Films set in New York City (1900-1939)
by zoe22051994 | created - 13 Sep 2013 | updated - 18 Sep 2013 | Publicsource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_set_in_New_York_City
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Thieving Hand (1908)
Unrated | 5 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Short
A one-armed man obtains an artificial limb which he cannot control.
Director: J. Stuart Blackton | Star: Paul Panzer
Votes: 686
2. The Regeneration (1915)
Passed | 72 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A boy surrounded by violence grows up to become an infamous gangster.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Rockliffe Fellowes, Anna Q. Nilsson, William Sheer, Carl Harbaugh
Votes: 1,430
3. Lights of New York (1916)
50 min | Drama
Director: Van Dyke Brooke | Stars: Leah Baird, Walter McGrail, Arthur Cozine, Adele DeGarde
4. Coney Island (1917)
TV-G | 25 min | Short, Comedy
Roscoe tries to dump his wife so he can enjoy the beach attractions. Buster arrives with Alice, who is taken away from him by Al, who loses her to Roscoe. Bathing beauties and Keystone Kops abound.
Director: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle | Stars: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Joe Bordeaux, Jimmy Bryant
Votes: 1,882
5. The Delicious Little Devil (1919)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy, Drama
A poor hat-check girl loses her job and is forced to get a job as a dancer at a roadhouse. There she falls in love with the son of a rich businessman. The boy's father, believing her to be ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Mae Murray, Richard Cummings, Harry L. Rattenberry, Edward Jobson
Votes: 917
6. The Jazz Singer (1927)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Music, Musical
The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.
Director: Alan Crosland | Stars: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, Eugenie Besserer
Votes: 11,067 | Gross: $7.63M
7. The Cameraman (1928)
Passed | 76 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Hopelessly in love with a woman working at MGM Studios, a clumsy man attempts to become a motion-picture cameraman to be close to the object of his desire.
Directors: Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Marceline Day, Harold Goodwin, Sidney Bracey
Votes: 13,171
8. The Crowd (1928)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama, Romance
The life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles, and downfalls.
Director: King Vidor | Stars: Eleanor Boardman, James Murray, Bert Roach, Estelle Clark
Votes: 9,163
9. Lights of New York (1928)
Passed | 57 min | Crime, Drama, Music
A gangster frames two bootleggers for the shooting of a police officer in New York during the prohibition.
Director: Bryan Foy | Stars: Helene Costello, Cullen Landis, Mary Carr, Wheeler Oakman
Votes: 943 | Gross: $1.20M
10. Speedy (1928)
Passed | 85 min | Action, Comedy, Family
Harold "Speedy" Swift, a fan of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees, saves from extinction the city's last horse-drawn trolley, operated by his girlfriend's grandfather.
Director: Ted Wilde | Stars: Harold Lloyd, Ann Christy, Bert Woodruff, Babe Ruth
Votes: 4,266
11. Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929)
Passed | 101 min | Comedy, Musical
Three Broadway chorus girls seek rich husbands.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Nancy Welford, Conway Tearle, Winnie Lightner, Ann Pennington
Votes: 213 | Gross: $5.54M
12. The Broadway Melody (1929)
Passed | 100 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A pair of sisters from the vaudeville circuit try to make it big time on Broadway, but matters of the heart complicate the attempt.
Director: Harry Beaumont | Stars: Bessie Love, Anita Page, Charles King, Eddie Kane
Votes: 8,001 | Gross: $6.12M
13. Street Scene (1931)
Passed | 80 min | Drama, Romance
Twenty-four hours elapse on the stoop of a Hell's Kitchen tenement as a microcosm of the American melting pot interconnects during a summer heatwave.
Director: King Vidor | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, William Collier Jr., Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi
Votes: 2,052
14. Strictly Dishonorable (1931)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A womanizing singer falls for an old-fashioned Southern belle. The problem is, she already has a fiance.
