Greatest Film Performances
of the 1930s (US/UK)
Criteria: Film Performances of the 1930s are ranked based on initial and lasting acclaim, popular and cultural recognition, plus influence. In order to qualify for this list the performance has to come from a predominately English-language film produced or co-produced by American or British production companies.
Actor - Film Title (Year of Release)
1. James Stewart
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
2. Charlie Chaplin
City Lights (1931)
3. Vivien Leigh
Gone With the Wind (1939)
4. Charlie Chaplin
The Modern Times (1936)
5. Clark Gable
Gone With the Wind (1939)
6. James Cagney
The Public Enemy (1931)
7. Cary Grant
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
8. Bette Davis
Jezebel (1938)
9. Gary Cooper
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
10. Greta Garbo
Camille (1936)
11. Bette Davis
Of Human Bondage (1934)
12. Katharine Hepburn
Morning Glory (1933)
13. Charles Laughton
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
14. Paul Muni
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
15. Greta Garbo
Anna Christie (1930)
16. Norma Shearer
The Divorcee (1930)
17. Clark Gable
It Happened One Night (1934)
18. Claudette Colbert
It Happened One Night (1934)
19. James Cagney
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
20. Laurence Olivier
Wuthering Heights (1939)
21. Spencer Tracy
Boys Town (1938)
22. Bette Davis
Dangerous (1935)
23. Katharine Hepburn
Holiday (1938)
24. Greta Garbo
Ninotchka (1939)
25. Charles Laughton
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
26. Helen Hayes
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
27. Edward G. Robinson
Little Caesar (1931)
28. Fredric March
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
29. Spencer Tracy
Captains Courageous (1937)
30. William Powell
The Thin Man (1934)
31. Jean Harlow
Red Dust (1932)
32. Paul Muni
Scarface (1932)
33. Bette Davis
Dark Victory (1939)
34. Robert Donat
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
35. Leslie Howard
Pygmalion (1938)
36. Katharine Hepburn
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
37. Thomas Mitchell
Stagecoach (1939)
38. Judy Garland
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
39. John Wayne
Stagecoach (1939)
40. Katharine Hepburn
Little Women (1933)
41. Greta Garbo
Queen Christina (1933)
42. Claude Rains
The Invisible Man (1933)
43. Groucho Marx
Duck Soup (1933)
44. Peter Lorre
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
45. Myrna Loy
The Thin Man (1934)
46. W.C. Fields
It's a Gift (1934)
47. Victor McLaglen
The Informer (1935)
48. Paul Muni
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
49. Luise Rainer
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
50. Luise Rainer
The Good Earth (1937)
51. Robert Montgomery
Night Must Fall (1937)
52. Katharine Hepburn
Alice Adams (1935)
53. Fred Astaire
Top Hat (1935)
54. Margaret Sullavan
Three Comrades (1938)
55. Fredric March
The Royal Family of Broadway (1930)
56. Marie Dressler
Min and Bill (1930)
57. Shirley Temple
Bright Eyes (1934)
58. Robert Donat
The Citadel (1938)
59. Wendy Hiller
Pygmalion (1938)
60. Claude Rains
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
61. Ray Bolger
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
62. Greer Garson
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
63. Marlene Dietrich
Morocco (1930)
64. Greta Garbo
Romance (1930)
65. Greta Garbo
Grand Hotel (1932)
66. Marlene Dietrich
Shanghai Express (1932)
67. Clark Gable
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
68. Boris Karloff
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
69. Cary Grant
The Awful Truth (1937)
70. Paul Muni
Black Fury (1935)
71. Ginger Rogers
Top Hat (1935)
72. Irene Dunne
The Awful Truth (1937)
73. Greta Garbo
Anna Karenina (1935)
74. Boris Karloff
Frankenstein (1931)
75. John Barrymore
