| 1. The Rules of the Game- Renoir |
| 2. City Lights- Chaplin |
| 3. M- Lang |
| 4. Gone With the Wind- Fleming |
| 5. Stagecoach- Ford |
| 6. The Blue Angel- von Sternberg |
| 7. The Wizard of Oz- Fleming |
| 8. The Grand Illusion- Renoir |
| 9. Bringing Up Baby- Hawks |
| 10. Modern Times- Chaplin |
| 11. The Scarlett Express- von Sternberg |
| 12. It Happened One Night- Capra |
| 13. Love Me Tonight- Mamoulian |
| 14. Morocco- von Sternberg |
| 15. The Bride of Frankenstein- Whale |
| 16. The Crime of Monsieur Lange- Renoir |
| 17. La Bête Humaine- Renoir |
| 18. La Chienne- Renoir |
| 19. Le Million- Clair |
| 20. L’Atalante – Vigo |
| 21. The 39 Steps- Hitchcock |
| 22. A Story of Floating Weeds- Ozu |
| 23. Duck Soup- McCarey |
| 24. Trouble in Paradise- Lubitsch |
| 25. Vampyr- Dreyer |
| 26. King Kong- Cooper |
| 27. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum – Mizoguchi |
| 28. The 3 Penny Opera- Pabst |
| 29. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington- Capra |
| 30. Gunga Din- Stevens |
| 31. The Roaring Twenties- Walsh |
| 32. Frankenstein- Whale |
| 33. Le Jour Se Leve- Carne |
| 34. Island of Lost Souls- Kenton |
| 35. All Quiet on the Western Front- Milestone |
| 36. Alexander Nevsky- Eisenstein |
| 37. The Awful Truth- McCarey |
| 38. Stella Dallas- Vidor |
| 39. Captains Courageous – Fleming |
| 40. Only Angels Have Wings- Hawks |
| 41. Scarface- Hawks |
| 42. A Day in the Country- Renoir |
| 43. Osaka Elegy- Mizoguchi |
| 44. A Night at the Opera- Wood |
| 45. Freaks- Browning |
| 46. Murder! – Hitchcock |
| 47. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse- Lang |
| 48. Port of Shadows- Carne |
| 49. Kameradschaft- Pabst |
| 50. The Adventures of Robin Hood- Curtiz |
| 51. The Lady Vanishes- Hitchcock |
| 52. Pépé le Moko- Duvivier |
| 53. Dodsworth- Wyler |
| 54. Ninotchka- Lubitsch |
| 55. Young Mr. Lincoln- Ford |
| 56. 42nd Street- Bacon |
| 57. Lost Horizon- Capra |
| 58. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs- Sharpsteen |
| 59. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang- LeRoy |
| 60. Footlight Parade- Bacon |
| 61. Hell’s Angels- Hughes |
| 62. Wuthering Heights- Wyler |
| 63. Zero for Conduct- Vigo |
| 64. Under the Roofs of Paris- Clair |
| 65. Sisters of the Gion- Mizoguchi |
| 66. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town- Capra |
| 67. Shanghai Express- von Sternberg |
| 68. Top Hat- Sandrich |
| 69. Captain Blood- Curtiz |
| 70. Mutiny on the Bounty- Lloyd |
| 71. The Informer- Ford |
| 72. The Hurricane- Ford |
| 73. You Only Live Once- Lang |
| 74. Holiday- Cukor |
| 75. L’Age d’Or- Bunuel |
| 76. Four Feathers- Korda |
| 77. Gold Diggers of 1933- LeRoy |
| 78. The Thin Man- Van Dyke |
| 79. The Black Cat- Ulmer |
| 80. Jezebel- Wyler |
| 81. You Can’t Take it With You- Capra |
| 82. Dodge City- Curtiz |
| 83. The Public Enemy- Wellman |
| 84. Grand Hotel- Goulding |
| 85. Liebelei- Ophuls |
| 86. À Nous la Liberté- Clair |
| 87. Swing Time- Stevens |
| 88. Show Boat- Whale |
| 89. Manhattan Melodrama- Van Dyke |
| 90. Boudu Saved from Drowning- Renoir |
| 91. Test Pilot- Fleming |
| 92. Goodbye, Mr. Chips- Wood |
| 93. Man’s Castle- Borzage |
| 94. San Francisco- Van Dyke |
| 95. Peter Ibbetson- Hathaway |
| 96. Ruggles of Red Gap- McCarey |
| 97. A Farewell to Arms- Borzage |
| 98. I Was Born, But… – Ozu |
| 99. The Lost Patrol- Ford |
| 100. The Invisible Man- Whale |
1. The Rules of the Game
2. L’Atalante
3. M
4. City Lights
5. The Wizard of Oz
6. La Grande Illusion
7. Modern Times
8. Bringing Up Baby
9. Gone With the Wind
10. Stagecoach
Thanks Leo– I owe all of Vigo’s work (wouldn’t take long to do another study so i’ll plan it soon) another look. It’s been 10 years.
