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

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

I'm on the fence when it comes to silent films. TCM shows them fairly regularly late at night and I'd watch them now and then. I guess I just have to be in the right mood for them, since I find that either I really enjoy them or get bored after 10 minutes and stop watching.

Sadly, as of Monday, my cable company moved TCM to one of the digital tier things, so I no longer get it with my basic cable. It was one of my favorite channels.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Like today's movies, there were as many or more bad ones as good. Only a real silent film buff can stand to sit through some of the ones that have survived, such as the notoriously long and boring Birth of a Nation. Many of the classics are well worth looking up, though.

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they're like any other movie, old or new, in that some just don't pique my interest. But for me a good part of it does seem to be whether I'm in the mood for a silent film.

For example, I recall starting to watch an old Chaplin film - I believe it was The Kid - and just finding it boring as heck. Months later, I was channel surfing and came across it and was able to enjoy watching it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The Kid is interesting because it has Jackie Coogan in it, but not IMHO anywhere near Chaplin's best. City Lights or The Gold Rush are far more entertaining and significant.

Try Keaton's The General, though, or Valentino in Blood and Sand or The Son of the Sheik.