The MoFo Top 100 of the 1930s: The Countdown

I barely included The Wizard of Oz at #22, and still had it a spot too high, but M was my #1. I discovered it by random at Blockbuster well over twenty years ago and loved it, and my respect for the film has only grown in the meanwhile. It's fantastic that it got all the way to #2 on the countdown and that should mean even more people being introduced to this masterpiece.

Excellent job, CR! Without a doubt, you were the most consistently punctual presenter of any of these lists I've followed. Appreciate all your hard work.

My List:

1. M (#2)
2. City Lights (#5)
3. Modern Times (#7)
4. It Happened One Night (#3)
5. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (#11)
6. Bringing Up Baby (#8)
7. The Grand Illusion (#14)
8. The Lady Vanishes (#22)
9. All Quiet on the Western Front (#6)
10. The Thin Man (#25)
11. Ninotchka (#36)
12. The 39 Steps (#13)
13. Frankenstein (#19)
14 Horse Feathers (#51)
15. A Night at the Opera (#27)
16. The Invisible Man (#30)
17. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (#40)
18. Boudu Saved from Drowing (Boudu sauvé des eaux) (DNP)
19. The Awful Truth (#60)
20. Vampyr (#24)
21. My Man Godfrey (#31)
22. The Wizard of Oz (#1)
23. Fury (#68)
24. Freaks (#9)
25. City Girl (#74)

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

Bravo Citizen.

Here's my complete entry.

My #1 and #2 matched consensus. I'm a fraud but I still love them both.


Great job Citizen. Really well done.

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Letterboxd

The Wizard of Oz was my easy #1. It was my first favorite movie and probably the movie I've seen the most times. When I was a kid, before cable, I would watch it every time it was on, often times on a 12 inch black and white TV. I would sit there totally captivated. I then went many years without seeing it until I watched it with my wife about 20 years ago. About 8 or 9 years ago, I had a friend who was just getting into movies. She didn't like violent horror or crime movies like I did, so I'd pick her out other stuff from Blockbuster and we'd watch them in my car on her laptop. One night we parked in a hotel parking lot; it must have been about two in the morning, and we put it on. We were probably about half way through when suddenly the cops stormed my car banging on the windows and shining their flashlights inside. It scared the crap out of us. They wanted to know what we were doing there so I said we were watching The Wizard of Oz. They were like what, watching The Wizard of Oz? I said yea well she's never seen it before. They checked us out and finally told us to get out of there. Anyway, they seemed to get quite a kick out of it. Then I watched it again a couple years ago when someone (Raul?) nominated it for a HOF. I still loved it. I do wonder how I'd feel if that was my first watch, but I think I'd still think very highly of it. I just believe it's a special movie. I'll also echo all the praise for Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I don't know if anyone remembers that hot mental girl who sang it on American Idol a few years ago, but when she did it gave me chills. Of course Garland did it best, but no matter who does it, it's an amazing song.

M looks awesome but besides that I didn't think much of it. Peter Lorre reminded me of a pug with his bulging eyeballs.

1. The Wizard of Oz (#1)
2. All Quiet on the Western Front (#6)
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood (#33)
4. King Kong (#16)
5. Of Mice and Men (#46)
6. Freaks (#9)
7. It Happened One Night (#3)
8. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (#28)
9. The Scarlet Empress (#63)
10. Modern Times (#7)
11. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (#11)
12. The Blue Angel (#38)
13. Dark Victory (#52)
14. Jezebel (#29)
15. Horse Feathers (#51)
16. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (#45)
17. Wild Boys of the Road-No show!
18. The Young in Heart (#65)
19. City Girl (#74)
20. Gone with the Wind (#20)
21. Pepe Le Moko (#54)
22. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (#47)
23. City Lights (#5)
24. The Thin Man (#25)
25. Make Way for Tomorrow (#32)

Thank you for all of your work CR. That's quite the commitment and you did a fantastic job.