Please do a review of wizard of oz. My number 2 film after raging bull and after a recent rewatch not sure it shouldn’t be 1.
@ M– thanks for the comment/request. I really want to– it’s been a few years so I’m overdue
Most apparitions in the « Best Performances of the Year » category, in the 30’s :
Clark Gable (2) :
} 1# en 1934.
} 1# en 1939.
Cary Grant (2) :
} 1# en 1937.
} 1# en 1938.
Charlie Chaplin (2) :
} 3# en 1931.
} 1# en 1936.
Peter Loore (1) :
} 1# en 1931.
Paul Muni (1) :
} 1# en 1932.
Groucho Marx (1) :
} 1# en 1933.
Victor McLagen (1) :
} 1# en 1935.
Edward G. Robinson (1) :
} 2# en 1930.
James Cagney (1) :
} 2# en 1931.
Maurice Chevalier (1) :
} 2# en 1932.
Errol Flynn (1) :
} 2# en 1935.
Walter Huston (1) :
} 2# en 1936.
Spencer Tracy (1) :
} 2# en 1937.
James Stewart (1) :
} 2# en 1939.
Emil Jannings (1) :
} 3# en 1930.
Charles Laughton (1) :
} 3# en 1935.
Gary Cooper (1) :
} 3# en 1936.
Erich Von Stroheim (1) :
} 3# en 1937.
Jean Gabin (1) :
} 3# en 1937.
Marcel Dalio (1) :
} 3# en 1937.
John Wayne (1) :
} 3# en 1939.
Michel Simon (1) :
} 4# en 1931.
Laurence Olivier (1) :
} 4# en 1939.
City Lights would be my number 1. What a phenomenal film. An almost perfect ending. the perfect ‘dramedy’ / ‘rom-com’ . What would some of your favorite film endings be?
@Azman— certainly a worthy choice for your #1. Thanks for sharing. Favorite endings…. good question. So with Chaplin you got me thinking about the final shot of Modern Times with Chaplin walking off into the sunset—- pretty tough to top that one… the freeze frame endings of the 400 blows and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid—the cyclone coming at the end of a Serious Man from the Coen brothers…the shot at the funeral of the third man (which the departed payed homage to)….ozu has a ton– an autumn afternoon has a great shot…. the graduate…before sunset… the twin endings of the master and there will be blood…chinatown… call me by your name is a great recent one… and then again I have to go back to the final shot of both The Searchers and Tarkovsky’s Nostalgia
I agree with Chinatown and the godfather and 3rd man. I haven’t seen the other ones. Speaking of ozu, late spring has such a simple, serene ending but my favorite ending of all time has to be the grand finale of 2001:a space odyssey. The music is sublime and then the blue danube plays over the end credits, simply brilliant. My favorite movie of all time.
@Azman– can’t argue that. It is a brilliant ending– one of the best— agree with you.
The final shot-reverse-shot culminating in the door being closed on Kay Corleone at the end of The Godfather. It’s the shot-reverse-shot equivalent to the final The Searchers shot.
@ Matt Harris— Yes— great addition-thank you…. 2019 had some great final images/shots including the doors opening in The Souvenir, the dissolve on Florence Pugh’s face for Midsommar (which makes me think of the dissolve on Olivia Colman’s face with the bunnies in The Favourite” in 2018) but my single favorite ending of 2019 is for sure the final image of De Niro asking the priest to keep the door open and the perfect frame in The Irishman here http://thecinemaarchives.com/2020/01/14/2019/
I finished my 1930s study- it took a bit longer than I expected (because it was exam season, I am 16 years old so school is still priority number one).
Together with my top 100 of the decade, I added a top 20 best performances, performers and top 15 directors, now I am already excited for 1940s.
