Silent Films
by writingarises | created - 25 Dec 2012 | updated - 24 Apr 2013 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Orphans of the Storm (1921)
Not Rated | 150 min | Drama, History, Romance
Two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut, Frank Losee
Votes: 5,477 | Gross: $0.79M
2. A Tale of Two Cities (1917)
70 min | Drama, History, Romance
Alcoholic lawyer Sydney Carton travels to Paris during the Reign of Terror to rescue French aristocrat Charles Darnay, husband of the woman he loves.
Director: Frank Lloyd | Stars: William Farnum, Jewel Carmen, Charles Clary, Herschel Mayall
Votes: 161
3. City Lights (1931)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers
Votes: 196,004 | Gross: $0.02M
4. The Chaplin Revue (1959)
G | 119 min | Comedy
Three Charlie Chaplin short films edited together with new connective tissue.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Albert Austin, Henry Bergman
Votes: 1,609
5. Broken Blossoms or the Yellow Man and the Girl (1919)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
A frail waif, abused by her brutal boxer father in London's seedy Limehouse District, is befriended by a sensitive Chinese immigrant with tragic consequences.
Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp, Arthur Howard
Votes: 11,059
6. The General (1926)
Passed | 78 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton | Stars: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley
Votes: 98,106 | Gross: $1.03M
7. Salomé (1922)
Not Rated | 72 min | Biography, Drama, History
Salome, the daughter of Herodias, seduces her step-father/uncle Herod, governor of Judea, with a salacious dance. In return, he promises her the head of the prophet John the Baptist.
Directors: Charles Bryant, Alla Nazimova | Stars: Alla Nazimova, Nigel De Brulier, Mitchell Lewis, Rose Dione
Votes: 1,155
8. The Ocean Waif (1916)
Unrated | 40 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
An abused woman finds love in the arms of a famous novelist.
Director: Alice Guy | Stars: Carlyle Blackwell, Doris Kenyon, Edgar Norton, Fraunie Fraunholz
Votes: 478
9. '49-'17 (1917)
Unrated | 61 min | Drama, Western
A retired judge comes West to restore a ghost town.
Director: Ruth Ann Baldwin | Stars: Joseph W. Girard, Leo Pierson, William Dyer, Mattie Witting
Votes: 363
10. Chaplin (1992)
PG-13 | 143 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
An elderly Charlie Chaplin discusses his autobiography with his editor, recounting his amazing journey from his poverty-stricken childhood to world-wide success after the ingenious invention of the Little Tramp.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Rhys, John Thaw
Votes: 62,214 | Gross: $9.49M
11. Silent Clowns (2006)
60 min | Documentary, Biography
A profile of some of the greatest stars of silent comedy.
Stars: Paul Merton, Neil Brand, Terry Jones, Sanjeev Bhaskar
Votes: 51
12. The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Not Rated | 155 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher
Votes: 6,969 | Gross: $4.36M
13. Blacksmith Scene (1893)
Unrated | 1 min | Short, Comedy
Three men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.
Director: William K.L. Dickson | Stars: Charles Kayser, John Ott
Votes: 2,770
14. The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903)
Unrated | 1 min | Comedy, Short
A woman being fitted for shoes exposes her ankle to the shoe clerk, who is intrigued. He kisses her, but her chaperone hits him with her umbrella.
Director: Edwin S. Porter | Star: Edward Boulden
Votes: 1,184
15. Princess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy (1909)
Unrated | 5 min | Comedy, Short, Fantasy
A drowsy pipe-smoker attempts to nap, only to be tormented relentlessly by the mischievous Princess Nicotine and her fairy companion.
Director: J. Stuart Blackton | Stars: Paul Panzer, Gladys Hulette
Votes: 1,024
16. The Confederate Ironclad (1912)
Unrated | 16 min | Drama, War, Short
Lieutenant Yancey's southern sweetheart, Rose, is jealous of Elinor, a northern girl, who is visiting her aunt Mary de Lane. This jealousy is excited by an invitation which Yancey receives ... See full summary »
Director: Kenean Buel | Stars: Guy Coombs, Anna Q. Nilsson, Hal Clements, Miriam Cooper
Votes: 237
17. The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
Unrated | 13 min | Short, Horror
An avant-garde take on Poe's classic story of a traveller taking shelter at a household under a mysterious curse.
Directors: James Sibley Watson, Melville Webber | Stars: Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, Melville Webber, Friedrich Haak
Votes: 1,432
18. The Original Movie. (1922)
Unrated | 8 min | Short, Animation, Comedy
A look at the filmmaking process in the prehistoric era, inside the Stonehenge Film Company. It seems some things haven't changed much. The process begins with the writer dropping off his ... See full summary »
Director: Tony Sarg
Votes: 255
19. Three American Beauties (1906)
Unrated | 1 min | Documentary, Short
Images of a rose, a young woman, and the American flag.
Directors: Wallace McCutcheon, Edwin S. Porter | Star: Deyo
Votes: 418
20. Tess of the Storm Country (1922)
Unrated | 137 min | Drama, Romance
Wealthy Elias Graves builds his home on the top of a hill; a group of squatters have taken up residence at the bottom. Many of the men in the squatters' village have their eyes on young ... See full summary »
Director: John S. Robertson | Stars: Mary Pickford, Lloyd Hughes, Gloria Hope, David Torrence
Votes: 517
21. Children of Divorce (1927)
Passed | 70 min | Drama, Romance
A young flapper tricks her childhood sweetheart into marrying her. He really loves another woman, but didn't marry her for fear the marriage would end in divorce, like his parents'. Complications ensue.
