The MoFo Top 50 Pre-1930 Countdown: The List

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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
My list so far:

1. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
2. Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
3. Will make it
4. Safety Last! (1923)
5. Won't make it
6. Won't make it

7. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)
8. The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen) (1921)
9. Will make it
10. Way Down East (1920)
11. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
12. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
13. Won't make it
14. It (1927)
15. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
16. Broken Blossoms (1919)
17. Will make it
18. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
19. Nosferatu (1922)
20. Greed (1924)
21. The Passion of Joan of arc (1928)
22. Pandora’s Box (1929)
23. The Last Laugh (1924)
24. Won't make it
25. Won't make it



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Looks like J'accuse (1919) is not going to make it anymore. What a shame as it's really one of the best silent movies ever made!

This was on my list of films to watch and never got to.

With Cabinet I completely forgot about when watching films


MY LIST: Seen 21 out of 46 (45.65%)
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) Nosferatu (#7)
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)
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My List:
1.Sherlock Jr (1924)
2.Un Chien Andalou (1929)
3.The Kid (1921)
4.Häxan (1922)
6.Battleship Potemkin (1925)
7.Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
8.The Skeleton Dance (1929)
10.A Trip to the Moon (1902)
11. Blackmail
15.The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
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The Gold Rush quite simply has everything I love about Chaplin in it and was my #11.

Seen: 47/47
My list:
1. La passion de Jeanne d'Arc [The Passion Of Joan Of Arc] (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) [#6]
3. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) [#15]
7. Intolerance - Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (D.W. Griffith, 1916) [#21]
8. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari [The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari] (Robert Wiene, 1920) [#5]
10. Chelovek s kino-apparatum [Man With A Movie Camera] (Dziga Vertov, 1929) [#12]
11. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin, 1925) [#4]
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.
The Gold Rush is my #12. It was the first Chaplin film lionized by international film critics and historians, and even if it's recently fallen a bit out of favor, it's still a terrific movie and a must-see as all of Chaplin's features are, at least up through Limelight (1952). It's crammed with awesome scenes, from the cabin teetering on the edge of a cliff, to the starving prospector who wants to eat Charlie because he thinks he's a chicken to the bear following the tramp, to eating the shoe to the memorable climax to this short and sweet dance of the rolls. Chaplin's films are full of the kind of imagination which seems to be in short supply nowadays.

Napoleon is my #8. Abel Gance basically invented the super-widescreen process for his 1927 Napoleon. Most of the movie was filmed and meant to be shown using one projector and screen, but periodically there are epic scenes where three projectors display images on the equivalent of three screens which are curved to create great spectacle in a triptych process called Polyvision. Needless to say, most theatres could never display the film in its intended manner, but that didn't stop it from being done so. The last time it was shown in the Polyision format was a restored five-and-one-half hour version at the Royal Festival Hall in London in December 2004. Now available on restored disc.

Seen 47/47
My List
1. Entr'acte
2. The Goat
5. Safety Last!
6. The Adventures of Prince Achmed
7. The Kid
8. Napoleon (Abel Gance, 1927)
9. Greed
10. 7th Heaven
11. Man With a Movie Camera
12. The Gold Rush
13. The Passion of Joan of Arc
14. Speedy (Ted Wilde, 1928)
15. The Last Command
16. Wings
17. The Kid Brother (Ted Wilde, 1927)
18. Sherlock Jr.
19. The Circus
20. The Beloved Rogue (Alan Crosland, 1927)
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
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Never got around to the Gold Rush unfortunately.

Seen: 21/47

My List:
1. Battleship Potemkin (#9)
3. Nosferatu (#7)
4. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (#5)
5. The Passion of Joan of Arc (#6)
6. Pandora's Box (#18)
7. Un Chien Andalou (#13)
8. It (#27)
10. The Kid (#10)
11. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge
12. The Doll
13. 3 Bad Men (#30)
14. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (#26)
15. Faust (#15)
16. Ballet Mecanique
17. Sherlock, Jr. (#8)
18. The Cameraman's Revenge
19. He Who Gets Slapped (#23)
20. A Trip to the Moon (#15)
21. Laugh, Clown, Laugh
22. 7th Heaven (#32)
23. The Man Who Laughs (#48)
24. Sadie Thompson
25. The Unknown (#28)
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The Gold Rush was my #5. Oddly enough, I sought out the original version of this film without the voice-over and honestly didn’t like it much... whether that was just the day and time I watched it or the fact that I really did like the narrated version better I’m not sure. All I know is that the narrated version did appeal to me quite a lot and I felt like I finally saw what others saw in it.

