1931

Waterloo Bridge is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by James Whale. The screenplay by Benn Levy and Tom Reed is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Robert E. Sherwood.

Tonight or Never is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Gloria Swanson and featuring Boris Karloff.

Tommy (Russian: Томми) is a 1931 Soviet film directed by Yakov Protazanov based on the play Armoured Train 14-69 by Vsevolod Ivanov.

Tokyo Chorus (東京の合唱, Tokyo no kôrasu?) is a 1931 silent film produced by Shochiku Company, directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Tokihiko Okada and Emiko Yagumo. It was based on various stories in the Shoshimin-gai (Middle Class Avenue) series and also shares influences with King Vidor's The Crowd. Most of the film takes place in Tokyo during a depression-like time in the beginning of the Shōwa period.

Tilly of Bloomsbury is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Sydney Howard, Phyllis Konstam, Richard Bird and Edward Chapman. It is based on the play Tilly of Bloomsbury by Ian Hay. A young woman falls in love with an aristocrat and tries to convince his parents that she is herself wealthy.

The Threepenny Opera (German: Die 3-Groschen-Oper) is a 1931 German musical film directed by G. W. Pabst. It was produced by Seymour Nebenzal's Nero-Film for Tonbild-Syndikat AG (Tobis), Berlin and Warner Bros. Pictures GmbH, Berlin. The film is loosely based on the 1928 musical theatre success The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. As was usual in the early sound film era, Pabst also directed a French language version of the film, L'Opéra de quat'sous, with some variation of plot details (the French title literally translates as "the four penny opera"). A planned English version was not made. The two existing versions were released by The Criterion Collection on home video.

This Modern Age is a 1931 American Pre-Code Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film directed by Nick Grinde starring Joan Crawford, Neil Hamilton, Pauline Frederick and Albert Conti.

The Theft of the Mona Lisa (German:Der Raub der Mona Lisa) is a 1931 German film directed by Géza von Bolváry. It is based on a true story.

Ten Cents a Dance is a 1931 American Pre-Code romance-drama film directed by Lionel Barrymore and starring Barbara Stanwyck as a married taxi dancer who falls in love with one of her customers. The film was inspired by the popular song of the same name, which is sung over the title sequence.

Tell England is a 1931 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and Geoffrey Barkas and starring Fay Compton, Tony Bruce and Carl Harbord. It is based on the novel Tell England by Ernest Raymond which featured two young men joining the army, and taking part in the fighting at Gallipoli. Both directors had close memories of Gallipoli, as did Fay Compton's brother, Compton Mackenzie. Asquith's father H. H. Asquith had been Prime Minister at the time of the Gallipoli Landings, a fact which drew press attention to the film, while Barkas had personally fought at Suvla Bay in the Gallipoli campaign.

Tabu (pronounced ; also called Tabu, a Story of the South Seas) is a 1931 silent film directed by F.W. Murnau, a docufiction. The film is split into two chapters, the first called "Paradise" depicts the lives of two lovers on a South Seas island until they are forced to escape the island when the girl is chosen as a holy maid to the gods. The second chapter, "Paradise Lost", depicts the couple's life on a colonised island and how they adapt to and are exploited by Western civilisation. The title of the film comes from the Polynesian concept of tapu (spelled tabu in Tongan before 1943), from which is derived the English word "taboo."

Svengali is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama/horror film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film stars John Barrymore and co-stars Marian Marsh. It was directed by Archie Mayo and the screenplay was written by J. Grubb Alexander. It is based on the gothic horror novel Trilby (1894) by George du Maurier. The film was originally released on May 22, 1931. Warner Brothers was so pleased by the box office on this film that the studio hurriedly reteamed Barrymore and Marsh for another horror film The Mad Genius, released on November 7, 1931. The region 1 DVD of Svengali was released on October 17, 2000 by the Roan Group.

