SCARFACE (1932)

Perhaps the prototypical gangster movie, it was hounded by the censorship office because they thought it made crime look too glamorous.

DRACULA (1931)

The vampire movie from which all others are descended, Bela Lugosi’s very specific performance and many creepy gothic visuals overcome its period limitations.

MY MAN GODFREY (1936)

One of the screwiest of all screwball comedies not only has plenty of jokes , but skewered the vacuity of the upper classes in a way that still resonates today.

OLYMPIA (1938)

Considered the first great film made about the Olympics, it is also, unfortunately, a highly effective piece of Nazi propaganda.

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)

It is the original full-length animated movie, and helped to launch a media empire. For me it holds up today, um, intermittently?

MODERN TIMES (1936)

The final appearance of Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp character somehow remains both funny and relevant.

THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937)

A very old-fashioned biopic (sort of) about a French writer and his fight to save an army officer wrongly accused of treason. I found myself drawn in despite myself.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)

The most Hollywood version of Emily Brontë’s weird, gothic masterpiece, which is still pretty weird and gothic if that’s what you’re into.