1. The Fall of the House of Usher by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber
2. City Lights by Charlie Chaplin
3. The General by Buster Keaton
4. Nosferatu by F.W. Murnau
5. The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Dreyer
6. Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstien
7. Broken Blossoms by D.W. Griffith
8. Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin
9. Un Chien Andalou
10. Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith
THE TRAP (1946) Directed by Howard Bretherton
5 years ago
4 comments:
A great list which I'd find it hard to argue with on any level. I tend to admire Chaplin more than I like him. Keaton for me was the greatest of the silent comedians and THE GENERAL is my favourite too (followed by OUR HOSPITALITY)My own list would have to include Vidor's THE CROWD, Lang's METROPOLIS, Wiene's CALIGARI, Murnau's NOSFERATU. I'd probably have to include a Harold Lloyd as well just because I had the honour of meeting him once. Thanks for a list that has really got me thinking.....
yeah, I've not seen Metropolis in its entirety or it probably would have been on here. In all honesty I love the first half of Birth of a Nation, but the second half makes me sick...and its more an admiration for the craft of it that placed it on the list.
I recentally watched FAUST by Murnau and I think that would be on the list somewhere now
I too am reserving my comments about METROPOLIS until they manage to get that extra footage just found released on a DVD. Sometime soon, I'm hoping. But yes, a fantastic list. CITY LIGHTS is my favourite Chaplin film. I love Keaton as well but I must admit (brace yourselves, everybody) that when I saw it years and years ago (sometime in the mid-80's) I didn't think too much of THE GENERAL. Why, I can't recall since it's been so long since I've seen it. I think it requires a rewatching on my part because I can't justify going around saying I didn't like it without knowing why or even remembering anything about the film! So one of these days I'm going to have to track down THE GENERAL and watch it again with my eyes open.
In addition to your great choices, I would probably add to my own list the 1927 CAT AND THE CANARY and Laurel and Hardy's BIG BUSINESS which is simply one of the funniest films ever made. Anytime. Sound or silent. That's the one when Stan & Ollie are selling Christmas trees door to door -- in California -- in July. If you've never seen it (and it is criminally not available on DVD as far as I know), you owe it to yourself because you'll laugh until you cry. It can, however, be seen on one of those 1960's Robert Youngson silent comedy compilation films WHEN COMEDY WAS KING and the dopey narration doesn't mar it too much.
Again, great list!
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