Films I’ve Seen: 1930s
by tiheimbaugh | created - 25 Sep 2019 | updated - 2 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,552 | Gross: $2.08M
2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Approved | 83 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
Exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.
Directors: William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell
Votes: 215,376 | Gross: $184.93M
3. The Rules of the Game (1939)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély
Votes: 31,315
4. Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Albert 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.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Albert Préjean, Pola Illéry, Edmond T. Gréville, Bill Bocket
Votes: 2,488
5. Svengali (1931)
Approved | 81 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
Through hypnotism and telepathic mind control, a sinister music maestro controls the singing voice, but not the heart, of the woman he loves.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Crisp, Bramwell Fletcher
Votes: 2,502
6. Dracula (1931)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
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.
Directors: Tod Browning, Karl Freund | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye
Votes: 58,621
7. Holiday (1938)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A young man in love with a girl from a rich family finds his unorthodox plan to go on holiday for the early years of his life met with skepticism by everyone except for his fiancée's eccentric sister and long-suffering brother.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres
Votes: 18,240
8. Be Kind to 'Aminals' (1935)
Approved | 6 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Popeye and Olive can't ignore it when produce vendor Bluto comes by with his terribly overloaded cart, whipping his horse and denying it water. They intervene and, while Bluto fights them off for a while, ultimately prevail.
Directors: Dave Fleischer, Willard Bowsky | Stars: Floyd Buckley, Mae Questel, Gus Wicke
Votes: 347
9. Hello How Am I (1939)
TV-G | 6 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Olive invites Popeye over for a hamburger dinner. His roommate Wimpy hears this and disguises himself as Popeye. Wimpy fast-talks himself into the dinner, but eventually falls victim to spinach.
Directors: Dave Fleischer, William Henning | Stars: Margie Hines, Jack Mercer
Votes: 211
10. I Love to Singa (1936)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A spoof of Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer", a strict piano teaching owl is cursed with a son who "loves to singa", but only jazz.
Director: Tex Avery | Stars: Tex Avery, Billy Bletcher, Tommy Bond, Lou Fulton
Votes: 2,097
11. Wholly Smoke (1938)
Approved | 7 min | Animation, Family, Short
A neighborhood bully convinces Porky to take a puff from his cigar, causing Porky to hallucinate a smoke-man named Nick O. Teen, along with a musical number done by cigars, cigarettes and ... See full summary »
Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Mel Blanc, The Sing Band, Paul Taylor Group, Cliff Nazarro
Votes: 390
12. A Day at the Zoo (1939)
Approved | 7 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
A tour of the zoo, in typical Tex Avery style: a series of one-liners and sight gags, punctuated by Elmer Fudd teasing a lion at intervals, despite the admonishments of the narrator.
Director: Tex Avery | Stars: Danny Webb, Tex Avery, Mel Blanc, Gilman Rankin
Votes: 545
13. Three Little Pigs (1933)
Passed | 9 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
The Three Little Pigs each build a house of different material. The Big Bad Wolf comes along and blows away the straw and stick homes, but is unable to destroy the house of bricks.
Director: Burt Gillett | Stars: Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, Dorothy Compton, Mary Moder
Votes: 6,710 | Gross: $0.25M
14. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 334,228 | Gross: $198.68M
15. The Thin Man (1934)
TV-PG | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Former detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 32,533
16. History Is Made at Night (1937)
Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A wealthy divorcée falls for a charming Parisian, but her insanely jealous ex-husband will do anything to get her back.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Charles Boyer, Jean Arthur, Leo Carrillo, Colin Clive
Votes: 2,493
17. Modern Times (1936)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford
Votes: 259,421 | Gross: $0.16M
18. Duck Soup (1933)
Not Rated | 69 min | Comedy, Musical
Rufus 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.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx
Votes: 62,731
19. The Blood of a Poet (1932)
Not Rated | 55 min | Fantasy
Told in four episodes - an unnamed artist is transported through a mirror into another dimension, where he travels through various bizarre scenarios.
Director: Jean Cocteau | Stars: Enrique Rivero, Elizabeth Lee Miller, Pauline Carton, Odette Talazac
Votes: 7,367
20. Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name (1935)
Approved | 7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Mermaids sing to us about mermaids and fishes at play; they and some other sea creatures dance to it. Buddy as a merman plays tag with a girl mermaid, but he gets too rough and turns her ... See full summary »
Director: Friz Freleng | Stars: Tommy Bond, The Debutantes
Votes: 157
21. Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Passed | 70 min | Film-Noir, Horror, Sci-Fi
A mad doctor conducts ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor who finds himself trapped there.
Director: Erle C. Kenton | Stars: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams
Votes: 10,903
22. People on Sunday (1930)
Not Rated | 73 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two men and two women enjoy a pleasant Sunday at the beach amid the unending toil of the working week.
Directors: Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Rochus Gliese, Curt Siodmak, Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Erwin Splettstößer, Brigitte Borchert, Wolfgang von Waltershausen, Christl Ehlers
Votes: 3,547
23. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
PG | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
When 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.
Directors: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains
Votes: 54,479 | Gross: $3.98M
24. Captain Blood (1935)
Passed | 119 min | Action, Adventure, History
After 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.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone
Votes: 16,092 | Gross: $2.96M
25. A Night at the Opera (1935)
Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Music, Musical
A 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.
Directors: Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding | Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle
Votes: 34,756 | Gross: $2.54M
26. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
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.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,749
27. Thirteen Women (1932)
Passed | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Ursula plots to murder 12 women with her supernatural powers.
Director: George Archainbaud | Stars: Irene Dunne, Ricardo Cortez, Jill Esmond, Myrna Loy
Votes: 1,869
28. King Kong (1933)
Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Horror
A 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.
Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
Votes: 90,943 | Gross: $10.00M
29. It's the Natural Thing to Do (1939)
7 min | Family, Comedy, Animation
Popeye's fan club sends a telegram asking them to tone down the violence and act civilized, so everyone dresses up and acts formal for a while, at least.
Directors: Dave Fleischer, Thomas Johnson | Stars: Pinto Colvig, Margie Hines, Jack Mercer
Votes: 249
30. A Night at the Movies (1937)
Passed | 10 min | Comedy, Short
A man and his wife have a less-than-enjoyable time at the movies.
Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Robert Benchley, King Baggot, Jack Baxley, Sidney Bracey
Votes: 482
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