373 Films & TV Shows Set In North America During The 1930s
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Captains Courageous
Massachusetts Atlantic Ocean The 1930sAs great as "Mutiny on the Bounty" — Harvey, the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing vessel on the Grand Banks. Harvey fails to persuade them to take him ashore, nor convince the crew of his wealth. The captain offers him a low-paid job, until they return to port, as part of the crew that turns him into a mature, considerate young man.
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Charlie Chan at the Olympics
Hawaii 🇩🇪 Germany The 1930sMurderous Spies invade Olympic Games! — Get ready for a Gold Medal murder mystery! This "tense, thrilling mystery" ('California Congress of Parents and Teachers') pits Charlie Chan against international spies who are using the Berlin Olympic games as the perfect cover...for cold-blooded murder!
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People of the Cumberland
Tennessee The 1930sThe film takes place in rural Tennessee, where communities have experienced economic and environmental devastation created by the coal mining industry. The introduction of the Highlander Folk School in 1931 by educator Myles Horton and the movement to bring labor union representation to the region are shown as means of empowering the population. Efforts are made to stop the union activities with the murder of a local organizer, but eventually the union movement is able to take root with the local workforce.
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Hoosier Schoolboy
Indiana The 1930sA schoolteacher comes to a new town and finds herself caught up in the town's problems and disputes.
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Winterset
New York The 1930s The 1920sA man is determined to find the real culprit behind the crime for which his father was wrongly executed.
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The Ghost Goes West
Florida Scotland The 1930s The 18th CenturyThe most romantic ghost you've ever seen! — An American businessman's family convinces him to buy a Scottish castle and disassemble it to ship it to America brick by brick, where it will be put it back together. The castle though is not the only part of the deal, with it goes the several-hundred year old ghost who haunts it.
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Kid Millions
New York 🇪🇬 Egypt The 1930sHE HAD PLENTY OF DOLLARS AND NO SENSE! — A musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but has to go to Egypt to claim it.
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Massacre
Illinois The 1930sRodeo stunt rider Richard Barthelmess (as Joe "Chief" Thunder-Horse) thrills crowds at the Chicago "World's Fair" celebrating a century of progress in Native American Indian affairs. An assimilated Sioux, Mr. Barthelmess receives word that back on the Reservation his father is dying. Barthelmess takes time out to fulfill a sexual fantasy with shapely blonde Claire Dodd (as Norma), then drives to the Reservation with his happy-go-lucky manservant. On the way, he is attracted to red-skinned Ann Dvorak (as Lydia). Barthelmess discovers his forgotten brethren are being mistreated, and need help...
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42nd Street
New York The 1930sThe Greatest Musical hit the Screen Has Ever Known! — A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star.
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Gold Diggers of 1933
New York The 1930sThe Biggest Show On Earth! — Things get tough for Carol and her showgirl pals, Trixie and Polly, when the Great Depression kicks in and all the Broadway shows close down. Wealthy songwriter Brad saves the day by funding a new Depression-themed musical for the girls to star in, but when his stuffy high-society brother finds out and threatens to disown Brad, Carol and her gold-digging friends scheme to keep the show going, hooking a couple of millionaires along the way.
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Mystery of the Wax Museum
New York England The 1930s The 1920sWarner Bros.' Supreme Thriller — The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.
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Dinner at Eight
New York The 1930sAn ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.
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Gabriel Over the White House
District of Columbia The 1930sThe sensation of a nation! — A political hack becomes President during the height of the Depression and undergoes a metamorphosis into an incorruptible statesman after a near-fatal accident.
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Hallelujah, I'm a Bum
New York The 1930sA New York tramp falls in love with the mayor's amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt.
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Bosko's Picture Show
Nevada California England 🇩🇪 Germany 🇨🇭 Switzerland The 1930s The 1890sBosko runs a movie theater that shows a wacky newsreel with Jack Dumpsey, a slapstick short from Haurel and Lardy, and a turn-of-the-century melodrama starring Honey.
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American Madness
New York The 1930sThe Great American Picture of Today! — Socially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused of robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank run, and evidence suggests Dickson's wife had an affair... all in the same day.
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I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Illinois Georgia The 1930s The 1920sSix sticks of dynamite that blasted his way to freedom … and awoke America’s conscience! — A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.
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Million Dollar Legs
California The 1930sIt's Insane -- It's Joyous — A small country on the verge of bankruptcy is persuaded to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a means of raising money.
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Unholy Love
New York The 1930sAn adaptation of Madame Bovary transported to Rye, New York in the 1930's. All characters have been renamed.
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Five Star Final
New York The 1930sA picture as sensational as its subject! — An unscrupulous newspaper editor searches for headlines at any cost.
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Prohibition
🇺🇸 United States of America The 1920s The 1930sUnited States, Black & White, Silent, Short Film.
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The Ballad of Hard Times
Quebec The 1930sUsing archival films, popular songs of the time and testimonials, evocation of the economic crisis of the 1930s as experienced by the people of Quebec