Silent Films   Tags: actors, directors, silent films, silent movies, silent stars  

OK, here's a toughie:  who was the best comedian of the silent-film era?

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Growing up in England in the 1950's, Brownlow spent much of his time in movie theaters.  As an adolescent, he attended a showing of an incomplete version of the silent film Napoleon, and from then on he was determined to join in the effort to save silent movies for future generations. 

To Charlie Chaplin, an Englishman who started out as kid in vaudeville, came to America and became a leading light in the history of film.  A true auteur, he wrote, directed, cast and starred in dozens of great films--even wrote music scores for them.  According to the American Film Institute, Chaplin was the 10th "greatest male screen legend of all time" (ahead of all other silent stars, unless you count Garbo) and his "City Lights," "Modern Times" and "The Gold Rush" made the AFI's list of 100 greatest films.  Even if you've never seen a Chaplin film, you know his character the Little Tramp:  a poor but good natured fellow in a bowler, tight dress jacket, baggy pants and floppy shoes who carries with a gentleman's walking stick.  His distinctive mustache and waddle are imitated to this day.  His films are touched with sadness, longing and social commentary.

Limelight

ISBN: 0790771667

OK, it's not a silent film, but it's one of Chaplin's most moving stories and it features an unforgettable scene with Chaplin's old rival Buster Keaton. It's the story of an aging comedian who's lost his chops and sinks into despair--until he learns how to give. On DVD.

Charlie Chaplin: A Life - Stephen Weissman

ISBN: 1559708921

Learn about the funnyman's troubled childhood and scandalous adulthood.

Chaplin - Richard Attenborough

ISBN: 0784011680

On DVD. A drama based on Chaplin's life. Robert Downey Jr. won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Chaplin.

 

"We didn't need dialog.  We had faces!" --Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard

Faces to tell their stories--and for Buster Keaton, not even a smile (the Great Stone Face smiled only once in his movie career)--and yet, silent films captivated audiences of the late 19th/early 20th century and, for modern film fans, are still bewitching.  There's something special about watching a silent film--which, by the way, is a misnomer, because silent films had music scores performed live by a pianist or organist or a whole orchestra, and some films even had sound effects.  At first it feels strange, perhaps quaint, but then, if you're watching a high-quality reproduction, shown at the correct film speed (not sped up like the Keystone cops movies you may have seen on late-night TV), you'll find you quickly fall into the movie, forgetting it's silent, forgetting it was filmed a century ago.  And if the story is compelling, if the acting is subtle and the cinematography crisp and the direction unobtrusive, you'll find at the end that what you've seen isn't just a great silent film; it's a great film, period.

In a silent film, "no one can hear you scream."   Without the sound effects, the visuals become even more important--and even scarier. 

The greats of silent comedy--Arbuckle, Chaplin, Lloyd and Keaton--are timeless, still influencing modern comedians and still making audiences laugh.

The Gold Rush - starring Charlie Chaplin

ISBN: 0790771608

The beloved Little Tramp seeks his fortune and his lady love in Alaska--and tries to survive the terrible winter. Available in DVD.

The Harold Lloyd Collection - starring Harold Lloyd

You may know him as the bespectacled guy hanging off a large clock on the outside of a skyscraper, an image from "Safety Last." That film's not included in this collection, but eight others are. In them, Lloyd plays a bumbling, ambitious young man who finds himself in predicaments requiring incredible feats of strength and agility. Available in DVD.

The General - starring Buster Keaton

A Southern railroad engineer defends the two loves of his life from Union raiders: his girl and his train. Available as DVD.

The Cook and Other Treasures - Roscoe Arbuckle

Three Arbuckle shorts: "The Cook," with Keaton; "A Reckless Romeo," with Corinne Parquet; "Number Please," with Lloyd.

Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin

DVD. The little tramp learns the pros and cons associated with technology when he goes to work in a factory.

 

Passion, tenderness, heartbreak--we never tire of them.

City Lights - starring Charlie Chaplin

ISBN: 0790771659

A tramp falls in love with a blind flower seller. The ending will break your heart--then heal it. Available in DVD.

A Throw of Dice - F. Osten

On DVD. In India, a gambling-addicted king risks his kingdom and his lady on the roll of the dice.

True Heart Susie - directed by D. W. Griffith

A country girl and a country boy fall in love--until a city woman intervenes. In DVD.

 

The inventors of screen acting--Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford--portray strong young women who overcome adversity.

Intolerance - directed by D. W. Griffith

Four interwoven tales of prejudice, set in different times and places, including the cruxifiction of Jesus. Available in DVD.

Monte Cristo - starring John Gilbert

Based on the Dumas novel. After spending years imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, a man hunts for fortune--and revenge. On DVD.

The Dragon Painter - Sessue Hayakawa

ISBN: 1933920076

On DVD. Hayakawa plays a young painter who claims his lady love has been turned into a dragon. Also includes "Screen Snapshots," a comedy with Hayakawa and Arbuckle; and "Wrath of the Gods," directed by Thomas Ince.

Roue - directed by Abel Gance

ISBN: 1893967379

A widowed railroad worker rescues an orphan child from a train wreck and raises her as his own, along with his son. The family is poor but happy--until the day the railrodder realizes he's fallen in love with the now-adult orphan. Available on DVD.

The Last Laugh - F. W. Murnau

On DVD. Life is on a downhill course for a doorman who loses his job, until...

The Birth of a Nation - directed by D. W. Griffith

A Civil War epic that prompted riots when it was released in 1915 for its flattering potrayal of the Ku Klux Klan. Still controversial today, but an important work in the development of narrative film, cinematography and film acting. Available on DVD.

Escape from Dartmoor - Anthony Asquith

A barber's assistant, who's been imprisoned for threatening to kill the man who flirted with his girlfriend, escapes from prison.

Margarette's Feast - Renato Falcao

On DVD. A suitcase full of magic money changes the lives of a poor couple.

Pandora's Box - G. W. Pabst

ISBN: 1934121045

Louise Brooks plays a prostitute involved in a murder. On DVD.

 

The stunt work will amaze you.

And now for something really different. . . .

Un Chien Andalou - written by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali

ISBN: 1840682000

Nightmarish, surrealist film. Available in DVD.

Georges Melies, First Wizard of Cinema - directed by George Melies

A collection of delightful films by magician Melies, the first director to experiment with special effects. Available in DVD.

 

Many viewers will be surprised to learn that the genre goes back this far.  You'll find truth in these 1920's predictions of life in the 2000's.