Best Movies of 1936 by Rank
147
1
Charles Chaplin
Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard
Comedy / Family
USA
English (Semi-Silent)
331
3
George Stevens
Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore
Comedy / Musical / Romance
USA
English
347
4
Frank Capra
Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander, Douglass Dumbrille
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
458
6
George Cukor
Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Daniell, Elizabeth Allan
Drama / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
581
7
Fritz Lang
Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot, Edward Ellis
Drama / Pre-Noir / Crime
USA
English
674
8
Jean Renoir
Sylvia Bataille, Georges D'Arnoux, Jane Marken
Drama / Short / Romance / Comedy
France
French
865
9
W.S. Van Dyke
Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt
Drama / Romance / Musical
USA
English
884
10
James Whale
Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan
Drama / Musical / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
898
11
William Cameron Menzies
Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott
Sci-Fi
UK
English
1057
12
George Cukor
Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard
Drama / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
1190
13
William Dieterle
Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson
Drama / Biography / Period Film
USA
English
1349
14
Alexander Korda
Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester
Drama / Period Film / Biography
UK
English
1369
15
Jean Renoir
René Lefèvre, Florelle, Jules Berry
Comedy / Crime / Drama
France
French
1372
16
Robert Z. Leonard
William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
Musical / Biography / Drama
USA
English
1504
17
Archie Mayo
Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin, Dick Foran, Humphrey Bogart
Drama / Crime / Romance / Gangster
USA
English
1510
18
John Ford
Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, Claude Gillingwater
Drama / Biography
USA
English
1516
19
Anatole Litvak
Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux,
Romance / Drama / History / Period Film / Biography
France
French
1533
20
Alfred Hitchcock
Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, Desmond Tester, John Loder, Joyce Barbour
Drama / Thriller / Spy
UK
English
1617
21
Frederick Stephani, Ray Taylor
Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton
Sci-Fi / Adventure / Action / Family / Cult / Comic / Serial
USA
English
1717
22
William Wyler
Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea, Catherine Doucet
Drama
USA
English
1770
23
Mervyn LeRoy, Michael Curtiz
Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Woods, Anita Louise
Adventure / Drama / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
1811
24
Mark Sandrich
Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, Astrid Allwyn
Comedy / Musical / Romance
USA
English
1816
25
Marcel Pagnol
Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Fernand Charpin, Orane Demazis, André Fouché
Drama
France
French
1816
25
Marc Connelly, William Keighley
Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Frank H. Wilson, George Reed
Drama / Religion / Comedy
USA
English
1861
26
Jack Conway
Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
1910
27
Sacha Guitry
Sacha Guitry, Marguerite Moreno, Jacqueline Delubac, Roger Duchesne
Comedy / Drama
France
French
1935
28
Lothar Mendes
Roland Young, Ralph Richardson, Edward Chapman, Ernest Thesiger, Joan Gardner
Comedy / Sci-Fi / Fantasy
UK
English
1945
29
Harry Lachman
Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Alan Hale, Sidney Toler, Daphne Pollard, Betty Healy
Comedy / Gangster / Family
USA
English
1978
30
Joseph Cornell
Charles Bickford, Rose Hobart, Noble Johnson
Short / Experimental
USA
English
2143
31
Michael Curtiz
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson, Nigel Bruce
