Best Movies of 1930
Some idea of the best movies from the dawn of the sound era in film-making.
List activity
5.1K views
• 44 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
25 titles
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.
- DirectorVictor HeermanStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxMayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.A movie to watch again and again.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.Unforgettable - a film to rock your world.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsGaston ModotLya LysCaridad de LaberdesqueA surrealist tale of a man and a woman who are passionately in love with each other, but their attempts to consummate that passion are constantly thwarted by their families, the Church, and bourgeois society.Beyond words - and rightfully so. Pure Dada.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGary CooperMarlene DietrichAdolphe MenjouA cabaret singer and a Legionnaire fall in love, but their relationship is complicated by the results of his womanizing and the appearance of a rich man who wants her for himself.
- DirectorHoward HughesEdmund GouldingJames WhaleStarsBen LyonJames HallJean HarlowBrothers Monte and Ray leave Oxford to join the Royal Flying Corps. Ray loves Helen; Helen enjoys an affair with Monte; before they leave on their mission over Germany they find her in still another man's arms.
- DirectorAleksandr DovzhenkoStarsStepan ShkuratSemyon SvashenkoYuliya SolntsevaIn the peaceful countryside, Vassily opposes the rich kulaks over the coming of collective farming.Silent, blurry, troublingly propagandistic, and sometimes glacially slow. Apart from that, a window into a vanished world, where time ran somehow differently, and this old world's collision with the modern mechanistic world.
- DirectorRaoul WalshLouis R. LoefflerStarsJohn WayneMarguerite ChurchillEl BrendelBreck Coleman leads hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.Breath-takingly crisp and sharp: this movie marks the beginning of modern high production values.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsCharles FarrellMary DuncanDavid TorrenceA Chicago waitress falls in love with a Minnesota farmer, and decides to face a life in the country.Thoroughly engaging story about ordinary people, in town and country. Sweet and fresh.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakEdgar G. UlmerRochus GlieseStarsErwin SplettstößerBrigitte BorchertWolfgang von WaltershausenTwo men and two women enjoy a pleasant Sunday at the beach amid the unending toil of the working week.Thoughtful and sexy.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsAlbert PréjeanPola IlléryEdmond T. GrévilleAlbert is smitten for Pola but ends up wrongly committed in jail, in the meantime her affections are sought after by his friend, and on his release both love and friendship must be tested.
- DirectorGeorge W. HillWard WingStarsChester MorrisWallace BeeryLewis StoneA convict falls in love with his new cellmate's sister, only to become embroiled in a planned break-out which is certain to have lethal consequences.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsRichard BarthelmessDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Neil HamiltonWorld War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but Courtney is soon promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.
- DirectorGeorge W. HillStarsMarie DresslerWallace BeeryDorothy JordanMin, the owner of a dockside hotel, is forced to make difficult decisions about the future of Nancy, the young woman she took in as an infant.Old hands living at the edges of society, insecure but tender. A lot of heart.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsMarion DaviesLawrence GrayWalter CatlettA New York chorus girl's friends encourage her to pursue a handsome socialite.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsFritz KampersGustav DiesslHans-Joachim MöbisA group of German solders fight on the front line in France at the end of World War I.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsJeanette MacDonaldJack BuchananClaud AllisterA countess flees to Monte Carlo on the day of her wedding, where she is courted by a count posing as a hairdresser.
- DirectorThornton FreelandStarsEddie CantorEthel ShuttaPaul GregoryWestern sheriff Bob Wells is preparing to marry Sally Morgan; she loves part-Indian Wanenis, whose race is an obstacle. Sally flees the wedding with hypochondriac Henry Williams, who thinks he's just giving her a ride; but she left a note saying they've eloped! Chasing them are jilted Bob, Henry's nurse Mary (who's been trying to seduce him) and others.
- DirectorIrene StarewiczWladyslaw StarewiczStarsClaude DauphinRomain BouquetSylvain ItkineWhen Renard the Fox's mischievous pranks go too far, King Lion is forced to attempt to bring the trickster to justice.Old European folk-traditions in modern form. Cynicism at its very best.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsMarion DaviesElliott NugentRaymond HackettNot-so-smart chatterbox Dulcy Parker does and says all the wrong things, but they right themselves to prove she's not so dumb after all.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsWilliam HainesLeila HyamsPolly MoranA brash, pushy young man gets a job in a bank and sets his cap for his boss's secretary, but the death of his father makes him reassess his priorities.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGreta GarboCharles BickfordGeorge F. MarionA young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.
- DirectorFred NibloStarsWilliam HainesLeila HyamsPolly MoranWise-guy carnival barker Windy bilks a group of cowboys out of their money, gets caught, and is forced into working off the debt on their ranch. He falls in love with Molly, the pretty owner of the ranch, but runs afoul of foreman Steve, who also loves Molly.
- DirectorJohn Murray AndersonWalter LantzStarsPaul WhitemanJohn BolesLaura La PlanteAmerican Pre-Code color film starring Paul Whiteman and his Jazz orchestra.Gaudy, crazy, occasionally wooden, but packed with pure vitality throughout. There's stuff here you just wouldn't believe ...
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJohn GilbertWallace BeeryJim TullyJack is a sailor who lives to go to sea. A typical sailor, he is always broke and has been in seven jails in the last seven ports. The one girl he tries to impress the most is in London and his mates call her 'the Eskimo'. For two years, he approaches her every time he docks near London, and for two years, Joan rejects the expensive gifts he brings her and ignores all advances he makes. She wants nothing to do with a sailor. When Jack uses trickery to convince Joan to marry him, Joan leaves him when she finds out the truth about his so-called new life. Rough seas are ahead as Jack tries to get Joan to return to him.