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Best Musical Movies of the 1930s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
69 musical films from the 1930s are in our catalog; the 50 best are ranked below. Top of the list is A Night at the Opera (1935), at 7.8 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 7.1. Biggest split between audiences and critics: Top Hat, 7.7 on IMDb against 93 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Night at the Opera '1935 | Comedy / Musical | 7.8 | 97% | - | 7.4 | Sam Wood |
| 2 | Top Hat '1935 | Musical / Comedy / Romance | 7.7 | 100% | 93 | 7.2 | Mark Sandrich |
| 3 | The Old Mill '1937 | Animation / Thriller / Musical / Horror | 7.7 | - | - | 7.3 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 4 | The Band Concert '1935 | Animation / Comedy / Musical | 7.8 | - | - | 7.2 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 5 | A Day at the Races '1937 | Comedy / Musical | 7.5 | 95% | - | 7.1 | Sam Wood |
| 6 | Three Little Pigs '1933 | Musical / Animation / Comedy | 7.5 | - | - | 6.9 | Burt Gillett |
| 7 | Footlight Parade '1933 | Comedy / Musical | 7.5 | 100% | 80 | 6.8 | Lloyd Bacon |
| 8 | Animal Crackers '1930 | Comedy / Musical | 7.4 | 97% | 77 | 6.9 | Victor Heerman |
| 9 | A Song of Lisbon '1933 | Musical / Comedy | 7.7 | - | - | 8.5 | José Cottinelli Telmo |
| 10 | I Love to Singa '1936 | Animation / Comedy / Musical | 7.6 | - | - | 6.8 | Tex Avery |
| 11 | À Nous la Liberté '1931 | Comedy / Musical | 7.4 | 100% | - | 7.0 | René Clair |
| 12 | Show Boat '1936 | Musical / Romance / Drama | 7.4 | 100% | 88 | 6.7 | James Whale |
| 13 | Le Million '1931 | Comedy / Musical | 7.4 | 100% | - | 6.8 | René Clair |
| 14 | Snow-White '1933 | Animation / Fantasy / Comedy / Musical | 7.4 | - | - | 6.8 | Dave Fleischer |
| 15 | Flowers and Trees '1932 | Animation / Musical / Romance / Comedy / Thriller | 7.2 | - | - | 6.9 | Burt Gillett |
| 16 | Music Land '1935 | Animation / Musical / Romance | 7.4 | - | - | 6.9 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 17 | Minnie the Moocher '1932 | Musical / Animation / Comedy / Fantasy / Horror | 7.3 | - | - | 6.6 | Dave Fleischer |
| 18 | Bimbo's Initiation '1931 | Comedy / Animation / Musical / Horror | 7.3 | - | - | 7.0 | Dave Fleischer |
| 19 | San Francisco '1936 | Drama / Romance / Musical | 7.1 | 92% | - | 6.6 | W.S. Van Dyke |
| 20 | The 3 Penny Opera '1931 | Musical / Crime | 7.2 | 80% | - | 7.1 | G.W. Pabst |
| 21 | The Merry Widow '1934 | Comedy / Musical / Romance | 7.2 | 89% | - | 6.8 | Ernst Lubitsch |
| 22 | Woodland Café '1937 | Animation / Musical | 6.7 | - | - | 6.5 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 23 | Bright Eyes '1934 | Drama / Musical | 7.2 | 83% | - | 6.7 | David Butler |
| 24 | The Devil's Brother '1933 | Comedy / Musical | 7.1 | - | - | 6.8 | Hal Roach |
| 25 | One Hundred Men and a Girl '1937 | Comedy / Musical | 6.7 | 88% | - | 6.4 | Henry Koster |
| 26 | Roberta '1935 | Comedy / Musical / Romance | 7.0 | 86% | 66 | 7.1 | William A. Seiter |
| 27 | The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle '1939 | Musical / Romance | 6.9 | 86% | 67 | 7.0 | H. C. Potter |
