Best Movies of 1936

by terrence-gale | created - 14 Feb 2014 | updated - 01 Mar 2014 | Public

Here are the best movies of 1936.

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1. Dodsworth (1936)

Passed | 101 min | Drama, Romance

A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.

Director: William Wyler | Stars: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor

Votes: 10,196

2. My Man Godfrey (1936)

Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

82 Metascore

A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.

Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick

Votes: 26,441

3. Cain and Mabel (1936)

Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Musical, Mystery

A talented boxer and a gifted dancer hope to increase their waning popularity by inventing a fictitious love affair for the benefit of the tabloids.

Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Allen Jenkins, Roscoe Karns

Votes: 2,068

4. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.

Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander

Votes: 23,205

5. A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

Not Rated | 128 min | Drama, History, Romance

87 Metascore

A pair of lookalikes, one a former French aristocrat and the other an alcoholic English lawyer, fall in love with the same woman amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution.

Directors: Jack Conway, Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen

Votes: 6,297

6. 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: 13,723

7. Libeled Lady (1936)

Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Romance

When a socialite sues a big paper for libel, the editor responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée and a former employee to frame her and make the false story seem true.

Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy

Votes: 8,908

8. Swing Time (1936)

Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

91 Metascore

Roguish gambler/dancer "Lucky" Garnett is challenged by his fiance's father to come up with $25,000 to prove he's worthy of her hand. But after he falls in love with a dance instructor, Lucky'll do anything to keep from earning the bucks.

Director: George Stevens | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick

Votes: 14,582

9. These Three (1936)

Passed | 93 min | Drama, Romance

Two schoolteachers and the man they both love face ruin when a malicious student cooks up a lie.

Director: William Wyler | Stars: Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea, Catherine Doucet

Votes: 3,033

10. After the Thin Man (1936)

Passed | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

Private detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora are back home at last and hoping for a quiet New Year when there is a murder. The obvious suspect is his wife, Nora's cousin, Selma.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi

Votes: 12,117 | Gross: $4.34M

11. Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936)

Approved | 110 min | Drama, Romance

Gladys George, a superlative actress often wasted in secondary roles, carries her starring assignment in Valiant is the Word for Carrie with singular brilliance. George plays the town ... See full summary »

Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Gladys George, Arline Judge, John Howard, Dudley Digges

Votes: 236

12. The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)

Passed | 86 min | Biography, Drama, History

The biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.

Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise, Donald Woods

Votes: 3,151

13. San Francisco (1936)

Passed | 115 min | Drama, Music, Romance

A Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally, in 1906 San Francisco.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt

Votes: 6,100

14. Theodora Goes Wild (1936)

Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance

The author of a controversially racy best-selling book tries to hide her celebrity status from her provincial small-town neighbors, who would be scandalized if they knew.

Director: Richard Boleslawski | Stars: Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas, Thomas Mitchell, Thurston Hall

Votes: 2,952

15. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

Approved | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Romance

A major countermands orders and attacks to avenge a previous massacre of men, women, and children.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson

Votes: 5,476

16. Come and Get It (1936)

Passed | 99 min | Drama, Romance

An ambitious lumberjack abandons his saloon girl lover so that he can marry into wealth, but years later becomes infatuated with the woman's daughter.

Directors: Howard Hawks, William Wyler, Richard Rosson | Stars: Edward Arnold, Joel McCrea, Frances Farmer, Walter Brennan

Votes: 2,385

17. Lloyd's of London (1936)

Approved | 118 min | Drama, History, Romance

An honest broker saves the day.

Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Madeleine Carroll, Freddie Bartholomew, Guy Standing

Votes: 1,212

18. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Passed | 176 min | Drama, Musical

69 Metascore

The ups and downs of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., famed producer of extravagant stage revues, are portrayed.

Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan

Votes: 8,986

19. Three Smart Girls (1936)

Approved | 84 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

Three sisters scheme to reunite their divorced parents before their wealthy father marries a conniving gold digger.

Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Binnie Barnes, Charles Winninger, Alice Brady, Ray Milland

Votes: 1,528 | Gross: $3.00M

20. The Last of the Mohicans (1936)

Passed | 91 min | Adventure, Drama, Western

During the brutal French and Indian War, the legendary scout Hawkeye is prevailed upon to escort Major Duncan Heyward, and the two daughters of Fort William Henry commander Colonel Munro -- Alice and Cora -- to safety through.

Director: George B. Seitz | Stars: Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Henry Wilcoxon, Bruce Cabot

Votes: 1,625

21. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)

Approved | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

A railroad man from the city befriends a mountain girl in a Kentucky family feud.

Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone

Votes: 1,366

22. Romeo and Juliet (1936)

Passed | 125 min | Drama, Romance

Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.

Director: George Cukor | Stars: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Conway Tearle

Votes: 2,227

23. Pennies from Heaven (1936)

Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promise an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help.

Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Bing Crosby, Madge Evans, Edith Fellows, Louis Armstrong

Votes: 794

24. Born to Dance (1936)

Passed | 106 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but their relationship is jeopardized by an established Broadway star, who is also enamored by him.

Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel

Votes: 1,935

25. The General Died at Dawn (1936)

Approved | 98 min | Action, Drama, War

Amid the anarchy of China, an American mercenary tangles with a ruthless warlord.

Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Akim Tamiroff, Dudley Digges

Votes: 1,350

26. The Magnificent Brute (1936)

Approved | 77 min | Drama, Romance

The foreman of a blast furnace gets involved in a romantic triangle and stolen money.

Director: John G. Blystone | Stars: Victor McLaglen, Binnie Barnes, Jean Dixon, William Hall

Votes: 72

27. The Texas Rangers (1936)

Passed | 98 min | Drama, Western

Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.

Director: King Vidor | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie, Jean Parker, Lloyd Nolan

Votes: 838

28. Sing, Baby, Sing (1936)

Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Music, Romance

Nightclub singer Joan Warren's agent Nicky puts her into situations designed to advance her career.

Director: Sidney Lanfield | Stars: Alice Faye, Adolphe Menjou, Gregory Ratoff, Ted Healy

Votes: 148

29. Anthony Adverse (1936)

Passed | 141 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

In 18th-century Italy, an orphan's debt to the man who raised him threatens to separate him forever from the woman he loves.

Directors: Mervyn LeRoy, Michael Curtiz | Stars: Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Woods, Anita Louise

Votes: 2,026

30. Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)

Passed | 101 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

When two investors inform an opportunistic dancer that they can't fund an elderly stage producer's production, she suggests they get an insurance policy on the producer's life.

Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Victor Moore

Votes: 1,208

31. One in a Million (1936)

Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Family, Music

American theatrical manager (Menjou) discovers Henie preparing for the Olympics in Switzerland and brings her to Madison Square Garden.

Director: Sidney Lanfield | Stars: Sonja Henie, Adolphe Menjou, Don Ameche, Ned Sparks

Votes: 336 | Gross: $2.00M

32. 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: 497

33. Banjo on My Knee (1936)

Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Believing he has killed a guest, a groom flees on his wedding night.

Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen

Votes: 674

34. Suzy (1936)

Passed | 93 min | Drama, Romance, War

Believing that a German spy has killed her new husband (Franchot Tone), a struggling chorus girl (Jean Harlow) flees to Paris where she meets and marries a World War I pilot (Cary Grant), whose carefree ways bring unexpected results.

Director: George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, Cary Grant, Lewis Stone

Votes: 1,721

35. Pigskin Parade (1936)

Passed | 93 min | Comedy, Musical, Sport

Married coaches Slug and Bessie find hillbilly football tosser Amos and the team gets invited to the Yale Bowl.

Director: David Butler | Stars: Stuart Erwin, Patsy Kelly, Jack Haley, The Yacht Club Boys

Votes: 792

36. That Girl from Paris (1936)

Approved | 104 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

Nikki Martin (Lily Pons), a Parisian opera star, takes off in search of adventure and true-love, leaving her arranged husband to be at the altar. While hitchhiking, Nikki meets handsome ... See full summary »

Director: Leigh Jason | Stars: Lily Pons, Jack Oakie, Gene Raymond, Herman Bing

Votes: 371

37. The Garden of Allah (1936)

Approved | 79 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery

The star-crossed desert romance of a cloistered woman and a renegade monk.

Director: Richard Boleslawski | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Tilly Losch, Basil Rathbone

Votes: 1,706

38. General Spanky (1936)

Passed | 71 min | Comedy, Family, War

A small boy is instrumental in a famous Civil War victory.

Directors: Gordon Douglas, Fred C. Newmeyer | Stars: George 'Spanky' McFarland, Phillips Holmes, Ralph Morgan, Irving Pichel

Votes: 433

39. The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)

Passed | 103 min | Drama, History

President Andrew Jackson's friendship with an innkeeper's daughter spells trouble for them both.

Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone

Votes: 1,373 | Gross: $1.46M

40. Dancing Pirate (1936)

Approved | 83 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music

The story of a Boston dance teacher who gets shanghaied by buccaneers who might make his next steps be off the plank!

Director: Lloyd Corrigan | Stars: Charles Collins, Frank Morgan, Steffi Duna, Luis Alberni

Votes: 384



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