# Silent Films



## Foxbat

The recent Metropolis thread (and spirited defence of such a fine movie) made me realise that there are probably a few of us that have a hankering for the old silent classics - so I thought I'd start this thread.  

Here is a place if you want to discuss or recommend movies from the silent era - me? I've just placed an order for 5 from the good ol' US of A - and here they are:   Intolerance, Foolish Wives, The Cat And the Canary, Birth Of A Nation, and The Bat. Can't wait.  

I think my favourite silent movie is probably The Phantom Of The Opera with Lon Chaney (man of 1000 faces!). But there are so many classics!

So, if you want to share your thoughts, loves or hates of the silent era...stick em here. If there's a decent response, I can always make this thread a sticky...if not, it can die a sad and lonely death as it plummets down the page


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## Winters_Sorrow

Well, I must show my filmic ignorance here as I haven't seen a whole of of silent movies (although plenty B&W ones). I'm seen a few Chaplin, Keaton & Laurel and Hardy movies which have stood the test of time well, but on the whole, I find them hard to watch as its film-making from a different era with very exaggerated facial expressions and movements. 

Plus, sharp dialogue is one of the things I look for in movies, so Silent films aren't what I'm after!


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## ravenus

I doubt that you haven't seen at least some of these already but I'd definitely recommend the following:

*Friedrich Murnau*:
_Nosferatu: eine symponie des grauens_ (very interesting and pioneering if now somewhat creaky vampire movie, scary performance by Max Schreck)
_Sunrise_ (somewhat melodramatic tale of fidelty and seduction, but absolutely arresting visual sense)

*Carl Dreyer*:
_The Passion of Joan of Arc_ (Stripped-down, moving and intimate protrayal of the last moments of Joan, brilliant lead performance)_
Vampyr_ (Very interesting slow-paced and extremely surreal vampire gothic)

*Benjamin Christensen* - _Haxan_ aka _Witchcraft through the ages_ (Brilliant documentary / dramatic recreation / fantasy on witchcraft lore and the persecution of perceived witches THIS IS A MUST-SEE!!!)

And you definitely want to check out films by *Guy Maddin*, wich are not actually old but modelled to look like they came from the classic silent film era. I realy liked his _Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary_ (a balletic retelling of the Stoker story - don't cringe, this is good) and he's supposed to have made some other very interesting movies.


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## littlemissattitude

ravenus said:
			
		

> *Carl Dreyer*:
> _The Passion of Joan of Arc_ (Stripped-down, moving and intimate protrayal of the last moments of Joan, brilliant lead performance)
> _Vampyr_ (Very interesting slow-paced and extremely surreal vampire gothic).


 
These are two of the best films I've ever seen...period, not just of silent films. I just finally got to see _The Passion of Joan of Arc_ a few months ago (and I think I posted a review over on that thread). I'd been wanting to see it since I was about 10 years old and read about it, but never got to do so before. Usually when that happens, I've built the film up so much in my mind that I'm disappointed with the reality. Not so with this one.

I approached _Vampyr_ from a very different perspective. I'd never heard of it and found it on the "foreign films" aisle of the video store quite by accident. I think I spent about an hour speechless after watching it, I was so amazed. Just from the point of view of some of the effects, I didn't know they could do some of that stuff back when _Vampyr_ was made.

I also have to say that the aforementioned _Metropolis_ just amazed me when I first saw it in a film class. It is very stylized in some ways (which is what might have been part of Esioul's problem with it when she mentioned it on another thread, along with the anachronistic score), but that actually is one of the things I like most about it.

I think you'll find _Birth of a Nation_ interesting, Foxbat. I assume you know some of its history, how controversial it was even when it was made, considering who are depcited as the heroes of the piece. Some people here in the States won't even watch it because of its noteriety, and as recently as a few years ago public showings have been cancelled because people threatened violence if the showings went on. That aside, it's an amazing piece of work. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. And, of course, I'm especially intrigued by it because the man who played John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, in the film, was our neighbor when I was young. After we moved from that house and my grandmother moved back in, I can remember him coming down his orchard to talk to Grandma across the fence when I would be staying with her and she was out doing yardwork. Keep in mind that when he jumps from the box to the stage and limps off after he shoots Lincoln, he wasn't just acting. He really hurt his leg when he landed.

And, on a slightly (?) less serious note, I've always loved the old silent comedy shorts, especially Chaplain and the Keystone Kops. Oh, and if you've not seen _The Great Train Robbery_, you really should, just from a historical standpoint. I'd also recommend some of the silent documentaries, especially _Nanook of the North_ and _Grass*. *Grass_is from the same people who later made _King Kong._


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## Foxbat

> I think you'll find _Birth of a Nation_ interesting, Foxbat. I assume you know some of its history, how controversial it was even when it was made, considering who are depcited as the heroes of the piece


 
I've heard a lot about this one so I'm definitely curious to see for myself. I intend to watch it in the same frame of mind you need to use when watching Leni Reifensthal's _Triumph Of The Will_ - for historical interest only.

As for The _Passion Of Joan Of Arc_ - it's a real work of sheer quality - which proves that you don't always need dialogue if your visuals are simply stunning enough to carry the whole story. But, my God, the ending! It was so horrific and realistic. Absolutely fantastic stuff.


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## Foxbat

Here's a website I thought might be of interest  

http://www.silentera.com/


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## Shoegaze99

ravenus said:
			
		

> _The Passion of Joan of Arc_ (Stripped-down, moving and intimate protrayal of the last moments of Joan, brilliant lead performance)


Easily one of the great films ever made, silent or not. Stunning to behold in every way, from the torn, tortured dialogue to the disturbing, disorienting closeups to the mounting sense of dread to the stunning ending. I can't possible say enough good things about it. Everyone who loves film should see this.

Lots of other good ones already mentioned (I'll put in a second for *Nosferatu*, too), so I'll try to touch on some titles not yet brought up:

First, if you like Alfred Hitchcock but have yet to explore his silent era (yes, kids, Hitchcock was a silent film director!), it's worth checking out. *The Lodger* is widely considered his best from that period - very good film that shows much of what he would become - while *The Pleasure Garden, The Ring, Champagne, Easy Virtue* and *The Farmer's Wife* are all available on very affordable DVDs. (You can get all those titles, plus everything else from his British era, for about $30 U.S. through Brentwood. Check Amazon.com for the sets; there are two of them, about $15 each).

For "important" silent works, *Battleship Potemkin* is pretty vital to see, establishing some new stylistic approaches to storytelling still in use today (the montage, of course, being the most famous example).

The original silent version of *Ben-Hur* was pretty good; very epic, with massive fights and good action.

And for sheer entertainment, almost anything with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton is well worth watching. Stuff like Keaton's *The General* hold up very well today as fun, daring, adventure-filled humor.

Finally, here's one that might be a little more comfortable for those of you new to silent film, since it was made in *1976*. Yeah, 1976. *Mel Brook's "Silent Movie"*. It tells the story a director trying to produce the first major silent movie in some 40 years. Hmmmmm.... coincidence? Great stuff.


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## littlemissattitude

Foxbat said:
			
		

> I've heard a lot about this one so I'm definitely curious to see for myself. I intend to watch it in the same frame of mind you need to use when watching Leni Reifensthal's _Triumph Of The Will_ - for historical interest only.


 
_Triumph of the Will_ is truly one of the most frightening films I've ever seen.  Then again, the real stuff is always scarier than fiction.  It shows, I think, how easy it is to pull people in to any sort of cult of personality such as the one Hitler and his henchmen created in Germany, how easily people are led.

Shoegaze...I can't believe I forgot to mention _Battleship Potemkin_.

And as for _Silent Movie_, I've always loved the fact that the only one to speak in the movie was Marcel Marceau.  Priceless.


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## Foxbat

Just been watching _The Cat And The Canary _from a fledgling Universal Studio (1927). Right from the start when a gloved hand wipes away cobwebs to reveal the title, this movie oozes atmosphere. Telling the tale of a homicidal maniac stalking the inhabitants of a Gothic Manor, this film became the template for many a haunted house flick that followed. 

Most enjoyable...and I finally know where all those Scooby Doo stories came from


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## ast

I have never been able to get into silent films as a rule, with the exception of Metropolis and Harold Lloyd. Laurel & Hardy never really appealed to me along with the others. Keystone Cops always seemed too silly to me.

Any thoughts??


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## Winters_Sorrow

Well, lots of thoughts - mainly agreeing with you! As a keen film fan, I enjoy seeing the "early" growth of cinema and a lot of the groundwork was laid in these movies for the later ones. But, having said that I find early B&W movies hard to watch precisely because they've been pastiched! Intellectually, I understand that these 'were first' but emotionally, you're sitting there wondering why they don't react in 21st century ways.

Still cool seeing the "birth of cinema", though.


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## Foxbat

> Well, lots of thoughts - mainly agreeing with you! As a keen film fan, I enjoy seeing the "early" growth of cinema and a lot of the groundwork was laid in these movies for the later ones. But, having said that I find early B&W movies hard to watch precisely because they've been pastiched! Intellectually, I understand that these 'were first' but emotionally, you're sitting there wondering why they don't react in 21st century ways.


 
Very true. A couple of things (I believe) you must keep in mind when watching one of these films 

1) The need to convey information without the use of sound - hence the much exageratted expressions, dramatic music etc.

2) You need to detach yourself from all the clutter in this century and look at these (almost) with a historian's eye to get the best out of them. I would recommend anybody starting out to have a look at some early German cinema which (I believe) is some of the finest made....even against much of today's work!

In fact, silent movies is becoming a 'runt of the litter' - with most folk drunk on Dolby Digital and such like. For that reason, I'm gonna give the runt a bit of a helping hand and make this a sticky. Any thoughts or recommendations can be put here


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## McMurphy

*John Barrymore's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*

The 1920's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde film starring Drew Barrymore's great grandfather, John Barrymore, as both transformations is a silent film I have on DVD and have enjoyed repeated viewing.

The make-up job on Mr. Hyde, which, to me, seemed to be in the tradition of the appearance of 1922's Nosferatu. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is surprisely violent and creepy for its time (for example, Hyde beating someone to death with a lead pipe), and the super-imposed image of a giant spider crawling over the foot of the bed and entering Jekyll's mind was brilliant.

This film is one of my favorite silent films I have ever seen.


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## Foxbat

Ah yes. I have a copy of this one as well (I got it as part of a box-set which also includes _The Golem_, _The Lost World_ and _The Thief Of Baghdad_. It's a good example of the fine quality that exists in these really old movies (and why we shouldn't forget about them)


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## GrownUp

*Re: John Barrymore's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*



			
				McMurphy said:
			
		

> The 1920's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde film starring Drew Barrymore's great grandfather, John Barrymore, as both transformations is a silent film I have on DVD and have enjoyed repeated viewing.
> 
> The make-up job on Mr. Hyde, which, to me, seemed to be in the tradition of the appearance of 1922's Nosferatu. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is surprisely violent and creepy for its time (for example, Hyde beating someone to death with a lead pipe), and the super-imposed image of a giant spider crawling over the foot of the bed and entering Jekyll's mind was brilliant.
> 
> This film is one of my favorite silent films I have ever seen.


 
Oh I concur. They showed it on the TV a while ago. It was dark, and violent, but I was most absorbed by how the complexity of the story was portrayed.

 The subtlety of it was an eye-opener certainly. It is not what you expect from a silent film. A thinker. Makes you think about it for a while afterwards.


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## Quokka

I was rapted watching _Nosferatu_, brilliant. After meaning to watch it for years it was watching _Shadow of the Vampire_ (a fictional telling of the making of Nosferatu) that made me finally chase it down.

One movie that unfortunately we can no longer watch that I would really love to see, is _The Story of the Kelly Gang_ (1906), This movie was originaly over 70 minutes long, leading it to often being referred to as the first feature film, unfortunately only about 9 minutes of it remain.


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## iansales

Spione by Fritz Lang is an excellent silent film. And last night I watched Pandora's Box. Louise Brooks was... amazing. The documentary about her on the DVD was also fascinating.


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## j d worthington

Tried posting before on this, but somehow it got et! (Either that, or someone saw the size of the thing, let out a squawk, and sent it off into the void. Even I'm not going to try to retype all that a second time around.)

Anyway, here goes:

Keaton: in addition to *The General*, I'd highly recomment *The Cameraman*, *Spite Marriage*, and *Steamboat Will, Jr*.

Harold Lloyd: Quite a few to choose from; his most well-known probably being *Safety Last*, and well worth seeing.

Charlie Chaplin: just about anything post-1916 (when he began to have near total control of his own work).

Since this is a science-fiction and fantasy forum, the 1916 *Twenty Thousand* *Leagues Under the Sea* (containing some of the earliest underwater cinematography ever done) and 1926(?) *Mysterious Island*, with Lionel Barrymore. Both drag in spots, but both have some wonderful stuff as well. There's also Willis O'Brien's *The Lost World* (1926), showing some great early stop-motion animation. And in addition to *Metropolis*, try Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse films, or *Die Niebelungen* (*Siegfried* and *Kriemhild's* *Revenge*). There's also, as mentioned, The Golem (1920); and *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* for a truly surrealistic (or, more precisely, impressionistic) experience. Conrad Veidt is wonderful in both this and *The Man Who Laughs* (which also comes highly recommended by Ray Bradbury). (Incidentally, for trivia buffs, Veidt's appearance in this film is what inspired Keane to create The Joker for the Batman comics.) In addition to The Cat and the Canary, a wonderful blend of horror and comedy, is *The Monster* (1925) with Lon Chaney -- very dated in spots, but parts of this are still quite effective in creating an eerie atmosphere. And along with Nosferatu, try F. W. Murnau's *Faust* (1926).