I got to rewatch this for the 14th Hall of Fame and I had not seen it since my early twenties. For as a great a film this is and very cool to see it take the #2 spot, I did have it on my list.
Wizard of Oz is a childhood favorite that was on TV at least once a year during prime time and was always one we watched each and every time. For the longest time as a kid those monkeys and the haunted forest scene scared the crap out of me and I would bawl when Dorothy said goodbye to her friends. During the early nineties when they had video tapes with the Pink Floyd's Dark of Moon album linked up with the film, I had me a copy of that and got a serious kick out of how well the music truly did follow every minutiae of the film. It was a stoner's delight.
This movie has been FAR TOO MUCH a part of my life NOT to be my #1 pick of this list.

Watched 66/100 (66.0%)
List: 20/25 + (1 pointer)
1) The Wizard of Oz (#1)
2) Freaks (#9)
3) My Man Godfrey (#31)
4) Hell's Angels (#85)
5) Pepe le Moko (#54)
6) The Scarlet Empress (#63)
7) The Adventures of Robin Hood (#33)
8) A Night at the Opera (#27)
9) City Lights (#5)
10) The Charge of the Light Brigade (#97)
11) The Scarlet Pimpernel (Did not make it)
12) Camille (#96)
13) Jezebel (#29)
14) Dr. Jekell & Mr. Hyde (#28)
15) The Thin Man (#25)
16) It Happened One Night (#3)
17) Virtue (Did Not Make It)
18) Red Dust (#59)
19) Bachelor Mother (#86)
20) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (#40)
21) Babes in Toyland aka March of the Wooden Soldiers (Didn't Make it)
22) Pygmalion (#34)
23) Frankenstein (#19)
24) Dawn Patrol (Didn't Make It)
25) Seventh Heaven (1 Pointer)

Well, this was DEFINITELY all kinds of fun and discovered some truly wonderful films, (as the usual for these countdowns) and @Citizen Rules, you are and have been THE host with the MOST!!! BRAVO!!!

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

Yes! The Wizard of Oz has always been one of my favorite movies. Like you, cricket, I grew up watching it on a small B&W TV for years until that fated day we got our first color TV and I saw the awesome entry into Munchkin Land. I already loved the movie before that, but the deal was sealed with the color. Every year, if anyone even suggested watching something else when "Wizard" made its annual Spring appearance, I would throw a fit! And this went on till I was about 12-years-old.

And cricket, I love your story about your journey with "Wizard," especially the police story.

M is a fantastic, five-star movie that I loved the only time I saw it, but I didn't even think about it for my list.

Nostromo, thanks for the info about Basil Rathbone. I didn't know any of that. Love Basil, and it's nice to hear you almost included Son of Frankenstein on your list. I did put it on my list. And until you said you almost listed it, I thought I was the lone person who loved the movie. It's my favorite of the first three "Frankenstein" films. It's got everything. Karloff's last turn as the Monster; Basil Rathbone as the "Son" of the title, but a good, decent, man, when people might have expected him to be the bad guy; Bela Lugosi as Ygor, in what I think was his best-acted role of his life as the broken-neck shepherd out for revenge and using the revived Monster as his instrument of death; Lionel Atwill as the kind policeman (again, another "against-type" role) with the false arm, made necessary after the Monster pulled his real one from its socket---and a role that would parodied in Young Frankenstein; and the camerawork, with great shadows and fantastic sets. All three "Frankenstein" films are five-star movies yet I like this one best. Go figure.

Edarsenal, nice to see you included The Dawn Patrol on your list. I love this movie. Just grand adventure, but serious as it deals with WWI pilots. And again, Basil Rathbone as a good guy, who appears to be a stern commander but behind-the-scenes worries about his pilots and counts each plane as they return from their daily runs against the Germans. Great movie.

