Alan N.'s TOP 20 FAVORITE SILENT FILMS

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

What's to like about Silent Films?

I'll tell you, a couple of things come to mind: 1.) Without sound/talking, they had to tell the story more visually using images. Hitchcock was a master at this. He used a third of the title cards that the other silent directors used and that translated over in...to this sound films. 2.) Since it was such a new art form there were no "rules" or "codes" yet. Everyone was experimenting and creating. Some of visuals created 100 years ago still blow me away. There are very few filmmakers nowadays that still push the limits of the image or the media, especially without the use of a computer.

This is my list of all-time favorite silent films. In this list, I put in a little bit of everything, different genres and films that are both personal favorites and have historical significance. They are listed in order of release.

1. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
   
2. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
   
3. Intolerance (1916)
   
4. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1918)
   
5. Nosferatu (1922)
   
6. Greed (1924)
   
7. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
   
8. The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
   
9. The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
   
10. The Freshman (1925)
    
11. The General (1925)
    
12. The Gold Rush (1925)
    
13. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
    
14. The Black Pirate (1926)
    
15. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
16. Metropolis (1927)
    
17. Pandora's Box (1928)
    
18. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
    
19. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
    
20. City Lights (1931)

*Contributed by: "Alan N." Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2011 / 7:20:08 PDT