The MoFo Top 50 Pre-1930 Countdown: The List

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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
On my list:
Safety Last #4
A Trip to the Moon #12
Man With a Movie Camera #15
Greed #20


Safety Last was a joy; I'm not big on silent comedy or slapstick really, but this I did like. I actually find Harols Lloyd more personable than Keaton or Chaplin.

A Trip to the Moon is iconic and influential. A time when science fiction imagined old men with umbrellas exploring the universe!

Man with a Movie Camera is just interesting and well put together; it makes me wonder how much talking documentary films really need and its interresting to think how viewpoint and perspective are or aren't conveyed without it.

Greed was one of the first silent films I watched; it's been a long time since I watched it but it certainly left an impression.



Battleship Potemkin didn't make my list, but only because I had so many silent films contending that I had to cut some of the greats. And it is one of the greats!

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Amazing! This old Soviet era silent film is outright amazing. I couldn't believe how innovative the cinematography was. I mean this 94 year old film put to shame many a modern CG block buster. The director Sergei Eisenstein was a genius! He did something I've hardly ever seen in any movie scene and that's shooting the POV, from the different points of views of the participants.

Take the famous Odessa staircase sequence. We see the townsfolk in their initial joyous unification, flooding into the port area to see the heroic sailors of the Potemkin...And they flood in droves! Then we see from their POV the approaching troops with guns drawn and bayonets fixed...And then we're treated (if that's the right word) to what it would look like if we were in the shoes of the approaching military. We then see down those same stairs at the people below are being shoot in cold blood....Then of course, there's the famous third POV of the baby in the carriage as it helplessly rolls down those long stairs. Impressive stuff indeed!



There's so many stunning shots in this film. I loved the use of extreme close-ups on the faces of the Russian people and what a story those weathered faces told. The director really packs emotions into those close-ups.



I'm sure some will complain that this is heavy handed propaganda. But that's what makes the film so special. It's a window back into time during an important period of human history. This 1925 film tells of the 1905 mutiny aboard the Czar's naval ship. But in a much broader scope it glorifies the efforts of Russian serfs, who were throwing off their yokes of servitude. The people are embracing a revolution that promised to free mankind once and for all, by delivery equality. And in 1925 the promise that Soviet communism brought to the downtrodden masses was still heady with optimism.

Later under the brutal dictatorship of Joseph Stalin that dream would turn into yet another form of horrendous servitude and tyranny. And yet I can't help but feel the optimism of the Russian people in 1925 as they dreamed of a better life for themselves and their children.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Didn't make my list, but VERY worthy of its place in the Countdown.




The Battleship Potemkin

For all the preaching and solidarity raving, Battleship Potemkin is filmed rather brilliantly in regards to camera work. Especially when featuring outside shots of the river and other ships. Many of which are quite beautifully composited. And, of course, we must include the Odessa Steps. This film is full of great camerawork; using shadow, light and some amazing angles illustrating the emotional content of this film.

Though, in the end, that was all I came away with from this film. The propaganda message was just a little too thick and at times, dragged down some of the more emotional elements and thereby, their effects. Creating boredom in me which truly should not have been there, regardless of the incredible imagery of this film.



MY LIST: Seen 19 out of 42 (45.24%)
1) The Kid (#10)
2)
3)
4)
5) 3 Bad Men (#30)
6) 7th Heaven (#32)
7) The Phantom of the Opera (#19)
8) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (#41)
9)
10)
11)
12) Pandora's Box (#17)
13) It (#27)
14) A Dog's Life (#39)
15) The Lodger (#20)
16) The Man Who Laughs (#48)
17)
18) HE Who Gets Slapped (#23)
19) Faust (#14)
20)
21)
22) Underworld (#47)
24) The Adventures of Prince Achmed (#26)
25) The Iron Mask (One Pointer)
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Sherlock Jr. is a real hoot and well worthy of its Top Ten place on this list, wasn't on my ballot though and was a very, very hard decision to leave it off.

Seen: 43/43
My list:
3. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) [#15]
7. Intolerance - Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (D.W. Griffith, 1916) [#21]
10. Chelovek s kino-apparatum [Man With A Movie Camera] (Dziga Vertov, 1929) [#12]
15. Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage [Faust] (F.W. Murnau, 1926) [#14]
17. Körkarlen [The Phantom Carriage] (Victor Sjöström, 1921) [#18]
18. Safety Last! (Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923) [#11]
19. Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922) [#25]
20. Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith, 1919) [#34]
25. Helen Of Four Gates (Cecil M. Hepworth, 1920) [1-ptr]



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Sherlock Jr. is my #18.


Seen 43/43
My List
1. Entr'acte
2. The Goat
5. Safety Last!
6. The Adventures of Prince Achmed
7. The Kid
9. Greed
10. 7th Heaven
11. Man With a Movie Camera
15. The Last Command
16. Wings
18. Sherlock Jr.
19. The Circus
24. Battleship Potemkin
25. The Wind
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I saw Sherlock Jr. (1924) because of the old arthouse mafia member bluedeed and his love towards it. It never resonated so much with me, but i still regard it as a solid film, though it was not on my list. I rate it


Seen 30/43.



