Nick's Flick Picks: The Movies of 1931

<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFCC" link="#003399" vlink="#003399" topmargin="25" leftmargin="50"> <TABLE> <TR bgcolor="#000000"><TD><img src=strip31banner.jpg width=100%> </TD></TR> <TR><TD> <br> <Font Color="#0099CC" Face=Garamond Size=+2><b>Top Ten Films of 1931: World Premieres</b></Font><br>  <a href=persac31.html>My 1930-31 Oscar Ballot</a> (<Font Size=-1><i>Updated</i></Font>)<br> <Font Size=-1><br></Font> <Table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>1. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><a href=m.html style="text-decoration:none">M</a></b></Font> Dir. Fritz Lang. With Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Theodor Loos, Gustaf Gr&#252ndgens <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>A</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>2. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><a href=citlight.html style="text-decoration:none">City Lights</a></b></Font> Dir. Charlie Chaplin. With Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Harry Myers <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>A</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>3. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><a href=honorlov.html style="text-decoration:none">Honor Among Lovers</a></b></Font> Dir. Dorothy Arzner. With Claudette Colbert, Fredric March <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>A</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>4. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><a href=agedor.html style="text-decoration:none">Other Men's Women</a></b></Font> Dir. William Wellman. With Grant Withers, Mary Astor, Regis Toomey <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B+</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>5. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><Font Color="#003399">Tabu</Font></b></Font> Dirs. F.W. Murnau & Robert Flaherty. With Matahi, Anna Chevalier, Hitu, Kong Ah <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B+</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>6. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><Font Color="#003399">Smart Money</Font></b></Font> Dir. Alfred E. Green. With Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Noel Francis <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B+</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>7. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><Font Color="#003399">Frankenstein</Font></b></Font> Dir. James Whale. With Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, Mae Clarke, John Boles <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B+</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>8. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><Font Color="#003399">The Champ</Font></b></Font> Dir. King Vidor. With Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich, Edward Brophy <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B+</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>9. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><Font Color="#003399">Night Nurse</Font></b></Font> Dir. William Wellman. With Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Blondell, Ben Lyon <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font></TD></TR> <TR><TD width=4% align=right><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1>10. </Font></TD><TD width=96% align=left><Font Face=Garamond Size=+1><b><Font Color="#003399">Dishonored</Font></b></Font> Dir. Josef von Sternberg. With Marlene Dietrich, Victor McLaglen <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font></TD></TR> </Table> <br> <Font Color="#0099CC" Face=Garamond Size=+2><b>Reviews from 1931</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Size=-1> <Font Color="#009900">★</Font> <b>= Full-Length Review</b> / <Font Color="#0099CC">&#169</Font> <b> = Capsule-Length Review</b> / <Font Color="#FF6600">★</Font> <b>&nbsp= Blog Review</b> (New Window) </Font><br> <Font Size=-3> <br></Font> <Font Face=Garamond><Font Size=-1 Color="#009900">★</Font>   <b><a href=honorlov.html style="text-decoration:none">Honor Among Lovers</a></b></Font> Dir. Dorothy Arzner. With Claudette Colbert, Fredric March <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>A</b></Font><br> <br> <Font Color="#0099CC" Face=Garamond Size=+1><b>More Grades from 1931</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Size=-1><b>Unreviewed titles I have seen recently enough to grade</b></Font><br> <Font Size=-3> <br></Font> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Arrowsmith</b></Font> Dir. John Ford. With Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, A.E. Anson <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>C</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Bad Girl</b></Font> Dir. Frank Borzage. With Sally Eilers, James Dunn, Minna Gombell <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <a href=cimarron.html style="text-decoration:none"><b>Cimarron</b></a></Font> Dir. Wesley Ruggles. With Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>C</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Dracula</b></Font> Dir. Tod Browning. With Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Five Star Final</b></Font> Dir. Mervyn LeRoy. With Edward G. Robinson, Marian Marsh, Frances Starr <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>East Lynne</b></Font> Dir. Frank Lloyd. With Ann Harding, Clive Brook, Conrad Nagel <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>C+</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>A Free Soul</b></Font> Dir. Clarence Brown. With Norma Shearer, Lionel Barrymore, Clark Gable <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>C</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>The Front Page</b></Font> Dir. Lewis Milestone. With Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>The Guardsman</b></Font> Dir. Sidney Franklin. With Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>M&#228dchen in Uniform</b></Font> Dir. Leontine Sagan. With Hertha Thiele, Emilia Unda, Dorothea Wieck <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Mata Hari</b></Font> Dir. George Fitzmaurice. With Greta