Here are ALL of Peary’s recommended “must-see” titles from 1912-1939 — combined from the front and back of his book — in chronological order, with my “YES” (MUST SEE) or “NO” (NOT MUST SEE) vote provided afterwards.
1927
Cat and the Canary, The (1927) – YES
Chang (1927) – YES
College (1927) – NO
End of St. Petersburg, The (1927) – NO
It (1927) – YES
Jazz Singer, The (1927) – YES
King of Kings, The (1927) – YES
Lodger, The (1927) – YES
Long Pants (1927) – NO
Love (1927) – NO
Love of Jeanne Ney, The (1927) – NO
Metropolis (1927) – YES
My Best Girl (1927) – YES
Napoléon / Napoléon Vu Par Abel Gance (1927) – YES
October / Ten Days That Shook the World (1927) – NO
Seventh Heaven (1927) – NO
Sunrise (1927) – YES
Surrender (1927) – NO
Underworld (1927) – NO
Wings (1927) – YES
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1928
Beggars of Life (1928) – YES
Cameraman, The (1928) – YES
Circus, The (1928) – YES
Crowd, The (1928) – YES
Docks of New York, The (1928) – YES
Girl in Every Port, A (1928) – YES
Italian Straw Hat, The (1928) – YES
Last Command, The (1928) – NO
Man Who Laughs, The (1928) – YES
Noah’s Ark (1928) – NO
Our Dancing Daughters (1928) – YES
Passion de Jeanne D’Arc, Le / Passion of Joan of Arc, The (1928) – YES
Racket, The (1928) – NO
Speedy (1928) – NO
Spies / Spione (1928) – NO
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) – YES
Storm Over Asia / Heir of Genghis Khan, The (1928) – NO
Wedding March, The (1928) – NO
West of Zanzibar (1928) – YES
Wind, The (1928) – YES
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1929
Applause (1929) – NO
Arsenal (1929) – NO
Blackmail (1929) – YES
Broadway Melody, The (1929) – YES
Canary Murder Case (1929) – NO
Cocoanuts, The (1929) – NO
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) – NO
Disraeli (1929) – NO
Drifters (1929) – NO
Glorifying the American Girl (1929) – NO
Great Gabbo, The (1929) – NO
Hallelujah! (1929) – YES
Love Parade, The (1929) – YES
Man With a Movie Camera, The (1929) – YES
Pandora’s Box/Lulu (1929) – YES
Queen Kelly (1929) – YES
Spite Marriage (1929) – NO
Virginian, The (1929) – NO
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1930
Abraham Lincoln (1930) – NO
Age D’Or, L’ (1930) – YES
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) – YES
Animal Crackers (1930) – YES
Anna Christie (1930) – NO
Big House, The (1930) – YES
Big Trail, The (1930) – NO
Blood of a Poet, The / Sang D’Un Poéte, Le (1930) – NO
Blue Angel, The (1930) – YES
Dawn Patrol, The (1930) – YES
Earth/Soil (1930) – YES
Floradora Girl, The (1930) – YES
Hell’s Angels (1930) – NO
Journey’s End (1930) – NO
Just Imagine (1930) – YES
King of Jazz, The (1930) – NO
Ladies of Leisure (1930) – NO
Laughter (1930) – YES
Morocco (1930) – NO
Murder! (1930) – YES
Our Daily Bread / City Girl (1930) – NO
Unholy Three, The (1930) – NO
Up the River (1930) – NO
Whoopee (1930) – YES
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1931
A Nous la Liberté (1931) – YES
American Tragedy, An (1931) – NO
Arrowsmith (1931) – NO
Champ, The (1931) – NO
Chienne, La (1931) – YES
Cimarron (1931) – YES
City Lights (1931) – YES
City Streets (1931) – YES
Criminal Code, The (1931) – NO
Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) – YES
Dishonored (1931) – YES
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) – YES
Dracula (1931) – YES
Five Star Final (1931) – NO
Frankenstein (1931) – YES
Front Page, The (1931) – YES
Guardsman, The (1931) – NO
Kameradschaft (1931) – YES
Little Caesar (1931) – YES
M (1931) – YES
Mad Genius, The (1931) – NO
Madchen in Uniform (1931) – YES
Maltese Falcon, The (1931) – YES
Marius (1931) – YES
Million, Le (1931) – YES
Miracle Woman, The (1931) – NO
Monkey Business (1931) – YES
