Film Noir the 1930s
by karljhickey14 | created - 16 Dec 2014 | updated - 07 Jan 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Roadhouse Nights (1930)
Passed | 68 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
A boozing newsman (Charles Ruggles) woos a singer (Helen Morgan) while spying on her bootlegger boyfriend (Fred Kohler).
Director: Hobart Henley | Stars: Helen Morgan, Charles Ruggles, Fred Kohler, Jimmy Durante
Votes: 127
From a story by Dashiell Hammett .
2. La Chienne (1931)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama
Maurice Legrand, a meek cashier married to a nagging wife, has a secret passion: he's a Sunday painter. He falls in love with Lulu, a young woman dominated by Dédé, the pimp who she works for. Dédé pushes Lulu into a relationship with him.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Michel Simon, Janie Marèse, Georges Flamant, Roger Gaillard
Votes: 4,835
3. City Streets (1931)
Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Man joins a gang to free his girlfriend from prison.
Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Lukas, William 'Stage' Boyd
Votes: 1,870
4. Faubourg Montmartre (1931)
115 min | Drama
Two sisters struggle to stay on the straight and narrow.
Director: Raymond Bernard | Stars: Gaby Morlay, Charles Vanel, Line Noro, Florelle
Votes: 67
5. The Man in Search of His Murderer (1931)
97 min | Comedy, Film-Noir
A man in bad sorts hires a burglar to later kill him, then changes his mind when his fortunes turn and must find the contracted murderer before it is too late.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Heinz Rühmann, Lien Deyers, Raimund Janitschek, Hans Leibelt
Votes: 243
6. Der Mann, der den Mord beging (1931)
93 min | Drama
The Marquis de Sévigné is put in a difficult position when he falls for the lovely Lady Falkland, a married woman whose husband, the strict Lord Falkland, subjects her to constant abuse.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Conrad Veidt, Trude von Molo, Heinrich George, Friedl Haerlin
Votes: 57
7. M (1931)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 168,277 | Gross: $0.03M
8. The Maltese Falcon (1931)
Passed | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez, Dudley Digges, Una Merkel
Votes: 3,341
9. The Terror of Batignolles (1931)
15 min | Short, Comedy, Crime
A burlesque heist film with an O.Henry type twist ending.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Boucot Fils, Germaine Aussey, Jean Wall
Votes: 88
10. Voruntersuchung (1931)
95 min | Drama
During an inquest after a woman is killed, the judge suspects his own son.The woman's lover had been friendly with the son and he was also supposed to be married to the judge's daughter.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Albert Bassermann, Gustav Fröhlich, Hans Brausewetter, Charlotte Ander
Votes: 94
11. Le chien jaune (1932)
88 min | Crime, Mystery
Maigret investigates in Concarneau where the passage of a yellow dog accompanies a series of murders, sowing terror in the population. The police seem helpless. It must be said that it has no significant evidence.
Director: Jean Tarride | Stars: Abel Tarride, Rosine Deréan, Rolla Norman, Robert Le Vigan
Votes: 90
12. Lilac (1932)
90 min | Crime, Drama
Lilac is consorting with the criminal scum of Paris but then she falls in love with a handsome detective...
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Marcelle Romée, André Luguet, Jean Gabin, Madeleine Guitty
Votes: 213
13. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Passed | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Noel Francis
Votes: 14,423 | Gross: $1.42M
14. The Phantom Fiend (1932)
Passed | 67 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
A landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
Director: Maurice Elvey | Stars: Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan, A.W. Baskcomb, Barbara Everest
Votes: 358
15. Night at the Crossroads (1932)
75 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Inspector Maigret investigates the mysterious murder of a Dutch diamond dealer, found dead in a stolen car. The car belongs to an insurance agent, Michonnet, and has been abandoned in the garage belonging to Carl Andersen.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Pierre Renoir, Georges Térof, Winna Winifried, Georges Koudria
Votes: 951
16. Payment Deferred (1932)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama
A man poisons his nephew out of desperation for money.
