Does anyone here enjoy the old silent movies from the 1910s and 1920s? I've only seen a few, but I love them. I've seen Nosferatu, Phantom of the Opera, and The Birth of a Nation and think that they're all terrific. Does anyone have any silent movie recommendations?
yes i love silent movies, i've got these on dvd: The Gold Rush City Lights The Birth Of A Nation The Cabinet Of Dr.Caligari Nosferatu The Phantom Of The Opera Battleship Potemkin Metropolis The Last Laugh Sunrise The Golem + A couple of Buster Keaton Dvds you might want check out this list: http://www.silentera.com/info/top100.html
I've seen all of the great Charlie Chaplin's films. There is a humanity in his films that is as rare as moon-dust. Starring while also directing these films without any written script, rather creating the story as you film it. That's spontaneous genius! That's Picasso on celluloid.
as i have said somewhere here before, i see all kinds of movies. start with the really old 1/2/3/ mins of the early period 1895-1910 - films of the Lumieres and all. then go on to watch some of George Melies's films. they are awesome. they were also prodused round about the 1896/97 timeline. and... they are in colour, i mean they manually coloured the entire film stalk! next ... someone here has posted a really nice list of movies to start with. but i'd have to add a few must-views : 1. some of the earliest films of the Lumiere brothers, George Melies, R.W. Paul and so on. 2. The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Dreyer, amazing film - Gaudard quotes this brilliantly in Vivre Sa Vie. 3. Strike - Sergei Eisenstein (apart from Battleship Potemkin of course) - Eisenstein was a god! 4. The Man With the Movie Camera - Dziga Vertov; talk of experimentation, see what the legend achieved in the 20s only. 5. Raja Harishchandra - Dadasaheb Phalke; this is how it all started in India. 6. probably all the Chaplin shorts. 7. Broken Blossoms, The Lone Dale Operator, Intolerance - D.W. Griffith (apart from The Birth of a Nation) - you'll see the rudiments of the classical 30s-50s Westerns emerging in Griffith, esp. The Lone Dale Operator; and more generally, classical Hollywood realism taking shape. 8. i think someone has already mentioned The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari and Nosferatu, brilliant films both of them. so i think these should be good enuff for starters... tho' getting hold of a lot of them can be a prob. our university film studies dept. has a huge archive, so i manage to get hold of practically everything. but especially the early films are rare...
i bought a super cheap dvd with like 6 charlie chaplin movies. quite cool. i like the music on them too.
"The General" by Buster Keaton (1926) "Steamboat Bill Jr."by Buster Keaton (1928) - if only for the front of the house falling around him during the hurricane scene. "Modern Times" by Charlie Chaplin (1936) All of Laurel and Hardy Shorts
I have a lot of trouble finding silent movies. I have to order them from the internet. Some movies are only released in the US or aren't released at all.
I've watched a couple... they're pretty good actually... silent and black/white films are so great...
I love silent movies! Silents, and early comedies such as the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, aka the good stuff!