The MoFo Top 50 Pre-1930 Countdown: The List

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Shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't - all words that may have been associated with the prospect of this countdown at some point or another. Well, they were all wrong and now here we are - it's happening .... or if you're reading this on MovieForums Plus1™ it's already happened and it's anybody's guess as to what all the fuss was about.

All in all no less than thirty ballots were received, including both partial lists of 10 or more films and full lists of 25. Some got so excited they even tried to vote for the same film more than once, argue that The Titfield Thunderbolt really ought to be eligible or sneak in a 26th film on the end of their ballot ... but the adjudication was strict with no favours granted and eventually all complied with the rules. Once all ballots were cast the votes were counted, recounted, recounted once more and finally tallied up by one of our cats just to be sure, so in the unlikely event any errors are found we all know it's the white, fluffy one that's to blame.

The 50 films that accumulated the most points are presented here - ties were broken first by the number of ballots on which those films appeared, then if still a tie by the highest position achieved on any ballot and, if still tied, by the number of those highest positions (and yes, we actually did need to drill down that far).

Apologies if the graphics aren't quite up to the usual standard - I'd never worn a Gimp hat prior to last week (rumours of familiarity with a mask are also unfounded) and it was a steep learning curve.

Anyways, without further ado (it is known as 'The Silent Era' after all)....




THE LIST

This is where the index to all the movies on the countdown will be listed, as they are revealed. Each movie will link to it's post in the countdown.

50. The Skeleton Dance (1929)
49. Blackmail (1929)
48. The Man Who Laughs (1928)
47. Underworld (1927)
46. The Goat (1921)
45. Entr'acte (1924)
44. The Last Command (1928)
43. Way Down East (1920)
42. The Wind (1928)
41. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)


40. The Last Laugh (1924)
39. A Dog's Life (1918)
38. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
37. The Circus (1928)
36. The Great Train Robbery (1903)
35. Nanook of the North (1922)
34. Broken Blossoms (1919)
33. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
32. 7th Heaven (1927)
31. Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)


30. 3 Bad Men (1926)
29. The Crowd (1928)
28. The Unknown (1927)
27. It (1927)
26. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
25. Häxan (1922)
24. The Cameraman (1928)
23. He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
22. Wings (1927)
21. Intolerance - Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)


20. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
19. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
18. The Phantom Carriage (1921)
17. Pandora's Box (1929)
16. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
15. Greed (1924)
14. Faust (1926)
13. Un Chien Andalou (1929)
12. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
11. Safety Last! (1923)



10. The Kid (1921)
9. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
8. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
7. Nosferatu (1922)
6. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
5. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
4. The Gold Rush (1925)
3. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
2. The General (1926)
1. Metropolis (1927)



For anyone unfamiliar with these things - I'll be revealing the fillums (starting with #50 and working down to our #1) at the rate of two per day until we get to the Top 10 where progress will slow to just the one reveal per day until the final day where both the #1 and #2 will be unveiled. The first reveal will take place this coming Sunday.

Remember
Please do NOT reveal your full ballots until the #1 is revealed and the countdown officially over, you may of course reveal if/where on your list you voted for any particular film once its position in the countdown has been revealed.



Looking good Chyp I'm liking what I see and can hardly wait for this to start.

'Gimp hat', did you use GIMP to do the graphics? I've yet to master that program myself, actually baffled by it is more like it. So my Gimp hat is off to you for even using it. The title card you used is the bees knees.



'Gimp hat', did you use GIMP to do the graphics? I've yet to master that program myself, actually baffled by it is more like it. So my Gimp hat is off to you for even using it. The title card you used is the bees knees.
I did, the wife gave me a short crash course and then told me to use Google if I got stuck

Should be presenting the 'Spanish films' (one-pointers) tomorrow.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Well, while our staff was unable to locate the white fluffy cat that may, at some point, miscalculate, we did send one of our representatives over to discuss the situation with your top cat and with the fulfillment of said conversation, we are. . .


pretty gosh darn excited; and our head office had this to say: "HOT DIGGITY DOG!"

Thank you for your endeavors and may your placards shine bright and be true!
__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio



THE One-pointers

There were 13 in total, unfortunately some clown (who shall remain nameless, I know who I am) unknowingly decided to pick one that has no IMDb poster so I've had to scour the galaxy for a screenshot of that one which is why they are not entirely in alphabetical order.

*sigh*


L-R:
A Corner in Wheat (D.W. Griffith, 1909)
Emak-Bakia (Man Ray, 1927)
Habeas Corpus (James Parrott & Leo McCarey, 1928)
Mantrap (Victor Fleming, 1926)


L-R:
Mosquinha (Étienne-Jules Marey, 1890)
Run, Girl, Run (Alfred J. Goulding, 1928)
The Bridge (Charles Vidor, 1929)
The Champion (Charles Chaplin, 1915)


L-R:
The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan, 1929)
Waxworks [Das Wachsfigurenkabinett] (Leo Birinsky & Paul Leni, 1924)
What Price Glory (Raoul Walsh, 1926)
Woman in the Moon [Frau im Mond] (Fritz Lang, 1929)


L-L:
Helen of Four Gates (Cecil M. Hepworth, 1920)



Helen of Four Gates is a straight drama set in the North of England that I initially ran across by accident on YouTube then subsequently found is also available for free viewing on the BFI website. It has some nice cinematographic shots of the Yorkshire countryside and it's tale managed to hold my attention for the duration (1hr18) even if levels of excitement don't quite live up to the brief synopsis ("A madman adopts the daughter of the dead woman who rejected him and forces her to marry a crook."). The intertitles are in the local dialect which I actually found generally easy enough to decipher and quite endearing. Ey oop, gi' it a whirl sum'time - 'appen you might jest like it.



I've not seen any of the 1 pointers and I don't recall even hearing of any of them.
Same here.





Emak-Bakia (1926) by Man Ray



Emak-Bakia was my no. 25 and it works like a cinemapoem and is one of my favorite dadaist pictures. I am a fan of Man Ray and saw his exhibition at Glyptoteket here in Copenhagen. Besides films he did quite a few photographic portraits and was a prolific artist, who worked in different art forms. Emak-Bakia is a very visceral experience and you can watch it below on YouTube:




I bet you guys can guess which one of those one pointers is mine. I would've nominated it for one of the Pre 30s HoFs but couldn't find a copy on the internet anywhere (I own the DVD).



I bet you guys can guess which one of those one pointers is mine. I would've nominated it for one of the Pre 30s HoFs but couldn't find a copy on the internet anywhere (I own the DVD).
Ooh, oooh, ooooh, I think I know