If you can find a copy, see Abel Gance's *Napoleon* -- though it's not as effective on the small screen, and we are missing some of the reels of film. (I had the very good fortune to see this one in public exhibition, with Carmine Coppola directing the orchestra; three screens set side-by-side, as part of the film is panoramic and part also uses different images on all three screens, each visually contrasting and commenting on the others. For the panoramic views, Gance had to mount three cameras one above the other, as no panoramic motion-picture cameras existed at the time. If you ever have a chence to see this film this way -- jump at it!)

I had a whole list of other films to suggest along these lines, but I'll have to reconstruct it now; I'll try to be brief. (One note: with films like *The Thief of* *Bagdad*, *The Phantom of the Opera*, or *Ben-Hur*, look for copies that have restored the two-tone technicolor sequences. The ballroom scene in Phantom, with Chaney as the Red Death, is absolutely gorgeous!)

For those who don't know: much of early silent film was hand-cranked, the speed being adjusted to fit the mood of a particular scene. It wasn't until the 1980s, when Kevin Brownlow helped invent a projector for silent films, that this was done again; projectors normally having a single speed. This is where some of the jerky motion comes from. Most silents on DVD have now used this process, but not all; if you can, find out if the one you're looking at does; it makes a huge difference in a film's impact.

(Oh, and yes, Louise Brooks was amazing. *Pandora's Box* is a film that should only be shown on asbestos screens; she produces enough heat in that film to set anything else on fire!)


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## DJ_Frost

Cool =)


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## Foxbat

> There's also Willis O'Brien's *The Lost World* (1926), showing some great early stop-motion animation.


 
I recently picked up a copy of this and, considering how old this movie is, O'Brien's special effects are very impressive indeed


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## Nesacat

Am trying not to double up here but suspect I will anyway. Here goes.

*Call of Cthulhu* - My all time favourite silent movie and the one that got me hooked on them in the first place. 

*Le Voyage Dans La Lune* ( Georges Melies) - one of the first fantasy films and a really peculiar one at that. Is about the first trip to the Moon and also has a grotto of giant fungi and moon-dwellers who vanish in a puff of smoke when struck. It's all very bizarre and surreal.

*Der Golem *( Paul Wegner) - shut away in the attic are the remains of the Golem. He's brought back to life, runs amok after being forced to kidnap a girl,  is betrayed by a little girl and 'dies' again. Oh yes ... there is an also an invocation of the demon Astaroth. 

*The Fall of the House of Usher* (Jean Epstein) - very dark, gothic and surreal. Had wonderful medieval sort of music and was a feast for the eyes. Only here she was his wife and not his sister.

*Thief of Baghdad* (Raoul Walsh) - was wonderful this with great sets and backdrops. And there was Douglas Fairbanks 

*The Iron Mask* (Alan Dwan) - about a zillion times better than watching DiCaprio in action. Douglas Fairbanks here again. 

*Vampyr *(Carl Theodor Dreyer) - does not have much in the way of a plot but is very much a visual treat.  There's a creepy, dream-like atmosphere over the wole film and everything is sort of fog-like. Made the move very unsettling and creepy as a result.  Almost felt as if I were half asleep or semi conscious and was not a part of any understandable reality.

And also: 
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea ( Stuart Paton); The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari (Robert Wiene);  Nosferatu ( FW Murnau); The Phantom Of The Opera ( Rupert Julian); Metropolis (Fritz Lang).


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## littlemissattitude

It must be too late at night for me to be doing this.  The post was not formatting like I wanted it to.


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## Nesacat

littlemissattitude said:
			
		

> *
> Vampyr has to rank as one of, if not the, most atmospheric film I've ever seen.  I happened on it quite by accident in the foreign films section of the video store one time, having never heard of it.  I'm so glad I made its acquaintance.*


*

Am glad to meet someone else who likes it. Yes it's a wonderful movie. Happened on it quite by accident too at a pirated DVD store and bought it because it was about vampires. It's a delicious visual experience. *


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## littlemissattitude

Nesacat said:
			
		

> Am glad to meet someone else who likes it. Yes it's a wonderful movie. Happened on it quite by accident too at a pirated DVD store and bought it because it was about vampires. It's a delicious visual experience.



Sorry for that glitch with my previous post.  As I said, it's late, and in trying to reformat it, it somehow disappeared.  At this time of night, I probably hit the secret delete button or something.   It's been a long and trying day.

The other thing that I was wanting to say was, has anyone here seen _The Last Laugh_, from 1924.  It starred Emil Jannings and was directed by F. W. Murnau, who, of course, also directed _Nosferatu_.  _The Last Laugh_ is a wonderful character study of a doorman who loses his job, and how he copes with that change in his life.  I recommend it highly.


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## j d worthington

There's also the wonderful, somewhat surrealistic feeling *The Wind*, starring Lilian Gish.

There really are so many wonderful silent films, anyone who hasn't at least dipped into them using a fairly good guide will be missing a real treat.


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## ravenus

Yes *Vampyr* was a hypnotic experience. I got that same feel from one other film, *Lisa and the Devil* by Mario Bava.


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## Foxbat

> *Call of Cthulhu* - My all time favourite silent movie and the one that got me hooked on them in the first place.


 
I was kind of curious when I read this so I did a bit of searching. It seems that this film was written in 1926 but filmed in 2005 by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. It intrigued me so much that someone might make a silent movie in such modern times- where black and white itself is frowned upon by many - that I have ordered a copy for myself.


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## j d worthington

What surprises me is how faithful they remained to both the story and to the feel of silent films. Despite -- or perhaps because -- of the fact that this was a small group of people who got together to make a movie, this is a truly staggering achievement. It truly is a labor of love, and it shows.


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## Nesacat

Definitely agree with j.d. It is very much a labour of love and it comes across clearly. The movie even 'feels' as if it belongs to the silent era. I hope you enjoy it as much as I always do foxbat.


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## Foxbat

Looking forward to seeing this even more after those glowing reports


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## Roboripper

*Re: John Barrymore's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*



			
				McMurphy said:
			
		

> The 1920's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde film starring Drew Barrymore's great grandfather, John Barrymore, as both transformations is a silent film I have on DVD and have enjoyed repeated viewing.
> 
> The make-up job on Mr. Hyde, which, to me, seemed to be in the tradition of the appearance of 1922's Nosferatu. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is surprisely violent and creepy for its time (for example, Hyde beating someone to death with a lead pipe), and the super-imposed image of a giant spider crawling over the foot of the bed and entering Jekyll's mind was brilliant.
> 
> This film is one of my favorite silent films I have ever seen.


 
Is this film avaliable on Region 2 DVD do you know?  I've been wanting to see this for about 11 years and I've never seen it on TV, VHS or DVD.


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## j d worthington

I'm not certain about this, but I believe some of the major companies have picked it up and made it so. There are several releases out there of it. Just watch for a restored version, as some of the prints are in pretty poor shape. Kino, I think, has a copy, and theirs should be available in Region 2.


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## Foxbat

You can pick this movie up at www.oldies.com

I believe it is region 0 so should play on any DVD player.


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## Foxbat

I finally received my copy of Call Of The Cthulhu and watched it as soon as it arrived.....what a fantastic little film! I thought the makers did a great job and this movie is a fine example of why we need independent film makers. 

A great big well done to the HP Lovecraft Historical Society


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## j d worthington

Glad you liked it. Yes, it does indeed show what even a few dedicated people can do with less than a shoestring; makes Hollywood seem pretty tame; better special effects they have; better acting, I have my doubts; better scripts -- oh, _come on!!!!_ Lovely little film, deserves the praise it's been getting.

And, if you liked this, you really should try to track down the H.P. Lovecraft Collection. Each of the main features is a gem in its own right, and several of the shorts are exceptionally good, as well. Even when they're flawed, they seem to have something the big budget films all too often lack -- a feeling of actual love for the art and the original material.


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## jackokent

Sorry if this has been mentioned on this thread but I don't know the film's title.

Does anyone recall a short and extremely creepy silent film about a chap who gets stuck in a telephone box and gets carted to some sort of graveyard / storage hanger where he just gets left.

I remember having nightmares about this film years ago.


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## ravenus

The Ravenus got to watch the *Call of Cthulhu* film and i heartily concur with the praise that people here have lavished on it. The design of the dream city is incredibly evocative of Lovecraft's descriptions (and a great nod to Expressionist cinema) and when they show the creature at the end it's a moment of real awe. The atmosphere throughout was quite superbly maintained.


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## Nesacat

Foxbat said:
			
		

> I finally received my copy of Call Of The Cthulhu and watched it as soon as it arrived.....what a fantastic little film! I thought the makers did a great job and this movie is a fine example of why we need independent film makers.
> 
> A great big well done to the HP Lovecraft Historical Society



Am glad you liked it. It's a wonderful film. Going to try any of the rest? Am trying to track down Dagon myself and give it another chance after having heard j.d.'s take on it.


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## j d worthington

ravenus said:
			
		

> The design of the dream city is incredibly evocative of Lovecraft's descriptions (and a great nod to Expressionist cinema) ...


 
You know what the clincher was for me? When the sailor was "swallowed up by an angle of masonry which shouldn't have been there; an angle which was acute, but behaved as if it were obtuse". I'd thought it was a wonderul little film up to that point, and was very taken with it. At that point, I literally yelped for joy -- they did it precisely right! By the way, I'd heard they were working on a couple of other projects as well. One of them may have been a version of "The Unnamable" that I've seen some clips for, which looked quite nice. Another is a documentary, I think, on HPL's ancestry. And there's a new film supposed to be coming out soon with Lovecraftian themes, called "Read Me a Story" I think, with music by Nox Arcana -- the trailer I've seen is very evocative. Perhaps we should set up a thread on Lovecraftian cinema alone -- from the list I've seen, there are going to be enough projects of this sort seeing light soon....


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## Foxbat

> Am glad you liked it. It's a wonderful film. Going to try any of the rest?


 
I've just ordered Volume 1 of the HP Lovecraft collection. If I like it, I'll be getting the rest also. 



> Perhaps we should set up a thread on Lovecraftian cinema alone -- from the list I've seen, there are going to be enough projects of this sort seeing light soon....


 
Might not be a bad idea...although I'd leave it up to one more authorative than I to begin such a thread (me being not much better than a Lovecraftian virgin)......although I'd gladly sticky any such thread to keep it in the public eye 

On the movie itself.....I definitely agree with Ravenus comment on Expressionist cinema - the angled sets and such like really give it an authentic Twenties feel. 

Also, I found the small 'making of' feature much more interesting than most on DVD nowadays. It's always wonderful to learn just how creative you can be with cardboard and glitter


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## j d worthington

My only caution about that first volume would be: *Cool Air*, while retaining quite a lot of HPL's story, does have to stretch things a bit in order to make a bit longer film; however, I think they did very well with it, and showed a enormous respect for the material; and Jack Donner's performance as Doctor Munoz is absolutely superb! He brings several layers to the character that are only hinted at by HPL, but are quite valid. The shorts here, too, are slightly less well-done than on the other volumes, but that's because they were quite literally people getting a camera and doing what they could with very limited resources. Nonetheless, they, too, show an enormous respect for the original material and have a very nice feel to them. (And "The Hapless Antiquarian", with its homage to Edward Gorey, is utterly delightful.)

Vol. 2, with *Rough Magik*, is an original story and subtly played. Pity the Beeb didn't pick this up as a series, it could have been remarkably good. And the take on *The Terrible Old Man* is very modern and very nasty, but also very well done.

Vol. 3, with *Out of Mind*, though, I think is the real gem; I don't know if you folks received the broadcast of this (it was originally done on Canadian television), but it is a superb bit of Lovecraftian film, taking snippets from his stories and his letters and weaving them with a modern person's life, which becomes entwined with both the past and with Lovecraft's life and dreams -- Christopher Heyerdahl as HPL is almost uncanny -- he IS HPL, exactly as one would picture him from reading his letters and the memoirs of him. The special effects are kept to a minimum, and the emphasis is on atmosphere, acting, and a wonderful script and direction, and great use of imagination. I can't wait to see what the next volume will hold (the festival is later this year, so I have high hopes). Suffice to say that even the least deserving of things on these discs makes Hollywood's imagination quotient look pretty poor in comparison.


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## Foxbat

Picked up an interesting book recently - _From Caligari To Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film_

Although some of it has now been discredited (written in 1947) it makes some interesting observations on early German silent cinema - especially of how and why it evolved the way it did. Caligari in particular is a bit of an eye opener. In a nutshell - the two original script writers protested at the framing of their intended movie with extra storyline at beginning and end. The interesting thing is...take away this framing and you get a movie with a completely different slant that focuses on the insanity of tyranny. Quite prophetic considering the rise of Hitler soon after.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention the book for anybody that might be interested


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## j d worthington

Wow. This is a new one on me. Thanks, Foxbat...


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## SFAM

Greetings. For my favorite silent films, probably they'd be in this order:

1. *Metropolis* (Lang, 1927): It's great to see a cyberpunk film from 55 years prior to what's generally considered the first one. The restored Kino edition is just wonderful.  I recently bought Lang's "M" and Die Niebelungen, but I haven't seen these yet.

2. *Passion of Joan of Arc* (Dreyer, 1928): Falconetti gives us one of the best performances ever on film.  And truly, Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light accompanyment is just wonderful.

