Great Films (1930-1939)
This is a personal list of my favorite films.
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- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsCharles FarrellMary DuncanDavid TorrenceA Chicago waitress falls in love with a Minnesota farmer, and decides to face a life in the country.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsAlbert PréjeanPola IlléryEdmond T. GrévilleAlbert is smitten for Pola but ends up wrongly committed in jail, in the meantime her affections are sought after by his friend, and on his release both love and friendship must be tested.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsJeanette MacDonaldJack BuchananClaud AllisterA countess flees to Monte Carlo on the day of her wedding, where she is courted by a count posing as a hairdresser.
- DirectorVictor HeermanStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxMayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.
- DirectorHarry d'Abbadie d'ArrastStarsNancy CarrollFredric MarchFrank MorganA former chorus girl weds a millionaire after the composer she loves leaves. Meanwhile, she strings along an artist in love with her. When the composer returns, she struggles with her needs for security vs love. High jinks and drama ensue.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.
- DirectorRaoul WalshLouis R. LoefflerStarsJohn WayneMarguerite ChurchillEl BrendelBreck Coleman leads hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.
- DirectorTay GarnettStarsHelen TwelvetreesPhillips HolmesMarjorie RambeauA Havana bar girl with a tough "protector" falls for a young sailor.
- DirectorAleksandr DovzhenkoStarsStepan ShkuratSemyon SvashenkoYuliya SolntsevaIn the peaceful countryside, Vassily opposes the rich kulaks over the coming of collective farming.
- DirectorIrene StarewiczWladyslaw StarewiczStarsClaude DauphinRomain BouquetSylvain ItkineWhen Renard the Fox's mischievous pranks go too far, King Lion is forced to attempt to bring the trickster to justice.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGary CooperMarlene DietrichAdolphe MenjouA cabaret singer and a Legionnaire fall in love, but their relationship is complicated by the results of his womanizing and the appearance of a rich man who wants her for himself.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsGaston ModotLya LysCaridad de LaberdesqueA surrealist tale of a man and a woman who are passionately in love with each other, but their attempts to consummate that passion are constantly thwarted by their families, the Church, and bourgeois society.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinVirginia CherrillFlorence LeeWith the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichVictor McLaglenGustav von SeyffertitzThe Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
- DirectorErik CharellStarsLilian HarveyWilly FritschOtto WallburgVienna glove-sales-lady Christl falls in love to Czar Alexander. Metternich tries to use this to keep him out of the conferences of the Vienna Congress from 1815.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsRudolf ForsterLotte LenyaCarola NeherThe Gangster Macheath secretly marries the daughter of beggar king Peachum. When Peachum finds out, he instructs the police chief Brown to arrest and hang Macheath. If not, all the beggars of Soho will disturb the upcoming coronation.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTokihiko OkadaEmiko YagumoHideo SugawaraA married Tokyo man faces unemployment after standing up for an older colleague.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsWallace BeeryJackie CooperIrene RichAn alcoholic ex-boxer struggles to provide a good living for his son.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsAnnabellaRené LefèvreJean-Louis AllibertAn impoverished painter and his rival engage in a race across Paris to recover a jacket concealing a winning lottery ticket.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMaurice ChevalierClaudette ColbertMiriam HopkinsAn amorous lieutenant is forced to marry a socially awkward princess, though he tries to keep his violin-playing girlfriend on the side.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxThe Marx BrothersOn a transatlantic crossing, The Marx Brothers get up to their usual antics and manage to annoy just about everyone on board the ship.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsJames CagneyJoan BlondellLouis CalhernThe adventures of an egoistic con man and his glamorous accomplice.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsMae ClarkeDouglass MontgomeryDoris LloydA prostitute's self-loathing makes her reluctant to marry an idealistic soldier during World War I.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsLionel BarrymoreNancy CarrollPhillips HolmesFrench soldier travels to Germany to find a family of a man he killed during World War I.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsMarlene DietrichClive BrookAnna May WongA notorious woman rides a train through a dangerous situation with a British captain she loved.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinMarius is faced with a choice whether to fulfill his passion by sailing the seas or stay and marry the woman he loves.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
- DirectorGeorge CukorErnst LubitschStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldGenevieve TobinAn unhappily married couple try to come between a happy one.
- DirectorHoward HawksRichard RossonStarsPaul MuniAnn DvorakKaren MorleyAn ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyDinahLike the legendary Sisyphus, deliverymen Laurel and Hardy struggle to push a large crated piano up a seemingly insurmountable flight of stairs.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPierre RenoirGeorges TérofWinna WinifriedInspector Maigret investigates the mysterious murder of a Dutch diamond dealer, found dead in a stolen car. The car belongs to an insurance agent, Michonnet, and has been abandoned in the garage belonging to Carl Andersen.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsJulian WestMaurice SchutzRena MandelA drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsJack OakieW.C. FieldsAndy ClydeA small country on the verge of bankruptcy is persuaded to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a means of raising money.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxQuincy Adams Wagstaff, Huxley University's new president, accidentally hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against their rival, Darwin University.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldCharles RugglesA Parisian tailor finds himself posing as a baron in order to collect a sizeable bill from an aristocrat, only to fall in love with an aloof young princess.
