Tag Archives: silent film

The Last Laugh

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

Der letzte mann – The Last Laugh (1924) dir. F. W. Murnau The Last Laugh is a true silent film.  It has only one title card, and it is put in as a joke.  Emil Jannings (who later won the … Continue reading →

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7th Heaven (1927)

Posted on July 5, 2011 by

7th Heaven (1927) dir. Frank Borzage Charles Farrell is a Parisian sewer rat who has given up on God, and Janet Gaynor is a prostitute who is regularly abused by her sister. Through a strange series of events, they agree … Continue reading →

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King Vidor – The Big Parade, The Crowd

Posted on January 30, 2011 by

The Big Parade (1925) dir. King Vidor The Crowd (1928) dir. King Vidor Two of King Vidor’s late silent films are early landmarks in genre. 1925′s The Big Parade, much moreso than Griffith’s Birth of a Nation laid down the … Continue reading →

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Metropolis: A Proto-Fascist Anti-Utopia

Posted on September 10, 2010 by

Metropolis is director Fritz Lang’s most famous work.  The 1927 German silent classic is renowned for its epic German Expressionist style and its sweeping influence on the science-fiction genre.  Here, it is the first entry in 45.1 Dystopias, and I’ll … Continue reading →

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D. W. Griffith and the “Numinous Chinaman”

Posted on July 28, 2010 by

In 1915, D. W. Griffith made The Birth of a Nation, and spent the rest of his life trying to prove he wasn’t racist. Continue reading →

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