Your favorite silent movies.

[dhermann1]

I'll second that emotion on "Safety Last", "Metropolis" (I have the new restored version, excellent!), anything by Keaton or Chaplin, or Fairbanks SR. I can't believe nobody has mentioned Rudolph Valentino yet! "Blood and Sand", "The Sheik", wow!
But now I have to find some of the other great films you guys have mentioned!
Did anyone ever see a series that was on in the 60's and 70's called "Silents Please"? They showed silent classics. I think it must have been syndicated. That's where I saw most of my silent classics.
Come to think of it, Hedy Lamarr's famous/infamous film "Ecstasy" was little more than a glorified silent film, even tho it was made in 1933. It had mood music and about 2 minutes of dialogue. Odd but interesting film.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Those sound films from Germany where they barely talk (Ecstacy, Vampyr) -- are they called kammerspielfilm?? A pretty reliable source once told me that this was the correct term for such films, but searching on the net has lead me to this:

"The plots and stories of the Expressionist films often dealt with madness, insanity, betrayal, and other "intellectual" topics (as opposed to standard action-adventure and romantic films); the German name for this type of storytelling was called Kammerspielfilm (chamber film in English)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Expressionism

Anybody else ever hear of this?

 

[Nick D]

My favorite is Lang's "Metropolis". As a science fiction fan, it's easy to see its impact.

I've also got "Birth of a Nation," which is interesting in a historical sense, both in the attitudes of early twentieth century America and early cinema.

There's a long list of movies I'd like to see, but living in a rural area it's hard to find them.

 

[Hondo]

I'll second that emotion on "Safety Last", "Metropolis" (I have the new restored version, excellent!), anything by Keaton or Chaplin, or Fairbanks SR. I can't believe nobody has mentioned Rudolph Valentino yet! "Blood and Sand", "The Sheik", wow!
But now I have to find some of the other great films you guys have mentioned!
Did anyone ever see a series that was on in the 60's and 70's called "Silents Please"? They showed silent classics. I think it must have been syndicated. That's where I saw most of my silent classics.
Come to think of it, Hedy Lamarr's famous/infamous film "Ecstasy" was little more than a glorified silent film, even tho it was made in 1933. It had mood music and about 2 minutes of dialogue. Odd but interesting film.

Your going way back with "Silents Please" I recall seeing this but its been a while, I found this imdb link below, its about all I remember, not much else.

I almost forgot about Hedy Lamarr's "Ecstasy" she didn't even earn anything from this, does any one have the DVD? I plan to order one just to add to my collection, sounds intriguing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053536/

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I almost forgot about Hedy Lamarr's "Ecstasy"; she didn't even earn anything from this, ...

Au contraire: she earned my pubescent gratitude for her nude swim scene.

.

 

[Hondo]

Au contraire: she earned my pubescent gratitude for her nude swimming scene.

.

Your correct there, I think and I'm guessing here cause I haven't seen it but heard from others, that after the nude swim scene she didn't earn anything else, the film made much more than any one imagined, that’s what I was implying. Thanks.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Understood.

.

 

[HadleyH]

Talking about silents, does anybody like Harry Langdon? Has anybody seen his movies? . "The Strong Man" (1927) is said to be one of the best comedies ever made! I' must order this DVD as soon as possible...

 

[artdecodame]

Harry was so cute! He's my favorite, right next to Harold Lloyd.

"The Strong Man" is fabulous. It's probably one of his least bizarre movies, but that doesn't make it any less funny. The Kino DVD featuring that one and two other titles is a worthy addition to your collection!!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Harry was so cute!

But Charley Chase had the trimmest mustache ...

.

 

[Doctor Strange]

There's something about Harry Langdon that really creeps me out - I don't think that his slow-moving-innocent character has aged well.

Having said that, I still think some of his films (like Tramp, Tramp, Tramp and The Strong Man) are classics... but the reason for this isn't so much Langdon himself as it is director Frank Capra!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

There's something about Harry Langdon that really creeps me out ...

Ditto. His persona seems like someone who would have aged into John Wayne Gacy.

.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Langdon did some decent work in supporting roles in the talkie era -- check him out as Al Jolson's sidekick, a communist waste-paper-picker, in "Hallelujah I'm A Bum!" in 1932. He also turns up in some of the Hal Roach "streamliner" short features in the early forties, playing fluttery Franklin Pangborn sorts of characters, and he's actually quite good.

 

[Doctor Strange]

You're right about his being quite good in that darn-interesting film. I was just referring to his silent persona.

 

[dhermann1]

I've only seen little Langdon, and wasn't impressed. I used to see a lot of Charlie Chase sound films and thought he was rather ho hum. But I saw one of his silents and thought he was hilarious.

 

[HadleyH]

Harry was so cute! He's my favorite, right next to Harold Lloyd.

"The Strong Man" is fabulous. It's probably one of his least bizarre movies, but that doesn't make it any less funny. The Kino DVD featuring that one and two other titles is a worthy addition to your collection!!

Now I'll get this title ASAP!!! Thanks for sharing this info artdecodame!

 

[HadleyH]

There's something about Harry Langdon that really creeps me out

Creepy? Harry Langdon? Hmmmmm, I can't see him that way at all,
on the contrary, I've seen shorts of his silent films and have found them hilarious, now I'll be getting his complete work.
I think sir, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[artdecodame]

But Charley Chase had the trimmest mustache ...

.

[Giggle!] I adore Charley, too, even his talkies.

And you're welcome, Hadley!

 

[RyFranzese24]

I love Chaplin and Keaton. My favorite silent film is "The Lost World."

 

[Widebrim]

All of Laurel and Hardy's silent works, and most of Harold Lloyd's and Charley Chase's shorts. As far as features go, The Wedding March w/Erich Von Stroheim and Fay Wray, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and Metropolis.