Street Scene is a 1931 Pre-Code drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by King Vidor. With a screenplay by Elmer Rice adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Street Scene takes place on a New York City street from one evening until the following afternoon. Except for one scene which takes place inside a taxi, Vidor shot the entire film on a single set depicting half a city block of house fronts.

The Stolen Jools (1931) is a short comedy film produced by the Masquers Club of Hollywood, featuring many cameo appearances by the film stars of the day. The stars appeared in the film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, to raise funds for the National Variety Artists Tuberculosis Sanitarium. The UCLA Film and Television Archive entry for this film says -- as do the credits -- that the film was co-sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes to support the "fine work" of the NVA sanitarium.

The Squaw Man is an American 1931 Pre-Code film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It was the third version of the same play that he filmed, and the first in sound. It stars Warner Baxter in the leading role.

A Spray of Plum Blossoms (Chinese: 一剪梅; pinyin: Yī jiǎn méi) is a 1931 silent Chinese film directed by Bu Wancang and starring Ruan Lingyu, Wang Cilong and Jin Yan. It is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The film is one of several collaborations between Bu Wancang and two of the top Chinese movie stars of the day Ruan Lingyu and the Korean-born Jin Yan and was produced by the Lianhua Film Company.

The Speckled Band is a 1931 British film directed by Jack Raymond and an adaption of Arthur Conan Doyle's story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", which features Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson investigating the fears of a young woman and the suspicious death of her sister.

The Smiling Lieutenant is a 1931 American Pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert, and released by Paramount Pictures.

Smart Money is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Alfred E. Green, and starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, the only time Robinson and Cagney made a movie together despite being the two leading gangster actors at Warner Bros. studios throughout the 1930s. Smart Money was shot after Robinson's signature film Little Caesar had been released, and during the filming of Cagney's breakthrough masterpiece The Public Enemy, which is how Cagney came to play, just this once, the kind of supporting role usually portrayed by Humphrey Bogart later in the 1930s.

The Sin of Madelon Claudet is a 1931 American drama film directed by Edgar Selwyn and starring Helen Hayes. The screenplay by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht was adapted from the play The Lullaby by Edward Knoblock. It tells the story of a wrongly imprisoned woman who turns to theft and prostitution in order to support her son.

Sidewalks of New York is a 1931 American comedy film starring Buster Keaton.

Secrets of a Secretary is a 1931 Pre-Code film directed by George Abbott, and starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall. The film was stage actress Mary Boland's first role in a talkie.

The Secret Six is a fast-paced 1931 American Pre-Code crime film starring Wallace Beery as "Slaughterhouse Scorpio", a character very loosely based on Al Capone, and featuring Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Marjorie Rambeau and Ralph Bellamy. The film was written by Frances Marion and directed by George W. Hill for MGM.

Sally in Our Alley is a 1931 British romantic comedy drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starred Gracie Fields, Ian Hunter, and Florence Desmond.

Revenge on the Brother (Persian title: Enteghm-e baradar- Persian: انتقام برادر‎‎) is a 1931 Iranian silent drama film directed by Ebrahim Moradi, and starring Abdolhossein Lojasti, Reza Shahabi, Ahmad Moradi, Kazem Poor Hassan and Lida Matavesian.

Quick Millions is a 1931 Pre-Code crime film directed by Rowland Brown. The film involves a truck driver (Spencer Tracy) and the wealthy woman (Marguerite Churchill) that he covets, and also features George Raft and Leon Ames in supporting roles.

The Public Enemy (released as Enemies of the Public in the United Kingdom) is a 1931 American all-talking Pre-Code crime film produced and distributed by Warner Bros.. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook, and Joan Blondell. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America. The supporting players include Beryl Mercer, Murray Kinnell, and Mae Clarke. The screenplay is based on a never-published novel by two former street thugs — Beer and Blood by John Bright and Kubec Glasmon — who had witnessed some of Al Capone's murderous gang rivalries in Chicago.

Private Lives is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Sidney Franklin. The screenplay by Hanns Kräly and Richard Schayer is based on the 1930 play Private Lives by Noël Coward.