3. *Nosferatu*  (Murnau, 1922): I'm not as taken with Dreyer's Vampyr as some are, but I LOVE Nosferatu.

4. *Gold Rush* (Chaplin, 1925): while I love most of his stuff, this is my favorite movie of his.  Easy Street (1917) is my favorite short of his.

5. *Thief of Bagdad *(Walsh, 1924): I do like this a lot, although I must confess I like the 1940 version more.


----------



## Foxbat

_The Passion Of Joan Of Arc_ is a remarkable piece of film. The performances of all concerned were top drawer. And that ending had just an incredibly real feel to it. One of my favourites also


----------



## Ozymandias

Anyone seen The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926-7)? It's a fantasy adventure that uses paper cutout animation. It was also hand tinted, a process that (I believe) took ages.


----------



## j d worthington

Yes, as a matter of fact, I caught it on TCM about (I think) two years ago... lovely film, very different, and quite effective! And of some interest to fantasy fans, for that matter. Well worth seeking out....


----------



## Milk

*M* by Fritz Lang same director as *Metropolis.*

*The General* with Buster Keaton in it. I like Chapman too but I would choose Keaton over Chapman. Buster Keatons's stunts were amazing. When I saw the original Jackie Chan movies I kept being reminded of Buster Keaton. The General is my favorite movie with Buster Keaton and it still holds the test of time. It's a great movie.


----------



## ravenus

Milk said:
			
		

> *The General* with Buster Keaton in it. I like Chapman too but I would choose Keaton over Chapman.


*Chaplin*, you may mean. That's interesting, since I've seen a good deal of Chaplin's films but none of Buster Keaton. I should hunt down some and take a look.


----------



## j d worthington

Ravenus: Keaton is definitely worth checking out... Check to see which films he actually directed; because, once the studio started deciding who directed the film, they began to completely override his artistic decisions, much to the detriment of the films (I mean, casting him opposite Jimmy Durante????). But Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd remain the three geniuses of silent comedy, and each has plenty of things from the period well worth watching....

A few suggestions on Keaton:

*The General*
*The Projectionist*
*Spite Marriage*
*Steamboat Bill, Jr.*

Also, if you can find it, a short by the title (if I'm remembering correctly) of *The Theatre*, where Buster played literally every part in it ... including scenes where you see the audience, where he played everything from an old man to a baby....


If you like these, let me know, and I'll give you some more titles....


----------



## ravenus

@jd:

Thanks for the recommendations. The last you mention sounds a bit like this movie *Kind Hearts and Coronets* where Alec Guiness (who regretfully is known more for the boring role of Ben Kenobi) plays all the members of a large aristocratic family.


----------



## warhammer

Ozymandias said:


> Anyone seen The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926-7)? It's a fantasy adventure that uses paper cutout animation. It was also hand tinted, a process that (I believe) took ages.



Yep! Very different and original, liked it a lot.


----------



## scarface

I remember watching Camille,Camille with Garbo as a child & crying my puny little Heart Out.I also loved The Ghost & Mrs. Muir.I know,not silent but still classic!


----------



## SpaceShip

This is an interesting thread Foxbat - thanks for it.  I don't know whether the Laurel and Hardy "piano" film was silent but it has to be one of my favourites.  One thing I sometimes do when watching a "non-silent" movie is click on the mute button.  This shows me two things.  First, just what excellent actors the silent movie stars were and, secondly, just how good or bad the speakie movie actors are.  With no sound, it is sometimes very easy to see how bad some of the acting actually is - very unnatural.


----------



## j d worthington

SS: As I recall, they did both a silent and a later sound version of that ... and it was something of a comedic standby sketch. I'm going on a very (40-years-or-so) old memory here, but I seem to recall seeing this sketch done also by Keaton (with Fatty Arbuckle, I think?) and, perhaps, Chaplin in the silent era ... and the Three Stooges did one, as I recall, in the sound era. (As I said, this may be a faulty memory; anyone who knows for certain, please pass on the information pro or contra.)


----------



## SpaceShip

j.d. - I believe you.  And for the amount of info that is stored up in that head of yours, I think you can be forgiven for forgetting some minor bits of info.


----------



## Foxbat

Has anybody seen _Der Tunnel_? Apparently its a classic of silent German Cinema. I've just ordered a copy of the 1934 (English ) sound re-make but I can't seem to find an outlet where I can get my grubby mits on an original version.


----------



## j d worthington

Foxbat said:


> Has anybody seen _Der Tunnel_? Apparently its a classic of silent German Cinema. I've just ordered a copy of the 1934 (English ) sound re-make but I can't seem to find an outlet where I can get my grubby mits on an original version.


 
I've not seen any listings for this one, I'm afraid. You might check into some of the more obscure companies, but that's always risky -- some are completely reputable but small, others..... Interesting to note that Max Schreck is in the original of this:

Max Schreck: A History of Horror

And German cinema of this period is always fascinating to me, so if _you_ come across anyplace that's got it ... let us know, please?


----------



## Pyan

For those in the UK with Sky, Sky Cinema 1 is showing _*Safety Last*,_ starring *Harold Lloyd*, on Sunday, December 17th, at 6.30pm. This is the one with the famous "hanging off the clock" scene in it, and is rated *** in Halliwell's guide.



> _Marvellous star comedy which set a new standard not only in sightgags but in the comedy-thrill stunts which became Lloyd's stock-in-trade_.


Halliwell's Film & Video Guide, 2003


----------



## Madeline

One of my favorites is Greed (1924) with Zazu Pitts, Gibson Gowland, and the great Jean Hersholt.

I've been purchasing my movies through Overstock, but do you know of other places to purchase them?  I would appreciate knowing.


----------



## Foxbat

Madeline said:


> One of my favorites is Greed (1924) with Zazu Pitts, Gibson Gowland, and the great Jean Hersholt.
> 
> I've been purchasing my movies through Overstock, but do you know of other places to purchase them? I would appreciate knowing.


 
Yoy could try Kino on Video DVD VHS Catalog

or Oldies.com : Direct Source for Collectables Records & Alpha Video - Oldies, Doo Wop, Jazz, Pop, Rock Music and Horror, Serials, Thrillers, Sci-Fi, Westerns Movies

and a very warm welcome to Chronicles


----------



## j d worthington

Has anyone out there seen the "reconstructed" version of Greed? It had to be pieced together using production stills (much as London After Midnight has been), as the footage that was cut from it no longer exists; however, it replaced the cells (dialogue and scene settings) and restored the film to something close to its intended length, and they did find many of the original film elements that used the hand coloring to capture the nuances that the director intended.

(I say "its intended length" -- from what I understand, the original cut was 9 hours long, and intended to be a literal adaptation of McTeague, page for page, but the studio had a fit and had it cut down considerably. Here's more on that:

Greed (1924)

It's an impressive film either way, one of the truly great classics of the silent era.)


----------



## Madeline

I guess that's what I have, is the reconstructed version.  I have 4 disc, and it's over 4 hours.  I watched it once, the story is great and never forgot it.  I just glanced through it and the stills are very clear, but the motion is blurred.  They did it the way they restore _Lost Horizons_, which is a talky, but very good.


----------



## Madeline

Thanks Foxbat, I'm going to look into those sites.


----------



## Madeline

Ozymandias said:


> Anyone seen The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926-7)? It's a fantasy adventure that uses paper cutout animation. It was also hand tinted, a process that (I believe) took ages.


I would like to find this animation.  That would be totally different.


----------



## Madeline

Foxbat said:


> The recent Metropolis thread (and spirited defence of such a fine movie) made me realise that there are probably a few of us that have a hankering for the old silent classics - so I thought I'd start this thread.
> 
> Here is a place if you want to discuss or recommend movies from the silent era - me? I've just placed an order for 5 from the good ol' US of A - and here they are: Intolerance, Foolish Wives, The Cat And the Canary, Birth Of A Nation, and The Bat. Can't wait.
> 
> I think my favourite silent movie is probably The Phantom Of The Opera with Lon Chaney (man of 1000 faces!). But there are so many classics!
> 
> So, if you want to share your thoughts, loves or hates of the silent era...stick em here. If there's a decent response, I can always make this thread a sticky...if not, it can die a sad and lonely death as it plummets down the page


I don't have time right now, maybe this afternoon (after lunch) but how about making a list of all our collection?  Is that too much trouble?


----------



## The Wanderer

Having Been A dedicated film lover for 20 years now, I'll give you my Top 10 Silent films

in no particular order

1.The Passion of Joan of Arc (Fra) - Carl Dreyer - 1928
2.Metroplis - Fritz Lang (Ger) - 1926
3.Greed - Erich Von Stroheim (USA) - 1924
4.Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein (Rus) - 1925
5.October - Sergei Eisenstein (Rus) - 1928
6.Sunrise - Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (USA) - 1922
7.The Cabnet of DR Caligari - Robert Wiene (Ger) - 1919
8.Intolerance - DW Griffith (USA) - 1916
9.The General - Buster Keaton (USA) - 1926
10.Napoleon - Abel Gance (Fra) - 1927


----------



## The Wanderer

> Greed (1924)
> 
> It's an impressive film either way, one of the truly great classics of the silent era.)



I think it's a masterpeice and probably a better film on the subject than Huston's 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre', though perhaps less fun


----------



## j d worthington

Question: Did you have the good fortune to see *Napoleon* using the three-screen set-up, or was it projected onto a single screen?


----------



## bruno-1012

I was browsing in HMV last night and was looking through the DVDs at the classic black and white films.

My problem was that a lot of the DVDs were offering colourised versions.

There are not enough ****** in the world to convey exactly how I feel about those.

Mind you, it's hard enough getting some people to watch anything not made in the last couple of decades.

As I was quoted by a 20something in the office - 'I don't watch old stuff cos its all rubbish and boring.'  I offered to hand over some of the great and influential movies to be told 'I you want but I will never find time to watch any of them'

At least in here there are people who will give these things a try.


----------



## Foxbat

bruno-1012 said:


> I was browsing in HMV last night and was looking through the DVDs at the classic black and white films.
> 
> My problem was that a lot of the DVDs were offering colourised versions.
> 
> There are not enough ****** in the world to convey exactly how I feel about those.


 
Generally, I agree best to leave well alone. Some films are so important historically and culturally that they should not be tampered with (after all, who would want to paint a moustache on the Mona Lisa? )

However, some directors have gone on record as saying that they would have preferred to use colour if available. I think it's better to judge each colourised version on its own merits rather than as a generalistion (both _She_ and _Things To Come _work well in colour). And, let's face it, if it gets the younger generations interested in giving these oldies a view, it might have some merit


----------



## McMurphy

*Phantom of the Opera*

Has anyone else had the pleasure to watch the silent 1925 adaption of The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney?  I popped it in (I have it on DVD) just the other night, and I was really impressed on how good it was.  

It had some great images.  For example, the rooftop scene.  It starts by cutting to the birds hovering around a statue.  The camera switches to the attention of the dialogue.  When it cuts back to the statue, instead of hovering birds, we, the viewers, are forewarned of the ramifications by the omnious whipping of The Phantom's cloak.  

I also thought the make-up job on The Phantom's face was quite effective.

Thoughts?


----------



## j d worthington

McMurphy: You're kidding, right?

That is one of the iconic films of that era... and one of the iconic images of the horror genre to this day!

I first encountered images from this film when I was a very young child, and waited to see this film ... and waited ... and waited ... and waited. Finally saw it when I was in my 20s, and have loved it ever since. What is especially nice is that the newer copies have the advantage of some of the better prints they've found since, and include the two-strip technicolor sequences (oh, that masked ball, with the Red Death costume!!!).

Yes, it's stagey in spots, and overly melodramatic (something that I understand was a bit of a bone of contention between Chaney and the director, Rupert Julian). It's also quite faithful (overall) to Gaston Leroux's novel -- quite surprisingly so. And no one has managed to top Chaney's performance as the Phantom... and the almost balletic movements he gives to the character at times adds to the haunting presence.

So, yes... it has its flaws, but it is a truly wonderful film; one of my favorites (but then, I'm a big Chaney fan from a _loooong_ way back).


----------



## McMurphy

*Upon the Tombs of Dead Men, We Dance*



j. d. worthington said:


> McMurphy: You're kidding, right?
> 
> That is one of the iconic films of that era... and one of the iconic images of the horror genre to this day!
> 
> I first encountered images from this film when I was a very young child, and waited to see this film ... and waited ... and waited ... and waited. Finally saw it when I was in my 20s, and have loved it ever since. What is especially nice is that the newer copies have the advantage of some of the better prints they've found since, and include the two-strip technicolor sequences (oh, that masked ball, with the Red Death costume!!!).
> 
> Yes, it's stagey in spots, and overly melodramatic (something that I understand was a bit of a bone of contention between Chaney and the director, Rupert Julian). It's also quite faithful (overall) to Gaston Leroux's novel -- quite surprisingly so. And no one has managed to top Chaney's performance as the Phantom... and the almost balletic movements he gives to the character at times adds to the haunting presence.
> 
> So, yes... it has its flaws, but it is a truly wonderful film; one of my favorites (but then, I'm a big Chaney fan from a _loooong_ way back).



Heh, I'm kidding how?  

I agree it is a wonderful film.  I am going to print heresy here, but I wasn't a fan of the whole focus-in-and-out effect, but that is one of the very few things I did not like about the film.  You are correct: the Red Death moment was marvelous, just like the first unveiling of his true identity.