Garbo, Lionel Barrymore, Ramon Novarro <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>C</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>The Miracle Woman</b></Font> Dir. Frank Capra. With Barbara Stanwyck, David Manners, Sam Hardy <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>The Public Enemy</b></Font> Dir. William Wellman. With James Cagney, Edward Woods, Beryl Mercer <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>The Sin of Madelon Claudet</b></Font> Dir. Edgar Selwyn. With Helen Hayes, Cliff Edwards <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>C</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Skippy</b></Font> Dir. Norman Taurog. With Jackie Cooper, Robert Coogan, Willard Robertson <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>The Smiling Lieutenant</b></Font> Dir. Ernst Lubitsch. With Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Street Scene</b></Font> Dir. King Vidor. With Sylvia Sidney, Louis Collier Jr., Estelle Taylor <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise</b></Font> Dir. Robert Z. Leonard. With Greta Garbo, Clark Gable <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>B</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Ten Cents a Dance</b></Font> Dir. Lionel Barrymore. With Barbara Stanwyck, Monroe Owsley <Font Color="#FF0000"><b>C</b></Font><br> <Font Size=-3> <br></Font> <Font Color="#0099CC" Face=Garamond Size=+1><b>Also from 1931</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Size=-1><b>The memories are fading, but they're somewhere in my brain</b></Font><br> <Font Size=-3> <br></Font> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Possessed</b></Font> Dir. Clarence Brown. With Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Wallace Ford (<Font Size=-1><b>C?</b></Font>)<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>The Threepenny Opera</b></Font> Dir. G.W. Pabst. With Rudolf Forster, Reinhold Schunzel (<Font Size=-1><b>B?</b></Font>)<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Trader Horn</b></Font> Dir. W.S. Van Dyke. With Harry Carey, Duncan Renaldo (<Font Size=-1><b>B?</b></Font>)<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399">      <b>Working Girls</b></Font> Dir. Dorothy Arzner. With Dorothy Hall, Judith Wood, Paul Lukas (<Font Size=-1><b>B&#150?</b></Font>)<br> <hr> <br> <Font Color="#0099CC" Face=Garamond Size=+1><b>Still to Come from 1931</b></Font><br> <Font Size=-3> <br></Font> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399"><b>Ten Most Enticing Prospects:</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>&#192 nous la libert&#233</b></Font> Dir. Ren&#233 Clair. With Henri Marchand, Raymond Cordy<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>An American Tragedy</b></Font> Dir. Josef von Sternberg. With Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Blonde Crazy</b></Font> Dir. Roy Del Ruth. With James Cagney, Joan Blondell<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>La Chienne</b></Font> Dir. Jean Renoir. With Michel Simon, Janie Mar&#232se, Georges Flamant<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>The Criminal Code</b></Font> Dir. Howard Hawks. With Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</b></Font> Dir. Rouben Mamoulian. With Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Little Caesar</b></Font> Dir. Mervyn LeRoy. With Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Le Million</b></Font> Dir. Ren&#233 Clair. With Annabella, Ren&#233 Lef&#32vre, Jean-Louis Allibert<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Platinum Blonde</b></Font> Dir. Frank Capra. With Loretta Young, Robert Williams<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Waterloo Bridge</b></Font> Dir. James Whale. With Mae Clarke, Douglass Montgomery<br> <br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#003399"><b>Further Research:</b></Font><br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Behind Office Doors</b></Font> Dir. Melville Brown. With Mary Astor, Robert Ames<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>The Cuban Love Song</b></Font> Dir. W.S. Van Dyke. With Lawrence Tibbett, Lupe Velez<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Dance, Fools, Dance</b></Font> Dir. Harry Beaumont. With Joan Crawford, Lester Vail<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Dangerous Female (aka The Maltese Falcon)</b></Font> Dir. Roy Del Ruth. With Bebe Daniels<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Guilty Hands</b></Font> Dir. W.S. Van Dyke. With Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Indiscreet</b></Font> Dir. Leo McCarey. With Gloria Swanson, Ben Lyon, Monroe Owsley<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Men of Chance</b></Font> Dir. George Archainbaud. With Ricardo Cortez, Mary Astor<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Marius</b></Font> Dirs. Marcel Pagnol & Alexander Korda. With Raimu, Pierre Fresnay<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Monkey Business</b></Font> Dir. Norman Z. McLeod. With the Marx Brothers, Rockliffe Fellowes<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Private Lives</b></Font> Dir. Sidney Franklin. With Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Rich and Strange</b></Font> Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. With Henry Kendall, Joan Barry<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>The Sin Ship</b></Font> Dir. Louis Wolheim. With Louis Wolheim, Mary Astor, Ian Keith<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Svengali</b></Font> Dir. Archie Mayo. With John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Crisp<br> <Font Face=Garamond Color="#660066">      <b>Way Back Home</b></Font> Dir. William A. Seiter. With Phillips Lord, Effie L. Palmer<br> <hr> <Font Face=Garamond> <table cellpadding=12><tr> <td>Trackbacks:</td> <td><b><a href=movies31home.html target="_top">Permalink</a></b></td> <td><b><a href=movies31.html target="_top">1931</a></b></td> <td><b><a href=movarchs.html target="_top">Home</a></b></td> <td><b><a href="http://blog.nicksflickpicks.com" target="_new">Blog</a></b></td> <td><b><a href=email.html target="_top">E-Mail</a></b></td> </tr></table> </Font> </center> </body>