Director: Lothar Mendes | Stars: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Ray Milland, Dorothy Peterson
Votes: 776
17. Rome Express (1932)
94 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A sinister character boards the Rome Express on the trail of a valuable Van Dyck painting, recently stolen from a Paris gallery. Much to his annoyance he finds the train populated with a ... See full summary »
Director: Walter Forde | Stars: Muriel Aked, Joan Barry, Donald Calthrop, Finlay Currie
Votes: 591
18. Scarface (1932)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson | Stars: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins
Votes: 30,270
19. The Tempest (1932)
101 min | Crime, Drama
After a petty crook is freed, he gets right back into trouble, first by stealing a fur for his former girlfriend and then by getting in fights with two different men who have tried to take his place with her, one of whom lands up drowning.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Emil Jannings, Anna Sten, Trude Hesterberg, Franz Nicklisch
Votes: 46
20. Two Seconds (1932)
67 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A condemned murderer, in the process of being executed, relives the events that led to his being sentenced to die in the electric chair.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Vivienne Osborne, Guy Kibbee, Preston Foster
Votes: 1,298
21. Advice to the Forlorn (1933)
Approved | 62 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Los Angeles newspaper reporter Toby Prentiss is continually in trouble with his editor. He is demoted to running the paper's "Miss Lonelyhearts" advice column because he missed the scoop on... See full summary »
Director: Alfred L. Werker | Stars: Lee Tracy, Sally Blane, Paul Harvey, Sterling Holloway
Votes: 94
22. The Burning Secret (1933)
92 min | Drama
A boy and his mother stay in a hotel near a lake where they meet a fascinating man.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Alfred Abel, Hilde Wagener, Hans Joachim Schaufuß, Lucie Höflich
Votes: 130
23. The Woman of the Port (1934)
76 min | Drama
Rosario (Palma) becomes a prostitute after losing her father and discovering her boyfriend had a liaison with another woman. In Veracruz, Rosario lives above a sordid cabaret "selling her ... See full summary »
Directors: Arcady Boytler, Raphael J. Sevilla | Stars: Andrea Palma, Domingo Soler, Francisco Zárraga, Joaquín Busquets
Votes: 427
24. Private Detective 62 (1933)
Passed | 66 min | Drama
A down-and-out private eye falls for a woman he has been hired to frame.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: William Powell, Margaret Lindsay, Ruth Donnelly, Gordon Westcott
Votes: 1,054
25. The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
Not Rated | 70 min | Drama
A wealthy but neurotic Southern belle finds herself trapped in the hideout of a gang of vicious bootleggers. The gang's leader lusts after her, and is determined not to let anything stand in the way of his having her.
Director: Stephen Roberts | Stars: Miriam Hopkins, William Gargan, Jack La Rue, Florence Eldridge
Votes: 1,836
26. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Not Rated | 122 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke, Thomy Bourdelle, Gustav Diessl
Votes: 13,572
27. A Man's Head (1933)
90 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Willy is broke and his mistress always wants more money. A stranger in a pub agrees to murder his aunt, but everything will not go as planned. Maigret will try to separate fact and fiction.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Harry Baur, Valéry Inkijinoff, Gina Manès, Alexandre Rignault
Votes: 682
28. Bordertown (1935)
Approved | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In Mexico, a former lawyer becomes the invaluable second-in-command to a casino owner, whose wife begins to fall for him.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Margaret Lindsay, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 2,001
29. The Clairvoyant (1935)
Passed | 81 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A fake music-hall clairvoyant meets a woman, and suddenly his predictions seem to come true ...
Director: Maurice Elvey | Stars: Claude Rains, Fay Wray, Mary Clare, Ben Field
Votes: 1,192
30. Crime Without Passion (1934)
Approved | 70 min | Crime, Drama
Prominent lawyer shoots unfaithful girlfriend during quarrel, has to establish alibi.