Sherlock, Jr. was my #17.

From Comedy I:

Sherlock, Jr.

This was short and sweet, I really liked it! It wasn't laugh out loud "funny," so to speak, but it was so charming and light hearted that I couldn't help not loving it. Especially the "movie within a movie" sequence, which took up much of the actual film. I loved all the stunts Keaton does, and his acting is actually quite good too. My favorite scene was probably the pool scene, which kind of reminded me of a template for what Hitchcock would say and do years later: "A bomb is under the table, and it explodes: That is surprise. The bomb is under the table but it does not explode: That is suspense." In that pool scene, it's obviously meant for comedic effect, and there's nothing too tense or worked up about it, but it's also pretty cool how it's almost a prototype of what a lot of great filmmakers would do with more serious motives later. A good movie that I thoroughly enjoyed, it's probably my favorite Keaton. But, for some of the other acting, and the actual "comedy" factor, it gets a few points off.



Seen: 18/43

My List:
1. Battleship Potemkin (#9)
6. Pandora's Box (#18)
7. Un Chien Andalou (#13)
8. It (#27)
10. The Kid (#10)
13. 3 Bad Men (#30)
14. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (#26)
15. Faust (#15)
17. Sherlock, Jr. (#8)
19. He Who Gets Slapped (#23)
20. A Trip to the Moon (#15)
22. 7th Heaven (#32)
23. The Man Who Laughs (#48)
25. The Unknown (#28)[/quote]
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7. The Gold Rush
6. Sunrise
5. The Passion of Joan of Arc
4. The General
3. Nosferatu
2. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1. Metropolis



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Had Sherlock Jr had #10




Sherlock Jr.

It seems like the third time IS the charm with this being nominated two other times previously and then disqualified, so I finally get to watch what is considered, along with The General one of Keaton's very best. It is when it comes to the stunt work, which is pretty impressive and at many times, quite seamless and expertly timed. And, may I add, the man is a helluva pool player when it comes to trick shooting. WOW.
I honestly can't say enough about them and the man's ability to pull them off so amazingly well. Truly astounding.

My actual viewing of Buster Keaton films is, sadly, minimal, and I'm pretty happy to have finally sat back and thoroughly enjoy one of his best. I am psyched to watch one I was considering for a blind grab; The General.

THANK YOU @ahwell for allowing me to finally have the actual opportunity to watch all of this, having seen only highlights of Keaton throughout my life.


MY LIST: Seen 20 out of 43 (46.51%)
1) The Kid (#10)
2)
3)
4)
5) 3 Bad Men (#30)
6) 7th Heaven (#32)
7) The Phantom of the Opera (#19)
8) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (#41)
9)
10) Sherlock Jr (#8)
11)
12) Pandora's Box (#17)
13) It (#27)
14) A Dog's Life (#39)
15) The Lodger (#20)
16) The Man Who Laughs (#48)
17)
18) HE Who Gets Slapped (#23)
19) Faust (#14)
20)
21)
22) Underworld (#47)
24) The Adventures of Prince Achmed (#26)
25) The Iron Mask (One Pointer)



Murnau's Nosferatu is a nice enough watch (especially in the later stages) and I'm happy seeing it make the list but it was never really in contention for a spot on my own ballot (I marginally prefer Herzog's later version).

Seen: 44/44
My list:
3. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) [#15]
7. Intolerance - Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (D.W. Griffith, 1916) [#21]
10. Chelovek s kino-apparatum [Man With A Movie Camera] (Dziga Vertov, 1929) [#12]
15. Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage [Faust] (F.W. Murnau, 1926) [#14]
17. Körkarlen [The Phantom Carriage] (Victor Sjöström, 1921) [#18]
18. Safety Last! (Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923) [#11]
19. Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922) [#25]
20. Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith, 1919) [#34]
25. Helen Of Four Gates (Cecil M. Hepworth, 1920) [1-ptr]



Nosferatu (1922) by F.W. Murnau was my no. 16 and i agree with Chypmunk that i marginally prefer Herzogs version. Both are really good. I rate Nosferatu
+



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
No Nosferatu on my list but certainly a classic.

The Great White Silence is my #23

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is my #22

Seen 44/44
My List
1. Entr'acte
2. The Goat
5. Safety Last!
6. The Adventures of Prince Achmed
7. The Kid
9. Greed
10. 7th Heaven
11. Man With a Movie Camera
15. The Last Command
16. Wings
18. Sherlock Jr.
19. The Circus
22. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Fred Niblo, 1925)
23. The Great White Silence (Herbert G. Ponting, 1924)

24. Battleship Potemkin
25. The Wind