Silent Films
"Our invention can be exploited for a certain time as a scientific curiosity, but apart from that, it has no commercial future whatsoever."
- Auguste Lumiere, early film maker who, with his brother Louis, organized the first public performance of motion pictures in December 1895.
A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as the motion picture itself, but before the late 1920s, most films were silent.
The years before sound came to the movies are known as the "silent era" among film scholars and historians. The art of motion pictures grew into full maturity before silent films were replaced by "talking pictures" or "talkies", and a number of film buffs believe the quality of the cinema actually decreased for a few years, before the new medium of sound was adapted to the movies.
The glorious early days of cinema are represented here in this collection with many titles still acknowledged as classics of the cinema to this day.
"Slapstick Comedy" found as a subhead of "Comedy" may also be worth a browse...
Right: Scene from Fritz Lang's 1927 "Metropolis"
Michael (1924)
7.1/10
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Starring: Walter Slezak, Nora Gregor
Mikaël is an artist who rises as his teacher, the aging Zoret, falls. Zoret gives Mikaël his start, and their relationship is sexual as well. Then Mik... Read more
The Big Parade (Blu-ray) (1925)
7.9/10
Director: King Vidor
Starring: John Gilbert
The Big Parade is a 1925 American silent war drama film[2][3] directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Tom O'Brie... Read more
Go West (1925)
7.2/10
Director: Buster Keaton
Starring: Buster Keaton
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... Read more
Charlie Chaplin: Volume 5 to 8 (1918)
6.1/10
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin
Hi & welcome to the ultimate Charlie Chaplin collection. The complete collection volumes 1 - 20 containing 66 Chaplin Movies including the full length... Read more
Charlie Chaplin: Volume 17 to 20 (1918)
6.1/10
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin
Hi & welcome to the ultimate Charlie Chaplin collection. The complete collection volumes 1 - 20 containing 66 Chaplin Movies including the full length... Read more
RW Paul: The Collected Films 1895-1908 (1895)
Director: R W Paul
Robert W Paul is justly celebrated as the leading pioneer of British film and one of the founders of world cinema. Concentrating first on actuality fi... Read more
Charlie Chaplin: Volume 9 to 12 (1918)
6.1/10
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin
Hi & welcome to the ultimate Charlie Chaplin collection. The complete collection volumes 1 - 20 containing 66 Chaplin Movies including the full length... Read more
Wings (Copy) (1927)
7.5/10
Director: William A Wellman
Starring: Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Richard Arlen
The complete, uncut, WWI action drama that won the first Best Picture Academy Award. Richard Arlen and Buddy Rogers are friends who enlist in the Army... Read more