Silent

  • 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 »

  • Maurice Tourneur – The Wishing Ring: An Idyll of Old England (1914)

    1911-1920Maurice TourneurRomanceSilentThe Birth of CinemaUSA

    AMG wrote:
    According to film historian William K. Everson, to offer a fully detailed synopsis of Maurice Tourneur’s delightful period piece The Wishing Ring “would do a disservice to its charm.” Suffice to say that the film’s wide-eyed heroine Vivian Martin comes into possession of a ring which she believes to have magical powers. Armed with this belief alone, the girl is able to change the course of her entire life.Read More »

  • Chusheng Cai – A Dream in Pink AKA Pink Dream AKA Fenhongse de meng (1932)

    1931-1940ChinaChusheng CaiDramaSilent

    Here is one of Cai Chusheng’s earliest films, set in and around the dancehalls of art deco Shanghai.

    Plot, per wikipedia:
    Pink Dream tells the story of a young novelist who is supported by a loving and hard-working wife. The novelist, however, is drawn to the decadent life of a socialite who introduces him to the dance halls that dot Shanghai. As the film progresses, the novelist soon learns of the emptiness of this urban existence and rejects it as a “pink dream.”Read More »

  • Ernst Lubitsch – Die Puppe AKA The Doll (1919)

    ComedyErnst LubitschGermanySilentWeimar Republic cinema

    Quote:
    The Baron of Chanterelle (Max Kronert) demands that his nephew Lancelot (Hermann Thimig) get married to preserve the family line. A skittish and effeminate fellow, Lancelot does not wish to marry, so when his uncle presents him with 40 enthusiastic brides, he hides out with a group of monks. The gluttonous monks learn about Lancelot’s potential cash reward for his nuptials, so they cook up a plan: he can marry a doll…Read More »

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