Possessed is a 1931 Pre-Code drama film directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is the story of Marian Martin, a factory worker who rises to the top as the mistress of a wealthy attorney. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee was adapted from the 1920 Broadway play The Mirage by Edgar Selwyn. Possessed was the third of eight movie collaborations between Crawford and Gable.

Platinum Blonde is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic comedy motion picture starring Jean Harlow, Robert Williams, and Loretta Young. The film was written by Jo Swerling and directed by Frank Capra. Platinum Blonde was Robert Williams' last screen appearance; he died of peritonitis three days after the film's October 31 release.

Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood (simplified Chinese: 桃花泣血记; traditional Chinese: 桃花泣血記) is a 1931 silent film written and directed by Bu Wancang. The cast included some of the major movie stars of the periods including the Korean born actor Jin Yan and the actresses Ruan Lingyu and Zhou Lili. It is also known by the title, The Peach Girl.

Pardon Us is Laurel and Hardy's first feature length comedy film. It was produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by MGM in 1931.

Palmy Days (1931) is an American Pre-Code musical comedy film written by Eddie Cantor, Morrie Ryskind, and David Freedman, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and choreographed by Busby Berkeley (who makes a cameo appearance as a fortune teller). The film stars Eddie Cantor. The famed Goldwyn Girls make appearances during elaborate production numbers set in a gymnasium and a bakery ("Glorifying the American Doughnut"). Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, Virginia Grey, and Toby Wing are among the bevy of chorines.

Other Men's Women is a 1931 Pre-code American film directed by William A. Wellman and written by Maude Fulton. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film stars Grant Withers, Regis Toomey and Mary Astor.

Night Nurse is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime drama and mystery film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by William A. Wellman. The film stars Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell, Clark Gable and Vera Lewis. It was based on the 1930 novel of the same name, written by Grace Perkins, later Mrs. Fulton Oursler (under the pen name Dora Macy).

Night in Montmartre (1931) is a British mystery film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Horace Hodges, Franklin Dyall, Hugh Williams, Reginald Purdell and Austin Trevor. It was based on a play by Miles Malleson.

The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (マダムと女房, Madamu to nyōbō?) was the first Japanese narrative film to fully employ sound. A 1931 release, it was directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It won the 1932 Kinema Junpo Award for best film.

Monkey Business is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film. It is the third of the Marx Brothers' released movies, and the first not to be an adaptation of one of their Broadway shows. The film also stars comedienne Thelma Todd. It is directed by Norman Z. McLeod with screenplay by S. J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone. The story takes place in large part on an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

The Miracle Woman is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Barbara Stanwyck, David Manners, and Sam Hardy. Based on the play Bless You Sister by John Meehan and Robert Riskin, the film is about a preacher's daughter who becomes disillusioned by the mistreatment of her dying father by his church. Having grown cynical about religion, she teams up with a con man and performs fake miracles for profit. The love and trust of a blind man, however, restores her faith in God and her fellow man. The Miracle Woman was the second of five film collaborations between Capra with Stanwyck. Produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film was reportedly inspired by the life of Aimee Semple McPherson.

The Millionaire is a 1931 all-talking pre-code comedy film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and starring George Arliss in the title role. The film is a remake of the 1922 film called The Ruling Passion, which also starred Arliss. The film was based on the short story "Idle Hands" by Earl Derr Biggers. In one of his earliest film roles, James Cagney had a brief but key appearance.

Le Million is a 1931 French musical comedy film directed by René Clair. The story was adapted by Clair from a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemand.

Mata Hari is a 1931 American Pre-Code film loosely based on the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer/courtesan executed for espionage during World War I. The film stars Greta Garbo in the title role. The film is credited with popularizing the legend of Mata Hari.

