"The HTF 100 Great Films of the 1930's Challenge" - Page 5

Vickie_M:

Theme from Magnificient Seven, it was extremely popular, may have been used in various TV comercials, skids, whatever, not at all surprised that it sounded familiar.

How "faithful" to Seven Samurai ?? Fairly close, on a very superficial level. Kind of like the plot is just about identical, you can "map" character by character, it's pretty much all there. EXCEPT, Seven Samurai is truely one of the greatest example of "master film making", IMO, superb in every single respect.

And yes, just like your Star Wars recording, my friend's old "Dollar" theme cassette pretty much ran non stop.

Back to the 30s—I rented

Freaks

and have no idea what to make of this film. Very strange indeed. A couple of scenes are truly disturbing, especially as the freaks advance through the mud towards the strongman.

I’m still trying to figure out the point of the film, or indeed if it has a point. I can’t tell if it’s an exploitation film or a serious comment on man’s inhumanity.

Saw Animal Crackers the other day. Not among the Marx Bros. best.

21 to go.

Rob

Why you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met—and that’s not saying much for you.

I time-shifted

Animal Crackers

and as usual laughed at most of the lines. But overall, I found this early Marx Brothers to not be as good an effort as their later Paramount movies.

Wow.... Here I call myself a "film buff" and this list really took me back to school. I'm ashamed to say I've only seen 19 of the 100 films (20 if you count the Spanish Language Dracula.) I'll sign up for the challenge, though, I love movies!

Bill S.

I Rented You Can't Take It With You over the weekend. Hey, it crosses off a film in two lists I'm working through: this one and Oscar winners.

Not great screwball comedy or great Capra but still a good film that was fairly entertaining.

I also watched Cimeron. A 30s film that is not on the list and I can see why. It was painful to watch.


30s Top hundred left: 74. Last film: You Can't Take It With You

Rented San Francisco. A fairly entertaining big-budget MGM film of the era. The acting and the earthquake at the end made up for having to sit through the pedestrian story.


30s Top hundred, left: 73. Last film: San Francisco

To Niagara in a Sleeper,
There’s no honeymoon that’s cheaper;
And the train goes slow—
We’re gonna’ shuffle,
Shuffle off to Buffalo.

This number is for me, the highlight of

42nd Street,

which I rented over the weekend. One of the more restrained (and therefore better) Berkely-choreographed, MGM musicals.

Matrimony is baloney,
She’ll be wanting alimony;
In a year or so—
Still they go and shuffle
Shuffle off to Buffalo.


A lot of fun, with a plot that was never meant to be believed.

I saw "The Women" over the weekend. Good movie but not great. I don't know if I'd put it in the top 100. I'd have to think about that a while. Very funny moments. Great performances by Crawford, Shearer and Russell.

Bring me a bromide, dear—with a little gin

I time-shifted

The Women

and enjoyed the dialogue very much. An interesting film, as the only male characters are (way) off-stage. Very hard to pull off for a film ostensibly about male/female relations and how it impacts marriage. This worked better for me than my wife, who was interested in the costumes and set design (especially the fashion show), but otherwise thought it not a particularly good film. The ending I think very much to the demands of the day. I’m not at all familiar with the play by Clare Booth, so it’s possible that she wrote an ending with less of a ‘love conquers all’ perspective, but in any case I’d be really interested to know how she would have ended the film if she had revisited it in the 50s when she was Clare Booth Luce.

All in all, enjoyable, especially for some of the very witty dialogue, but a film not at the top of my list.


He almost stood me up for his wife

You can dish it out, but you can’t take it—you’re through!

Another time-shift, again thanks to TCM. This time it was the Edward G. Robinson classic,

Little Caesar.

While the portrayal of Rico by Robinson is rightly considered a model for hard-bitten gangsters that followed, he must have gagged on some of the dialogue, which had to be corny, even at the time. Overall pretty uneven, but enjoyable enough.

Got to see Boys Town this weekend on TCM. I have to say I almost shut this one off because it seemed to take a long time to get started. After the first half hour or so the plot finally grabbed me. This was a good film...not great. I thought both Tracy and Rooney did an exceptional job as well.

I've seen 4 out of the 45 so far that I needed to see in this challenge. I'm not doing as well as I thought I could. Oh well, demands of wife and kids I guess.

Dr. "Jeekyll" & Mr. Hyde.

I did not like this movie. Aside from the irritating pronounciation of Jekyll, I think my problem is mostly with the source material, though I can't say for sure not having read the book.

Basically, Hyde is supposed to be Jekyll's evil side, if you could split him into his pure essence of good and his pure essence of evil. And yet, what we get isn't the essence of evil, it's a ill-mannered, ill-tempered, drunken redneck. I'm not saying Hyde was a nice guy, but he was hardly the personification of evil. I think Mother Teresa has a more evil dark side than Hyde.

