The 1930s List
01. The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
903/23(16)/1(x4)/--
02. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)
701/19(9)/2(x2)/+8
03. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932)
663/18(7)/1/+2
04. L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
648/18(9)/4/-2
05. La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1938)
621/18(7)/1/+1
06. Vampyr (Carl Dreyer, 1932)
600/21(6)/3/+5
07. The Scarlet Empress (Josef von Sternberg, 1934)
546/15(8)/1(x2)/+9
08. Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)
535/17(5)/4/+44
09. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
526/15(7)/1/-5
10. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
521/16(6)/1/-7
11. Tabu (F.W. Murnau, 1931)
520/18(4)/4(x2)/+17
12. Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey, 1937)
504/15(6)/1/+74
13. Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)
502/18(5)/2(x2)/+2
14. Partie de campagne (Jean Renoir, 1936)
463/15(2)/1/+30
15. Pépé le moko (Julien Duvivier, 1937)
456/15(3)/3/+27
16. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks, 1939)
435/15(4)/1(x2)/+2
17. The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
423/16(2)/8(x2)/+2
18. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933)
422/17(3)/2/-5
19. Port of Shadows (Marcel Carné, 1938)
417/12(5)/3/+24
(tie) The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938)
417/15(3)/4(x2)/-2
21. I Was Born, But… (Yasujirô Ozu, 1932)
414/12(4)/3/+3
22. Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
408/15(5)/1/-15
23. Boudu Saved from Drowning (Jean Renoir, 1932)
389/14(3)/3/-9
24. The Roaring Twenties (Raoul Walsh, 1939)
378/16(4)/1/+21
25. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)
374/15(2)/8/-6
26. The Devil Is a Woman (Josef von Sternberg, 1935)
373/12(3)/2(x2)/+63
27. Stage Door (Gregory La Cava, 1937)
355/12(4)/2/+70
28. Humanity and Paper Balloons (Sadao Yamanaka, 1937)
335/9(5)/2(x2)/-1
29. Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian, 1932)
327/10(4)/2/+34
30. Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)
319/11(3)/3/-4
31. City Girl (F.W. Murnau, 1930)
317/12(3)/3/+84
32. Holiday (George Cukor, 1938)
311/9(3)/1(x2)/+111
33. All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930)
301/11(1)/8/+27
34. My Man Godfrey (Gregory La Cava, 1936)
300/12(2)/6(x2)/+22
35. Mr. Thank You (Hiroshi Shimizu, 1936)
292/12(2)/1/New
36. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)
289/9(3)/1/-7
37. The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1939)
288/11(3)/3/-15
(tie) Design for Living (Ernst Lubitsch, 1933)
288/10(2)/9/+25
39. Earth (Aleksandr Dovzhenko, 1930)
287/13(2)/3/-18
40. The Only Son (Yasujirô Ozu, 1936)
278/12(2)/4(x2)/+8
41. King Kong (Merian Cooper & Ernest Schoedsack, 1933)
268/7(3)/4/-4
42. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
264/8(1)/3/-19
43. Gueule d'amour (Jean Grémillon, 1937)
258/8(3)/1/+44
44. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (Mervyn LeRoy, 1932)
253/9(3)/5/+25
45. Liebelei (Max Ophüls, 1933)
250/7(2)/3/New
(tie) Fury (Fritz Lang, 1936)
250/8(2)/6/-13
47. À nous la liberté (René Clair, 1931)
243/10(2)/2/+33
48. The Edge of the World (Michael Powell, 1937)
240/11(1)/3/New
(tie) People on Sunday (Robert Siodmak & Edgar Ulmer, 1930)
240/12(1)/9/New
50. Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks, 1934)
239/7(4)/3(x2)/+57
51. L'Âge d'or (Luis Buñuel, 1930)
227/10(3)/1/-43
52. Blonde Venus (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)
222/9(2)/2/+29
(tie) The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937)
222/12(2)/6/-1
54. Rapt (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1934)
219/6(3)/5/New
55. The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933)
217/10(2)/2/New
56. Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939)
211/8(2)/1/+8
57. La petite Lise (Jean Grémillon, 1930)
210/6(2)/1/+13
58. Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (Jean Renoir, 1936)
209/9(2)/8/-28
59. The Public Enemy (William Wellman, 1931)
208/9/13/-14
(tie) Osaka Elegy (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1936)
208/9(1)/10/-19
61. Study No. 7 (Oskar Fischinger, 1931)
205/6(3)/2/+31
62. La Bête humaine (Jean Renoir, 1938)
204/6(2)/4/-29
(tie) Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939)
204/10/14/-21
64. Drôle de drame (Marcel Carné, 1937)
203/7(2)/5/+48
65. Der Kongreß tanzt (Erik Charell, 1931)
201/6(1)/1/New
66. Maskerade (Willi Forst, 1934)
195/5(2)/2/New
67. Midnight (Mitchell Leisen, 1939)
194/7(3)/6/New
68. Zéro de conduite (Jean Vigo, 1933)
193/10(1)/8/-57
69. Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935)
190/8/15/-21
70. Le jour se lève (Marcel Carné, 1939)
184/6(2)/7(x2)/-4
71. La signora di tutti (Max Ophüls, 1934)
181/9/13/New
(tie) Las Hurdes (Luis Buñuel, 1933)
181/8/16/-35
73. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian, 1931)
180/7(1)/10/New
74. 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933)
