25 greatest films of 1933

by stuff_1004 | created - 18 Mar 2013 | updated - 18 Mar 2013 | Public

as listed by mewslists.com

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1. King Kong (1933)

Passed | 100 min | Adventure, Horror

92 Metascore

A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.

Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher

Votes: 91,026 | Gross: $10.00M

2. Duck Soup (1933)

Not Rated | 69 min | Comedy, Musical

93 Metascore

Rufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.

Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx

Votes: 62,760

3. 42nd Street (1933)

Passed | 89 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical

83 Metascore

When the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.

Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler

Votes: 13,042 | Gross: $2.30M

4. Little Women (1933)

Passed | 115 min | Drama, Family, Romance

92 Metascore

A chronicle of the lives of sisters growing up in 19th-century New England.

Director: George Cukor | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas, Edna May Oliver

Votes: 7,935 | Gross: $4.58M

5. Zero for Conduct (1933)

Not Rated | 47 min | Drama

In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.

Director: Jean Vigo | Stars: Jean Dasté, Robert le Flon, Louis Lefebvre, Du Verron

Votes: 9,369

6. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical

A wealthy composer rescues unemployed Broadway performers with a new play, but insists on remaining anonymous.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler

Votes: 9,152 | Gross: $4.80M

7. 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: 13,602

8. Queen Christina (1933)

Approved | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

Queen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.

Director: Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith, Lewis Stone

Votes: 8,625 | Gross: $0.77M

9. The Invisible Man (1933)

TV-PG | 71 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

87 Metascore

A scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.

Director: James Whale | Stars: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Henry Travers

Votes: 39,984

10. Sons of the Desert (1933)

Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Family

When Stan and Ollie trick their wives into thinking that they are taking a medicinal cruise while they're actually going to a convention, the wives find out the truth the hard way.

Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, Mae Busch

Votes: 9,589

11. Footlight Parade (1933)

Passed | 104 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

80 Metascore

Chester Kent struggles against time, romance, and a rival's spy to produce spectacular live "prologues" for movie houses.

Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell

Votes: 6,095 | Gross: $3.49M

12. Lady for a Day (1933)

Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Drama

A gangster tries to make Apple Annie, the Times Square apple seller, a lady for a day.

Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Warren William, May Robson, Guy Kibbee, Glenda Farrell

Votes: 4,662

13. Bombshell (1933)

Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery

81 Metascore

A glamorous film star rebels against the studio, her pushy press agent and a family of hangers-on.

Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone

Votes: 3,149

14. Counsellor at Law (1933)

Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Drama

A successful attorney has his Jewish heritage and poverty-stricken background brought home to him when he learns that his wife has been unfaithful.

Director: William Wyler | Stars: John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon, Isabel Jewell

Votes: 1,509

15. Dinner at Eight (1933)

Passed | 111 min | Drama

Affluent Millicent and Oliver Jordan throw a dinner for a handful of wealthy and/or well-born acquaintances, each of whom has much to reveal.

Director: George Cukor | Stars: Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow

Votes: 9,021 | Gross: $4.58M

16. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

Passed | 77 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh

Votes: 6,831

17. I'm No Angel (1933)

Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Music, Romance

Circus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.

Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff, Edward Arnold

Votes: 3,984 | Gross: $6.21M

18. Baby Face (1933)

Approved | 71 min | Drama, Romance

A young woman, sexually exploited all her life, decides to turn the tables and exploit the hapless men at a big city bank by gleefully seducing her way to the top.

Director: Alfred E. Green | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier

Votes: 8,171

19. Las Hurdes (1933)

30 min | Documentary, Short

A surrealist film, a pseudo-documentary portrait of Las Hurdes, a remote region of Spain where civilisation has barely developed, showing how the local peasants try to survive without even the most basic utilities and skills.

Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Abel Jacquin, Alexandre O'Neill

Votes: 6,265

20. The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

Passed | 97 min | Biography, Drama

King Henry VIII marries five more times after his divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.

Director: Alexander Korda | Stars: Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Franklin Dyall, Miles Mander

Votes: 4,874

21. State Fair (1933)

Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

An Iowa family finds adventure, love, and heartbreak when they spend a week at the state fair.

Director: Henry King | Stars: Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers, Lew Ayres, Sally Eilers

Votes: 1,070

22. Cavalcade (1933)

Passed | 112 min | Drama, Romance, War

73 Metascore

A portrayal of the triumphs and tragedies of two English families, the upper-crust Marryots and the working-class Bridgeses, from 1899 to 1933.

Director: Frank Lloyd | Stars: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor, Herbert Mundin

Votes: 5,992 | Gross: $7.63M

23. The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

Passed | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Philo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette, Ralph Morgan

Votes: 4,080

24. She Done Him Wrong (1933)

Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Drama, History

In the Gay Nineties, a seductive nightclub singer contends with several suitors, including a jealous escaped convict and a handsome temperance league member.

Director: Lowell Sherman | Stars: Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland

Votes: 7,044 | Gross: $4.80M

25. The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)

Approved | 88 min | Drama, Romance, War

A Chinese warlord and an engaged Christian missionary fall in love.

Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Nils Asther, Toshia Mori, Walter Connolly

Votes: 4,303



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