My Top 10 for 1930

I saw 26 movies that were released in 1930 and these were my 10 favorites.  The complete list with my reviews is available here:  http://www.imdb.com/list/gHnKv0802xI/ .

1.  The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg)

This masterfully told story of how a pompous and proud professor is slowly brought low by his infatuation with a free-spirited music hall singer made Marlene Dietrich a star but I always come back for Emil Jannings.

Marlene Dietrich sings “Falling in Love Again”

2.  All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)

The horrors of war told from the perspective of the enemy in what is still one of the most moving anti-war films ever made.

Re-release trailer

3.  Á propos de Nice (Jean Vigo)

I love the way Jean Vigo’s films are so full of life and this city symphony is no exception.

Clip

4. City Girl (F. W. Murnau)

I had not heard of this film before beginning my review of 1930.  Now I think it is the near equal of F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise</em.. I wonder if those shots in the fields inspired Days of Heaven.

Gorgeous tracking shot of lovers running through wheat fields

5.  Under the Roofs of Paris (René Clair)

Another captivating musical souffle from René Clair.  I am crazy about these.

6.  Hell’s Angels (Howard Hughes)

The flight and battle scenes are simply fantastic, especially when you consider the technology of the time.

Clip – “You fools!”

7.  Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman)

The Marx Brothers make me laugh.

“Hello, I Must Be Going/Hurray for Captain Spaulding”

8.  Salt for Svanetia (Mikhail Kalatozov)

Propaganda “documentary” about how the Bolsheviks rescue a Georgian village from ïgnorance and salt depravation by building a road.   The cinematography is so beautiful that I forgave it everything.

Clip

9.  Anna Christie (Clarence Brown)

 

Garbo gives a fine performance in her first talkie but my favorite performance was by Marie Dressler as her father’s boozy pal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Rvqm5XR7E

the whiskey scene

10.  Walk Cheerfully (Yasujiro Ozu)

A gentle early comedy by one of my favorite directors with an uncharacteristic gangland backdrop.

Excerpt