Huge Thread for all things Silent films!

Films were defined as with no synchronized sound. It's a period of film history from mid-1890s to late-1920s as it transitions through sound. Many directors experimenting with stories, visuals, cinematography, etc. They even also try to experiment through sound or color, but it's very very early at this time. Genres were invented during the time as again, experimented by drama, epic, historical, western, comedy, and horror.

Although, most films were made on nitrate which is flammable and decay easily, so many silent films were lost through time. So, we're not mentioning them!

Essential Silent Films

These are essential for viewer's convenience or interest.

• Nosferatu (1922) dir. F.W. Murnau
• The General (1926) dir. Buster Keaton
• Metropolis (1927) dir. Fritz Lang
• The Kid (1921) dir. Charlie Chaplin
• City Lights (1931) dir. Charlie Chaplin
• Intolerance (1916) dir. D.W. Griffth
• Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) dir. F.W. Murnau
• Battleship Potemkin (1925) dir. Sergei Eisenstein
• The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
• The Crowd (1928) dir. King Vidor
• Greed (1924) dir. Erich von Stroheim
• The Phantom Carriage (1921) dir. Victor Sjöström
• A Trip to the Moon (1902) dir. Georges Melies
• The Great Train Robbery (1903) dir. Edwin S. Porter

Silent Comedies

There are 3 titans of the silent comedies are: Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd. Their stunts and sheer acting ability visually sparks a laugh on every films.

• The General (1926) dir. Buster Keaton
• Sherlock Jr. (1924) dir. Buster Keaton
• Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) dir. Charles Reisner / Buster Keaton
• Seven Chances (1925) dir. Buster Keaton
• The Cameraman (1928) dir. Edward Sedgwick/ Buster Keaton
• The Kid (1921) dir. Charlie Chaplin
• The Gold Rush (1925) dir. Charlie Chaplin
• City Lights (1931) dir. Charlie Chaplin
• Modern Times (1936) dir. Charlie Chaplin
• The Circus (1928) dir. Charlie Chaplin
• A Woman of Paris (Chaplin, 1923)
• Shoulder Arms (Chaplin, 1918)
• "The Idle Class" (Chaplin, 1921)
• "A Dog's Life" (Chaplin, 1918)
• The Freshman (1925)
• Safety Last! (1923)
• Speedy (1928)
• The Kid Brother (1927)

Silent Horror

• Nosferatu (1922) dir. F.W. Murnau
• Faust (1926) dir. F.W. Murnau
• The Phantom Carriage (1921) dir. Victor Sjöström
• The Phantom of the Opera (1925) dir. Rupert Julian
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) dir. Robert Wiene
• The Golem (1920) dir. Carl Boese, Paul Wegener
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) dir. John S. Robertson
• The Man Who Laughs (1928) dir. Paul Leni
• Häxan: Witchcraft through the Ages (1922) dir. Benjamin Christensen

Experimental/Avant-Garde

• The Man With the Movie Camera (1929) dir. Dziga Vertov
• Strike (1925) dir. Sergei Eisenstein
• Un Chien Andalou (1929) dir. Luis Buñuel
• L’Age d’Or (1930) dir. Luis Buñuel
• Ménilmontant (1926) dir. Dimitri Kirsanoff
• À propos de Nice (1930) dir. Jean Vigo
• Limite (1931) dir. Mario Peixoto

Noteworthy Silent Films

United States

• Birth of the Nation (1915) dir. D.W. Griffith - If you don't like this film of racism, don't watch it. Considered a landmark in cinema.
• Way Down East (1920) dir. D.W. Griffith
• Broken Blossoms (1919) dir. D.W. Griffith
• Orphans of the Storm (1921) dir. D.W. Griffth
• Underworld (1927) dir. Josef von Sternberg
• The Docks of New York (1928) dir. Josef von Sternberg
• The Last Command (1928) dir. Josef von Sternberg
• The Thief of Bagdad (1924) dir. Raoul Walsh
• The Iron Horse (1924) dir. John Ford
• Within Our Gates (1920) dir. Oscar Micheaux
• Body and Soul (1925) dir. Oscar Micheaux
• Foolish Wives (1922) dir. Erich von Stroheim
• The Wedding March (1928) dir. Erich von Stroheim
• The Big Parade (1925) dir. King Vidor
• The Wind (1928) dir. Victor Sjöström
• The Scarlet Letter (1926) dir. dir. Victor Sjöström
• The Ten Commandments (1923) dir. Cecil B. DeMille
• Tabu (Murnau, 1931)
• City Girl (Murnau, 1930)
• Bucking Broadway (Ford, 1917)
• Hell Bent (1918) dir. John Ford
• Straight Shooting (1917) dir. John Ford
• Just Pals (1920) dir. John Ford
• Four Sons (1928) dir. John Ford
• 3 Bad Men (1926) dir. John Ford
• "A Corner in Wheat" (Griffith, 1909)
• Street Angel (Borzage, 1928)
• Lonesome (1928) dir. Pal Fejos
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) dir. Rex Ingram
• The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) dir. Rex Ingram
• Scaramouche (1923) dir. Rex Ingram
• The Lost World (1925) dir. Harry O. Hoyt
• Wings (1927) dir. Raoul Walsh
• Beggars of Life (1928) dir. William A. Wellman
• Ben-Hur (1925) dir. Fred Niblo
• Show People (1928) dir. King Vidor
• The Patsy (1928) dir. King Vidor