Sidenote (a brief one at that since I am aware that this is a silent film only thread): I just finished watching The Indestructible Man starring Chaney's son.....although it falls infinity short of The Phantom's classic status.


----------



## j d worthington

The "you're kidding" was simply a bit of good-natured teasing on my part (feeling my oats at that point....)

As for the in-and-out of focus... part of that, I know, is because some of the film elements had degenerated over the years, being of the old nitrate stock which required careful preservation (otherwise, it could do any of the following: combust, melt, become very grainy, or simply turn into dust; a good example of the last being when my then-wife was working at a movie theatre, and we came across a bunch of old silent film trailers up in the attic when cleaning it out... and -- dammit! -- because they hadn't been taken care of properly, they were either fused together or simply canisters of dust...)

Another part of that -- especially the scene where Mary Philbin's character unmasked him -- was, I think, meant to represent her shock... a near-syncope at having this walking corpse (as he would have appeared to her) approaching her.

And yes, Lon, Jr., was in both some very good films (High Noon, for instance, or The Wolf Man) and a lot of very bad ones....


----------



## McMurphy

*Copyrights, silenced.*

For those of you interested in watching Phantom of the Opera (1925 version), it is no longer protected by copyrights, and is presented for free via both streaming video and optional download on Google video.


----------



## Captain B

I would say the best silent film I can think of is Metropolis, which I now have on DVD

But I also recall classic Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laural & Hardy and others of the time all having great timing & skill


----------



## MG1962

I would vote for the Cabinet Of Dr Calagari, followed by Nosferatu, then Metropolis (And thats comming from someone who own 3 versions of Metropolis


----------



## Simian

_City Lights_. Although technically not a silent film (it has a soundtrack) Chaplin's power in Holywood was such that he could still get a film made without dialogue in the era of talkies. My personal favourite.


----------



## Ursa major

I've been lucky enought to see both *City Lights* and *Modern Times* accompanied by a live symphony orchestra.


Wonderful films, both.


----------



## Simian

Ursa major said:


> I've been lucky enought to see both *City Lights* and *Modern Times* accompanied by a live symphony orchestra.
> 
> 
> Wonderful films, both.



I have a hard enough time not crying at the end of _City Lights_ when I'm watching it on TV Ursa, with the full orchestral accompanyment I'd probably be bawling by the time the credits rolled.


----------



## Foxbat

Just got myself a copy of _The Hands Of Orlac. _I've  haven't seen this yet but it's meant to be a fine example of German Expressionist Cinema. 

It's just been released on DVD by Kino for anybody who's interested.


----------



## j d worthington

Foxbat said:


> Just got myself a copy of _The Hands Of Orlac. _I've haven't seen this yet but it's meant to be a fine example of German Expressionist Cinema.
> 
> It's just been released on DVD by Kino for anybody who's interested.


 
Thanks for passing on the info about this one; I've long wanted to see this film, which was the basis for *Mad Love*, with Peter Lorre (as well as a few other films, iirc), but I've not seen it around so far. Now there's a chance, anyway....


----------



## Foxbat

j. d. worthington said:


> Thanks for passing on the info about this one; I've long wanted to see this film, which was the basis for *Mad Love*, with Peter Lorre (as well as a few other films, iirc), but I've not seen it around so far. Now there's a chance, anyway....


 
Aaahh! I had a quick look at the extras and there is a trailer for Mad Love (which I believe will be coming out on DVD sometime). Now I know why that particular trailer


----------



## j d worthington

Foxbat said:


> Aaahh! I had a quick look at the extras and there is a trailer for Mad Love (which I believe will be coming out on DVD sometime). Now I know why that particular trailer


 
If you've not seen it, it's well worth a look. A strange little film, but very impressive in its own way, and Lorre's performance there is quite memorable. It was also one of the handful of films directed by Karl Freund, who was largely known as a cinematographer. (As such, he had one heck of an impressive career, as you can see by the list in the following link

Karl Freund

Chaplin, by the way, after seeing *Mad Love* is reported to have said that Lorre was "the greatest actor of our time". I'd not go that far, but he certainly wasn't bad....


----------



## Foxbat

Watched Orlac last night - very good film with a nice twisting plot. The transfer was also pretty good with nothing more than the usual dust scratches showing. 

Particular mention has to go to the film score - minimalist and sometimes dischordant but somehow compelling. It sat well with the visuals. 

My only gripe was that the ending was just a little too tidy for my liking but, considering it was made when cinema was in its infancy, it's well worth checking out.


----------



## sunnye

Wow! 
I like silent movies too


----------



## ravenus

@Foxbat: YOU HAVE TO GET THIS.

*'Vampyr' Criterion edition* (with 200 page book containing the script and the original story *Carmilla* by Sheridan Le Fanu which inspired this film, I am SO jumping with joy)







Actually, since you are UK based you can also consider the Eureka *Masters of Cinema* edition, which lacks the script + story book, but has its own booklet, an additional feature on Baron de Gunzberg who produced and played the lead, and an additional commentary by fanboy Guillermo Del Toro. Other extras same as the Criterion.


----------



## Foxbat

A very nice package you have there Ravenus. My Masters of Cinema edition packaging  looks very ordinary compared to it.


----------



## dialibra

i do not like these kind of movies


----------



## Aeris

Here in Utah, we have a place called the Organ Loft, and every weekend they show a silent film with an organist playing live right there in the front. It's the coolest thing ever, and I've been able to see a few classics and comedies. 

So far, Buster Keaton and Baby Face are my favorite comedians of that time period, and I got to see _7 Chances_ just a couple of weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoy it, and going has become sort of a tradition for some of my friends and I. It's so much fun.


----------



## Foxbat

Aeris said:


> Here in Utah, we have a place called the Organ Loft, and every weekend they show a silent film with an organist playing live right there in the front. It's the coolest thing ever, and I've been able to see a few classics and comedies.
> 
> So far, Buster Keaton and Baby Face are my favorite comedians of that time period, and I got to see _7 Chances_ just a couple of weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoy it, and going has become sort of a tradition for some of my friends and I. It's so much fun.


 
Organ Loft sounds like a great set-up. A good way to keep the silent genre alive and available to the public as it's meant to be seen


----------



## Pride

I watched a really good silent film the other day.
Beau Brummel was the title.


----------



## blacknorth

Interestingly, the early Soviet SF effort _Aelita_ is currently at youtube:

YouTube - Aelita 1/9


----------



## Foxbat

Picked up a copy of F.W. Murnau's *The Haunted Castle *on DVD.

According to the blurb, this transfer came from an original negative and a nitrate print. 

Not sure if the tinting of the movie is original or has been added. 

Either way, it's a big well done to Kino International for what is a superb transfer.


----------



## j d worthington

That's another I need to seek out. I quite like what I've seen by Murnau, and Kino almost always does an excellent job....


----------



## blacknorth

Anyone familiar with the 1916 Danish film Verdens Undergang? It's about a meteor shower that destroys a Danish town. Stunning work for the year and considering there was a war on...

It looks as though they actually used some wrecked Belgian town as a backdrop near the end.

Runs a full 75 minutes.


----------



## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

I just watched *The General*, starring Buster Keaton. What an incredible movie - sheer momentum is its real subject matter, if you ask me, and Keaton's ever-industrious, poker-faced character emerges as a hero of epic proportions through an adventure that is comedic but also somewhat awe-inspiring.


----------



## CyBeR

I've downloaded a couple of days ago "The phantom of the opera" from 1925 and am looking quite forward to watching it. 

(Yes, I said downloaded. Don't look so disapproving at me, there's really no other way for me to get some of the films I want here. Amazon takes forever to get anything here and there's no cinemas that play old films. So I'm stuck with what I've got as a solution.)


----------



## AE35Unit

good grief its quiet in here....


----------



## j d worthington

Yes, "The General" is an amazing film, in numerous ways. A lot of Keaton's work (at least, where he himself had artistic control) are quite astounding.

There is a story -- whether or not it is entirely true, I don't recall, but I believe Keaton himself was the one who told it -- that, in the filming of it, he was knocked down onto the tracks and then hopped up and chased after the train. He didn't know it at the time, but he had broken one (at least) of the vertebrae in his neck. Yet he kept going. He began to have horrible migraines and it wasn't until years later, when being x-rayed, that they found out about the neck injury. So he had actually continued doing all those acrobatic stunts with, essentially, a broken neck....


----------



## ravenus

CyBeR said:


> I've downloaded a couple of days ago "The phantom of the opera" from 1925 and am looking quite forward to watching it.
> 
> (Yes, I said downloaded. Don't look so disapproving at me, there's really no other way for me to get some of the films I want here. Amazon takes forever to get anything here and there's no cinemas that play old films. So I'm stuck with what I've got as a solution.)


Oh I think the silent version of The Phantom of The Opera is an out of copyright work so you're not breaking any laws as such by downloading and watching it.


----------



## CyBeR

Had a bit of courage last night and watched "Metropolis". 
For my first foray into silent films, I can't say there was a better title to chose. I'm actually sad that not the whole film survived to this day and out of a 3 hour one it got reduced to a two hour long piece of cinematography. It was impressive for its time and quite original I might add. 

I may just become a regular poster in this topic from now on.


----------



## AE35Unit

CyBeR said:


> Had a bit of courage last night and watched "Metropolis".
> For my first foray into silent films, I can't say there was a better title to chose. I'm actually sad that not the whole film survived to this day and out of a 3 hour one it got reduced to a two hour long piece of cinematography. It was impressive for its time and quite original I might add.
> 
> I may just become a regular poster in this topic from now on.



I rented this a while ago,the only thing is it was the version with the new aoundtrack by Giorgio Moroder, which spoiled it!!


----------



## Foxbat

Whilst ordering a copy of Dario Argento's Inferno on DVD, I came across a reference to a movie called *L'inferno.*  Made in 1911, it was (apparently) the first ever feature film to come out of Italy. Don't have a clue what it will be like but it was fairly inexpensive so ordered it as well. Anybody seen this?


----------



## Ursa major

According to Wiki (whose contributor thinks well of the film, or is passing on a recommendation), the DVD you've bought has a soundtrack - not specially composed for it - by Tangerine Dream.


----------



## Foxbat

Ursa major said:


> According to Wiki (whose contributor thinks well of the film, or is passing on a recommendation), the DVD you've bought has a soundtrack - not specially composed for it - by Tangerine Dream.


 
Hopefully, that will be an option I can de-select. Failing that, I may have to watch this silent movie with the sound turned down.......oh the irony


----------



## Ursa major

So Tangerine's not appealing, then?

I would have thought, given that the music is more than half-a-decade distant from the film, that you should be able to deselect it.

Then again, a silent film heard in silence sounds rather odd, to my ears. (Seriously: I'm guessing that this film wasn't meant to be watched without some sort of musical accompaniment.)



.


----------



## AE35Unit

Hmm Tangerine Dream,wold like to hear that!


----------



## Foxbat

Ursa major said:


> Then again, a silent film heard in silence sounds rather odd, to my ears. (Seriously: I'm guessing that this film wasn't meant to be watched without some sort of musical accompaniment.)
> 
> 
> 
> .


 
I agree that a silent film in silence would be odd.

As for Tangerine Dream - saw them live many years ago.....three guys sitting staring intently at their synths, separated from the audience by black netting and creeping dry ice. Music nothing to write home about.

I managed to fall asleep.


----------



## Foxbat

Just finished watching L'inferno. Movie quality varied quite a lot (different parts of the film were from different sources). Interesting and fairly faithful interpretation of Dante's Inferno.

The music had no option to deselect but the swirling synths seemed to suit the mood of this movie at first and I felt pleasantly surprised. But then the vocals kicked and I can only describe the effect as truly awful. I'm not a great fan of Tangerine Dream but this is the worst I've ever heard from them. 

In conclusion, an interesting movie that is worth having but I will definitely watch it in future with the sound down.


----------



## Ursa major

Would the description, Silence is Tangerine, be appropriate here? (Or are we more in the domain of the lemon?)


----------



## Foxbat

Ursa major said:


> Would the description, Silence is Tangerine, be appropriate here? (Or are we more in the domain of the lemon?)


 
Very appropriate.


----------



## The DeadMan

I'm not usually a fan of silent movies, but I recently saw "Nosferatu" with a muscial soundtrack by "Type-O-Negative". Their spooky music really set the movie off for me. It also had an introduction by 
 David Carradine. Best of all I bought the DVD at Wal-Mart for $1.00!


----------



## Foxbat

It always amazes me how music can change the whole mood of a film. A classic example is Todd Browning's Dracula (admittedly not a silent movie). It is available with a new musical soundtrack by Philip Glass (performed by the Kronos Quartet) which is simply beautiful in its effect.


----------



## JB_Dresden

I was always partial to NOSFERATU, and was the Japanese THRONE OF BLOOD silent or just subtitled?


----------



## j d worthington

JB_Dresden said:


> I was always partial to NOSFERATU, and was the Japanese THRONE OF BLOOD silent or just subtitled?


 
Subtitled.


----------



## Starbeast

*Silent Film: The Call of Cthulhu*





 


I'm an H.P. Lovecraft fan and I really enjoyed this modern made silent movie.​


----------



## j d worthington

Yep, that's an interesting little piece. Made on something less than a shoestring budget, largely with amateurs, and yet it manages to capture a great deal of the feel of Lovecraft's story (as well as getting an enormous amount of the actual incidents and details right), and also manages to be a delightful little hommage to the silent era.

