The world of cinema is in a turbulent stage of transition. There is a lot of talk about streaming vs. theatrical releases, the future of the movie theatre, digital vs. film, merging studios, and huge steps in technology that can literally resurrect long-dead actors for the screen. It is safe to say that the decisions made in the next few years will affect the industry for the next several decades.
What is happening today is not unlike what was happening in the 1930’s. Nearly 100 years ago, there was much talk about silent films vs. talkies, black and white vs. color, and the rise of what would become the current studio system. What happened in the thirties came to define Hollywood for a very long time, and along the way they put out some of the best films of all time. And that brings us to Reel Speak’s Top 10 Films of the 1930’s.
It was an era loaded with budding talent. Famed filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, and John Ford would get their start. Towering actors such as John Wayne, James Stewart, and Jean Harlow would start to shine. Decades before big franchises like Marvel were born (or before the term was applied to film), there were series such as THE THIN MAN, SHERLOCK HOLMES, and knee-slappers by the Marx Brothers. And across the pond in Germany, the Expressionist movement was underway which elevated cinema to higher form of art. It was a landmark decade, with the best films out of the era lasting the test of time. This Top 10 are the films that haven’t really aged and feel modern, changed the industry, and found their way into our lives.
10. MODERN TIMES (1936)
Charlie Chaplin directed and starred in this comedy about surviving in an industrialized world which is a snapshot of the era he was living in; an era that was building skyscrapers and churning out cars on assembly lines. It was the last time Chaplin would play The Tramp, and the first time his voice would be heard on the screen. A marvel of visual effects thanks to clever placements of matte paintings, MODERN TIMES would inspire generations of visual effects crews that would not arrive on the scene for several more decades.
9. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
The first feature-length animated film, and the first of many from Walt Disney. Based on the 1812 fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, Walt Disney cemented his studio as a leader in animation and children’s storytelling that also worked for adults. The film inspired 90 years of theme park attractions and animated films, and started Disney’s success story that continues to this day.
8. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
Years before he would direct the holiday classic IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946), Frank Capra would helm this romantic comedy that would become the first to win the Big Five Academy Awards (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Writing). Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert would play the would-be lovers, and as one of the last rom-coms made before the Motion Picture Production Code (which would become our current ratings system), the film was able to get away with racy scenes such as a shirtless Gable and Colbert using her legs to hail a cab. Ground zero for sexy comedies in film.
7. SCARFACE (1932)
Brian DePalma still gets most of the attention with his over-the-top 1983 remake with Al Pacino, leaving this Howard Hawks production often getting overlooked. This SCARFACE defined the gangster genre for the big screen, as it followed a gangster rising through the underworld of Chicago. The film was banned in several states because of its violence, leading to producer Howard Hughes to store the film in his vault for decades before re-emerging…and inspiring filmmakers such as Scorsese and Coppola to make their gangster films.
6. THE 39 STEPS (1935)
Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller about a civilian who gets mixed up in an international spy ring that has often been credited with kickstarting cinematic escapist entertainment. It was one of the first British films to be successful in the United States, which started a full century of a cinematic UK invasion. Hitchcock began to hone many of his trademarks here that would solidify his reputation and launch a thousand film careers.
5. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
The horror genre got off to a hot start in the 1930’s, introducing the world to vampires, wolf-men, mummies, and Frankenstein’s monster. It was this sequel to the 1931 FRANKENSTEIN that would set a standard for sequels for the next nine decades; taking things not only bigger but deeper. James Whale directed and Elsa Lanchester took on the iconic look of The Bride, in a film that feels like it could have been made today.
4. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
This towering, multi-Oscar winner (including Best Picture), has been beloved from the start, despite certain elements of it hard to watch when viewed through today’s optics. Victor Fleming directed the adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s massive novel about the deep South during the Civil War and Reconstruction Era, along with a love story that has proved to be timeless. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh became instant icons, and even today the film is stunning to take in.
3. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)
Erroll Flynn takes on the swashbuckling role of Robin Hood in this rollicking adventure that defined the Sherwood bandit across decades of remakes, re-adaptations, parodies, and animated films. The action sequences, involving swordfighting, actual arrows being slung, and hundreds of extras, are impressive even by today’s standards, and would hold influence over future thrillers from STAR WARS to AVENGERS. It was one of the first films using the three-strip Technicolor process, a move that was successful enough to send many other productions swinging away from black-and-white.
2. KING KONG (1933)
Take a walk in NYC within view of the Empire State Building, and there will be a guaranteed sighting of a tourist making a King Kong joke. That is the massive, long-standing cultural impact this 1933 thriller about a giant, rampaging, lovesick ape has had and continues to have. A well-balanced blending of horror, adventure, and romance, KONG revolutionized visual effects and launched the Giant Monster genre. And lest we forget the late great Fay Wray, who would be dubbed as one of the first Scream Queens, while giving a new meaning to the “beauty and the beast” tale.
1. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
This beloved musical based on the L. Frank Baum novel may seem like the easy choice, but it’s the easy choice for all the right reasons. Every song, character, outfit, and line of dialogue is instantly recognizable for every generation, and Judy Garland’s character of Dorothy would set a trail that would be followed by cinematic heroes with names like Skywalker and Potter. The story is simple, but is told in a way that is open for thematic interpretation; leaving scholars to debate its deeper meaning and future film directors and writers to study. It has passed the test of time and is the one film out of this era that everyone has in their lives.
Reel Speak's Top 10 Best Films of the 1930's
- THE WIZARD OF OZ
- KING KONG
- THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
- GONE WITH THE WIND
- THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
- THE 39 STEPS
- SCARFACE
- IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
- SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
- MODERN TIMES
No comments:
Post a Comment
A few rules:
1. Personal attacks not tolerated.
2. Haters welcome, if you can justify it.
3. Swearing is goddamn OK.