Directors: Lee Garmes, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur | Stars: Claude Rains, Margo, Whitney Bourne, Stanley Ridges
Votes: 594
31. Le grand jeu (1934)
120 min | Drama, Romance
Pierre (Pierre Richard-Willm), a young lawyer, has enormous debts due to his mistress Florence (Marie Bell), and her whims of luxury life. Pierre has gone too far and put the family firm in... See full summary »
Director: Jacques Feyder | Stars: Marie Bell, Pierre Richard-Willm, Charles Vanel, Georges Pitoëff
Votes: 426
32. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Approved | 75 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper
Votes: 21,135
33. La rue sans nom (1934)
82 min | Drama
Early example of poetic realism: A grubby poor neighborhood, where buildings are slated to be taken down, reacts to the arrival of a young woman, whose father has spent time in prison.
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Constant Rémy, Gabriel Gabrio, Paule Andral, Paul Azaïs
Votes: 16
34. She Made Her Bed (1934)
Passed | 71 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
"Duke" Gordon (Robert Armstrong), a circus lion-tamer, tries to tames his wife, Laura (Sally Eilers), just as he does his lions. But, she is a one-man woman, married to the wrong man, but ... See full summary »
Director: Ralph Murphy | Stars: Richard Arlen, Sally Eilers, Robert Armstrong, Grace Bradley
Votes: 23
Based on James M. Cain's The Baby in the Icebox .
35. The Thin Man (1934)
TV-PG | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Former detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 32,491
From Dashiell Hammett .
36. Woman in the Dark (1934)
Passed | 68 min | Crime, Drama
A paroled prisoner hits a man who's attacking a woman, then runs away, scared that he killed the man (he did not). From the book "Woman in the Dark" by Dashiell Hammett.
Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Fay Wray, Ralph Bellamy, Melvyn Douglas, Roscoe Ates
Votes: 599
Dashiell Hammett
37. La bandera (1935)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, Romance, War
Pierre Gilieth has committed a murder in Paris. He flees to Barcelona, where he runs out of money. So he joins the Spanish Foreign Legion. He meets there two fellow countrymen, Mulot and ... See full summary »
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Annabella, Jean Gabin, Robert Le Vigan, Raymond Aimos
Votes: 734
38. Crime and Punishment (1935)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama
Man is haunted by a murder he's committed.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Edward Arnold, Peter Lorre, Marian Marsh, Tala Birell
Votes: 2,230
39. The Florentine Dagger (1935)
Passed | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Juan Cesare, a descendant of the Borgia's of Vienna, thinks he may have a murder streak in him acquired from his long-dead relatives, is is love with Florence Ballau, but her father lodges ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, C. Aubrey Smith, Henry O'Neill
Votes: 214
40. The Glass Key (1935)
Passed | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Ed Beaumont is the personal friend, advisor and bodyguard to Paul Madvig, the political boss of a large city. When a mysterious murder is committed---the son of a Madvig political opponent-... See full summary »
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: George Raft, Claire Dodd, Edward Arnold, Rosalind Keith
Votes: 517
41. Justin de Marseille (1935)
95 min | Crime, Drama
The leader of a gang of drug traffickers, loved and esteemed by everyone for protecting the weak, ends up killing his greatest enemy.
Director: Maurice Tourneur | Stars: Antonin Berval, Pierre Larquey, Alexandre Rignault, Ghislaine Bru
Votes: 185
42. Kind Lady (1935)
Approved | 76 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Henry, a homeless artist, is invited in from the cold by Mary. Her kindness is exploited as Henry, his family and friends manipulate their way into living in her home. Mary tries to get rid of them, but they have their own scheme in mind.
Director: George B. Seitz | Stars: Aline MacMahon, Basil Rathbone, Mary Carlisle, Frank Albertson
Votes: 651
43. Mister Dynamite (1935)
Passed | 67 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A gambler hires a detective to investigate when a murder is committed in his casino.
Director: Alan Crosland | Stars: Edmund Lowe, Jean Dixon, Victor Varconi, Esther Ralston
Votes: 78
Dashiell Hammett's story On the Make .