Yes, it has its flaws; but overall I was very pleased with it indeed... now if I can only get to see their production of *The Whisperer in Darkness* (which looks as if it is done as an early sound film), that would be wonderful....


----------



## Ursa major

Thanks for linking to that _The Call of Cthulhu_.

As JD has said: delightful.


----------



## Starbeast

*Silent Film: The Call of Cthulhu*




 





Ursa major said:


> Thanks for linking to that _The Call of Cthulhu_. As* JD* has said: delightful.


 

You're both welcome. The film is only 47 minutes long, and after I saw it the first time, I wanted more. Perhaps with the success of this movie the filmmakers may make another one.


----------



## j d worthington

*Re: Silent Film: The Call of Cthulhu*



Starbeast said:


> You're both welcome. The film is only 47 minutes long, and after I saw it the first time, I wanted more. Perhaps with the success of this movie the filmmakers may make another one.


 
Well.....

YouTube - The Whisperer in Darkness - Trailer 1

The earlier "teaser" trailer:

YouTube - The Whisperer in Darkness

According to one of their notes in the first link, they are hoping this one will be finished and ready by October of this year. While it looks like they've taken some serious liberties with it, it also looks as if they are still maintaining their serious approach to doing Lovecraft for the screen (big or small)... so this should be a very interesting addition...


----------



## Starbeast

*More Lovecraft*



j. d. worthington said:


> According to one of their notes in the first link, they are hoping this one will be finished and ready by October of this year. While it looks like they've taken some serious liberties with it, it also looks as if they are still maintaining their serious approach to doing Lovecraft for the screen (big or small)... so this should be a very interesting addition...


 

Thank you so much J.D. Worthington for the info, you've made my millennium.


----------



## j d worthington

As a great admirer of Lovecraft's work, I am more than happy to oblige.

And now, back to the topic of silent films in general.....

Has anyone here heard anything more of that restoration of the missing parts of *Metropolis*....?


----------



## Foxbat

This is almost a year old but perhaps worth reading to regain some hope on the subject.

The Latest on the 'Metropolis' Restoration - Cinematical


----------



## Foxbat

Hold the front page! Stop the Presses! Haud me back!

This site is definitely worth a visit

Kino International: The Best in World Cinema


----------



## j d worthington

Foxbat said:


> Hold the front page! Stop the Presses! Haud me back!
> 
> This site is definitely worth a visit
> 
> Kino International: The Best in World Cinema


 
_*WOO-HOO! YIPPEE! YAY!*_ (and other similar exclamations)

That's wonderful news... Now, if I can only manage to get a day off to see the bloody thing!!!!! And, of course, I'll have to pick it up once it's out on DVD as well.....

Thank you very, very much for bringing that in, Foxbat! This is great news indeed!!!!!


----------



## Foxbat

Looks like I'll have to wait for the DVD but as long as I get a copy, I will be as happy as a pig amongst the proverbial


----------



## ravenus

Saw this 1920 silent film called *The Golem - how he came into being*.  The titular Golem is played by an actor making stiff moments so it's  not exactly stunning but this 67-min long movie has some  creative set design and some very good visual moments. Not in the same  league as *Nosferatu* or *Cabinet of Dr. Caligari*, though.


----------



## j d worthington

ravenus said:


> Saw this 1920 silent film called *The Golem - how he came into being*. The titular Golem is played by an actor making stiff moments so it's not exactly stunning but this 67-min long movie has some creative set design and some very good visual moments. Not in the same league as *Nosferatu* or *Cabinet of Dr. Caligari*, though.


 
Can't quite agree with you on that score. I think those "stiff movements" are very well suited to the idea of the artificial life of the monster made of clay. (Incidentally, the actor in question is Paul Wegener, who also co-wrote and directed the film.) It is a bit slow paced at points, but in many ways I'd say it is a brilliant film. Certainly, it was highly influential, especially on such things as James Whale's *Frankenstein *(1931) and the like....


----------



## ravenus

To me it's less effective than using something like stop-motion animation. What they have doesn't do enough to mask the human being under the outfit, unlike say the rubber suits used in the Japanese monster movies. At least the golem could have been kept expressionless to project a little "inhumanity" if I may call it that. But no, he comes off more as a big lug in a funny outfit. IMO.


----------



## j d worthington

ravenus said:


> To me it's less effective than using something like stop-motion animation. What they have doesn't do enough to mask the human being under the outfit, unlike say the rubber suits used in the Japanese monster movies. At least the golem could have been kept expressionless to project a little "inhumanity" if I may call it that. But no, he comes off more as a big lug in a funny outfit. IMO.


 
I can see your point; I just think we are coming at it from different perspectives. To me, the fact that Rabbi Loew gave him a face (recall that the figure did not originally have one), and that the Golem's expressions mirror the changes in him from simply a mindless, soulless automaton to something which becomes both increasingly human and increasingly Satanic, enhances some of the layers of meaning in the tale. His growing scorn for the humans around him, coupled with his own naïveté, prove his own Achilles' heel just as the insular thinking of both the Jews of the Ghetto and their supposed "betters" bring them all to the brink. Yet the Golem does not lose all sympathy, either, being fascinated by and, even in the midst of his most dangerous actions, unwilling or unable to harm the innocent child.

In all, I find it to be a quite effective, if sometimes flawed, piece of filmmaking, well deserving its place in cinema history, and especially in the history of fantastic cinema....


----------



## Foxbat

Just watched F. W. Murnau's *Faust *- a very good film with fine special effects for its time...but what really stood out for me was Emil Janning's darkly humorous and yet majestic portrayal of Mephisto. 

Definitely one to add to the silent film collection


----------



## clovis-man

A question from the thoroughly unenlightened:

What's the difference between this :

Amazon.com: The Complete Metropolis: Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Gustav Frohlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Lang: Movies & TV

and this:

Amazon.com: Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition): Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, Erwin Biswanger, Heinrich George, Fritz Alberti, Grete Berger, Olly Boeheim, Max Dietze, Günther Rittau,


----------



## Riselka

clovis-man said:


> A question from the thoroughly unenlightened:
> 
> What's the difference between this :
> 
> Amazon.com: The Complete Metropolis: Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Gustav Frohlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Lang: Movies & TV
> 
> and this:
> 
> Amazon.com: Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition): Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, Erwin Biswanger, Heinrich George, Fritz Alberti, Grete Berger, Olly Boeheim, Max Dietze, Günther Rittau,



The Complete Metropolis is the newest, and most complete version of the film available.  Even though amazon seems to have the Restored Authorized Version listed as being longer in length, The Complete Metropolis is actually about 25 minutes longer.

Fritz Lang's Metropolis - Official Website


----------



## clovis-man

Riselka said:


> The Complete Metropolis is the newest, and most complete version of the film available. Even though amazon seems to have the Restored Authorized Version listed as being longer in length, The Complete Metropolis is actually about 25 minutes longer.
> 
> Fritz Lang's Metropolis - Official Website


 
Thanks. Amazon has been know to get details wrong before.


----------



## Riselka

*clovis-man*,

Here's a review of the new BluRay of *The Complete Metropolis*:

Blu-ray Review - The Complete Metropolis


----------



## AE35Unit

I saw a copy of Metropolis a couple of years ago, and it had a horrible Georgio Moroder soundtrack over-dub which spolied it for me! 
Which is the original version?


----------



## Riselka

AE35Unit said:


> I saw a copy of Metropolis a couple of years ago, and it had a horrible Georgio Moroder soundtrack over-dub which spolied it for me!
> Which is the original version?



Not the Giorgio Moroder version.  I can only guess that Moroder liked some of the visuals in the original, and decided to colour wash some of the scenes, and add what was current music at the time.  His version does not include some of the scenes that were currently available at the time.

I own the Authorized Version that Kino released a few years ago.  At the time, it was the closest to Fritz Lang's original concept available.  The new Complete Version now trumps that.  

I'm thinking of investing in it, but will keep the version I already have, due to the special features available on the disc.

But, like the writer of the review I linked to said, if the Moroder version was included in some kind of box set in the future, I'd definitely be interested.  I've seen it, and feel that it was a very well done homage to the film.

But it will never come close to Fritz Lang's version of the film.


----------



## Who?

I don't know if anybody's already meantioned this but the 1902 film 'A Trip To The Moon' is quite brilliant in its own way.  I don't usually go for silent films but this is quite charming.


----------



## j d worthington

Many of Méliès' films are quite charming, and I'd like to have a library of several of them. One in particular I've always wanted to see is *The Devil in a Convent* (1899), which was, in fact, the very first mention I had ever seen of this pioneering storyteller in film....


----------



## jerrylewis

I am a huge fan of action movie but never try to silent movie but to read this discussion i am thinking that i should try this stuff.


----------



## Liese

Yesterday I saw some lovely fairy-tale-style short films by *Lotte Reiniger*. She worked in silhouette technique. One of the first animated full-length films was done by her, *The adventures of Prince Achmed*. Although the stories are fairy-tales, the target audience are adults.
Highly recommended.


----------



## JustPassingThrough

He Who Gets Slapped. I happened upon it one night and couldn't turn the channel (Ahh, TCM, how many early mornings have you ruined for the world).  I thought it was wonderful.


----------



## Highlander

JDW - you can watch the film "The Sign of the Cross" aka "Devil in a convent here"

http://theloudestvoice.tumblr.com/post/5977462621/the-sign-of-the-cross-the-devil-in-a-convent-le

And download it as well!

Hope you enjoy it!


----------



## Foxbat

Been watching *Aelita The Queen of Mars*
Interesting Soviet film from 1924.  Shades of Metropolis in the portrayal of the Martian workers. Setting it in 1921  – the year of the New Economic Policy - was also interesting, especially as Los’ last act in the movie is to burn his blueprints and say  _enough_ _of daydreaming, there is real work to be done. _This is probably  the message the Soviets wanted to get out to the people at the time.


----------



## J-Sun

I think I've seen only half a dozen silent movies and none that haven't already been mentioned. As Winters_Sorrow said, "sharp dialogue is one of the things I look for in movies, so Silent films aren't what I'm after!" (generally). I actually have a very hard time not falling asleep during a truly silent movie. It's my understanding that they were originally accompanied by music and, as several others have said, having the right music with the film makes a huge difference.

As far as what I've seen, I very much disliked *Pandora's Box* although, as j.d. indicates, it's nothing against Louise Brooks. I just thought the theme was very poor and poorly delivered. I much prefer _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_'s "Reptile Boy" where Buffy says, "I told one lie, I had one drink," and Giles replies, "Yes, and you were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake. The words 'let that be a lesson' are a tad redundant at this juncture."

I'm less taken by *Phantom of the Opera* than some. My version does have the color segments (which seemed wrong to me) but it has no music. Still, it's definitely worth seeing at least once.

*Nosferatu* is kind of neat. Like the 1931 _Dracula_ talkie, I have to make allowances, but I can appreciate it.

*Metropolis* is very impressive but really requires great music which I don't have. The 80s soundtrack one might be cool but really seems all kinds of wrong. I'd like Ministry or White Zombie or somebody if it was "rock"-type music, or some kind of Mahler sledge-hammer orchestral music (despite not actually liking Mahler). I also probably have one of the less complete prints on a very budget-DVD.

But my favorites, and a couple of my favorites silent or not, are Buster Keaton's *Steamboat Bill, Jr.* and, especially, *The General*. Deadpan Keaton in a vortex of craziness. I don't know that I've seen a full Chaplin or Lloyd film or any of the other similar "names" and I want to but, based on snippets, I can't imagine any of them hitting me the way Keaton does. I'll see. Mine has an Alloy Orchestra soundtrack which sounds a bit anachronistic, but suits the films really well and helps give whatever auditory/verbal portion of my brain that keeps me awake something to do. 

I recently read that Sterling has a collection coming out called "Gothic High Tech" and that's actually a pretty good description of aspects of _Metropolis_. People have mentioned other Lang films but are there other "high tech gothic" Metropolitan movies?

And I'll probably get whatever Keaton I come across next regardless, but does anyone have suggestions for a #3?


----------



## Foxbat

Phantom Of The Opera definitely needs music to be appreciated


----------



## j d worthington

Oh, lord... Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd... the three greatest comedians (in my view) to come out of the silent era... and we had some very good ones then, too.

#3? Whoof! I'm going to go for something completely odd, and suggest the short, "The Playhouse" (1921), where Keaton played _all_ the parts, onstage and off. Just as a technical achievement, it is a tour-de-force not to be missed, and Keaton as a member of just about every rung of society is a priceless thing to behold. Sheer genius!

I would also suggest, for full-length pictures, *The Cameraman* (1928) and *Spite Marriage* (1929) as among the best, and *Our Hospitality* (1923) and *Three Ages* (also 1923, and a spoof of D. W. Griffith's Intolerance) are not far behind....

If you've got cable, and receive Turner Classic Movies, check out their schedule and keep an eye out for both his full-length features and shorts; an expanded version of the schedule, including a listing of when shorts are to be shown, can be found at their website, if memory serves....


----------



## J-Sun

Foxbat said:


> Phantom Of The Opera definitely needs music to be appreciated



Seems so - I'll definitely be more careful with what versions I pick up from now on. 



j. d. worthington said:


> #3? Whoof! I'm going to go for something completely odd, and suggest the short, "The Playhouse" (1921), where Keaton played _all_ the parts, onstage and off. Just as a technical achievement, it is a tour-de-force not to be missed, and Keaton as a member of just about every rung of society is a priceless thing to behold. Sheer genius!
> 
> I would also suggest, for full-length pictures, *The Cameraman* (1928) and *Spite Marriage* (1929) as among the best, and *Our Hospitality* (1923) and *Three Ages* (also 1923, and a spoof of D. W. Griffith's Intolerance) are not far behind....



