Films of the 1930s

See also: Early Films, Films of the 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s.

Notable Film Franchises, 1930-1939

 * Andy Hardy
 * A Family Affair (1937)
 * You're Only Young Once (1937)
 * Judge Hardy's Children (1938)
 * Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
 * Out West with the Hardys (1938)
 * The Hardys Ride High (1939)
 * Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939)
 * Judge Hardy and Son (1939)
 * Charlie Chan
 * The Cat and the Canary -- Got three versions in the 30's.
 * The Cat Creeps (1930) -- Sound remake of the 1927 film by Universal.
 * La Voluntad del Muerto (1930) -- Spanish version of the former.
 * The Cat and the Canary (1939) -- Produced by Paramount and starring Bob Hope.
 * Ellery Queen
 * The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935)
 * The Mandarin Mystery (1936)
 * The first two Flash Gordon film serials
 * Flash Gordon (1936)
 * Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)
 * Universal Horror series
 * The Dracula Series
 * Dracula (1931)
 * Drácula (1931) -- same script done again on the same set. But with a different crew and in Spanish.
 * Draculas Daughter (1936)
 * The Frankenstein Series
 * Frankenstein (1931)
 * Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
 * Son of Frankenstein (1939)
 * The Marx Brothers star in their classic early comedies
 * Animal Crackers (1930)
 * Monkey Business (1931)
 * Horsefeathers (1932)
 * Duck Soup (1933)
 * A Night at the Opera (1935)
 * A Day at the Races (1937)
 * Room Service (1938)
 * At The Circus (1939)
 * Tarzan
 * Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
 * Tarzan the Fearless (1933)
 * Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

1930

 * All Quiet on the Western Front
 * The Blue Angel (Der blaue Engel)
 * Just Imagine
 * Sinkin in The Bathtub

1931

 * Ambassador Bill -- Starring Will Rogers
 * City Lights
 * M -- By Fritz Lang
 * The Public Enemy -- One of the three early talkie gangster films that in essence established the genre. Made James Cagney a star. Pass the grapefruit.
 * Little Caesar -- One of the three early talkie gangster films that in essence established the genre. Made Edward G Robinson a star. "Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?"

1932

 * Doctor X
 * Freaks
 * Grand Hotel
 * The Greeks Had a Word for Them
 * I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
 * The Mummy
 * Murders in the Rue Morgue
 * The Old Dark House
 * Scarface -- Not the one with Al Pacino; the ORIGINAL. One of the three early talkie gangster films that in essence established the genre. Look for Boris Karloff in a supporting role.
 * Trouble in Paradise
 * White Zombie

1933

 * Female
 * Gabriel Over the White House
 * 42nd Street
 * Gold Diggers of 1933
 * Footlight Parade
 * The Invisible Man
 * King Kong -- The original, and the most famous "giant monster" movie until Godzilla
 * Lady for a Day
 * Mystery of the Wax Museum
 * Queen Christina
 * Things To Come -- adapted to the screen from H. G. Wells' novel, by Wells himself

1934

 * Babes in Toyland
 * The Black Cat
 * It Happened One Night
 * L'Atalante
 * The Man Who Knew Too Much
 * The Scarlet Pimpernel
 * The Thin Man
 * Manhattan Melodrama

1935

 * The 39 Steps
 * Captain Blood
 * Mutiny on the Bounty
 * The Phantom Empire
 * The Raven
 * Roberta
 * Top Hat
 * Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) -- Like The Birth of a Nation, a landmark of cinematographic art...which was also propaganda for a hate group. Unlike Birth, the propaganda was intentional.
 * Werewolf of London -- Botanist is bitten by a werewolf in Tibet and returns to London to wreak havoc unwittingly.

1936

 * The Great Ziegfeld
 * The Invisible Ray
 * Mary of Scotland -- Narm that nearly sank Katherine Hepburn's career
 * Modern Times
 * Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
 * My Man Godfrey
 * Reefer Madness -- Probably the original So Bad It's Good movie
 * Rogues Tavern
 * Show Boat --One of the versions

1937

 * The Awful Truth
 * The Dybbuk
 * Fire Over England
 * The Grand Illusion
 * Jungle Jim -- a 12 part movie serial
 * Lost Horizon
 * The Prisoner of Zenda
 * Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs -- Few movies can legitimately claim to have single-handedly established a genre. This film did (the animated feature).
 * Stage Door
 * A Star Is Born

1938

 * The Adventures of Robin Hood
 * Alexander Nevsky
 * Angels with Dirty Faces
 * Bringing Up Baby
 * The Lady Vanishes
 * You Can't Take It With You

1939

 * Gone with the Wind -- Adjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing film of all time. Still a cultural icon today.
 * Goodbye, Mr. Chips
 * Gulliver's Travels -- Max Fleischer's forgotten masterpiece.
 * The Hunchback of Notre Dame -- The Charles Laughton version.
 * Ninotchka
 * The Rules Of The Game (La règle du jeu) -- Considered by many critics to be the "French Citizen Kane" (appears regularly on best-ever-made film-lists).
 * Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
 * Stagecoach -- Another good example of the typical western.
 * The Wizard of Oz -- Equal to GWTW as a cultural icon.
 * The Women
 * The Roaring Twenties
 * Wuthering Heights

Cartoons and Live Action Shorts

 * Classic Disney Shorts
 * "The Band Concert" (1935)
 * "Brave Little Tailor" (1938)
 * "Clock Cleaners" (1937)
 * "Flowers and Trees" (1932)
 * "The Golden Touch" (1935)
 * "Lonesome Ghosts" (1937)
 * "The Mad Doctor" (1933)
 * "Moving Day" (1936)
 * "The Old Mill" (1937)
 * "Plutos Judgement Day" (1935)
 * "Three Little Pigs" (1933)
 * "The Tortoise and the Hare" (1935)
 * Happy Harmonies and other classic shorts from Metro Goldwyn Mayer
 * "Good Little Monkeys" (1935)
 * "Peace on Earth" (1939)
 * The Little Rascals
 * Betty Boop, Popeye and other classic shorts from Max and Dave Fleischer
 * "Bimbo's Initiation" (1931)
 * "Minnie the Moocher" (1932)
 * "Snow White" (1933)
 * "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor'' (1936)
 * "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" (1937)
 * Looney Tunes
 * "Porkys Duck Hunt" (1937)
 * "Porky in Wackyland" (1938)
 * Merrie Melodies
 * "Daffy Duck and Egghead" (1938)
 * "I Love to Singa" (1936)
 * "Lady Play Your Mandolin" (1931)
 * The Three Stooges
 * Laurel and Hardy
 * "The Music Box" (1932)