The Best Films Ever Made - 1930s - Non-English
by dziwnytenswiat | created - 02 Jan 2019 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicThe rules: My rating x 3, 6 male/female rating ( 18, 30, 45), 1000 voters rating, US- and Non-US voters rating. Only films with a better rating than 7,00
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1. Les Misérables (1934)
Not Rated | 281 min | Drama
The lives of numerous people over the course of 20 years in 19th century France, weaved together by the story of an ex-convict named Jean Valjean on the run from an obsessive police inspector, who pursues him for only a minor offense.
Director: Raymond Bernard | Stars: Harry Baur, Charles Vanel, Paul Azaïs, Max Dearly
Votes: 1,970
8,68
2. M (1931)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 168,522 | Gross: $0.03M
8,43
3. César (1936)
Not Rated | 168 min | Drama
Honoré Panisse is dying, cheerfully, with friends, wife, and son at his side. He confesses to the priest in front of his friends; he insists that the doctor be truthful. But, he cannot ... See full summary »
Director: Marcel Pagnol | Stars: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin
Votes: 1,651
8,24
4. The Only Son (1936)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama
A widow sends her only son away to receive a better education. Years later, she visits him, finding him a poor school teacher with a wife and son.
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Chôko Iida, Shin'ichi Himori, Masao Hayama, Yoshiko Tsubouchi
Votes: 4,042
8,06
5. Osaka Elegy (1936)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
A young woman becomes a mistress of her boss in order to support her family.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Isuzu Yamada, Yôko Umemura, Chiyoko Ôkura, Kiyoko Ôkubo
Votes: 2,596
8,03
6. La Chienne (1931)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama
Maurice Legrand, a meek cashier married to a nagging wife, has a secret passion: he's a Sunday painter. He falls in love with Lulu, a young woman dominated by Dédé, the pimp who she works for. Dédé pushes Lulu into a relationship with him.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Michel Simon, Janie Marèse, Georges Flamant, Roger Gaillard
Votes: 4,839
8,02
7. Le Jour Se Leve (1939)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Arletty, Jules Berry
Votes: 8,275 | Gross: $0.03M
8,02
8. The Grand Illusion (1937)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, War
During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 38,869 | Gross: $0.17M
7,92
9. Pépé le Moko (1937)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A wanted gangster is both king and prisoner of the Casbah. He is protected from arrest by his friends, but is torn by his desire for freedom outside. A visiting Parisian beauty may just tempt his fate.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre, Fernand Charpin
Votes: 8,076 | Gross: $0.15M
7,89
10. Hotel du Nord (1938)
83 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
On the meandering Canal St. Martin, at the Parisian Hôtel du Nord, a nearly fatal gunshot separates a dejected young couple. But, amid a sad but beautiful panorama of lively characters, love has the final say. Can life be a fairy tale?
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Annabella, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet, Arletty
Votes: 3,238
7,89
11. Life Dances On (1937)
144 min | Drama
Christine, newly widowed and consumed by the memory of a ball she attended age 16, decides to track down the men she danced with that night and discover their fates.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Marie Bell, Françoise Rosay, Louis Jouvet, Harry Baur
Votes: 925
7,83
12. The Rules of the Game (1939)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély
Votes: 31,339
7,82
13. Der blaue Engel (1930)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, Music, Romance
An elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Rosa Valetti
Votes: 16,303 | Gross: $0.08M
7,81
14. À Nous la Liberté (1931)
Not Rated | 83 min | Comedy, Musical
Seeking better life, two convicts escape from prison.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Raymond Cordy, Henri Marchand, Rolla France, Paul Ollivier
Votes: 4,968
7,80
15. Wooden Crosses (1932)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, War
World War 1 begins and a young man enlists to fight for his country.