1.The Rules of the Game (1939- Renoir, MP)
2.Gone with the Wind (1939- Fleming, MP)
3.M (1931- Lang, MP)
4.City Lights (1931- Chaplin, MP)
5.The Wizard of Oz (1939- Fleming, MP)
6.The Blue Angel (1930- von Sternberg, MP)
7.Grand Illusion (1937- Renoir, MP)
8.Stagecoach (1939- Ford, MP)
9.The Scarlet Empress (1934- von Sternberg, MP)
10.Modern Times (1936- Chaplin, MP)
11.It Happened One Night (1934- Capra, MP)
12.L`Atalante (1934- Vigo, MP)
13.Bringing Up Baby (1938- Hawks, MP)
14.The Bride of Frankenstein (1935- Whale, MP)
15.All Quiet on Western Front (1930- Milestone, MS/MP)
16.Morocco (1930- von Sternberg, MS/MP)
17.The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939- Mizoguchi, MS/MP)
18.The 3 Penny Opera (1931- Pabst, MS/MP)
19.Le Million (1931- Clair, MS/MP)
20.Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932- Hawks, MS)
21.Love Me Tonight (1932- Mamoulian, MS)
22.The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1932- Renoir, MS)
23.La Chienne (1932- Renoir, MS)
24.Trouble in Paradise (1932- Lubitsch, MS)
25.Vampyr (1932- Dreyer, MS)
26.The 39 Steps (1935- Hitchcock, MS)
27.King Kong (1933- C. Cooper & Schoedschack, MS)
28.Osaka Elegy (1936- Mizoguchi, MS)
29.Duck Soup (1933- McCarey, MS)
30.Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939- Capra, MS)
31.Alexander Nevsky (1938- Eisenstein, MS)
32.La signora di tutti (1934- Öphuls, MS)
33.La Bete Humaine (1938- Renoir, MS)
34.The Only Son (1936- Ozu, MS)
35.Zero for Conduct (1933- Vigo, MS)
36.The Roaring Twenties (1939- Walsh, MS)
37.Only Angels Have Wings (1939- Hawks, MS)
38.Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937- Yamanaka, MS)
39.Lost Horizon (1937- Capra, MS)
40.Le Jour Se Leve (1939- Carne, MS)
41.Shanghai Express (1932- von Sternberg, MS)
42.The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933- Lang, MS)
43.Frankenstein (1931- Whale, MS)
44.Port of Shadows (1938- Carne, MS)
45.A Nous la Liberte (1931- Clair, MS)
46.Gunga Din (1939- Stevens, MS)
47.Make Way for Tomorrow (1937- McCarey, HR/MS)
48.Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937- Hand, HR/MS)
49.Freaks (1932- Browning, HR/MS)
50.Toni (1935- Renoir, HR/MS)
51.The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938- Curtiz, HR/MS)
52.I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932- LeRoy, HR/MS)
53.Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936- Capra, HR/MS)
54.You Only Live Once (1937- Lang, HR/MS)
55.Olympia (1938- Riefenstahl, HR/MS)
56.Westfront 1918 (1930- Pabst, HR/MS)
57.L`Age d`Or (1930- Bunuel, HR/MS)
58.Stella Dallas (1937- Vidor, HR/MS)
59.42nd Street (1933- Bacon, HR/MS)
60.The Thin Man (1934- van Dyke, HR/MS)
61.Wuthering Heights (1939- Wyler, HR/MS)
62.Island of Lost Souls (1932- Kenton, HR)
63.Dames (1934- Berkeley & Enright, HR)
64.A Story of Floating Weeds (1934- Ozu, HR)
65.Pepe le Moko (1937- Duvivier, HR)
66.Young Mr. Lincoln (1939- Ford, HR)
67.The Lady Vanishes (1938- Hitchcock, HR)
68Mutiny on the Bounty (1935- Lloyd, HR)
69.A Night At the Opera (1935- Wood, HR)
70.The Informer (1935- Ford, HR)
71.Partie de Campagne (1936- Renoir, HR)
72.Earth (1930- Dovzhenko, HR)
73.Kameradschaft (1931- Pabst, HR)
74.Hells`s Angels (1930- Hughes, HR)
75.Sisters of the Gion (1936- Mizoguchi, HR)
76.Dodsworth (1936- Wyler, HR)
77.Grand Hotel (1932- Goulding, HR)
78.Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933- LeRoy & Berkeley, HR)
79.The Lost Patrol (1934- Ford, HR)
80.Footlight Parade (1933- Bacon & Berkeley, HR)
81.Dracula (1931- Browning, HR)
