Here are few hundred films of the 1930’s, and picking out the best of the best, as usual, wasn’t easy. Which one hundred works best defined the most impressionable time in film history, when everyone was figuring out this medium again? Which features breathed new life into the rebirth of visual storytelling? Who made the big cross from silent pictures into the talking era? There are so many marvels of this time, and yet many pictures are tethered to key historical moments: the Great Depression, the lingering effects of World War I (in response to the rising tensions that would eventually cause the second World War), and other major events. I think these are the best candidates to illustrate all of the above; they’re also flat out the best films of these times. Here are the best one hundred films of the 1930’s.
However, silent films weren’t gone for good just yet. Some artists wanted to explore the era now as a style done by purpose, and not because it’s all that was available like it was once before. Some nations, like China and Japan, didn’t have the recording or theatrical technology yet, and so their silent eras carried on for a little bit longer. Other filmmakers were taking their silent films and dubbing over them, turning them into pseudo-talkies. Either way, a lot of movement was made, and I haven’t even discussed anything outside of sound, yet. This includes censorship that the Production Code enforced after enough pre-Code gems rocked one too many boats. There’s also the mastering of Technicolor that some directors and studios were getting comfortable with. The ‘30s was the Golden Age of Hollywood, but that Golden Age wasn’t really of one specific nature, particularly because of the many moving individual parts. It was, however, collectively a time of inspiration and wonder.
So, here, we have the biggest movie collection of 1930. Enjoy!
