Ranking the best films pre 1950

Have run through this again, so far specifically focusing on this period.

Importantly I am insisting on the whole film being an enjoyable watch.

Technical or stylistic innovation is rewarded, but only if it makes the grade on watchability.

It is in all honest impossible to rank these when they are so different to one another.
Even particular films are difficult to know how to assess. Gone With the Wind for example is visually utterly stunning. A bigger leap forward than 2001 Space Odyssey. But I find the story so so, the heroin loathsome, and the whole thing of questionable ethics.
Wizard of Oz was also a technical marvel, but I find it difficult to rate as an adult.
Reading the contemporary reviews, GWTW as well as Robin Hood, Snow White, Wizard of Oz and to an extent Prince Achmed obviously blew audiences away, understandably, and I think that needs to be considered.

This is what I've come up with this time:

26. Vampyr 1932
25. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1927
24. Key Largo 1948
23. Scarface 1932
22. Laura 1944
21. Rebecca 1940

20. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1936
19. Out of the Past 1947
18. Brief Encounter 19451
17. Meshes of the Afternoon 1943
16. The Roaring Twenties 1939
15. Bicycle Thieves 1948
14. Rome, Open City 1945
13. Ornamental Hairpin 1941
12. Gone With the Wind 1939
11. My Darling Clementine 1946

10. The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938
9. Panique 1946
8. The Wizard of Oz 1939
7. The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928
6. Blackmail 1929
5. Casablanca 1942
4. The Adventures of Prince Achmed 1926
3. The Third Man 1949
2. Salt for Svanetia 1930
1. Day of Wrath 1943

This would give me the following decade lists:


1920s
(The General USA Buster Keaton 1926
The Thief of Bagdad USA Raoul Walsh 1924
Sherlock Jr USA Charlie Chaplin 1924
Pandora's Box Germany G.W. Pabst 1929)
4. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1927
3. The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928
2. Blackmail 1929
1. The Adventures of Prince Achmed 1926

1930s
8. Vampyr 1932
7. Scarface 1932
6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1936
5. The Roaring Twenties 1939
4. Gone With the Wind 1939
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938
2. The Wizard of Oz 1939
1. Salt for Svanetia 1930

1940s
14. Key Largo 1948
13. Laura 1944
12. Rebecca 1940
11. Out of the Past 1947
10. Brief Encounter 1945
9. Meshes of the Afternoon 1943
8. Bicycle Thieves 1948
7. Rome, Open City 1945
6. Ornamental Hairpin 1941
5. My Darling Clementine 1946
4. Panique 1946
3. Casablanca 1942
2. The Third Man 1949
1. Day of Wrath 1943

Anyway, this is what I've come up with for the 50s. Very similar to what I had actually which I'm pleased about.
Bridge on the River Kwai's fallen because I'm sick of the stiff upper lip bollocks.

20/ 3:10 To Yuma 1957 USA Delmer Daves
19. A Man Escaped 1956 France Robert Bresson
18. The Cranes are Flying 1957 USSR Mikhail Kalatozov
17. The Killing 1955 USA Stanley Kubrick
16. 12 Angry Men 1957 USA Sydney Lumet
15. Bob the Gambler 1956 France Jean-Pierre Melville
14. La Point Courte 1955 France Agnès Varda
13. The King and I 1956 USA Walter Lang
12. Stromboli (italian version) 1950 Italy Roberto Rossellini
11. Bridge On The River Kwai 1957 UK David Lean
10. Touch of Evil 1958 USA Orson Welles
9. Rebel Without a Cause 1955 USA Nicholas Ray
8. The First Echelon 1955 USSR Mikhael Kalatazov
7. On the Waterfront 1954 USA Elia Kazan
6. Anatomy of a Murder 1959 USA Otto Preminger
5. North by Northwest 1959 USA Alfred Hitchcock
4. Pather Panchali 1955 India Satyijat Ray
3. The Music Room 1958 India Satyajit Ray
2. Journey to Italy 1954 Italy Roberto Rossellini
1. Rear Window 1954 USA Alfred Hitchcock

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Bicycle Thieves
The Grand Illusion
The Grapes of Wrath
Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
Dodsworth
Shoeshine
The Devil and Daniel Webster
La Tera Trema
You Can't Take It With You
Citizen Kane
M
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Meet John Doe
The Lost Weekend
Casablanca
The Ox-Bow Incident
Late Spring
Le Jour Se Le Vie
Day of Wrath
Record of a Tenement Gentleman
Die Brücke

