... The Forgettable ... Of The 1930s
by Akira_Chimera | created - 12 Jul 2011 | updated - 4 days ago | PublicFirst of all, most movies on this list are not really bad. But they are not good either. In order not to bore you with every average movie I have seen I will restrain myself only to those of interest. That means you will find movies here that were successful at the box office but did not deserve that undue success or movies that did not stand the test of time. Other entries concern movies that are acclaimed by critics but to me are nothing short of being pretentious. Other titles could include films that were much talked about for whatever reason upon their initial release and therefore hold some kind of reputation that, however, do not qualify them for quality movies. You may also find movies here to which famous actors or directors contributed to but which are a let-down in the end nevertheless.
So, have fun browsing through my selection of the odds and sods of the movie world and let me know what you think.
PS: This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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1. Abraham Lincoln (1930)
Passed | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
An episodic biography of the 16th President of the United States.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Walter Huston, Una Merkel, William L. Thorne, Lucille La Verne
Votes: 1,343
2. The Vagabond King (1930)
104 min | Musical, Romance
The story takes place in medieval France. Poet-rogue Francois Villon, sentenced to hang by King Louis XI for writing derogatory verses about him, is offered a temporary reprieve. His ... See full summary »
Directors: Ludwig Berger, Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Dennis King, Jeanette MacDonald, O.P. Heggie, Lillian Roth
Votes: 120
3. Holiday (1930)
91 min | Comedy, Drama
Holiday is a 1930 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film which tells the story of a young man who is torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family.
Director: Edward H. Griffith | Stars: Ann Harding, Mary Astor, Robert Ames, Hallam Cooley
Votes: 425
4. The Doorway to Hell (1930)
Passed | 78 min | Crime, Drama
Despite his efforts to go straight, a young gangster keeps falling back into crime.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Lew Ayres, James Cagney, Dorothy Mathews, Leon Janney
Votes: 989
5. Night Work (1930)
Passed | 93 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Willie, as an assistant window-dresser, is the lowest man on the totem pole at a department store. To add insult-to-injury Willie is also the store's designated 'Fired Man."; when a ... See full summary »
Director: Russell Mack | Stars: Eddie Quillan, Sally Starr, Frances Upton, Tom Keene
Votes: 73
6. Journey's End (1930)
Passed | 120 min | Drama, War
In France, 1917, an alcoholic captain is afraid that his new replacement, his sweetheart's brother, will betray his downfall.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Colin Clive, Ian Maclaren, David Manners, Billy Bevan
Votes: 234
7. Anna Christie (I) (1930)
Passed | 89 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, George F. Marion, Marie Dressler
Votes: 2,817 | Gross: $1.01M
8. Renegades (1930)
Passed | 84 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
Four one-for-all and all-for-one privates in the French Foreign Legion are all in jail for disorderly conduct, but they break out and rejoin their regiment and fight off a band of marauding... See full summary »
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy, Noah Beery, Gregory Gaye
Votes: 217
9. The Big Trail (1930)
Passed | 125 min | Adventure, Romance, Western
Breck Coleman leads hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.
Directors: Raoul Walsh, Louis R. Loeffler | Stars: John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel, Tully Marshall
Votes: 3,377
10. Billy the Kid (1930)
Passed | 98 min | Action, Biography, Drama
In this version of the Billy the Kid legend, Billy, after shooting down land baron William Donovan's henchmen for killing Billy's boss, is hunted down and captured by his friend, Sheriff ... See full summary »
Director: King Vidor | Stars: Johnny Mack Brown, Wallace Beery, Kay Johnson, Karl Dane
Votes: 351
11. The Divorcee (1930)
Passed | 84 min | Romance, Drama
When a woman discovers that her husband has been unfaithful to her, she decides to respond to his infidelities in kind.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Chester Morris, Conrad Nagel
Votes: 2,791
12. The Unholy Three (1930)
Passed | 72 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
"Talkie" remake of Tod Browning's 1925 silent film. A trio of former sideshow performers double as the "Unholy Three" in a scam to nab some shiny rocks.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Lon Chaney, Lila Lee, Elliott Nugent, Harry Earles
Votes: 1,079
13. Romance (1930)
Approved | 76 min | Drama, Romance
Young Harry is in love and wants to marry an actress, much to the displeasure of his family. Harry thinks that Bishop Armstrong knows nothing about love so Armstrong tells him the story of ... See full summary »
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone, Gavin Gordon, Elliott Nugent
Votes: 689 | Gross: $0.73M
14. Reaching for the Moon (1930)
Unrated | 91 min | Comedy, Romance
