Top Silent Films
Jul 14 '01
The Bottom Line Chaplin stands as the best director/actor/writer of silent films, but remember the historical and artistic contributions of D.W. Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein, and others.
Back when film was truly cinema, the medium was forced to tell its stories visually. Many of the great directors return to these early years to learn effective techniques from the early pioneers of this pure cinematic period to enhance their own films—certainly the great visual masters like Hitchcock, Truffaut, and Kubrick have done so since you can turn off the sound from their films and continue to follow the story. For some of the early filmmakers it was a sad day when sound made its debut—Chaplin, in particular, realized that the Little Tramp icon could never survive in full voice. Fortunately, many of these silent gems remain so that we can continue to enjoy them. Following are ten great ones that I have seen:
10. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Georges Melies, pioneer of film fantasy, was a professional magician who applied his craft to hundreds of films, but A Trip to the Moon is by far his most famous. It’s rather humorous to see the “astronauts” all dressed in street clothes on the moon waving and then drawing blankets over themselves simultaneously as human faced stars of the Big Dipper look at them, but Melies pioneers the concept of taking fictional stories and using editing cuts to communicate visually. My favorite parts occur when Melies turns to his magician roots and turns the moon creatures into poofs of smoke.
9. The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
Not the competent Roger Corman version starring Vincent Price, the avant-garde 1928 version by James Sibley Watson is mesmerizing. Poe’s classic short story comes to life on sharply angled sets without using written intertitles. The film experiments with various optical effects and distortions that parallel the psychological state of Roderick, so be prepared to view collapsing staircases, floating coffins, and the like. Recently released versions may contain electronic music that enhance Watson’s film even more.
8. The General (1927)
Buster Keaton’s greatest film—that should be more than enough reason to check this great comedy out. Besides some outstanding comic moments, “The Great Stone Face” mesmerizes with one of the greatest chase scenes in film history.
7. Metropolis (1927)
Fritz Lang’s masterpiece retains its power, and still ranks among the best movies of all time. An ultimate revolutionary film, it’s incredible to observe the workers being abused underground and see how Lang is able to weave such a political and religious allegory using the technology of his day with potent visual symbols.
Every science fiction film noir owes a debt to Lang’s masterpiece. Blade Runner comes to mind most readily with its dark metropolitan setting; it even borrows the idea of creating replicants from Metropolis, as key scenes involve a robot that supplants a human. Metropolis’ mad scientist Rotwang with his artificial right hand has many film descendents, including James Bond villains and Dr. Strangeglove. Even comedies like Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times and the Coen brothers The Hudsucker Proxy have thematic elements that we can trace back to Metropolis, as we find the underclass workers toiling below while the administrators rule the upper layers.
6. October (1927)
Commissioned by the Soviet Central Committee in 1927 to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the October Revolution, October ( also known as Ten Days that Shook the World) is the last significant silent film of legendary director Sergei Eisenstein. The Russian government desired the finest documentary possible, so they assigned their finest director the task of re-creating the Russian Revolution, and gave him immense resources to create his film. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Eisenstein’s films conform to the party line. Yet, the great director is still able to find enough artistic license to experiment.
Eisenstein’s epic drama comes as close to being an eyewitness documentary account about Lenin and the Socialist Revolution as possible since Nikolai Podvolsky and other leaders of the uprising served as consultants. Filming the events in their actual locations in Petrograd (later to be named Leningrad, Stalingrad, and return to St. Petersburg) give the film added credibility that historians will find especially fascinating—especially notable is the storming of the actual Winter Palace.
5. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Sergei Eisenstein's film has long served as the ultimate textbook lesson on montage, as he personalizes the massacre on the Odessa steps with stunning visuals. Along with Griffith’s work and Welles’ incomparable Citizen Kane, Battleship Potemkin is essential viewing if you expect to be film literate. Don’t feel that you must buy into the political propaganda of the film’s message, but I do encourage you to observe closely how Eisenstein uses his camera to communicate. There are reasons that film appreciation classes continue to require this film as part of the curriculum.
4. Birth of a Nation (1915)
Released 50 years after the end of the Civil War, this 1915 landmark film was the first full-length motion picture (at nearly three hours) and the first true blockbuster. It ran for over a year in a number of theaters and profited ten times the amount of money that it cost to make. Thus, we can credit Griffith’s film for jump starting the film industry, as well as influencing a whole generation of filmmakers.
We must also credit Griffith for expanding the concept of film, since previous Nickelodeon films were limited to one reel (about 10 minutes maximum) that captured people as they might appear in a stage drama. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation broke new ground, as he demonstrated that the medium could break the constraints of stage drama. Of course its blatantly racist content will be repugnant to nearly everyone, but there is no denying the historical and artistic significance of Griffith’s work.
3. City Lights (1931)
Alternating between poignancy with the great scenes with the blind girl and unsurpassed humor, Chaplin makes us aware of social conditions through the laughter. Some favorite humorous scenes include the opening dedication ceremony scene with the Little Tramp messing it up and the funniest boxing match that has ever been filmed.
For anyone familiar with Chaplin’s work, his trademark perfectionism is never more evident than in this film. Chaplin produced and directed the film, composed the music, did the final editing, and acted in it. The fact that City Lights was three years in the making before its final release in 1931 tells only part of the story. At one point Chaplin shut down production for an entire month because he wasn’t satisfied that a key element would be communicated, and only resumed after an inspired solution came to him.
2. Modern Times (1936)
Charles Chaplin must rank at the top of the greatest silent filmmakers and his greatest film works on several levels. Chaplin questions the economic and sociological structure of western civilization along with his continual defiance of authority figures as he humorously weaves his tale. There are so many precious moments in this film, but a couple of my favorites include a diabolical feeding machine and later a tremendous sight gag that begins with Charlie picking up a dropped construction flag just as the labor union is rounding the corner. Credit Chaplin's genius for consistently connecting with his audience visually without resorting to sound.
After sampling his two seminal works listed here, you will want to see his numerous shorts along with other longer silent films—The Gold Rush and The Kid. Even his greatest talking film, The Great Dictator, has an incredible pantomime sequence with Chaplin hilariously spoofing Hitler attempting to take over the world.
1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The camera work alone with its creative movement and use of Dutch angles would make this silent one of the all time great films, but adding Maria Falconetti’s incredible passionate acting performance as the martyred young French maid shoots this film to the top of the list. If you think you’ve seen some good crying by Meryl Streep, you haven’t witnessed Falconetti’s tear-streaked face yet. So intense was Falconetti’s experience with this film that the young actress never acted again. The fact that we can now see a complete print of The Passion of Joan of Arc is a miracle in itself—an original version was found in 1986 . . . in a Danish mental institution. The best rendition comes from the Criterion DVD—you can watch a completely silent version or one enhanced with music by Voices of Light, as well as listen to interview excerpts from Falconetti’s daughter and to a scholarly essay on the film by Casper Tybjerg.
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Member: John Nesbit
Location: Phoenix, Az.
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Watching movies and baseball, now reviewing at oldschoolreviews.com
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