Action / Adventure / Romance / War / Epic / History
USA
English
2171
32
Frank Borzage
Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, John Halliday, William Frawley, Ernest Cossart
Comedy / Romance / Crime / Caper
USA
English
2227
33
Henry King
Freddie Bartholomew, Madeleine Carroll, Guy Standing, Tyrone Power
Drama / History / Romance
USA
English
2273
34
Yasujiro Ozu
Chouko Iida, Shinichi Himori, Masao Hayama, Yoshiko Tsubouchi
Drama
Japan
Japanese
2296
35
Tod Browning
Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Lawton, Rafaela Ottiano
Sci-Fi / Horror / Thriller
USA
English
2379
36
Alfred Santell
Burgess Meredith, Margo, Eduardo Ciannelli, Maurice Moscovitch
Drama / Gangster
USA
English
2390
37
Richard Boleslawski
Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas, Thomas Mitchell, Thurston Hall
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2393
38
Alfred Hitchcock
John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre, Robert Young
Mystery / Thriller / Romance / Drama / Spy / Action / Comedy
UK
English
2553
39
Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson, William Wyler
Edward Arnold, Joel McCrea, Frances Farmer, Walter Brennan, Mady Christians
Drama / Romance / Action
USA
English
2563
40
Harry Watt, Basil Wright
John Grierson, Stuart Legg
Short / Documentary
UK
English
2578
41
Howard Hawks
James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, June Travis, Stuart Erwin
Drama / Adventure / Romance / Thriller
USA
English
2601
42
Dave Fleischer
Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
Animation / Short / Comedy / Musical / Family / Fantasy / Comic / Serial
USA
English
2605
43
W.S. Van Dyke
William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia
Comedy / Romance / Crime / Mystery / Detective / Thriller
USA
English
2605
43
Lewis Milestone
Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Akim Tamiroff, Dudley Digges, Porter Hall
Adventure / Thriller / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2605
43
Abel Gance
Harry Baur, Annie Ducaux, Jany Holt, Andre Nox, Jane Marken, Lucas Gridoux
Biography / Drama / Music / Period Film / Romance
France
French
2605
43
John Ford, Leslie Goodwins
Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Douglas Walton
Biography / Drama / History
USA
English
2605
43
Irving Cummings
Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Gloria Stuart, Jack Haley, Michael Whalen, Sara Haden
Family / Adventure / Musical
USA
English
2605
43
Joseph Green, Jan Nowina-Przybylski
Molly Picon, Leon Liebgold, Simche Fostel, Max Bozyk, Dora Fakiel, A. Lewin
Comedy / Musical / Romance
Poland / USA
Yiddish
2646
44
W.S. Van Dyke
Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Reginald Owen, Allan Jones, James Stewart
Musical / Romance / Adventure / Drama / Western / Comedy
USA
English
2682
45
Vishnupant Govind Damle, Sheikh Fattelal
Vishnupant Pagnis, Gauri, B. Nandrekar, Shankar Kulkarni
Drama / Biography / Religion
India
Hindi
2689
46
Richard Boleslawski
Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2689
46
John Cromwell
Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello, C. Aubrey Smith, Guy Kibbee
Drama / Family
USA
English
2689
46
Sidney Lanfield
Sonja Henie, Adolphe Menjou, Don Ameche, Ned Sparks, Jean Hersholt
Comedy / Musical / Romance
USA
English
2689
46
Cecil B. DeMille
Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, James Ellison, Charles Bickford, Helen Burgess
Biography / War / Western / Epic
USA
English
2689
46
John Ford
Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Barry Fitzgerald, Denis O'Dea, Eileen Crowe
Drama / History / Adventure / Thriller / War
USA
English
2689
46
Henry Hathaway
Sylvia Sidney, Fred MacMurray, Henry Fonda, Fred Stone, Nigel Bruce, Beulah Bondi
Drama / Romance / Action
USA
English
2691
47
Dorothy Arzner
Rosalind Russell, John Boles, Billie Burke, Jane Darwell, Dorothy Wilson
