Not-so-silent Films of the 1920s

[altivo]

I never make polls, but answering a meme about films over on Facebook inspired me to ask these questions of LJ readers.

[Poll #1445665]

Comments

[ben-who.livejournal.com]

Every year, the Merrill Auditorium pairs the pipes of the Kotzschmar Organ with an old horror movie. The theater should have seatbelts.

The Nickelodeon, back when it was under different management, would spend New Year's Eve running silent two-reelers for free. However, my silent film education is full of holes. I've seen "Metropolis," but not "The Sheik." I saw the original "Wizard of Oz" (good lord) but haven't seen "Nosferatu." I only recently learned that there even was a real difference between German and American filmmaking at the time. If you're a Batman fan, eventually you have to watch "The Man Who Laughs." However, I couldn't sit through more than 20 minutes of "Birth of a Nation."

Love, Who?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Wizard of Oz films were pretty poor, but most of them were very early, too (pre-1920.) You should see Nosferatu, though. It's distilled essence of horror flick, and I do mean horror. I think it is probably the scariest film I've ever seen in my life, and combined with a masterful musician at the organ it will pump more adrenalin out of you than anything else you can do while sitting still. In fact it probably beats some pretty vigorous roller coasters. Hard to believe that recent abominations such as "Twilight" are descended from that.

My all time favorites include Ben Hur, The Son of the Sheik, Wings, Metropolis, The Gold Rush, The General, and The Mask of Zorro. For pure melodramatic suspense, you can't beat Orphans of the Storm. For furry fun, try The Return of Grey Wolf or Wolfheart's Revenge. The Thief of Bagdad is really much too long, but it has a flying horse in it. Special effects? They had 'em even back then. The effects work in Wings helped it to win the Academy Award, too.