Criterion Collection by Decade (1930s), a list by Adam McGready

8.1

/40776/

77

/698/

79

/751/

4.2

/45920/

97

/74/

92

/622/

4.0

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

84

7.7

/60761/

75

/1274/

74

/991/

3.9

/63627/

98

/52/

88

/958/

98

/17/

age 12+

On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris befriends elderly Miss Froy. When the train resumes, Iris suffers a bout of unconsciousness and wakes to find the old woman has disappeared. The other passengers ominously deny Miss Froy ever existed, so Iris begins to investigate with another traveler and, as the pair sleuth, romantic sparks fly.

89

8.3

/181231/

80

/2637/

81

/2376/

4.3

/198798/

100

/63/

95

/2237/

4.0

In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.

74

73

7.1

/15275/

68

/377/

69

/298/

3.4

/23847/

100

/25/

73

/264/

When legendary hunter Bob Rainsford is shipwrecked on the perilous reefs surrounding a mysterious island, he finds himself the guest of the reclusive and eccentric Count Zaroff. While he is very gracious at first, Zaroff eventually forces Rainsford and two other shipwreck survivors, brother and sister Eve and Martin Towbridge, to participate in a sadistic game of cat and mouse in which they are the prey and he is the hunter.

81

7.6

/65441/

73

/1509/

73

/1015/

3.8

/77701/

96

/55/

85

/1118/

93

/15/

age 11+

Richard Hanney has a rude awakening when a glamorous female spy falls into his bed - with a knife in her back. Having a bit of trouble explaining it all to Scotland Yard, he heads for the hills of Scotland to try to clear his name by locating the spy ring known as The 39 Steps.

76

70

7.2

/7898/

70

/151/

70

/182/

3.8

/22818/

95

/22/

85

/124/

67

/9/

In a poet’s room, an armless statue abruptly comes to life. It invites the poet to step through a mirror and to discover another world. Strange places and characters present themselves to him. The poet tears himself away from these twisted fascinations and returns, with some difficulty, to his room.

77

67

7.3

/4039/

68

/72/

68

/85/

3.7

/4157/

100

/7/

81

/63/

Debt-ridden painter Michel is overcome with joy at discovering that he has just won 1 million florins in the Dutch lottery, but almost immediately, he discovers that his softhearted girlfriend, Béatrice, has given away his jacket containing the winning ticket to an elderly petty thief. Soon Michel, Beatrice and Michel's artistic rival, Prosper, are hurtling through the streets of Paris on the trail of the missing jacket.

79

73

7.7

/10387/

73

/156/

69

/153/

3.7

/8812/

100

/17/

84

/183/

When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet. Eliza moves into Higgins's home and begins her rigorous training after the professor comes to a financial agreement with her dustman father, Alfred. But the plucky young woman is not the only one undergoing a transformation.

77

71

7.5

/13043/

69

/175/

70

/225/

3.8

/13075/

91

/22/

84

/219/

When German knights invade Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky must rally his people to resist the formidable force. After the Teutonic soldiers take over an eastern Russian city, Alexander stages his stand at Novgorod, where a major battle is fought on the ice of frozen Lake Chudskoe. While Alexander leads his outnumbered troops, two of their number, Vasili and Gavrilo, begin a contest of bravery to win the hand of a local maiden.

80

7.5

/7846/

71

/120/

69

/137/

3.9

/10374/

86

/29/

85

/122/

4.0

During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica, who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand Duke Peter, the heir to the Russian throne. Their arranged marriage proves to be loveless, and Catherine takes many lovers, including the handsome Count Alexei, and bears a son. When the unstable Peter eventually ascends to the throne, Catherine plots to oust him from power.

84

7.9

/28272/

77

/537/

75

/377/

3.9

/30233/

97

/38/

90

/557/

82

/15/

4.0

Fifth Avenue socialite Irene Bullock needs a "forgotten man" to win a scavenger hunt, and no one is more forgotten than Godfrey Park, who resides in a dump by the East River. Irene hires Godfrey as a servant for her riotously unhinged family, to the chagrin of her spoiled sister, Cornelia, who tries her best to get Godfrey fired. As Irene falls for her new butler, Godfrey turns the tables and teaches the frivolous Bullocks a lesson or two.

78

70

7.4

/5269/

70

/116/

69

/111/

3.8

/5352/

100

/19/

80

/82/

In this classic French satire, Louis, a convict, escapes from prison and takes on legitimate work, making his way up in the business world. Eventually becoming the head of a successful factory, Louis opts to modernize his company with mechanical innovations. But when his friend Émile finally leaves jail years later and reunites with Louis, the past catches up with them. The two, worried about being apprehended by police, long to flee the confines of industry.

