30s The Best Movies of 1930  

Ranker Film

1.2k votes 44 voters 2k views 203 items Follow Embed

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All Quiet on the Western Front Fred Zinnemann, Lew Ayres, ZaSu Pitts All Quiet on the Western Front is a 1930 American epic war film based on the Erich Maria Remarque novel of the same name. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, and stars Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, ...more

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Animal Crackers Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx Animal Crackers is a 1930 Marx Brothers comedy film, in which mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding. ...more

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The Big Trail John Wayne, Tully Marshall, El Brendel The Big Trail is a 1930 lavish early widescreen movie shot on location across the American West starring John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh. In 2006, the United ...more

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The Blue Angel Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings, Roland Varno The Blue Angel is a 1930 German tragicomedic film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich and Kurt Gerron. Written by Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller ...more

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Another Fine Mess Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Thelma Todd Another Fine Mess is a 1930 short comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. It is based on the 1908 play Home From The Honeymoon by Arthur J. Jefferson, Stan Laurel's father, and is a talkie remake ...more

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Kismet Loretta Young, Sidney Blackmer, David Manners Kismet is a 1930 costume drama photographed entirely in an early widescreen process using 65mm film that Warner Bros. called Vitascope. The film, now considered lost, was based on Edward ...more

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Morocco Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou Morocco is a 1930 American romance drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, and Adolphe Menjou. Based on the novel Amy Jolly by Benno Vigny and ...more

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Whoopee! Betty Grable, Eddie Cantor, Eleanor Hunt Whoopee! is a 1930 American "All-Talking All-Color" musical comedy film photographed in two-color Technicolor. The plot of the film closely followed the 1928 stage show produced by

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Kiss Me Again Walter Pidgeon, Edward Everett Horton, Frank McHugh Kiss Me Again is a musical operetta film filmed entirely in Technicolor. It was originally released in the United States as Toast of the Legion late in 1930, but was quickly withdrawn when ...more

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Abraham Lincoln Walter Huston, Una Merkel, Hobart Bosworth Returning to the historic era of his greatest success, Griffith paid homage to the sixteenth President in this moving drama starring Walter Huston. Focusing on Lincoln’s personal tragedies, as ...more

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The King of Jazz Bing Crosby, Paul Whiteman, John Boles King of Jazz is a 1930 American color film starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The film's title was taken from Whiteman's controversial, self-conferred appellation. Although using the word ...more

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The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case is a Laurel and Hardy comedy film released in 1930. It is one of a handful of three-reel comedies they made, running 28 minutes. It was directed by James Parrott, ...more

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The Big House Robert Montgomery, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone The Big House is a 1930 American film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by George Hill, with stars Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams, ...more

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The Dawn Patrol Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Frank McHugh The Dawn Patrol is a 1930 World War I film starring Richard Barthelmess and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. It was directed by Howard Hawks, a former World War I flight instructor, who even flew in the ...more

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Follow Thru Thelma Todd, Eugene Pallette, Buddy Rogers Follow Thru is a 1930 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was the second all-color all-talking feature to be produced by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the ...more

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School's Out Jackie Cooper, Norman Chaney, Creighton Hale School's Out is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 102nd Our Gang short to be

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The Office Wife Joan Blondell, Lewis Stone, Dickie Moore The Office Wife is a 1930 American Pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, released by Warner Bros., and based on the novel of the same name by Faith Baldwin. It was the talkie ...more

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The Big Pond Claudette Colbert, Maurice Chevalier The Big Pond is a 1930 American romantic comedy film based on a 1928 play of the same name by George Middleton and A.E. Thomas. The film was written by Garrett Fort, Robert Presnell Sr. and ...more

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The Indians Are Coming Tim McCoy, Edmund Cobb, Francis Ford The Indians Are Coming is a Universal movie serial based on the book The Great West That Was by William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The serial was the first "all-talking" film of ...more

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The Life of the Party Charles Butterworth, Charles Judels, Winnie Lightner The Life of the Party is a 1930 American musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. The musical numbers of this film were cut out before general release in the United States ...more

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Puttin' On the Ritz Joan Bennett, Bess Flowers, James Gleason Puttin' On the Ritz is a musical film, directed by Edward Sloman and starred Harry Richman, Joan Bennett, and James Gleason. The screenplay was written by James Gleason and William K. Wells, ...more

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The Cuckoos Bert Wheeler, Dorothy Lee, Robert Woolsey The Cuckoos is a musical comedy film, released by RKO Radio Pictures and partially filmed in two-strip Technicolor. Directed by Paul Sloane, the screenplay was adapted by Cyrus Wood, from the ...more

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Hell's Angels Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon, James Hall Hell's Angels is a 1930 American war film, directed and produced by Howard Hughes and starring Ben Lyon, James Hall and Jean Harlow. The film, which was written by Harry Behn and Howard ...more

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Raffles Ronald Colman, Kay Francis Raffles is a comedy-mystery film produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It stars Ronald Colman as the titular character, a proper English gentleman who moonlights as a notorious jewel thief, and Kay ...more

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Night Owls Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy Night Owls is a Laurel and Hardy short film. It was filmed in October and November 1929, and released January 4, 1930. The film was also made in two foreign-language versions: Ladrones in ...more

