The first film Shaw appeared in was "Caste" in 1930. He soon began to make a name for himself in films such as "Brewster's Millions" in 1935, "Men Are Not Gods" in 1936 and "Farewell Again" in 1937. He was making about £300 a week during this stage of his career, a significant sum higher than the salary of the British Prime Minister of the time. He brought what the "Daily Telegraph" described as a "smooth villainy" to the role of Frank Sutton in "The Squeaker" in 1937, while in 1939 he played the hero Cdr. David Blacklock alongside Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson in "The Spy in Black", Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's first collaboration. Shaw described himself as a film buff and called Academy Award-winning actor Spencer Tracy his "great god of all screen actors"; he was so impressed by Tracy's technique that he claimed to become depressed while watching his films because Tracy made acting look simple, while Shaw claimed to find it so difficult to master himself.