71

56

7.0

/2650/

63

/48/

66

/62/

3.4

/2342/

90

/21/

72

/30/

In the tenement slums of Paris between the world wars, impoverished street singer Albert yearns for beautiful Romanian immigrant Pola. Pola's boyfriend, local hoodlum Fred, grows jealous of Albert's constant attention to his woman and frames the hapless musician for one of his own petty crimes. But while Albert is in prison for Fred's misdeed, Pola ends up falling for Albert's faithful best friend, Louis.

84

7.9

/17249/

75

/349/

74

/299/

4.1

/29419/

89

/28/

90

/213/

4.0

Thief Gaston Monescu and pickpocket Lily are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet, the two crooks decide to combine their criminal talents to rob their employer. Under the alias of Monsieur Laval, Gaston uses his position as Mariette's personal secretary to become closer to her. However, he takes things too far when he actually falls in love with Mariette, and has to choose between her and Lily.

83

76

7.6

/8627/

72

/132/

72

/185/

3.8

/9725/

100

/33/

87

/95/

98

/12/

Pépé le Moko, one of France's most wanted criminals, hides out in the Casbah section of Algiers. He knows police will be waiting for him if he tries to leave the city. When Pépé meets Gaby, a gorgeous woman from Paris who is lost in the Casbah, he falls for her.

87

7.9

/33132/

75

/607/

74

/643/

4.1

/55542/

97

/62/

89

/704/

99

/21/

4.0

A weekend at a marquis’ country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut bourgeois acquaintances.

80

77

7.9

/14435/

74

/266/

76

/273/

4.0

/17284/

86

/21/

90

/221/

After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.

79

66

7.6

/3760/

69

/47/

71

/63/

3.8

/5504/

100

/7/

84

/31/

An aging actor returns to a small town with his troupe and reunites with his former lover and illegitimate son, a scenario that enrages his current mistress and results in heartbreak for all.

81

75

7.7

/10770/

73

/188/

74

/299/

3.9

/13759/

96

/27/

91

/108/

Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean, an army deserter looking for another chance to make good on life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, as acts of both revenge and kindness render him front-page news.

77

70

7.2

/6608/

69

/132/

69

/144/

3.7

/9008/

100

/25/

81

/100/

Michel Simon gives one of the most memorable performances in screen history as Boudu, a Parisian tramp who takes a suicidal plunge into the Seine and is rescued by a well-to-do bookseller, Edouard Lestingois. The Lestingois family decides to take in the irrepressible bum, and he shows his gratitude by shaking the household to its foundations. With Boudu Saved from Drowning, legendary director Jean Renoir takes advantage of a host of Parisian locations and the anarchic charms of his lead actor to create an effervescent satire of the bourgeoisie.

81

76

7.5

/9829/

73

/186/

72

/184/

3.9

/14102/

100

/20/

81

/191/

91

/7/

age 10+

In this dramatized account of his early law career in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln is born into a modest log cabin, where he is encouraged by his first love, Ann Rutledge, to pursue law. Following her tragic death, Lincoln establishes a law practice in Springfield, where he meets a young Mary Todd. Lincoln's law skills are put to the test when he takes on the difficult task of defending two brothers who have been accused of murder.

78

71

7.5

/8926/

74

/153/

70

/232/

3.8

/10306/

94

/17/

82

/88/

Returning by train to the French port of Le Havre, Jacques Lantier, a tormented railwayman, meets by chance the impulsive stationmaster Roubard and Séverine, his wife.

60

37

6.4

/1398/

55

/34/

55

/25/

3.4

/1757/

67

/9/

51

/17/

Unscrupulously ambitious, Brutus Jones escapes from jail after killing a guard and, through bluff and bravado, finds himself the emperor of a Caribbean island.

53

?

5.4

/794/

46

/24/

57

/10/

2.9

/379/

80

/5/

27

/2/

A British District Officer in Nigeria in the 1930s rules his area strictly but justly. He struggles with gun-runners and slavers with the aid of a loyal native chief.

78

7.4

/22521/

71

/567/

72

/579/

3.8

/60902/

98

/46/

82

/441/

Allan Gray, a young man fascinated by the supernatural, goes to a small village where he feels a sinister force descending upon him. There, Allan meets an old man who asks him to protect his two daughters, for one of them has been bitten by a vampire.

87

8.1

/10494/

79

/278/

75

/211/

4.2

/19462/

100

/21/

92

/142/

4.0

An elderly couple are forced to separate themselves from each other after their children refuse to take both into one house.

86

7.8

/58038/

75

/1229/

76

/1194/

4.0

/87974/

100

/48/

86

/803/

93

/15/

4.0

age 11+

A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the process.

81

7.7

/4427/

73

/70/

73

/106/

4.0

/9074/

86

/437/

4.0

A silk factory worker is persuaded to support her son's education up to a college level despite their poverty. Many years later, she travels to Tokyo to visit her son.

