Murder! (1930)
[5] Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film is emblematic of his usual content, if not his his trademark style and suspense. Murder! centers around an actress (Diana Baring) found in a fugue state next to a bloody fire poker and a…
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
[5] Sylvia Sidney (Madame Butterfly, Sabotage) plays a rich girl smitten with a drunkard. Fredric March co-stars as her somewhat charming but sobriety-challenged lover, effectively doing a dry-run for the type of role for which he'd receive an Oscar nomination…
I’m No Angel (1933)
[7] Mae West wrote and stars in I'm No Angel, one of her more absurd and uncompromised outings, released before Hollywood began imposing its Production Code on films. After the Code, West's sultry and witty charm would be considerably watered…
The Awful Truth (1937)
[8] Irene Dunne and Cary Grant star as a couple who file for divorce, then proceed to thwart each other's attempts to socialize with new partners. Both are too proud to admit they still have feelings for the other until…
Young and Innocent (1937)
[7] A young man falsely accused of murder (Derrick De Marney) escapes his hearing and sets out to prove his innocence, dodging the police and falling in love with a blonde young woman (Nova Pilbeam) who helps him against her…
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
[8] Jimmy Stewart gives a career-defining performance in this Frank Capra classic about a celebrated boy scout leader (Stewart) who gets chosen to fill a deceased senator's seat in the U.S. congress. His party assumes Stewart will be a doting…
The Miracle Woman (1931)
[7] Frank Capra directs Barbara Stanwyck in this cautionary tale of phony evangelism. After her minister father dies unappreciated, Stanwyck's character falls in with a con man (Sam Hardy) to open a church that fakes miracles. The operation becomes lucrative…
Ladies Should Listen (1934)
[5] Cary Grant stars as a wealthy Parisian with terrible taste in women. When one of his most recent girlfriends rejects him over the phone, he jokes about killing himself -- bringing his apartment's telephone operator, played by Frances Drake…
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
[4] Barbara Stanwyck plays an engaged Christian missionary who is separated from her husband-to-be during the Chinese civil war in Shanghai. She is rescued by General Yen (Danish actor Nils Asther with 'squinty eyes' makeup), who takes her to his…
Wuthering Heights (1939)
[4] On the barren moors of Yorkshire, a young girl befriends an orphan boy her father brings home from a trip to Liverpool. The friendship turns romantic, but when the girl's father dies, her nasty blood brother becomes master of…