44. The Lower Depths (1936)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A charismatic thief makes friends with a bankrupt baron who comes to live in the thief's slum. Meanwhile the thief seeks the love of a young woman, who is held emotionally captive by her slumlord family.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Suzy Prim, Louis Jouvet, Jany Holt
Votes: 3,675
45. Fury (1936)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
When a wrongly-accused prisoner barely survives a lynch-mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot
Votes: 13,713
46. Jenny (1936)
105 min | Drama
Jenny is a madam at a brothel. When her daughter comes back from England, she does not want her to find out what kind of job she really has.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Françoise Rosay, Albert Préjean, Lisette Lanvin, Roland Toutain
Votes: 282
47. Sabotage (1936)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Thriller
A Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, Desmond Tester, John Loder
Votes: 18,700
48. Winterset (1936)
Approved | 77 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Immigrant radical Bartolomeo Romagna is falsely condemned and executed for a payroll robbery. Years later, his son Mio sets out to find the truth of the crime and to bring to account the gangster Trock Estrella.
Director: Alfred Santell | Stars: Burgess Meredith, Margo, Eduardo Ciannelli, John Carradine
Votes: 496
49. Abus de confiance (1937)
88 min | Drama, Romance
Imposture helps an orphan girl become a lawyer.
Director: Henri Decoin | Stars: Danielle Darrieux, Charles Vanel, Yvette Lebon, Pierre Mingand
Votes: 170
50. The Alibi (1937)
84 min | Crime
Paris, 1937. Winckler kills his enemy Gordon, a Chicago mobster, from the stage of a Parisian music hall, where he performs telepathy. He pays another artist, Helene, so that she tells the ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Erich von Stroheim, Albert Préjean, Jany Holt, Louis Jouvet
Votes: 246
51. Cargaison blanche (1937)
100 min | Drama
Two journalists from different papers are looking for the same story. They want to know, who a group of gangsters getting young women from Europe to South America, where they are forced to ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Käthe von Nagy, Jules Berry, Suzy Prim, Jean-Pierre Aumont
Votes: 112
52. The Green Cockatoo (1937)
Approved | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A young girl is travelling to London to find work. Arriving at the station, she meets a man who has been stabbed by a member of a gang of crooks involved with greyhound racing.
Director: William Cameron Menzies | Stars: John Mills, Rene Ray, Robert Newton, Charles Oliver
Votes: 311
Scripted by Graham Greene , but not actually released til 1940
53. Lady Killer (1937)
94 min | Drama, Romance, War
Soldier Lucien meets elegant Madeleine one night in Cannes. Lovestruck, he follows her to Paris after he is discharged. Their love affair begins anew, but eventually runs cold and he returns to Orange in the south of France. She follows.
Director: Jean Grémillon | Stars: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Pierre Etchepare, Henri Poupon
Votes: 684
54. A Night of Terror (1937)
86 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A lottery winner breaks up with her fiancé and marries a fortune hunter who proves to be dangerous.
Director: Rowland V. Lee | Stars: Ann Harding, Basil Rathbone, Binnie Hale, Bruce Seton
Votes: 633
55. Night Must Fall (1937)
Passed | 116 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
When a rich but cantankerous dowager on an isolated estate hires an engaging handyman, her niece/companion becomes suspicious of his motives.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, May Whitty, Alan Marshal
Votes: 2,934
56. Pépé le Moko (1937)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A wanted gangster is both king and prisoner of the Casbah. He is protected from arrest by his friends, but is torn by his desire for freedom outside. A visiting Parisian beauty may just tempt his fate.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre, Fernand Charpin
Votes: 8,064 | Gross: $0.15M
57. Le puritain (1938)
85 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A religious fanatic finds his entire life and philosophy turned upside-down as he falls in love with a girl and kills her in a jealous rage. His search is for peace of mind and a desire to ... See full summary »
Director: Jeff Musso | Stars: Pierre Fresnay, Jean-Louis Barrault, Viviane Romance, Louis-Jacques Boucot
Votes: 91
58. La serpiente roja (1937)
80 min | Crime
A detective story which takes place in London, with Chinese investigator Chan Li Po, a very popular character of a Cuban radio series of the 30s and 40s.
