The MoFo Top 50 Pre-1930 Countdown: The List

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Another movie that I never got around to.

Seen: 21/48

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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Geez, I just repped everybody I must be in a good mood

Sunrise didn't make my list, though I'm glad it made the countdown.


Sunrise (F.W. Murnau 1927)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (original title)
Director: F.W. Murnau
Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
Genre: Drama Romance
Silent Film


There's a lot to love and admire in Sunrise, and one thing that I couldn't get passed. I was totally impressed with the visual look of the film....Could this be the first arthouse film? Certainly parts of the film are telling the story with creative visuals that seemed way ahead of their time. The multi layering of scenes with multi film exposure and rear projection, gives this movie a richness and dream like look that matches the fable style story telling, to a tee. It really is art as film. And I love that.

One of the most beautiful techniques in the film is a flowing scene transition, where the man and woman are walking away from us and the background morphs into a different set. Those transition scenes felt magically. I really enjoyed the middle of the film where they go to the big city. The dancing scene was great and the little side touch about the woman who's dress straps keep falling down was clever.

The end scene was heart wrenching and those large waves when the man and woman were in the little boat were very dramatic! The opening scene which plays out like a dark German expressionistic film was tense and powerful! I bet Hitchcock loved this film.

But I can't get passed the fact that the man had planned out a murder of his wife and just about killed her on the boat...then awhile latter they're happy as clams. The emotional impact of what the man was, and what he wanted to do to his wife, made his character evil in my eyes, so that I couldn't fall in love, as the couple fell in love. Visually the film is magic, but in my eyes the man could not be redeemed so that I couldn't buy into anything else that happened.



I very impressed with how they aligned this double exposure and the scene went on for awhile and was very effective.




I just loved shots like this which are rear projection with rear shot being a composite.

I would give this a solid 5/5 for cinematography. Indeed this won the Academy Award for Best Picture in the category of Artistic Quality of Production.





Women will be your undoing, Pépé
Another great film I did not get to.


Two more that didn't make the Countdown:

Charlie Chaplin - The Immigrant (1917) at #11

My third Chaplin film that makes me laugh and smile. I had a feeling it wouldn't make it, but I wasn't about to deny it's placement.
It's only 24 min for any who care to enjoy



Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (1920) at #21

Now, this was a complete surprise to me that John Barrymore's portrayal of the Bi-polar doctor dealing with social etiquette did not have a place in this.






MY LIST: Seen 22 out of 48 (45.83%)
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) Charlie Chaplin - The Immigrant (No Show)
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) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (No Show)
22) Underworld (#47)
24) The Adventures of Prince Achmed (#26)
25) The Iron Mask (One Pointer)
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Just watched a WatchMojo video (I know, shame on me) of the top 10 1920s movies, and interesting to see all but one of their top ten is our very same top ten. The exception is Sherlock, Jr. which was replaced with The Jazz Singer (which didn't even crack our top 50!) in their list.

Guess we have similar taste as Watch Mojo!




~1~







The General was my #9 and is a thoroughly enjoyable affair whilst the fabulous Metropolis was my #4.

Seen: 50/50
My list:
1. La passion de Jeanne d'Arc [The Passion Of Joan Of Arc] (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928) [#6]
2. Asphalt (Joe May, 1929)
3. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) [#15]
4. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) [#1]
5. Napoléon vu par Abel Gance [Napoleon] (Abel Gance, 1927)
6. The Kid Brother (Ted Wilde, 1927)
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]
9. The General (Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton, 1926) [#2]
10. Chelovek s kino-apparatum [Man With A Movie Camera] (Dziga Vertov, 1929) [#12]
11. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin, 1925) [#4]
12. Heimkehr [Homecoming] (Joe May, 1928)
13. Stachka [strike] (Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925)
14. Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927) [#3]
15. Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage [Faust] (F.W. Murnau, 1926) [#14]
16. Geschlecht in Fesseln [Sex In Chains] (William Dieterle, 1928)
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]
21. Flesh And The Devil (Clarence Brown, 1926)
22. Varieté [Variety] (Ewald André Dupont, 1925)
23. Show People (King Vidor, 1928)
24. The King Of Kings (Cecil B. DeMille, 1927)
25. Helen Of Four Gates (Cecil M. Hepworth, 1920) [1-ptr]



