I am sadly one of those people who loves lists a bit too much...even if they can often be an arbitrary exercise. A lot of the time, I feel like if I make a list for something such as Favorite Movies or Plays or TV Shows that I am often missing a handful of shows that I would want to talk about....or my mind may change and I want to have a do-over.
This is the beginning of both a do-over and also something entirely brand new. On my original blog, I did a series of posts outlining what I considered to be the best films from each decade beginning with the 1960s up to the 2010s. I will be redoing those decades but this time around, I will also be tackling the 30s-50s. I have a rather erratic history with these decades...and I will certainly address what my feelings are with each post.
Going in chronological order, first up will be the 1930s.
As a decade, the 30s are primarily known for one thing: The Great Depression. When it comes to cinema, Hollywood often went the approach of "escapism" so you have a lot of films that are big and glossy...even those that take on a more dramatic approach.
The other interesting thing about the 30s is how the filmmaking is of two different worlds. In the first half of the decade, you have a Hollywood system that was more free-thinking which allowed for films with more scandalous themes...at least as much as the 30s could allow. Then post-1934, you have the introduction of the Hays Code which was the precursor to the MPAA Rating System. This code, which is too extensive to go into here, was somewhat crippling in the manner of which a lot of films could tell stories. I would say the complexity of some of the films from this time were more "black and white" when it comes to morality/immorality and at times, filmmakers would have to find ways to suggest someone might be, for example, a prostitute without blatantly saying they are a prostitute. Also, villainous or even just somewhat immoral characters would have to face some sort of comeuppance for their actions. Oh, and you couldn't cast people of different races together as a romantic couple because "GASP!" how scandalous! THAT sorry rule led to some horrific cases of blackface and, particularly yellowface between the 30s and the 50s...and hell, even to the 60s for no apparent reason when Blake Edwards cast Mickey Rooney as the Japanese neighbor in Breakfast in Tiffany's, a real dark spot in an otherwise good film.
So, the 1930s are a decade where certain films have gotten a lot of attention in decades following but I feel like some of the films I liked are the ones that might've gotten less attention then and have grown in esteem in recent years.
Let's see what you think!
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#10-All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Directed by Lewis Milestone
As the third film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, All Quiet on the Western Front is kind of remarkable in how it presents its story and also for the fact that basically every film that won the award in the years surrounding it were not only weak, but some of the worst, if not THE worst, films to ever win the prize...and that's saying something when you look at some of the dreck that has won the award in the last couple of decades.
First off, the film revolves around WWI which I often feel like is overlooked in film (though we recently got Sam Mendes' 1917).
Secondly, this film benefits from coming out at a time before the true rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Movement. I feel like the portrayal of the German soldiers in this film is layered rather than painting them as the all-out bad guys...and frankly, this is also where coming out pre-Hays Code benefitted the storytelling.
Had this come out just 5 years later, this film could've ended up becoming American Propaganda with Schmaltz to the max. Instead, we get a film that truly says "War is hell" and dares to hint that maybe we shouldn't be doing it.
In many ways, All Quiet on the Western Front is very progressive for its time.
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#9-The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Directed by Fritz Lang
When mentioning the rise of the Nazi Movement when discussing the previous selection, the horror of that regime also deeply affected the masterful German Expressionist movement that began in the 1920s with the likes filmmakers such as F.W. Murnau (1922's Nosferatu) or Fritz Lang.
Not enough people talk about Fritz Lang these days but what he could accomplish with his film's aesthetic, tone, and concept is nothing short of astonishing.
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is not as well known as some of Lang's other films (SPOILER ALERT: Another film of his will be featured higher on this list which is perhaps his most well known) but when discussing the synopsis, it is remarkable how the story sounds as if he could've been written anytime in the last 40-50 years...and of course that is when talking about Hollywood. They wouldn't have dared to make a movie like this until, at least, the 1970s.
The film is actually a sequel of Lang's silent 1922 film Dr. Mabuse the Gambler and revolves around the titular Mabuse who was a former doctor/hypnotist who went mad and began writing out detailed versions of criminal acts that are now being performed by a group of gangsters.
It has been said that Lang, a devout and fervent hater of Hitler, purposefully wrote the character of Mabuse with Hitler in mind.
So yes, Lang was ANTIFA. Deal with it...haha...