Germany

• Destiny (1921) dir. Fritz Lang
• Die Nibelungen (1924) dir. Fritz Lang
• Spies (1928) dir. Fritz Lang
• Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) dir. Fritz Lang
• Woman In the Moon (1929) dir. Fritz Lang
• The Last Laugh (1924) dir. F.W. Murnau
• Tartuffe (1926) dir. F.W. Murnau
• I Don't Want to Be a Man (Lubitsch, 1918)
• The Oyster Princess (Lubitsch, 1919)
• Diary of the Lost Girl (1929) dir. G.W. Pabst
• The Love of Jeannie Ney (1927) dir. G.W. Pabst
• The Holy Mountain (1926) dir. Arnold Fanck

France

• Les Vampires (1915) dir. Louis Feuillade
• Judex (1916) dir. Louis Feuillade
• Napoleon (1927) dir. Abel Gance
• J’Accuse (1919) dir. Abel Gance
• La Roue (1923) dir. Abel Gance
• El Dorado (1921) dir. Marcel L’Herbier
• Cœur fidèle (1923) dir. Jean Epstein
• The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) dir. Jean Epstein

United Kingdom

• The Lodger (1927) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
• Blackmail (1929) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
• A Cottage On Dartmoor (1929) dir. Anthony Asquith
• Shooting Stars (1928) dir. Anthony Asquith
• Underground (1928) dir. Anthony Asquith
• The Informer (1929) dir. Arthur Robison

Russia/Soviet Union

• Storm Over Asia (1928) dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin
• Zemlya (1930) dir. Alexander Dovzhenko
• Arsenal (1929) dir. Alexander Dovzhenko
• October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1928) dir. Sergei Eisenstein
• Aelita: The Queen of Mars (1924) dir. Yakov Protazanov
• By the Law (1926) dir. Lev Kuleshov

Sweden

• The Outlaw and His Wife (1918) dir. Victor Sjöström
• A Man There Was (1917) dir. Victor Sjöström
• Ingeborg Holm (1913) dir. Victor Sjöström

Denmark

• Master of the House (Dreyer, 1925)
• The Bride of Glomdal (1926) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
• Michael (1924) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
• The President (1919) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
• The Parson’s Widow (1920) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

Japan

• A Page of Madness (1926) dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa
• I Was Born, But... (Ozu, 1932)
• A Story of Floating Weeds (Ozu, 1934)
• Dragnet Girl (Ozu, 1933)
• Tokyo Chorus (Ozu, 1931)
• An Inn in Tokyo (Ozu, 1935)
• Passing Fancy (Ozu, 1933)

OP is under construction, discuss them

Silent post

Transformers 5

reserved for more space

@Elric you know what do to

shoutout @DELON

i aint gotta do anything, sace got it covered

get some earlier Sjostrom in?

look in the Sweden part in the Noteworthy like A Man There Was and The Outlaw and His Wife

no i was asking if you got around to watching Outlaw And His Wife.. didnt we talk about it in the western thread?

oh I watched A Man There Was and i'll be down to watch that.

Yes.

bit heavy on the us section light on everything else

good thread though

in
the crowd

I added an interesting film called Within Our Gates which was directed by Oscar Micheaux, an African American director. I rec’d y’all to check out this!

Just watched Victor Sjöström’s The Outlaw and His Wife on the Criterion Channel. Which had a fantastic print and pretty sure they’ll release this soon.

just got tix to see city lights on sunday (which i ashamedly haven't watched before)

idk if u can post films on archive.org in full or not but The Last Warning (1929) is on it and everyone should watch it

Oscar is super legendary, not brought up enough imo

This is a great thread, and I am grateful that someone made it. OP seems to cover most of the major ones, personally I would also add Teinosuke Kinugasa’s A Page of Madness (1926) and maybe some of Ozu’s silent work

thought it was mid for a longgg time but recent rewatch was pleasant

tell me what you thought about it

murnau wannabe

it's interesting, but great

thanks, just having fun making these threads