Wall Street wizard, Larry Day, new to the ways of love, is coached by his valet. He follows Vivian Benton on an ocean liner, where cocktails, laced with a "love potion," work their magic. ... See full summary »
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels, Edward Everett Horton, Claud Allister
Votes: 349
15. Wild Company (1930)
71 min | Drama
The son of a wealthy politician falls in with a notorious gangster planning to rob a night club.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Frank Albertson, Joyce Compton, Sharon Lynn, H.B. Warner
Votes: 37
16. Sunny Skies (1930)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy, Musical, Sport
Rex Lease is the football hero whose temper and drinking threaten his spot on the team, and his romantic life..but his naive comical roommate (Benny Rubin) remains his steadfast supporter. ... See full summary »
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Benny Rubin, Marceline Day, Rex Lease, Marjorie Kane
Votes: 66
17. Westfront 1918 (1930)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Romance, War
A group of German solders fight on the front line in France at the end of World War I.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Fritz Kampers, Gustav Diessl, Hans-Joachim Möbis, Claus Clausen
Votes: 1,736
18. Paid (1930)
Approved | 86 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Mary Turner goes up for three years on a crime she didn't commit. Once out she and former prison mates plan a scam in which old men can be sued for breach of promise - the "heart balm" ... See full summary »
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Joan Crawford, Robert Armstrong, Marie Prevost, Douglass Montgomery
Votes: 616
19. Raffles (1930)
72 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A distinguished English gentleman has a secret life--he is the notorious jewel thief the press has dubbed "The Amateur Cracksman". When he meets a woman and falls in love he decides to "... See full summary »
Directors: George Fitzmaurice, Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast | Stars: Ronald Colman, Kay Francis, David Torrence, Frederick Kerr
Votes: 781 | Gross: $1.00M
20. The Big House (1930)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A convict falls in love with his new cellmate's sister, only to become embroiled in a planned break-out which is certain to have lethal consequences.
Directors: George W. Hill, Ward Wing | Stars: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery
Votes: 1,886
21. Murder! (1930)
TV-PG | 92 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A juror in a murder trial, after voting to convict, has second thoughts and begins to investigate on his own before the execution.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, Phyllis Konstam, Edward Chapman
Votes: 5,802
22. Inside the Lines (1930)
Passed | 72 min | Drama, History, Romance
During World War 1, German spies will stop at nothing to spy on the allied war plans stored at Gibraltar.
Director: Roy Pomeroy | Stars: Betty Compson, Ralph Forbes, Montagu Love, Ivan F. Simpson
Votes: 117
23. Scotland Yard (1930)
75 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
During World War I, criminal Dakin Barrolles, fleeing a bank robbery gone awry, has a chance meeting with a rich, drunken banker and his wife. Fascinated by the kind of people he would ... See full summary »
Director: William K. Howard | Stars: Edmund Lowe, Joan Bennett, Donald Crisp, Georges Renavent
Votes: 48
24. Alraune (1930)
103 min | Sci-Fi
A scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brinken, interested in the laws of heredity, impregnates a prostitute in a laboratory with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female... See full summary »
Director: Richard Oswald | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Albert Bassermann, Harald Paulsen, Adolf E. Licho
Votes: 67
25. Tol'able David (1930)
65 min | Drama
Young David Kinemon is a good-natured, easy-going lad in a mountain village. Circumstances force him to take his brother's place as mailman for the community, and this brings him into ... See full summary »
Director: John G. Blystone | Stars: Richard Cromwell, Noah Beery, Joan Peers, Henry B. Walthall
Votes: 23
26. The Fall Guy (1930)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When a hapless pharmacist loses his job and falls in with criminals, he's soon made The Fall Guy. Unemployed, Johnny Quinlan (Jack Mulhall) starts doing jobs for underworld chieftain Nifty ... See full summary »
Director: Leslie Pearce | Stars: Jack Mulhall, Mae Clarke, Ned Sparks, Wynne Gibson
Votes: 152
27. Men Without Women (1930)
Passed | 77 min | Action, Drama
Navy divers clear the torpedo tube of a sunken submarine.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Kenneth MacKenna, Frank Albertson, J. Farrell MacDonald, Warren Hymer
Votes: 229
28. Up the River (1930)
Passed | 92 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When paroled trustee Steve and former inmate Judy who try to put their criminal lives behind them are blackmailed, two career criminals come to their rescue.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Claire Luce, Warren Hymer, Humphrey Bogart
Votes: 1,082
29. Laughter (1930)
85 min | Comedy, Romance
A 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.
