I wanted to do this top since a long time as I love movies from the 30s, especially the comedies. I think they were unique and the pre-code era allowed movies with a great touch of realism and modernism.
As always, I invite you to respect my choices. This is a list of my most favourite movies, so it’s purely subjective. If there is a movie you like, but that isn’t on that list, it’s not necessarily because I don’t like it. It might be because I haven’t seen it, or simply because this is a top 35 and not a top 50. Just to give you an idea I have seen about 95 movies from the 30s. Thanks.
I invite you to clic on the various links that appears in orange if you are interested to read more reviews.
Well, here we go! 🙂
35- Bank Holiday (Carol Reed, 1938)
34- En kvinnas ansikte (Gustaf Molander, 1938)
33- The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937)
32- The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz & William Keighley, 1938)
31- Dinner at Eight (George Cukor, 1933)
30- The Women (George Cukor, 1939)
29- Le Quai des Brumes (Marcel Carné, 1938)
28- Holiday (George Cukor, 1938)
27- Murder! (Alfred Hitchcock, 1930)
26- A Girl Must Live (Carol Reed, 1939)
25- My Man Godfrey (Gregory LaCava, 1936)
24- Wuthering Heights (William Wyler, 1939)
23- The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
22- Free & Easy (Edward Sedgwick, 1930)
21- Baby Face (Alfred E. Green, 1933)
20- Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)
19- Red Salute ( Sidney Lanfield, 1935)
18- Nothing Sacred (William A. Wellman, 1937)
17- Easy Living (Mitchell Leisen, 1937)
16- Dames (Ray Enright, 1934)
15- Little Women (George Cukor, 1933)
14- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Frank Capra, 1936)
13- Young and Innocent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1937)
12- Topper (Norman Z. McLeod, 1937)
11- Libeled Lady (Jack Conway, 1936)
10- Golden Boy ( Rouben Mamoulian, 1939)
9- All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930)
8- 42nd Street (Llyod Bacon, 1933)
7- Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933)
6- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939)
5- Gone With the Wind (Victor Flemming, 1939)
4- La Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
3- Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
2- The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938)
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1- Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)
This also happens to be my 2nd most favourite movie of all times after Some Like It Hot 🙂
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That’s it! Now please don’t hesitate to tell me what are YOUR favourite movies of the 30s in the comment section. I’ll be very curious to know! 🙂
See you!
The Wonderful World of Cinema 
I guessed 4 of your top 10, so not bad!
GREAT list! 😀
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Wow you know me well! 😀 Which 4?
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Bringing up Baby, Grand Illusion, Golden Boy and Gone with the wind 😀
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Hi Virginie. Great list. From your list I love Holiday, The Lady Vanishes, Dinner At Eight, Gone With The Wind,Shanghai Express and Wuthering Heights.
Here are a few others from this decade that I really love: Top Hat, Le Jour se Leve, The Goddess (Chinese film from 1934),If You Could Only Cook, Grand Hotel, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, Camille, The Bitter Tea Of General Yen, Twentieth Century.
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Mr Deeds Goes to Town was here too ;). I’ve seen It Happened One Night and Twentieth Century, and I know I liked them, but honestly I don’t rememer much about the movies themselves, so I don’t know if it’s a good thing lol. I’m very curious to see Le Jour se Lève! Actually, if you like Jean Gabin, I’ll highly recommend you to see Le Quai des Brumes and La Grande Illusion (if you haven’t).
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Wonderful, wonderful list. They are all classic films.
I try to keep my lists to “10”, otherwise I’d get carried away. Here’s 10 favourites of the 1930s: The Thin Man, Sons of the Desert, Top Hat, These Three, The Informer, Ruggles of Red Gap, Of Mice and Men, David Copperfield, 42nd Street, Night Must Fall.
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Oh I’m glad 42nd street is part of your top 10 too! 🙂 The Thin Man is great too! I haven’t seen the other ones! Thanks for your comment Patricia 🙂
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Great list Lea … I would have included Wizard of Oz, Dracula, Human Bondage, more Thin Man LOL There were so many wonderful films of this era in all genres….I couldn’t do a list without wanting to constantly change it 😊 Xx
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What a great list idea. The pre-war years in film are some of my favorite too. I love seeing several of Barbara Stanwyck’s, Cary Grant’s and Hitchcock’s earlier films on this list. Bringing Up Baby is my number one favorite also. It is the first classic film I watched and because of it screwball comedy is my favorite genre and Grant and Hepburn are my favorite actors to this day. I would add Claudette Colbert’s Midnight, Carole Lombard in Hands Across the Table, and some of Norma Shearer’s films.
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Interesting list Ginnie. I like the couple of Margaret Lockwood films in there. I’d have gone for the likes of Grande Hotel, City Lights, Queen Christine, It Happened One Night, You Can’t Take it with You, The 39 Steps, Top Hat, Stage Door, Stella Dallas, The Great Ziegfeld, The Thin Man etc. There were so many classic films back then.
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Yes! I the 30s were incomparable!
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