So, my list:
#1. The Wizard of Oz
#2 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (10)
#3 The Adventures of Robin Hood (33)
#4 Son of Frankenstein no-show
#5 On Borrowed Time no-show
#6 Gunga Din (61)
#7 The Thin Man (25)
#8 Destry Rides Again (72)
#9 King Kong (16)
#10 A Night at the Opera (27)
#11 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (17)
#12 My Man Godfrey (31)
#13 Captains Courageous (64)
#14 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (47)
#15 The Trail of the Lonesome Pine no-show
#16 You Can't Take it With You (39)
#17 The Dawn Patrol no-show
#18 It Happened One Night (3)
#19 Stagecoach (23)
#20 Libeled Lady no-show
#21 Angels With Dirty Faces (37)
#22 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (28)
#23 The Roaring Twenties (21)15
#24 Mystery of the Wax Museum no-show
#25 The Cat and the Canary no-show

CR, just a brilliant job! Your love of 30's movies made you the obvious choice for this countdown and you came through with flying colors. I can't recall a countdown that went so fast and so smoothly. Bravo!

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Thanks guys for the nice comments. Here's my list:

*1 Gone With the Wind
*2 It Happened One Night
3 Baby Face...didn't make it.
*4 Gold Diggers of 1933
*5 42nd Street
*6 Angels with Dirty Faces
*7 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
*8 The Public Enemy
*9 Bachelor Mother
*10 Swing Time
11 Of Human Bondage...didn't make it.
*12 My Man Godfrey
*13 The Roaring Twenties
14 Tarzan and His Mate...didn't make it.
*15 Jezebel
*16 Of Mice and Men
*17 Fury
*18 Captains Courageous
*19 Goodbye, Mr. Chips
20 Kid Galahad...didn't make it.
*21 The Petrified Forest
22 Barbary Coast...didn't make it.
*23 A Star Is Born
*24 Red Dust
25 Waterloo Bridge...didn't make it.

When I calculated the points for all the movies I was floored that Baby Face didn't even make the countdown. I thought for sure it would as it's one of the best known pre-code films.

Good job on the countdown CR. Had I decided to send my stub of a list M would have got another #1 but it would still have been second. Sadly I just haven't enjoyed enough 30s film to actually participate but I was still following this and will eventually watch few of the films on the list.

Only 1 film in my Top 25 did not make it:

1. The Rules of the Game (1939)
2. CIty Lights
3. Make Way For Tomorrow (1937)
4. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
5. Trouble in Paradise (1932)
6. Modern Times
7. L'Atalante (1934)
8. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
9. M (1931)
10. Tabu (1931)
11. Freaks
12. Stagecoach (1939)
13. 42nd Street (1933)
14. King Kong (1933)
15. Gone with the Wind (1939)
16. The 39 Steps (1935)
17. La Grande Illusion (1937)
18. Footlight Parade (1933)
19. It Happened One Night (1934)
20. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
21. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
22. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
23. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
24. Top Hat (1935)
25. A Night at the Opera (1935)

Thanks a lot, Citizen, for hosting this list!

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

Phenomenal job, @Citizen Rules! You were an excellent host throughout this process. Great presentation, reliable updates. Your passion and enthusiasm for this era of films (and the forum in general, for that matter) really shines through. I probably had more fun preparing for this countdown than any other. I discovered a love of musicals, developed a crush on several actresses (Joan Blondell and Ginger Rogers, in particular), became a fan of Jean Harlow, became an even bigger fan of James Cagney, developed a huge appreciation for the risqué delights of the pre-code era, and also discovered a few new favorite films in the process.

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I too had M at #2. So IMO the consensus redeemed itself despite the placement of Freaks...

But what a wonderful and dedicated job you did on the whole countdown, CR! I knew it had the potential to be very enjoyable. And your passion kept it on the straight and narrow, while showing us all how it should be done.

My hat is off to you, CR!

~Doc

That's makes it all worth it!

Glad to hear you discovered so many new film loves in the 30s....Wow, you had more musicals on your list than I even did, crazy Busby Berkeley musicals are awesome. When I first got into old films I bought a 3 box set of his movies, good stuff.