Marius a 1931 French drama film directed by Alexander Korda. It is based on the play with the same title by Marcel Pagnol. The film is a part of a trilogy which includes the films César (Marius's father) and Fanny (Marius's ex-fiancee). The film was selected to be screened in the Cannes Classics section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

The Maltese Falcon is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime film, based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as private detective Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly. Maude Fulton, Brown Holmes, and Lucien Hubbard (who went uncredited) wrote the screenplay. The supporting cast features Dudley Digges, Thelma Todd, Walter Long, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye.

Mädchen in Uniform (Girls in Uniform) is a 1931 German feature-length film based on the play Gestern und heute (Yesterday and Today) by Christa Winsloe and directed by Leontine Sagan with artistic direction from Carl Froelich, who also funded the film. Winsloe also wrote the screenplay and was on the set during filming. The film remains an international cult classic.

The Mad Genius (1931) is an all-talking pre-code horror drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Michael Curtiz. The film stars John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Cook, Charles Butterworth, and in small roles, Boris Karloff and Frankie Darro. The film is based on the play The Idol (1929) by Martin Brown, which opened in Great Neck, New York but never opened on Broadway.

M (German: M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder — "M - A city looks for a murderer") is a 1931 German drama-thriller film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre. It was written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou and was the director's first sound film.

Little Caesar is a 1931 Warner Bros. crime film that tells the story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the story was adapted by Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert N. Lee, Robert Lord and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited) from the novel of the same name by William R. Burnett. Little Caesar was Robinson's breakthrough role and immediately made him a major film star.

Limite (Brazilian Portuguese: , meaning "Limit" or "Border") is a film by Brazilian director and writer Mário Peixoto (1908–92), filmed in 1930 and first screened in 1931.

The Last Flight is a 1931 American Pre-Code ensemble film, starring Richard Barthelmess, David Manners, John Mack Brown, and Helen Chandler.

Der Kongress tanzt (English: The Congress Dances) is a German musical comedy film produced in 1931 by Ufa, directed by Erik Charell, starring Lilian Harvey as Christel Weinzinger, the glove seller, Willy Fritsch as Tsar Alexander I of Russia and his doppelgänger, Uralsky, Otto Wallburg as Bibikoff, his Adjutant, Conrad Veidt as Prince Metternich, Carl-Heinz Schroth as his Secretary, Pepi, Lil Dagover as the Countess and Alfred Abel as the King of Saxony.

Kiki is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic comedy, starring Mary Pickford and Reginald Denny, which was directed by Sam Taylor. The film is a remake of the 1926 version starring Norma Talmadge.

Comradeship (German: Kameradschaft, known in France as La Tragédie de la mine) is a 1931 dramatic directed by Austrian director G. W. Pabst. The French-German co-production drama is noted for combining expressionism and realism.

Kalidas (English: The Servant of Kali), also known as Kalidasa, is a 1931 Indian Tamil biographical film directed by H. M. Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It is noted for being the first Tamil-language sound film, and the first sound film to be made in South India. The film was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa; it featured P. G. Venkatesan in the title role and T. P. Rajalakshmi as the female lead, with L. V. Prasad, Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila and M. S. Santhanalakshmi in supporting roles.

Just a Gigolo (1931) is a romantic comedy film released by MGM. It was directed by Jack Conway, produced by Irving Thalberg and starred William Haines, Irene Purcell, C. Aubrey Smith, and Ray Milland. It was adapted from the 1930 play of the same name, which also starred Irene Purcell in the role of Roxana 'Roxy' Hartley.

Iron Man is a 1931 American sport drama film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lew Ayres, Robert Armstrong and Jean Harlow. In 1951, Universal remade the film with Jeff Chandler, Evelyn Keyes and Rock Hudson, directed by Joseph Pevney.

Indiscreet is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Gloria Swanson and Ben Lyon. The screenplay by Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson, based on their story Obey That Impulse, originally was written as a full-fledged musical, but only two songs - "If You Haven't Got Love" and "Come to Me" - remained when the film was released. The film is available on DVD.

I Take This Woman is a 1931 American romance film directed by Marion Gering and starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard.

Hyppolit, the Butler (Hungarian: Hyppolit, a lakáj) is a 1931 black-and-white Hungarian film comedy of manners. It was one of the earliest full sound films produced there.

