Boys Town (1938)

Boys Town (1938)

[8] Spencer Tracy won his second (consecutive) Academy Award for his portrayal of Father Flanagan, a man who firmly believed "there are no bad boys." In the movie and in real life, Flanagan built an educational refuge for homeless and…
It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened One Night (1934)

[9] Somewhere along the way, Hollywood forgot how to make good romantic comedies. Because there are plenty of them to be found in the '30s and '40s, with Frank Capra's It Happened One Night being chief among them. Claudette Colbert…
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

[9] The grand-daddy of 'anti-war' war movies is Lewis Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front, the first non-musical 'talkie' to win the best picture Academy Award. The film is stylistically way ahead of its time, with sweeping camera movement,…
Metropolis (1927)

Metropolis (1927)

[10] Fritz Lang directed and Thea von Harbou scripted this grandfather of science-fiction films about violent class warfare in a futuristic city. The hero of Metropolis is Freder (Gustav Fröhlich), a privileged playboy who enjoys a life of luxury until…
The General (1926)

The General (1926)

[9] Silent-screen star Buster Keaton plays a train engineer who gets rejected by the Confederate army because his job is too important to leave vacant. But he gets his chance to serve the South when Union soldiers steal his beloved…