1930

The 1930s weren't as rushed for me as the first 30 years of the 20th century. The number of movies per year began to increase. Silent films were pretty much a thing of the past at this point. The Academy Awards were in its third year and history books have given exposure to so many of the nominees. In July 2002, I chose to watch the following nine titles...

Animal Crackers (1930) B-
Anna Christie (1930) B-
The Big House (1930) B
The Big Trail (1930) C
The Blue Angel (1930) B+
The Divorcee (1930) C+
Little Caesar (1930) B+
Min and Bill (1930) B-
Morocco (1930) B-

The Academy's choice for Best Picture that year was All Quiet on the Western Front. I had just seen it a year earlier during my attempt to watch every Best Picture winner. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it since, but I am anxious to revisit. While trying to see as many early Hitchcock's as possible, I had recently seen Murder and chose not to watch it again so soon.

My favorite of the year is the German film The Blue Angel starring Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich. It's heartbreaking and the music is so wonderful. Marlene Dietrich also appeared in Morocco that year and got her only Oscar nomination. She was luminous. Another foreign beauty, Greta Garbo, appeared in her first talking film, Anna Christie. It's interesting to imagine how a German and a Swede became two of the greatest stars of the 30s.

Some other great movie stars made early breakthroughs this year, including John Wayne in the western The Big Trail, which is notable as the first movie to be shown in a letterbox format. Wayne wouldn't reach prominence until later in the decade, but Edward G. Robinson became a legendary tough guy thanks to the success of Little Caesar. Marie Dressler became an unlikely household name with her Oscar-winning role in Min and Bill.

My Top 5 films of the year - All Quiet on the Western Front, Anna Christie, The Big House, The Blue Angel, Little Caesar

Also Seen -
All Quiet on the Western Front B+
Murder B-