Hector's Top Ten Films of the 1930s

10.  Grand Illusion  (Renoir, 1938)

Two French soldiers escape from a German POW camp. This anti-war film was made two years before the largest conflict in human history broke out. Apparently, not everyone got the message.

9.  Sabotage  (Hitchcock, 1936)

The wife of a movie theater operator begins to suspect that her husband is part of a terrorist organization planning a series of attacks on London.

8.  The 39 Steps  (Hitchcock, 1935)

Wrongfully accused of murdering a spy who has just told him about a conspiracy to steal British military secrets, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) must clear his name and thwart the plot. 

7.  The Man Who Knew Too Much  (Hitchcock, 1934)

When Bob and Jill Lawrence (Leslie Banks and Edna Best) receive information from a French spy while vacationing in Switzerland, a group of assassins led by Abbott (Peter Lorre) kidnaps their daughter in order to keep them quiet. This film was made a few years before Alfred Hitchcock really hit his directorial stride, but it was a good preview of what was to follow.

6.  Frankenstein   (Whale, 1931)

Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) creates human life by cobbling together body parts from individuals who are no longer using them. The result is a large, simple-minded monster of a man (Boris Karloff) who doesn't fully understand who or what he is. When the monster kills Frankenstein's assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye), who's been relentlessly tormenting him, Frankenstein decides that the creature must be destroyed. Terrific sets (particularly Frankenstein's laboratory) and a character-defining performance by Karloff.

  

5.  Vampyr  (Dreyer, 1932)

When occult-obsessed Allan Gray (Julian West) spends a night at an inn in the village of Courtempierre, he witnesses a series of supernatural events. Minimal dialogue and the use of title cards gives Carl Theodor Dreyer's first "talkie" a silent film feel. Lots of cool images and effects.

4.  Freaks  (Browning, 1932)

Conjoined twins, microcephalics, a bearded lady, and an assortment of other amazing carnival performers exact revenge on two "normal" performers who have plotted against one of their fellow "freaks."  This is the kind of film that wouldn't be made today, and in addition to being a fascinating look at the sorts of marvels nature can produce it treats the "freaks" as heroes and the "normal people" as villains. Audiences and censors didn't get the message, though. They found the film so disgusting that it was banned in many places and cut from 90 to 64 minutes. It'll probably never again be seen in its original, complete form, and that's a shame.

3.  The Testament of Dr. Mabuse  (Lang, 1933)

Criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse returns in Fritz Lang's sequel to his 1922 silent Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler. While confined to a mental institution, Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) has been developing plans for a crime wave of apocalyptic proportions. When Mabuse dies, it appears that society can breathe a collective sigh of relief, but then a string of crimes executed in just the way Mabuse described them leads Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke) to suspect that sinister forces are at work. Is the mad genius orchestrating these events from beyond the grave? Not quite as good as the first film in the series, but an excellent work nonetheless.

2.  M  (Lang, 1931)

A child killer stalks the streets of Berlin, and as public hysteria mounts the police intensify their efforts to find the murderer. This elevated vigilance begins to interfere with the activities of criminal organizations, and crime boss Schranker (Gustaf Grundgens) assembles the city's underworld workforce so they can hunt down the killer. Fritz Lang treats the murderer, Hans Beckert (hauntingly played by Peter Lorre), with sympathy, and that's something we see far too rarely in cinema (much less in real life). One of Lang's best films.

   

1.  The Lady Vanishes  (Hitchcock, 1938)

Iris (Margaret Lockwood) and Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) are two passengers on a train bound for England. When one of their fellow travelers, Miss Froy (May Whitty), disappears, Iris and Gilbert attempt to find her, but none of the other passengers seems to recall ever seeing her. I love movies that take place aboard trains, especially when they're directed by The Master of Suspense. This is one of Hitchcock's best.