Grand Hotel (1932)
76. Lew Ayers
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
77. Miriam Hopkins
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
78. Herbert Marshall
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
79. Clark Gable
Red Dust (1932)
80. Wallace Beery
The Champ (1931)
81. Irene Dunne
Cimarron (1931)
82. Lionel Barrymore
A Free Soul (1931)
83. Henry Fonda
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
84. Irene Dunne
Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
85. Walter Huston
Dodsworth (1936)
86. Miriam Hopkins
Becky Sharp (1935)
87. Groucho Marx
A Night at the Opera (1935)
88. Michael Redgrave
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
89. Mickey Rooney
Boys Town (1938)
90. Fay Bainter
White Banners (1938)
91. Olivia de Havilland
Gone with the Wind (1939)
92. Paul Muni
The Good Earth (1937)
93. Charles Boyer
Conquest (1937)
94. Fredric March
A Star Is Born (1937)
95. Barbara Stanwyck
Stella Dallas (1937)
96. Carole Lombard
My Man Godfrey (1936)
97. William Powell
My Man Godfrey (1936)
98. Spencer Tracy
San Francisco (1936)
99. Errol Flynn
Captain Blood (1935)
100. Robert Donat
The 39 Steps (1935)
101. Bela Lugosi
Dracula (1931)
102. Stan Laurel
Babes in Toyland (1934)
103. Oliver Hardy
Babes in Toyland (1934)
104. Fred Astaire
Swing Time (1936)
105. Ginger Rogers
Swing Time (1936)
106. Jean Arthur
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
107. Janet Gaynor
A Star Is Born (1937)
108. Paul Muni
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
109. Ronald Colman
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
110. Mickey Rooney
Babes in Arms (1939)
111. Irene Dunne
Love Affair (1939)
112. Frank Morgan
The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
113. Norma Shearer
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
114. Oliver Hardy
Sons of the Desert (1933)
115. Stan Laurel
Sons of the Desert (1933)
116. Wallace Beery
The Big House (1930)
117. Ruth Chatterton
Sarah and Son (1930)
118. Joan Crawford
Grand Hotel (1932)
119. Gary Cooper
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
120. Ronald Colman
Arrowsmith (1931)
121. Barbara Stanwyck
Night Nurse (1931)
122. Barbara Stanwyck
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
123. Norma Shearer
Marie Antoinette (1938)
124. Elisabeth Bergner
Escape Me Never (1935)
125. Merle Oberon
The Dark Angel (1935)
126. Claudette Colbert
Private Worlds (1935)
127. Marie Dresser
Dinner at Eight (1933)
128. Leslie Howard
Berkeley Square (1933)
129. John Barrymore
Counsellor At Law (1933)
130. Grace Moore
One Night of Love (1934)
131. Charles Laughton
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
132. John Barrymore
Twentieth Century (1934)
133. Jean Harlow
Bombshell (1933)
134. May Robson
Lady for a Day (1933)
135. Jean Harlow
Dinner at Eight (1933)
136. Ann Harding
Holiday (1930)
137. Nancy Carroll
The Devil's Holiday (1930)
138. Norma Shearer
Their Own Desire (1930)
139. Marie Dressler
Emma (1932)
140. Louis Wolheim
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
141. Jackie Cooper
Skippy (1931)
142. Alfred Lunt
The Guardsman (1931)
143. Lynn Fontanne
The Guardsman (1931)
144. Walter Brennan
Come and Get It (1936)
145. Miriam Hopkins
These Three (1936)
146. Walter Brennan
Kentucky (1938)
147. Alice Brady
In Old Chicago (1938)
148. Joseph Schildkraut
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
149. May Whitty
Night Must Fall (1937)
150. Thomas Mitchell
The Hurricane (1937)
151. Gladys George
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936)
152. Ralph Bellamy
The Awful Truth (1937)
153. Eugene Pallette
My Man Godfrey (1936)
154. Errol Flynn
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
155. Charles Boyer
Algiers (1938)
156. Oliver Hardy
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
157. Stan Laurel
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
