1930s crime dramas

 

Notable Crime Drama Movies of the 1930s

• The Big House (1930) – Prison drama about life behind bars

• Born Reckless (1930) – Directed partly by John Ford, about gangsters and redemption

• The Doorway to Hell (1930) – Early James Cagney gangster film

• Little Caesar (1931) – Edward G. Robinson as a ruthless mob boss

• The Public Enemy (1931) – James Cagney’s defining gangster role

• Scarface (1932) – Howard Hawks’ classic about Al Capone-inspired crime

• Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937) – Detective adventure with espionage twists

• Arrest Bulldog Drummond (1938) – Scotland Yard vs. futuristic crime weapon

📺 TV Shows Set in or Inspired by the 1930s

While TV wasn’t around in the 1930s, later series revisited the era:

• The Untouchables (1959–63) – Eliot Ness vs. Al Capone in Prohibition Chicago

• Agatha Christie’s Poirot (1989–2013) – Detective mysteries often set in 1930s Europe

• Babylon Berlin (2017– ) – German crime drama set in late 1920s–early 1930s Berlin