I've seen (and also didn't like) the later version with Tracy, though I'll give that one the nod for not Jeekyll-ing me to death.

I'm entering this challenge!
I'm still kicking myself for not doing the AFI challenge, I could of done had I not been so lazy, so I want to do this one just for the hell of it. I've not seen many films only:


City Lights
Grand Illusion
King Kong
Little Caesar
M
Modern Times
Scarface
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Wizard of Oz, The

That's only 9 of a hundred. To fully commit myself to the challenge I've already started it. I watched I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang tonight--it blew me away.
I considered Paul Muni amazing in Scarface (and consider that one of the best gangster films ever), but he knocked me on my ass with this performance. I was mesmorized from his speech to his father at the dinner table--explaining his dreams and desires, his frustrations at his mundane life. It's an absolutely incredible film. I'm not sure what I expected, I knew it was a film that was often banned (for it's less than glowing portrayal of the chain gang system and especially the unfair justice system.
The Cinematography was especially compelling, it was so incredible to look it that I could care less if they reused the chain gang sets and guards. I loved the passage of time, with the calenders falling away to the beat of sledgehammers. And the final shot elevated the film to an even higher plane of achievment. Extremely gutsy to end the film on the line Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) as Paul Muni backs into shadow, beautifully done, a perfect ending.
Next up will probably be Stagecoach

10 down 90 to go.

Adam

edited to reflect COMPLETION of challenge on Feb 15, 2004


having read through the entire thread now, I've decided I'll be rewatching all the films I haven't seen in the last 18 months, luckily that only includes Modern Times, so I'll rewatch that later: in the mean time here are my rankings of the films I've seen (bear in mind many of these are some of my all time favorite films.

Definitive List of films seen:

1. Seen Previously:

1. City Lights - rewatched on film
2. Grand Illusion -
3. King Kong -
4. Little Caesar - ½
5. M -
6. Modern Times -
7. Scarface - ½
8. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ½/
9. Wizard of Oz, The rewatched
   
   Newly seen
10. I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang - (12/29/2002)
11. Stagecoach - (12/31/2002) - revised to 4stars on 03/01
12. 42nd St. - � (01/03/2003)
13. The Public Enemy - (01/05/2003)
14. The Thin Man - (01/07/2003)
15. Gone With the Wind - � (01/08/2003)
16. After the Thin Man - (01/08/2003)
17. Little Women - (01/09/2003)
18. Another Thin Man - (01/12/2003)
19. Dracula - � (01/13/2003)
20. Freaks - � (01/15/2003)
21. L'�ge d'Or - (01/22/2003)
22. Dinner at Eight - (01/24/2003)
23. The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger - (01/26/2002)
24. Holiday - (01/27/2002) revised to 3stars on 03/01
25. The Women - (02/02/2003)
26. It Happened One Night - (02/06/2004)
27. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town - � (02/08/2003)
28. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - (02/09/2003
29. Lost Horizon - (02/12/2003)
30. You Can't Take it With You - (03/01/2003)
31. Blood of a Poet - unrated - (03/02/2003)
32. The Black Cat - - (03/02/2003)
33. The Informer - � - (03/09/2003)
34. The Lost Patrol - - (03/18/2003)
35. Captain Blood - - (05/01/2003)
36. Charge of the Light Brigade - - (05/03/2003)
37. Angels with Dirty Faces - - (05/05/2003)
38. The Adventures of Robin Hood - - (05/06/2003)
39. Olympia 2 - - (05/07/2003)
40. Drac�la - � - (05/09/2003)
41. Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der V�lker (Festival of the Nations) - � - (05/10/2003)
42. La Regle du Jue (The Rules of the Game) - - (05/11/2003)
43. Alexander Nevsky - - (05/13/2003)
44. The Blue Angel - � - (05/20/2003)
45. Boys Town - - (05/21/2003)
46. The Awful Truth - � - (05/24/2003)
47. Duck Soup - - (05/26/2003)
48. Dodsworth - � - (05/27/2003)
49. All Quiet on the Western Front - - (05/28/2003)
50. Frankenstein - - (06/03/2003)
51. Fury - - (06/04/2003)
52. My Man Godfrey - - (06/05/2003)
53. The Good Earth - - (06/06/2003)
54. Horse Feathers - - (06/08/2003)
55. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - - (06/08/2003)
56. Goodbye Mr. Chips - � - (06/10/2003)
57. The Invisible Man - � - (06/11/2003)
58. Bringing up Baby - - (06/18/2003)
59. Grand Hotel - - (06/20/2003)
60. Topper - - (07/15/2003)
61. It's a Gift - � - (07/22/2003)
62. Island of Lost Souls - - (07/22/2003)
63. Bride of Frankenstein - � - (07/23/2003)
64. Monkey Business - - (07/24/2003)
65. Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde - - (07/26/2003)
66. Mutiny on the Bounty - - (07/28/2003)
67. A Night at the Opera - - (07/29/2003)
68. Ninotchka - - (07/29/2003)
69. The Private Life of Henry VIII. - � - (08/11/2003)
70. Swing Time - � - (08/12/2003)
71. San Francisco - � - (08/15/2003)
72. Animal Crackers - � - (08/25/2003)
73. The 39 Steps - � - (09/04/2003)
74. The Music Box - - (09/04/2003)
75. The Mummy - - (09/05/2003)
76. Way Out West - - (09/06/2003)
77. Sons of the Desert - - (09/08/2003)
78. L'Atalante - � - (09/10/2003)
79. Trouble in Paradise - - (09/11/2003)
80. Captains Courageous - � - (09/20/2003)
81. A Day at the Races - - (09/22/2003)
82. Destry Rides Again - � - (09/24/2003)
83. Wuthering Heights - - (09/25/2003)
84. The Four Feathers - - (10/06/2003)
85. Twentieth Century - - (10/09/2003)
86. 'G' Men - - (10/15/2003)
87. Triumph of the Will - - (10/16/2003)
88. Gunga Din - � - (10/22/2003)
89. Top Hat - � - (10/23/2003)
90. The Hound of the Baskervilles - - (10/27/2003)
91. Stage Door - - (10/29/2003)
92. Rembrandt - - (10/30/2003)
93. Mad Love - � - (10/31/2003)
94. The Life of Emile Zola - - (11/01/2003)
95. Red Dust - - (11/06/03)
96. The Lady Vanishes - - (11/13/03)
97. The Old Dark House - � - (11/14/03)
98. A Midsummer Night's Dream - � - (11/15/03)
99. Umarete wa mita karedo (I was born but...) - - (11/17/2003)
100. Of Mice and Men - - (12/4/2003)
101. Nothing Sacred - - (12/29/2003)
102. Imitation of Life - � (02/15/2003)
     
