Greatest Silent Film of All Time

R

Rextilleon

Active member
I just had the chance to see Carl Theordor Dreyer's Passion of Joan Arc---in my mind, one of the great works of silent cinema. What do you guys like. Keaton's, Sherlock Jr. is another that I think is a masterpiece.
 
Good selections so far -- also check out Sunrise
As for Keaton, I always liked Steamboat Bill Jr. better.
 
Nosferatu is amazing, City Lights by Chaplin, Metropolis and "M" are a few more classics.

Edit: "M" isn't silent after all. I got carried away. My bad.
 
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Metropolis has some cool parts in it. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is only interesting from a historical perspective, in my opinion. They're all a bit dated (no kidding) and dull. Which is why my favorite silent film is a newer one and only six minutes long. It's awesome if you can ever catch it: Guy Maddin's "The Heart of the World" (2000).

Edit: I see "The Heart of the World" is on DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005Y725/002-5210090-0913636?v=glance&n=130
 
Good choices so far. I'd like to add Buster Keaton's The General to the list.
 
Metropolis is also one of my favourites. The Passion of Joan of Arc was innovative for the time, but, sincerely, IMO, was just too long. Joana's face with those alucinating Eyes were bearable for the first 2 hours, after that, I just felt like "Go ahead with the fire already!" :)

I love Melies and Chaplin movies. Magical, human, but still very clever and insightful.
 
In my mind, the silent film is the purist form of cinema. Its telling stories via images---and thus takes full advantage of of what makes film a unique medium. The torture (or none torture scene) in Joan is among the greatest moment in film history.
 
M was deffinitly not a silent film. Remember the whistling? I can't believe nobody's mentioned The Cameraman yet. That's my favorite Buster Keaton movie and even though it has it's lulls (the 6+ minute scene in the changing room), it's still a visualy dynamic movie with a good story.
 
Douglas Fairbanks is amazing in The Thief of Bagdad, and the production design was from the days of massive sets and crowds.

Let's not forget Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera.
 
Please check out "The Battleship Potemkin" (1925, I think) from Sergei Eisenstein. Its a great film. I thought that its culture barrier would bore me. But, just the opposite. I was amazed at how compelling it was. The editing is top notch.

The movie is definitely worth watching.
 
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