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Top Films of the 1930s

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Wizard of Oz 1939 Victor Fleming 9
2 Gone with the Wind 1939 Victor Fleming 31
3 City Lights 1931 Charles Chaplin 40
4 Modern Times 1936 Charles Chaplin 61
5 King Kong 1933 Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack 68
6 M 1931 Fritz Lang 84
7 It Happened One Night 1934 Frank Capra 99
8 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 David Hand 115
9 Bride of Frankenstein 1935 James Whale 123
10 Bringing Up Baby 1938 Howard Hawks 128
11 Duck Soup 1933 Leo McCarey 129
12 The Rules of the Game 1939 Jean Renoir 138
13 Frankenstein 1931 James Whale 177
14 The Grand Illusion 1937 Jean Renoir 180
15 Stagecoach 1939 John Ford 183
16 All Quiet on the Western Front 1930 Lewis Milestone 234
17 Freaks 1932 Tod Browning 247
18 The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 Michael Curtiz and William Keighley 265
19 L'Atalante 1934 Jean Vigo 332
20 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Frank Capra 362
21 Top Hat 1935 Mark Sandrich 386
22 The 39 Steps 1935 Alfred Hitchcock 415
23 A Night at the Opera 1935 Sam Wood 500
24 Dracula 1931 Tod Browning 517
25 Trouble in Paradise 1932 Ernst Lubitsch 540
26 Ninotchka 1939 Ernst Lubitsch 573
27 The Lady Vanishes 1938 Alfred Hitchcock 574
28 The Invisible Man 1933 James Whale 627
29 The Thin Man 1934 W.S. Van Dyke 630
30 Vampyr 1932 Carl Theodor Dreyer 652
31 Scarface 1932 Howard Hawks 665
32 42nd Street 1933 Lloyd Bacon 734
33 The Awful Truth 1937 Leo McCarey 827
34 Triumph of the Will 1935 Leni Riefenstahl 877
35 The Blue Angel 1930 Josef von Sternberg 937
36 Swing Time 1936 George Stevens 966
37 L'Âge d'or 1930 Luis Buñuel 989
38 Pépé Le Moko 1937 Julien Duvivier 1033
39 The Public Enemy 1931 William A. Wellman 1068
40 Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations 1938 Leni Riefenstahl 1097
41 Destry Rides Again 1939 George Marshall 1105
42 Alexander Nevsky 1938 Sergei Eisenstein and Dmitriy Vasilev 1116
43 Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty 1938 Leni Riefenstahl 1154
44 Wuthering Heights 1939 William Wyler 1163
45 Little Caesar 1931 Mervyn LeRoy 1177
46 Mutiny on the Bounty 1935 Frank Lloyd 1211
47 My Man Godfrey 1936 Gregory La Cava 1216
48 I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang 1932 Mervyn LeRoy 1260
49 Make Way for Tomorrow 1937 Leo McCarey 1279
50 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1931 Rouben Mamoulian 1289
51 The Women 1939 George Cukor 1294
52 Things to Come 1936 William Cameron Menzies 1325
53 Earth 1930 Aleksandr Dovzhenko 1330
54 Young Mr. Lincoln 1939 John Ford 1332
55 Love Me Tonight 1932 Rouben Mamoulian 1349
56 Gold Diggers of 1933 1933 Mervyn LeRoy 1351
57 The Scarlet Empress 1934 Josef von Sternberg 1434
58 Only Angels Have Wings 1939 Howard Hawks 1482
59 Zero for Conduct 1933 Jean Vigo 1499
60 Lost Horizon 1937 Frank Capra 1500
61 The Mummy 1932 Karl Freund 1512
62 I Was Born, But... 1932 Yasujirô Ozu 1538
63 Le Jour se lève 1939 Marcel Carné 1576
64 Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 Michael Curtiz 1586
