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Best of 1915-1949

by Miller95610 • Created 12 years ago • Modified 12 years ago
Part 1: Pre-1950. Out of the 150+ movies I've seen made before 1950, these are my absolute favorites!
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  • 39 titles
  • Buster Keaton, Buster Keaton Jr., Joe Keaton, and Natalie Talmadge in Our Hospitality (1923)

    1. Our Hospitality

    19231h 5mPassed
    7.7 (13K)
    A man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.
    DirectorsJohn G. BlystoneBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonNatalie TalmadgeJoe Keaton
    My first Buster Keaton film, and easily my favorite. He was a genius! This is silly and simple. The 'rubber' train tracks are awesome. Apparently, both Buster's real father and son are in this one.
  • Buster Keaton in The General (1926)

    2. The General

    19261h 18mPassed
    8.1 (104K)
    After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
    DirectorsClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen Cavender
  • All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

    3. All Quiet on the Western Front

    19302h 32mApproved91Metascore
    8.1 (70K)
    A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
    DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn Wray
    This has it all; the trenches, the machine guns, and that butterfly at the end!
  • Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931)

    4. Dracula

    19311h 15mPassed71Metascore
    7.3 (62K)
    Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.
    DirectorsTod BrowningKarl FreundStarsBela LugosiHelen ChandlerDavid Manners
    The ruined castle is spectacular! Reinfield is spectacular!
  • M (1931)

    5. M

    19311h 39mPassed
    8.3 (178K)
    When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
    DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge Landgut
    This is a perfect movie! One of my all time favorites! What, you've never heard of this one?! Peter Lorre is as creepy as they get. The criminal underworld make this movie unforgettable. It's available for free right now on YouTube. Watch it.
  • Marius (1931)

    6. Marius

    19312h 10mNot Rated
    7.8 (2.8K)
    Marius is faced with a choice whether to fulfill his passion by sailing the seas or stay and marry the woman he loves.
    DirectorAlexander KordaStarsRaimuPierre FresnayFernand Charpin
    The first of the Marius, Fanny, and Cesar trilogy. Chez Panisse is named after one of the many unforgettable characters in this story. In Marius, does he choose Fanny, or the sea?
  • 7. Fanny

    19331h 36m
    6.9 (20)
    Italian version of Marcel Pagnol's play, Fanny, in which the pregnant lover of a sailor marries another, older man she doesn't really love, while the father is away.
    DirectorMario AlmiranteStarsDria PaolaAlfredo De SanctisMino Doro
    Second of the Marius, Fanny, Cesar trilogy. Panisse is one of those unforgettable characters in movies!
  • Warner Baxter, George Brent, Bebe Daniels, Allen Jenkins, Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Una Merkel, Ned Sparks, and George E. Stone in 42nd Street (1933)

    8. 42nd Street

    19331h 29mApproved83Metascore
    7.3 (14K)
    When the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.
    DirectorLloyd BaconStarsWarner BaxterBebe DanielsGeorge Brent
    Far better than I thought this would be! I didn't think I'd love this one. The business behind Broadway. Just brilliant. Go see the musical when it comes to your town.
  • John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Billie Burke, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Edmund Lowe, and Lee Tracy in Dinner at Eight (1933)

    9. Dinner at Eight

    19331h 51mApproved
    7.5 (9.5K)
    As an aspiring New York socialite prepares for a lavish dinner party, her guests find themselves consumed by a tangle of business, romantic, and personal crises - all of which come to a head on the big night.
    DirectorGeorge CukorStarsMarie DresslerJohn BarrymoreWallace Beery
    So many great characters. Marie Dressler is my favorite, playing the aging star.
  • Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night (1934)

    10. It Happened One Night

    19341h 45mApproved87Metascore
    8.1 (117K)
    A rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
    DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter Connolly
    Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are fantastic in this one. Another one I didn't think I'd end up loving!
  • 1 sheet 27 x 41

    11. The 39 Steps

    19351h 26mApproved93Metascore
    7.6 (64K)
    A 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.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie Mannheim
    What a fun Hitchcock spy thriller! With handcuffs!
  • Les Misérables (1934)

    12. Les Misérables

    19344h 41mNot Rated
    8.3 (2.1K)
    The lives of numerous people over the course of 20 years in 19th century France, weaved together by the story of an ex-convict named Jean Valjean on the run from an obsessive police inspector, who pursues him for only a minor offense.
    DirectorRaymond BernardStarsHarry BaurCharles VanelPaul Azaïs
    This movie was where I saw my now favorite actor for the 1st time. Charles Laughton plays Javert in this with a tough exterior and an ever-present fragility... I love the 2012 movie musical, but I watch this one for the story.
  • Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