158. Diana Wynyard
Cavalcade (1933)
159. Victor McLaglen
The Lost Patrol (1934)
160. Claudette Colbert
Imitation of Life (1934)
161. Paul Lukas
Little Women (1933)
162. James Cagney
Footlight Parade (1933)
163. Marie Dressler
Anna Christie (1930)
164. Lon Chaney
The Unholy Three (1930)
165. Jean Harlow
Hell's Angels (1930)
166. George Arliss
The Green Godness (1930)
167. Irene Dunne
Show Boat (1936)
168. Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
169. Victor Moore
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
170. Adolphe Menjou
The Front Page (1931)
171. Clark Gable
A Free Soul (1931)
172. Marlene Dietrich
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
173. Warner Baxter
42nd Street (1933)
174. Norma Shearer
A Free Soul (1931)
175. Maurice Chevalier
Love Me Tonight (1932)
176. Robert Donat
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
177. Henry Brandon
Babes in Toyland (1934)
178. Fredi Washington
Imitation of Life (1934)
179. Franchot Tone
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
180. Thomas Mitchell
Gone With the Wind (1939)
181. Basil Rathbone
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
182. Boris Karloff
The Mummy (1932)
183. Johnny Weissmuller
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
184. Olga Baclanova
Freaks (1932)
185. Elsa Lancaster
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
186. Olivia de Havilland
Captain Blood (1935)
187. Anne Shirley
Stella Dallas (1937)
188. Lionel Barrymore
Captains Courageous (1937)
189. Lawrence Tibbett
The Rogue Song (1930)
190. Maurice Chevalier
The Big Pond (1930)
191. Jeanette MacDonald
Love Me Tonight (1932)
192. Wallace Beery
Min and Bill (1930)
193. Joel McCrea
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
194. Greta Garbo
Mata Hari (1931)
195. Jackie Cooper
The Champ (1931)
196. Robert Morley
Marie Antoinette (1938)
197. Geraldine Fitzgerald
Wuthering Heights (1939)
198. Akim Tamiroff
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
199. Alice Brady
My Man Godfrey (1936)
200. Hattie McDaniel
Gone with the Wind (1939)
1. James Stewart
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
2. Charlie Chaplin
City Lights (1931)
3. Vivien Leigh
Gone With the Wind (1939)
4. Charlie Chaplin
The Modern Times (1936)
5. Clark Gable
Gone With the Wind (1939)
6. James Cagney
The Public Enemy (1931)
7. Cary Grant
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
8. Bette Davis
Jezebel (1938)
9. Gary Cooper
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
10. Greta Garbo
Camille (1936)
11. Bette Davis
Of Human Bondage (1934)
12. Katharine Hepburn
Morning Glory (1933)
13. Charles Laughton
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
14. Paul Muni
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
15. Greta Garbo
Anna Christie (1930)
16. Norma Shearer
The Divorcee (1930)
17. Clark Gable
It Happened One Night (1934)
18. Claudette Colbert
It Happened One Night (1934)
19. James Cagney
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
20. Laurence Olivier
Wuthering Heights (1939)
21. Spencer Tracy
Boys Town (1938)
22. Bette Davis
Dangerous (1935)
23. Katharine Hepburn
Holiday (1938)
24. Greta Garbo
Ninotchka (1939)
25. Charles Laughton
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
26. Helen Hayes
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)
27. Edward G. Robinson
Little Caesar (1931)
28. Fredric March
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
29. Spencer Tracy
Captains Courageous (1937)
30. William Powell
The Thin Man (1934)
31. Jean Harlow
Red Dust (1932)
32. Paul Muni
Scarface (1932)
33. Bette Davis
Dark Victory (1939)
34. Robert Donat
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
35. Leslie Howard
Pygmalion (1938)
36. Katharine Hepburn
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
37. Thomas Mitchell
Stagecoach (1939)
38. Judy Garland