Director: John M. Stahl | Stars: Paul Lukas, Sidney Fox, Lewis Stone, George Meeker
Votes: 240
15. Central Park (1932)
Passed | 58 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Gangsters posing as police officers offer a woman a chance to make money if she helps them out.
Director: John G. Adolfi | Stars: Joan Blondell, Wallace Ford, Guy Kibbee, Henry B. Walthall
Votes: 494
16. Lawyer Man (1932)
Passed | 72 min | Drama, Romance
Idealistic attorney Anton Adam makes headlines when he successfully beats high-profile legal eagle Granville Bentley in a murder case. Bentley asks Adam to become a partner in his law firm.... See full summary »
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: William Powell, Joan Blondell, David Landau, Helen Vinson
Votes: 1,112
17. The Bowery (1933)
Passed | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
In New York's Bowery during the Gay Nineties, a saloon owner and a rebel share a rivalry.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Wallace Beery, George Raft, Jackie Cooper, Fay Wray
Votes: 613 | Gross: $4.36M
18. Dancing Lady (1933)
Passed | 92 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An attractive dancer is rescued from jail by a rich man who helps her to have her first big opportunity at a musical play on Broadway.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, May Robson
Votes: 2,664
19. Dinner at Eight (1933)
Passed | 111 min | Drama
Affluent Millicent and Oliver Jordan throw a dinner for a handful of wealthy and/or well-born acquaintances, each of whom has much to reveal.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow
Votes: 9,008 | Gross: $4.58M
20. 42nd Street (1933)
Passed | 89 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
When the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler
Votes: 13,034 | Gross: $2.30M
21. Deluge (1933)
70 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A massive earthquake strikes the United States, which destroys the West Coast and unleashes a massive flood that threatens to destroy the East Coast as well.
Director: Felix E. Feist | Stars: Peggy Shannon, Lois Wilson, Sidney Blackmer, Matt Moore
Votes: 702
22. Ex-Lady (1933)
Unrated | 67 min | Comedy, Drama
Although free spirit Helen Bauer does not believe in marriage, she consents to marry Don, but his infidelities cause her to also take on a lover.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Bette Davis, Gene Raymond, Frank McHugh, Monroe Owsley
Votes: 1,691 | Gross: $0.50M
23. Footlight Parade (1933)
Passed | 104 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Chester Kent struggles against time, romance, and a rival's spy to produce spectacular live "prologues" for movie houses.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell
Votes: 6,087 | Gross: $3.49M
24. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler
Votes: 9,139 | Gross: $4.80M
25. Hallelujah I'm a Bum (1933)
Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A New York tramp (Jolson) falls in love with the mayor's amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Al Jolson, Madge Evans, Frank Morgan, Harry Langdon
Votes: 865
26. Hold Your Man (1933)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A woman is sent to a reformatory when her con artist lover flees after killing a man during a botched blackmail scheme.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Stuart Erwin, Dorothy Burgess
Votes: 1,814
27. The House on 56th Street (1933)
Passed | 68 min | Drama, History
Peggy Martin chooses to marry young, wealthy Monty, who she loves. They have a child together and an amazing relationship...until Peggy visits her ailing ex-boyfriend, Fiske, who threatens to commit suicide if she won't take him back.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Gene Raymond, John Halliday
Votes: 735
28. King Kong (1933)
Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Horror
A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
Votes: 90,924 | Gross: $10.00M
29. Lady for a Day (1933)
Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
A gangster tries to make Apple Annie, the Times Square apple seller, a lady for a day.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Warren William, May Robson, Guy Kibbee, Glenda Farrell
Votes: 4,656
30. Rafter Romance (1933)
Passed | 73 min | Comedy, Romance
A man and a woman share an apartment on a shift basis, never seeing each other; she dislikes him until they actually meet.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster, George Sidney, Robert Benchley
Votes: 887
31. Dames (1934)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Music, Musical
A multimillionaire decides to boycott "filthy" forms of entertainment such as Broadway shows.
Directors: Ray Enright, Busby Berkeley | Stars: Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Zasu Pitts
Votes: 2,429
32. Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Passed | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.