So yeah, it was pretty high on my list.



Top 3:
3. Sunrise
2. The General
1. Metropolis

But I would be completely fine with any order honestly as long as Sunrise doesn’t win.



Top 3:
3. Sunrise
2. The General
1. Metropolis

But I would be completely fine with any order honestly as long as Sunrise doesn’t win.
I almost loved Sunrise with it's arthouse approach and it's visual richness, but I just couldn't forgive the would be murderer. Still a great film but with a glaring flaw, at least for me.

Buster is the man! But I just didn't get around to watching The General before the countdown commenced.

Metropolis is the one that I'm rooting for to take the #1 spot.





The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) by Robert Wiene was my no. 8 and an expressionist gem. I am rather happy that such an art film would make the top 5. As a manic-depressive i can personally relate to the madness and horror of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and I think its influence on later horror films cannot be understated.



The Gold Rush (1925) by Charles Chaplin is something that in my mind belongs to my childhood and have a sort of nostalgic feeling towards the films. It was my no. 19 and i do not regard as a top tier Chaplin film, but its still really good.

+

Charles Chaplin ranked:
1. Modern Times (1936)
2. Limelight (1952)
3. City Lights (1931)
4. Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
5. The Gold Rush (1925)
6. The Kid (1921)
7. The Circus (1928)
8. The Great Dictator (1940)
9. The Idle Class (1921)
10. Between Showers (1914)

Seen: 35/47



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
I already had 3 beloved Chaplin films and since I was attempting for a more wide-range of films, I could not fit anymore in, though Gold Rush definitely would have been that one to add. Glad to see it crack the top 5.

Time to include those that have fallen to the wayside:

The Beloved Rogue (1927) at #3.

An amazing swashbuckling adventure with a 40 something John Barrymore who moves like a 20 something. I fell in love with this when I first started watching films for this. Here's a full version on youtube for any who are interested.


and:

The Mark of Zorro (1920) at #21

Speaking of swashbuckling, the King of them all, Douglas Fairbanks does a very excellent job as Zorro.





MY LIST: Seen 22 out of 47 (46.8%)
1) The Kid (#10)
2)
3) The Beloved Rogue (No Show)
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) Nosferatu (#7)
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) The Mark of Zorro (No Show)
21)
22) Underworld (#47)
24) The Adventures of Prince Achmed (#26)
25) The Iron Mask (One Pointer)



Sunrise was my #14, a very human drama of love and temptation that's nicely put together and quite captivating imo.

Seen: 48/48
My list:
1. La passion de Jeanne d'Arc [The Passion Of Joan Of Arc] (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) [#6]
3. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) [#15]
7. Intolerance - Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (D.W. Griffith, 1916) [#21]
8. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari [The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari] (Robert Wiene, 1920) [#5]
10. Chelovek s kino-apparatum [Man With A Movie Camera] (Dziga Vertov, 1929) [#12]
11. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin, 1925) [#4]
14. Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927) [#3]
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.
Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans is my #4. The epitome of American silent expressionism is found here in Murnau's greatest film, and with the possible exception of Metropolis, the greatest silent visual presentation of any film. The story is a simple fairy tale, filled with suspense, horror, nightmares, romance, fantasy, comedy, more romance, more horror, and ultimately, true love. However, the visuals are incredibly sophisticated and come at you at an almost dizzying pace. This is a good film to discuss pace. Some of the earlier scenes are extended to highlight suspense, but later, the scenes cascade to show giddy happiness and the almost surreal nature of being in love. It's also surprising how humorous many of the scenes in the middle are, but they all serve to enhance character. Everyone should watch it, preferably with a loved one.

Seen 48/48
My List
1. Entr'acte
2. The Goat
4. Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans
5. Safety Last!
6. The Adventures of Prince Achmed
7. The Kid
8. Napoleon (Abel Gance, 1927)
9. Greed
10. 7th Heaven
11. Man With a Movie Camera
12. The Gold Rush
13. The Passion of Joan of Arc
14. Speedy (Ted Wilde, 1928)
15. The Last Command
16. Wings
17. The Kid Brother (Ted Wilde, 1927)
18. Sherlock Jr.
19. The Circus
20. The Beloved Rogue (Alan Crosland, 1927)
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