Best 25 Films of the 1930's

Capra's best work and very riveting as well, centers around naïve Smith, played to perfection by James Stewart. It is filled with Capra?s wonderful group of character and supporting actors including the great Jean Arthur, the wonderful Thomas Mitchell, Harry Carey, and the supreme supporting actor Claude Rains. Together these actors head the colorful cast that fill the Senate chamber. The film always arouses my patriotism as Capra gives us his wonderful version of America that I so wish was true. Capra was a genius and each of his films exemplifies his love for his art. Few speeches can match the fervor that Smith?s final speech arouses with that final gasp. If only, Gone With the Wind hadn?t have been released, but then the competition would have stilled included The Wizard of Oz, as well as Stagecoach. Amazing.

From the opening music chords to the dashing swashbuckling finale, this film is the ultimate of that genre as well as Errol Flynn's crowning achievement. He makes Robin Hood a fun and jolly hero with honor and ever quality imaginable that a leader should possess. He may not be British, but he is close enough and has the right accent. Michael Curtiz, the man behind the other Errol Flynn films that made my list those being The Sea Hawk, and Captain Blood, directs this with a fun, but serious air although he can't take all the credit as William Keighley directed first off, but was replaced by Curtiz early in production. Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed a masterful score for this. I could go on, but I will suffice to say that this is a dashing film that stands as one of the best of the Action/Adventure genre.

One of the oldest films that I love, perhaps the oldest. Fritz Lang also of Metropolis fame crafted a masterpiece with this film centering around Peter Lorre, Hans Beckert, who is a child molester and killer. The film is chilling as it is exciting. The brilliantness of the film is in its silence. There is no soundtrack for this save the tunes whistled by its members. In particular is the whistle of Hans Beckert before he commits the act. This is a German film, but should be missed because of the impact it still can make even seventy-six years later.

The Marx Brothers were comedic geniuses. Each film was so zany that they could make anything funny. This is the pinnacle of their films for its great pacing which few of their other works have. There never seems to be a dull moment provided you can get past the decent singing of Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle. The many highlights of this comedy include the bedroom sequence and in which the brothers manage to squeeze a larger group of people into a small cruise ship room that Groucho?s character gets stuck in. There is one other Marx Brother film or two that could crack my list in the near future, but I will have to see them at least one more time to be sure. Horse Feathers and Monkey Business are the two that could in the near future.

How to describe this film unto a class all its own? I can?t really. It is wondrous, fun, and a great musical which can be enjoyed by all ages. Judy Garland was perfect for her role and each of the wondrous characters such as the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow were cast wonderfully as well. The songs are very magical and I always love the bit where it changes color. There was never a better witch than that Hamilton woman. I couldn?t help, but include this as one of my favorites.

The three amigos, Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., of the British army stationed in India have one of the greatest adventures not to mention of the most entertaining and funniest set to the silver screen. These three just work together and it is a triumvirate that is not only missed by the audience at the end, but those involved. I always find it amazing that they created such a great and fun film out a poem by the great Rudyard Kipling. Sam Jaffe plays Gunga Din the main of the title and what a funny and great character he is. I only have this one VHS, but let me tell you that it is quite popular here at my house between me and my sister.

Screwball comedies, what fun they are. Surprisingly this was a flop at the time of its release, but it is well loved now. I guess you could compare it to Orson Welles? films in that case. Katharine Hepburn is really the driving force of this film with her characters unfazed approach to every single situation, be it her mistaken tiger or attempting to escape from jail. Howard Hawks was a really a genius when it came to just pure fun and entertaining films.

Vivien Leigh is elegant, determined, underhanded, coldhearted, and all sorts of things in the tour de force film which focuses on the way one determined southern belle handles the destruction that the Civil War caused to the south. Few films are as ambitious and succeed as much as this film did. It was the ultimate box office hit of its time and still is an astounding achievement today. David O?Selznick the producer who ultimately played the biggest role in the transfer of the highly popular book to the big screen certainly deserves a lot credit for the amazing film it became.

Another Frank Capra gem that originally looked to be a dud from the actors? point of view, they were given to Capra as punishment and he boosted their careers with directorial genius. The film included Capra?s usual group of character actors including, Ward Bond, Walter Connolly, and Roscoe Karns. The film is a classic romantic comedy with Claudette Colbert running away from her father?s forced isolation and attempting to meet up with her lover, King Wesley. Along the way she is hooked by the suave and know-it-all Clark Gable. I always love seeing the actor who plays Little John, Alan Hale, shows up here as the driver hooked by Colbert?s baring of her leg.

That first shot of John Wayne where the camera zoomed in out of focus to focus on his character is practically the definitive shot of John Wayne that has remained in my head since the day I first saw this brilliant western which also teamed Ford with Wayne. This was also the first foray for Ford into Monument Valley and boy what a number he did with this film for not only the genre, but the beauty of the valley. Confined in a Stagecoach for the majority of the film it relies heavily on the dialogue and human element and all that works perfectly with a cast including Thomas Mitchell, John Carradine, and Claire Trevor. My favorite character of the film was not inside the coach though it was the wonderful Buck, played by Andy Devine, who drove the stagecoach. The way he yelled at the horses and talked to the sheriff was classic to me. I guess I loved his constant complaining. I would probably complain the same as him if I was told to go through such dangerous country.

Well I am one of the biggest fans of swashbucklers behind my brother I think and this film stars one of my film favorite sword swinging heros, Errol Flynn in the film that made him a star. The supporting cast in this film is wonderful as well and of course the villain of choice is portrayed by none other than Basil Rathbone. The fight they have on the shoreline is iconic. Erich Wolfgang Korngold?s score while not entirely original is very rousing and memorable, it is my brother?s favorite score as well the film being one of his favorites.

As my family can tell you, I love screwball comedies and this is among the best I have seen. William Powell is hilariously straight and walks into the lives a family of screwballs headed by Eugene Pallette. His daughter, Lombard is in love with Powell who joins the family as a butler under her instruction. The extreme of situations which occur from each night out the family has is marvelous. Each character is given such a flair that I couldn?t help but love this film. Too bad our Beta Machine is down or I might be watching this film now.

James Stewart stars as the son of a famed law man Tom Destry who happens not to like violence as the answer to every situation. Stewart is gives one of my favorite performances of his, my favorite of him in a western setting and Marlene Dietrich, in a career reviving role, is stunning and funny. Brian Donlevy plays the bad guy and does it with his usual great smugness. This is a good western which I recommend if you can find it.