1936 makes me happy. This is the first top ten list where I can honestly give a resounding thumbs up to all of the films. I look at this list and I feel actual excitement at the films that are on it.

The one thing that jumps out at me for this list in particular: William Powell. He’s in four films in this top ten. And Myrna Loy is in three of them too! Which, honestly… that pretty much sums me up as a film goer.

Otherwise — a lot of the standard stuff appears, both in terms of my taste and the classics. The big thing about this year in particular for me is that it contains one of the great hidden gems of all time, one of those films that I am constantly shouting about as one of the greatest films ever made that has never fully gotten its due. Read the rest of this page »

There’s a marked overall increase in quality in 1935. I attribute it to Hollywood finally finding its footing in the Production Code era, finally figuring out how to perfect the motion picture and now getting the assembly line up and running. And they’re just cranking out product.

There’s not a whole lot to say about this except it’s got a cool set of choices with genres ranging all over the place. Romance, comedy (slapstick and screwball), horror, drama, musical.

There’s a couple of real hidden gems in this year, one in particular I think people should check out. Read the rest of this page »

So now we’re firmly in the era of the Production Code, and the subject matter’s gotten a lot less fun. But that doesn’t mean anything, since it’s almost a good thing. Maybe it would have happened anyway, but the minute they put restrictions on, they busted out with some real classics.

For me, 1934 is always gonna be known for two things. First, it’s the year my favorite film of all time was made. And second, it’s the year where Hollywood established its “classic” formula. It Happened One Night is the benchmark film of the studio era. You could watch it and see the progression of just about any film made for the next thirty years.

Otherwise, a lot of other things began in this year: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Shirley Temple and William Powell and Myrna Loy. We’re hitting the ground running, and it’s only gonna get more fun from here. Read the rest of this page »

1933 is the end of the party. Hollywood finally went too far and crossed too many lines. For the past few years, all the Pre-Code films had to pass through state censors in order to be shown in theaters. Certain films weren’t shown in certain states for various reasons. (If you ever go back and read all the different reasons states refused to screen certain movies, you’ll be very amused.) Finally, after the government threatened to step in, Hollywood got serious.

The Production Code was technically around since 1922. After the William Desmond Taylor murder and the Fatty Arbuckle scandal, the government was trying to clean up on the “immorality” of the town, and Hollywood, rather than have the hammer come down, self-policed. It’s like when colleges self-impose bans to keep the NCAA from dropping the hammer on them. But no one really took it seriously. Then in 1927, they put out a list of “Don’ts and Be Carefuls.” Which was basically a list of “Don’t show white slavery. Don’t show miscegenation, be careful how you use the flag.” Shit like that. Again, generally adhered to, but with anything, people start bending the rules after a while. Read the rest of this page »

You definitely start to see an overall increase in quality when you get to 1932. Previous sound years have really good films, but you can’t really go 20 deep with films most people would want to watch. Here, you’re starting to be able to do that. It’s exciting to me to see Hollywood growing up. To put this into terms you young people who don’t know anything before 2002 can understand: Hollywood in the silent era was a full-sized Groot. And then sound happened and the whole thing got blowed up. And now, we’re dealing with a Baby Groot, slowly coming into its own again. We’re watching it get back to form.

1932 and 1933 are also the two years where Hollywood started really pushing the envelope, subject matter-wise, which lead to the creation of the Production Code. There are a couple of those here. You get your smatter of sex, violence and social problems. And then other cool stuff, like what might be the most bizarre film Hollywood made in the studio era. Read the rest of this page »