Best Movies of the 1930s
Including many of the lower budget B movies as well as the more well known classics.
Starting with the 1930's , there's a list for each decade. I'll sprinkle in just a few 1920s releases onto this list as I am not a silent film expert to do a seperate list for those. And I'll only sprinkle in a few foreign language movies onto this and the other lists as I'm no expert on those either. The goal is to give a flavor of the time as best as possible given that most of us weren't around then.
Starting with the 1930's , there's a list for each decade. I'll sprinkle in just a few 1920s releases onto this list as I am not a silent film expert to do a seperate list for those. And I'll only sprinkle in a few foreign language movies onto this and the other lists as I'm no expert on those either. The goal is to give a flavor of the time as best as possible given that most of us weren't around then.
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- DirectorsMichael CurtizWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandBasil RathboneWhen Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.#1
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsJean HarlowWilliam PowellMyrna LoyWhen a socialite sues a big paper for libel, the editor responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée and a former employee to frame her and make the false story seem true.
- DirectorsTod BrowningKarl FreundStarsBela LugosiHelen ChandlerDavid MannersTransylvanian 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.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles RugglesWhile 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.
- 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.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyCharley ChaseWhen Stan and Ollie trick their wives into thinking that they are taking a medicinal cruise while they're actually going to a convention, the wives find out the truth the hard way.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMargaret LockwoodMichael RedgravePaul LukasWhile travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.
- 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.
- DirectorKarl FreundStarsBoris KarloffZita JohannDavid MannersA resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyFlorence RiceTwo sisters of differing temperaments, the younger's milquetoast fiancé, and a free-spirited artist in an auto trailer are all experiencing romantic complications.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA veterinarian posing as a doctor teams with a singer and his friends as they struggle to save an upstate New York sanitarium with the help of a misfit racehorse.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsStan LaurelOliver HardySharon LynnStan and Ollie are enlisted to deliver the deed to a valuable gold mine to its rightful owner, but they soon discover that the task is not as easy as it looks.
- 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.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsW.C. FieldsKathleen HowardJean RouverolA henpecked New Jersey grocer makes plans to move to California to grow oranges, despite the resistance of his overbearing wife.
- DirectorsMerian 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.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsSylvia SidneyOscar HomolkaDesmond TesterA Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
- DirectorsCedric GibbonsJames C. McKayJack ConwayStarsJohnny WeissmullerMaureen O'SullivanNeil HamiltonThe idyllic life of Tarzan and Jane is challenged by men on safari who come seeking ivory, and come seeking Jane as well.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsCary GrantConstance BennettRoland YoungA fun-loving couple, finding that they died and are now ghosts, decide to shake up the stuffy lifestyle of a friend of theirs.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLeslie BanksEdna BestPeter LorreAn ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsIrene DunneCary GrantRalph BellamyA married couple files an amicable divorce, but find letting go of each other harder than they originally thought.