Okay, thanks for that. The short and _The Cameraman_ sound particularly good. What do you think of _The Navigator_ and _Sherlock, Jr._ (if you've seen them)? I can't remember what the motivation was, but those are two I have written down.


----------



## j d worthington

Both, I think, are fairly high on the list of Keaton films I would suggest. You might want to take a look at some of the shorts he did with "Fatty" Arbuckle, as well....


----------



## J-Sun

Okay, thanks.

Sidenote: Wikipedia's "On this day..." tells me about one of the many anniversaries of Laurel and Hardy, though I think of them as primarily talkies.


----------



## JunkMonkey

I'm still (after many viewings) trying to work out how Keaton did some of the gags in _Sherlock Jr._.

A few years ago I had the rare privileged of seeing a 'silent' film with a live orchestra playing the original score.  The 1921 Norwegian _ Markens grøde_.  It was a memorable experience.


----------



## j d worthington

JunkMonkey said:


> I'm still (after many viewings) trying to work out how Keaton did some of the gags in _Sherlock Jr._.


 
Yes, Keaton was quite athletic, having grown up being tossed around by his father as part of the family's act in vaudeville.... I also recall a rather startling story about an injury suffered during the making of The General... one which Keaton didn't even realize had happened until many years later, when an X-ray revealed what had been the actual damage....



> A few years ago I had the rare privileged of seeing a 'silent' film with a live orchestra playing the original score. The 1921 Norwegian _Markens grøde_. It was a memorable experience.


 
I've only seen one silent film with a live orchestra, and that was the tour of Abel Gance's *Napoleon*, with Carmine Coppola conducting. Three screens for the film (for those who have never seen it, there are portions of the film which utilize all three screens; much more of it originally did, but those elements have been long destroyed, sadly), and a live orchestra... it was, to say the least, quite an experience....


----------



## J-Sun

Picked up a double-feature of Keaton in _*Our Hospitality*_ and _*Sherlock, Jr.*_ Based on my prior experience and comments in this thread, I'm stoked. May not get to it right away, but I'm looking forward to it.


----------



## Fairytale Jane

I've always had a penchant for silent films. I find them more involving than the current films on mainstream.


----------



## J-Sun

I did finally see _*Our Hospitality*_ a few days ago. Loved it - I think I laughed hardest at the hat gags in the funky train - _that's_ why I wear the pork-pie! - but there were many funny parts and the whole rock-rope-river sequence was incredible. Great movie - I'm not sure that it tops _The General_ because I'm not sure that anything can, but it's great. And, actually, I don't know how many train sequences he has but you can almost look at _The General_ as a massive expansion on the funky train bits in this. Anyway - hopefully it won't take me a month to get to _Sherlock, Jr._


----------



## Connavar

My interest for silent films has grown immensly lately.  Im a big fan classic of slapstick and the always brilliant Charlie Chaplin is the reason for it.  I also liked The Artist and made interest in silent films that wasnt comedy.  I want to Metropolis, other classic silent films.

Yesterday i saw *The Circus*(1928) by Chaplin of course and its different watching his films as adult.  I always thought before he was popular because he was an early film pioneer,just a funny guy.  Watching this film i studied carefully his acting and the way he act with his face, his body, his acrobatic ways is brilliant.  

Im glad i havent seen many of his films earlier, i can only appriciate them now for real.


----------



## Connavar

j. d. worthington said:


> Yes, Keaton was quite athletic, having grown up being tossed around by his father as part of the family's act in vaudeville.... I also recall a rather startling story about an injury suffered during the making of The General... one which Keaton didn't even realize had happened until many years later, when an X-ray revealed what had been the actual damage....



What is his best film?  I have seen shorts by him in 2012 Uppsala short filmfestival that has slapstic shorts special viewing with Chaplin,Keaton,Laural &Hardy.

I want to see if he is for me.  That short was more generic slapstick and not the creativity, the acting, writing,directing im used with Chaplin.


----------



## j d worthington

Connavar said:


> What is his best film?


 
Ooof. I'm not sure I can quite answer that. I can, however, narrow it down somewhat:

*The General*
*Steamboat Bill, Jr.*
*The Cameraman*
*Spite Marriage*

Most would probably pick *The General*. It is certainly one which is highly acclaimed; but there is also a large following for the others as well....


----------



## J-Sun

I'd go for _*The General*_, too. I've only seen four but you can't go wrong with any of them - _Steamboat Bill, Jr._, _Our Hospitality_, _Sherlock, Jr._


----------



## SunnyEvans

Over in America, we have a cable channel called Turner Classic Movies that shows silent films all the time. I try to not ever miss one. I actually think Keaton is my favorite, with Chaplin coming in a very close second. I could never pick a favorite of either, because I generally love all their work. I can't think of any by either of them that I didn't like. The Fatty and Mabel movies are always good as well. Recently, they showed several hours worth of animated shorts that were really interesting. Especially when you consider that in those days, they would have been geared mostly towards children (unlike today's cartoons, many of which make me cringe to think of kids watching them). The subject matter was often as fascinating as the actual animation techniques.


----------



## AE35Unit

We have TCM too but I never see silents on it. Usually just dull dramatic true-life type stuff.


----------



## SunnyEvans

AE35Unit said:


> We have TCM too but I never see silents on it. Usually just dull dramatic true-life type stuff.



Hmmm...that doesn't sound like our TCM at all. We get mostly classics, everything from Casablanca to Robin Hood, plus marathons of Hitchcock films and movies with Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, and the like. We get at least one silent a week and a marathon or two every month or so.


----------



## JunkMonkey

TCM in the UK - http://www.tcmuk.tv/

TCM in the USA - http://www.tcm.com/

TCM in lots of other countries - http://www.tcmeurope.com/


----------



## AE35Unit

JunkMonkey said:


> TCM in the UK - http://www.tcmuk.tv/
> 
> TCM in the USA - http://www.tcm.com/
> 
> TCM in lots of other countries - http://www.tcmeurope.com/



US site looks more ineresting!


----------



## JunkMonkey

AE35Unit said:


> US site looks more ineresting!



I agree. Much more interesting.


----------



## j d worthington

Yep. I don't have cable these days, but nearly the only reason I'd be tempted now is TCM....


----------



## Jeffbert

I saw THE GOLLUM the other day; I found it to be rather strange, I guess I had preconceived ideas about it. The term FRANKENSTEIN COMPLEX really ought to be GOLLUM COMPLEX, unless the film was influenced by FRANKENSTEIN. The thing was said to turn against its master if used too much or too often. 

The Rabbi brought it to life by installing a star-shaped medallion containing a scroll bearing a mystic word, on its chest, & by removing it, turned it off. But the Gollum soon realized its vulnerability, and fended off the Rabbi's attempts to remove it. In the end, a child whom the Gollum had lifted up removed the star. This reminds me of the COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, whose end came at the hands of his young son, but by his own request.


----------



## j d worthington

Errr... that's *The Golem*, not "Gollum"... which is another critter en-_tirely_....

An odd, but brilliant film, and one of three (if memory serves... the second, I think) which Wegener did on the subject....


----------



## Jeffbert

Oops! I guess I should have looked-up the spelling a bit more carefully. 

On what seems to be the main topic, I really enjoy the silent comedies. I believe it was about a year ago that TCM ran a day of OUR GANG / LITTLE RASCALS shorts, including some silent ones. I had not even known there were any, but they were great! At least one was adapted into the talkies, & seeing both versions was interesting. 

L&H: Likewise, I knew not of L&H's silent films. The one in which they vainly attempt to sell Xmas trees door to door in Southern CA., was hilarious! 

I think the silent films' physical comedy influenced the cartoonists, as I recall more than a few cartoons in which amusing sequences that really had little if anything to do with the plot were used simply to take up time.


----------



## MontyCircus

I hated both *The Artist* and *Call of Cthulhu*.  I guess I'm not cut out for silent film.


----------



## Steve Jordan

The two silent features I can watch anytime: _Metropolis_; and _The General_.  

I love _Metropolis_ for its being the stylistic pioneer of science fiction films: The impressionist sets, costumes and styles, imaginative cinematography, bold and thematic orchestral score and not-quite-three-dimensional characters became the veritable template for major SF films for decades.  

_The General_ is a personal favorite because of my love for Buster Keaton's work, and I've always considered _The General_ his best.

You certainly have to put yourself in a different frame of mind to fully enjoy these old movies, both because of the historical differences in moviemaking, and of culture in general, compared to today.  But I don't have a problem with that; in fact, I enjoy it more than watching most modern movies set as period pieces.  I can watch silent comedies all day long.


----------



## Steve Jordan

Ursa major said:


> I've been lucky enought to see both *City Lights* and *Modern Times* accompanied by a live symphony orchestra.



Last year I went to a showing of _Metropolis_ that was billed as being performed with a live musical accompaniment.  The "band" was the Alloy Orchestra, a group of (I believe) four musicians playing on, well, pretty much junk.

Although Alloy created an interesting score, and were well-played, in the space of the smallish AFI-Silver theatre they were simply too loud and jarring, and drove my wife and mother crazy!  I felt bad as I watched both of them sharing napkins to tear up and stuff in their ears!

Never again.  If I hear of a similar show, I'm going to do a lot more towards finding out what the "accompaniment" involves.


----------



## Jeffbert

I was going to watch GOLD RUSH the other night, but missed it. As I recall, as both CC & his rather large partner were both freezing and starving, they began to imagine each other as food. Chaplin morphed into a chicken, while the other guy was drooling or licking his lips.  I had seen this type of gag in many cartoons, & guess it originated here. 

I saw the restored METROPOLIS a while ago, & certainly agree that it influenced other films. As I recall, THE GENERAL is the one in which the guy tears the train apart & puts nearly everything combustible into the boiler's furnace. 

There are only a very few silent films I would not care to watch; one of which was directed by E. Von Stroheim, *Greed*,but only because it was so very long. I do prefer the comedies, though.


----------



## j d worthington

Jeffbert said:


> There are only a very few silent films I would not care to watch; one of which was directed by E. Von Stroheim, *Greed*,but only because it was so very long. I do prefer the comedies, though.


 
*snort* Ain't nothin' compared to what it was originally:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greed_(film)

See the third and fourth paragraphs. I have a copy of the four-hour version, but have never quite got around to watching it as a whole... though what I've seen really makes me want to find the time for it. (One of the things it features is a restoration of the hand-tinting emphasizing the gold as a luminous, almost numinous, presence.) I would probably be one of the few to actually sit through the entire 8-hour version, were it available....

Then again, I've been a lover of silent film since I was about seven or eight years old, and saw *Orphans of the Storm* and *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* as presented on _The Toy That Grew Up_, hosted by Orson Welles....


----------



## Curt Chiarelli

Some excellent titles mentioned on this thread. I have some very fond memories of seeing Lon Chaney, Sr. in* The Hunchback of Notre Dame* and *The Phantom of the Opera* on PBS as a seven year old kid. The broad gestures and moody black and white cinematography of those films hooked me. Doing more research I learned about other films like the three versions of *The Golem* and one of my all-time favourites, _*Nosferatu*_. Recently I had the opportunity to see Fritz Lang's _*Siegried*_, _*Kriemhild's Revenge*_, _*Dr. Mabuse*_ and *Spies* - all excellent films that hold up very well to modern viewing.


----------



## Jeffbert

I just watched BEAU BRUMMEL, which was on TCM Sun-Mon @ 12 A. I like John Barrymore, but this film seemed rather sketchy, lacking continuity, at least I thought so.


----------



## clovis-man

I'm probably missing a reference to this somewhere else, but I'm curious if anyone has an opinion about this film (even though it's obviously been doctored):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281091801591?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

The book by Merritt was "okay". Could the film be worse?


----------



## clovis-man

Will a bump help?


----------



## JunkMonkey

Not seen it but according to _Witchcraft Through the Ages
The Story of Häxan, the World's Strangest Film, and the Man Who Made It _(http://www.fabpress.com/perl/search.pl?CO=FAB078) the film was considered lost but turned up in the 60s and "...still holds up well today. It's extremely entertaining and much more than just another run-of-the-mill haunted house comedy..."


----------



## Foxbat

JunkMonkey said:


> Not seen it but according to _Witchcraft Through the Ages_
> _The Story of Häxan, the World's Strangest Film, and the Man Who Made It _(http://www.fabpress.com/perl/search.pl?CO=FAB078) the film was considered lost but turned up in the 60s and "...still holds up well today. It's extremely entertaining and much more than just another run-of-the-mill haunted house comedy..."


 
I have a copy of Haxan and, to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with it. Granted, I don't have any interest in witchcraft so that may be why I didn't find it as 'epic' as some critics. Others with a particular interest may find it more appealing than I did.

For the the record, I only bought the film partly out of curiousity and partly because it seemed to have some historical significance in silent films.


----------



## clovis-man

Thanks for responding guys. But the movie I'm interested in is *Seven Footprints To Satan*, an adaptation of the novel by A. Merritt. The link in my earlier post was to an eBay auction for a DVD of the film with English subtitles. I believe the original was in Italian. I'm unclear re the actual film makers.


----------



## Foxbat

Ah, sorry Clovis. Thought we were talking about Haxan.
Haven't seen Seven Footprints To Satan so can't help you there.

