# Recommend some good silent films! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831 "2006-02-23T19:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/21 "2006-02-24T13:18:04Z")
While not a silent film, the movie **Le Dernier Combat** has absolutely _no_ dialogue, and is worth seeing. French black and white post-apocalyptic science fiction: > **[The Last Battle (1983) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085426/)** > > The Last Battle: Directed by Luc Besson. With Pierre Jolivet, Jean Bouise, Fritz Wepper, Jean Reno. In a post-apocalyptic future where no one is able to speak, the few remaining humans fight over resources in order to survive. **mhendo** , I haven’t visited that site, but I’ll bet any money the versions there aren’t the restored versions. Spend the extra money if necessary and watch the restored versions – it’s well worth it. The full **Lost World** blows the normal incomplete version out of the water. The better picture quality of the restored **Metropolis** , **Nosferatu** , and **Phantom of the Opera** make the easily-available “standard” versions look like utter garbage. I used to find excuses not to show friends my old copies of Metropolis, until I got a copy of Giorgio Moroder’s restored version. The restored title sequence alone was worth watching the whole thing for. The newest restored version of Metropolis is even clearer and longer than Moroder’s. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/22 "2006-02-24T13:33:38Z")
I second The General, Thief of Baghdad, Birth of a Nation. [The Gollum](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0011237/) [Alexander Nevsky](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029850/) [The Hunchback of Notre Dame](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014142/) (A really great scene where the priest is trying to explain to Quasimodo, and we can’t hear him, either.) [Nibelungen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015175/) Rumored to be Hitler’s favorite movie sadly enough. Wagner took his operas from the same source. Dragon with 1920’s special effects. 🙂 Really strange Germanic honor code thing. Atilla the Hun has a walk on. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/23 "2006-02-24T13:44:40Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > I’m surprised no one’s mentioned The Battleship Potemkin yet – surely one of the most famous silent films of all time, though I get the impression that lately it’s become a bit unfashionable. At the University of Michigan 20 years ago, anyway, it was still a holy relic. So much so that when we were shown a _completely_ silent version (no SFX, music track, nuttin’) and 6 or 7 of us began improvising our own explosion noises etc., a goody-goody TA told us to pipe it. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/24 "2006-02-24T14:17:40Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > …[The Gollum](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0011237/) … Coughcoughcough “Gollum”? giggle giggle ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/25 "2006-02-24T15:14:01Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Coughcoughcough “Gollum”? giggle giggle My mistake. ;j ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/26 "2006-02-24T17:18:49Z")
1. **The Man With a Movie Camera**. An eye-popping avant garde piece that is simply the most amazing silent movie ever made. 2. **Berlin: Symphony of a Great City**. A day in the life of the metropolis, done free-form and wordlessly. 3. **Sunrise**. German expressionism transferred to Hollywood. 4. **The Gold Rush**. Charlie Chaplin goes prospecting. 5. **The Freshman**. Harold Lloyd goes to college. 6. **The Cameraman**. Buster Keaton goes newsreeling. 7. **The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari**. Still weird, unsettling, very influential. 8. **The Black Pirate**. Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckles – in Technicolor! 9. **The Crowd**. Sympathetically observed story of a young couple in the big city. 10. **The Passion of Joan of Arc**. Beautiful and severe. 11. **It**. Flapper Clara Bow has that magnetic “it” in this romantic comedy. 12. **The Jazz Singer**. First feature with talking sequences is still mostly silent. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/27 "2006-02-24T17:24:30Z")
I just remembered that **The Jazz Singer** isn’t available on DVD yet. So let’s substitute: 1. **Broken Blossoms**. D.W. Griffith at his most intimate, in a story about love, prejudice, and brutality in the London docksides. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/28 "2006-02-24T17:25:06Z")
_The Jazz Singer_ is historically significant, but it’s a horrible movie. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/29 "2006-02-24T17:40:27Z")
You should probably see **Un Chien Andalou** , too. It’s really effed up, as befits an absurdist piece. It’s yet another one you can see for free at the Internet Archives. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/30 "2006-02-24T18:28:30Z")