Night Nurse (1931) – YES
Platinum Blonde (1931) – NO
Public Enemy, The (1931) – YES
Quick Millions (1931) – NO
Rich and Strange / East of Shanghai (1931) – NO
Secret Six, The (1931) – NO
Skippy (1931) – YES
Street Scene (1931) – YES
Svengali (1931) – NO
Tabu (1931) – YES
Threepenny Opera, The (1931) – YES
Trader Horn (1931) – NO
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1932
American Madness (1932) – YES
Back Street (1932) – YES
Blue Light, The (1932) – NO
Beast of the City (1932) – YES
Bill of Divorcement, A (1932) – NO
Bird of Paradise (1932) – NO
Blonde Venus, The (1932) – YES
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932) – NO
Cabin in the Cotton (1932) – NO
Crowd Roars, The (1932) – NO
Doctor X (1932) – NO
Fanny (1932) – YES
Farewell to Arms, A (1932) – NO
Freaks (1932) – YES
Grand Hotel (1932) – YES
Greeks Had a Word for Them, The / Three Broadway Girls (1932) – NO
Horse Feathers (1932) – YES
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932) – NO
If I Had a Million (1932) – NO
Kid from Spain, The (1932) – NO
Kongo (1932) – YES
Law and Order (1932) – NO
Love Me Tonight (1932) – YES
Mask of Fu Manchu, The (1932) – NO
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) – NO
Million Dollar Legs (1932) – NO
Most Dangerous Game, The (1932) – NO
Movie Crazy (1932) – NO
Mummy, The (1932) – YES
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) – NO
Number Seventeen (1932) – NO
Old Dark House, The (1932) – YES
One Hour With You (1932) – NO
One Way Passage (1932) – YES
Rain (1932) – YES
Rasputin and the Empress (1932) – NO
Red Dust (1932) – YES
Scarface, The Shame of the Nation (1932) – YES
Shanghai Express (1932) – YES
She Done Him Wrong (1932) – YES
Sherlock Holmes (1932) – NO
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) – YES
Three on a Match (1932) – NO
Tiger Shark (1932) – NO
Trouble in Paradise (1932) – YES
Vampyr / Castle of Doom (1932) – NO
Wet Parade, The (1932) – YES
What Price Hollywood? (1932) – NO
White Zombie (1932) – YES
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1933
Bitter Tea of General Yen, The (1933) – YES
Blonde Bombshell / Bombshell (1933) – YES
Blood Money (1933) – YES
Bowery, The (1933) – NO
Christopher Strong (1933) – NO
Dancing Lady (1933) – NO
Design for Living (1933) – NO
Dinner at Eight (1933) – YES
Dr. Bull (1933) – NO
Duck Soup (1933) – YES
Eagle and the Hawk, The (1933) – YES
Ecstasy (1933) – NO
Emperor Jones, The (1933) – YES
Flying Down to Rio (1933) – NO
Footlight Parade (1933) – YES
42nd Street (1933) – YES
Gabriel Over the White House (1933) – YES
Ghoul, The (1933) – NO
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) – YES
Hallelujah, I’m a Bum (1933) – YES
Heroes for Sale (1933) – NO
Hold Your Man (1933) – NO
I’m No Angel (1933) – NO
Invisible Man, The (1933) – YES
International House (1933) – NO
Island of Lost Souls (1933) – YES
Kennel Murder Case, The (1933) – NO
King Kong (1933) – YES
Kiss Before the Mirror, The (1933) – YES
Lady for a Day (1933) – YES
Little Giant, The (1933) – YES
Little Women (1933) – YES
Morning Glory (1933) – NO
Murders in the Zoo (1933) – NO
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) – YES
Penthouse (1933) – NO
Pilgrimage (1933) – NO
Power and the Glory, The (1933) – YES
Private Life of Henry VIII, The (1933) – YES
Prizefighter and the Lady, The (1933) – NO
Roman Scandals (1933) – YES
Son of Kong, The (1933) – NO
Song of Songs (1933) – NO
Sons of the Desert (1933) – YES
Tarzan the Fearless (1933) – NO
Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The / Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, The / Last Will of Dr. Mabuse, The (1933) – NO
Tillie and Gus (1933) – NO
Wild Boys of the Road (1933) – YES