My List:

1. All Quiet on the Western Front
2. Goodbye, Mr. Chips
3. Mutiny on the Bounty
4. Gone with the Wind
5. Modern Times
6. Hell's Angels
7. King Kong
8. It Happened One Night
9. The Invisible Man
10. Wuthering Heights
11. The Wizard of Oz
12. A Night at the Opera
13. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
14. China Seas
15. Scarface
16. The Adventures of Robin Hood
17. They Won't Forget
18. Frankenstein
19. The Mummy
20. The Lost Patrol
21. 20,000 Years in Sing Sing
22. Captain Blood
23. The Awful Truth
24. The Petrified Forest
25. Baby Face

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

My list:

1 M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
2 Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932)
3 All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Millstone, 1930)
4 Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
5 The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
6 Vampyr (Carl Theodore Dreyer, 1932)
7 Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931)
8 The Black Cat (Edgar Ulmer, 1934)
9 The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938)
10 Angels with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz, 1938)
11 Jezebel (William Wyler, 1938)
12 Sabotage (Alfred Hitchcock, 1936)
13 L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
14 The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933)
15 City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1969)
16 The Hunchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle, 1939)
17 Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931)
18 Wuthering Heights (William Wyler, 1939)
19 The Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau, 1932)
20 Goodbye, Mr. Chips (Woods/Franklin, 1939)
21 Mutiny On the Bounty (Frank Lloyd, 1935)
22 The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934)
23 King Kong (Cooper/Schoedsack 1933)
24 Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939)
25 Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)

Big thanks to @Citizen Rules for a great looking countdown.

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My list. Surprised that almost every title made the list (and now I have to wonder if that means I've ever-so-slightly over-estimated Anna Karenina, but then again I'm pretty sure I have the last ten picks at anyway)

1. Duck Soup (#12)
2. Freaks (#9)
3. M (#2)
4. All Quiet On The Western Front (#6)
5. Port of Shadows (#50)
6. Frankenstein (#19)
7. Ninotchka (#36)
8. Stagecoach (#23)
9. Dracula (#35)
10. The Blue Angel (#38)
11. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (#47)
12. I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (#11)
13. It Happened One Night (#3)
14. Scarface (#26)
15. The Adventures of Robin Hood (#33)
16. City Lights (#5)
17. Gone with the Wind (#4)
18. Vampyr (#24)
19. The Roaring Twenties (#21)
20. The Public Enemy (#42)
21. Modern Times (#7)
22. La Grande Illusion (#14)
23. The Wizard of Oz (#1)
24. Anna Karenina (N/A)
25. The 39 Steps (#13)

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

I considered M for my list, but it just got pushed out by too many other favorite movies.

The Wizard of Oz was #2 on my list. I strongly considered it for #1, but it lost out to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs because I'm more afraid of flying monkeys than I am of the Evil Queen.


Thank you to @Citizen Rules for doing such a great job on this countdown. The presentation was perfect.


This was the complete list of my Top 1930s Movies:
1) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
2) The Wizard of Oz (1939)
3) A Day at the Races (1937)
4) Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
5) Rafter Romance (1933)

6) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
7) Topper (1937)
8) Trouble in Paradise (1932)
9) Bachelor Mother (1939)
10) You Can't Take It with You (1938)

11) Born to Dance (1936)
12) It Happened One Night (1934)
13) The Cat and the Canary (1939)
14) One Way Passage (1932)
15) The Awful Truth (1937)

16) My Man Godfrey (1936)
17) Shall We Dance (1937)
18) Wings in the Dark (1935)
19) The Young in Heart (1938)
20) Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

21) Show Boat (1936)
22) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
23) Pygmalion (1938)
24) The Murder Man (1935)
25) Libeled Lady (1936)

Nice to see Topper on your list, @gbgoodies. Not sure if I've seen it on anyone else's.

Topper's a fun film. And that's Joan Bennett's older sister, Constance Bennett.

very much so!
and did not know that about Constance is Joan's sister. Nice!

I can't remember the last film that I commented on, but great job with this, CR


From the top half at a quick glance, I love Stagecoach which would have been a contender for my top spot. I think Trouble in Paradise, Scarface, King Kong, Snow White, La Grande Illusion, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Duck Soup, Bringing Up Baby, Modern Times, City Lights, It Happened One Night, M and the Wizard of Oz are all really strong to great films. I'm actually not the biggest fan of Gone With the Wind but obviously that was going to be high up too. I'm a bit embarrassed about the really low number of films I've actually seen from the list!

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