TOP TEN FILMS OF THE 1930s
1939
1. DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (George Marshall)
2. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (Frank Capra)
3. RULES OF THE GAME (Jean Renoir)
4. THE SPY IN BLACK (Michael Powell)
5. THE WIZARD OF OZ (Victor Fleming)
6. ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (Howard Hawks)
7. MIDNIGHT (Mitchell Leisen)
8. YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (John Ford)
9. NINOTICHKA (Ernst Lubitsch)
10. STAGECOACH (John Ford)
Honorable Mention: THE FOUR FEATHERS (Korda); GONE WITH THE WIND (Fleming)
Notables Shorts:
1938
1. THE LADY VANISHES (Alfred Hitchcock)
2. BRINGING UP BABY (Howard Hawks)
3. HOLIDAY (George Cukor)
4. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (Michael Curtiz & William Keighley)
5. THREE COMRADES (Frank Borzage)
6. ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (Michael Curtiz)
7. YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (Frank Capra)
8. THE DRUM (Zoltan Korda)
9.
10.
Honorable Mention:
Notable Shorts: PORKY IN WACKYLAND (Clampett)
1937
1. GRAND ILLUSION (Jean Renoir)
2. MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (Leo McCarey)
3. ANGEL (Ernst Lubitsch)
4. THE AWFUL TRUTH (Leo McCarey)
5. NOTHING SACRED (William Wellman)
6. A DAY AT THE RACES
7. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (David Hand)
8. PEPE LE MOKO (Julien Duvivier)
9. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE (Fritz Lang)
10. HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT (Frank Borzage)
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts:
1936
1. DODSWORTH (William Wyler)
2. FURY (Fritz Lang)
3. SWING TIME (George Stevens)
4. MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (Frank Capra)
5. MODERN TIMES (Charles Chaplin)
6. AFTER THE THIN MAN (W.S. Van Dyke)
7. THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE (Jean Renoir)
8.
9.
10.
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts: A DAY IN THE COUNTRY (Renoir)
1935
1. TOP HAT (Mark Sandrich)
2. MAD LOVE (Karl Freund)
3. RUGGLES OF RED GAP (Leo McCarey)
4. A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (Sam Wood)
5. THE 39 STEPS (Alfred Hitchcock)
6. CHINA SEAS (Tay Garnett)
7. THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING (John Ford)
8.
9.
10.
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts:
1934
1. TWENTIETH CENTURY (Howard Hawks)
2. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Frank Capra)
3. THE MERRY WIDOW (Ernst Lubitsch)
4. THE BLACK CAT (Edgar Ulmer)
5. THE THIN MAN (W.S. Van Dyke)
6. GAMBLING LADY (Archie Mayo)
7. L'ATALANTE (Jean Vigo)
8. THE GAY DIVORCEE (Mark Sandrich)
9. IT'S A GIFT (Norman Z. McLeod)
10.
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts:
1933
1. THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (Fritz Lang)
2. DUCK SOUP (Leo McCarey)
3. GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy)
4. HALLELUJAH I'M A BUM (Lewis Milestone)
5. KING KONG (Merian Cooper & Ernest Schoedsack)
6. THE INVISIBLE MAN (James Whale)
7. HEROES FOR SALE (William A. Wellman)
8. 42ND STREET (Lloyd Bacon)
9. ZERO FOR CONDUCT (Jean Vigo)
10. LADY FOR A DAY (Frank Capra)
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts: LAND WITHOUT BREAD (Buñuel)
1932
1. TROUBLE IN PARADISE (Ernst Lubitsch)
2. SCARFACE (Howard Hawks)
3. THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (Frank Capra)
4. ONE HOUR WITH YOU (Ernst Lubitsch)
5. VAMPYR (Carl Theodore Dreyer)
6. LOVE ME TONIGHT (Rouben Mamoulian)
7. ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (Erie C. Kenton)
8. I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (Mervyn LeRoy)
9. THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack)
10. FREAKS (Tod Browning)
Honorable Mention: RED DUST (Fleming)
Notable Shorts:
1931
1. CITY LIGHTS (Charles Chaplin)
2. THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (Ernst Lubitsch)
3. DISHONORED (Josef von Sternberg)
4. M (Fritz Lang)
5. THE PUBLIC ENEMY (William A. Wellman)
6. LITTLE CAESAR (Mervyn LeRoy)
7. MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM (Leontine Sagan)
8. SAFE IN HELL (William A. Wellman)
9. THE FRONT PAGE (Lewis Milestone)
10. NIGHT NURSE (William A. Wellman)
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts:
1930
1. MOROCCO (Josef von Sternberg)
2. MONTE CARLO (Ernst Lubitsch)
3. L'AGE D'OR (Luis Buñuel)
4. ANIMAL CRACKERS (Victor Heerman)
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Honorable Mention: None
Notable Shorts:
Most Overrated: THE BLUE ANGEL (von Sternberg)