I cannot recommend **Sunrise** enough; it’s my #1 of all time, regardless of era or silent/talkie. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/31 "2006-02-24T18:48:25Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > I cannot recommend **Sunrise** enough; it’s my #1 of all time, regardless of era or silent/talkie. Yeah, it’s a great great film. You should try to find _The Crowd_. Hard to find–Facets might have it–but well worth tracking down. If possible, higher on my list than \*Sunrise \*even. And my #1 of all time–of any movie–is _The Passion of Joan of Arc_. Easier to find a copy of too; it’s available on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/32 "2006-02-24T18:58:43Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > Are there any modern silent films? [Non!](http://imdb.com/title/tt0075222/) 😉 If silent = no dialogue, then [The Thief](http://imdb.com/title/tt0045230/) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/33 "2006-02-24T19:10:05Z")
I wish that more of Colleen Moore’s work was available. **And** Louise Brooks’. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/34 "2006-02-24T19:15:20Z")
I wish some of Joe Bonomo’s work had survived. He was quite the action star back in the silent era. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/35 "2006-02-25T01:18:56Z")
Darn, that’s right, **The Crowd** is not available yet on DVD. Let’s substitute: 1. **Tabu**. South Sea island exotica from master director F.W. Murnau. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/36 "2006-02-25T01:25:04Z")
Wow, most everything I would have said has been said already. Let me add (in no order other than off the top of my head): _Orphans of the Storm_, _The Wind_, _Der Müde Tod_, _The Last Laugh_, _A Woman of Affairs_, _Michael_, _The Temptress_, _Intolerance_ (kind of slow in places), _Leaves from Satan’s Book_ (kind of a rip-off of _Intolerance_, but quicker paced). I’d also check out a serial–I think the first _Judex_ series is available on DVD. Ooh, and _The Unknown_ with Lon Cheney and Joan Crawford, and _Laugh, Clown, Laugh_ and _The Unholy Three_. And _Souls for Sale_, I can’t believe I forgot that, it’s absolutely essential. Silent film is a very broad field, is the any particular genre you’re interested in? You might be interested in some landmark-y type films, on topics most think of as being only recently considered: _A Florida Enchantment_, about transgenderism… kinda… but with a horrible cop-out ending. _Michael_, which I mentioned already, but I’d watch it mainly for its being beautifully filmed. The story of twice-gay-once-bisexual love quadrilateral is not at all as interesting as it sounds. _Master of the House_, early feminism. It’s a comedy with social commentary only mixed in, so it doesn’t get all that preachy. _Different From the Others_, now here’s a film that knows preachy. Very early, if not the first, gay rights film. _Love One Another_, I confess to having never seen it but I have read about it and would if given the chance. It’s about antisemitism. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/37 "2006-02-25T03:01:25Z")
Too bad you can’t be in Topeka, Kansas, tonight and tomorrow. The 10th annual Silent Film Festival is being held, with a number of the films mentioned here. There’s shorts with Keaton, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy. _Gertie the Dinosaur_ _Sunrise_ _The Eagle_, with Valentino _Seven Chances_, with Keaton And my all time favorite depressing film, _Broken Blossoms_, with Lillian Gish. And much, much more! Attendance is free, but they are _MORE_ than happy to accept a free will donation. All films are accompanied by live music. Two or three different musicians will play the organ in the concert hall where the films are shown, and there’s also an orchestral quartet that will play. I was too tired to go tonight, but will be there for a long time tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![bette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/90ced4/32.png) [@bette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bette)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/38 "2012-07-16T15:59:23Z")
Late to the table, but am loving the silents at the moment. These are the very best I’ve seen, & I post here as a recommendation to anyone who stumbles upon this at a later date: Wings The Last Command Sunrise The Wind The Gold Rush (1940’s redux version with voiceover) Seventh Heaven Lucky Star The Passion Of Joan Of Arc It The Wind The Kid City Lights The General Sherlock Jr The Cameraman Safety Last The Thief Of Bagdad The Last Laugh Broken Blossoms All fantastic stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/39 "2012-07-16T16:29:24Z")
I’ll add another vote for **Gold Rush** with Chaplin. It still makes me laugh out loud. Harold Lloyd’s **Safety Last** will make you gasp. It was a great use of camera angle and blocking to create the illusion of height. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831/40 "2012-07-16T17:06:23Z")
Since this thread first appeared, they’ve located even more of **Metropolis**. I heartily recommend the newest restored version. Not only does it have a lot of missing scenes (we’ve been wondering for decades what The Tall Man was up to), it also places scenes in the proper order and with the correct title cards, something the previous “complete” version lacked. The complete work now has the form of a musical piece, and that hadn’t been clear before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-silent-films/345831.md?page=3)