Drama
USA
English
2691
47
George B. Seitz
Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes, Henry Wilcoxon, Bruce Cabot, Heather Angel
Adventure / Drama / War / History
USA
English
2691
47
Kenji Mizoguchi
Isuzu Yamada, Yôko Umemura, Benkei Shiganoya, Eitarô Shindô
Drama
Japan
Japanese
2731
48
Boris Barnet, S. Mardanin
Yelena Kuzmina, Lev Sverdlin, Nikolai Kryuchkov, Semen Svashenko
Drama / Comedy / Romance
Soviet Union
Russian
2740
49
W.S. Van Dyke, Rowland Brown
Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper, Mickey Rooney, Ian Hunter
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2740
49
Jacques Daroy
Serge Grave, Rognoni, Bouzauquet, Saturnin Fabre
Drama / Family
France
French
2740
49
Jean Renoir
Jean Gabin, Junie Astor, Suzy Prim, Louis Jouvet
Drama
France
French
2740
49
Arnold Fanck, Mansaku Itami
Setsuko Hara, Sessue Hayakawa, Ruth Eweler, Isamu Kosugi
Drama
Japan / Germany
Japanese
2740
49
Robert Stevenson
Cedric Hardwicke, Nova Pilbeam, John Mills, Felix Aylmer
Drama / History / Biography
UK
English
2740
49
Ilya Trauberg
Susor-Barma, Tse-Ven Rabdan, Gombo, Bato-Ochir
Drama
Soviet Union / Mongolia
Russian
2740
49
Efim Dzigan
Grigori Bushuyev, Raisa Yesipova, Vasili Zajchikov, E. Gunn
War / History / Drama
Soviet Union
Russian
2756
50
Pare Lorentz
Thomas Chalmers
Documentary / Short / Drama / History / Biography
USA
English
2756
50
Edmund Padilla, Felix Padilla
Documentary
USA / Mexico
English (Silent)
2771
51
Luis Trenker
Luis Trenker, Viktoria Von Ballasko, Elise Aulinger
Western / History / Drama / Biography
Germany
German
2771
51
Augusto Genina
Fosco Giachetti, Antonio Centa, Olinto Cristina, Fulvia Lanzi
War / Drama / Romance
Italy
Italian
2792
53
Douglas Sirk
Willy Birgel, Lil Dagover, Maria von Tasnady
Music / Drama
Germany
German
2807
54
Roy Mack
Nina Mae McKinney, The Nicholas Brothers, Emmett 'Babe' Wallace
Musical / Short
USA
English
2807
54
William Keighley
Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane, Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh
Crime / Drama / Thriller / Action / Detective
USA
English
2807
54
Harry Lachman
Warner Oland, Keye Luke, George Brasno, Olive Brasno, Francis Ford
Mystery / Comedy / Crime / Detective / Thriller
USA
English
2807
54
H. Bruce Humberstone
Warner Oland, Boris Karloff, Keye Luke, William Demarest, Guy Usher
Mystery / Drama / Detective
USA
English
2807
54
H. Bruce Humberstone
Warner Oland, Keye Luke, Helen Wood, Thomas Beck, Alan Dinehart
Mystery / Comedy / Crime / Detective / Thriller
USA
English
2807
54
Buster Keaton, Charles Lamont
Buster Keaton, Diana Lewis, Harold Goodwin, John Ince, Melrose Coakley, Bud Jamison
Comedy / Short
USA
English
2807
54
Tex Avery
Billy Bletcher, Tommy Bond, Joe Dougherty, Bernice Hansen, Martha Wentworth
Family / Animation / Short / Comedy / Music
USA
English
2807
54
Walter Lang
Carole Lombard, Preston Foster, Cesar Romero, Janet Beecher, Betty Lawford
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2807
54
Leo McCarey, Ray McCarey, Norman Z. McLeod
Harold Lloyd, Adolphe Menjou, Verree Teasdale, Helen Mack, William Gargan
Comedy / Sports
USA
English
2807
54
Edward H. Griffith
Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Ray Milland, Grant Mitchell, Anna Demetrio
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2807
54
David Butler
Stuart Erwin, Patsy Kelly, Jack Haley, Johnny Downs, Betty Grable
Musical / Comedy / Sports
USA
English
2807
54
A. Edward Sutherland
W.C. Fields, Rochelle Hudson, Richard Cromwell, Granville Bates, Catherine Doucet
Comedy
USA
English
2807
54
William K. Howard
Carole Lombard, Preston Foster, Cesar Romero, Janet Beecher, Betty Lawford
Comedy / Mystery / Romance / Thriller / Detective
USA
English
2860
55
Sadao Yamanaka
Chojuro Kawarasaki, Utaemon Nakamura, Shizue Yamagishi
Drama
Japan
Japanese
2860
55
Sacha Guitry
Sacha Guitry, Gaston Dubosc, Serge Grave, Paul Bernard
Comedy
France
French
