Favorite silent movie? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Anyone out there have a favorite silent film?

Mine is Abel Gance's Napoleon.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Easy: Battleship Potemkin, by Sergei Eisenstein. When watching this pioneering exercise in montage, one doesn't even notice the fact that it's a silent film. Brilliant--especially that celebrated "Odessa Steps" scene.

 

[Pascal A]

Mine is a close tie between Victor Sjostrom's The Wind and F.W. Murnau's Sunrise, followed by Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc and Yasujiro Ozu's I Was Born But....

 

[Dave L]

Well, two of my favorites were already mentioned, "Napoleon" and "Potemkin." Actually, "Napoleon" was the first that came to my mind.

So, I think I'll pick "The Big Parade" -- it's a terrific, entertaining film that doesn't often get mentioned, and it stars John Gilbert, who was a first tier star at the time, although he also doesn't get mentioned a lot anymore. Saw this film on the big screen with a live orchestra and an in-person introduction by John Gilbert's daughter, who penned her father's biography. Needless to say, it was easy to understand why this was a huge hit in the late 1920s.

Runnersup: Buster Keaton's "The General," "Wings," and "Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ." All these films prove that lack of sound is no detriment to artistry or entertainment.

 

[Rain]

Anyone around here who knows me at all likely already knows what I'm going to say...
The General

 

[Steve Christou]

As a SF nut, I would pick Metropolis (1926).

 

[JasonK]

Metropolis is a great choice.

My fave is City Lights.

And another goodie is Silent Movie.

I saw Potemkin once, in a film class. I should check it out again.

 

[Rob Willey]

The Wind, La Boheme, The Big Parade, City Lights -- it's too hard to choose just one.

Rob

 

[Richard Kim]

Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc and Chaplin's The Gold Rush.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Either Potemkin or City Lights , They are both among the greatest films ever made.

 

[SteveGon]

I haven't really seen enough silent films to make an informed decision, but I'll go with The General for now.

 

[Brook K]

Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc
Others would include:
The Wind, Nosferatu, The Last Laugh, Steamboat Bill Jr., Sherlock Jr., The Gold Rush and Broken Blossoms.