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#8-I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)
Directed by Mervin LeRoy
Once again, we have pre-Code film from Hollywood that actually made many people in our country think about something and how we should try to fix it. In this case, that would be our criminal justice/prison system.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang tells the story of James Allen (Paul Muni), a veteran of WWI who is suffering from what would eventually be termed as PTSD. While traveling the country aimlessly looking for a job and a sense of self, he goes to a diner with an acquaintance who suddenly pulls a gun on him and accosts him to participate in a robbery. When the police show up, his acquaintance is shot and killed while Allen tries to make a run for it.
The film doesn't try to make a case as to why no witness would come forward to defend Allen, but instead he is sentenced to prison and is put to work on a chain gang. The film shows the cruelty given to both white and black chain gang workers (the black prisoners being segregated) and frankly showed more sympathy to the prisoners in a way that feels more akin to something you might see in a project today.
The film's release also led to the release of Robert Burns, on whom the Allen character was based, and several others who were on a chain gang for rather frivolous reasons. Meanwhile, the warden on whom the film's warden was based, sued the filmmakers for $1 million claiming it was a "vicious and brutal" attack on him and the system.
Oh, what a pity....
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#7-Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
And now for something completely different...
After discussing war and crime and the prison system, we will now delve into the world of pre-code Romantic Comedies!
Ernst Lubitsch as a writer/director is often credited for having a style of writing known as "The Lubitsch Touch". In the simplest of terms, he tried to find ways to subvert expectations and would often milk a joke out of a moment where one might not have been prepared for one.
In this outing, which was one of Lubitsch's personal favorites, the story revolves around a male thief and a lady pickpocket who join forces to con a beautiful woman who owns a perfume company.
The film's devilishly delicious tone has inspired many artists over the years and was seen as the inspiration for Wes Anderson's opus The Grand Budapest Hotel...but the crazy thing, yet again, is how being pre-Code in Hollywood hurt the film's longevity at first.
Once the Code came to be, it was decided that the film wouldn't be re-issued for re-release in theaters. Keep in mind, this was the 1930s...so there was no TV or VHS or DVD or Blu-Ray or streaming services. Trouble in Paradise essentially went missing and was not seen again by audiences until 1968 when the MPAA created the rating system (its own flawed beast) that we still have today.
The moral of the story is that Hollywood essentially shot themselves in the foot time and time again.
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#6-Modern Times (1936)
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Chaplin is timeless in a lot of ways...and I feel like despite a film like this coming out after the creation of the Hays Code, his message was still heard loud and clear.
Modern Times is fascinating in how it takes on the horrors of industrialization and how many people couldn't survive on the wages they made doing such hard labor...and on top of that, you have the irony of the fact that Chaplin's Little Tramp is struggling to keep up in a modern society while also acting in a Silent film. By this point, silent films were essentially obsolete but despite the sense that the film would flop due to that, it managed to receive a positive response from both critics and audiences.
Chaplin was also the master of pathos onscreen. There can often be nothing more annoying than an artist trying hard to make you laugh and cry at once...or feel sentimental. Chaplin has yet to be topped in that department in my opinion and at the end of this film when the Tramp tells Ellen (his real life wife Paulette Goddard) to smile as they face an uncertain future, you can't help but sort of smile yourself even if you really don't know where these two will end up. The final shot of them walking off towards the morning sunrise seems cliche by today's standards but it was certainly fresh by 1936 standards.
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#5-Grand Illusion (1937)
Directed by Jean Renoir
Among film historians, Jean Renoir is usually listed as not just a major director that influenced many of the directors we know and love today, but he is often considered one of the first true "auteurs" of the cinematic art form who is among the top 10 ever to direct/conceive a film.
Grand Illusion holds the distinction of being the first foreign language film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards...and it remained the only one to do so until Z was nominated in 1970.
Once again dealing with WWI just like All Quiet on the Western Front or in a roundabout way like I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, this offering from Renoir tells the story of a group of French soldiers who are being held prisoner and are plotting their own escape.
It is rather remarkable that the Academy chose to even nominate the film considering their rather biased tastes and preferences at that time, but as is to be expected, they gave Best Picture to the far inferior film adaptation of Kaufmann & Hart's You Can't Take It With You.
Typical.
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#4-The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Directed by Victor Fleming
Have any of you heard of this one? I know, it's very obscure.
However, I do want to acknowledge Victor Fleming as he has the distinction of directing both The Wizard of Oz and also, in the very same year, directing and winning the Oscar for Gone With The Wind (and no, Gone with the Wind will not be on my list!). However, Fleming is still not a director that is really discussed or revered in modern film circles...even if he did direct what is still the biggest film of all time and also perhaps the film that has been seen by more people than any other: The Wizard of Oz.