Director: Raymond Bernard | Stars: Pierre Blanchar, Gabriel Gabrio, Charles Vanel, Raymond Aimos
Votes: 1,692
7,79
16. La fin du jour (1939)
99 min | Drama
Aged penniless actors are living in a old people's home. They always talk about their past glory or failures. One day Raphael Saint-Clair comes; he has been a famous actor and had a lot of love affairs. Passions come back, and jealousies.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Victor Francen, Michel Simon, Louis Jouvet, Madeleine Ozeray
Votes: 1,031
7,77
17. Port of Shadows (1938)
Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a foggy, French port city.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michèle Morgan, Pierre Brasseur
Votes: 9,966 | Gross: $0.03M
7,76
18. Carnival in Flanders (1935)
95 min | Comedy, History, Romance
Tells the story of the Spanish invasion of Flanders
Director: Jacques Feyder | Stars: Françoise Rosay, André Alerme, Jean Murat, Louis Jouvet
Votes: 1,405
7,76
19. La Bête Humaine (1938)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama
In this classic adaptation of Emile Zola's novel, a tortured train engineer falls in love with a troubled married woman who has helped her husband commit a murder.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Julien Carette, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux
Votes: 8,424
7,75
20. Mädchen in Uniform (1931)
Passed | 87 min | Drama, Romance
At an all-girls boarding school, Manuela falls in love with a teacher, to terrific consequences.
Directors: Leontine Sagan, Carl Froelich | Stars: Dorothea Wieck, Hertha Thiele, Emilia Unda, Hedy Krilla
Votes: 3,741
7,75
21. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
95 min | Drama
Two geisha sisters lead a hard life in the Gion district of Kyoto. After one of them feels obliged to support a bankrupt businessman, the other sister sets up various schemes to get rid of him.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi | Stars: Isuzu Yamada, Yôko Umemura, Benkei Shiganoya, Namiko Kawashima
Votes: 3,014
7,68
22. The Baker's Wife (1938)
Not Rated | 133 min | Comedy, Drama
A small village rejoices at the arrival of a new baker. But when his young wife runs off with another man, he is unable to keep baking and the village is thrown into disarray.
Director: Marcel Pagnol | Stars: Raimu, Ginette Leclerc, Fernand Charpin, Robert Vattier
Votes: 2,397
7,67
23. L'Atalante (1934)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Newly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.
Director: Jean Vigo | Stars: Dita Parlo, Jean Dasté, Gilles Margaritis, Louis Lefebvre
Votes: 17,476
7,67
24. Marius (1931)
Not Rated | 130 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Marius is faced with a choice whether to fulfill his passion by sailing the seas or stay and marry the woman he loves.
Director: Alexander Korda | Stars: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Fernand Charpin, Alida Rouffe
Votes: 2,568
7,67
25. The Lower Depths (1936)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A charismatic thief makes friends with a bankrupt baron who comes to live in the thief's slum. Meanwhile the thief seeks the love of a young woman, who is held emotionally captive by her slumlord family.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Suzy Prim, Louis Jouvet, Jany Holt
Votes: 3,678
7,65
26. Fanny (1932)
Not Rated | 125 min | Comedy, Drama
After Fanny's boyfriend leaves her and sails away, she finds out she's pregnant.
Director: Marc Allégret | Stars: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Fernand Charpin, Orane Demazis
Votes: 1,926 | Gross: $0.02M
7,63
27. Playing at Love (1933)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Romance
Vienna in the beginning of the twentieth century. Cavalry Lieutenant Fritz Lobheimer is about to end his affair with Baroness Eggerdorff when he meets the young Christine, the daughter of ... See full summary »
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Wolfgang Liebeneiner, Carl Esmond, Magda Schneider, Luise Ullrich
Votes: 1,543
7,63
28. Westfront 1918 (1930)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Romance, War
A group of German solders fight on the front line in France at the end of World War I.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Fritz Kampers, Gustav Diessl, Hans-Joachim Möbis, Claus Clausen
Votes: 2,423
7,61
29. A Woman's Face (1938)
Unrated | 100 min | Drama
An embittered woman, leader of a criminal gang, has a change of heart.
