Movies From 1920 to 1939 - Who are the five best actors?

[Takes Two To Tango]

**Based on the work they did during that time period**

Just click on the link to see what movies were made during that time, thanks.

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www.imdb.com

My choices:

Charles Laughton
Edward G. Robinson
Charlie Chaplin
Humphrey Bogart
Jimmy Stewart

 

[Berserker13]

Don't care

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

Don't care

Fair enough.

 

[blaseblase]

Lol why though? Nobody on sherdog has the requisite film knowledge to give a decent response to this topic. You know that right?

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

Lol why though? Nobody on sherdog has the requisite film knowledge to give a decent response to this topic. You know that right?

You can be right, but I think you'll be surprised.

 

[Ima5starman]

Felt like this could be broken down into 4 brackets. Very tough to narrow it down to 5 from this list of greats

 

[RichardHarrow]

Now you’re just showing off

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

Now you’re just showing off

lol your jokes.

 

[RichardHarrow]

lol your jokes.

This is esoteric bruzza

 

[I Am Legion]

This is my cup of Tea. My father forced me to watch The Maltese Falcon as a 10 year old and I have been hooked on the old classics since. Jimmy Stewart is one of my all time favorites. Bogart has been in some incredible movies as has Grant and Gable.

For those that have not gotten into the old Black and Whites, here are a few recommendations:
The Maltese Falcon-Bogart
Laura-Gene Tierney
Casablanca-Bogart
The Thin Man series-William Powell
North By Northwest--Grant
To Catch a Thief-Grant
The Philadelphia Story-Grant/Stewart
Vertigo-Stewart
It's A Wonderful Life-Stewart
Anatomy of a Murder-Stewart
It Happened One Night-Gable

 

[ChickenBrother]

He narrowly makes the cut off but Alain Delon was born in 1935, so him. No way is anyone beating these zygos.

 

[Bullitt68]

Is this actors who started in that time range and then their entire career worth of performances, or are we ranking them specifically by the work that they did in that time range? If the former, then later stuff into the '40s, '50s, and '60s will push people like Bogart and Grant higher up the list, but if the latter, then people like Bogart and Grant fall behind people like March and Laughton. No matter what, though, Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson rule this list

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Literally haven’t seen any of their movies so I’ll just vote for the ones I’ve actually heard of:

Charlie Chaplin
Clark Gable
Humphrey Bogart
Cary Grant
James Cagney

 

[Bullitt68]

And yeah, as everyone's mentioning, @Takes Two To Tango, and as I've mentioned before, nobody knows enough about classical Hollywood to offer intelligent opinions here. Even when you're into the '60s and '70s, I'm sure there are plenty of people who haven't seen Midnight Cowboy or Serpico or The Last Detail or Straight Time yet are still offering opinions on Hoffman, Pacino, and Nicholson. Take it all the way back to the '20s and '30s and your opinion pool is going to be VERY shallow

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

Is this actors who started in that time range and then their entire career worth of performances, or are we ranking them specifically by the work that they did in that time range? If the former, then later stuff into the '40s, '50s, and '60s will push people like Bogart and Grant higher up the list, but if the latter, then people like Bogart and Grant fall behind people like March and Laughton. No matter what, though, Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson rule this list

Sorry I should have emphasized on the time period. Pretty much best actors based on their work in the 20s and 30s. So not the work after that. My bad.

 

[Bullitt68]

Sorry I should have emphasized on the time period. Pretty much best actors based on their work in the 20s and 30s. So not the work after that. My bad.

Got it. In that case, James Cagney is the king of that era. His run in the '30s was outstanding. Spencer Tracy is a close second. He won back-to-back Oscars in 1937 and 1938, but Cagney should've won in 1938. Either way, they're the clear #1 and #2. Then I picked Edward G. Robinson, Fredric March, and Charles Laughton.

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

Got it. In that case, James Cagney is the king of that era. His run in the '30s was outstanding. Spencer Tracy is a close second. He won back-to-back Oscars in 1937 and 1938, but Cagney should've won in 1938. Either way, they're the clear #1 and #2. Then I picked Edward G. Robinson, Fredric March, and Charles Laughton.

Great picks my friend.

 

[Ima5starman]

This is my cup of Tea. My father forced me to watch The Maltese Falcon as a 10 year old and I have been hooked on the old classics since. Jimmy Stewart is one of my all time favorites. Bogart has been in some incredible movies as has Grant and Gable.

For those that have not gotten into the old Black and Whites, here are a few recommendations:
The Maltese Falcon-Bogart
Laura-Gene Tierney
Casablanca-Bogart
The Thin Man series-William Powell
North By Northwest--Grant
To Catch a Thief-Grant
The Philadelphia Story-Grant/Stewart
Vertigo-Stewart
It's A Wonderful Life-Stewart
Anatomy of a Murder-Stewart
It Happened One Night-Gable

Rear Window is a Hitchcock and Stewart classic as well.
I’d also add Orson Welles’s “The third man” to the list

 

[I Am Legion]

Rear Window is a Hitchcock and Stewart classic as well.
I’d also add Orson Welles’s “The third man” to the list

Love The Third Man. And as I was making the list I realized it could be an all Hitchcock list lol.

 

[Gene Tunney]

I can't decide between Laughton, Fairbanks, and March.