History of Film, Part 2: 1920-1929

A variation on the yearly threads we did a few years ago, with these monthly threads we will talk about individual eras of film, from the obvious classics to the forgotten masterpieces to those giants that might need to be re-evaluated.

In July we continue with a major turning point. Cinema was really starting to pull away from its roots in the stage, as directors experimented with newer camera techniques and explored a variety of genres. Films like Metropolis predicted the big-budget spectacle, and The Passion of Joan of Arc showed how the sublety of acting for the camera could still be profound. However, the real change came in 1927 when The Jazz Singer came out and introduced the world to synchronized sound. Other than a few holdouts like Charlie Chaplin, sound quickly replaced the orchestras and intertitles of older films, ushering in a new era.

Other major films of the era include the competition between Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, the experimentation of Man With a Movie Camera, the beginnings of film-as-propaganda in Battleship Potemkin, and the recently relevant copyright dodge known as Nosferatu. While the 1910's was still figuring out what a film was, the 1920's was the golden age of the silent film.

What are your thoughts? Favorites? Recommendations? Challenges to the canon?

 

Great era of film. I've only seen a few of the staples but I've been trying to dive in more lately. Love all of Murnau's work I've seen so far, and Dr. Caligari is an all time favorite for me.

Also this is incredible.

 

1. The Cameraman (Buster Keaton, Edward Sedgwick, 1928)
2. Strike (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
3. The Crowd (King Vidor, 1928)
4. Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922)
5. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
6. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
7. The Big Parade (King Vidor, 1925)
8. The General (Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman, 1926)
9. Lonesome (Pál Fejős, 1928)
10. Destiny (Fritz Lang, 1921)
11. The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)
12. The Navigator (Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp, 1924)
13. 3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926)
14. The Scarlet Letter (Victor Sjöström, 1925)
15. Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)
16. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
17. Wings (William A. Wellman, 1927)
18. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton, Charles Reisner, 1928)
19. Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton, John G. Blystone, 1923)
20. The Phantom Carriage (Victor Sjöström, 1921)
21. Orphans of the Storm (D.W. Griffith, 1921)
22. The Kid (Charlie Chaplin, 1921)
23. West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928)
24. One Week (Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline, 1920)
25. The Great White Silence (Herbert G. Ponting, 1922)
26. The Boat (Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline, 1921)
27. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)
28. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F. W. Murnau, 1927)
29. Go West (Buster Keaton, 1925)
30. Faust (F. W. Murnau, 1926)
31. A Cottage on Dartmoor (Anthony Asquith, 1929)
32. Safety Last! (Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, 1923)
33. The Scarecrow (Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline, 1920)
34. Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel, 1929)
35. The Wind (Victor Sjöström, 1928)
36. The Nightingale’s Voice (Władysław Starewicz, 1923)
37. Girl Shy (Sam Taylor, Fred C. Newmeyer, 1924)
38. Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (Fritz Lang, 1924)
39. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge (Fritz Lang, 1924)
40. Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926)
41. Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926)
42. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton, 1925)
43. Grandma’s Boy (Fred C. Newmeyer, 1922)
44. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (John S. Robertson, 1920)
45. Lucky Star (Frank Borzage, 1929)
46. The Circus (Charlie Chaplin, 1928)
47. Mother (Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1926)
48. The Blacksmith (Buster Keaton, Malcolm St. Clair, 1922)
49. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Fred Niblo, 1925)
50. Day Dreams (Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline, 1922)

Clearly Buster Keaton is my favourite filmmaker of the decade, his work was just filled with so much fun and creativity I can't help but love almost everything he made in the silent era.