March 10, 1970

Top 10 Films of 1930

1. "Earth" (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, Soviet Union)

2. "L'Age d'Or" (Luis Bunuel, France)

3. "Animal Crackers" (Victor Heerman, Paramount)

4. "All Quiet On The Western Front" (Lewis Milestone, Universal)

5. "The Blue Angel" (Josef von Sternberg, Germany)

6. "That Night's Wife" (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan)

7. "King Of Jazz" (John Murray Anderson, Universal)

8. "Morocco" (Josef von Sternberg, Paramount)

9. "The Dawn Patrol" (Howard Hawks, Warner)


10. "The Doorway To Hell" (Archie Mayo, Warner)


Other great films:
Feet First
For Her Sake (Sweden)
Free And Easy
Hell's Angels
Holiday
I Flunked But (Japan)
Just Imagine
Laughter

1. "À propos de Nice" (Jean Vigo, France) - short

2. "Maria do Mar" (José Leitão de Barros, Portugal)

3. "Massages" (France) - short


Short Top 10:

1. "Aimless Walk" (Alexander Hackenschmied, Czechoslovakia)

2. "Romance sentimentale" (Sergei Eisenstein, Grigoriy Aleksandrov, France)

3. "Another Fine Mess" (James Parrott, Roach, MGM)

4. "Below Zero" (James Parrott, Roach, MGM)

5. "Hog Wild" (James Parrott, Roach, MGM)

6. "Laughing Gravy" (James W. Horne, Roach, MGM)

7. "Brats" (James Parrott, Roach, MGM)

8. "Night Owls" (James Parrott, Roach, MGM)

9. "Meet The Boyfriend" (Norman Taurog, Paramount)

10. "Blotto" (James Parrott, Roach, MGM)


Cartoons Top 10 

1. "The Cactus Kid" (Walt Disney, Disney)

2. "Sinkin' In The Bathtub" (Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Warner)

3. "Winter" (Burt Gillett, Disney)

4. "The Chain Gang" (Burt Gillett, Disney)

5. "Dizzy Dishes" (Dave Fleischer, Paramount)

6. "Hash Shop" (Walter Lantz, Universal)

7. "Studie Nr 6" (Oskar Fischinger, Germany)

8. "Ship Ahoy" (John Foster, RKO)

9. "Studie Nr 5" (Oskar Fischinger, Germany)

10. "Arctic Antics" (Ub Iwerks, Disney)


Other great cartoons:

Cannibal Capers
The Shindig

Weak films of 1930:

Anna Christie
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Top 3 Musicals of 1930

1. "King Of Jazz" (John Murray Anderson, Universal)


2. "Monte Carlo" (Ernst Lubitsch, Paramount)


5. "Whoopee" (Thornton Freeland, United Artists)

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Earth (1930) *****

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The Dawn Patrol (1930) ****

The best of all WWI warplanes dramas (like 1927's "Wings", 1930's "Hell's Angels" and 1938's "Dawn Patrol"), with terrific aerial combat footage and a tense, exciting, Oscar-nominated story.
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All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) ****

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Maria do Mar (1930) ****

A great classic of the Portuguese cinema.
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That Night's Wife (1930) ****

A silent crime melodrama directed by Yasujiro Ozu. Absolutely unique in his filmography. A tense thriller that begans with an armed robbery, continues with a police dragnet and ends with a stand-off involving the criminal, his wife, his sick daughter and a police detective.
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Holiday (1930) ***

Eclipsed by the 1938 remake starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, this is the original movie adaptation. And a fine one too.
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Murder (1930) ***

A juror (Herbert Marshall) comes to believe that a woman convicted of murder is actually innocent.
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With Byrd At The South Pole (1930) ***

Documentary set in Antarctica.
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The Doorway To Hell (1930) ***

Excellent early talkie gangster film starring Lew Ayres as a head of the organized crime who decides to retire from the business. A fascinating portrait of Chicago's gangland during the Prohibition.
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The Big House (1930) ***

The granddaddy of all prison pictures, and still the most extreme one, with army tanks putting down a prison riot.
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Walk Cheerfully (1930) ***

Ozu's gangster film about a small-time hood who wants to go straight for a good girl. Screenplay by Tadao Ikeda, based on a story by Hiroshi Shimizu.
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Paramount On Parade (1930) ***

An all-star musical revue. Highlights include: George Bancroft attending the same party twice, Maurice Chevalier quarreling with Evelyn Brent, Mitzi Mayfair dancing "I'M In Training For You" and little Mitzi Green singing an encore of "All I Want Is Just One Girl". Several musical numbers are missing their soundtracks ("I'M Isadore The Toreador", "Nichavo" and "Let's Drink To The Girl Of My Dreams"; the last one directed by Edmund Goulding). Ernst Lubitsch directed all three Maurice Chevalier segments. Musical numbers:

"We're The Masters Of Ceremony" *
"Anytime's The Time To Fall In Love" **
"Come Back To Sorrento" **
"I'M In Training For You" **
"My Marine" *
"All I Want Is Just One Girl" **
"What Did Cleopatra Say ?" *
"Dancing To Save Your Sole" *
"I'M True To The Navy Now" *
"Sweeping The Clouds Away" **
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I Flunked But (1930) ***


Schoolmates are trying to pass the exams by cheating. One of Ozu's early "student comedies".
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Laughter (1930) ***

Fine comedy-drama about a young wife of stuffy millionaire.
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Romance (1930) ***

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Free And Easy (1930) ***

Buster Keaton's first, and best, "talkie". A bit uneven, but a fascinating peek behind the curtains of the MGM studio at the dawn of the sound era. Musical numbers include:

"It Must Be You" **
"Free And Easy" **
"It Must Be You" (reprise) *
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For Her Sake (1930) ***

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Min And Bill (1930) ***

Marie Dressler won a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Actress for her superlative performance as a tough saloon owner who tries to protect her adopted daughter from her evil biological mother. Wallace Beery is equally good as her best friend.
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La Canzone dell'amore (1930) ***

One of the first Italian sound films.
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Na Sybir (1930) ***

Patriotic drama about a Polish freedom fighter deported to Siberia. Set in 1905. Directed by Henryk Szaro ("Mocny czlowiek").
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The Big Trail (1930) ***

Fine western set on the Oregon Trail circa 1840. John Wayne's first starring role.
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