82.Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931- Mamoulian, HR)
83.The Black Cat (1934- G. Ulmer, HR)
84.The Invisible Man (1933- Whale, HR)
85.Liebelei (1933- Öphuls, HR)
86.Ninotchka (1939- Lubitsch, HR)
87.Murder! (1930- Hitchcock, HR)
88.The Public Enemy (1931- Wellman, HR)
89.The Front Page (1931- Milestone, HR)
90.Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932- Renoir, HR)
91.Dead End (1937- Wyler, HR)
92.Sabotage (1936- Hitchcock, HR)
93.Fury (1936- Lang, HR)
94.Destry Rides Again (1939- Marshall, HR)
95.Holiday (1938- Cukor, HR)
96.Pygmalion (1938- HR)
97.Show Boat (1936- Whale, HR)
98.You Can`t Take It With You (1938- Capra, HR)
99.I Was Born, But… (1932- Ozu, HR)
100.A Propos de Nice (1930- Vigo, HR)
Top 20 best performances of 1930s
1.Peter Lorre- M
2.Charles Chaplin- City Lights
3.Clark Gable- Gone with the Wind
4.Vivien Leigh- Gone with the Wind
5.Judy Garland- The Wizard of Oz
6.Emil Jannings- The Blue Angel
7.Marlene Dietrich- The Blue Angel
8.Marlene Dietrich- Morocco
9.Cary Grant- Bringing Up Baby
10.Katharine Hepburn- Bringing Up Baby
11.Clark Gable- It Happened One Night
12.Charles Chaplin- Modern Times
13.Jean Gabin- Grand Illusion
14.James Stewart- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
15.Michel Simon- L`Atalante
16.Paul Muni- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
17.Paul Muni- Scarface
18.Walter Huston- Dodsworth
19.Barbara Stanwyck- Stella Dallas
20.Claudette Colbert- It Happened One Night
Top 20 Best Performers
1.Marlene Dietrich
2.Katharine Hepburn
3.Jean Gabin
4.Charles Chaplin
5.Clark Gable
6.Michel Simon
7.Cary Grant
8.Paul Muni
9.Peter Lorre
10.Charles Laughton
11.Spencer Tracy
12.The Marx Brothers
13.Vivien Leigh
14.Boris Karloff
15.Judy Garland
16.Emil Jannings
17.James Cagney
18.James Stewart
19.Isuzu Yamada
20.Thomas Mitchell
Top 15 Best Directors
1.Jean Renoir
2.Josef von Sternberg
3.Fritz Lang
4.Charles Chaplin
5.Frank Capra
6.Victor Fleming
7.Howard Hawks
8.Kenji Mizoguchi
9.John Ford
10.Alfred Hitchcock
11.James Whale
12.Jean Vigo
13.G. W. Pabst
14.William Wyler
15.Yasujiro Ozu
On second thought I will actually put Ozu over Wyler- so Ozu is 14. and Wyler is 15.
Woah, great work here, congrats!
@Pedro- thank you. Do you have your favorite films from 1930s?
@RujK – Not really, no. Haven’t seen nearly enough to compile a comprehensive list. Plan on it, though!
Incredible work! How many 1930’s films did you watch in addition to the 100 listed here?
Did you watch any films outside of the 1930’s during your study? I only ask becasue I am curious and this is a tremendous amount of work.
@Jeff A- according to my Letterboxd counter I watched 191 films.
And of course I watched other films (I would probably go insane if not): I rewatched Leon and The Wolf of Wall Street, film documentaries like Directed by John Ford and In the Search of Darkness, and films that I was forced to see in theater where I work, France, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 exc. If you are interested in my movie diary I am on Letterboxd and I log in films pretty on time.
@RujK- Impressive stuff- thank you for sharing.
My top 10 of the 1930s films :
1 – La Règle du Jeu (1939, Jean Renoir)
2 – M (1931, Fritz Lang)
3 – Gone with the Wind (1939, Victor Fleming, George Cukor)
4 – Stagecoach (1939, John Ford)
5 – La Grande Illusion (1937, Jean Renoir)
6 – City Lights (1931, Charlie Chaplin)
7 – The Blue Angel (1930, Josef Von Sternberg)
8 – Vampyr (1932, C. T. Dreyer)
9 – Modern Times (1936, Charlie Chaplin)
10 – The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming)