100 Greatest 1928-1939 Movies
List of best films from 1928 to 1939 of USA. Excluding films with mixed, negative or panned reception. Excluding silent films between 1928 to 1929 including those believed to be lost.
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- DirectorBryan FoyStarsHelene CostelloCullen LandisMary CarrA gangster frames two bootleggers for the shooting of a police officer in New York during the prohibition.--
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsBillie DoveAntonio MorenoEmile ChautardBillie Dove, as Elena, pulls out all stops as a Russian princess and a woman-of-the-streets in Paris in an exotic romance and hand-wringing drama set in two countries and the way-stations in between.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsMay McAvoyConrad NagelMack SwainWealthy Bob visits his mother's Florida houseboat in order to remove her jewelry and stumbles upon a bobbed-hair bandit and her male accomplice, who mistake him for another burglar. A fight is broken up by the arrival of an elderly couple (still more burglars) who are posing as guests. Bob keeps his identity secret and passes himself off as the butler; the girl and her partner pretend to be the maid and the cook. A couple of idiotic detectives, arrive on the scene, closely followed by a heavy fog that traps them all on board.
- DirectorIrving CummingsRaoul WalshStarsEdmund LoweWarner BaxterDorothy BurgessA charming, happy-go-lucky bandit in old Arizona plays cat-and-mouse with the sheriff trying to catch him while he romances a local beauty.--
- DirectorLothar MendesRoy PomeroyStarsEvelyn BrentClive BrookWilliam PowellReported killed in action, Philip lives under an assumed name in London. Deborah, a former lover, discovers him. She still loves Philip and is jealous of his wife Faith, who has since married Sir John. So Deborah tries to blackmail Faith.--
- DirectorRoland WestStarsChester MorrisHarry StubbsMae BuschChick Williams, a prohibition gangster, rejoins his mob soon after being released from prison. When a policeman is murdered during a robbery, he falls under suspicion. The gangster took Joan, a policeman's daughter, to the theater, sneaked out during the intermission to commit the crime, then used her to support his alibi. The detective squad employs its most sophisticated and barbaric techniques, including planting an undercover agent in the gang, to bring him to justice.--
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsHelen MorganJoan PeersFuller Mellish Jr.A burlesque star seeks to keep her convent-raised daughter away from her low-down life and abusive lover/stage manager.--
- DirectorKenneth HawksStarsLee TracyMae ClarkeDaphne PollardThe relationship between a male dancer and his actress girlfriend is threatened by a scheming chorister.
- DirectorPál FejösStarsGlenn TryonEvelyn BrentMerna KennedyA naive young dancer in a Broadway show innocently gets involved in backstage bootlegging and murder.--
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsBessie LoveAnita PageCharles KingA pair of sisters from the vaudeville circuit try to make it big time on Broadway, but matters of the heart complicate the attempt.
- DirectorF. Richard JonesStarsRonald ColmanClaud AllisterLawrence GrantA bored WWI veteran helps out a young woman whose uncle is being held hostage by embezzlers.--
- DirectorMalcolm St. ClairFrank TuttleStarsWilliam PowellJean ArthurJames HallNightclub singer 'the Canary' blackmails acquaintances, ends up murdered. Only witness also killed. Detective Philo Vance investigates to uncover her killer among numerous suspects she had exploited.--
- DirectorRobert FloreyJoseph SantleyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxDuring the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.--
- DirectorSam TaylorStarsMary PickfordJohnny Mack BrownMatt MooreA flirtatious Southern belle is compromised with one of her suitors.--
- DirectorLothar MendesStarsClara BowRichard ArlenKay FrancisA young bareback rider in a circus is in love with a trapeze artist, but he has two problems: he drinks too much and he's fallen under the spell of a "vamp" who's nothing but trouble for him.--
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsJohn BolesCarlotta KingLouise FazendaThe Desert Song is a 1929 American Pre-Code operetta film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring John Boles, Louise Fazenda, and Myrna Loy.--
- DirectorSidney FranklinStarsRamon NovarroDorothy JordanMarion HarrisA Bonapartist falls for a Royalist.--
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsGeorge ArlissDoris LloydDavid TorrencePrime Minister of Great Britain Benjamin Disraeli outwits the subterfuge of the Russians and chicanery at home in order to secure the purchase of the Suez Canal.--
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsConrad NagelKay JohnsonCharles BickfordWealthy Cynthia is in love with not-so-wealthy Roger, who is married to Marcia. The threesome is terribly modern about the situation, and Marcia will gladly divorce Roger if Cynthia agrees to a financial settlement. But Cynthia's wealth is in jeopardy because her trust fund will expire if she is not married by a certain date. To satisfy that condition, Cynthia arranges to marry Hagon Derk, who is condemned to die for a crime he didn't commit. She pays him so he can provide for his little sister. But at the last minute, Derk is freed when the true criminal is discovered. Expecting to be a rich widow, Cynthia finds herself married to a man she doesn't know--and doesn't want to know.--
- DirectorMillard WebbStarsMary EatonEddie CantorHelen MorganThe rise of a showgirl, Gloria Hughes, culminating in a Ziegfeld extravaganza "Glorifying the American Girl".--
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsNancy WelfordConway TearleWinnie LightnerThree Broadway chorus girls seek rich husbands.--
- DirectorJames CruzeErich von StroheimStarsErich von StroheimDonald DouglasBetty CompsonAn insanely, egocentric ventriloquist, even though he is possessed by his wooden dummy, is in love with a dancer who is in love with another. The dummy gives advice to the ventriloquist.--
- DirectorKing VidorStarsDaniel L. HaynesNina Mae McKinneyWilliam FountaineA sharecropper decides to become a preacher after falling for a vamp from the city.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsClaudette ColbertDavid NewellNellie SavageMrs. Ramsey sent Jean Oliver to prison on a false charge. To get even, Jean (disguised as Madame Mystera) plans to kidnap her daughter and turn her into a thief. Love entanglements with a gangster known as "The Fox" and newspaperman Grant complicate her plans.--
- DirectorCharles ReisnerChristy CabanneNorman HoustonStarsConrad NagelJack BennyJohn GilbertAn all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.--