Due to the overwhelming popularity of this film, I don't feel the need to go into it much. I think most people do share a love and a warmth for it and I think that its legend speaks for itself.
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#3-The Rules of the Game (1939)
Directed by Jean Renoir
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And just like that, we are back to Jean Renoir. While Grand Illusion is just hair behind, I do think The Rules of the Game is his masterpiece and is also one of the best films of the 1930s.
While Grand Illusion is a more dramatic affair, you consider this offering as being more of a comedy of manners.
The film depicts the upper class of French society while also shining a light on their servants. This is a theme that would be delved into in such offerings as the British series Upstairs, Downstairs; Robert Altman's Gosford Park; and Julian Fellowes' series (who also wrote Gosford Park) Downton Abbey.
We watch as a lot of these snooty well-to-do French circle act as if they don't have a care in the world but that facade will soon fade as they succumb to their own betrayals among each other.
When the film was first released, it was actually a critical and financial disaster in France and was deemed as a film that had the potential to be an improper influence over the youth of France.
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#2-City Lights (1931)
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
I don't even want to call this film a "romantic comedy" but if I were going to stick to giving a film a label, that would make City Lights the greatest romantic comedy ever made.
I would also go as far to say that it has my favorite ending to a film ever as well.
As another silent film outing by Chaplin right when the art form was seen as horrendously outdated, the results make for a film that has stood the test of time far more than some of the outings that the Hollywood studio system dished out and pushed for awards consideration.
For example, that year's Best Picture winner was a Western called Cimmaron. Have you heard of it? It wouldn't shock me if you haven't, but if you were to actually watch it, you would be viewing what I consider the second-to-worst Best Picture winner of all time.
*Side note: my vote for the worst Best Picture winner of all time is 1933's Calvacade.*
City Lights has a story that doesn't seem fresh by today's standards but that is because City Lights is THE standard.
Chaplin's Tramp befriends a wealthy benefactor who also has a penchant for drinking. When sober, this guy wants nothing to do with the Tramp but when he's drunk, he is his new best friend. While hanging out with his newfound friend, he falls in love with a blind girl who sells flowers on the street.
If you were simplify the conceit of this film, it would be "Would this girl still love the Tramp knowing who he is as opposed to thinking he is wealthy?"
It's a tale as old as time basically...but it leads to that ending which is still very potent even in today's cynical world.
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#1-M (1931)
Directed by Fritz Lang
Let's say you are going to the movies with a group of friends and one of them suggests that they want to see a movie about a serial killer who only targets children.
You might think: Damn, that's dark! Who made the film? Ari Aster? Robert Eggars? Bong Joon ho?
How about Fritz Lang in 1931 Germany?
The fact that a film like M got made in 1931 has had me fascinated since I first discovered the film as a fairly young child when I began researching films through those old Microsoft Cinemania CD-ROMs that were released throughout the 1990s.
I watched the film once when I was a pre-teen and it stuck with me for years and then when I was sent home from work back in March of 2020 due to the quarantine, I began revisiting a lot of the foreign films that inspired me as a young cinephile...this was one of them.
M is dark and gritty and uncomfortable. It isn't necessarily graphic as a lot of the gruesome details are left to the imagination but it is that stark Expressionist style with the shadowy images and intense detail being paid to the emotional content that still wow me...especially when you consider that 2021 is this film's 90th anniversary.
This film was also the introduction of Peter Lorre to American audiences, who played the mentally insane killer Hans Beckert. Even though the film would mostly typecast him as a villain in the years to come, Lorre would manage to escape Nazi Germany soon after and would become one of the most beloved character actors of all time.
With the one-two punch of M and City Lights, I have to commend 1931 as a great year for cinema as you also get the iconic film adaptations of Dracula and Frankenstein along with The Public Enemy, La Chienne, Limite, and Little Caesar).
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IN CONCLUSION:
I am often harsh on what is called "The Golden Age of Hollywood" which usually considered the 1930s-1950s but there are always exceptions to the rule. There were undoubtedly some fantastic films that came out at that time, but as you could sort of see with this list (and will see even more so when we proceed into the 40s and 50s), I find myself praising the chances that directors took who weren't based in Hollywood but rather Europe and eventually in Asia.
Writing this list up was actually more of a joy for me than I expected to be so I feel driven to continue this project as we next dive into the more melodramatic era that was the 1940s.
Thanks for reading!
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