The Best Movies of 1929
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1Walt Disney, Marcellite GarnerMickey's selling hot dogs at the fair and heckling rival barker Kat Nipp; later, he serenades "shimmy dancer" Minnie with the help of two rowdy cat pals.
2Jackie Cooper, Jean Darling, Harry SpearBouncing Babies is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 92nd Our Gang short to be released.
3Stan Laurel, Oliver HardyThe Hoose-Gow is a 1929 short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by James Parrott and produced by Hal Roach.
4Jackie Cooper, Jean Darling, Norman ChaneyBoxing Gloves is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan under the pseudonym "Anthony Mack". Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on September 9, 1929, it was the 90th Our Gang short to be released.
5Jean Darling, Norman Chaney, Harry SpearLazy Days is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 89th Our Gang short to be released.
6Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar KennedyPerfect Day is a 1929 short comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy.
7Jackie Cooper, Edgar Kennedy, Norman ChaneyMoan and Groan, Inc. is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 94th Our Gang short to be released.
8Jean Darling, Harry Spear, Allen HoskinsSmall Talk is a 1929 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 86th entry in the Our Gang series to be released, and the first to be made with sound.
9Jean Harlow, Stan Laurel, Oliver HardyBacon Grabbers is a 1929 silent comedy short starring Laurel and Hardy.
10Betty Compson, Sally O'Neil, Arthur LakeJerry (Sam Hardy) is at the end of his rope. His Broadway-bound musical is suffering from numerous setbacks during trial performances in New Jersey. Jerry must deal with temperamental leading lady Nita (Betty Compson), smug comic Joe Beaton (Joe E. Brown), starstruck chorus girl Kitty (Sally O'Neil) and a dwindling supply of funds. During a performance, Nita storms off the stage to protest her poor compensation, and Kitty must take her place. Can Jerry's production be saved?
11John Wayne, Myrna Loy, Randolph ScottThe Black Watch is a 1929 American adventure epic film directed by John Ford and starring Victor McLaglen, Myrna Loy, and David Torrence. Written by James Kevin McGuinness based on the novel King of the Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy, the film is about a captain in the British Army's Black Watch regiment assigned to a secret mission in India just as his company is called to France at the outbreak of war. His covert assignment results in his being considered a coward by his fellows, a suspicion confirmed when he becomes involved in a drunken brawl in India that results in the death of another officer. The film features an uncredited 21-year-old John Wayne working as an extra; he also worked in the arts and costume department for the film.- Mickey owns and performs at his own theatre, going in drag as a harem girl, in a derby as a Hasidic Jew, and finally in a wig as a fancy pianist.
13Jean Harlow, Jean Arthur, Clara BowThe Saturday Night Kid is an early talking romantic comedy film about two sisters and the man they both want. It stars Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, James Hall, and in her first credited role, Jean Harlow. The film was based on the play Love 'Em and Leave 'Em by George Abbott and John V. A. Weaver. This movie still survives.
14Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico MarxIn an effort to keep his business, Hotel de Cocoanuts, from bankruptcy, owner Hammer (Groucho Marx) flatters and cajoles the wealthy Mrs. Potter (Margaret Dumont), his only paying guest. While Mrs. Potter's daughter, Polly (Mary Eaton), has romantic designs on the hotel clerk, Bob (Oscar Shaw), two other guests compete with Hammer for Mrs. Potter's attentions. Meanwhile, brothers Harpo (Harpo Marx) and Chico (Chico Marx) take advantage of Hammer's inattention to wreak havoc around the hotel.More The Cocoanuts
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15The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Phillips Holmes, Clive Brook, H. Reeves-SmithThe Return of Sherlock Holmes is a 1929 American mystery film directed by Basil Dean and starring Clive Brook, H. Reeves-Smith and Betty Lawford. The film shares its title with the third volume of the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A copy is held at the Library of Congress.
16Mickey's Mix-Up
Mickey Rooney, Kendall McComas, Delia BogardMickey's Mix-Up is a 1929 short film in Larry Darmour's Mickey McGuire series starring a young Mickey Rooney. Directed by Albert Herman, the two-reel short was released to theaters on October 13, 1929 by RKO.
17Lupe Vélez, Monte Blue, H.B. WarnerTiger Rose is a 1929 early sound adventure film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by George Fitzmaurice and is based on a 1917 play, Tiger Rose, by Willard Mack. This film is a remake of a 1923 Warner Brothers silent that starred Lenore Ulric who also starred on Broadway in Mack's play. Among the cast members in this film are Monte Blue, Lupe Velez and Rin Tin Tin. This film is preserved in the Library of Congress collection and Museum of Modern Art, New York.