Zéro de Conduite / Zero for Conduct (1933) – YES
Zoo in Budapest (1933) – YES
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1934
Atalante, L’ (1934) – YES
Babes in Toyland / March of the Wooden Soldiers / Revenge is Sweet (1934) – YES
Barretts of Wimpole Street, The (1934) – YES
Belle of the Nineties (1934) – NO
Black Cat, The (1934) – YES
Cleopatra (1934) – YES
Count of Monte Cristo, The (1934) – NO
Crime Without Passion (1934) – YES
Dames (1934) – NO
Death Takes a Holiday (1934) – NO
Evergreen (1934) – NO
Finishing School (1934) – YES
Flirtation Walk (1934) – NO
Gay Divorcee, The (1934) – YES
Girl from Missouri, The (1934) – YES
Imitation of Life (1934) – YES
It Happened One Night (1934) – YES
It’s a Gift (1934) – YES
Judge Priest (1934) – YES
Kid Millions (1934) – NO
Little Man, What Now? (1934) – YES
Little Miss Marker (1934) – YES
Lost Patrol, The (1934) – YES
Madame Bovary (1934) – NO
Man of Aran (1934) – NO
Man Who Reclaimed His Head, The (1934) – NO
Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1934) – YES
Manhattan Melodrama (1934) – NO
Maniac (1934) – NO
Massacre (1934) – YES
Merry Widow, The (1934) – NO
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934) – NO
Nana (1934) – NO
Nell Gwyn (1934) – NO
Of Human Bondage (1934) – YES
Old Fashioned Way, The (1934) – NO
One Night of Love (1934) – NO
Our Daily Bread (1934) – YES
Queen Christina (1934) – YES
Scarlet Empress, The (1934) – YES
Scarlet Pimpernel, The (1934) – YES
Six of a Kind (1934) – NO
Tarzan and His Mate (1934) – YES
Thin Man, The (1934) – YES
Treasure Island (1934) – NO
Twentieth Century (1934) – YES
Viva Villa! (1934) – NO
You’re Telling Me! (1934) – NO
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1935
Alice Adams (1935) – YES
Anna Karenina (1935) – YES
Annie Oakley (1935) – NO
Barbary Coast (1935) – NO
Becky Sharp (1935) – NO
Black Fury (1935) – NO
Black Room, The (1935) – YES
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – YES
Call of the Wild (1935) – NO
Captain Blood (1935) – YES
Carnival in Flanders (1935) – NO
Crime and Punishment (1935) – NO
Crime de Monsieur Lange, Le / Crime of Monsieur Lange, The (1935) – YES
Dangerous (1935) – NO
Dante’s Inferno (1935) – NO
David Copperfield (1935) – YES
Girl From Chicago, The (1935) – YES
Glass Key, The (1935) – NO
Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) – NO
Good Fairy, The (1935) – YES
Informer, The (1935) – YES
Last Days of Pompeii, The (1935) – NO
Little Colonel, The (1935) – NO
Littlest Rebel, The (1935) – YES
Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The (1935) – NO
Mad Love (1935) – YES
Magnificent Obsession (1935) – NO
Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935) – YES
Mark of the Vampire (1935) – NO
Midsummer’s Night Dream, A (1935) – YES
Miserables, Les (1935) – NO
Mississippi (1935) – NO
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – YES
Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) – NO
Naughty Marietta (1935) – YES
Night at the Opera, A (1935) – YES
Radio Ranch (1935) – YES
Raven, The (1935) – YES
Roberta (1935) – NO
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) – YES
Sanders of the River (1935) – NO
Scoundrel, The / Miracle on 49th Street (1935) – YES
She Married Her Boss (1935) – NO
Steamboat’ Round the Bend (1935) – NO
Tale of Two Cities, A (1935) – NO
39 Steps, The (1935) – YES
Toni (1935) – NO
Top Hat (1935) – YES
Transatlantic Tunnel / Tunnel, The (1935) – NO
Triumph of the Will (1935) – YES
Werewolf of London, The (1935) – YES
Whole Town’s Talking, The (1935) – YES
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1936
Bohemian Girl, The (1936) – NO
Born to Dance (1936) – NO
Camille (1936) – YES
