10. Dracula
1931
D: Tod Browning, Karl Freund
**********
It wasn’t until the past year until I watched some of these
horror classics. I was prepared for some
disappointment, but these are okay.
9. The Wizard of Oz
1939
D: Victor Fleming
**********
A colorful, nostalgic classic, but I wish the lion looked
more like a…well, lion.
8. Frankenstein
1931
D: James Whale
**********
Competently done, although I wish it had more of the
monster.
7. The Bride of Frankenstein
1935
D: James Whale
**********
An improvement over the first one since the monster has
more development, giving Boris Karloff some opportunity to actually act. There is one scene where the other doctor
shows Dr. Frankenstein some tiny people he created. It’s a bit silly, and the little people even
have chipmunk voices, but the special effects on the scene are flawless. The movie also seems to ignore that this
creating tiny humans out of scratch is far more impressive that the
Frankenstein monster. The movie has one
of my pet peeves in some monster movies: we have to wait the entire movie to
see the title creature, and then the movie ends.
6. She
1935
D: Lansing C. Holden, Irving Pichel
**********
Great effects for the time and a good visual style. Also, the antagonist’s costume inspired that
of the Evil Queen in Snow White.
5. M
1931
D: Fritz Lang
**********
Peter Lorre is great in it. I still find the ending a bit silly,
especially the fourth wall breaking in the last scene. Although Lang considers this his masterpiece,
I still prefer Metropolis.
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1937
D: David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry
Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen
**********
A bit hokey, but it deserves credit for being the first
feature length animated movie.
3. Animal Crackers
1930
D: Victor Heerman
**********
Zany situations with some witty lines (most of them from
Groucho). Some parts drag on a bit though.
2. Gone with the Wind
1939
D: Victor Fleming
**********
Unlike most modern romances, which have a tendency to be naïve,
this movie acknowledges the characters’ flaws and the ambiguity of their
actions. I love Hattie McDaniel as
Mammie and how she won the Academy Award, the first black to do so.
1. Bringing Up Baby
1938
D: Howard Hawks
**********
A perfect screwball comedy that has aged flawlessly. One of my favorite funny movies. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn are
hilarious. I also think this is the
first mainstream media use of the word “gay” in reference to homosexuality
(albeit a subtle one).
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