The Silent Film Era

timetravelfan

07-05-10

Originally Posted by will.15

Looking at the list, I'd say you can't go wrong with the top twenty. After that it gets a bit more iffy. Also most of the top twenty are easy to find, not so some of the others deeper on the list.

Movies at the end of the silent era, and a lot of the ones on the list are from 1927 up, are the least dated looking because they are technically more advanced with more sophisticated acting.

If you like comedy shorts, by Chaplin and others, there are some of those lower on the list. On a list of just comedy shorts they would all be on a top ten. Chaplin's The Immigrant, Buster Keaton's Cops, and Laurel and Hardy's Big Business are all on the list and probably represents each comic or team at their best in shorts.

I just realize the talking movie started in 1927. I notice some silent films on the list of top 10 silent films were made after 1927. Were they really silent films?

I do enjoy watching comedy shorts. Thanks for sharing.

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Timetravelfan

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Cries&Whispers

Go. Watch. Inception.

07-05-10

Every movie in the top 10 is a silent film. I assume you're referring to City Lights and The Passion of Joan of Arc? Both of those are silent. Chaplin was reluctant to make the leap to sound, (because his characters would have less universal appeal if they spoke English) and Dreyer liked working in the silent tradition. Another great movie of his Vampyr was filmed as a silent in 1932 but was reluctantly dubbed with sound.

I skimmed the rest of the list and the ones I see after 1927 are also silent films. Talkies were popularly introduced in 1927, but many filmmakers were hesitant in making the move.

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will.15

Semper Fooey

07-05-10

The Jazz Singer is technically the first talkie, but it really is a silent movie with mostly songs by Al Jolsen. I say mostly because during "Mammy," Jolsen went off script and ad libbed dialogue to the actress playing his mother who he was singing to and the few words he spoke created a sensation. Many of the other studios were reluctant to make the transition to sound thinking the Jazz Singer was a fluke success so it wasn't until 1929 they finally made a full commitment to it. There were still silents made in '29, but by 1930 they were history. City Lights technically isn't a silent film because it was released with a recorded musical score.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

07-05-10

Actually most of the classic silent films from 1927 on were released with sound effects and sometimes music as the movie theatre orchestras began to be phased out.

I like that silent list a lot. I've seen 89 of those and probably have copies of about 40 of them, mostly taped off TCM or AMC back when they were commercial-free. The only ones I haven't seen are:

Faust
Die Nibelungen
Foolish Wives (saw very little)
Beggars for Sale
Destiny
Tess of the Storm Country
Variety
Big Business
The Penalty
Stella Maris (saw too little)
Underworld

I think I can find many of these to rent online, so I'll be checking soon. The list doesn't have The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Entr'acte, The Goat, Beloved Rogue, The Scarlet Letter, Last Command and quite a few others, but I think that's a list worthy of MoFo.

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Last edited by mark f; 07-06-10 at 06:23 PM.

will.15

Semper Fooey

07-05-10

It's possible talkies may not have caught on, at least not in 1927, if it wasn't for Al Jolsen. There had been talking shorts featuring vaudeville acts from Fox prior to the Jazz Singer and they didn't catch on with the public. And the Jazz Singer may not have been the big thing it was if Jolsen didn't ad lib in one scene. The scene at 3:18 changed cinema forever. Notice how the actress playing his mother has a little trouble keeping up with Jolsen. It sounds like some of the lines might be jokes from his vaudeville act.

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Miss Vicky

MoFo's Resident Bitch

07-05-10

Originally Posted by mark f

I'm not sure, but you'll have to give us some reasons why you didn't like it.

The cinematography, acting and all that were great, don't get me wrong. It was the story itself that bugged me. I just didn't buy the forgiveness and rekindling of feelings in such a short time bit. Maybe I'm just not a big enough romantic for that kind of movie.

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rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

07-06-10

Go figure. I missed my chance to watch The General last night. Fireworks went a bit longer than expected.

TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_

Registered User

07-06-10

I love how the tagline for Anna Christie was 'Garbo talks!'

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rufnek

Registered User

07-06-10

It gets me when someone is defending obscene language as "necessary" to modern films, and there's this huge treasury of silent classics out there. A film in which you see but never hear what is going on and must read the dialogue is about as "unrealistic" as you could hope to get, but those films started the movie industry and invented most of aspects of film-making that are still used today without much sound at all, much less "realistic" offensive words. And they are still entertaining in the "modern" world.

will.15

Semper Fooey

07-06-10

Originally Posted by rufnek

There is a lot if swearing in the silent What Price Glory if you can read lips (the card titles cleans the language up).

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

07-06-10

Here is an article about the 1926 movie What Proce Glory with Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen. It was printed in 1927. Although the intertitles never show any profanity, it's pretty easy to tell when the characters use four-letter (and longer) swear words (including the F-word). I wanted to post an example from YouTube, but all they have is a poor clip which runs a minute. This is not the only silent film where you can see actors swearing on screen, but it's the most famous and the one with the most profanity.

Last edited by mark f; 07-06-10 at 09:00 PM.

will.15

Semper Fooey

07-06-10

There is a good print on TCM site. But I guess I'm not good at lip reading because I would think this clip has some silent profanity.

http://fan.tcm.com/_Operation-Shangh...233/66470.html

genesis_pig

Registered Oozer

07-06-10

Just saw A Trip to the Moon, Great Train Robbery & The General...
Especially loved A Trip to the Moon...

Cries&Whispers

Go. Watch. Inception.

07-06-10

I loved A Trip to the Moon and especially love The General, but I'm ashamed to say I've never seen The Great Train Robbery. Where did you find a copy of it?

will.15

Semper Fooey

07-06-10

Originally Posted by Cries&Whispers

I loved A Trip to the Moon and especially love The General, but I'm ashamed to say I've never seen The Great Train Robbery. Where did you find a copy of it?

There are several on youtube without music (hard to enjoy that way) or the print is mediocre. This one might be edited because it's all on one clip, but the print quality is good and has a good score.

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genesis_pig

Registered Oozer

07-06-10

archive.org

they have most of the silent films... otherwise there's always youtube.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

07-06-10

Originally Posted by will.15

There is a good print on TCM site. But I guess I'm not good at lip reading because I would think this clip has some silent profanity.

http://fan.tcm.com/_Operation-Shangh...233/66470.html

After the monkey stabs Flagg, he calls him a "sonovabitch". Quirt says "balls", Flagg calls him a "bastard" and a "horse's ass". Then, when they cut to the scene where they're jaw-to-jaw, I think Quirt calls Flagg a "sh*tface" and Flagg hauls out the F-word. Then after the MPs break up the fight, Flagg says the complete "A-hole", and they both clearly use the F-word, although I suppose it's easier to see it used by Quirt. However, I missed a lot and doubt I'm as good at reading lips as HAL9000.

jet1827

"photographers" Pfft! Dang single framers!

07-06-10

Great thread. Very informative.

mark f

Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

07-06-10

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.

genesis_pig