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So, up to 1939 I'm going something like:

34 The Thief of Bagdad 1924 USA Raoul Walsh
33 The Toll of the Sea 1922 USA Chester M. Franklin
32 Vampyr 1932 Germany Carl Theodor Dreyer
31 Gone With the Wind 1939 USA Victor Fleming
30 Pandora's Box 1929 Germany G.W. Pabst
29 The Mark of Zorro 1920 USA Fred Niblo
28 The General 1926 USA Buster Keaton
27 The Blue Angel 1930 Germany Josef von Sternberg
26 M 1931 Germany Fritz Lang
25 A Night at the Opera 1935 USA Sam Wood
24 The Roaring Twenties 1939 USA Raoul Walsh
23 Napoleon 1927 France Abel Gance
22 Port of Shadows 1938 France Marcel Carné
21 Scarface 1932 USA Howard Hawks
20 J'Accuse 1919 France Abel Gance
19 Way Down East 1920 USA DW Griffith
18 The Phantom of the Opera 1925 USA Rupert Julian
17 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1927 USA F.W. Murnau
16 The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 USA Michael Curtiz
15 Blackmail 1929 UK Alfred Hitchcock
14 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928 France Carl Theodor Dreyer
13 The Lodger 1927 UK Alfred Hitchcock
12 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 USA various
11 The Adventures of Prince Achmed 1926 Germany Lotte Reiniger
10 The Birth of a Nation 1915 USA DW Grifffith
9 Story of the Last Chrysanthemum 1939 Japan Kenji Mizoguchi
8 Limite 1931 Brazil Mário Peixoto
7 Mr Smith Goes to Washington 1939 USA Frank Capra
6 The Wizard of Oz 1939 USA Victor Fleming
5 The Great White Silence (doc) 1924 UK Herbery Ponting
4 Man With a Movie Camera (doc) 1929 USSR Dziga Vertov
3 Salt for Svanetia 1930 USSR Mikhael Kalatazov
2 Seven Chances 1925 USA Buster Keaton
1 Strike 1925 USSR Sergei Eisenstein

Ctrl + F. Searched for Metropolis, and for Nosferatu. 0 results. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU.

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1. Late Spring
2. Double Indemnity
3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
4. It Happened One Night
5. Man With a Movie Camera
6. Arsenic and Old Lace
7. City Lights
8. Out of the Past
9. Meshes of the Afternoon
10. To Be or Not to Be
11. The Phantom Carriage
12. M

It really is so difficult comparing different eras and different genres, and depends what you are looking for, but with attention to both technical brilliance and entertainment/watchability*, I've come up with something like this:

1. Late Spring 1949 Japan Yasujirō Ozu
2. Limite 1931 Brazil Mário Peixoto
3. Day of Wrath 1943 Denmark Carl Theodor Dreyer
4. Notorious 1946 USA Alfred Hitchcock
5. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog 1927 UK Alfred Hitchcock
6. Man With a Movie Camera 1929 Soviet Union Dziga Vertov
7. Stray Dog 1949 Japan Akira Kurosawa
8. Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949 UK Robert Hamer
9. Meshes of the Afternoon 1943 USA Maya Deren
10. Strike 1925 Soviet Union Sergei Eisenstein
11. Salt for Svanetia 1930 Soviet Union Mikhael Kalatazov
12. The Adventures of Prince Achmed 1926 Germany Lotte Reiniger
13. The Third Man 1949 UK Carol Reed
14. Rome, Open City 1945 Italy Roberto Rossellini
15. Bicycle Thieves 1948 Italy Vittorio De Sica
16. Panique 1946 France Julien Duvivier
17. Out of the Past 1947 USA Jacques Tourneur
18. Casablanca 1942 USA Michael Curtiz
19. Mr Smith Goes to Washington 1939 USA Frank Capra
20. Seven Chances 1925 USA Buster Keaton
21. Vampyr 1932 Carl Theodor Dreyer
22. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1928
23. Leave Her to Heaven 1945 USA John M. Stahl
24. La Belle et La Bete 1946 France Jean Cocteau
25. The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928 France Carl Theodor Dreyer


*edit: and originality

Great list Speling. Chuffed to see another Late Spring fan. Such a delight.

I award you 1000 points for being the first to menrion this one.