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
39. John Wayne
Stagecoach (1939)
40. Katharine Hepburn
Little Women (1933)
41. Greta Garbo
Queen Christina (1933)
42. Claude Rains
The Invisible Man (1933)
43. Groucho Marx
Duck Soup (1933)
44. Peter Lorre
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
45. Myrna Loy
The Thin Man (1934)
46. W.C. Fields
It's a Gift (1934)
47. Victor McLaglen
The Informer (1935)
48. Paul Muni
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
49. Luise Rainer
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
50. Luise Rainer
The Good Earth (1937)
51. Robert Montgomery
Night Must Fall (1937)
52. Katharine Hepburn
Alice Adams (1935)
53. Fred Astaire
Top Hat (1935)
54. Margaret Sullavan
Three Comrades (1938)
55. Fredric March
The Royal Family of Broadway (1930)
56. Marie Dressler
Min and Bill (1930)
57. Shirley Temple
Bright Eyes (1934)
58. Robert Donat
The Citadel (1938)
59. Wendy Hiller
Pygmalion (1938)
60. Claude Rains
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
61. Ray Bolger
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
62. Greer Garson
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
63. Marlene Dietrich
Morocco (1930)
64. Greta Garbo
Romance (1930)
65. Greta Garbo
Grand Hotel (1932)
66. Marlene Dietrich
Shanghai Express (1932)
67. Clark Gable
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
68. Boris Karloff
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
69. Cary Grant
The Awful Truth (1937)
70. Paul Muni
Black Fury (1935)
71. Ginger Rogers
Top Hat (1935)
72. Irene Dunne
The Awful Truth (1937)
73. Greta Garbo
Anna Karenina (1935)
74. Boris Karloff
Frankenstein (1931)
75. John Barrymore
Grand Hotel (1932)
76. Lew Ayers
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
77. Miriam Hopkins
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
78. Herbert Marshall
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
79. Clark Gable
Red Dust (1932)
80. Wallace Beery
The Champ (1931)
81. Irene Dunne
Cimarron (1931)
82. Lionel Barrymore
A Free Soul (1931)
83. Henry Fonda
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
84. Irene Dunne
Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
85. Walter Huston
Dodsworth (1936)
86. Miriam Hopkins
Becky Sharp (1935)
87. Groucho Marx
A Night at the Opera (1935)
88. Michael Redgrave
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
89. Mickey Rooney
Boys Town (1938)
90. Fay Bainter
White Banners (1938)
91. Olivia de Havilland
Gone with the Wind (1939)
92. Paul Muni
The Good Earth (1937)
93. Charles Boyer
Conquest (1937)
94. Fredric March
A Star Is Born (1937)
95. Barbara Stanwyck
Stella Dallas (1937)
96. Carole Lombard
My Man Godfrey (1936)
97. William Powell
My Man Godfrey (1936)
98. Spencer Tracy
San Francisco (1936)
99. Errol Flynn
Captain Blood (1935)
100. Robert Donat
The 39 Steps (1935)
101. Bela Lugosi
Dracula (1931)
102. Stan Laurel
Babes in Toyland (1934)
103. Oliver Hardy
Babes in Toyland (1934)
104. Fred Astaire
Swing Time (1936)
105. Ginger Rogers
Swing Time (1936)
106. Jean Arthur
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
107. Janet Gaynor
A Star Is Born (1937)
108. Paul Muni
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
109. Ronald Colman
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
110. Mickey Rooney
Babes in Arms (1939)
111. Irene Dunne
Love Affair (1939)
112. Frank Morgan
The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
113. Norma Shearer
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
114. Oliver Hardy
Sons of the Desert (1933)
115. Stan Laurel
Sons of the Desert (1933)
116. Wallace Beery
The Big House (1930)
117. Ruth Chatterton
Sarah and Son (1930)
118. Joan Crawford
Grand Hotel (1932)
119. Gary Cooper
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
120. Ronald Colman
Arrowsmith (1931)
121. Barbara Stanwyck
Night Nurse (1931)