     Films not on the list:
103. Confessions of a Nazi Spy - - 10/28/2004 -
104. Alice Adams - � (02/23/2004)
105. She Done Him Wrong - (02/26/2004)
106. Dark Victory - � (03/08/2004)
107. Vampyr - � - (03/14/2004)
108. Earth - � - (03/14/2004)
109. The Scarlett Empress - - (03/15/2004)
110. Only Angels have Wings - - (03/20/2004)
111. The Shanghai Express - � - (03/24/2004)
112. Jezebel - - (03/29/2004)
113. Le Million - � (04/03/2004)
114. Osaka Elegy - (05/04/2004)
115. Gold Diggers of 1933 - (05/06/2004)
116. The Man Who Knew Too Much - ½ (05/23/2004)
117. � Nous la Libert� - (05/29/2004)
118. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse - (06/05/2004)
119. The Most Dangerous Game - � (06/10/2004)
120. Skippy - � (06/14/2004)
121. P�P� le Moko - (06/16/2004) - Lew Crippen
122. Intermezzo - (06/20/2004)
123. The Champ - (06/21/2003) - Adam_S
124. Love Affair - (06/25/2004)
125. Under the Roofs of Paris - � (06/27/2004) - Lew Crippen
126. Lady for a Day - (06/28/2004)
127. Pygmalion - (07/02/2004) - Lew Crippen
128. Anne of Green Gables - � (07/05/2004)
129. Saratoga - (07/06/2004)
130. Secret Agent - � (07/08/2004) - Evan Case
131. The Kennel Murder Case - - George Kaplan
132. Sabotage - � (07/11/2004)
133. The Crowd Roars - � (07/20/2004)
134. Hell's Angels - � (07/22/2004)
135. The Prisoner of Zenda - (07/25/2004) George Kaplan
136. Anthony Adverse - (07/26/2004)
137. A Star is Born - (08/02/2004)
138. Show Boat - � -- (08/08/2004)
139. Alexander's Ragtime Band - � - (08/09/2004)
140. Libeled Lady - - (08/11/2004) - George Kaplan
141. Love me Tonight - - (08/11/2004) - Evan Case
142. Quai de Brumes {Port of Shadows) - � (08/20/2004)
143. Las Hurdes (Land without Bread) - (08/31/2004)
144. The Emperor Jones - (09/02/2004)
145. Belle of the Nineties - � - (09/06/2004)
146. Partie de campaign (Day in the Country) - - (09/20/2004)
147. A Story of Floating Weeds - (09/27/2004)
148. Block-heads - � - (11/13/2004)
149. Ruggles of Red Gap - � - (11/14/2004)
150. Footlight Parade - - (11/15/2004)
151. Angel - � - (11/16/2004)
152. Crime of Monsieur Lange - (11/18/2004)
153. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum - (11/20/2004)
154. Tarzan the Ape Man - (12/11/2004)
155. The Sign of the Cross - 1/2 (12/21/2004)
156. Tarzan and his Mate - (12/23/2004)
157. Babes in Toyland - (12/26/2004)
158. Wee Willie Winkie - (01/06/2004)
159. Arrowsmith - ½ (01/16/2005)
160. Beau Geste - ½ (01/26/2005)
161. Young Mr. Lincoln - (01/29/2005)
162. The Big House - ½ (02/11/2005)
163. Judge Priest - (02/20/2005)
164. Boudu Saved From Drowning - (02/20/2005)
165. Sisters of Gion - (03/11/2005)
166. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man - ½ - (04/01/2005)
167. A Christmas Carol - - (04/03/2005)
168. La Chienne - 1/2 (05/09/2005)
169. Tabu - (05/09/2005)
170. International House - 1/2 (05/09/2005)
171. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford - 1/2 (05/09/2005)
172. Westfront 1918 - (05/13/2005)
173. Double Wedding - 1/2 (05/15/2005)
174. El Compadre Mendoza - (05/19/2005)
175. Vamanos con Pancho Villa - (05/19/2005)
176. Werewolf of London - (05/21/2005)
177. Love Finds Andy Hardey - (05/22/2005)
178. Morocco - (05/22/2005)
179. Drums Along the Mohawk - (05/28/2005)
180. Trader Horn - (06/04/2005)
181. In Name Only - (06/04/2005)
182. A Tale of Two Cities - (06/05/2005)
183. Prisoner of Shark Island - (06/05/2005)
184. Son of Frankenstein - (06/11/2005)
185. Shall We Dance - 1/2 (06/11/2005)
186. Lives of a Bengal Lancer - (06/12/2005)
187. The Roaring Twenties - (06/12/2005)
188. Petrified Forest - (06/24/2005)
189. Go West Young Man - (07/23/2005)
190. Stowaway - (07/23/2005
191. Klondike Annie - (07/23/2005)
192. Heidi - (07/24/2005)
193. Hands Across the table - (07/24/2005)
194. Bombshell - (07/24/2005)
195. Flying Down to Rio - (09/03/2005)
196. The Gay Divorcee - (09/16/2005)
197. Baby Face - - (09/17/2005)
198. Gabriel over the Whitehouse - (09/17/2005)
199. The Edge of hte World - (10/07/2005)
200. Things to Come - (03/19/2006)