Director: Gustaf Molander | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Tore Svennberg, Anders Henrikson, Georg Rydeberg
Votes: 1,161
7,60
30. Les disparus de St. Agil (1938)
98 min | Drama, Mystery
Strange things happen at night at the Saint-Argil secondary school. Baume, Sorgues and Macroy, three of the school's pupils, discover a suspicious man on the premises. Shortly after this unsettling event, pupils begin to go missing.
Director: Christian-Jaque | Stars: Erich von Stroheim, Michel Simon, Armand Bernard, Aimé Clariond
Votes: 952
7,58
31. There's No Tomorrow (1939)
82 min | Drama
After an unhappy marriage, a woman of the world is forced to become a dancer in a cabaret in order to raise her young son.
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Edwige Feuillère, Jorge Rigaud, Daniel Lecourtois, Mady Berry
Votes: 475
7,57
32. Masquerade in Vienna (1934)
90 min | Comedy, Romance
Vienna 1905: A risque drawing is published and threatens to compromise the model, a doctor's wife. Artist Heideneck protects her and invents a name. But the name exists, and this respectable lady is drawn into the artist's shady affairs.
Director: Willi Forst | Stars: Paula Wessely, Anton Walbrook, Olga Tschechowa, Hans Moser
Votes: 394
7,47
33. Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
86 min | Drama
The lives of two slum neighbors, one of a happy-go-lucky gambler and the other of a poor ronin, converge when the two get involved with the affairs of a powerful samurai official and his gangsters.
Director: Sadao Yamanaka | Stars: Chôjûrô Kawarasaki, Kan'emon Nakamura, Tsuruzô Nakamura, Chôemon Bandô
Votes: 2,300
7,46
34. Everybody's Woman (1934)
89 min | Drama
Gaby is expelled from school after a married teacher commits suicide after telling her he can't live without her. Though she has done nothing, she is punished for his act.
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Isa Miranda, Memo Benassi, Tatyana Pavlova, Friedrich Benfer
Votes: 1,004
7,45
35. Poil de carotte (1932)
91 min | Drama
A red-haired boy is his mother's punching bag ; only his father's presence is a great comfort to him,but this weak man is under the shrew's thumb. His pain is so great he feels suicidal.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Harry Baur, Robert Lynen, Louis Gauthier, Simone Aubry
Votes: 750
7,44
36. Comradeship (1931)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama
Plea against war and for friendship between peoples, through the story of French miners rescued by German colleagues after a firedamp explosion.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers, Ernst Busch, Elisabeth Wendt
Votes: 1,750
7,44
37. They Were Five (1936)
100 min | Drama
Five unemployed penniless workers win 100,000 Francs with the national lottery. Instead of sharing the money, they buy a ruin and build an open-air cafe. But difficulties come to split their friendly group apart.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Jean Gabin, Charles Vanel, Raymond Aimos, Viviane Romance
Votes: 1,425
7,44
38. A Man's Head (1933)
90 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Willy is broke and his mistress always wants more money. A stranger in a pub agrees to murder his aunt, but everything will not go as planned. Maigret will try to separate fact and fiction.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Harry Baur, Valéry Inkijinoff, Gina Manès, Alexandre Rignault
Votes: 683
7,43
39. Toni (1935)
84 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
In the 1920s, the Provence is a magnet for immigrants seeking work in the quarries or in agriculture. Many mingle with locals and settle down permanently - like Toni, an Italian who has ... See full summary »
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Charles Blavette, Celia Montalván, Jenny Hélia, Édouard Delmont
Votes: 2,090
7,38
40. Ladies' Paradise (1930)
85 min | Drama, Romance
Denise, an orphaned girl, moves to Paris where she hopes to find work at her uncle's store. But the glamorous department store 'Aux Bonheur des Dames' across the street crunches all the little businesses around. She finds a position there.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Dita Parlo, Ginette Maddie, Andrée Brabant, Mireille Barsac
Votes: 576
7,33
41. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
Not Rated | 85 min | Comedy
A bookseller saves a tramp from drowning and shelters him, but the tramp's odd behavior starts to wear everyone down.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Michel Simon, Marcelle Hainia, Sévérine Lerczinska, Jean Gehret
Votes: 6,209
7,33
42. Lady Killer (1937)
94 min | Drama, Romance, War
Soldier Lucien meets elegant Madeleine one night in Cannes. Lovestruck, he follows her to Paris after he is discharged. Their love affair begins anew, but eventually runs cold and he returns to Orange in the south of France. She follows.