Huckleberry Finn (1931) is an American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Jackie Coogan as Tom Sawyer and Junior Durkin as Huckleberry Finn. The picture was based upon the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Honor Among Lovers is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Dorothy Arzner. The film stars Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Monroe Owsley, Charles Ruggles and Ginger Rogers.

Hobson's Choice is a 1931 British comedy drama film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring James Harcourt, Viola Lyel, Frank Pettingell and Herbert Lomas. It follows a coarse bootshop owner who becomes outraged when his eldest daughter decides to marry a meek cobbler. It is based on the play Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse. It was produced by the leading British company of the time, British International Pictures, at their Elstree Studios.

Her Grace Commands (German: Ihre Hoheit befiehlt) is a 1931 German romantic comedy film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Käthe von Nagy, Willy Fritsch and Reinhold Schünzel. It is also translated into the alternative title Her Highness Commands. A hairdresser and a greengrocer fall in love, concealing from each other the truth that they are really a Princess and an army officer in disguise. It premiered in Mannheim on 3 March 1931. A French-language version Princesse, à vos ordres! was made simultaneously, also directed by Schwarz but with a different cast. The film was later remade in Hollywood by the Fox Film Corporation as Adorable.

Hell Divers is a 1932 film starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable as a pair of competing chief petty officers in early naval aviation. The film, made with the cooperation of the United States Navy, features considerable footage of flight operations on board the Navy's second aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga, including dramatic shots of takeoffs and landings filmed from the Curtiss F8C-4 Helldiver dive bombers after which the movie was named.

Guilty Hands is a 1931 crime film starring Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis and Madge Evans and directed by W. S. Van Dyke with uncredited assistance from Barrymore. The story concerns an attorney who murders a man who wants to marry his daughter.

The Guardsman is a 1931 film based on the play Testőr by Ferenc Molnár. It stars Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Roland Young and ZaSu Pitts. It opens with a stage re-enactment of the final scene of Maxwell Anderson's Elizabeth the Queen, with Fontanne as Elizabeth and Lunt as the Earl of Essex, but otherwise has nothing to do with that play.

Goldie is a 1931 American Pre-Code black-and-white romantic comedy film. The script was written by Paul Perez and Gene Towne, and directed by Benjamin Stoloff. It was made before the Hays Code was rigidly enforced. It is a remake of Howard Hawks' 1928 silent film, A Girl in Every Port.

Girls About Town is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film directed by George Cukor and starring Kay Francis and Joel McCrea.

The Front Page is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien. Based on a Broadway play of the same name, the film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer, and distributed by United Artists. The supporting cast includes Mary Brian, George E. Stone, Matt Moore, and Edward Everett Horton. At the 4th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Milestone for Best Director, and Menjou for Best Actor.

From Saturday to Sunday (Czech: Ze soboty na neděli) is a 1931 film directed by Gustav Machatý and starring Ladislav H. Struna.

A Free Soul is a 1931 Pre-Code film which tells the story of an alcoholic defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with; a mobster whom her father had previously got an acquittal for on a murder charge. A Free Soul stars Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore, and Clark Gable (the first screen appearance together of the future Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler).

Frankenstein is a 1931 American Pre-Code horror monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling (which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley), about a scientist and his assistant who dig up corpses to build a monster, but his assistant accidentally gives the monster a murderer's brain.

Five Star Final is a 1931 American Pre-Code film about crime and the excesses of tabloid journalism. The picture was written by Robert Lord and Byron Morgan from the play of the same name by Louis Weitzenkorn, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Edward G. Robinson, and featuring H. B. Warner, Marian Marsh, Oscar Apfel, Aline MacMahon, Frances Starr, Ona Munson, and Boris Karloff.

Five and Ten is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic drama film starring Marion Davies as an heiress and Leslie Howard as the man she loves, though he marries someone else. It is based on the Fannie Hurst novel of the same name.

