Silent

  • Clarence Brown – The Eagle (1925)

    1921-1930Clarence BrownRomanceSilentUSA

    Plot Synopsis from allmovie:
    Based on a Pushkin novel, The Eagle stars Rudolph Valentino as a Russian cossack who is the special favorite of the formidable Catherine the Great (Louise Dresser). He spurns her attentions, preferring not to be a kept consort. When his lands are stolen from him, Valentino transforms into a Robin-Hood-like masked avenger. Vilma Banky plays the daughter of the man who killed Valentino’s own father. Despite his thirst for revenge, our hero falls in love with Vilma, who goes the “Lois Lane” route of adoring the masked-avenger Valentino but disdaining the unmasked Rudy, little guessing that the two are one in the same. Watch quickly for Gary Cooper as one of Valentino’s masked minionsRead More »

  • Clarence G. Badger – It (1927)

    1921-1930Clarence G. BadgerDramaSilentUSA

    This is the movie that gave Clara Bow, the film world’s first sex symbol, her lasting nickname. She will allways be “The It Girl”. “IT” is roughly sex appeal, or in the words of novellist Elinor Glyn: “‘IT’ is that quality possessed by some which draws all others with its magnetic force. With ‘IT’ you will win all men if you are a woman—and all women if you are a man. ‘IT’ can be a quality of the mind as well as a physical attraction.”Read More »

  • Frank Hurley – South AKA Shackleton’s Expedition to the Antarctic (1919)

    1911-1920AustraliaDocumentaryFrank HurleySilent

    Quote:
    The story of the 1914-1916 Antarctic exploration mission of Sir Ernest Shackleton. The ship sails south, breaking the ice, and ultimately getting trapped by the fast-changing weather. The ship breaks up in the ice, and while 22 men and 70 dogs wait on Elephant Island, Shackleton and a crew of five take a 20-foot lifeboat 800 miles to South Georgia Island to mount a rescue mission. We also get a good look at the exotic animals of the region, particularly the penguins.Read More »

  • Jean Epstein – La belle Nivernaise AKA The Beauty from Nivernais (1923)

    1921-1930FranceJean EpsteinSilent

    Quote:
    Bargeman Louveau finds an abandoned boy, Victor, and with the authorities permission takes him back to his own family where he raises him. 10 years later Victor and Louveau’s daughter Clara have fallen in love, and it is then that Louveau is called to Paris, where it has been discovered that Victor is really the son of Maugendré, a charcoal shipper on the Nivernaise canal.Read More »

  • Fred Niblo & Dorothy Arzner – Blood and Sand [extended version] (1922)

    1921-1930Dorothy ArznerDramaFred NibloSilentUSA

    Synopsis:
    Juan is the son of a poor widow in Seville. Against his mother’s wishes he pursues a career as toreador. He rapidly gains national prominence, and takes his childhood sweetheart Carmen as his bride. He meets the Marquis’ daughter Dona Sol, and finds himself in the awkward position of being in love with two women, which threatens the stability of his family and his position in society. He finds interesting parallels in the life of the infamous bandit Plumitas when they eventually meet by chance.Read More »

  • Tod Browning – The Unknown (1927)

    1921-1930HorrorSilentTod BrowningUSA

    Quote:
    A criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster at any cost.Read More »

  • Robert Siodmak & Edgar G. Ulmer & Billy Wilder – Menschen am Sonntag (1930)

    1921-1930ArthouseBilly WilderEdgar G. UlmerGermanyRobert SiodmakSilentWeimar Republic cinema

    Criterion wrote:
    Years before they became major players in Hollywood, a group of young German filmmakers—including eventual noir masters Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer and future Oscar winners Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann—worked together on the once-in-a-lifetime collaboration People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag). This effervescent, sunlit silent, about a handful of city dwellers (a charming cast of nonprofessionals) enjoying a weekend outing, offers a rare glimpse of Weimar-era Berlin. A unique hybrid of documentary and fictional storytelling, People on Sunday was both an experiment and a mainstream hit that would influence generations of film artists around the world.Read More »

  • Lois Weber – Shoes (1916)

    Drama1911-1920Lois WeberSilentUSA

    Quote:
    Eva Meyer is poor shop girl working at a five-and-dime. She is the sole wage earner for three younger sisters, a mother who struggles to hold everything together, and a father who prefers beer and penny dreadfuls to work. Each week, Eva returns to her cold-water flat and dutifully hands over her meager earnings to her mother. But her wages barely cover the grocer’s bill and cannot provide for decent clothing. With only cardboard to patch the holes in the soles of her shoes, Eva’s life becomes harder with each rainy day and every splinter. In constant pain and with no solution in sight, the disheartened girl considers the uninvited advances of Charlie, a cad with clearly dishonorable intentions.
    So begins Lois Weber’s SHOES, perhaps her finest masterpiece and one of the great feminist films in the history of cinema.Read More »

  • Rachel Amodeo – Pierre Paulo AKA Pierre Paolo (1998)

    1991-2000Rachel AmodeoShort FilmSilentUSA

    Quote:
    Concieved and shot by Rachel Amodeo in her hometown of Terravecchia (Italy), Pierre Paolo (1998) is an introspective biographical portrait, reminiscent of italian silent cinema.Read More »

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