Harold Lloyd’s first feature film. Silent comedy.
An idle, wealthy playboy foolishly joins the Navy when the father of the girl he wants to marry tells him to get a job to prove himself worthy.Read More »
1920s
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Fred C. Newmeyer – A Sailor-Made Man (1921)
1921-1930ComedyFred C. NewmeyerSilentUSA -
Hal Roach – I Do (1921)
1921-1930ComedyHal RoachSilentUSAA Harold Lloyd two-reeler that was planned as a three-reeler; after an unsuccessful preview, the first reel was axed.Read More »
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? – Messe noire aka Black Mass (1928)
?1921-1930EroticaSilentPLOT SUMMARY
Vintage porn from the silent era in which the initiation of a neophyte into a satanic cult turns into an orgy.Read More » -
Jean Epstein – La chute de la maison Usher AKA The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
1921-1930ArthouseFranceJean EpsteinSilentQuote:
A leading member of the French cinema’s avant-garde movement and the director of the Impressionist classic Coeur fidèle (1923), Jean Epstein broke with his more modernist colleagues in the late 1920s to make documentaries and fiction films grounded in the realities of everyday life. Before that evolution, however, Epstein filmed this adaptation of two Edgar Allan Poe stories: “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839) and “The Oval Portrait” (1850). The film’s significance lies not so much in its fidelity to Poe’s stories as in its atmospheric evocation of the author’s gothic sensibility. Read More » -
Dorothy Arzner – The Wild Party (1929)
USA1921-1930ClassicsComedyDorothy ArznerQueer Cinema(s)Dorothy Arzner’s “The Wild Party” was a Clara Bow star vehicle and Paramount’s very first talking movie. Set in an all-girls’ school, the film has a routine, all-too familiar scenario, but it was fun to watch because of its leading lady.Read More »
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Alfred Hitchcock – The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
1921-1930Alfred HitchcockCrimeSilentUnited KingdomA serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger.Read More »
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Gustaf Molander – Mälarpirater AKA Pirates of Lake Malaren (1923)
1921-1930AdventureGustaf MolanderSilentSwedenQuote:
Three boys escape their strict stepparents, steal a sailboat and have adventures on Lake Mälaren northeast of Stockholm. This successful version of Sigfrid Siwertz’s popular young peoples’ novel, which was also adapted for the screen several times in the sound film era, is a pleasant summer film with convincing actors that feels fresh even today. The film copy, restored by the Swedish Film Institute, initially shows slight nitrate deterioration but otherwise features beautiful picture quality and original intertitles.Read More » -
Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack – Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life (1925)
1921-1930DocumentaryEpicErnest B. SchoedsackMerian C. CooperUSAQuote:
A classic adventure by the makers of “King Kong.” In 1924, neophyte filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack hooked up with journalist and sometime spy Marguerite Harrison and set off to film an adventure. They found excitement, danger and unparalleled drama in the migration of the Bakhtiari tribe of Persia (now Iran). Twice a year, more than 50,000 people and half a million animals surmounted seemingly impossible obstacles to take their herds to pasture.Read More » -
Arthur Robison – Die Todesschleife AKA Looping the Loop (1928)
1921-1930Arthur RobisonDramaGermanySilentWeimar Republic cinemaQuote:
Circus and variety films were a popular genre in the silent film era. This was Robert Reinert’s last film collaboration; he died before the production was finished. It tells the story of a clown who hides his identity while courting a young female artist. The atmospheric sets by Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig, the masterful direction by Arthur Robison, and especially the dramatic performance by Werner Krauss raise the film considerably over other works in the genre. The elaborate digital restoration by the Munich Film Museum displays the film’s visual beauty.Read More »