The Top 100 Films Of The Silent Era

 

THE TOP 100 FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA 

The august but mysterious film society known as The IRAs gathered to determine the 100 Best Silent Films Of All Time on March 22, 2024. The IRAs vote on the best films of the year every winter/spring and have done so since the mid 1970s. But another ongoing project are "best of" lists. They've done one for most decades, such as the best of the 1980s, the best of the 1950s and so on, taking two years to complete each list. Now they're tackling Silent Movies, covering in one fell swoop every film made from the beginning of cinema up to the early 1930s when talkies took over once and for all, with the occasional exception from an eccentric cineaste like Guy Maddin or Mel Brooks (who couldn't resist one good "No!" spoken in the otherwise Silent Movie). 

To qualify as a silent movie, the film must be at least 40 minutes long. Certain "silent" films on the list include sound elements in whole or in part, such as sound effects, some atmospheric sound and of course a score, whether one created for the film at its premiere or a score written many years later. Anyone was free to nominate any film for the list, but they needed the support of others who agree their film is essentially a silent one. 

Months of debate, along with watching and re-watching of films led to the Master List, containing every film someone nominated, with more points per movie each time it appeared on someone's list. This was then winnowed down to come up with the final 100, with movies locked into groups of ten (91-100, 81-90 and so on up to the 1-10.) On the final night, we voted on each group of ten, starting at the bottom and climaxing with the final films that would reside in the Top Ten. It was imagined by the accounting firm of Robinson, Robinson, Marcks & Giltz that revealing which movies made it into which bracket would add a sense of excitement to the evening. Which movies would scale the heights and have a shot at #1 by making the Top 10? Instead, chaos ensued, since some members balked at having to rank their movies on the fly. The experiment of withholding the final brackets until the big night will not be repeated. 

Like all group votes, the list below is inherently compromised. Few movies were immune from someone disparaging a film and wondering why it was on the list at all.  Others would insist a certain movie should have been ranked much higher. Each member would quickly steer you to their favorites and away from some they dislike. Not to worry. Anyone looking to see a significant chunk of silent movies can rest assured the one hundred films listed here are worth your time.

And so the IRAs are pleased to present:

THE TOP 100 FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA 

1-10 

THE CROWD

SHERLOCK JR.

SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS

CITY LIGHTS

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA

THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC

THE BIG PARADE

PANDORA'S BOX

DR. MABUSE: THE GAMBLER

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN

11-20 

LA ROUE (THE WHEEL)

THE GENERAL

THE GOLD RUSH

THE LAST LAUGH (DER LETZTE MANN)

DIARY OF A LOST GIRL

STEAMBOAT BILL JR.

INTOLERANCE

NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI

MODERN TIMES

21-30 

BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A GREAT CITY

STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS, A (A TALE OF…)

FAUST

GREED

J'ACCUSE

THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK

THE LAST COMMAND

CITY GIRL

THE WEDDING MARCH

NAPOLÉON

31-40 

METROPOLIS

TRUE HEART SUSIE

THE NAVIGATOR

SPIONE (SPIES)

SEVENTH HEAVEN

THE CAMERAMAN

SAFETY LAST!

WAY DOWN EAST

HE WHO GETS SLAPPED

EARTH 

41-50 

BROKEN BLOSSOMS

OUR HOSPITALITY

THE PATSY

THE MERRY WIDOW

OCTOBER (TEN DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD)

THE GODDESS

THE CIRCUS

THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED

THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE

I WAS BORN, BUT…

51-60 

GRASS: A NATION'S BATTLE FOR LIFE

TOKYO CHORUS

SEVEN CHANCES

THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG

PEOPLE ON SUNDAY

THE IRON HORSE

LES VAMPIRES

BED AND SOFA

THE BLOT

FLESH AND THE DEVIL

61-70 

THE WIND

UNDERWORLD

ORPHANS OF THE STORM

A GIRL IN EVERY PORT

THE DOWNFALL OF OSEN

LAZYBONES

NANOOK OF THE NORTH

THE LODGER: A STORY OF THE LONDON FOG

MOTHER

BEGGARS OF LIFE

71-80 

THE UNKNOWN

THE STREET (DIE STRASSE)

SADIE THOMPSON

NANA

WINGS

BLIND HUSBANDS

A WOMAN OF PARIS: A DRAMA OF FATE

THE FRESHMAN 

LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN

LUCKY STAR

81-90 

SHOW PEOPLE

THE PARSON'S WIDOW

THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE

MADAME DUBARRY (PASSION)

THE MAN WHO LAUGHS

DIE NIBELUNGEN: SIEGFRIED

STREET ANGEL

CABIRIA

HÄXAN: WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES

THE SMILING MADAME BEUDET

91-100 

LONESOME

THE THIEF OF BAGDAD

DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS

DIE NIBELUNGEN: KRIEMHILD'S REVENGE

HELL'S HINGES

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST

TIH-MINH

BLUE BIRD, THE

GOLEM, THE: HOW HE CAME INTO THE WORLD

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