Last Updated on 24 October 2024

The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 200 best movies made in the 1930s.

I found 21 different ranked lists online of “best” or “favorite 30s movies” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 21 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.

1. M (1931)
2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
3. Modern Times (1936)
4. It Happened One Night (1934)
5. City Lights (1931)
6. The Rules of the Game (1939)
7. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
8. The Grand Illusion (1937)
9. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
10. King Kong (1933)
11. Stagecoach (1939)
12. Death Takes a Holiday (1934)
13. Duck Soup (1933)
14. Gone with the Wind (1939)
15. Freaks (1932)
16. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
17. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
18. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
19. Scarface (1932)
20. The Thin Man (1934)
21. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
22. Frankenstein (1931)
23. A Night at the Opera (1935)
24. Ninotchka (1939)
25. Trouble in Paradise (1932)
26. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
27. The 39 Steps (1935)
28. Vampyr (1932)
29. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
30. Holiday (1938)
31. Dracula (1931)
32. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
33. L’Atalante (1934)
34. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
35. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
36. My Man Godfrey (1936)
37. The Blue Angel (1930)
38. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
39. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
40. L’Age d’Or (1930)
41. The Awful Truth (1937)
42. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
43. The Roaring Twenties (1939)
44. Wuthering Heights (1939)
45. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
46. The Invisible Man (1933)
47. No Greater Glory (1934)
48. Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
49. Pépé le Moko (1937)
50. Swing Time (1936)
51. The Public Enemy (1931)
52. Horse Feathers (1932)
53. Port of Shadows (1938)
54. The Black Cat (1934)
55. Fury (1936)
56. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
57. Zero for Conduct (1933)
58. You Can’t Take It with You (1938)
59. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
60. Suicide Squad (1935)
61. Jezebel (1938)
62. Top Hat (1935)
63. Gunga Din (1939)
64. I Was Born, But… (1932)
65. Shanghai Express (1932)
66. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
67. Dodsworth (1936)
68. Alexander Nevsky (1938)
69. Animal Crackers (1930)
70. Captains Courageous (1937)
71. 42nd Street (1933)
72. Le Jour Se Leve (1939)
73. Destry Rides Again (1939)
74. Little Caesar (1931)
75. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
76. The Mandarin Mystery (1936)
77. The Old Dark House (1932)
78. The Women (1939)
79. La Chienne (1931)
80. The Scarlet Empress (1934)
81. A Day in the Country (1936)
82. Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
83. La Bête Humaine (1938)
84. A Day at the Races (1937)
85. Man of Aran (1934)
86. Big Business Girl (1931)
87. Fanny (1932)
88. Heidi (1937)
89. Little Women (1933)
90. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
91. César (1936)
92. Monkey Business (1931)
93. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
94. The Mummy (1932)
95. Sons of the Desert (1933)
96. Grand Hotel (1932)
97. The Merry Widow (1934)
98. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
99. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
100. Marius (1931)
101. The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
102. The Petrified Forest (1936)
103. The Girl from Chicago (1932)
104. The Goddess (1934)
105. Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
106. Libeled Lady (1936)
107. The Blood of a Poet (1932)
108. Morocco (1930)
109. Pygmalion (1938)
110. Dark Victory (1939)
111. Le Million (1931)
112. Earth (1930)
113. The Lower Depths (1936)
114. You Only Live Once (1937)
115. Les Misérables (1935)
116. Stage Door (1937)
117. The Only Son (1936)
118. Captain Blood (1935)
119. Bezhin lug (1937)
120. Emma (1932)
121. Tarzan Escapes (1936)
122. Kameradschaft (1931)
123. A Story of Floating Weeds (1934)
124. Sabotage (1936)
125. Design for Living (1933)
126. Lost Horizon (1937)
127. Twentieth Century (1934)
128. A Star Is Born (1937)
129. Footlight Parade (1933)
130. Love Me Tonight (1932)
131. A Christmas Carol (1938)
132. Stella Dallas (1937)
133. A Shriek in the Night (1933)
134. Baby Face (1933)
135. Camille (1936)
136. Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
137. After the Thin Man (1936)
138. Westfront 1918 (1930)
139. Hop-a-long Cassidy (1935)
140. À nous la liberté (1931)
141. Island of Lost Souls (1932)
142. The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
143. Drácula (1931)
144. Way Out West (1937)
145. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
146. The Beast of the City (1932)
147. Osaka Elegy (1936)
148. Midnight (1939)
149. City Girl (1930)
150. The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
151. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
152. Of Mice and Men (1939)
153. Boys Town (1938)
154. The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935)
155. The Devil Is a Woman (1935)
156. Alice in Wonderland (1933)
157. Love Affair (1939)
158. It’s a Gift (1934)
159. The Champ (1931)
160. Cleopatra (1934)
161. Monte Carlo Nights (1934)
162. Reefer Madness (1936)
163. Blonde Venus (1932)
164. The Music Box (1932)
165. The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
166. Happiness (1935)
167. Mädchen in Uniform (1931)
168. Nothing Sacred (1937)
169. The Four Feathers (1939)
170. Call of the Wild (1935)
171. Limit (1931)
172. The Informer (1935)
173. Easy Living (1937)
174. The Little Princess (1939)
175. Slightly Honorable (1939)
176. The Front Page (1931)
177. Young and Innocent (1937)
178. History Is Made at Night (1937)
179. Queen Christina (1933)
180. White Zombie (1932)
181. Lady for a Day (1933)
182. David Copperfield (1935)
183. Alice Adams (1935)
184. The Murder in the Museum (1934)
185. Hell’s Angels (1930)
186. Triumph of the Will (1935)
187. Bachelor Mother (1939)
188. Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
189. The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
190. Wee Willie Winkie (1937)
191. The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
192. Borderline (1930)
193. Dragnet Girl (1933)
194. Las Hurdes (1933)
195. Our Daily Bread (1934)
196. Il signor Max (1937)
197. Hallelujah I’m a Bum (1933)
198. Lady Killer (1937)
199. Nail in the Boot (1931)
200. Toni (1935)