Director: Ernesto Caparrós | Stars: Aníbal de Mar, Pituka de Foronda, Carlos Badías, Roberto Insua
59. They Won't Forget (1937)
Passed | 95 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A politically ambitious district attorney, unscrupulous tabloid journalists, and regional prejudice combine to charge a teacher with the murder of his student.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, Edward Norris, Otto Kruger
Votes: 1,939
60. 21 Days Together (1940)
Approved | 72 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
After Larry accidentally kills his lover Wanda's estranged blackmailing husband, someone else is arrested for the crime. Larry and Wanda nervously await the verdict: if the innocent suspect is found guilty then Larry will give himself up.
Director: Basil Dean | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Leslie Banks, Laurence Olivier, Francis L. Sullivan
Votes: 1,276
Made in 1937 but not released til 1940
61. You Only Live Once (1937)
Passed | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon
Votes: 7,636
62. Algiers (1938)
Passed | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A wanted jewel thief ensconced in the Casbah meets a beautiful woman who makes him long for an escape.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr, Sigrid Gurie, Joseph Calleia
Votes: 3,238
63. La Bête Humaine (1938)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama
In this classic adaptation of Emile Zola's novel, a tortured train engineer falls in love with a troubled married woman who has helped her husband commit a murder.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Julien Carette, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux
Votes: 8,416
64. Convicted (1938)
Approved | 58 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Police Detective Burns (Charles Quigley) is helping Jerry Wheeler (Rita Hayworth), a night-club singer, track down the killer of a gold-digger, for which crime her brother, "Chick," (Edgar ... See full summary »
Director: Leon Barsha | Stars: Charles Quigley, Rita Hayworth, Marc Lawrence, George McKay
Votes: 182
from Cornell Woolrich's story Facework
65. A Woman's Face (1938)
Unrated | 100 min | Drama
An embittered woman, leader of a criminal gang, has a change of heart.
Director: Gustaf Molander | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Tore Svennberg, Anders Henrikson, Georg Rydeberg
Votes: 1,159
Remade as A Woman's Face with Joan Crawford .
66. The Strange Monsieur Victor (1938)
103 min | Crime, Drama
An innocent man spends time in prison for murder, then escapes and falls in love with the wife of the real perpetrator.
Director: Jean Grémillon | Stars: Raimu, Pierre Blanchar, Madeleine Renaud, Marcelle Géniat
Votes: 347
67. Hotel du Nord (1938)
83 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
On the meandering Canal St. Martin, at the Parisian Hôtel du Nord, a nearly fatal gunshot separates a dejected young couple. But, amid a sad but beautiful panorama of lively characters, love has the final say. Can life be a fairy tale?
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Annabella, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet, Arletty
Votes: 3,228
68. The Lady in the Morgue (1938)
Approved | 67 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A detective investigates the disappearance of a girl's body from the city morgue.
Director: Otis Garrett | Stars: Preston Foster, Patricia Ellis, Frank Jenks, Thomas E. Jackson
Votes: 173
from Jonathan Latimer , detective film
69. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Not Rated | 96 min | Mystery, Thriller
While travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, May Whitty
Votes: 57,095
Classic British Hitchcock , from the same author of The Spiral Staircase
70. Hatred (1938)
67 min | Drama
Justin Mollenard is a sailor and arms smuggler who does not support the hypocrisy of society. He has a wife in Dunkirk who reproaches him the fact of having neglected the family for many years.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Harry Baur, Albert Préjean, Gabrielle Dorziat, Gina Manès
Votes: 330
71. Marked Girls (1938)
102 min | Drama
Juliette, an innocent woman, is wrongly sentenced to prison for attempted murder. After her release, she married an industrialist to whom she did not speak of her tumultuous past.
