# List of science fiction films of the 1930s

This is a list of science fiction films that premiered between 1 January 1930 and 31 December 1939. In Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction (1983), the 1930s were described as a period where both science fiction literature and cinema were "in turmoil" and that by examining films of decade that "it is clear that Science Fiction, in no sense, can be seen as an ongoing genre in the thirties".
In the United States, films would use a science fiction plot device or character such as a mad scientist, but more closely resembled contemporary genres like horror, thriller and detective films. The films enhanced other genres such as melodrama (Six Hours to Live), Westerns (The Phantom Empire) and most predominantly horror films such as Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Towards the middle of the decade, science fiction was prominent in low budget Poverty Row films and film series. European films such as End of the World and F.P.1 antwortet nicht and Things to Come continued the line of prophetic speculation of Fritz Lang's film Metropolis. Towards the end of the 1930s as the political climate was changing in Europe, films such as Bila Nemoc used science fiction elements to imagine the horrors of World War II.
Few films from the era have been nominated or won awards, these include Fredric March winning an Academy Award for Best actor for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while the film received nominations for best writing and cinematography. Gilbert Kurland was nominated for Best Sound Recording for Bride of Frankenstein

## List

* 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Science fiction films of the 1930s :
| 1930 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| The Voice from the Sky | Ben F. Wilson | 1 January 1930 | Wally Wales, Neva Gerber, Robert D. Walker | United States | Film serial with 10 chapters | |
| Alraune | Richard Oswald | 2 March 1930 | Brigitte Helm, Albert Bassermann, Harald Paulsen | Germany | | |
| Just Imagine | David Butler | 21 November 1930 | El Brendel, Maureen O'Sullivan, Marjorie White | United States | | |
| 1931 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| End of the World | Abel Gance | 23 January 1931 | Colette Darfeuil, Abel Gance, Victor Francen | France | | |
| Frankenstein | James Whale | 21 November 1931 | Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, Mae Clarke | United States | | |
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Rouben Mamoulian | 31 December 1931 | Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart | United States | | |
| 1932 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| L'Atlantide | G. W. Pabst | 8 June 1932 | Brigitte Helm | Germany, France | | |
| Doctor X | Michael Curtiz | 3 August 1932 | Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy | United States | Science fiction horror |
| Chandu the Magician | Marcel Varnel, William C. Menzies | 18 September 1932 | Edmund Lowe, Irene Ware, Bela Lugosi | United States | | |
| 6 Hours to Live | William Dieterle | 16 October 1932 | Warner Baxter, Miriam Jordan, John Boles | United States | | |
| F.P.1 antwortet nicht | Karl Hartl | 22 December 1932 | Hans Albers, Sybille Schmitz, Paul Hartmann | Germany | | |
| Island of Lost Souls | Erle C. Kenton | 23 December 1932 | Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams | United States | | |
| 1933 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| Men Must Fight | Edgar Selwyn | 17 February 1933 | Diana Wynyard, Lewis Stone, Phillips Holmes | United States | | |
| It's Great to Be Alive | Alfred L. Werker | 2 June 1933 | Raúl Roulien, Gloria Stuart, Edna May Oliver | United States | | |
| Deluge | Felix E. Feist | 18 August 1933 | Peggy Shannon, Sidney Blackmer, Lois Wilson | United States | | |
| Ein Unsichtbarer geht durch die Stadt [de] | Harry Piel | 29 September 1933 | Harry Piel, Fritz Odemar, Lissy Arna | Germany | | |
| F.P.1 Doesn't Answer | Karl Hartl | 22 December 1932 | Conrad Veidt Jill Esmond Leslie Fenton | Germany | | English version of 1932 German movie |
| The Invisible Man | James Whale | 13 November 1933 | Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan | United States | | |
| Der Tunnel "The Tunnel" | Kurt Bernhardt | 27 October 1933 | Paul Hartmann, Olly von Flint, Gustaf Gründgens | Germany | Multiple Language Film | |
