Movies from the 1930s available on 4K Blu-ray, ranked by transfer quality.
dir. Jean Vigo, Boris Kaufman
What starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Côte d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.
Curzon Film · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. James Whale
S-Tier Universal 4K. 90 years old and the transfer brings out detail in the makeup and set design that home video never showed before. Part of the Universal Monsters catalog.
Universal Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Michael Curtiz
S-Tier Criterion 4K. Errol Flynn swashbuckling in HDR.
Criterion Collection · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Howard Hughes
S-Tier Criterion 4K. Howard Hughes' 1930 WWI aviation epic. The aerial photography was pioneering for its time.
dir. Frank Capra
S-Tier Sony 4K with Dolby Vision. This comes inside the Frank Capra at Columbia box set for Columbia's 100th anniversary, 20 films with 9 in 4K. It Happened One Night is the headliner. The set looks expensive and some people are waiting for a 50% off sale, while others want to buy early to prove there's a market for this kind of deep-catalog release from a major studio.
Sony Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Jean Vigo
S-Tier Curzon Film 4K. Jean Vigo's 1934 masterpiece, part of The Complete Jean Vigo set from Curzon releasing in November. People who saw L'Atalante on the old Criterion Blu-ray are eager for this upgrade. Criterion will likely do their own 4K eventually, but the Curzon set is the first to market.
S-Tier Sony 4K with Dolby Vision. Part of the Frank Capra at Columbia box set for the 100th anniversary, alongside It Happened One Night. The set is 20 films with 9 in 4K. People are waiting for 50% off sales but also feeling pressure to buy early to show demand for this kind of catalog deep dive from a major studio.
dir. Marcel Carné
S-Tier StudioCanal 4K. Marcel Carne's 1938 French poetic realism classic with no relevant collector discussion around the disc.
StudioCanal · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen
Disney's S-Tier 4K of its first animated feature. The transfer drew praise right away, with the hand-painted detail looking better than it probably ever has on home video. The steelbook design got a colder reception, but the disc inside is the same regardless of packaging.
Walt Disney Studios · 4K + Blu-ray
Short documentary directed by Jean Vigo about the French swimmer Jean Taris. The film is notable for the many innovative techniques that Vigo uses, including close ups and freeze frames of the swimmer's body.
dir. Raoul Walsh
After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.
dir. Jean Renoir
The Marquis de la Chesnaye and his wife host a weekend gala where a variety of complicated romantic and social entanglements between guests and servants lead to tragedy, all against the backdrop of a looming war.
ESC Editions · 4K + Blu-ray
In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the director on a celebration day.
dir. Tod Browning
A-Tier Universal 4K. Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Part of the Universal Monsters catalog on 4K. The black-and-white transfer is clean.
In a remote region of Wales, five travelers beset by a relentless storm find shelter in an old mansion.
Eureka Entertainment · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Victor Fleming
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.
Warner Bros. · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. John Cromwell
A kingdom's ascending heir, marked for assassination, switches identities with a lookalike, who takes his place at the coronation. When the real king is kidnapped, his followers try to find him, while the stand-in falls in love with the king's intended bride, the beautiful Princess Flavia.
dir. John Ford
Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He's never late for work and nothing interesting ever happens to him. One day everything changes: he oversleeps and is fired as an example, he's then mistaken for evil criminal killer Mannion and is arrested. The resemblance is so striking that the police give him a special pass to avoid a similar mistake. The real Mannion sees the opportunity to steal the pass and move around freely and chaos results.
Powerhouse Films · Restored
dir. Ernst Lubitsch
Thief Gaston Monescu and pickpocket Lily are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet, the two crooks decide to combine their criminal talents to rob their employer. Under the alias of Monsieur Laval, Gaston uses his position as Mariette's personal secretary to become closer to her. However, he takes things too far when he actually falls in love with Mariette, and has to choose between her and Lily.
Criterion Collection · 4K + Blu-ray Special Edition
dir. Victor Halperin
A wealthy landowner living in Haiti convinces a sorcerer to lure the woman he has fallen for away from her fiancé. The madman later betrays their agreement by keeping the woman for himself…As a zombie.