Director: Roger Richebé | Stars: Viviane Romance, Renée Saint-Cyr, Marguerite Deval, Jean Worms
Votes: 28
72. Port of Shadows (1938)
Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a foggy, French port city.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michèle Morgan, Pierre Brasseur
Votes: 9,947 | Gross: $0.03M
73. Sirocco (1938)
Approved | 90 min | Drama
Town trollop Safia, much against her better judgment, falls in love with Matteo, a beggar and mystic in the native quarter of Sirocco. She flees to France, first as the mistress and then ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Viviane Romance, Louis Jouvet, Pierre Renoir, Jany Holt
Votes: 160
74. They Drive by Night (1938)
84 min | Crime, Thriller
A convict, just out of prison, is implicated in a murder and goes on the run, hitching a ride with a truck driver.
Director: Arthur B. Woods | Stars: Emlyn Williams, Anna Konstam, Allan Jeayes, Ernest Thesiger
Votes: 363
75. Stolen Death (1938)
101 min | Romance, Thriller
A thriller set in turn-of-the-century Helsinki, Stolen Death uses elements of German expressionism to tell the story of Finnish resistance fighters smuggling arms to overthrow the Tsarist ... See full summary »
Director: Nyrki Tapiovaara | Stars: Tuulikki Paananen, Ilmari Mänty, Santeri Karilo, Annie Mörk
Votes: 298
76. You and Me (1938)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Film-Noir
An altruistic department-store owner hires ex-convicts in order to give them a second chance at life. Unfortunately, one of the convicts he hires recruits two of his fellow ex-convicts in a plan to rob the store.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, George Raft, Barton MacLane, Harry Carey
Votes: 1,626
77. Blind Alley (1939)
Passed | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Gangster Hal Wilson takes psychiatrist Dr. Shelby hostage. While captive, the doctor analyzes Wilson as though he were a patient.
Director: Charles Vidor | Stars: Chester Morris, Ralph Bellamy, Ann Dvorak, Joan Perry
Votes: 815
78. Dangerous Masquerade (1939)
69 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A down-and-out writer being hounded by collectors stumbles upon dead man lying under a fallen tree limb. Little did he know the man had been murdered, and he concocts a scheme of exchanging... See full summary »
Director: Harold French | Stars: Robert Newton, Betty Lynne, Peter Gawthorne, John Warwick
Votes: 79
79. The Last Turning (1939)
90 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Frank, a hobo, ends up in a garage-truck stop in the middle of nowhere. Nick Marino, its older, kind and naive owner, is married to Cora, a sexy and mercenary woman half his age. Frank, ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Fernand Gravey, Michel Simon, Marcel Vallée, Auguste Bovério
Votes: 301
80. Dust Be My Destiny (1939)
Passed | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, resulting... See full summary »
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: John Garfield, Priscilla Lane, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh
Votes: 958
81. Full Confession (1939)
Passed | 78 min | Crime, Drama
A Catholic priest by the name of Father Loma must convince a man to step forward to save an innocent man from being sent to the electric chair.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: Victor McLaglen, Sally Eilers, Joseph Calleia, Barry Fitzgerald
Votes: 230
82. I Stole a Million (1939)
Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A grizzled cabbie is scammed out of his life savings by a fake finance company. He tries to no avail to get police assistance.
Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: George Raft, Claire Trevor, Dick Foran, Henry Armetta
Votes: 125
83. Le Jour Se Leve (1939)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Arletty, Jules Berry
Votes: 8,264 | Gross: $0.03M
84. Let Us Live (1939)
Approved | 68 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Two innocent men are wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The fiancée of one of them convinces a police detective of their innocence, and together they try to find the real killer before the men's execution date.
Director: John Brahm | Stars: Maureen O'Sullivan, Henry Fonda, Ralph Bellamy, Alan Baxter
Votes: 674
85. Of Mice and Men (1939)
Passed | 106 min | Adventure, Drama
A mentally disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Charles Bickford
Votes: 6,839
86. The Fugitive (1939)
76 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
A barber commits a petty theft, which leads to his becoming involved in blackmail and murder.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Ralph Richardson, Diana Wynyard, Romney Brent, Mary Clare
Votes: 312
87. Métropolitain (1939)
85 min | Drama
On his way to work on the subway, Pierre catches a glimpse of a man seemingly stabbing a woman.
