Joe Karlosi wrote:
I've almost always heard that the 1931 version was the better of the two as well. One thing's for sure - whatever its rep was in previous decades, it is certainly considered the best today.
Actually it could not be screened legally for many years. I saw it in October 1967 as part of a Rouben Mamoulian retrospective and it was stated clearly there that this was the first public screening of the film in a quarter-century. MGM bought the film when they remade it and it was not made available until Ted Turner acquired the MGM library. The Whale SHOW BOAT, RKO's 1931 CIMMARON and the British GASLIGHT were unseen legally until then for similar reasons.

Thus, strictly by virtue of its unavailability the March version had an added luster, especially to monster kids looking at Famous Monsters and comparing the pics of March and Tracy in issue 34.