirow, Weston Cage Coppola, Gail O’Grady, Gabrielle Haugh, Courtney Akbar, Kesia Elwin, Camille Collard, Jay Hieron, Vincent E. McDaniel.

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