Director: Jean Grémillon | Stars: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Pierre Etchepare, Henri Poupon
Votes: 686
7,33
43. Glückskinder (1936)
93 min | Comedy
Journalist Gil Taylor has to write a report about the night court, when Ann Gardens case is heard. The young lady seems to be homeless. Gil tries to help her. Thats when trouble starts.
Director: Paul Martin | Stars: Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, Paul Kemp, Oskar Sima
Votes: 240
7,33
44. The Threepenny Opera (1931)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The Gangster Macheath secretly marries the daughter of beggar king Peachum. When Peachum finds out, he instructs the police chief Brown to arrest and hang Macheath. If not, all the beggars of Soho will disturb the upcoming coronation.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Rudolf Forster, Lotte Lenya, Carola Neher, Reinhold Schünzel
Votes: 2,544
7,32
45. Le schpountz (1938)
Passed | 160 min | Comedy
Meeting a movie team on location near his house, a young man gets a lot of encouragement for his dreaming career as a movie star in what was only sarcasm from the members of the team. This ... See full summary »
Director: Marcel Pagnol | Stars: Fernandel, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin, Léon Belières
Votes: 786
7,31
46. Crime and Punishment (1935)
107 min | Crime, Drama
Raskolnikov is a Russian man who follows an unusual moral code. A combination of vigilantism and hubris fuels his decision to aid a hapless prostitute by removing her antagonist, a local ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Harry Baur, Pierre Blanchar, Madeleine Ozeray, Lucienne Le Marchand
Votes: 173
7,28
47. Le Million (1931)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Musical
An impoverished painter and his rival engage in a race across Paris to recover a jacket concealing a winning lottery ticket.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Annabella, René Lefèvre, Jean-Louis Allibert, Paul Ollivier
Votes: 3,842
7,28
48. Gorky 1: The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938)
98 min | Biography, Drama
A drama reveals the great writer's inauspicious early years as an orphan raised by conniving relatives.
Director: Mark Donskoy | Stars: Aleksei Lyarsky, Varvara Massalitinova, Mikhail Troyanovskiy, Elizaveta Alekseeva
Votes: 779
7,26
49. Okraina (1933)
98 min | Drama, War
Outskirts is an internationally renowned masterpiece of early sound cinema. In a remote Russian village during World War I, colorful and nuanced characters experience divided loyalties: ... See full summary »
Director: Boris Barnet | Stars: Yelena Kuzmina, Mikhail Zharov, Nikolay Bogolyubov, Nikolay Kryuchkov
Votes: 1,123
7,23
50. Three from the Filling Station (1930)
99 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Willy, Kurt and Hans are broke, so they sell their car and open a filling station. Then they all fall in love with the same girl.
Director: Wilhelm Thiele | Stars: Willy Fritsch, Lilian Harvey, Heinz Rühmann, Oskar Karlweis
Votes: 878
7,22
51. Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Not Rated | 112 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The story of how a great Russian prince led a ragtag army to battle an invading force of Teutonic Knights.