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Song of the West Ann Sothern, Joe E. Brown, John Boles Song of the West is a musical operetta film produced by Warner Brothers, and photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was based on the 1928 Broadway musical Rainbow by Vincent Youmans, Oscar ...more

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Son of the Gods Constance Bennett, Richard Barthelmess, Frank Albertson Son of the Gods is an all-talking pre-code romantic drama film with Technicolor sequences, produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.. It was adapted from the ...more

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No, No, Nanette ZaSu Pitts, Louise Fazenda, Lucien Littlefield No, No, Nanette is an all-talking pre-code musical comedy film with Technicolor sequences produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.. It was adapted from the ...more

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Romance Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone Romance is a 1930 film directed by Clarence Brown starring Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone, and Gavin Gordon. The movie was adapted by Edwin Justus Mayer and Bess Meredyth from the 1913 play by Edward ...more

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Montana Moon Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Dorothy Sebastian Montana Moon is a 1930 Pre-Code comedy, drama, musical, western film starring Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, and Ricardo Cortez. The film focuses on the budding relationship between a city ...more

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Woman Hungry Sidney Blackmer, Raymond Hatton, Lila Lee Woman Hungry is a musical Western film photographed entirely in Technicolor. The film was based on the play The Great Divide which was written by William Vaughn Moody. The story was filmed as a ...more

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Danger Lights Jean Arthur, Robert Edeson, Robert Armstrong Danger Lights is a 1930 American drama film, directed by George B. Seitz, from a screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman. It stars Louis Wolheim, Robert Armstrong, and Jean Arthur. The plot ...more

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Viennese Nights Bela Lugosi, Walter Pidgeon, Louise Fazenda Viennese Nights is an American all-talking pre-code musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor and released by Warner Brothers. Viennese Nights was the first original operetta ...more

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Under a Texas Moon Myrna Loy, Noah Beery, Sr. Under A Texas Moon is a 1930 musical western film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was based on the novel Two-Gun Man which was written by Stewart Edward White. It was the second ...more

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The Cat Creeps Neil Hamilton, Helen Twelvetrees, Raymond Hackett The Cat Creeps is a crime/mystery film, and a sound remake of The Cat and the Canary. Starring Helen Twelvetrees, Raymond Hackett, Neil Hamilton, Lilyan Tashman, Jean Hersholt, and Montagu Love, ...more

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The Divorcee Norma Shearer, Ethel Barrymore, Robert Montgomery The Divorcee is a 1930 American Pre-Code drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan and Zelda Sears, based on the novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. ...more

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The Green Goddess George Arliss, H.B. Warner, Alice Joyce The Green Goddess is an American talking motion picture released in 1930 and directed by Alfred E. Green. It was a remake of the 1923 silent film, which was in turn based on the play of the same ...more

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Bright Lights Frank McHugh, Noah Beery, Sr. Bright Lights is an all-talking pre-code American musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor and produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. ...more

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Brats Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy Brats is a 1930 Laurel and Hardy comedy short. The film was directed by James Parrott. Laurel and Hardy play dual roles as their own children. It also inspired a helper group for the Michigan ...more

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Just Imagine Maureen O'Sullivan, El Brendel, Marjorie White Just Imagine is a 1930 science fiction musical comedy directed by David Butler. The film is known for its art direction and special effects in its portrayal of New York City in an imagined

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Our Blushing Brides Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Dorothy Sebastian Our Blushing Brides is a 1930 American Pre-Code society comedy/romantic melodrama directed and produced by Harry Beaumont, and starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Anita Page, and Dorothy ...more

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General Crack John Barrymore, Armida, Marian Nixon General Crack is a part-talkie historical costume drama film with Technicolor sequences which was produced by Warner Bros., filmed in 1929 and released early in 1930. The film was directed by ...more

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Paramount on Parade Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, Fay Wray Paramount on Parade is an all-star revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward ...more

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The Bad One Dolores del Río, Edmund Lowe, Henry Kolker The Bad One is a 1930 American black-and-white musical film directed by George Fitzmaurice, starring Dolores del Río and featuring Boris Karloff and is a romantic prison drama film. The ...more

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The Lone Defender Josef Swickard, Lafe McKee, Bob Kortman The Lone Defender is a 1930 American Mascot movie serial starring Rin Tin Tin. This was Mascot's first all sound serial. This was Rin Tin Tin's first serial at Mascot, after being dropped by ...more

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The Rogue Song Lawrence Tibbett, Catherine Dale Owen The Rogue Song is a 1930 romantic musical film which tells the story of a Russian bandit who falls in love with a princess, but takes his revenge on her when her brother rapes and kills his ...more

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Murder! Alfred Hitchcock, Herbert Marshall, Edward Chapman Murder! is a 1930 British drama film co-written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring and Edward Chapman. Written by Hitchcock, his wife Alma Reville and ...more

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Mamba Eleanor Boardman, Ralph Forbes Mamba was released by Tiffany Pictures. It was shot entirely in Technicolor and stars Jean Hersholt, Eleanor Boardman, Ralph Forbes, Josef Swickard, Claude Fleming, William Stanton and William ...more

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Blotto Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Baldwin Cooke Blotto is a comedy film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

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People on Sunday Kurt Gerron, Valeska Gert, Heinrich Gretler People on Sunday is a 1930 German silent drama film directed by Curt and Robert Siodmak from a screenplay by Billy Wilder. The film follows the lives of a group of residents of Berlin on a ...more