| 28 | A Damsel in Distress '1937 | Musical / Comedy / Romance | 6.8 | 71% | - | 6.5 | George Stevens |
| 29 | The Little Colonel '1935 | Musical | 7.0 | - | - | 6.6 | David Butler |
| 30 | An Optical Poem '1938 | Animation / Musical | 7.0 | - | - | 6.8 | Oskar Fischinger |
| 31 | Swing You Sinners! '1930 | Animation / Horror / Musical | 7.6 | - | - | 6.9 | Dave Fleischer |
| 32 | The Grasshopper and the Ants '1934 | Animation / Musical | 7.1 | - | - | 6.4 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 33 | Four Daughters '1938 | Drama / Musical / Romance | 6.9 | 100% | - | 6.6 | Michael Curtiz |
| 34 | Carefree '1938 | Musical / Comedy / Romance | 6.9 | 57% | - | 6.7 | Mark Sandrich |
| 35 | The Cookie Carnival '1935 | Animation / Musical / Romance | 6.9 | - | - | 6.7 | Ben Sharpsteen |
| 36 | Have You Got Any Castles '1938 | Animation / Comedy / Musical | 6.8 | - | - | 6.6 | Frank Tashlin |
| 37 | Dames '1934 | Romance / Musical / Comedy | 7.0 | 60% | - | 6.5 | Ray Enright |
| 38 | The Mikado '1939 | Romance / Comedy / Musical | 6.4 | - | - | 7.0 | Victor Schertzinger |
| 39 | Alexander's Ragtime Band '1938 | Musical / Drama / Romance | 6.8 | 83% | - | 6.8 | Henry King |
| 40 | At the Circus '1939 | Comedy / Musical | 6.8 | 91% | - | 6.4 | Edward Buzzell |
| 41 | Mickey's Grand Opera '1936 | Animation / Musical | 6.7 | - | - | 6.5 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 42 | Curly Top '1935 | Musical / Comedy | 6.8 | - | - | 6.5 | Irving Cummings |
| 43 | Dancing Lady '1933 | Comedy / Romance / Musical | 6.8 | 80% | - | 6.9 | Robert Z. Leonard |
| 44 | Farmyard Symphony '1938 | Animation / Musical | 6.5 | - | - | 6.5 | Jack Cutting |
| 45 | The Wise Little Hen '1934 | Animation / Comedy / Musical | 6.9 | - | - | 6.6 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 46 | The Whoopee Party '1932 | Animation / Comedy / Musical | 6.3 | - | - | 6.3 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 47 | Mickey's Revue '1932 | Animation / Musical / Comedy | 6.4 | - | - | 5.9 | Wilfred Jackson |
| 48 | Born to Dance '1936 | Comedy / Musical / Romance | 6.7 | - | - | 6.1 | Roy Del Ruth |
| 49 | Song at Midnight '1937 | Horror / Drama / Musical / Romance | 6.1 | - | - | 6.0 | Weibang Ma-Xu |
| 50 | The Littlest Rebel '1935 | Comedy / Drama / Musical / War | 6.7 | 89% | - | 6.3 | David Butler |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
All musical movies
All movies of the 1930s
Musical in other decades
Other genres in the 1930s
Action of the 1930s Animation of the 1930s Comedy of the 1930s Crime of the 1930s Drama of the 1930s Fantasy of the 1930s Horror of the 1930s Mystery of the 1930s Romance of the 1930s Thriller of the 1930s War of the 1930s Western of the 1930s
Directors on this list
Sam Wood Mark Sandrich Wilfred Jackson Burt Gillett Lloyd Bacon Tex Avery René Clair James Whale Dave Fleischer W.S. Van Dyke G.W. Pabst Ernst Lubitsch
Actors on this list
Groucho Marx Chico Marx Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers Clarence Nash Billy Bletcher Pinto Colvig James Cagney Joan Blondell Harpo Marx Irene Dunne Mae Questel