Director: Maurice Cam | Stars: Albert Préjean, Ginette Leclerc, André Brulé, Albert Duvaleix
Votes: 31
88. Personal Column (1939)
106 min | Musical, Romance, Thriller
After one of her fellow taxi dancers is murdered by an unknown man who she met through a personal column advert, Adrienne Charpentier is recruited by the police to answer a series of similar adverts to try to track down the killer.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Maurice Chevalier, Pierre Renoir, Marie Déa, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 410
89. There Ain't No Justice (1939)
83 min | Drama
A young boxer falls in with a crooked fight promoter.
Director: Pen Tennyson | Stars: Jimmy Hanley, Edward Rigby, Mary Clare, Edward Chapman
Votes: 63
90. They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A champion boxer on the lamb, believed to have committed murder while drunk, takes refuge and finds redemption at a farm for delinquent youths.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: John Garfield, Claude Rains, The Dead End Kids, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 2,588
91. When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
Passed | 90 min | Drama, Romance
A concert pianist unhappily married to a mentally ill woman falls in love with a waitress.
Director: John M. Stahl | Stars: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Barbara O'Neil, Onslow Stevens
Votes: 751
James M. Cain's Root of all Evil , also made as Interlude
92. Dead Men Tell No Tales (1938)
70 min | Crime, Thriller
Dead Men Tell No Tales is a 1938 British thriller film directed by David MacDonald and starring Emlyn Williams, Sara Seegar and Hugh Williams. It is based on the 1935 novel The Norwich ... See full summary »
Director: David MacDonald | Stars: Emlyn Williams, Sara Seegar, Hugh Williams, Marius Goring
Votes: 14
93. Afraid to Talk (1932)
Passed | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Corrupt politicians resort to murder and blackmail when a young boy accidentally witnesses them taking payoffs.
Director: Edward L. Cahn | Stars: Eric Linden, Sidney Fox, Tully Marshall, Louis Calhern
Votes: 134
94. Within the Law (1939)
Passed | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Shopgirl Mary Turner, sentenced to prison for someone else's theft, is released and takes revenge upon those who wronged her in powerful but lawful ways.
Director: Gustav Machatý | Stars: Ruth Hussey, Tom Neal, Paul Kelly, William Gargan
Votes: 332
95. Tell No Tales (1939)
Passed | 69 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Michael Cassidy is the editor of a failing newspaper. A scoop would be welcome to boost the sales and to avoid closure. To this end, he decides to personally track down a gang of kidnappers.
Director: Leslie Fenton | Stars: Melvyn Douglas, Louise Platt, Gene Lockhart, Douglass Dumbrille
Votes: 413
aka Tell No Tales
96. Blackmail (1939)
Passed | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
John Ingram, successful oil field firefighter, is really a chain gang escapee. Someone out of his past finds him.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Hussey, Gene Lockhart, Bobs Watson
Votes: 860
97. The Petrified Forest (1936)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Thriller
A waitress, a hobo and a bank robber get mixed up at a lonely diner in the desert.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin
Votes: 14,911
98. Satan Met a Lady (1936)
Passed | 74 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A double-crossing woman, the two-timing P.I. she hired, the corpulent "empress of crime", and a gentleman thief are all after a legendary priceless eighth-century ram's horn.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Bette Davis, Warren William, Alison Skipworth, Arthur Treacher
Votes: 2,449
99. The Last Mile (1932)
Passed | 75 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An innocent man sentenced to death gets caught up in a prison riot.
Director: Samuel Bischoff | Stars: Howard Phillips, Preston Foster, George E. Stone, Noel Madison
Votes: 417
100. Design for Murder (1939)
60 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A somewhat unbalanced college student kidnaps the leader of a group of students that has been constantly mocking and harassing him, and plans to bury him alive in a trunk.
Director: Roy Boulting | Stars: Manning Whiley, Barbara Everest, Michael Drake, Hay Petrie
Votes: 65
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