Edit: I see why Junkmonkey mentioned Haxan. It's by the same director.


----------



## JunkMonkey

Sorry for not making myself clear either.  The film I was talking about: "turned up in the 60s and ...still holds up well today..." was _7 Footprints to Satan, _which was directed by Christensen for First National in the USA - the sixth of seven films he directed (or part directed) in Hollywood.


----------



## clovis-man

JunkMonkey said:


> Sorry for not making myself clear either.  The film I was talking about: "turned up in the 60s and ...still holds up well today..." was _7 Footprints to Satan, _which was directed by Christensen for First National in the USA - the sixth of seven films he directed (or part directed) in Hollywood.


 
Okay, JM. Thanks for clearing that up. So it looks like I have at least one indication that it might not stink.  Wonder if I should PM J.D. about this.


----------



## sooC

Milk said:


> *M* by Fritz Lang same director as *Metropolis.*
> 
> Fantastic film, while watching it I thought wow! this is the origin of so many tropes.


----------



## j d worthington

sooC said:


> Milk said:
> 
> 
> 
> *M* by Fritz Lang same director as *Metropolis.*
> 
> Fantastic film, while watching it I thought wow! this is the origin of so many tropes.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree that *M* is a fine film (with a superb performance by Peter Lorre)... but it isn't a _silent_ film, which is what the thread is set up to discuss.
> 
> C-M: As you know from my response, I've been aware of the film, but never seen it... though I have seen a few of Christensen's other films, and in fact own the silent version of *The Mysterious Island* (which he partially directed, apparently, though he is uncredited). An odd director, but quite brilliant in his way....
> 
> *Haxan*, by the way, is a film I have mixed feelings about. I liked it better a second time around than the first, but it still seems not quite finished. Some fine stuff there, though....
Click to expand...


----------



## clovis-man

j. d. worthington said:


> C-M: As you know from my response, I've been aware of the film, but never seen it... though I have seen a few of Christensen's other films, and in fact own the silent version of *The Mysterious Island* (which he partially directed, apparently, though he is uncredited). An odd director, but quite brilliant in his way....


 
Thanks, J.D. I went ahead and ordered a copy of *Seven Footprints To Satan*. I just hope the transfer is good enough that I can get some sense of how the film really is.


----------



## Jeffbert

j. d. worthington said:


> *Haxan*, by the way, is a film I have mixed feelings about. I liked it better a second time around than the first, but it still seems not quite finished. Some fine stuff there, though....


I saw HAXAN, interesting stuff. I believe they added sound to it; that is, a version with sound. I had the DVD a while ago, & it had both versions.


----------



## sooC

j. d. worthington said:


> ]The Golem[/B], and one of three (if memory serves... the second, I think) which Wegener did on the subject....



I hadn't realised there was more than one. I've seen the one with the Golem and little girl on the cover, loved it, esp the wonky buildings. Think Gaudi must've been a fan too. I'll be looking out some of the films mentioned on this thread. Metropolis left me cold, I'm glad I've seen it for the spectacle of the sets but otherwise not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the last half of Verdens Undergang. I know this might not strictly belong in this thread (apologies for going off-topic earlier) but Un Chien Andalou sticks in my mind. Bunuel is David Lynch's grandpa imo.


----------



## j d worthington

Un Chien Andalou... now, it has been a _loooong_ time since I saw that film. A classic example of the importance of how to stage and shot and how editing can completely misdirect an audience.....


----------



## clovis-man

Got my DVD copy of *Seven Footprints To Satan* yesterday and promptly watched it via my PC monitor. That seemed to be the best option since the picture quality was not advertised as all that great (which turned out to be true). So the big screen TV wasn't a good choice. But it was watchable and I could get the flavor of the piece.

Ostensibly a filmic version of A. Merritt's novel of the same name, there are radical departures from the original story, e.g., the character of Satan was mostly absent from the script until the very last scenes. The things that were the same were the confusing intrigues and unfathomable loyalties and vendettas, the plethora of secret passages and locked rooms. Characters (some of which are pretty bizarre) and creatures were popping out of every crevice and alcove of Satan's "house". But in the end, the murderous intent of Satan becomes trivialized. Perhaps that was in tune with the "protestant ethic" message that was perhaps seen as fashionable in 1929, just before the crash. I won't say any more to avoid spoilers.

On the one hand, Creighton Hale, the male lead looked disturbingly like Ralphie from *A Christmas Story*. On the plus side, I thought the use of disembodied shadows throughout the film was effective and added a degree of menace (like in *Bram Stoker's Dracula*, decades later). Many shots were of feet and hands so that one has to guess at the identity of their owners. Scene changes were often accomplished by panning upward, revealing an altogether different room/venue. This is another device used by many contemporary filmmakers. An interesting film. Worth it for the A. Merritt completist or student of cinema technique.


----------



## Foxbat

A while ago, I picked up a collection of avant garde short films from the twenties and early thirties. I have finally started to watch some of them.

One in particular that I enjoyed was Emak Bakia (apparently Basque for leave me alone). A lot of folk  across the web have  commented on the artistic merits (or lack of) but, for me, it came across simply as an experiment in different techniques. As an example, one critic claimed that Man Ray (the creator) must have had a foot fetish because of a particular scene - whereas I saw that same scene as simply  an exercise in multiple exposures. 

Overall, I found it quite hypnotic and (considering the time period when made) often had me asking the question - how the hell did he do that?


----------



## Ulrich

"Wunder der Schöpfung" (1925) by Hanns Walter Kornblum and with a lot of special effects. A "documentation" about the natural sciences, mostly about astronomy (comets, the sun and the planets ...). Finally, a starship starts from earth and is flying faster than light. Nebulas and other things are explained. In one scene the crew is visiting a planet with reduced gravity, where they can easily jump around.

The film was released on dvd in 2009.


----------



## Jeffbert

WEARY RIVER is a hybrid, with silent parts mixed together with sound parts. It is about a gangster who, after going to prison, becomes a conductor & is pardoned. After his new found career sours when people learn he is a con, he decides to seek his old gang.  It started silent, & continued as such for about 20 minutes. I paused it, went to the kitchen for lunch, & returned, only to find myself confused when it ran with sound.


----------



## Foxbat

Watched F. W. Murnau's *The Haunted Castle* last night.
Whilst not spectacular, it is worthy of a viewing and (I believe) is the earliest surviving Murnau film. Also worth noting is that I thought the restoration on this movie was excellent (Kino DVD)


----------



## Jesse412

Recently caught *Sparrows* on TCM Silent Sunday Night and really enjoyed it.  I think William Beaudine did a great job identifying Mr. Grimes as a scoundrel in the first scene and the shots of the swamp were really creepy.  While the opening card almost sets the tone of horror and the orphans' situation is certainly dire there's also a lot of genuinely funny scenes. Mary Pickford is immediately endearing. Molly's dream sequence the night the baby died in her arms and the symbolism of Christ taking the child away was both brilliant and touching. The whole escape through the swamp and boat chase sequence is one of the most suspenseful scenes in any silent movie I've ever watched. Right up there with the climax of Metropolis.


----------



## Jeffbert

Where are those other paragraphs, the ones in the email? 

Anyway, I agree, Sparrows was very suspenseful. One of my old childhood fears is quicksand, & that film combined quicksand and kids. I found it most unnerving, & even after having viewed it once, I found a second viewing so affected me with tightening stomach muscles, that I just deleted it instead. Oh how I wanted the brat kid to sink! I would have laughed at that!


----------



## Jesse412

Possibly my favorite silent movie is _Fritz Lang_'s *Metropolis*. The production quality of this movie is amazing and there is a newly restored version with footage thought lost for decades. Every science fiction fan needs to see this film at least once in their life time.

As a Batman fan naturally I was curious so I decided to watch the silent version of *The Mark of Zorro*. Its a really fun swashbuckler adventure and I highly recommend checking it out. I also recommend checking out *The Dragon Painter*. I had a lot of fun watching comedies starring _Buster Keaton_, _Charlie Chaplin_ and _Laurel & Hardy_.

My preference is more the macabre and I think some of the best horror films of all time come from this era. Films like *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari*, _F. W. Murnau_'s *Nosferatu*, *The Hands of Orlac*, *Haxan*, *The Phantom Carriage*, etc. really capture the mood and atmosphere that is necessary to tell a good scary story. Something many more modern films completely lack.

Way-back in school we were forced to watch _Lon Chaney, Sr._ in *The Hunchback of Notre-Dame* by our English professor and at the time I never gave it much thought. In fact I kind of prefer the _Charles Laughton_ version. I still love the way he delivered the line "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"

It wasn't until I saw _Chaney_ in *The Phantom of the Opera* that I really started to appreciate these films for great works of art. There is this scene at the masked-ball where the Phantom shows up disguised as _Poe_'s Red-Death. It changes to mostly color and it really blew me away. Since then I've checked out many other _Chaney_ works including *The Ace of Hearts*, _Tod Browning_'s *The Unknown* as-well-as going back to re-watch *The Huntchback.*

In *The Unknown* _Chaney_ plays a murderer who has two thumbs on one hand. He poses as a man with no arms, joins a carnival as a knife thrower and falls in love with a girl there. Its really creepy and easily one of my top 3 favorite Tod Browning films.

*The Monster* has everything a B-movie should have including a charismatic villain with creepy henchmen and an atmospheric setting. I especially love the fact that the lead character is not a typical hero type. Instead he is a bumbling detective who literally gets his badge, gun and diploma through the mail at the beginning of the film. _Chaney_ plays Dr. Ziska a mad scientist who performs ghastly experiments at an abandoned sanitarium and it's up to our would-be detective Johnny Goodlittle to stop him. It is fun, suspenseful, with a great use of mood and irony.

*The Black Bird* features the combination of _Tod Browning_ and _Lon Chaney_ and is not to be missed. _Chaney_'s character is a notorious thief called The Blackbird who pretends to be his twin, a crippled missionary known as The Bishop. Not the first time I've seen him play a character with a secondary identity, which he does brilliantly in this film.  The supporting cast really shine in this movie especially _Renée Adorée_ and _Owen Moore_ who play The Blackbird's love interest and rival, respectively. Great ending and a really beautiful score by _Robert Israel_.

*The Unholy Three* not only stars _Chaney_ but it also features _Harry Earles_ from _Tod Browning_'s *Freaks*. Seeing one dressed in drag and the other dressed up as a baby is pretty funny. I nearly died of laughter seeing _Earles_ with a cigar in his mouth wearing a toy fireman's helmet. I swear he had to be the inspiration for the Baby Herman character from *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*.  _Browning_ really nails the suspense throughout the movie especially in the toy elephant scene. The camera trick used during the "ape" scene at the end seems almost revolutionary for the time period. Great reveal during the courtroom confession and a happy ending of sorts. While it's not my favorite _Browning_ film it's certainly an entertaining story and worth checking out if you're a fan of either _Chaney_ or _Browning_.


----------



## Jeffbert

There they are!

I am familiar with all those except *The Black Bird, **The Dragon Painter* & *The Phantom Carriage. 

*About the little guy with the cigar, there is a *BUGS BUNNY* cartoon with a similar character,who attempts to pass himself as an abandoned baby, while hiding from the police after robbing a bank. *

*
The silent version of *The Mark of Zorro, *as I recall, had Z sitting with his feet on the table, all the while sword fighting against several soldiers. Nobody else ever came close!


----------



## BAYLOR

*Metropolis* is my favorite  silent film .


----------



## Roboripper

I'm a massive fan of Murnau's _Nosferatu_. I first saw a clip of it - the shadow moving up the stairs, cut together with Orlok swinging upwards out of his coffin from earlier in the film - when I was around 5 years old and those images stayed with me until I finally saw the film on Channel 4 one Christmastime.

I also love _The Cabinet of Dr Caligari_, _The Lodger_, _Vampyr_ and _Pandora's Box._


----------



## Jesse412

Roboripper said:


> _Vampyr_



Carl Dreyer's Vampyr is technically not a silent film but it is an excellent movie.


----------



## Jesse412

Just caught the 2002 restoration of Tod Browning's *London After Midnight 2002*.  Despite this version being made of still photographs from the lost film it's actually quite good.  I would recommend checking it out solely for the special effects makeup that Lon Chaney wears and created.  It's one of his best and most gruesome.


----------



## Foxbat

Art School Dropout said:


> Just caught the 2002 restoration of Tod Browning's *London After Midnight 2002*.  Despite this version being made of still photographs from the lost film it's actually quite good.  I would recommend checking it out solely for the special effects makeup that Lon Chaney wears and created.  It's one of his best and most gruesome.


I love Lon Chaney so I'll definitely look out for this one.


----------



## TrekkieKimber

The first time I was exposed to a silent film I fell in love with the genre. It's such a rare treat to be shown the depths of someone's emotions. Especially when words aren't spoken.


----------



## BAYLOR

Jesse412 said:


> Just caught the 2002 restoration of Tod Browning's *London After Midnight 2002*.  Despite this version being made of still photographs from the lost film it's actually quite good.  I would recommend checking it out solely for the special effects makeup that Lon Chaney wears and created.  It's one of his best and most gruesome.




They've never been able to locate any copy of this film?


----------



## j d worthington

BAYLOR said:


> They've never been able to locate any copy of this film?



From what I understand, the only known remaining copy was destroyed sometime in the 1960s in a fire....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_After_Midnight_(film)


----------



## BAYLOR

j d worthington said:


> From what I understand, the only known remaining copy was destroyed sometime in the 1960s in a fire....
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_After_Midnight_(film)




A pity , that's one silent film id like to have seen.


