The Top 100 Silent Era Films
Updated July 24, 2000 Copyright © 1999-2000 by Carl
Bennett.
What are the 100 best silent era films?
With all the interest in AFI's best 100 American films list (which,
in our opinion, should remove The
Jazz Singer (1927) and add Saving Private Ryan), we
couldn't help asking that question.
Because we love silent films and because we are insatiable
list makers, this project has been started. The effort is hampered
considerably by the fact that most of the films made in the silent
era have been lost to decomposition and willing destruction.
It is our opinion, however, that most of the truly great films
have survived due to their timeless popularity and enduring value.
The list will not be limited to features exclusively. There
are several short silent film masterpieces and they will be considered
along with features. While our definition of the silent cinema
timeline usually spans from about 1891 to 1929, we will accept
later true silents like City
Lights (1931) or Japanese silent films from the early 1930s,
for example. The film must still exist somewhere and in some
viewable form. Without surviving prints there is no way to validate
the true value of a film. No lost film can fairly be included
on the list based solely on its reputation. We will limit the
list to films that were produced to be silent films exclusively
(synchronized music tracks are acceptible, but part-talkies and
talkies that have only survived as silents are out). This will
also be a flexible listing. Once the list reaches 100 ranked
titles, it will continue to change based on the responses we
receive.
We suggested several titles as a starting point. Additional
titles have been nominated and voted onto the ranked list by
our readers. In the case of a tie in the number of votes, we
exercise our own editorial opinion as to the better of the two
tied films. Once a film is on the list the only way it can be
removed is to vote it off the list (something we wish we could
do to several titles on the AFI list). The more votes we receive
for the better films, the faster the lesser films get pushed
off the list.
Use the link below to e-mail your votes to us. List the films
you think deserve to be included in a list of the best silent
era films. No particular order is necessary, but please include
the full title, the year of release, the country of its production,
and the film's director (if known). We previously limited your
voting to 10 films, but we received complaints that that limitation
was too restricting. Feel free to vote for as many films as you
would like but, remember, each vote is only a single vote for
each film. Vote only for those films you think deserve to be
on a top 100 list, up to 100 individual films.
Ranking of the films began early in 2000. In the case of ties
we exercise our editorial opinion of the tied films and rank
accordingly. We have acknowledged that the first few revisions
to the list resulted (with the small number of early votes) in
wildly skewed ranking orders. The ranking order has begun to
settle down and truly reflect the best films of the silent era.
If you think the current standing results are unrealistic then
send in your votes today and let's see how this list continues
to shake out.
COMMENTS ON THE LATEST UPDATE:
The latest round of voting left much of the list in order, with
many of the top films getting an equal ratio of votes. Napoléon
has climbed back to No. 5. Metropolis, a one-time favorite
at No. 1, breaks back into the list of top 10 films. City
Lights continues its reign at No. 1. And Pandora's Box
holds firmly onto the No. 2 position. More films have been voted
onto the bottom of the ranked list, which now numbers 94. We'll
soon reach the golden 100 number.
Very few of the films on this list are not available on home
video. Thanks to home video, more people have an opportunity
to enjoy these silent masterpieces and can make informed judgments
on each film's historic and esthetic value.
We would like to thank the people who took a few moments to
vote for their favorite silent era films, you are the ones who
make this project work through your involvement.
CAST YOUR VOTES HERE
Remember: Title, year, director, country.
