In my opinion, the 1930s were dominated by French cinema. That’s one of the reason I chose that as my independent study (technically resistance films, but used the 1930s to establish the film language and influences of those later films). It is no surprise that I have seven movies in my top 20 that are either directly involved with France or have French connections. My number one is the under-seen adaptation of Les Misérables is the most faithful and highest quality that I’ve seen. In fact, the others, especially the recent musical, pale in comparison. I saw the Eclipse version, but I hear that a restoration has been touring and I hope to re-watch that version someday.

My final cut was, The Black Cat . I have a lot of problems with the film, but the final haunting 20 minutes make up for my reservations. These are dark scenes even by some modern standards, so I felt it almost deserved inclusion.

1. Les Misérables
2. L’Atalante
3. A Story of Floating Weeds
4. Merry Widow
5. Imitation of Life
6. Le Grand Jeu
7. Madame Bovary
8. The Thin Man
9. Man of Aran
10. Rapt
11. The Affairs of Cellini
12. Scarlet Empress
13. La Signora di Tutti
14. Twentieth Century
15. It Happened One Night
16. Marie Chapdelaine
17. The Lost Patrol
18. It’s a Gift
19. The Man Who Knew Too Much
20. The Scarlet Pimpernel