By: Chuck Miller
Ten for Thursday, Uncategorized

Ten for Thursday: Ten Great Silent Films

I am a major silent film fan. As far as I’m concerned, film comedy began with the Keystone Cops and Fatty Arbuckle, and evolved with the holy trio of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. But that doesn’t mean that silent films are just a bunch of fractured flicker funnies. Some of the most dramatic and poignant films ever made were done for the silent screen.

So for today, I want to show you ten clips of some of the greatest silent films of all time. Go pop some popcorn and get comfy. Tickets please…

THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN

Along with Alexander Nevsky, The Battleship Potemkin is one of the greatest Russian silent films of all time. The scene posted at right, the massacre at the Odessa Steps, has been copied in countless motion pictures, including the 1990’s version of The Untouchables.
NAPOLEON PAR VU ABEL GANCE

One of the most successful historical dramas of the silent era, French director Abel Gance pioneered several revolutionary film techniques in this picture, including his “Polyvision” technique of three screens of filmed action. This film was restored in the late 1970’s, and Gance lived to hear the cheers of a receptive and appreciative new generation of film buffs.

 http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x79erb?additionalInfos=0
Hommage à Napoléon 1er- Abel Gance – STEFGAMERS
Uploaded by NapoCinePedia. – Check out other Film & TV videos.
METROPOLIS

I am so stoked that this film, originally made in 1927, has been restored to almost the same length and scenery as when the picture was originally released. The restored version will be shown at Proctor’s Theater this year, and will later be released on DVD. An absolutely spectacular and breathtaking cinematic achievement by director Fritz Lang.
CITY LIGHTS

One of the most heartbreaking scenes in all of film, not just in silent film. This is the climactic ending to the film. Chaplin, as the Tramp, has given whatever money he has earned to help cure the blindness of a young flower girl. He is later arrested and sent to jail. Upon his release, he discovers that the flower girl not only can see, but has set up her own flower shop. I’ll let you watch the clip from here. This is my personal favorite silent film of all time.
SAFETY LAST
Harold Lloyd’s most famous film, and the one in which he famously dangled over the edge of a Los Angeles skyscraper – without the use of a stunt double or a safety net. And he did it with a broken hand; he lost two fingers in a freak explosion and spent the rest of his career wearing a glove on his injured hand. It’s still amazing to see him do these stunts – even watching them today.
THE GENERAL

This is Buster Keaton’s most famous and well-loved film. In fact, I’m not going to just give you a clip of this masterpiece. This is the whole freakin’ film, right here, all one hour and eighteen minutes of it!
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

We all know Charlton Heston can part the Red Sea, he did it in the 1956 version of this film. That, however, was Cecil B. DeMille’s second production of this classic tale; he successfully split the Red Sea in this 1923 silent film. Watch the mighty Nile divide!
INTOLERANCE
I could have put The Birth of a Nation in this countdown, but in my opinion, D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance” is the better picture and the more complete film.
NOSFERATU
Forget about Twilight and True Blood… this silent film is one of the greatest vampire pictures of all time. And interestingly enough, it was based on the Bram Stoker novel Dracula – but the studio at the time could not obtain the rights to the name “Dracula,” so we now have Nosferatu, also known as Count Orlok.
NANOOK OF THE NORTH

One of the most famous silent documentaries of its time, the director took the story of an Eskimo and his life and culture, and brought it to theaters worldwide.

So I hope everybody enjoys these silent film clips, and remember – no reading the titles aloud in the theater! 🙂