| Le Tunnel "The Tunnel" | Kurt Bernhardt | 15 December 1933 | Jean Gabin, Madeleine Renaud, Robert Le Vigan, Edmond Van Daële | France | Multiple Language Film | |
| 1934 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| Die Welt ohne Maske | Harry Piel | 9 March 1934 | Harry Piel, Kurt Vespermann, Annie Markart | Germany | | |
| Gold | Karl Hartl | 29 March 1934 | Hans Albers, Brigitte Helm, Michael Bohnen | Germany | | |
| The Vanishing Shadow | Lew Landers | 13 April 1934 | Onslow Stevens, Ada Ince, Walter Miller | United States | Film serial with 12 chapters | |
| Master of the World | Harry Piel | 11 August 1934 | Walter Janssen, Sybille Schmitz, Walter Franck | Germany | | |
| Once in a New Moon | Anthony Kimmins | December 1934 | Derrick de Marney, Vernon Kelso, John Clements | United Kingdom | | |
| 1935 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| The Lost City | Harry Revier | 14 February 1935 | William "Stage" Boyd, Kane Richmond, Claudia Dell | United States | Film serial with 12 chapters | |
| The Phantom Empire | Otto Brower, B. Reeves Eason | 23 February 1935 | Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, Betsy King Ross | United States | Film serial with 12 chapters | |
| Loss of Sensation | Alexandr Andriyevsky | 17 April 1935 | Sergey Vecheslov, Vladimir Gardin | Soviet Union | | |
| Bride of Frankenstein | James Whale | 22 April 1935 | Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson | United States | | |
| Air Hawks | Albert S. Rogell | 7 May 1935 | Ralph Bellamy, Tala Birell, Wiley Post | United States | | |
| The Tunnel AKA Transatlantic Tunnel | Maurice Elvey | 25 October 1935 | Richard Dix, Leslie Banks, Madge Evans | United Kingdom | Multiple Language Film | |
| 1936 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| The Invisible Ray | Lambert Hillyer | 20 January 1936 | Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake | United States | | |
| Kosmicheskiy reys (Cosmic Voyage) | Vassili Jouravlev | 21 January 1936 | | Soviet Union | | |
| Things to Come | William Cameron Menzies | 20 February 1936 | Raymond Massey, Cedric Hardwicke, Edward Chapman | United Kingdom | | |
| The Walking Dead | Michael Curtiz | 14 March 1936 | Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Edmund Gwenn | United States | | |
| Flash Gordon | Frederick Stephani | 6 April 1936 | Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles B. Middleton | United States | Film serial with 13 chapters | |
| Undersea Kingdom | B. Reeves Eason, Joseph Kane | 30 May 1936 | Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Lois Wilde | United States | Film serial with 12 chapters | |
| Ghost Patrol | Sam Newfield | 3 August 1936 | Tim McCoy, Claudia Dell, Walter Miller | United States | | |
| The Man Who Changed His Mind | Robert Stevenson | 11 September 1936 | Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, John Loder | United Kingdom | | |
| 1937 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| Non-Stop New York | Robert Stevenson | 13 September 1937 | John Loder, Anna Lee, Francis L. Sullivan | United Kingdom | | |
| Skeleton on Horseback | Hugo Haas | 21 December 1937 | Hugo Haas, Bedrich Karen, Zdenek Stephanek | Czechoslovakia | | |
| 1938 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars | Ford Beebe, Robert F. Hill | 31 March 1938 | Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles B. Middleton | United States | Film serial with 15 chapters | |
| Flight to Fame | C. C. Coleman Jr. | 12 October 1938 | Charles Farrell, Jacqueline Wells, Hugh Sothern | United States | | |
| 1939 |||||||
| Title | Director | Release | Primary cast | Production country | Notes | Ref(s) |
| The Phantom Creeps | Ford Beebe | 7 January 1939 | Bela Lugosi, Robert Kent, Dorothy Arnold | United States | Film serial with 12 chapters | |
| Son of Frankenstein | Rowland V. Lee | 13 January 1939 | Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi | United States | | |
| Buck Rogers | Ford Beebe, Saul A. Goodkind | 11 April 1939 | Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Constance Moore, Jackie Moran | United States | Film serial with 12 chapters | |
| The Man They Could Not Hang | Nick Grinde | 17 August 1939 | Boris Karloff, Lorna Gray, Robert Wilcox | United States | | |
| The Return of Doctor X | Vincent Sherman | 23 November 1939 | Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris | United States | | |