Silence is Golden
by agonism | created - 24 Nov 2016 | updated - 23 Aug 2017 | PublicA list of viewed silent films- in no particular order. They provide relief and enjoyment in a wholly peculiar way, different from 'talkies', and were an acquired taste, for me. I'd started with German expressionist horror, most importantly, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, then discovered Buster Keaton with whom I fell in love, and since then, I'm always happy to see a silent movie that I haven't seen before. If a movie is in mint condition, that makes a viewing all the more spellbinding: and it has precious little to do with being used to HD.
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1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Not Rated | 67 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
Director: Robert Wiene | Stars: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover
Votes: 70,101
2. People on Sunday (1930)
Not Rated | 73 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two men and two women enjoy a pleasant Sunday at the beach amid the unending toil of the working week.
Directors: Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Rochus Gliese, Curt Siodmak, Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Erwin Splettstößer, Brigitte Borchert, Wolfgang von Waltershausen, Christl Ehlers
Votes: 3,549
3. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Not Rated | 122 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke, Thomy Bourdelle, Gustav Diessl
Votes: 13,602
4. Nosferatu (1922)
Not Rated | 94 min | Fantasy, Horror
Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Votes: 105,518
5. Secrets of a Soul (1926)
Not Rated | 97 min | Drama
A scientist is tormented by an irrational fear of knives and the irresistible compulsion to murder his wife.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Werner Krauss, Ruth Weyher, Ilka Grüning, Jack Trevor
Votes: 807
6. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 185,637 | Gross: $1.24M
7. The Hands of Orlac (1924)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer.
Director: Robert Wiene | Stars: Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina, Fritz Strassny, Paul Askonas
Votes: 3,386
8. The Golem (1920)
Unrated | 91 min | Fantasy, Horror
In 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem - a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
Directors: Paul Wegener, Carl Boese | Stars: Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück, Ernst Deutsch, Lyda Salmonova
Votes: 8,543
9. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: June Tripp, Ivor Novello, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney
Votes: 13,401
10. The Jazz Singer (1927)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Music, Musical
The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.
Director: Alan Crosland | Stars: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland, Eugenie Besserer
Votes: 11,080 | Gross: $7.63M
11. The 'High Sign' (1921)
Not Rated | 20 min | Short, Action, Comedy
A drifter at an amusement park finds himself both the bodyguard and hit man of a man targeted by a criminal gang.
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Bartine Burkett, Charles Dorety, Ingram B. Pickett
Votes: 3,569
12. Seven Chances (1925)
Passed | 56 min | Comedy, Romance
A man learns that he will inherit a fortune if he marries by 7PM that evening.
Director: Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Ruth Dwyer, T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards
Votes: 11,740 | Gross: $1.30M
13. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Passed | 45 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
Director: Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly
Votes: 57,086 | Gross: $0.98M
14. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Not Rated | 70 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
The effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.
Directors: Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Tom McGuire, Ernest Torrence, Tom Lewis
Votes: 16,196
15. The Cameraman (1928)
Passed | 76 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Hopelessly in love with a woman working at MGM Studios, a clumsy man attempts to become a motion-picture cameraman to be close to the object of his desire.
Directors: Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Marceline Day, Harold Goodwin, Sidney Bracey
Votes: 13,192
16. Freaks (1932)
Not Rated | 64 min | Drama, Horror
A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
Director: Tod Browning | Stars: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates
Votes: 50,637 | Gross: $0.63M
17. Asphalt (1929)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Joe May's sensual drama of life in the Berlin underworld is in many ways the perfect summation of German filmmaking in the silent era: a dazzling visual style, a psychological approach to ... See full summary »
Director: Joe May | Stars: Albert Steinrück, Else Heller, Gustav Fröhlich, Betty Amann
Votes: 1,688
18. One Week (1920)
TV-G | 25 min | Short, Comedy
A newly wedded couple attempts to build a house with a prefabricated kit, unaware that a rival sabotaged the kit's component numbering.
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Sybil Seely, Joe Roberts
Votes: 9,241
19. The Wind (1928)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A frail young woman from the East moves in with her cousin in the West, where she causes tension within the family and is slowly driven mad.
Director: Victor Sjöström | Stars: Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming
Votes: 7,162
20. The Haunted House (1921)
Unrated | 21 min | Short, Comedy, Horror
A bank clerk ends up in a seemingly haunted house that is actually a thieves' hideout.
