Citizen's Top 62, 1930s Actors & Actresses

Ah, nice! Boris and Myrna are two of my favorites.

Besides the Thin Man movies, for the 30's, I've seen Myrna in Manhattan Melodrama (just for trivia buffs, the movie John Dillinger saw before he was shot down outside the theater), Wings in the Dark, Wife vs. Secretary, The Great Ziegfield, Libeled Lady, Double Wedding (another with William Powell), and Test Pilot.
If you had to choose to see just one of these, I'd suggest going for Libeled Lady because it's got a great cast (Loy, William Powell again, Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy), and it's a terrific screwball comedy.

Boris Karloff is mostly known for his horror movies but he made many where he was only called on to play drama and a few comedies. But my favorite 30's movies of his are: The Old Dark House, The Mummy, The Lost Patrol, The Black Cat, The Raven, The Invisible Ray, The Walking Dead, and Son of Frankenstein. All are good but for the "pick just one" I go with Son of Frankenstein every time. It's my favorite of all the ones I've mentioned, and it's really my favorite of the three films where Karloff played Frankenstein's monster. It has awesome cinematography with expert use of light and shadow (the long shadows especially), great indoor sets, and the neat buildings of Frankenstein's village, humor, and my favorite Bela Lugosi performance ever, yes, even over Dracula. He's awesome as Ygor, the shepherd with the crooked neck (from a failed hanging) who controls the creature and is out for revenge. Great stuff!

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Damn, I didn't know that, interesting...I wonder if liked the movie?


Wow, you're well watched in 30s films Dadgum, are you sending in a list to the MoFo Top 100 1930s Movies ?

Sold! now I really want to watch that (haven't seen that one, and it sounds good)

Were you wondering if Dillinger liked the movie? Probably. But I'm sure it wasn't the last thing to go through his head. I'm sorry! I kid! I kid!

Yes, I'm going through the 30's films I've seen and it's a daunting thing because I've watched a lot of classic films on TCM over the years and even a lot before that. So it's going to be tough to break it down to a list I'm happy with but it'll be fun watching some more 30's films I need to revisit. I watched The Walking Dead starring Boris Karloff again last night and while it was as good as I remembered, it probably won't make the list as there are too, too many.

Yes, I hope you enjoy Son of Frankenstein. Great stuff. Also, the little kid that plays Wolf von Frankenstein's (Basil Rathbone) son is the same kid that voiced Bambi. According to IMDB, when he went into the Marines, he concealed the fact that he was the voice of Bambi. He feared being nicknamed Bambi by his fellow Marines. Just a bit of trivia.

Just gave The Animal Kingdom a watch, a nice enough performance in it from Miss Loy even if the character isn't particularly likeable.

I haven't heard of that one. Early in Myrna Loy's career she often was cast as the baddie. Which is much different than what we think of her today.

My #17 Favorite 30's Actress is

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My #17 Favorite 1930's Actor is

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My fave 30s Dunne film is Show Boat.

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I've been wanting to see that one for the longest time. I'll have to bump it up my watch list.

OMG those photos of her in Roberta. Goes to show a person doesn't need to be a glitzy golden bauble to receive a standing ovation. Fred wasn't exactly a great hunk, was he, but he'd stop a room walking in with a lady on his arm. He just exuded confidence and positivity. The sort of guy women would flock to I imagine.

Those photos are electric, CR. Thanks for posting and now please excuse moi as I exit for the powder room where I shall swoon, pick myself off the floor and compose myself.

Irene Dunne

She was in The Stolen Jools you know Watched her give a nice performance in Theodora Goes Wild just the other day and I'm sure I must have seen Show Boat at least once in my youth but can't count that as so many blue moons have since passed. Have a few more of hers I want to watch if I can locate them but the Fifa WC & TDF will both seriously restrict my movie watching for the next six weeks.

edit: watched Back Street - a very downbeat 'romantic drama' that wouldn't be to everyone's taste but I thought Ms. Dunne gave a good enough perormance in the central role to carry the movie. Also gave Show Boat an outing and yep, deffo seen it in my kinderhood .... Ms. Dunne gets better in it the longer it goes on but for me it's primarily Charles Winninger and to a lesser extent Paul Robeson that make it the enjoyable watch that it is. Followed up with Roberta today, again she plays her part well in a nice enough musical rom-com and once more comes across as very personable - I think it's the way she seems to genuinely emote (especially with her eyes) that makes her so for me.

Spencer Tracy

Somewhat surprisingly, solely going by titles alone, the only 30s fillum of his I can definitively say I've seen is Bottoms Up which I watched earlier this year (his performance is ok in it but it's not the world's greatest cinematic offering), still think I must've seen Captains Courageous as a youngster but haven't yet found a copy to confirm and I'd need to rewatch anyway. There's a few of his I'd like to get round to if I have both the time and availability.

edit: gave Stanley And Livingstone a viewing, very nice performance from Tracy (and Hardwicke too) in what is generally an enjoyable adventure. Also watched Dante's Inferno (or more correctly rewatched) in which he's fine as the lead though for me the tale itself is a bit mixed.

Thanks Dani....I like what you said about Fred Astaire Very true.

@Chypmunk see the 1st post! Your request has been filled

I swear everyone was in The Stoolen Jools, ha. I don't know what the Fifa WC & TDF are, must be sports maybe?

I know! I was thinking the same thing when I posted him as #17. He seemed low on the list to me too. But that's because I based my list on how much I like the actor/actress. But yeah he has some great films in the 30s, that's for sure.

Good man I know it must have involved a fair bit of work but I think it's a good idea for a thread like this that some might use for reference with the upcoming countdown for the decade.

Yeah, the cast list takes up about half of the runtime I think And yes, both sports, football/soccer and cycling respectively.

It's your list so that's exactly how it should be based imo

It was a good idea of yours to put the links on the first post, so thanks! BTW, my internet was dodgy for the last couple weeks, but it's working fine now and I DO plan on keeping up with this and at least doing 2 entries per week if not more.

Irene Dunne is one of my favorite actresses! I always thought she was so beautiful and had a great singing voice also. My favorite 30's films by her are The Awful Truth, Roberta, Theodora Goes Wild (nice pick, Chypmunk), and Joy of Living, which is a really great movie with her and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. where Dunne is a rich Broadway star who has a houseful of relatives who mooch off her. She meets Fairbanks and he teaches her how to have fun, much to the consternation of the moochers. Good fun!

Spencer Tracy, wow, a true acting legend. As for his best 30's films, I love Captains Courageous (shown to my elementary class in a filled auditorium in the early 60's), Libeled Lady (a true comedy classic, co-starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow), Test Pilot, and Boys Town.

Two great picks, CR!

Thanks Dad Glad to see some fans of Irenne Dunne here. I don't here much talk about her today which is sad because she was one of a kind. I haven't seen Theodora Goes Wild and Joy of Living, but I'll have too!

Yes, I'm almost positive you'll enjoy both of those, especially Theodora Goes Wild. But they're similar she lets her hair down in both of those. I knew a gal who looked somewhat like Irene in real life but this girl probably would have been insulted if I'd made the comparison although I don't see why. Irene was a true beauty in my eyes.

Lucky you! Irene was a beauty and in a wholesome way. Have you seen her in I Remember Mama?

Oh yeah. She was fantastic in that movie. What a sublime actress. I never use that world sublime, but I used it for her.