Director: Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast | Stars: Nancy Carroll, Fredric March, Frank Morgan, Glenn Anders
Votes: 294
30. Just Imagine (1930)
Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
New York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food, government-arranged marriages have replaced love, and test tube babies have replaced ...... See full summary »
Director: David Butler | Stars: El Brendel, Maureen O'Sullivan, John Garrick, Marjorie White
Votes: 650
31. Ladies of Leisure (1930)
Passed | 99 min | Drama, Romance
An upper-crust artist hires a 'party girl' as a model; romance follows.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Ralph Graves, Lowell Sherman, Marie Prevost
Votes: 1,065
32. Moby Dick (1930)
Passed | 80 min | Adventure, Drama
In this extremely loose adaptation of Melville's classic novel, Ahab is revealed initially not as a bitter and vengeful madman, but as a bit of a lovable scamp. Ashore in New Bedford, he ... See full summary »
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: John Barrymore, Joan Bennett, Lloyd Hughes, Noble Johnson
Votes: 414
33. Storm Over Mont Blanc (1930)
93 min | Adventure, Drama
In the Mont Blanc Observatory works Hannes. The only contact to the outside world is a pilot and Hella over the morse-code-radio. As Hella climbs the mountain with her father, the father ... See full summary »
Director: Arnold Fanck | Stars: Leni Riefenstahl, Sepp Rist, Ernst Udet, Mathias Wieman
Votes: 200
34. Manslaughter (1930)
Passed | 85 min | Romance, Drama
A spoiled young rich girl is sent to prison for accidentally running down a pedestrian. There she learns about a life and people she had never even imagined existed before. Upon her release... See full summary »
Director: George Abbott | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Emma Dunn, Natalie Moorhead
Votes: 191
35. Outward Bound (1930)
Unrated | 83 min | Drama, Fantasy
Later remade as "Between Two Worlds."
Directors: Robert Milton, Ray Enright | Stars: Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Beryl Mercer, Dudley Digges
Votes: 459
36. Born Reckless (1930)
Passed | 82 min | Crime, Drama, War
Hoping to use the publicity to get re-elected, a judge sentences a notorious gangster to fight in the war.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Edmund Lowe, Catherine Dale Owen, William Harrigan, Marguerite Churchill
Votes: 331
37. Min and Bill (1930)
Passed | 69 min | Comedy, Drama
Min, the owner of a dockside hotel, is forced to make difficult decisions about the future of Nancy, the young woman she took in as an infant.
Director: George W. Hill | Stars: Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Dorothy Jordan, Marjorie Rambeau
Votes: 1,578
38. Whoopee! (1930)
Passed | 93 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Western sheriff Bob Wells is preparing to marry Sally Morgan; she loves part-Indian Wanenis, whose race is an obstacle. Sally flees the wedding with hypochondriac Henry Williams, who thinks... See full summary »
Director: Thornton Freeland | Stars: Eddie Cantor, Ethel Shutta, Paul Gregory, Eleanor Hunt
Votes: 943
39. Oh, Sailor Behave! (1930)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, Musical
An American newspaper reporter is sent to Venice to interview a Romanian general. While there, he falls in love with a young heiress.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, Irene Delroy, Charles King
Votes: 24
40. Swing High (1930)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Musical
To avoid hostilities, Maryan, the ward of Doc May, a medicine show owner, induces Pop Garner, a circus owner, to join forces with her guardian. Doc May and Daphne, his wife, work as clowns;... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Santley | Stars: Helen Twelvetrees, Fred Scott, Dorothy Burgess, John Sheehan
Votes: 36
41. Alexander Hamilton (1931)
Passed | 70 min | Biography, Drama, History
With the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, General George Washington took Colonel Hamilton with him into the newly formed government. While the main disagreements in the early days was ... See full summary »
Director: John G. Adolfi | Stars: George Arliss, Doris Kenyon, Dudley Digges, June Collyer
Votes: 231 | Gross: $0.99M
42. Mata Hari (1931)
Passed | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.
Director: George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone
Votes: 3,324 | Gross: $0.93M
43. The Public Defender (1931)
Passed | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery