Favourite movies from the 1930s?

[Brian Sheridan]

I really enjoy Warren William, I was first introduced to him in the 1933 flick "Lady for a Day"...just love this movie. Haven't seen it in awhile but it has stuck. Shellie

If you like William Warren you need to keep your eyes peeled for TCM's showing of "Times Square Playboy" from 1936, based on the 1926 Geo M. Cohan comedy. Warren plays the title role and is about to marry a woman his country bumpkin best friend thinks is a gold-digger. The best parts are Warren's wrestling workout and his super swanky Art Deco apartment complete with butler.

 

[Bugsy]

I agree with so many of the choices listed, but I'm just an incurable romantic.My favorite film of the 30's--I think my favorite film periold--is Gone With the Wind.

 

[KY Gentleman]

I love Louise Brooks and "Pandoras Box" came out in 1929 so I'll offer this one up as my favorite, even if its a tad early for this thread. "The Blue Angel" was a 1930 film so I'll throw that one in too in case my first pick dosen't count.

 

[Mike1939]

The 1930's is my favorite decade for movies and there are so many to choose from. I finally narrowed it down to five.

Trouble in Paradise (1932)
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Thinman (1934)
The Thirty Nine Steps (1935)
The Petrified Forest (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Only Angels have Wings (1939)
The Lady Vanishes (1939)

Ok, so I couldn't do it. Make that narrowed down to ten.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Tough topic! Here's but a few...

STAGE DOOR (1937)
TOP HAT (1935)
EASY LIVING (1937)
MY MAN GODFREY (1936)
THE THIN MAN (1934)
AFTER THE THIN MAN (1936)
MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936)
THEY MADE ME A CRMINAL (1939)
SHALL WE DANCE (1937)
CHINA SEAS (1935)
SKYSCRAPER SOULS (1932)
ALICE ADAMS (1935)
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Sophisticated Lady with Ginger Rogers, Jimmy Stewart, Charles Coburn and Beulah Bondi...

I taped it recently so I could burn a DVD for myself and then made a copy for a friend. It's hilarious. I die laughing at the part where Rogers & one of the other actors is teaching Bondi to Charleston & Black Bottom, and the first two dance into the kitchen, leaving Bondi to "cut a rug" on her own...and then Coburn walks in to see his supposedly-invalid wife dancing around, finger in the air...

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Sophisticated Lady with Ginger Rogers, Jimmy Stewart, Charles Coburn and Beulah Bondi...

I taped it recently so I could burn a DVD for myself and then made a copy for a friend. It's hilarious. I die laughing at the part where Rogers & one of the other actors is teaching Bondi to Charleston & Black Bottom, and the first two dance into the kitchen, leaving Bondi to "cut a rug" on her own...and then Coburn walks in to see his supposedly-invalid wife dancing around, finger in the air...

I think you mean Vivacious Lady (1938). Man, there sure are a ton of 1930s movies not on DVD...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030944/

 

[Nathan Dodge]

How could I have forgotten Stage Door![...]

Stage Door is not just one of my favorite movies of the 1930s, but from *any* decade. Same with The Thin Man

EDIT: I'd also like to submit The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936). That's where my signature comes from.

 

[FATS88]

YOU SANDBAGGED ME!

I must admit the question caught me flatfooted to
say the least.
That decade has been described to me by my ancestors;
as a dreadful time, but ironically, full of many bright moments.
When I boast to people that "I was raised on the Classics"
it's many of the films of this decade I'm referring to.

Many of my keepsakes have been mentioned by the loungers...
but after all that work of rummaging through my stacks of vhs tapes,
I'm sayin'em anyhow!

King Kong '33
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse '33
The Mummy '32
Murder At The Vanities '34
Imitation Of Life '34
Zou Zou '34
March Of The Wooden Soldiers '34 (This was a holiday season staple)
Bright Eyes '34
Dante's Inferno '35
Stowaway '36
King Of Hockey '36
Captains Courageous '37
Dead End '37
Ice Follies of 1939 '??
All the Hitchcock
All the Chan
All the Bogart
All the Rooney and
All the Marx Bros.

fftopic: One thing I do when I watch these films
is that I watch Betty Boop,
Flash Gordon, or Stooges shorts between films.

Cheers!
Fats

 

[SamMarlowPI]

For right now I'll go with the first 3 Thin Man films, My Man Godfrey, and anything James Cagney or Bogart...

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Also add FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933).

 

[MissAmelina]

Man....I just watched "Stage Door" for the first time....not sure how I missed this one! OMG, how awesome.
And I did a complete turnaround at the end.....(don't worry, very vague spoilers to follow) I was laughing hysterically making fun of Kay as she was gliding up the stairs, and then weeping like a little child a minute later as Katherine Hepburn hit the stage. She just kills me, always.
"Norman....you're my knight in shining armour...."
The plot holes are large enough to fall in, but what a great flipping movie!
And the DRESSES! OH! don't even get me started......
Now I am watching "Trouble in Paradise" and discovering the loverly Kay Francis...what a babe!
I just love, love LOVE these precode moving pictures!

 

[byronic]

If i want a good chuckle then anything with the late, great Will Hay is good, or for a rattling good adventure it's hard to beat the Korda brothers:
The thief of Baghdad
The drum
The four feathers (i think this was the third or fourth remake, but by far and away the best, it's in glorious technicolour and stars John Clements, Ralph Richardson and the impossibly beautiful June Duprez)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=spMgkyLzDCg

 

[MisterGrey]

1932's "Freaks." So rarely does so old a film carry with it such horror on a visceral level. Truly a terrifying film that could never be made again.

 

[Indyfan]

The Mummy, Frankenstein, King Kong, Flash Gordon, The wizard of Oz, The Bride of Frankenstien, Son of Frankenstien.



As you can see I'm a Genre fan. That is just my short list. I'd run out of room if I wrote everything down.

 

[skyvue]

Now I am watching "Trouble in Paradise" and discovering the loverly Kay Francis...what a babe!

I'm very proud of the fact that Ms. Francis was born in my hometown, Oklahoma City (though she didn't stay there long).

MissA, if you ever get the chance to see TROUBLE IN PARADISE on the big screen with an appreciative audience, do so. It's a classic.