Directors: Frank Lloyd, Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Clara Bow, Esther Ralston, Gary Cooper, Einar Hanson
Votes: 407
22. Cologne (1939)
Unrated | 14 min | Short, Documentary
Structures, people and events are documented in Cologne, Minnesota, USA in 1939.
Directors: Esther Dowidat, Raymond Dowidat | Stars: 'Old Man' Guettler, Hans Guettler, Bill Guettler, Esther Dowidat
Votes: 253
23. In Youth, Beside the Lonely Sea (1925)
5 min | Short
Thomas Bailey Aldrich's poem is dramatized in triptych. In the center panel, a young man muses on the seashore where mermaids beckon, then he walks through the woods, accompanied by ... See full summary »
Star: Winston Miller
Votes: 221
24. Westinghouse Works (1904)
Not Rated | 68 min | Documentary
Collection of 21 American short silent films. The films were taken from April 18, 1904 to May 16, 1904 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and document various Westinghouse manufacturing plants.
Votes: 356
25. Palace of Electricity (1900)
1 min | Documentary, Short
A panoramic shot, making a full circle, at the 1900 Paris Exposition. It begins and ends looking at the front of the Palace of Electricity. As it pans, first we see a workman hosing down ... See full summary »
Director: James H. White
Votes: 216
26. Captain Nissen Going Through Whirlpool Rapids, Niagara Falls (1901)
2 min | Documentary, Short
Here we show Captain N. P. Nissen, formerly known as Captain Bowser, making a trip through the Whirlpool Rapids in his famous twenty-four foot craft known as the "Fool Killer." Captain ... See full summary »
Votes: 188
27. La cartomancienne (1932)
12 min | Short
In a European seaside village, a maiden takes clean sheets down from the clothesline. Carrying her basket of linens home, she stops to consult a fortune teller, whose been napping the the ... See full summary »
Director: Jerome Hill
Votes: 183
28. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
TV-PG | 86 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: Anne Chevalier, Matahi, Hitu, Bill Bambridge
Votes: 6,383
29. Portrait of a Young Man in Three Movements (1931)
54 min | Documentary
Without sound, in three movements. Title cards declare that what a person likes and his manner of liking them reveals character. There are long looks at forms and rhythms. The film begins ... See full summary »
Director: Henwar Rodakiewicz
Votes: 159
30. Modern Times (1936)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford
Votes: 259,385 | Gross: $0.16M
31. The Thieving Hand (1908)
Unrated | 5 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Short
A one-armed man obtains an artificial limb which he cannot control.
Director: J. Stuart Blackton | Star: Paul Panzer
Votes: 686
32. The Impossible Convicts (1906)
3 min | Short
Four prisoners, in convicts' stripes, march backwards down stairs and, under the watchful eyes of guards, hop backwards into their cells. Later, one overpowers a guard and springs his three... See full summary »
Director: G.W. Bitzer
Votes: 227
33. When the Clouds Roll by (1919)
85 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
Psychiatrist Dr. Ulrich Metz attempts to drive Daniel Brown to suicide.
Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Albert MacQuarrie, Kathleen Clifford, Frank Campeau
Votes: 980
34. The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
Not Rated | 72 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Allan visits the sinister Usher family mansion, where his friend Roderick is painting a portrait of his sickly wife Madeline. The portrait seems to be draining the life out of Madeline, slowly leading to her death.
Director: Jean Epstein | Stars: Jean Debucourt, Marguerite Gance, Charles Lamy, Fournez-Goffard
Votes: 4,501
35. The Life and Death of 9413, a Hollywood Extra (1928)
Not Rated | 11 min | Short, Drama, Horror
A wannabe movie star experiences the surreal horrors of dehumanization at the bottom of Hollywood's social ladder as his hopes for success vanish and his identity is reduced to a number.
Directors: Robert Florey, Slavko Vorkapich | Stars: Jules Raucourt, Voya George, Robert Florey, Adriane Marsh
Votes: 1,425
36. 7th Heaven (1927)
110 min | Drama, Romance
A street cleaner saves a young woman's life, and the pair slowly fall in love until war intervenes.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Ben Bard, Albert Gran
Votes: 4,162 | Gross: $3.92M
37. Street Angel (1928)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama
A woman on the run from the law finds her past catching up to her just as she is on the verge of true happiness.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Natalie Kingston, Henry Armetta
Votes: 2,568 | Gross: $3.71M
38. Sparrows (1926)
Unrated | 109 min | Drama
Molly, the eldest child at a baby farm hidden deep in a swamp, must rescue the others when their cruel master decides that one of them will be disposed of.
Directors: William Beaudine, Tom McNamara | Stars: Mary Pickford, Roy Stewart, Mary Louise Miller, Gustav von Seyffertitz
Votes: 1,516 | Gross: $0.97M
39. Suspense (1913)
Not Rated | 10 min | Short, Drama, Horror
Abandoned by her maidservant in an isolated country house, a mother must protect herself and her baby from an invading tramp while her husband races home in a stolen car to save them.
Directors: Phillips Smalley, Lois Weber | Stars: Lois Weber, Val Paul, Douglas Gerrard, Sam Kaufman
Votes: 2,179
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