102, 101,
100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 91
90, 89, 88, 87, 86, 85, 84, 83, 82, 81
80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72, 71
70, 69, 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61
60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51
50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41
40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31
30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21
20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11
10, 09, 08, 07, 06, 05, 04, 03, 02, 01
FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
----------
nominated films:
Angel
A Nous La Libertie
Arrowsmith
Babes in Toyland
Beau Geste
Big House, The
Block-Heads
Boudu Saved from Drowning
Champ, The
Christmas Carol, A
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Death Takes a Holiday
Double Wedding
Drums Along the Mohawk
Emperor Jones, The
Zemlya (aka: Earth)
Ex-Mrs. Bradford
Footlight Parade
Gold Diggers of 1933
Hallelujah I'm a Bum
Hurdes, Las
In Name Only
International House
Jewel Robbery
Jezebel
Judge Priest
Kennel Murder Case
Libeled Lady
Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The
Love Affair
Love Finds Andy Hardy
Love Me Tonight
Man Who Knew Too Much, The
Million, Le
Morrocco
Most Dangerous Game, The
Only Angels Have Wings
Osaka Elegy
Pépé le Moko
Port of Shadows
Prisoner of Shark Island
Prisoner of Zenda, The
Pygmalion
Roaring Twenties, The
Ruggles of Red Gap
Sabotage
Scarlet Empress, The
Secret Agent
Sign of the Cross
Shall we Dance
Shanghai Express
She Done Him Wrong
Show Boat
Son of Frankenstein
Star is Born, A
Story of Floating Weeds
Story of the Late Chrysanthemums
Tabu
Tale of Two Cities
Tarzan the Apeman
Tarzan and His Mate
Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Trader Horn
Under the Roofs of Paris
Vampyr
Wee Willie Winkie
Werewolf of London
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
Young Mr. Lincoln


Adam

Stagecoach - - revised to 4stars on 03/01

I really want to rate this four stars, but feel I've already got too many four star films and I can't think of any other good reason to bring it down (other than a few minor quibbles with the film). John Ford is one of my three all time favorite directors, and I find it amazing that I haven't seen more of his films (such as stagecoach). Once again I was blown away by the casual technical mastery he displays, it's easy to see how this film was very influential on Welles and his decisions on how he wanted Toland to shoot the film. There are many scenes with interior low angles, you see the cieling, the use of shadow and the black and white pallate is nothing short of breathtaking, and the multiplane compositions (and often deep focus) are outstanding as well. I love the iconic track in on John Wayne in the beginning (I thought to myself "that single shot created the greatest on screen legend yet met"), and the restrained camera movement, so that each time it does move its impact is all the greater (Ford's philosophy was that you shouldn't move the camera around unless there was damn good reason to). I love the tilt down of the whore(?) throwing Luke another shotgun, beautiful composition here especially in the final high angle of the shot, looking down at Luke in the near background with the streetlight in the foreground. I also think the way the final shootout was handled was great, John Wayne diving, gets off one shot, cut to Dallas we hear THREE more shots, and assume the worst, Then luke comes walking into the bar... and so on; brilliant editing. The part I liked least was the Indian attack, simply because it seemed out of place in what had been a hundred percent ensemble character drama up until that point, but I still think it was beautifully done (curious did Wayne or a stunt man do the jumping up to the front horse, because this was Wayne's first 'real' role, and before he had been a stunt man?). At times it seems as though ford's swan song to the western "the Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" is a sequel to Stagecoach, it picks up what happened to these rough riders as they settled down and got families; however this is patently ridiculous since the only 'real' similarity is Andy Devine being married to a mexican girl Juliette.

Anyway I thoroughly enjoyed this film, an absolutely amazing piece of work, it lalternately had me tense and laughing in a perfect balance, and ultimately I cared about all the characters you should care for.


Adam

That was the great Yakima Canutt doing those stunts and he was the second-unit director in charge of filming the action sequences.




Crawdaddy

Never thought I'd say something in this thread, but I'm taking a gander at the TCM listing, and I think I'll check out of few of them.

I broke out my Criterion DVD of

Blood of a Poet over the break and re-watched this movie.

And I have to say that as much as I love B&B, I don’t like this movie. It is both obscure and pretentious, but it has no redeeming production values. There are a few, amateurish attempts at some cinema magic, but it all falls flat.

I do like the snowball fight scene, but even this ends with a bit of a conceit.

I can understand why many profess to not care for ‘art’ movies if this is a benchmark.

42nd St. 1/2

I must confess I'm somewhat biased, our school put on an outstanding production of 42nd St. my senior year. It didn't touch the previous years' Funny Girl and Fiddler on the Roof, respectively, but I think that's because 42nd is the weakest of those three productions. I really tried quite hard to enjoy the film as film, and damn near did, the big disapointment for me was the Shuffle off to Buffalo number, I've seen this done to absolute perfection (it was the shining moment of the aforementioned play), but this rendition while very good didn't touch the stage version. But that's stage and film, what really redeemed the 42nd st film version for me was the many moments it shook off the constraints of following the play and used the medium of film to its advantage. It's that difference that you see in films like My Fair Lady between an amazing film construction of a number like "I could have danced all night", and the stagnant race track number(s). and 42nd st. really explodes in it's final title sequence. from the breathtaking track through all the girls legs, too the expansive and seeming endless NYC sets this number outshone the entirety of the rest of the film in my opinion. There was some very nice cinematography throughout the film, but the story behind the numbers fell flat too many times for me to accord it any higher a rank than it gets. I'd actually like to see this play remade, if only because I think the stage production is strong enough that it could translate better to film, this film isn't as strong (or revered) as other musicals, so it'd be interesting to see someone like Paul Thomas Anderson take a crack at bringing to life a classic stage musical, if only because it hasn't really been done yet.

12 down 88 to go.

Adam

I went though and looked up the director and release year of each of these films. I'm thinking I want to explore as many as possible of these through chronological order--preferably one director at a time--so I thought I would share this with any one else that might be interested.
This first list is sorted by Release Year, then alphabetically, in the next post they will be sorted by director, then release year, then alphabetically:


Film TitleRelease Year
Âge d'or, L' ---------------------- 1930
All Quiet on the Western Front ---- 1930
Animal Crackers ------------------- 1930
Blood of a Poet ------------------- 1930
Blue Angel, The ------------------- 1930
City Lights ----------------------- 1931
Dracula --------------------------- 1931
Drácula --------------------------- 1931
Frankenstein ---------------------- 1931
Little Caesar --------------------- 1931
M --------------------------------- 1931
Monkey Business ------------------- 1931
Public Enemy, The ----------------- 1931
Freaks ---------------------------- 1932
Grand Hotel ----------------------- 1932
Horse Feathers -------------------- 1932
I Am a Fugative from a Chain Gang - 1932
Mummy, The ------------------------ 1932
Music Box, The -------------------- 1932
Old Dark House, The --------------- 1932
Red Dust -------------------------- 1932
Scarface -------------------------- 1932
Trouble in Paradise --------------- 1932
Umarete wa mita keredo ------------ 1932
42nd Street ----------------------- 1933
Dinner at Eight ------------------- 1933
Duck Soup ------------------------- 1933
Invisible Man, The ---------------- 1933
Island of Lost Souls -------------- 1933
King Kong ------------------------- 1933
Little Women ---------------------- 1933
Private Life of Henry VIII, The --- 1933
Sons of the Desert ---------------- 1933
Atalante, L' ---------------------- 1934
Black Cat, The -------------------- 1934
Imitation of Life ----------------- 1934
It Happened One Night ------------- 1934
It's A Gift ----------------------- 1934
Lost Patrol, The ------------------ 1934
Thin Man, The --------------------- 1934
Triumph of the Will --------------- 1934
Twentieth Century ----------------- 1934
The 39 Steps ---------------------- 1935
Bride of Frankenstein ------------- 1935
Captain Blood --------------------- 1935
David Copperfield ----------------- 1935
'G' Men --------------------------- 1935
Informer, The --------------------- 1935
Mad Love -------------------------- 1935
Midsummer Night's Dream, A -------- 1935
Mutiny on the Bounty -------------- 1935
Night at the Opera, A ------------- 1935
Top Hat --------------------------- 1935
After the Thin Man ---------------- 1936
Charge of the Light Brigade ------- 1936
Dodsworth ------------------------- 1936
Fury ------------------------------ 1936
Modern Times ---------------------- 1936
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town ------------ 1936
My Man Godfrey -------------------- 1936
Rembrandt ------------------------- 1936
San Francisco --------------------- 1936
Swing Time ------------------------ 1936
Awful Truth, The ------------------ 1937
Captains Courageous --------------- 1937
Day at the Races, A --------------- 1937
Good Earth, The ------------------- 1937
Grand Illusion -------------------- 1937
Life of Emile Zola, The ----------- 1937
Lost Horizon ---------------------- 1937
Nothing Sacred -------------------- 1937
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs --- 1937
Stage Door ------------------------ 1937
Topper ---------------------------- 1937
Way Out West ---------------------- 1937
Adventures of Robin Hood, The ----- 1938
Alexander Nevsky ------------------ 1938
Angels with Dirty Faces----------- 1938
Boys Town ------------------------- 1938
Bringing Up Baby ------------------ 1938
Holiday --------------------------- 1938
Lady Vanishes, The ---------------- 1938
Olympia 1 ------------------------- 1938
Olympia 2 ------------------------- 1938
You Can't Take It with You -------- 1938
Another Thin Man ------------------ 1939
Destry Rides Again ---------------- 1939
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ----------- 1939
Four Feathers, The ---------------- 1939
Gone with the Wind ---------------- 1939
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ---------------- 1939
Gunga Din ------------------------- 1939
Hound of the Baskervilles, The ---- 1939
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The ------ 1939
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ------ 1939
Ninotchka ------------------------- 1939
Of Mice and Men ------------------- 1939
Rules of the Game ----------------- 1939
Stagecoach ------------------------ 1939
Wizard of Oz, The ----------------- 1939
Women, The ------------------------ 1939
Wuthering Heights ----------------- 1939

Interesting here, we have 1939 being the most represented with 17, and 1930 being least represented with a mere five. the amount of movies per year tends to increase as the decade goes on, though that rule is more general than specific.

This list is sorted by director, then release year, then alphabetically:



Film Title ------------------------ Director - Release Year
42nd Street ----------------------- Bacon, Lloyd1933
Dracula --------------------------- Browning, Tod1931
Freaks ---------------------------- Browning, Tod1932
Âge d'or, L'----------------------- Buñeal, Luis1930
It Happened One Night ------------- Capra, Frank1934
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town ------------ Capra, Frank1936
Lost Horizon ---------------------- Capra, Frank1937
You Can't Take It with You -------- Capra, Frank1938
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ------ Capra, Frank1939
City Lights ----------------------- Chaplin1931
Modern Times ---------------------- Chaplin1936
Blood of a Poet ------------------- Cocteau, Jean1930
King Kong ------------------------- Cooper, Marian; Schoedsack, Ernest1933
Dinner at Eight ------------------- Cukor, George1933
Little Women ---------------------- Cukor, George1933
David Copperfield ----------------- Cukor, George1935
Holiday --------------------------- Cukor, George1938
Women, The ------------------------ Cukor, George1939
Captain Blood --------------------- Curtiz, Micheal1935
Charge of the Light Brigade ------- Curtiz, Micheal1936
Angels with Dirty Faces ----------- Curtiz, Micheal1938
Adventures of Robin Hood, The ----- Curtiz, Micheal; Kleighey, William1938
Life of Emile Zola, The ----------- Dieterle, William1937
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The ------ Dieterle, William1939
Midsummer Night's Dream, A -------- Dieterle, William; Reinhardt, Max1935
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs --- Disney, Walt1937
Alexander Nevsky ------------------ Eisenstein1938
Red Dust -------------------------- Fleming, Victor1932
Captains Courageous --------------- Fleming, Victor1937
Gone with the Wind ---------------- Fleming, Victor; Cukor, George1939
Wizard of Oz, The ----------------- Fleming, Victor; Thorpe, Richard1939
Lost Patrol, The ------------------ Ford, John1934
Informer, The --------------------- Ford, John1935
Stagecoach ------------------------ Ford, John1939
Good Earth, The ------------------- Franklin, Sidney; Fleming Victor1937
Mummy, The ------------------------ Freund, Karl1932
Mad Love -------------------------- Freund, Karl1935
Grand Hotel ----------------------- Goulding, Edmond1932
Twentieth Century ----------------- Hawks, Howard1934
Bringing Up Baby ------------------ Hawks, Howard1938
Scarface -------------------------- Hawks, Howard; Rosson, Richard1932
Animal Crackers ------------------- Heerman, Victor1930
The 39 Steps ---------------------- Hitchcock1935
Lady Vanishes, The ---------------- Hitchcock1938
Way Out West ---------------------- Horne, James1937
'G' Men --------------------------- Keighley, William1935
Island of Lost Souls -------------- Kenton, Earl1933
Private Life of Henry VIII -------- Korda, Alexander1933
Rembrandt ------------------------- Korda, Alexander1936
Four Feathers, The ---------------- Korda, Zoltan1939
My Man Godfrey -------------------- La Cava, George1936
Stage Door ------------------------ La Cava, George1937
Hound of the Baskervilles --------- Lanfield, Sidney1939
M --------------------------------- Lang, Fritz1931
Fury ------------------------------ Lang, Fritz1936
Little Caesar --------------------- LeRoy, Mervyn1931
I Am a Fugative from a Chain Gang - LeRoy, Mervyn1932
Mutiny on the Bounty -------------- Lloyd, Frank1935
Trouble in Paradise --------------- Lubitsch, Ernst1932
Ninotchka ------------------------- Lubitsch, Ernst1939
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ----------- Mamoulian, Rouben1939
Destry Rides Again ---------------- Marshall, George1939
Duck Soup ------------------------- McCarey, Leo1933
Awful Truth, The ------------------ McCarey, Leo1937
Monkey Business ------------------- McLeod, Norman1931
Horse Feathers -------------------- McLeod, Norman1932
It's A Gift ----------------------- McLeod, Norman1934
Topper ---------------------------- McLeod, Norman1937
Drácula --------------------------- Melford, George; Ávalos, Enrique 1931
All Quiet on the Western Front ---- Milestone, Lewis1930
Of Mice and Men ------------------- Milestone, Lewis1939
Umarete wa mita keredo ------------ Ozu, Kasujiro1932
Music Box, The -------------------- Parrot, James1932
Grand Illusion -------------------- Renoir, Jean1937
Rules of the Game ----------------- Renoir, Jean1939
Triumph of the Will --------------- Riefenstahl, Leni1934
Olympia 1 ------------------------- Riefenstahl, Leni1938
Olympia 2 ------------------------- Riefenstahl, Leni1938
Top Hat --------------------------- Sandrich, Mark1935
Sons of the Desert ---------------- Seiter, William1933
Imitation of Life ----------------- Stahl, John1934
Swing Time ------------------------ Stevens, George1936
Gunga Din ------------------------- Stevens, George1939
Boys Town ------------------------- Taurog, Norman1938
Black Cat, The -------------------- Ulmer, Edgar1934
Thin Man, The --------------------- Van Dyke, W. S.1934
After the Thin Man ---------------- Van Dyke, W. S.1936
San Francisco --------------------- Van Dyke, W. S.1936
Another Thin Man ------------------ Van Dyke, W. S.1939
Atalante, L' ---------------------- Vigo, Jean1934
Blue Angel, The ------------------- von Sternberg, Josef1930
Public Enemy, The ----------------- Wellman, William1931
Nothing Sacred -------------------- Wellman, William1937
Frankenstein ---------------------- Whale, James1931
Old Dark House, The --------------- Whale, James1932
Invisible Man, The ---------------- Whale, James1933
Bride of Frankenstein ------------- Whale, James1935
Night at the Opera, A ------------- Wood, Sam1935
Day at the Races, A --------------- Wood, Sam1937
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ---------------- Wood, Sam1939
Dodsworth ------------------------- Wyler, William1936
Wuthering Heights ----------------- Wyler, William1939


Interesting to see how many directors appear more than once, one shot directors in our list are actually quite rare. Also interesting to see that still well known directors such as John Ford and Hitchcock only have three and two films on out list, respectively. John Ford directed about 28 films in the 30s and Hitchcock directed 16, interesting to see so few of their films on the list when there are several directors with five films on the list. [font=courier new]