Directors: Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitriy Vasilev | Stars: Nikolay Cherkasov, Nikolai Okhlopkov, Andrei Abrikosov, Dmitriy Orlov
Votes: 12,263
7,22
52. Shukujo wa nani o wasureta ka (1937)
71 min | Comedy, Drama
An affluent medical professor, Komiya, and his bossy wife, Tokio, are to look after Setsuko, their high-spirited niece from Osaka. Setsuko is a liberated woman who does what she wants, ... See full summary »
Director: Yasujirô Ozu | Stars: Sumiko Kurishima, Tatsuo Saitô, Michiko Kuwano, Shûji Sano
Votes: 1,298
7,21
53. Vampyr (1932)
Not Rated | 75 min | Fantasy, Horror
A drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz
Votes: 20,524
7,18
54. Stolen Death (1938)
101 min | Romance, Thriller
A thriller set in turn-of-the-century Helsinki, Stolen Death uses elements of German expressionism to tell the story of Finnish resistance fighters smuggling arms to overthrow the Tsarist ... See full summary »
Director: Nyrki Tapiovaara | Stars: Tuulikki Paananen, Ilmari Mänty, Santeri Karilo, Annie Mörk
Votes: 299
7,17
55. The Blue Light (1932)
85 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
When the moon is full, young men die attempting to reach the mysterious blue light in the mountains.
Directors: Leni Riefenstahl, Béla Balázs | Stars: Leni Riefenstahl, Mathias Wieman, Beni Führer, Max Holzboer
Votes: 1,390
7,17
56. Mr. Thank You (1936)
76 min | Comedy, Drama
A friendly bus driver and his passengers over the duration of one journey through the mountains to the nearest train station.
Director: Hiroshi Shimizu | Stars: Ken Uehara, Ryuji Ishiyama, Einosuke Naka, Michiko Kuwano
Votes: 1,274
7,16
57. The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
Not Rated | 77 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The boss of a publishing company is a womanizer and a jerk, but what would happen if he suddenly disappeared?
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: René Lefèvre, Florelle, Jules Berry, Marcel Lévesque
Votes: 3,709 | Gross: $0.04M
7,14
58. The Story of a Cheat (1936)
81 min | Comedy
A charming scoundrel reflects on his exploits, from childhood through to manhood.
Director: Sacha Guitry | Stars: Sacha Guitry, Adolphe Borchard, Marcel Lucien, Raymond Clunie
Votes: 2,538
7,11
59. Emil and the Detectives (1931)
75 min | Adventure, Family, Drama
Emil goes to Berlin to see his grandmother with a large amount of money and is offered sweets by a strange man that make him sleep. He wakes up at his stop with no money. It is up to him and a group of children to save the day.
Director: Gerhard Lamprecht | Stars: Rolf Wenkhaus, Käthe Haack, Fritz Rasp, Rudolf Biebrach
Votes: 717
7,10
60. Bizarre, Bizarre (1937)
84 min | Comedy
In Victorian London, a crime novelist and his wife fake their disappearance in order to hide from an uptight Anglican bishop who is leading a campaign against the "evils" of crime fiction.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Françoise Rosay, Michel Simon, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet
Votes: 1,965
7,09
61. Skeleton on Horseback (1937)
78 min | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
"The White Sickness", a leprosy-like disease, ravages the world during a war.
Director: Hugo Haas | Stars: Hugo Haas, Bedrich Karen, Zdenek Stepánek, Václav Vydra
Votes: 382
7,08
62. Mayerling (1936)
Approved | 96 min | Drama, Romance
Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, is fettered on all sides. He's bored; his father, the emperor, is domineering; his politics are more liberal than his father's, but he knows his views carry... See full summary »
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Marthe Régnier, Yolande Laffon
Votes: 955 | Gross: $0.24M
7,07
63. The Kidnapping (1934)
83 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Hans has killed the dog of Firmin, a shepherd. Wild with rage, Firmin kidnaps Elsi, Hans' fiancée and locks her up at his home. Hans, a peddler, vows to find the missing girl. This is what ... See full summary »
Director: Dimitri Kirsanoff | Stars: Dita Parlo, Geymond Vital, Jeanne Marie-Laurent, Auguste Bovério
Votes: 278
7,05
64. Le grand jeu (1934)
120 min | Drama, Romance
Pierre (Pierre Richard-Willm), a young lawyer, has enormous debts due to his mistress Florence (Marie Bell), and her whims of luxury life. Pierre has gone too far and put the family firm in... See full summary »
Director: Jacques Feyder | Stars: Marie Bell, Pierre Richard-Willm, Charles Vanel, Georges Pitoëff
Votes: 426
7,01
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