89

8.5

/282955/

82

/4478/

82

/3949/

4.3

/252214/

98

/113/

95

/1797/

96

/4/

age 6+

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time..

60

30

6.3

/874/

63

/29/

66

/30/

3.1

/764/

47

/102/

In a small Japanese town, Ko-Ko is appointed to the unenviable position of executioner. Knowing he must successfully perform before the appearance of the Mikado in a month's time, Ko-Ko finds a suitable victim in Nanki-Poo, who is distraught over his unrequited love for the maiden Yum-Yum. Nanki-Poo agrees to sacrifice his life if he is allowed to spend his remaining days with Yum-Yum, who is betrothed to Ko-Ko.

77

64

7.2

/3908/

72

/88/

72

/108/

3.6

/5335/

100

/9/

77

/28/

A semi-documentary experimental 1930 German silent film created by amateurs with a small budget. With authentic scenes of the metropolis city of Berlin, it's the first film from the later famous screenwriters/directors Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann.

70

60

7.3

/4908/

65

/105/

68

/140/

3.7

/9481/

74

/37/

What starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Côte d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.

76

71

7.2

/9925/

69

/215/

69

/256/

3.7

/16642/

94

/17/

79

/122/

In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the director on a celebration day.

84

7.7

/18501/

73

/364/

75

/454/

4.0

/32236/

100

/39/

89

/253/

4.0

Newly married couple Juliette and ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'Atalante along with the captain's first mate and a cabin boy.

77

70

7.4

/7013/

73

/133/

70

/100/

3.6

/2837/

91

/11/

85

/90/

A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.

76

74

7.3

/12117/

71

/330/

69

/259/

3.7

/20526/

88

/41/

81

/181/

An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.

75

70

7.4

/8472/

70

/230/

71

/203/

3.9

/23311/

76

/17/

81

/56/

An independent woman can't choose between the two men she loves.

71

70

6.7

/23175/

66

/506/

65

/432/

3.4

/38411/

88

/34/

67

/366/

77

/15/

While vacationing in St. Moritz, a British couple receive a clue to an imminent assassination attempt, only to learn that their daughter has been kidnapped to keep them quiet.

68

66

6.6

/9964/

66

/360/

65

/209/

3.3

/8991/

91

/33/

55

/159/

The story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.

90

8.5

/214694/

81

/2923/

83

/2371/

4.3

/171726/

95

/58/

95

/1757/

99

/15/

4.0

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

67

46

7.0

/954/

57

/18/

63

/22/

3.6

/2845/

75

/8/

68

A Mexican fisherman, whose son has died because he could not afford necessary medical care out of his meagre wages, becomes aware of how badly exploited he and his many fellow fisherman are by the one greedy man for whom they work and the corrupt politician who makes the laws to benefit him.

85

8.1

/118788/

77

/1888/

78

/1354/

4.2

/118050/

98

/113/

93

/1984/

87

/16/

age 10+

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

82

80

7.6

/17032/

75

/367/

73

/263/

4.1

/26114/

100

/32/

82

/243/

86

/10/

A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a major contract.

81

69

7.5

/5263/

76

/137/

72

/129/

3.8

/7246/

100

/18/

87

/27/

Cashier Maurice Legrand is married to Adele, a terror. By chance, he meets Lucienne, "Lulu", and make her his mistress. He thinks he finally met love, but Lulu is nothing but a streetwalker, in love with Dede, her pimp. She only accepts Legrand to satisfy Dede's needs of money.

82

73

7.8

/4816/

74

/111/

78

/124/

4.1

/8470/

94

/18/

91

/37/

In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.

75

55

7.0

/3202/

70

/108/

71

/116/

3.8

/10713/

100

/8/

68

/4/

Adrift in the vast expanse of the ocean, a solitary boat carries three castaways—a man and two women. Stranded and devoid of any glimmer of rescue, they find solace in recounting the tales of their lives to one another. As they delve into their personal narratives, reminiscing about the circumstances that led them to this desolate predicament, they navigate through the depths of three distinct destinies. Bound by the confines of their shared space, every aspect of their existence becomes a boundary, underscoring their plight.

83

63

7.8

/2828/

79

/72/

73

/98/

3.9

/3846/

100

/9/

91

/18/

César runs a bar along Marseilles' port, assisted by his 23-year-old son, Marius. Friends since childhood, Fanny and Marius love each other, but Marius has a secret wanderlust: every ship's whistle stirs a longing for foreign lands. When M. Panisse seeks Fanny's hand in marriage and when a departing clipper needs a deckhand, Marius and Fanny must decide who and what they love most. César, with his generous, wise spirit, tries to guide his son.

82

56

7.8

/2106/

75

/60/

74

/76/

3.9

/2570/

100

/6/