Expensive Women is a 1931 talking film drama. It is very much a Pre-Code type of story. It was produced by First National and distributed through their parent company Warner Brothers. The film was directed by silent film veteran Hobart Henley and starred Dolores Costello. This film was Costello's final film as a Warner Brothers leading lady and star of which she had been since 1925. She retired to be the wife of John Barrymore and to raise their family. Costello would return to films 5 years later after a long hiatus from films and the end of her marriage to Barrymore but never to the luster she enjoyed as a Warners star.

Emil and the Detectives (German: Emil und die Detektive) is a 1931 German adventure film directed by Gerhard Lamprecht and starring Rolf Wenkhaus. It is based on the 1929 novel by Erich Kästner, who also contributed to the film's script. The film script was written by Billy Wilder.

Elisabeth of Austria (German:Elisabeth von Österreich) is a 1931 German historical drama film directed by Adolf Trotz and starring Lil Dagover, Paul Otto and Maria Matray. It is a biopic of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Dracula is a 1931 American Pre-Code vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn is loosely based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1931 American Pre-Code horror film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fredric March who plays a possessed doctor who tests his new formula that can unleash people's inner demons. The film is an adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), the Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of science into a homicidal maniac. March's performance has been much lauded, and earned him his first Academy Award.

Down River is a 1931 British crime film directed by Peter Godfrey and starring Charles Laughton, Jane Baxter and Harold Huth.

Dishonored is a 1931 Pre-Code romantic spy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was co-written (with Daniel N. Rubin), directed and edited by Josef von Sternberg. The costume design was by Travis Banton. The film stars Marlene Dietrich, Victor McLaglen, Gustav von Seyffertitz and Warner Oland.

David Golder is a 1931 French drama film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Harry Baur, Paule Andral and Jackie Monnier. It is an adaptation of Irène Némirovsky's 1929 novel David Golder, about a self-made Jewish businessmen.

The Criminal Code (1931) is an American Pre-Code Hollywood crime film, directed by Howard Hawks starring Walter Huston and Phillips Holmes. The film is the first of three Columbia Pictures film adaptations of the stage play of the same name by Martin Flavin.

A Connecticut Yankee is a 1931 American Pre-Code film adaptation of Mark Twain's 1889 novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It was directed by David Butler to a script by William M. Conselman, Owen Davis, and Jack Moffitt. It was produced by Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox), who had earlier produced the 1921 silent adaptation of the novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. A Connecticut Yankee is the first sound film adaptation of Twain's novel.

City Streets is a 1931 American Pre-Code film noir directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas.

Charlie Chaplin Flower Girl's theme by José Padilla (uncredited)

Cimarron is a 1931 Pre-Code Western film directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne, and featuring Estelle Taylor and Roscoe Ates. The Oscar winning script was written by Howard Estabrook based on the Edna Ferber novel Cimarron. It would be RKO's most expensive production up to that date, and its winning of the top Oscar for Best Production would be only one of two ever won by that studio. It is also one of the few Westerns to ever win the top honor at the Academy Awards. Epic in scope, spanning forty years from 1889 to 1929, it was a critical success, although it did not recoup its production costs during its initial run in 1931.

La Chienne (1931) is a French film by director Jean Renoir. It is the second sound film by the director and the twelfth of his career.

The Champ is an 1931 American Pre-Code film directed by King Vidor from a screenplay by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock, and starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper. It tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son.

Business Under Distress (Czech: To neznáte Hadimršku) is a Czech comedy film directed by Karel Lamač and Martin Frič. It was released in 1931.

Bought is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film produced and released by Warner Bros. and directed by Archie Mayo. The movie stars Constance Bennett, Ben Lyon, Richard Bennett and Dorothy Peterson. The film is based on a novel, entitled Jackdaw's Strut, by Harriet Henry.

Blonde Crazy is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film by Roy Del Ruth, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Louis Calhern, Ray Milland, and Guy Kibbee famous for Cagney's line, "That dirty, double-crossin' rat!"