65 Gunga Din 1939 George Stevens 1598
66 The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums 1939 Kenji Mizoguchi 1631
67 Sons of the Desert 1933 William A. Seiter 1645
68 Grand Hotel 1932 Edmund Goulding 1662
69 Dodsworth 1936 William Wyler 1669
70 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 1936 Frank Capra 1673
71 Queen Christina 1933 Rouben Mamoulian 1701
72 Holiday 1938 George Cukor 1702
73 Fury 1936 Fritz Lang 1708
74 Island of Lost Souls 1932 Erle C. Kenton 1735
75 It's a Gift 1934 Norman Z. McLeod 1777
76 Captains Courageous 1937 Victor Fleming 1799
77 Shanghai Express 1932 Josef von Sternberg 1827
78 The Blood of a Poet 1932 Jean Cocteau 1831
79 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939 William Dieterle 1846
80 Morocco 1930 Josef von Sternberg 1852
81 Tabu 1931 F.W. Murnau 1884
82 Maedchen in Uniform 1931 Leontine Sagan 1925
83 The Black Cat 1934 Edgar G. Ulmer 1930
84 The Testament of Dr. Mabuse 1933 Fritz Lang 1944
85 You Can't Take It with You 1938 Frank Capra 1995
86 Footlight Parade 1933 Lloyd Bacon 2002
87 Twentieth Century 1934 Howard Hawks 2011
88 Captain Blood 1935 Michael Curtiz 2016
89 Stella Dallas 1937 King Vidor 2022
90 Ruggles of Red Gap 1935 Leo McCarey 2057
91 Goodbye Mr. Chips 1939 Sam Wood 2079
92 The Merry Widow 1934 Ernst Lubitsch 2114
93 Boudu Saved from Drowning 1932 Jean Renoir 2139
94 Horse Feathers 1932 Norman Z. McLeod 2184
95 Dinner at Eight 1933 George Cukor 2186
96 Way Out West 1937 James W. Horne 2205
97 Animal Crackers 1930 Victor Heerman 2224
98 Monkey Business 1931 Norman Z. McLeod 2231
99 Land without Bread 1933 Luis Buñuel 2236
100 Camille 1936 George Cukor 2264
101 The Informer 1935 John Ford 2294
102 Design for Living 1933 Ernst Lubitsch 2304
103 The Music Box 1932 James Parrott 2315
104 La Chienne 1931 Jean Renoir 2331
105 La Bête Humaine 1938 Jean Renoir 2338
106 The Old Dark House 1932 James Whale 2349
107 Le Million 1931 René Clair 2424
108 Jezebel 1938 William Wyler 2445
109 Show Boat 1936 James Whale 2453
110 The Roaring Twenties 1939 Raoul Walsh 2455
111 The Crime of Mr. Lange 1936 Jean Renoir 2489
112 À Nous la Liberté 1931 René Clair 2526
113 The Life of Emile Zola 1937 William Dieterle 2575
114 Little Women 1933 George Cukor 2581
115 Reefer Madness 1936 Louis J. Gasnier 2619
116 David Copperfield 1935 George Cukor 2664
117 Man of Aran 1934 Robert J. Flaherty 2730
118 Dodge City 1939 Michael Curtiz 2761
119 She Done Him Wrong 1933 Lowell Sherman 2766
120 Midnight 1939 Mitchell Leisen 2802
121 Port of Shadows 1938 Marcel Carné 2827
122 Love Affair 1939 Leo McCarey 2875
123 Of Mice and Men 1939 Lewis Milestone 2895
124 The Gay Divorcee 1934 Mark Sandrich 2916
125 Dark Victory 1939 Edmund Goulding 2942
126 Stage Door 1937 Gregory La Cava 2985
127 The Good Earth 1937 Sidney Franklin 2992
128 The Private Life of Henry VIII 1933 Alexander Korda 3015
129 You Only Live Once 1937 Fritz Lang 3016
130 San Francisco 1936 W.S. Van Dyke 3018
131 Blonde Venus 1932 Josef von Sternberg 3034
132 One Hour with You 1932 Ernst Lubitsch 3046
This page was last modified on April 9, 2025