- DirectorIrving PichelErnest B. SchoedsackStarsJoel McCreaFay WrayLeslie BanksA psychotic big game hunter deliberately strands a luxury yacht on a remote island, where he begins to hunt its passengers for sport.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsBoris KarloffMelvyn DouglasCharles LaughtonSeeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when they stumble upon the Femm family estate.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMiriam HopkinsKay FrancisHerbert MarshallA gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket join forces to con a beautiful perfume company owner. Romantic entanglements and jealousies confuse the scheme.
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsWalter HustonHarry CareyRaymond HattonA lawman sets out to tame Tombstone, Arizona.
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyBobby BurnsAfter a messy house party while his wife is away, Oliver asks Stanley to help him clean up the place, but free help isn't always a bargain.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMichel SimonMarcelle HainiaSévérine LerczinskaA bookseller saves a tramp from drowning and shelters him, but the tramp's odd behavior starts to wear everyone down.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsPaul MuniGlenda FarrellHelen VinsonWrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsSpencer TracyJoan BennettMarion BurnsYoung New York cop Dan falls in love with waterfront waitress Helen. Helen's sister Kate falls for gangster Duke. Dan must do in Duke.
- DirectorAleksandr DovzhenkoStarsK. BondarevskyDmitri GolubinskyElena GolkiA young farmer and his lazy father try to help with the construction of the Dniprohes, but he learns that strength is not enough for a worker and joins the Communist party.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTatsuo SaitôTomio AokiMitsuko YoshikawaTwo young brothers throw a tantrum when they discover that their father isn't the most important man in his workplace.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand CharpinAfter Fanny's boyfriend leaves her and sails away, she finds out she's pregnant.
- DirectorPál FejösStarsAnnabellaIlona DajbukátSteven GerayIt tells the story of Mari, an austerely beautiful young peasant girl played by the French star, Annabella. Mari is seduced beneath a flowering tree by the admirer of one of the daughters of the prosperous family for whom she works, becomes pregnant and is cast out.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsJean HarlowLee TracyFrank MorganA glamorous film star rebels against the studio, her pushy press agent and a family of hangers-on.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanStarsW.C. FieldsRosemary ThebyGeorge ChandlerThe prodigal son of a Yukon prospector comes home on a night that "ain't fit for man nor beast."
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsAl JolsonMadge EvansFrank MorganA New York tramp (Jolson) falls in love with the mayor's amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTakeshi SakamotoNobuko FushimiDen ÔhinataTwo Tokyo co-workers come across a destitute young lady in search of a place to live.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsWarren WilliamJoan BlondellAline MacMahonA wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsWarren WilliamMay RobsonGuy KibbeeA gangster tries to make Apple Annie, the Times Square apple seller, a lady for a day.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsJames CagneyJoan BlondellRuby KeelerChester Kent struggles against time, romance, and a rival's spy to produce spectacular live "prologues" for movie houses.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsSpencer TracyLoretta YoungMarjorie RambeauBill takes Trina into his depression camp cabin. Later, just as he finds showgirl LaRue who will support him, Trina becomes pregnant.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsAbel JacquinAlexandre O'NeillA surrealist film, a pseudo-documentary portrait of Las Hurdes, a remote region of Spain where civilisation has barely developed, showing how the local peasants try to survive without even the most basic utilities and skills.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsFredric MarchGary CooperMiriam HopkinsA woman cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsWolfgang LiebeneinerCarl EsmondMagda SchneiderVienna in the beginning of the twentieth century. Cavalry Lieutenant Fritz Lobheimer is about to end his affair with Baroness Eggerdorff when he meets the young Christine, the daughter of an opera violinist. Baron Eggerdorff however soon hears of his past misfortune...
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsBarbara StanwyckNils AstherToshia MoriA Chinese warlord and an engaged Christian missionary fall in love.
- DirectorJean VigoStarsJean DastéRobert le FlonLouis LefebvreIn a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.
- DirectorReinhold SchünzelStarsRenate MüllerHermann ThimigHilde HildebrandAspiring singer Susanne takes over for ham actor Viktor at a small cabaret in Berlin where he works a woman impersonator and per chance she's discovered by an agent, who thinks that she really is a man. She becomes famous, but her situation becomes troublesome when she falls in love with Robert.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsJames CagneyMary BrianAllen JenkinsSmall time con artist Lefty Merrill has co-organized a crooked dance marathon and set up his girlfriend to win the prize money. When his partner disappears with money before the contest is over, he's forced to come up with a series of cons to help pay it back.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsGreta GarboJohn GilbertIan KeithQueen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsMarie DresslerJohn BarrymoreWallace BeeryAffluent Millicent and Oliver Jordan throw a dinner for a handful of wealthy and/or well-born acquaintances, each of whom has much to reveal.
- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsVincent ScottoHenri PouponAnnie ToinonIn a country town of Provence, a landowner threatens to kill himself after the neighbor he has sold a property to wants to chop down the trees.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeOtto WernickeThomy BourdelleA criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiDavid MannersAmerican honeymooners in Hungary become trapped in the home of a Satan-worshipping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyMaureen O'SullivanFormer detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsKaren MorleyTom KeeneBarbara PepperA group of down-on-their-luck workers combine their abilities to make a Gallafentian-style commune... and bread!
- DirectorJohn FordStarsWill RogersTom BrownAnita LouiseJudge Priest, a proud Confederate veteran, uses common sense and considerable humanity to dispense justice in a small town in the Post-Bellum Kentucky.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTakeshi SakamotoChôko IidaKôji MitsuiA kabuki actor's mistress hatches a jealous plot to bring down her lover's son.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsIsa MirandaMemo BenassiTatyana PavlovaGaby is expelled from school after a married teacher commits suicide after telling her he can't live without her. Though she has done nothing, she is punished for his act.
- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsOrane DemazisFernandelHenri PouponA young and naive peasant girl in Provence, who has been seduced and abandoned, moves to Marseilles and becomes a street-walker after having her baby.
- DirectorGrigoriy AleksandrovStarsLeonid UtyosovLyubov OrlovaMariya StrelkovaA musically talented shepherd gets his big chance when he is mistaken for a famous conductor.
- DirectorDave FleischerSeymour KneitelStarsWilliam CostelloLou FleischerWilliam PennellPopeye and Bluto each wants to save Olive as she sleepwalks onto a construction site. But most of their efforts go into preventing each other from being the hero.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsWallace BeeryJackie CooperLionel BarrymoreYoung Jim Hawkins is torn between his loyalty to his benefactors and his affection for lovable rogue Long John Silver in their struggle to recover a buried pirate treasure.
- DirectorJean VigoStarsDita ParloJean DastéGilles MargaritisNewly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldEdward Everett HortonWhen a small kingdom's main taxpayer leaves for Paris, its king dispatches a dashing count to win back her allegiance.
- DirectorWladyslaw StarewiczStarsWladyslaw StarewiczA stuffed animal goes on a journey through frightening streets to get its kid an orange.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsBoris KarloffElsa LanchesterColin CliveMary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie MannheimA man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsKatharine HepburnFred MacMurrayFred StoneA working-class girl is thwarted and embarrassed in her attempts to move up socially by her gauche family and unstable father.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantBrian AherneWhen her father decides to flee to England, young Sylvia Scarlett must become Sylvester Scarlett and protect her father every step of the way, with the questionable help of plenty others.
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersEdward Everett HortonAn American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandLionel AtwillAfter treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.
- DirectorSam WoodEdmund GouldingStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA sly business manager and the wacky friends of two opera singers in Italy help them achieve success in America while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTakeshi SakamotoYoshiko OkadaChôko IidaUnemployed Kihachi and his two sons struggle to make ends meet. But that doesn't keep Kihachi from wooing single mother Otaka.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsCharles BlavetteCelia MontalvánJenny HéliaIn the 1920s, the Provence is a magnet for immigrants seeking work in the quarries or in agriculture. Many mingle with locals and settle down permanently - like Toni, an Italian who has moved in with Marie, a Frenchwoman. Even a well-ordered existence is not immune from boredom, friendship, love, or enmity, and Toni gets entangled in a web of increasingly passionate relationships. For there is his best pal Fernand, but also Albert, his overbearing foreman; there is Sebastian, a steady Spanish peasant, but also Gabi, his young rogue relative; there is Marie, but there is also Josefa.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry BergmanThe Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsMarlene DietrichGary CooperJohn HallidayAn automotive engineer bound for a holiday in Spain meets a sultry jewel thief.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperJean ArthurGeorge BancroftA unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.
- DirectorBoris BarnetSamad MardanovStarsYelena KuzminaLev SverdlinNikolay KryuchkovTwo best friends shipwreck on an island in the Caspian Sea and fall in love with the same woman while helping the villagers of their new home.By the Bluest of Seas
- DirectorFritz LangStarsSylvia SidneySpencer TracyWalter AbelWhen a wrongly-accused prisoner barely survives a lynch-mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLionel BarrymoreMaureen O'SullivanFrank LawtonAn escaped convict uses miniaturized humans to wreak vengeance on those who framed him.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersVictor MooreRoguish gambler/dancer "Lucky" Garnett is challenged by his fiance's father to come up with $25,000 to prove he's worthy of her hand. But after he falls in love with a dance instructor, Lucky'll do anything to keep from earning the bucks.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsWilly BirgelLil DagoverMária Tasnádi FeketeA young, impoverished German woman named Hanna (Maria von Tasnady) gives her infant up for adoption and emigrates to American to live with her husband. When her husband commits suicide, Hanna returns to Germany and works her way into becoming the live-in maid and nurse to her child being raised by an orchestra conductor and his wife.