The Black Camel is a 1931 American Pre-Code mystery film based on the novel of the same name by Earl Derr Biggers. It is the second film to star Warner Oland as detective Charlie Chan, and the sole survivor of the first five Chan films starring Oland. The Black Camel marked the film debut of Robert Young.

Berlin Alexanderplatz: die Geschichte Franz Biberkopfs (Berlin Alexanderplatz: the story of Franz Biberkopfs) is a 1931 German language film adapted from the novel by Alfred Döblin, who also co-wrote the screenplay, and directed by Phil Jutzi. The film stars Heinrich George as a blue collar Berliner and small-time criminal recently released from prison who finds himself being drawn into the Berlin underworld of the nineteen twenties after his prostitute lover is murdered.

The Bad Sister is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Hobart Henley. The screenplay by Edwin H. Knopf, Tom Reed, and Raymond L. Schrock is based on the 1913 novel The Flirt by Booth Tarkington, which previously was filmed in 1916 and 1922.

Bad Girl is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film. The screenplay was written by Edwin J. Burke, from the novel and play by Viña Delmar, and directed by Frank Borzage.

Bachelor Apartment is a 1931 American Pre-Code RKO comedy/romance film directed by and starring Lowell Sherman as a womanizing playboy who falls in love with Irene Dunne's honest working girl. The credits for the film, and all sources from that time show that the film was based on a story by New York playwright John Howard Lawson, the screenplay was adapted by J. Walter Ruben. However, Lawson would later claim that the final screenplay had not been altered from what he had originally written. The cast features Mae Murray (a former silent film star, who was attempting to make a come-back in talkies), Norman Kerry and Ivan Lebedeff.

Arrowsmith is a 1931 American Pre-Code film, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Sidney Howard from the Sinclair Lewis novel Arrowsmith, and directed by John Ford.

Anna Christie is a 1930 German-language film adapted from the Eugene O'Neill play of the same title and filmed following the release of the English-language original version of the same adaptation earlier the same year. Both versions feature leading actress Greta Garbo. In the early years of sound films, Hollywood studios produced foreign-language versions of some of their films using the same sets and sometimes the same costumes, with native speakers of the language usually replacing some or all of the original cast. While many of those versions no longer exist, the German-language version of Anna Christie survives.

An American Tragedy is a 1931 Pre-Code drama film, produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures and directed by Josef von Sternberg. The film is based on Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel An American Tragedy which itself alludes to the real life 1906 murder of Grace Brown allegedly by Chester Gillette.

Alone (Russian: Одна, meaning "Alone"), also known in English by the transliterated Russian title Odna, is a Soviet film released in 1931. It was written and directed by Leonid Trauberg and Grigori Kozintsev. It was originally planned as a silent film, but it was eventually released with a soundtrack comprising sound effects, some dialogue (recorded after the filming) and a full orchestral score by Dmitri Shostakovich. The film, about a young teacher sent to work in Siberia, is in a realist mode and addresses three political topics then current: education, technology, and the elimination of the kulaks.

Alice in Wonderland (1931) is an independently made black-and-white Pre-Code American film based on Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, directed by Bud Pollard, produced by Hugo Maienthau, and filmed at Metropolitan Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Alibi (1931) is a British mystery detective film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Austin Trevor, Franklin Dyall, and Elizabeth Allan.

Alam Ara (Hindi: आलम आरा, Urdu: عالم آراء‎, translation: The Ornament of the World) is a 1931 film directed by Ardeshir Irani. It was the first Indian sound film.

À nous la liberté (English: Freedom for Us) is a 1931 French film directed by René Clair. With a score by Georges Auric, this film has more music than any of Clair's early films.

24 Hours is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film starring Clive Brook, Kay Francis, and Miriam Hopkins. It was based on the novel Twenty-Four Hours by Louis Bromfield and the play Shattered Glass by Will D. Lengle and Lew Levenson. An alcoholic married man is accused of murdering the woman with whom he has been carrying on an affair.