Ceiling Zero (1936) – YES
César (1936) – NO
Charge of the Light Brigade, The (1936) – NO
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) – YES
Cocaine Fiends, The (1936) – NO
Come and Get It / Roaring Timber (1936) – YES
Craig’s Wife (1936) – NO
Day in the Country, A / Partie de Campagne (1936) – YES
Desire (1936) – NO
Devil Doll, The (1936) – YES
Devil is a Woman, The (1935) – NO
Dodsworth (1936) – YES
Dracula’s Daughter (1936) – YES
Follow the Fleet (1936) – NO
Fury (1936) – YES
General Died at Dawn, The (1936) – YES
Ghost Goes West, The (1936) – NO
Gold Diggers of (1937) (1936) – NO
Great Ziegfeld, The (1936) – NO
Green Pastures, The (1936) – YES
Intermezzo (1936) – NO
Invisible Ray, The (1936) – NO
Jungle Princess, The (1936) – NO
King Steps Out, The (1936) – NO
Klondike Annie (1936) – NO
Last of the Mohicans, The (1936) – NO
Libeled Lady (1936) – YES
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) – NO
Lower Depths, The / Bas-Fonds, Les (1936) – NO
Man Who Could Work Miracles, The (1936) – YES
Mayerling (1936) – NO
Milky Way, The (1936) – NO
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) – YES
Modern Times (1936) – YES
My Man Godfrey (1936) – YES
Olympiad, The / Olympia (1936) – YES
Our Relations (1936) – NO
Petrified Forest, The (1936) – YES
Plainsman, The (1936) – NO
Poor Little Rich Girl (1936) – NO
Poppy (1936) – NO
Prisoner of Shark Island, The (1936) – NO
Reefer Madness / Tell Your Children / Burning Question, The / Dope Addict / Doped Youth / Love Madness (1936) – YES
Rembrandt (1936) – YES
Road to Glory, The (1936) – NO
Romeo and Juliet (1936) – NO
Rose-Marie (1936) – NO
Sabotage (1936) – YES
San Francisco (1936) – NO
Satan Met a Lady (1936) – NO
Secret Agent (1936) – NO
She (1935) – NO
Show Boat (1936) – NO
Story of Louis Pasteur, The (1936) – NO
Strike Me Pink (1936) – NO
Swing Time (1936) – YES
Sylvia Scarlett (1936) – YES
Tarzan Escapes (1936) – NO
Theodora Goes Wild (1936) – NO
These Three (1936) – YES
Things to Come (1936) – YES
Under Two Flags (1936) – NO
Walking Dead, The (1936) – NO
Woman Rebels, A (1936) – NO
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1937
Awful Truth, The (1937) – YES
Bizarre, Bizarre (1937) – NO
Black Legion (1937) – NO
Captains Courageous (1937) – NO
Conquest (1937) – NO
Dark Journey (1937) – NO
Day at the Races, A (1937) – NO
Dead End (1937) – YES
Easy Living (1937) – NO
Elephant Boy (1937) – NO
Fire Over England (1937) – NO
Good Earth, The (1937) – YES
Grand Illusion / Grande Illusion, La (1937) – YES
History is Made at Night (1937) – NO
Hurricane, The (1937) – YES
Kid Galahad / Battling Bellhop (1937) – NO
King Solomon’s Mines (1937) – NO
Last Gangster, The (1937) – NO
Life of Emile Zola, The (1937) – NO
Lost Horizon (1937) – NO
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) – YES
Mannequin (1937) – YES
Marked Woman (1937) – NO
Night Must Fall (1937) – YES
Non-Stop New York (1937) – NO
Nothing Sacred (1937) – YES
One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) – NO
Pepé Le Moko (1937) – YES
Prisoner of Zenda, The (1937) – YES
Quality Street (1937) – NO
Saratoga (1937) – NO
Shall We Dance (1937) – NO
Stage Door (1937) – YES
Star is Born, A (1937) – YES
Stella Dallas (1937) – YES
Three Smart Girls (1937) – YES
Topper (1937) – NO
Way Out West (1937) – YES
Wee Willie Winkie (1937) – NO
Wells Fargo (1937) – NO
You Only Live Once (1937) – NO
Young and Innocent / Girl Was Young, The (1937) – NO
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1938
Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1938) – YES
Alexander Nevsky (1938) – YES
Algiers (1938) – NO
Amazing Doctor Clitterhouse, The (1938) – NO
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) – YES