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All good people are asleep and dreaming.
My list

1. Metropolis (1927)
2. Nosferatu (1922)
3. The Unknown (1927)
4. Faust (1926)
5. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
6. Sherlock Jr (1924)
7. The Man Who Laughs (1928)
8. He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
9. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
10. The Gold Rush (1925)
11. Un Chien Andalou (1929)
12. Pandora's Box (1929)
13. The Cameraman (1928)
14. Safety Last! (1923)
15. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
16. The General (1926)
17. The Wind (1928)
18. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
19. Greed (1924)
20. The Navigator (1924)
21. Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
22. The Last Command (1928)
23. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
24. Body and Soul (1925)
25. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Great job, Chyp!
The General is my #21 and Metropolis is my #3


I finally got around to watching this again, this time with Sarah. I'm glad I did. If you have the time and just let it wash over you (preferably the restored version with clean, clear subritles), it moves along very quickly. On the other hand, it does seem to cram in a whole lotta plot into one film, but somehow it mostly resolves itself at the end.

First off, the main reasons for watching Metropolis are the super sets, special effects and all the elements of the production design. Sometimes the camerawork appears hand-held, especially in closeups of some of the "action scenes". Then again, much as his fellow countryman F.W. Murnau did in his American film Sunrise (also 1927), Lang uses all kinds of photo and editing trickery to incorporate paranoia and disorientation; one of my fave of these is the shot of all the eyes superimposed together when the rich young men of the upper world are seduced by the "robotic" Maria and begin to fight and kill each other over her and her charms. That eye shot certainly reminded me of some of Dali's later work in films. There are so many spectacular shots, sets and effects that one could write a book detailing the creation and subliminal effect of each one, but this is not the place for that, although it would be interesting to hear some of other viewer's favorite visual flourishes..

Seen 50/50
My List
1. Entr'acte
2. The Goat
3. Metropolis
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)
21. The General
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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Metropolis is a worthy winner and an iconic movie. It was my no. 4. The General was my no 12.

Great job Chypmunk

Seen 38/50

My list:
1. The Man With a Movie Camera (Chelovek s kino-apparatom) (1929) by Dziga Vertov
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (La passion de Jeanne d'Arc) (1928) by Carl Theodor Dreyer
3. The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann) (1924) by F. W. Murnau
4. Metropolis (1927) by Fritz Lang
5. An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) (1929) by Luis Buñuel
6. Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Häxan) (1922) by Benjamin Christensen
7. The Last Command (1928) by Josef von Sternberg
8. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) (1920) by Robert Wiene
9. Battleship Potemkin (Bronenosets Potyomkin) (1925) by Sergei M. Eisenstein
10. Greed (1924) by Erich von Stroheim
11. The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen) (1921)
12. The General (1926) by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman
13. Sunrise (1927) by F.W. Murnau
14. Fragment of an Empire (Oblomok imperii) (1929) by Fridrikh Ermler
15. A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) (1902) by Georges Méliès
16. Nosferatu (1922) by F.W. Murnau
17. Nanook of the North (1922) by Robert J. Flaherty
18. Entr'acte (1924) by René Clair
19. The Gold Rush (1925) by Charles Chaplin
20. Lonesome (1928) by Pál Fejös
21. The Insects' Christmas (Rozhdestvo obitateley lesa) (1913) by Wladyslaw Starewicz
22. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt) (1927) by Walter Ruttmann
23. Les Vampires (1915) by Louis Feuillade
24. The Fall of the House of Usher (La Chute de la maison Usher) (1928) by Jean Epstein
25. Emak-Bakia (1926) by Man Ray



1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) [#6]
2. man with a movie camera [#12]
3. The General (1926) [#2]
4. Battleship Potemkin [#9]
5. Adventures of Prince Achmed [#26]
6. un chien andalou (1929) [#13]
7. Safety last (1923) [#11]
8 .One Week (1920)
9. Metropolis (1927) [#1]
10. Sallie Gardner at a Gallop (1878)
11. Monkeyshines No.1 (1890)
12. The Kiss (1896)
13. The Big Swallow (A Photographic Contortion) (1901)
14. The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903)
15. The Great Train Robbery (1903) [#36]
16. A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune) (1902) [#16]
17. Arrival of a Train (L'arrive d'un train à La Ciotat) (1896)
18. Caicedo (with pole) (1894)
19. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) (1920) [#5]
20. Barque sortant du port (1895)
21. Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
22. Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)
23. Passage de Venus (1874)

One Week is probably the funniest of all the Buster Keaton films I’ve seen thus far.


Was expecting Sallie Gardner and Roundahay Garden Scene to at least get a mention, they are considered the first films after all.



According to LetterBoxd though, the first film is Passage to Venus!


I really like Monkeyshines No.1 as the degradation of the footage makes it look like a very disturbing Ring/UFO-esque footage beyond human comprehension.


The Kiss (1896) is just really cute as the subtle expressions on the couple’s face shows that they truly love each other.


The Big Swallow is a neat concept and very funny, also the last frame of the film would be a perfect album cover.


The Gay Shoe Clerk is unfortunately not about homosexuality, still funny though.


Very surprised Arrival of a Train didn’t make it, so iconic even if the legend about it is mostly likely horsecrap.


Caicedo (with pole) is just a showcase of an incredible stunt.


I like Barque sortant du port due to the framing. Also the boat on the waves sea of just very nice to look at.


Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze is here just by process of elimination. It’s more entertaining than those old clips of cities.


Great countdown Chypmunk! Guess that's it for the decade lists.



The General was my #13 but I did not vote for Metropolis. It's a great film but it did not stay with me and I'm not interested in seeing it again. Ended up seeing 44/50 including the last 40 to show up.

1. Sunrise (#3)
2. Greed (#15)
3. Diary of a Lost Girl (#31)
4. The Birth of a Nation (#38)
5. The Crowd (#29)
6. Intolerance (#21)
7. The Unknown (#28)
8. He Who Gets Slapped (#23)
9. The Iron Horse

10. Way Down East (#43)
11. Wings (#22)
12. Pandora's Box (#18)
13. The General (#2)
14. The Unholy Three

15. It (#27)
16. The Cameraman (#24)
17. Broken Blossoms (#34)
18. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (#5)
19. The Big Parade

20. Faust (#14)
21. The Phantom Carriage (#17)
22. 7th Heaven (#32)
23. Hell's Hinges

24. The Lost World

25. 3 Bad Men (#30)

Great job Chyp, and as you said it needed to be done. It turned out really well so thank you



Loved both of these, had The General at #9 and Metropolis at #2.

Interesting that not a single person voted The General #1.
Seen: 23/50

My List:
1. Battleship Potemkin (#9)
2. Metropolis (#1)
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)
9. The General (#2)
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)

GREAT Countdown, @Chypmunk, you did a fantastic job hosting.



Glad a number of you enjoyed it and very glad that as a forum we managed to make it happen

I aim to list the films that made the qualifying criteria (2 lists, 25 pts) but not the countdown tomorrow morning and those that didn't make eligibility for the countdown but received nominations hopefully either in the afternoon or perhaps Tuesday.



I wish I could've gotten to The General but I didn't. I'm sure with Buster Keaton in it, it must be a great film! I've seen Metropolis, first time was the unrestored and missing footage version...and then the fully restored version last time. Very impressive film!

My list:
1 Way Down East (1920)
2 Wings (1927)
3 The Crowd (1928)
4 The Broadway Melody (1929)
5 It (1927)
6 Show People (1927)
7 7th Heaven (1927)
8 The Wind (1928)
9 Broken Blossoms (1919)
10 The Jazz Singer (1927)
11 The Big Parade (1925)
12 The Kid (1921)
13 Lucky Star (1929)
14 The Lost World (1925)
15 He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
16 The Gold Rush (1925)
17 A Trip to the Moon (1902)
18 The Doll (1919)
19 Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
20 Pandora's Box (1929)
21 The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
22 Metropolis (1927)
23 Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
24 Sherlock Jr (1924)
25 Mantrap (1926)