The Public Enemy

Better than Little Caesar, but not as good as Scarface, but still a damn fine gangster film. I enjoyed the life long rise and fall of Tommy Powers, there were many, many times that this film felt like a major inspiration for Goodfellas (just several little things made me think this quite often). I liked several little touches, like the implication that Putty nose was homosexual, it's interesting to see how they insinuated those sorts of things back in the day. I based this on three things: Putty nose singing to the kid sitting on his piano in 1909 (like a woman traditionally does), the way he sticks his rear into Tommy's face in 1917, and the way Nails eggs Tommy on with the word SOFT, the way he says and uses this word especially, and perhaps the physicality of his character--a slender conniving, almost effeminate man. This may not seem like much, but I know for a fact that there is supposed to be a strong incestuas relationship implied between Tony Camote and his sister in Scarface, and I think Public Enemy shares that 30s style of slying implying things but never saying them outright. Another thing thats fascinating when seeing these similar time period films, is that you start to notice house styles. I saw two thirties films by WB earlier this year not on the list "Oil for the Lamps of China" and "Stella Dallas" between those two, Little Caesar, and Public Enemy, more and more styles seem to jump out at me, ways of staging or lighting things, the sorts of performances achieved and the look of the actors themselves.
Anyway back to Public Enemy. A fine fine gangster film, I love that incredible moment, when in the pouring rain Tommy goes into hit several guys, then staggers out into the rain--shot--and its raining even harder. This nadir of Tommy's life is perfectly done, and seems to be the sort of thing that would later inspire Kurasawa in his use of rain. And the final scene when Tommy is brought back to the house is utterly chilling, especially the look in his brothers eyes. Not quite the ending of I am a fugitive... Scarface or Stagecoach, but still an incredible way to end the fllm.

Falling in love again…

The Blue Angel was shown on TCM this week and I found it still a powerful, if somewhat heavy-handed and predictable film. I just love the scene what the Professor becomes completely besotted, as Lola is singing and dancing.

Thanks for the lists Adam. I often go on streaks where I watch only movies by certain directors and like to make connections.

Well, I'm finally back in business. I don't think of checked anything of my list since Mid-November.

Red Dust - I enjoyed this movie, but it wasn't great. I found it to be very similar to Howard Hawks' "Only Angels Have Wings" which came a few years later and isn't on this list. I prefer the later.


Rembrandt - This was a pretty average biopic of a very interesting artist that I knew very about, and after it still feel that I know very little about.


I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang - Now this is a movie. What a phenomonal job of story telling and although the final chase seems a little cliched, I have to remind myself that this was 1932. The closing shot and line immediately jumps into my top 10 for greatest film endings.


Captain Blood - This was another great movie and wasn't really what I was expecting. I thought that this would be a swashbuckler from opening titles to the end, but to my surpise & delight it wasn't. The action scenes were quite good for the times and the character setup & development was quite good for an action movie. 1/2

I got out my copy of

Alexander Nevsky and watched it again. I’m always impressed by this movie. Too bad that the soundtrack is so deficient. A great score and poor sound. As I’ve got the Criterion, I suspect that the sound will never be any better, so I just have to accept it as it is.

Eric I completely agree on Chain Gang, I was absolutely blown away by that film, so good it left me gasping!

To speak of another film that left me gasping (but this time because of paroxyms of laughter)

The Thin Man
"One of you at this table is the murderer, you may serve the fish now"

Wow! I don't think I've enjoyed an old comedy so much since I saw the Lady Eve. at first I was fairly confused, I had absolutely no idea what the film was about going into watching it, no idea that it was a dectective/comedy. and since I wasn't familiar with the stars it took until the christmas eve party for me to figure out that it was the dectective and his wife that were the main characters, I also realized that this was a smash up comedy at this point (I'd laughed several times before however ). There is so much that is great about this film that I can hardly think of cataloging them all, I don't think I've ever witnessed a more perfect balance of humor and suspense (well Raiders of the Lost Ark did outstanding with humor and action), everything from reluctance of the detective to the eccentrically wonderful family (has he met ALL the family yet? Yes father, and he still wants to marry me. Hmph, brave man.) that you can't help but laugh at; to the very tense moments, such as when the tough comes at the dectective with a gun, or when he enters into the old man's lab near the end, brilliantly brilliantly done, kept me on the edge of my seat (mainly because I kept falling off from laughing so much). The humor is fast, sly and comes at a furious pace, so I can understand if people here at HTF wouldn't like it quite as much as I do (I laugh easily and long, and enjoy doing so). "I was only a GLEAM in my father's eye. This film is everything I had hoped to find in Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, but was sorely disapointed, the ensemble preformance, anchored by the star team (and Asta!), the balance of humor and suspense are unmatched by any recent film I can think of (and the dinner party scene is as incredible to this film as the actual heist would be in a film such as Oceans Eleven, but immensely more entertaining). bah why am I talking so much about this, I want to see it again, no I think I'll go watch "After the Thin Man".

Adam