18St. Louis Blues
Bessie SmithSt. Louis Blues is a 1929 American two-reel short film starring Bessie Smith. The early sound film features Smith in an African-American speakeasy of the prohibition era singing the W. C. Handy standard, "St. Louis Blues". Directed by Dudley Murphy, it is the only known film of Bessie Smith, and the soundtrack is her only recording not controlled by Columbia Records. Bessie Smith had a hit on the song in 1925 and Handy himself asked Bessie Smith to appear in the movie. Handy co-authored the film and was the musical director. The film was a dramatization of the song, a woman left alone by her roving man. It features a band that included James P. Johnson on piano, Thomas Morris and Joe Smith on cornet, as well as the Hall Johnson Choir with some thrilling harmonies at the end. The film has an all African-American cast. Bessie Smith co-stars with the dancer and actor Jimmy Mordecai as the boyfriend and Isabel Washington Powell as the other woman. It was filmed in June 1929 in Astoria, Queens. The film is about 16 minutes long.
19Port Whines
Port Whines is an animated short film by the Columbia Pictures Corporation. It is also the 136th Krazy Kat cartoon.
20Ratskin
Ratskin is a 1929 animated cartoon released by Columbia Pictures starring Krazy Kat. It is the first cartoon to be released by Columbia Pictures and the first Krazy Kat cartoon released with sound.
21Gentlemen of the Press
Walter Huston, Kay FrancisGentlemen of the Press is a 1929 all-talking film starring Walter Huston in his first feature film role and Kay Francis in her first film role. The film still survives. This film's copyright has expired and is now in the public domain. It survives in a copy sold to MCA for television distribution. The film is based on Ward Morehouse's 1928 Broadway play Gentlemen of the Press.
22John Wayne, Helen Chandler, George O'BrienSalute is a motion picture directed by John Ford, starring George O’Brien, Helen Chandler, William Janney, Stepin Fetchit, and Frank Albertson about the football rivalry of the Army–Navy Game, and of two brothers, played by O'Brien and Janney, one of West Point, the other of Annapolis. John Wayne had an uncredited role in the film, as one of three midshipmen who perform a mild hazing. The film was partly filmed on location at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
23Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully MarshallThunderbolt is a 1929 proto-noir film which tells the story of a criminal, facing execution, who wants to kill the man in the next cell for being in love with his girlfriend. It stars George Bancroft, Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully Marshall and Eugenie Besserer. The movie was adapted by Herman J. Mankiewicz, Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Josef von Sternberg from the story by Charles Furthman and Jules Furthman. It was directed by Sternberg. Bancroft was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
24William Boyd, Owen Moore, Carol LombardA blizzard forces a busload of passengers to seek refuge in an abandoned church. The group includes Billie (Carole Lombard), a young woman being taken to prison, and her police escort, Detective Dan Egan (Owen Moore). But they're not alone. The mysterious and edgy Bill (William Boyd) is already there and sitting on a supply of food that he's determined to control. Billie and Bill, who have bonded, plan an escape, but in doing so they'll be endangering the lives of the others.
25Janet Gaynor, Jackie Cooper, El BrendelSunny Side Up is a Fox Movietone movie musical starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, with original songs, story, and dialogue by B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson. The romantic comedy/musical premiered on October 3, 1929 at the Gaiety Theatre in New York City. The film was directed by David Butler, had Multicolor sequences, and a running time of 121 minutes.
26Grant Withers, James Kirkwood, Sr.The Time, the Place and the Girl is a 1929 American black-and-white musical film. The original concept was developed by the creative staff as a musical comedy which opened on Broadway in 1907. It bears no affiliation with the 1946 musical film of the same name This film is now considered lost.
27Walt Disney, Marcellite GarnerMickey wants to take Minnie to a dance, but Pete's flashy car beats Mickey's horse-drawn wagon as her transportation of choice. At the dance, Mickey uses some balloons to make himself light on his feet - the perfect dancing partner - but this doesn't keep Minnie at his side for long, either.
28Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Valli, Ervin NyiregyháziThe Lost Zeppelin is a 1929 adventure film written by Frances Hyland, Charles Kenyon and Jack Natteford and directed by Edward Sloman.
29Jean Harlow, Stan Laurel, Oliver HardyDouble Whoopee is a 1929 Hal Roach Studios silent short comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot during February 1929 and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on May 18 of that year.
30Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Thelma ToddUnaccustomed As We Are is the first sound comedy short film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy released on May 4, 1929.