|
Films Nominated to the List
But Not Yet Ranked |
|
|
|
|
Alias Jimmy Valentine |
1915 |
Maurice Tourneur |
USA |
|
Alraune |
1928 |
Henrik Galeen |
Germany |
|
America |
1924 |
D.W. Griffith |
USA |
|
Anna Christie |
1923 |
John Griffith Wray |
USA |
|
Le Ballet Méchanique |
1924 |
Fernand Léger and
Dudley Murphy |
France |
|
The Bat |
1926 |
Roland West |
USA |
|
Beau Geste |
1926 |
Herbert Brenon |
USA |
|
The
Black Pirate |
1926 |
Albert Parker |
USA |
|
Blood and Sand |
1922 |
Fred Niblo |
USA |
|
Brewster's Millions |
1921 |
Joseph Henabery |
USA |
|
Brown of Harvard |
1925 |
Jack Conway |
USA |
|
The
Covered Wagon |
1923 |
James Cruze |
USA |
|
David Copperfield |
1913 |
Thomas Bentley |
England |
|
Dr. Mabuse: Der Spieler
[Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler] |
1922 |
Fritz Lang |
Germany |
|
Don Juan |
1926 |
Alan Crosland |
USA |
|
Douglas
Fairbanks in Robin Hood |
1922 |
Allan Dwan |
USA |
|
Gertie the Dinosaur |
1914 |
Winsor McCay |
USA |
|
The Goose Woman |
1925 |
Clarence Brown |
USA |
|
Go West |
1925 |
Buster
Keaton |
USA |
|
Hintertreppe [Backstairs] |
1921 |
Leopold Jessner and
Paul Leni |
Germany |
|
The Iron
Horse |
1924 |
John Ford |
USA |
|
The Iron
Mask |
1929 |
Allan Dwan |
USA |
|
Joan the Woman |
1917 |
Cecil B. DeMille |
USA |
|
Le Joueur d'échecs
[The Chess Player] |
1927 |
Raymond Bernard |
France |
|
The King of Kings |
1927 |
Cecil B. DeMille |
USA |
|
Kurutta Ippeiji
[A Page of Madness] |
1926 |
Teinosuke Kinugasa |
Japan |
|
The Last of the Mohicans |
1920 |
Maurice Tourneur and
Clarence Brown |
USA |
|
The Last Warning |
1928 |
Paul Leni |
USA |
|
Male and Female |
1919 |
Cecil B. DeMille |
USA |
|
Mantrap |
1926 |
Victor Fleming |
USA |
|
Man, Woman and Sin |
1927 |
Monta Bell |
USA |
|
Old Ironsides |
1926 |
James Cruze |
USA |
|
The Perils of Pauline |
1914 |
Louis J. Gasnier and
Donald MacKenzie |
USA |
|
Rebecca
of Sunnybrook Farm |
1917 |
Marshall Neilan |
USA |
|
Regeneration |
1915 |
Raoul Walsh |
USA |
|
Romola |
1924 |
Henry King |
USA |
|
Scaramouche |
1923 |
Rex Ingram |
USA |
|
The Scar of Shame |
1927 |
Frank Peregrini |
USA |
|
The Sea Beast |
1926 |
Millard Webb |
USA |
|
Seven Footprints to Satan |
1929 |
Benjamin Christensen |
USA |
|
The Sheik |
1921 |
George Melford |
USA |
|
Sherlock Holmes |
1922 |
Albert S. Parker |
USA |
|
Son of the Sheik |
1926 |
George Fitzmaurice |
USA |
|
Spione [Spies] |
1928 |
Fritz Lang |
Germany |
|
The Squaw Man |
1914 |
Oscar C. Apfel and
Cecil B. DeMille |
USA |
|
Street Angel |
1928 |
Frank Borzage |
USA |
|
The Street of Forgotten
Men |
1925 |
Herbert Brenon |
USA |
|
Sylvesterabend [Sylvester] |
1923 |
Lupu Pick |
Germany |
|
Tarzan of the Apes |
1918 |
Scott Sidney |
USA |
|
The
Three Musketeers |
1921 |
Fred Niblo |
USA |
|
Tumbleweeds |
1925 |
King Baggot |
USA |
|
Underworld |
1927 |
Josef von Sternberg |
USA |
|
Les Vampires |
1915-16 |
Louis Feuillade |
France |
|
Variété
[Variety] |
1925 |
E.A. Dupont |
Germany |
|
Von morgens bis mitternachts
[From Morning till Midnight] |
1920 |
Karl-Heinz Martin |
Germany |
|
The Way of All Flesh |
1927 |
Victor Fleming |
USA |
|
Wild Orchids |
1929 |
Sidney Franklin |
USA |
|
Within
Our Gates |
1920 |
Oscar
Micheaux |
USA |
|
A Woman
of Paris |
1923 |
Charles
Chaplin |
USA |
CAST YOUR VOTES HERE
Remember: Title, year, director, country.
Silent Era Home Page > Info > Top 100
Silent Era Films || Top
of Page
|