Directors: W.S. Van Dyke, Jack Conway, George Cukor | Stars: Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Leo Carrillo
Votes: 4,804
33. The Thin Man (1934)
TV-PG | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Former detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 32,524
34. Dangerous (1935)
Passed | 79 min | Drama, Romance
An alcoholic actress who is considered a dangerous jinx is rehabilitated, but she then shows that she's as dangerous as ever.
Director: Alfred E. Green | Stars: Bette Davis, Franchot Tone, Margaret Lindsay, Alison Skipworth
Votes: 3,691
35. If You Could Only Cook (1935)
Passed | 72 min | Comedy, Romance
An executive lets an attractive cook talk him into taking a job as butler.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Herbert Marshall, Jean Arthur, Leo Carrillo, Lionel Stander
Votes: 1,423
36. A Night at the Opera (1935)
Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Music, Musical
A sly business manager and the wacky friends of two opera singers in Italy help them achieve success in America while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
Directors: Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding | Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle
Votes: 34,746 | Gross: $2.54M
37. Romance in Manhattan (1934)
Passed | 77 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Rejected as an immigrant because he doesn't have the required $200, a Czech immigrant jumps ship and is befriended by a chorus girl and becomes a taxi driver.
Director: Stephen Roberts | Stars: Francis Lederer, Ginger Rogers, Arthur Hohl, Jimmy Butler
Votes: 826
38. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Passed | 176 min | Drama, Musical
The ups and downs of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., famed producer of extravagant stage revues, are portrayed.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan
Votes: 8,984
39. Libeled Lady (1936)
Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
When a socialite sues a big paper for libel, the editor responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée and a former employee to frame her and make the false story seem true.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
Votes: 8,905
40. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander
Votes: 23,203
41. My Man Godfrey (1936)
Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick
Votes: 26,437
42. Topper (1937)
Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A fun-loving couple, finding that they died and are now ghosts, decide to shake up the stuffy lifestyle of a friend of theirs.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke
Votes: 8,316
43. Nothing Sacred (1937)
Passed | 77 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An eccentric woman learns she is not dying of radium poisoning as earlier assumed, but when she meets a reporter looking for a story, she feigns sickness again for her own profit.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly
Votes: 7,254
44. The Toast of New York (1937)
Approved | 109 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Notorious robber baron financier Jim Fisk, who makes and loses fortunes, tries to corner the gold market as well as the heart of a beautiful actress.
Directors: Rowland V. Lee, Alexander Hall | Stars: Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, Frances Farmer, Jack Oakie
Votes: 1,213
45. There Goes My Heart (1938)
Passed | 83 min | Comedy, Romance
A young heiress runs away from her overprotective grandfather. Penniless on the streets of New York, she manages to find employment, but a reporter knows her true identity.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Fredric March, Virginia Bruce, Patsy Kelly, Alan Mowbray
Votes: 677
46. You Can't Take It with You (1938)
Passed | 126 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The son of a snobbish Wall Street banker becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family not realizing that his father is trying to force her family from their home for a real estate development.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold
Votes: 27,902 | Gross: $4.66M
47. Topper Takes a Trip (1938)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
To gain entry to Heaven, a ghost attempts to reunite a divorcing couple as a good deed.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray
Votes: 1,470
48. Bachelor Mother (1939)
Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Romance
An unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.
Director: Garson Kanin | Stars: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson
Votes: 4,605
49. Streets of New York (1939)
Approved | 73 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Jimmy, an idealistic and hard-working young man, has just arrived in New York City with dreams of making his fortune.
Director: William Nigh | Stars: Jackie Cooper, Martin Spellman, Marjorie Reynolds, Dick Purcell
Votes: 159
50. Rose of Washington Square (1939)
Approved | 86 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A singer becomes a star in the Ziegfeld Follies, but her marriage to a con man has a bad effect on her career.
Director: Gregory Ratoff | Stars: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Al Jolson, William Frawley
Votes: 666
Tell Your Friends