Baker’s Wife, The (1938) – YES
Beachcomber, The / Vessel of Wrath (1938) – NO
Béte Humaine, La (1938) – YES
Big Broadcast of 1938, The (1938) – NO
Block-Heads (1938) – YES
Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938) – NO
Boys Town (1938) – NO
Bringing Up Baby (1938) – YES
Carefree (1938) – NO
Child Bride / Child Bride of the Ozarks (1938) – YES
Citadel, The (1938) – YES
Dawn Patrol, The (1938) – NO
Drums (1938) – NO
Four Daughters (1938) – NO
Four Men and a Prayer (1938) – NO
Holiday (1938) – YES
If I Were King (1938) – NO
J’Accuse (1938) – NO
Jezebel (1938) – YES
Lady Vanishes, The (1938) – YES
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) – YES
Marseillaise, La (1938) – NO
Pygmalion (1938) – YES
Room Service (1938) – NO
St. Martin’s Lane / Sidewalks of London (1938) – NO
Slight Case of Murder, A (1938) – YES
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938) – YES
Swiss Miss (1938) – NO
Terror of Tiny Town, The (1938) – YES
Three Comrades (1938) – NO
Vivacious Lady (1938) – NO
You Can’t Take it With You (1938) – NO
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1939
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The (1939) – NO
Another Thin Man (1939) – NO
At the Circus (1939) – NO
Babes in Arms (1939) – YES
Beau Geste (1939) – NO
Cat and the Canary, The (1939) – NO
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939) – YES
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) – YES
Dark Victory (1939) – YES
Destry Rides Again (1939) – YES
Dodge City (1939) – NO
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) – YES
Dust Be My Destiny (1939) – NO
Each Dawn I Die (1939) – NO
Five Came Back (1939) – YES
Flying Deuces, The (1939) – NO
Four Feathers, The (1939) – NO
Golden Boy (1939) – NO
Gone With the Wind (1939) – YES
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) – NO
Gulliver’s Travels (1939) – YES
Gunga Din (1939) – YES
Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1939) – YES
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939) – NO
In Name Only (1939) – NO
Intermezzo (1939) – NO
It’s a Wonderful World (1939) – NO
Jamaica Inn (1939) – NO
Jesse James (1939) – NO
Jour Se Léve, Le (1939) – YES
Juarez (1939) – YES
Light That Failed, The (1939) – NO
Little Princess, The (1939) – NO
Love Affair (1939) – YES
Made For Each Other (1939) – NO
Maisie (1939) – NO
Man in the Iron Mask, The (1939) – YES
Man They Could Not Hang, The (1939) – NO
Midnight (1939) – YES
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – YES
Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939) – NO
Ninotchka (1939) – YES
Of Mice and Men (1939) – YES
Oklahoma Kid, The (1939) – NO
Old Maid, The (1939) – NO
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) – YES
Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The (1939) – YES
Return of Dr. X, The (1939) – YES
Roaring Twenties, The (1939) – YES
Rules of the Game, The / Régle Du Jeu, La (1939) – YES
Son of Frankenstein (1939) – YES
Stagecoach (1939) – YES
Story of Alexander Graham Bell, The (1939) – NO
Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, The (1939) – NO
Sun Never Sets, The (1939) – NO
Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) – NO
They Made Me a Criminal (1939) – NO
Three Musketeers, The (1939) – NO
Topper Takes a Trip (1939) – NO
Tower of London (1939) – YES
Union Pacific (1939) – NO
We Are Not Alone (1939) – YES
Wizard of Oz, The (1939) – YES
Women, The (1939) – YES
Wuthering Heights (1939) – YES
You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man (1939) – NO
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) – YES
Zenobia (1939) – NO
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