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Roberts, Edward F. Cline
Votes: 3,653
21. The Scarecrow (1920)
Not Rated | 19 min | Comedy, Short, Family
Two inventive farmhands compete for the hand of the same girl.
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline, Luke the Dog, Joe Keaton
Votes: 4,748
22. Convict 13 (1920)
Not Rated | 19 min | Short, Comedy, Crime
A young golfer is mugged by an escaped convict and finds himself in a prison where he foils a jailbreak.
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Sybil Seely, Joe Roberts, Edward F. Cline
Votes: 3,557
23. Neighbors (1920)
18 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
A young couple who live next to each other in tenement apartments do everything they can to be together despite of their feuding families.
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline, Jack Duffy, The Flying Escalantes
Votes: 4,687
24. Go West (1925)
Not Rated | 69 min | Comedy, Western
With little luck at keeping a job in the city a New Yorker tries work in the country and eventually finds his way leading a herd of cattle to the West Coast.
Director: Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Howard Truesdale, Kathleen Myers, Ray Thompson
Votes: 4,997
25. Der blaue Engel (1930)
Passed | 104 min | Drama, Music, Romance
An elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Rosa Valetti
Votes: 16,303 | Gross: $0.08M
26. The Navigator (1924)
Unrated | 59 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
Two spoiled rich people find themselves trapped on an empty passenger ship.
Directors: Donald Crisp, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Frederick Vroom, Clarence Burton
Votes: 11,069 | Gross: $1.48M
27. College (1927)
Not Rated | 66 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Ronald's high-school valedictory address praises books and condemns sports. His girlfriend Mary condemns his attitude. Fearing to lose her to rival Jeff, he decides to go to college and pay more attentions to sports.
Directors: James W. Horne, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Anne Cornwall, Flora Bramley, Harold Goodwin
Votes: 5,478
28. The Last Laugh (1924)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
An aging doorman is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbors and society after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Max Hiller, Emilie Kurz
Votes: 15,215 | Gross: $0.09M
29. Sunrise (1927)
Passed | 94 min | Drama, Romance
A sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston, Bodil Rosing
Votes: 53,870 | Gross: $0.54M
30. The General (1926)
Passed | 78 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley
Votes: 98,214 | Gross: $1.03M
31. The Docks of New York (1928)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova, Clyde Cook
Votes: 5,034
32. The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.
Director: Paul Leni | Stars: Mary Philbin, Conrad Veidt, Julius Molnar, Olga Baclanova
Votes: 8,079
33. Safety Last! (1923)
Not Rated | 74 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor | Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young
Votes: 22,930 | Gross: $1.36M
34. City Lights (1931)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers
Votes: 196,169 | Gross: $0.02M
35. My Wife's Relations (1922)
25 min | Short, Comedy
By accident, Buster and an intimidating woman end up married.
Directors: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Wallace Beery, Monte Collins, Wheezer Dell
Votes: 2,427
36. Seven Chances (1925)
Passed | 56 min | Comedy, Romance
A man learns that he will inherit a fortune if he marries by 7PM that evening.
Director: Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Ruth Dwyer, T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards
Votes: 11,740 | Gross: $1.30M
37. The Bat (1926)
86 min | Mystery, Thriller
A masked criminal who dresses like a giant bat terrorizes the guests at an old house rented by a mystery writer.
Director: Roland West | Stars: George Beranger, Charles Herzinger, Emily Fitzroy, Louise Fazenda
Votes: 885
38. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
TV-G | 13 min | Short, Action, Adventure
A group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
Director: Georges Méliès | Stars: Georges Méliès, Victor André, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet
Votes: 55,835
39. Foolish Wives (1922)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Thriller
A con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.
Director: Erich von Stroheim | Stars: Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont, Maude George, Mae Busch
Votes: 4,023 | Gross: $0.40M
40. Leaving the Factory (1895)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Workers leaving the Lumière factory for lunch in Lyon, France in 1895; a place of great photographic innovation and one of the birth places of cinema.
Director: Louis Lumière
Votes: 7,557
41. The Arrival of a Train (1896)
Not Rated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
A train arrives at La Ciotat station.
Directors: Auguste Lumière, Louis Lumière | Stars: Madeleine Koehler, Marcel Koehler, Mrs. Auguste Lumiere, Jeanne-Joséphine Lumière
Votes: 12,878
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