177/7(1)/9/+37
75. Morgen beginnt das Leben (Werner Hochbaum, 1933)
171/5(1)/7/New
76. Fährmann Maria (Frank Wisbar, 1936)
169/6(1)/6/New
(tie) Sisters of the Gion (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1936)
169/8(1)/5/-23
78. Ich bei Tag und du bei Nacht (Ludwig Berger, 1932)
166/5(3)/4/New
79. Monkey Business (Norman McLeod, 1931)
163/6(1)/6/New
80. Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (Sadao Yamanaka, 1935)
162/7/12/-23
81. The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich, 1934)
159/8/14/New
82. Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933)
157/5(2)/1/New
83. Au bonheur des dames (Julien Duvivier, 1930)
156/6(2)/2/New
(tie) Toni (Jean Renoir, 1935)
156/7/14/-19
85. Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932)
155/8/13/-28
86. Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell, 1936)
154/6/11/-1
(tie) The 3 Penny Opera (G.W. Pabst, 1931)
154/6(1)/10/New
(tie) Happiness (Aleksandr Medvedkin, 1935)
154/8(1)/4/-13
89. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939)
152/4(2)/5/-50
90. Poil de carotte (Julien Duvivier, 1932)
151/5/13/New
91. Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932)
150/8/18/-57
92. Apart from You (Mikio Naruse, 1933)
148/6(1)/2/New
(tie) Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey, 1935)
148/6/13/New
94. The Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau, 1930)
147/6/15/-60
(tie) Le Million (René Clair, 1931)
147/7/14/-7
96. Japanese Girls at the Harbor (Hiroshi Shimizu, 1933)
145/4(2)/1/New
97. Limite (Mario Peixoto, 1931)
143/5/17/New
98. Morning's Tree-Lined Street (Mikio Naruse, 1936)
139/4(2)/5/New
99. Der Student von Prag (Arthur Robison, 1935)
136/4(1)/4/New
100. The Goddess (Wu Yonggang, 1934)
135/5(2)/1/-25
Top Directors
Jean Renoir
(11 films, 3164 points)
Josef von Sternberg
(7 films, 1978 points)
Howard Hawks
(8 films, 1596 points)
Ernst Lubitsch
(7 films, 1442 points)
Fritz Lang
(5 films, 1320 points)
Leo McCarey
(5 films, 1259 points)
Yasujirô Ozu
(8 films, 1062 points)
Frank Capra
(10 films, 937 points)
Charles Chaplin
(2 films, 929 points)
Alfred Hitchcock
(5 films, 910 points)
Julien Duvivier
(6 films, 893 points)
Marcel Carné
(5 films, 863 points)
John Ford
(6 films, 858 points)
Jean Vigo
(2 films, 841 points)
F.W. Murnau
(2 films, 837 points)
Hiroshi Shimizu
(7 films, 700 points)
Kenji Mizoguchi
(4 films, 682 points)
James Whale
(8 films, 676 points)
Gregory La Cava
(2 films, 655 points)
Mikio Naruse
(10 films, 626 points)
Carl Dreyer
(1 film, 600 points)
Jean Grémillon
(4 films, 582 points)
William Wellman
(10 films, 582 points)
Rouben Mamoulian
(3 films, 553 points)
Victor Fleming
(4 films, 505 points)
Mervyn LeRoy
(5 films, 503 points)
Sadao Yamanaka
(2 films, 497 points)
Raoul Walsh
(3 films, 492 points)
René Clair
(4 films, 478 points)
Max Ophüls
(4 films, 464 points)
George Cukor
(5 films, 428 points)
Frank Borzage
(8 films, 428 points)
Luis Buñuel
(2 films, 408 points)
Norman McLeod
(4 films, 401 points)
Mark Sandrich
(3 films, 401 points)
Oskar Fischinger
(4 films, 363 points)
Mitchell Leisen
(3 films, 361 points)
Lewis Milestone
(3 films, 324 points)
Aleksandr Dovzhenko
(2 films, 318 points)
Len Lye
(6 films, 317 points)
Non-directors that also fared well:
The Marx Brothers
(6 films, 818 points)
Astaire & Rogers
(4 films, 513 points)
Busby Berkeley
(5 films, 475 points)
GPO Film Unit
(11 films, 408 points)
Graphic Results
Given the advent of sound cinema in the late '20s and early '30s, and the enforcement in the U.S. of the Hays Code beginning in 1934, I was curious to see how the results were distributed by year, both in the U.S. and otherwise:
About half of the votes and points generated from all the lists related to films from the U.S. Here is how the rest of the world fared:
Casualties from the 2006 List
09. Alexander Nevsky (now an also-ran)
25. The Blue Angel (now an also-ran)
31. The Thin Man (now an also-ran)
38. A Story of Floating Weeds (now an also-ran)
47. Olympia (now an also-ran)
48. The Adventures of Robin Hood (now an also-ran)
53. A Night at the Opera (now an also-ran)
55. Frankenstein (now an also-ran)
59. An Inn in Tokyo (now an also-ran)
61. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (now an also-ran)
67. Sabotage (now an orphan)
68. Porky in Wackyland (now an also-ran)
70. Morocco (now an also-ran)
72. Bezhin Meadow (now an orphan)
73. Man of Aran (now an also-ran)
75. History Is Made at Night (now an also-ran)
77. Lost Horizon (now an also-ran)
78. Deserter (now an orphan)
79. The Informer (now voteless)
82. The Man Who Knew Too Much (now an orphan)
83. La Chienne (now an also-ran)
84. Triumph of the Will (now voteless)
89. Bimbo's Initiation (now an orphan)
89. Salt for Svanetia (now an also-ran)
93. After the Thin Man (now voteless)
93. Angels with Dirty Faces (now an orphan)
95. Destry Rides Again (now an also-ran)
95. It's a Gift (now an also-ran)
98. Goodbye Mr. Chips (now voteless)
98. Trade Tattoo (now an also-ran)
100. Dodsworth (now an also-ran)