    13. Ruggles of Red Gap

    19351h 30mApproved
    7.6 (4.7K)
    An English valet brought to the American west assimilates into the American way of life.
    DirectorLeo McCareyStarsCharles LaughtonMary BolandCharles Ruggles
    Charles Laughton again. Have I mentioned that he is my favorite actor of all time? Even the over-the-top recital of the Gettysberg Address is so moving coming from him!
  • César (1936)

    14. César

    19362h 48mNot Rated
    7.6 (1.8K)
    Honoré Panisse is dying, cheerfully, with friends, wife, and son at his side. He confesses to the priest in front of his friends; he insists that the doctor be truthful. But, he cannot bring himself to tell his son Cesariot that his real father is Marius, the absent son of César, Cesariot's godfather. Panisse leaves that to Fanny, the lad's mother. Dissembling that he's off to see a friend, Cesariot then seeks Marius, now a mechanic in Toulon. Posing as a journalist, Cesariot spends time with Marius and leaves believing tales he is a petty thief. Only after the truth comes out can Marius, Fanny, César, and Cesariot step beyond the falsehoods, benign though they may be.
    DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsRaimuPierre FresnayOrane Demazis
    Final movie in the Marius, Fanny, Cesar trilogy. Where Marius meets little Cesariot.
  • Charles Chaplin in Modern Times (1936)

    15. Modern Times

    19361h 27mG96Metascore
    8.5 (275K)
    The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
    DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry Bergman
    I did not want to like Chaplin. I am a Keaton fan. But I admit to his genius in this one. The rollerskating scene is just perfect.
  • Carole Lombard and William Powell in My Man Godfrey (1936)

    16. My Man Godfrey

    19361h 34mApproved82Metascore
    7.9 (28K)
    A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.
    DirectorGregory La CavaStarsWilliam PowellCarole LombardAlice Brady
    William Powell as the butler! It was fascinating to watch Hollywood take on the Great Depression.
  • Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, and Freddie Bartholomew in Captains Courageous (1937)

    17. Captains Courageous

    19371h 57mApproved81Metascore
    7.9 (12K)
    A spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.
    DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyFreddie BartholomewLionel Barrymore
    I get choked up just thinking about this one again. Dammit.
  • Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby (1938)

    18. Bringing Up Baby

    19381h 42mApproved91Metascore
    7.8 (69K)
    While trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.
    DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles Ruggles
    A perfect movie. One of the all-time greats that should be in everyone's top-10. Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Baby, Charles Ruggles...
  • Gunga Din (1939)

    19. Gunga Din

    19391h 57mApproved
    7.2 (13K)
    In 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
    DirectorGeorge StevensStarsCary GrantJoan FontaineVictor McLaglen
    Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Victor McLaglen all called each other by their character names from this one for the rest of their lives. Now I see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in a totally different light.
  • Lon Chaney Jr., Betty Field, and Burgess Meredith in Of Mice and Men (1939)

    20. Of Mice and Men

    19391h 46mApproved89Metascore
    7.8 (7.3K)
    A mentally disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America.
    DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLon Chaney Jr.Burgess MeredithBetty Field
    Ohhh...makes me cry every damned time.
  • Stagecoach (1939)

    21. Stagecoach

    19391h 36mApproved93Metascore
    7.8 (57K)
    A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
    DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneClaire TrevorAndy Devine
    I did not want to like John Wayne. I actually don't like other Wayne movies. But this one is a classic with the greatest characters. And Wayne isn't deeply irritating in this one like he is in say 'McLintock' 1963.
  • Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday (1940)

    22. His Girl Friday

    19401h 32mApproved
    7.8 (66K)
    When a newspaper editor's ace reporter ex-wife is about to quit her job and remarry, he buys himself time to win her back by promising her an exclusive interview with a death row convict.
    DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantRosalind RussellRalph Bellamy
    What a great screwball comedy!
  • Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor in The Maltese Falcon (1941)

    23. The Maltese Falcon

    19411h 40mApproved97Metascore
    7.9 (172K)
    San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
    DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorGladys George
    I remember when I realized that two characters were called 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy' and I made the atomic bomb connection. A great noir film! Much, much, much better than 'The Big Sleep' 1946 - which was cool but made no sense whatsoever.
  • Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)

    24. The Philadelphia Story

    19401h 52mApproved96Metascore
    7.8 (77K)
    After a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
    DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCary GrantKatharine HepburnJames Stewart
    Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart?! All together, that's brilliant.
  • Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)

    25. Rebecca

    19402h 10mApproved86Metascore
    8.1 (160K)
    A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
    DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge Sanders
    Creepy Hitchcock movie.

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