I haven't seen some of those same biggies, either, Slam_Bradley , most lamentably Grand Illusion, and I heartily agree about Old Mill, easily the standout among thjose Disney long-form cartoons.

I love Dead End, in which there are so many great moments, my favorite being the reunion between Bogey and his mother. Brutal and heartbreaking all at the same time. Excellent cast, including the first appearance of the real Dead End Kids, who were sympathetic only to a point. "Feral" describes them well at various points in the story. This kind of naturalism, even fatalism, would not appear frequently as Hollywood became more sanitized.

Stage Door, also an adaptation of a play, is often billed as a comedy, and it certainly is, with sharp dialogue and a wide range of female characters, but the ending is tragic in great part. Well worth watching for the likes of the young Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, Katherine Hepburn (reciting her famous "calla lilies" line), Ann Miller, the eternally acerbic Eve Arden, and Gail Patrick. And no movie with Jack carson aboard can ever be called unwatchable. He's a pro's pro, equally capable of playing a hale fellow well met or an unctuous heel. Also notable is Constance Collier as the stage star whose best days are long behind her, but who loses herself in her memories of her youth. Poignant, and nicely playde. In real life, Collier had a long and respected stage career that began in the 1890s.

Try Captains Courageous some day, with Spencer Tracy as Manuel (Man-you-el) the Poruguese fisherman and surrogate father to the insipid snobby rich kid Harvey (Freddie Bartholomew). Bartolomew was one of the best kid actors in his day and he's at his best here. Another great ensemble cast, too: Lionel Barrymore as a crusty captain, John Carradine as his usual sneaky self, Melvyn Douglas as Harvey's father, and Mickey Rooney as a young sailor. Sad at times, but never sappy. Tracy is at the top of his game.

A few hidden gems of varying worth: Navy Blue and Gold, a cliche-filled college football picture (there were many back then) with Jimmy Sewart as the blue-collar midshipman trying to make up for his officer father's unjust dishonorable discharge; Lionel Barrymore again as the beloved legendary Navy coach, and Robert Young as a caddish narcissist who is in line to larn a few big lessons about life. It is what it is, no pretension, no real surprises, but some nice acting.

They Won't Forget, starring Claude Rains, one of the great actors, in a film based on the lynching of Leo Frank in Georgia for a murder he didn't commit. But Frank was Jewish, so... It is a bowdlerized version... a more accurate portrayal would have set many heads of hair on fire, but a noble effort just to get this on the screen. What does ring true is the absolute reverence the townspeople have for the War of Northern Aggression and the Confederate veterans. Seen today, it is a creepy precursor of Charlottesville, and the Dixie flag and statue controverises.

The Prince and the Pauper is a great vehicle for Errol Flynn. (And usual sidekick Alan Hale!) Adventure, swordplay fine preformances by the Mauch twins and Barton MacLane as the pauper Tom Canty's father, as despicable a parent as there is in litearture outside of Pap Finn. And Claude Rains!

I have a soft spot for Kid Galahad, a boxing movie withthe usual truckload of tropes, but with Edward G. Robinson as the heavy, Bette Davis as his frail and goofy Wayne Morris (a future Navy flier and an ace to boot) as the naive boxer. Won't make you think, but might make you smile.

But, best of all is a dark, frightening little masterpiece starring Bogart as a factory worker who feels overlooked for promotion when a "foreigner" gets the job he wants and ergo becomes easy prey for the right-wing neo-Fascist Black Legion. Again, based very closely on the group of the same name that terrorized Michigan in the mid-30s, and, like so many films of the thirties and early forties, a harbinger of American life 80-some-odd years later. I think it's one of Bogart's best performances. A great film. Highly recommended.

Here's the trailer:

Grand Illusion is probably the best film from 1937, but I'll go with Humanity and Paper Balloons. I also enjoyed Pepe Le Moko, Way out West, You Only Live Once, and The Life of Emile Zola (love Paul Muni!) 

I love The Awful Truth so much! From Cary Grant coaxing Irene Dunne to dance with Ralph Bellamy over to Irene Dunne pretending to be Cary’s sister at the party with his fiancee’s parents,I just laugh and laugh!

Another contender is Humanity and Paper Balloons. Last I looked it was free on YouTube and I’ve been thinking of watching it again.

Hooray! This is the first time I can join in with the thread because Snow White And The Seven Dwarves is the oldest film I've seen all the way through. I'm really not a fan of very old films.

The animation in Snow White And The Seven Dwarves is just stunning for its time; you can really feel the painstaking draftsmanship and soul that the animators poured into it. The "Whistle While You Work" and "Heigh-Ho" musical numbers are, as Slam said earlier, real classics, of course. The plot has romance, intrigue and plenty of laughs, along with some genuinely creepy parts to thrill its young target audience. It's also a weirdly timeless film, lacking, as it does, the period trappings that slipped into some of the later Disney cartoons. It's a really fun movie and quite simply one of Disney's very best.

Another year I just haven't watched many movies from. I see two feature length films in total. We'll go with Snow White.

On to 1938.  

1938 is one of those years where my favorite film is so self-evident that it just seems disingenuous to pretend there are other contenders.  Not that there aren't other movies from the year that I like.  There absolutely are and I'll mention them.  But my favorite is just a no-brainer (this is going to happen a few more times in the future).  

My favorite movie of 1938 is...


The Adventures of Robin Hood - I really love this movie.  This is just the epitome of Golden Age of Hollywood fun.  It would take over four decades for anyone to even come close to making a film that, for me, was as full of adventure as The Adventures of Robin Hood.  Errol Flynn became the blueprint for Robin Hood for...well...he still is.  And this is the starting point for any interpretation of Robin Hood on film.  The cast is perfect.  Olivia de Havilland reprised her chemistry with Flynn from Captain Blood and Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains were perfectly villainous.  Poor Basil having to take a beating in the sword-fight.  Howard Hill's archery is just spectacular.  I honestly can't come up with a false note in the film.  




Other films from 1938 that I quite like...

Angels with Dirty Faces - in any other year Cagney and Bogart in a gangster film would be a super strong contender for the top slot.  I think this may very well be Cagney's greatest performance.  If it has a down-side it's that the ending is hokey as all hell.  



Porky in Wackyland - The Warner Brothers shorts make a quantum leap forward and begin to establish what will make them distinct from and, in my opinion, far more interesting than Disney.  This is just a wild, bizarre, surreal cartoon that is easily the best thing that Porky ever did as a solo character.  Bob Clampett gives us 7:23 of absolute insanity.  



The Lady Vanishes - This was a huge hit and is one of, if not the best of Hitchcock's British films.  

Bringing up Baby - I'm not a Rom-Com guy.  But these old school romantic comedies are frequently quite enjoyable.  And, honestly, how to you not love Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and a pet leopard? 

Block-Heads - I like, rather than love this feature from Laurel and Hardy.  It's got a ton of great stuff, but the premise is incredibly flimsy.  It's really more of a series of shorts hung together than an actual story.  But it's still gut-bustingly funny.  


1938 in film for those needing an assist.