122. Barbara Stanwyck
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
123. Norma Shearer
Marie Antoinette (1938)
124. Elisabeth Bergner
Escape Me Never (1935)
125. Merle Oberon
The Dark Angel (1935)
126. Claudette Colbert
Private Worlds (1935)
127. Marie Dresser
Dinner at Eight (1933)
128. Leslie Howard
Berkeley Square (1933)
129. John Barrymore
Counsellor At Law (1933)
130. Grace Moore
One Night of Love (1934)
131. Charles Laughton
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
132. John Barrymore
Twentieth Century (1934)
133. Jean Harlow
Bombshell (1933)
134. May Robson
Lady for a Day (1933)
135. Jean Harlow
Dinner at Eight (1933)
136. Ann Harding
Holiday (1930)
137. Nancy Carroll
The Devil's Holiday (1930)
138. Norma Shearer
Their Own Desire (1930)
139. Marie Dressler
Emma (1932)
140. Louis Wolheim
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
141. Jackie Cooper
Skippy (1931)
142. Alfred Lunt
The Guardsman (1931)
143. Lynn Fontanne
The Guardsman (1931)
144. Walter Brennan
Come and Get It (1936)
145. Miriam Hopkins
These Three (1936)
146. Walter Brennan
Kentucky (1938)
147. Alice Brady
In Old Chicago (1938)
148. Joseph Schildkraut
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
149. May Whitty
Night Must Fall (1937)
150. Thomas Mitchell
The Hurricane (1937)
151. Gladys George
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936)
152. Ralph Bellamy
The Awful Truth (1937)
153. Eugene Pallette
My Man Godfrey (1936)
154. Errol Flynn
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
155. Charles Boyer
Algiers (1938)
156. Oliver Hardy
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
157. Stan Laurel
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
158. Diana Wynyard
Cavalcade (1933)
159. Victor McLaglen
The Lost Patrol (1934)
160. Claudette Colbert
Imitation of Life (1934)
161. Paul Lukas
Little Women (1933)
162. James Cagney
Footlight Parade (1933)
163. Marie Dressler
Anna Christie (1930)
164. Lon Chaney
The Unholy Three (1930)
165. Jean Harlow
Hell's Angels (1930)
166. George Arliss
The Green Godness (1930)
167. Irene Dunne
Show Boat (1936)
168. Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
169. Victor Moore
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
170. Adolphe Menjou
The Front Page (1931)
171. Clark Gable
A Free Soul (1931)
172. Marlene Dietrich
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
173. Warner Baxter
42nd Street (1933)
174. Norma Shearer
A Free Soul (1931)
175. Maurice Chevalier
Love Me Tonight (1932)
176. Robert Donat
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
177. Henry Brandon
Babes in Toyland (1934)
178. Fredi Washington
Imitation of Life (1934)
179. Franchot Tone
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
180. Thomas Mitchell
Gone With the Wind (1939)
181. Basil Rathbone
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
182. Boris Karloff
The Mummy (1932)
183. Johnny Weissmuller
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
184. Olga Baclanova
Freaks (1932)
185. Elsa Lancaster
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
186. Olivia de Havilland
Captain Blood (1935)
187. Anne Shirley
Stella Dallas (1937)
188. Lionel Barrymore
Captains Courageous (1937)
189. Lawrence Tibbett
The Rogue Song (1930)
190. Maurice Chevalier
The Big Pond (1930)
191. Jeanette MacDonald
Love Me Tonight (1932)
192. Wallace Beery
Min and Bill (1930)
193. Joel McCrea
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
194. Greta Garbo
Mata Hari (1931)
195. Jackie Cooper
The Champ (1931)
196. Robert Morley
Marie Antoinette (1938)
197. Geraldine Fitzgerald
Wuthering Heights (1939)
198. Akim Tamiroff
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
199. Alice Brady
My Man Godfrey (1936)
200. Hattie McDaniel
Gone with the Wind (1939)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edited By: Tim, Bruno
List Begun: 2019-10-18