----------



## Foxbat

I read an article a while back that claimed around ninety percent of the early films have been lost. A real shame.

On a brighter note - I've just got myself a copy of Fritz Lang's Spione (Spies). I've never seen it so I'm looking forward to making some 'Fritz' time


----------



## Jesse412

*The Scarecrow* (1920)

Just finished watching this classic Buster Keaton short film on TCM and nearly died of laughter. The thought and choreography that went into the dinner scene alone are pure creative genius. The segment of him being chased by a pitbull was hysterical.


----------



## Jesse412

*Modern Times* (1936)






Ccaught this classic on TCM On Demand and could not stop laughing. The lovely Paulette Goddard gives a wonderful performance. The scene where Chaplin gets pushed through the machine gears is beautifully done and the factory sets were incredibly well made. The department store scenes are also quite good especially the roller skating bit. It's amazing how much Chaplin can make us laugh while showing us the struggles that people endured during the Great Depression as he comments on the effects of modern industry and the poor.


----------



## Jeffbert

I loved the lunch 'break' scene! But this one had sound; *The Scarecrow* was indeed hilarious! Still, it seems that for me, the funniest ones involve danger; as in Harold Lloyd hanging from the hands of the clock. 

I liked the part in *the Gold Rush* in which the two partners are starving, & the big one looks at CC, who then morphs into a chicken. This was 'borrowed' by too many cartoons to count! For that matter, the scene (sorry, cannot recall the film) with the 'mirror' was also borrowed, at least by WB. There is no mirror, just a frame on a stand in the middle of the room, & the comedian, CC, as I recall, is on the other side matching the motions of the guy looking at his 'reflection'!


----------



## J-Sun

Jeffbert said:


> For that matter, the scene (sorry, cannot recall the film) with the 'mirror' was also borrowed, at least by WB. There is no mirror, just a frame on a stand in the middle of the room, & the comedian, CC, as I recall, is on the other side matching the motions of the guy looking at his 'reflection'!



I was thinking that was the Marx Bros' _Duck Soup_ (not silent, but the scene is) - is that not original with them? (I mean, as "original" as anything ever is.)


----------



## Jeffbert

I found a page that has links to several youtube clips, including the one in DS: http://www.deceptology.com/2010/09/classic-comedians-use-mirror-gag.html, but the wiki on the Floorwalker has the dirt on the origin: http://www.ask.com/wiki/The_Floorwalker, & very likely names the film I was thinking of: *Seven Years Bad Luck* (1921), which describes the scene as I recalled it.


----------



## J-Sun

Learn something new every day. Thanks for that. I found a clip of it. That's even better than the Marx Bros.


----------



## Jeffbert




----------



## JunkMonkey

Here's a longer one:


----------



## Jeffbert

Thanks, JunkMonkey!


----------



## Jeffbert

*The Phantom Carriage* was on last night, I watched it this morning, I thought the guy was dead, since the carriage had come for him, & its driver was telling him that he, having been the last to die on New Years' Eve, would be the driver for the current year, but-- 



Spoiler



at the end, it seemed more like the Ghost of Xmas yet to come & his visit to Scrooge! When the driver took the guy to the apartment where his estranged wife lived, they saw that she was preparing for murder/suicide; to poison their 2 daughters, then take her own life. The man who had lived a life of drunkenness and debauchery quickly fell to his knees & begged the driver to stop his wife. But the response was that he had no power over the living. The poor guy freaked-out! He went bonkers trying to convince the driver (of Death's carriage) to help him, crying out to God, that he himself be condemned to damnation, but that his family (whom he had not even thought about for a year) should be spared. All this time, the man and the driver, being spirits, were semi-transparent. Then, the driver said he now knew the guy had truly repented, and the scene changed to the place where the guy had apparently died. He then revived, hurried to the apartment, etc.  Up to that point, the film was rather creepy, but then it became tame; though I did find it rather enjoyable.


----------



## Limmka

Pina a germany film


----------



## Amberfire

Metropolis is awesome.


----------



## Jeffbert

_*The Blue Bird*_ (1918 film) was on TCM the other night, and I viewed it this morning. A boy and his sister go on a journey (in a shared dream) to find the BB of Happiness. I was rather surprised at the part where the kids went to visit the *Happy Dead*, where they met their grandparents, and their dead siblings. There were 5 of them, apparently younger than themselves, though no telling if they had been born before or after. I guess I am at a loss, having benefited from various inoculations  and such, but to think that of 7 kids, only 2 survived (both of whom were under 12 years old, & thus unsure of reaching adulthood), and that death was an appropriate subject for young kids at that time.  
When I was a kid, death was simply not a part of anything family-friendly. I thought that the lack of various types of media way back then, would have made kids remain ignorant of such things until adolescence or at least nearly that. But the casual way the film handled the subject just floored me.


----------



## michaelhall2007

I was never a fan of Chapin. He is too Slap Stick but he did invent that style (without actualy inventing it???).
But I can g-tee, if i went back 35 years I'd be watching L&H on Good Friday at the young age of 10. 
I never questioned 2 men in a bed but Morcambe & Wise did too and I never question that. It was a different time.
My all time favourite was Harold Lloyd.
Somehow he always ended up hanging off a clock hand 200ft above Manhattan.


----------



## Jeffbert

It is a sad commentary on humans that we laugh at such things, especially when Lloyd supposedly REALLY WAS on that clock tower.


----------



## michaelhall2007

Oh, he absolutely, definitely REALLY WAS hanging there. He did all his own stunts.  He was showing the film executives round the studios one day and lit what he thought was a fake bomb and blew his fingers off. In fact if you watch his movies at the end of his  career you will see he always wears gloves.


----------



## Jeffbert

I guess, that is the same was that B. Lee was killed, the guy thought the gun was loaded with blanks. 

When I was young (& foolish), I thought I would through a firecracker into a concrete pipe that went under Connecticut Avenue, & the echo would be sooo cool. Lucky for me, the thing was loud but weak, because just like W. E. Coyote, when I would up to throw, it exploded.


----------



## michaelhall2007

Jeffbert said:


> I guess, that is the same was that B. Lee was killed, the guy thought the gun was loaded with blanks.
> 
> When I was young (& foolish), I thought I would through a firecracker into a concrete pipe that went under Connecticut Avenue, & the echo would be sooo cool. Lucky for me, the thing was loud but weak, because just like W. E. Coyote, when I would up to throw, it exploded.


Brandons death was a freak accident though. To save money the production crew emptied the gun powder out of live bullets.  Unfortunately the one that "Got away" (so to speak) was the one next in the barrol.
God rest his  soul.


----------



## Jeffbert

I heard from a guy who acted as a villain on MIAMI VICE that even using blanks, the rule is to never actually aim at anyone, that they used camera angles and such to simulate that.


----------



## JessieBogag6161

Amberfire said:


> Metropolis is awesome.


I think the film is brillant for it's time. Must have had an effect on future sci fi films...


----------



## Jeffbert

Oh, definitely, Metropolis' depictions of various futuristic elements were inspirational to more than a few filmmakers. The city's tall, imposing appearance & the workers as merely cogs in the machine are just two that come to mind. Charlie Chaplin did that film in which working while being fed by machine obviously seems inspired by it. Though, admittedly,  I am unsure which was made 1st. As far as the city's appearance goes, there are just too many to mention. Even Batman cartoons use it.


----------



## Jeffbert

*The Merry Widow* (1925) directed by E. Von Stroheim, about a dancer  whom two princes desire to marry.  But, since she is not a noble, both are denied, until she marries the richest guy in the nation, who conveniently croaks on the wedding night. 

I also had EVS' *Greed* on my DVR, but I also had too much, so I deleted it.


----------



## AlexH

I watched The Red Turtle (2016) recently, which was pretty much a silent film. Here's what I said about it in The Red Turtle thread:


AlexH said:


> I watched this today and thought it was beautiful - the animation (the simplicity worked really well for me), sound, everything. It lost its way for a bit around the middle, but aside from that I was captivated throughout.


----------



## Jeffbert

The Show (1927)The performers in a side-show have conflicts with each other L. Barymore is the antagonist, the Greek, while John Gilbert is the protagonist,  Cock Robin, the side-show barker, who also performs as a beheaded John the Baptist. Both have eyes for the same woman. I have no memory of the name John Gilbert, & suppose he did not make many films after the advent of sound. 

The woman, known as Salome, is the daughter of an elderly blind man, who seemingly loathes her, because she is female, comparing her to his son, whom he believes is a war hero. Apparently, the man has denied his daughter male companions or perhaps, had a thing against Robin, who was in her room, attempting to silently avoid the man in the small room. But the father takes Robin as his son. 



Spoiler



but the son is in reality, a convicted murderer, who is soon to be hanged. The girl had been writing fake letters from the son, & reading them to him. When a religious parade is in town, the father imagines his son is returning, and is about to enter the home. Robin is with the woman, and the blind man mistakes him for his son, who is seen through the window on the gallows, rope around his neck. Very sad! So ,the old man dies of gladness, because his son has finally returned from the war, after so many years.  just as the son drops through the trapdoor.



There is more to the film than that, but that was the part that got me.


----------



## BAYLOR

Jeffbert said:


> *The Merry Widow* (1925) directed by E. Von Stroheim, about a dancer  whom two princes desire to marry.  But, since she is not a noble, both are denied, until she marries the richest guy in the nation, who conveniently croaks on the wedding night.
> 
> I also had EVS' *Greed* on my DVR, but I also had too much, so I deleted it.



As to G*reed* , it was based on the Novel McTeague by Frank Norris , Erich von Stroheim tired to film the entire book. The movie originally topped out about 10 hours long. Louie B. Meyer took the film away from From Stroheim  and had it cu down  it don to about  2 hours. Needless to say Von Stroheimwas livid about this but there was nothing he could and Meyer knew that no audience would sit through som long a film.  Erich Von Stroheim was perfectionist and an artist , He would get on a project and he keep on filming a films, He didn't care where the film was commercially viable or not to the studios.  The situation with* Greed *was pretty much the beginning of his end as a director, He ceased directing in the early 1930's but he continued as an for years afterward. One his monst memorable performance was Max In Sunset Blvd with Gloria Swanson.


----------



## Jeffbert

Saw that one, too. See the other film topic.


----------



## Nozzle Velocity

*Robin Hood* (1922)

Garden variety histrionics from the cast with much leaping about from Fairbanks, although some of his stunts are amazing. But the real stars are the gorgeous cinematography and production design. This is the Hollywood backlot at its finest.


----------



## Jeffbert

"Don't you worry, never fear, Robin Hood will soon be here."  I would like to see that 1922 version! 

BTW, is that avatar The King Fisher? 

T*he Three Musketeers* (1921) d'Artagnan (Douglas Fairbanks) goes to the big city to join the king's Musketeers, & in this, & later versions, ends up offending all three of the title characters, each of whom challenge him to a duel to the death.  

Of the three, only one name is familiar to me, Aramis (Eugene Pallette; he is lacking without his gravel voice). As I recall Ben M. said that DF had been instructed by a fencing pro for weeks before filming began, but forgot everything as soon as 'Action' was said.  Only one other actor in the list on Wiki is familiar, Adolphe Menjou as Louis XIII.  

Good film!


----------



## Nozzle Velocity

Jeffbert said:


> I would like to see that 1922 version!



Be sure to settle in. It's 2h 23min.

The avatar is Black Manta, Aquaman's arch-nemesis. I used it on other forums years ago because it looked cool, was obscure, and DC would never do one of its big, goofy movies about Aqu...oh, wait.


----------



## Jeffbert

It has been a very long time, since I watched Aquaman animated etc. Black Manta is way cool; likely the best (as far as physical appearance goes) of the DC villains. No desire to watch now, though.


----------



## Nozzle Velocity

*The Lodger* (1927)

Hitchcock's eye for editing and framing is already evident early in his career. Here he lifts motifs from German Expressionism for a story with similarities to Lang's *M*. This one is a good example of why silent films should be viewed at the correct speed. The suspense conjured with lighting and acting would be lost in the frantic, cranked up style given to many of these masters after the silent era was over.


----------



## Jeffbert

I watched that several years ago; remember only that it was very good.


----------



## Nozzle Velocity

*Spangles* (1926)

What do you call a backstage drama that takes place at the circus? Many films have been made with this premise, and this may have been the first, but there's not much to recommend here. It's an early Marian Nixon star turn with boilerplate jealousies, rivalries, crimes, love affairs. Some convincing angry mob scenes and raging, hot elephant action, but everything else is overacted - except the elephant. I think he was really angry.


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## Peter A

_The Monster_ with Johnny Arthur and Lon Chaney is funny.


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## F.J. Hansen

I really enjoy silent films.

I recently expanded my silent movie collection to include *The Toll of the Sea* (Hollywood's first full-color film), *Shifting Sands* (early Gloria Swanson film), Charlie Chaplin's *The Circus* and *City Lights*, and a bunch of Douglas Fairbanks' films: *The Mark of Zorro*, *The Three Musketeers*, *Robin Hood*, *The Thief of Bagdad*, *The Black Pirate*, and *Don Q, Son of Zorro*.

So far, I've watched all but the Zorro movies, which I'm holding off until November when I'll watch them to mark the centennial anniversary of the first one.

So far, my favorite silent films are *The Sea Hawk*, *Wings*, and, of course, Mel Brooks' *Silent Movie*.


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## Droflet

Battleship Potemkin for me.


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