Films/DVD Asylum

• I have a lot of silent films - Rob Doorack 07:29:16 05/18/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Just curious posted by rico on May 17, 2005 at 07:51:47:

  I love silent movies. The most recent addition to the library is a DVD of shorts by the now almost - forgotten comic Charley Chase. Chase didn't have the physical comedy skills of Keaton or Chaplin or Lloyd so his films are more like '30s screwball comedies. Anyone who thinks that people were less sophisticated in the '20s should see Chase's "Mighty Like a Moose." The jaw - dropping plot starts with Chase's character and his wife both secretly getting plastic surgery to surprise the other. They then meet by accident, don't recognize their newly improved spouse, and both devise complex schemes to "cheat" with the new acquaintance. Although the schemes never come to fruition there's still something startling about casual adultery as a plot element in a comedy from 80 years ago.
  
  

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• I have lots of silents - many would make my all-time fave list. - Harmonia 21:51:52 05/17/05 (1)
  In Reply to: Just curious posted by rico on May 17, 2005 at 07:51:47:

  A masterpiece is a masterpiece.

  A great film is a great film, no matter when it was made - in fact one can make the argument that silent films are more purely "cinematic art" than talkies since they make their points purely visually.

  A perfect example is Ozu's wonderful silent I Was Born, But...(which actually is from '31 or '32) which is one of the most expressive, nuanced, emotional, and exquisite movies you'll ever see.

  Another extraordinary (and not well-known) silent is the first internationally released animated feature, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, based on The Arabian Nights. This was directed by the remarkable German artist Lotte Reiniger, who animated highly detailed, innovatively lit silhouettes.

  I have loads of Chaplin, one of my heroes, but I guess my favorites would be:

  The Gold Rush
  Modern Times
  City Lights
  The Kid
  The Pilgrim

  No one has yet mentioned Dreyer's incredible masterpiece The Passion of Joan Of Arc.

  Another personal hero is Murnau:

  Sunrise (IMO one of the greatest films ever made)
  Faust
  The Last Laugh
  Nosferatu
  Tabu

  Fritz Lang:

  Spies
  Destiny
  Metropolis
  Siegfried's Death

  Eisenstein:

  October
  Battleship Potemkin

  Pabst:

  Pandora's Box
  Diary of A Lost Girl
  (Louise Brooks is amazing in these two features. Anyone know anything about a longer European DVD verion of the latter film?)

  Abel Gance: Napoleon (see this on a big screen in a theater if ever you can)

  King Vidor:

  The Big Parade
  Show People (Marion Davies is divine - Hearst should've been shot for not letting her do more comedy)

  Everyone must have some Keaton in their collection:

  Sherlock Jr. (my absolute favorite)
  Seven Chances
  The General
  The Navigator

  And, of course, Harold Lloyd:

  Safety First
  The Freshman
  The Kid Brother (WHEN will this be on DVD? My favorite Lloyd but the VHS sucks.)

  Von Stroheim:

  The Wedding March
  Greed

  Last, but hardly least, is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This film shook my world when I saw it as a teen but nowdays I watch it less often than any other in my silents collection.

  I'm sure there are many foreign silent gems I've not seen, but I reckon I have well over 30 silent films that I enjoy watching. Looking at my shelf, I note that I own not one film by D.W. Griffith, although of course, I've seen Intolerance and Birth Of Nation several times.

  Two silents I'm looking for are Von Sternberg's The Last Command and a Lillian Gish film, The Wind, which I've only seen once but would love to see again.

  I'd consider the following films for inclusion on my all-time top twenty-five greatest films list (a la the Sight & Sound):

  At least one Chaplin...probably The Gold Rush, maybe City Lights or Modern Times another day, depending on mood
  The Passion of Joan of Arc
  Sunrise
  I Was Born, But...
  Sherlock Jr.
  Napolean
  Pandora's Box
  Battleship Potemkin
  Probably one Lang...erm...this is hard...

  
  
  
  

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  • Re: Good post - rico 09:32:02 05/18/05 (0)
    In Reply to: I have lots of silents - many would make my all-time fave list. posted by Harmonia on May 17, 2005 at 21:51:52:

    informative. I agree on "Sunrise" and feel that everyone should see it at least once.
    
    

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• "The Battleship Potemkin", "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", "Nosferatu ", "Metropolis" - Bambi B 12:36:34 05/17/05 (5)
  In Reply to: Just curious posted by rico on May 17, 2005 at 07:51:47:

  rico,

  I don't actually own any movies, but I consider "The Battleship Potemkin","The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" "Nosferatu (1923)" and "Metropolis", plus some comedies of Chaplin, Lloyd, and Keaton to be in the "top whatever" league.

  Here's a question: Do you have movies that are so dominantly, visually stunning that you conceive of them as silent or they could be silent and be as impressive? I could watch "Beauty and the Beast" (1946), "Quest for Fire", and "2001: A Space Odyssey" without sound.

  How about Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" in which the only word spoken ("Non") is spoken by mime Marcel Marceau?

  Cheers,

  Bambi B
  
  

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  • Metropolis + Alloy Orchestra Soundtrack CD -nt- - jbmcb 20:31:39 05/17/05 (0)
    In Reply to: "The Battleship Potemkin", "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", "Nosferatu ", "Metropolis" posted by Bambi B on May 17, 2005 at 12:36:34:

    
    /*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/
    
    

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  • Add "Orheo" and "Pandora's Box." nt - tinear 14:44:01 05/17/05 (2)
    In Reply to: "The Battleship Potemkin", "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", "Nosferatu ", "Metropolis" posted by Bambi B on May 17, 2005 at 12:36:34:

    s
    
    

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    • Was ist "Orheo"??? - Harmonia 22:51:35 05/18/05 (1)
      In Reply to: Add "Orheo" and "Pandora's Box." nt posted by tinear on May 17, 2005 at 14:44:01:

      "Orpheo"? ????
      
      

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      • C'mon, you know what it was! nt - tinear 05:38:59 05/22/05 (0)
        In Reply to: Was ist "Orheo"??? posted by Harmonia on May 18, 2005 at 22:51:35:

        s
        
        

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  • Re: Sound movies without sound - rico 12:42:20 05/17/05 (0)
    In Reply to: "The Battleship Potemkin", "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", "Nosferatu ", "Metropolis" posted by Bambi B on May 17, 2005 at 12:36:34:

    I agre with the three you mention. To them I would add "Days of Heaven" and "Cast Away".
    
    

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• Re: Just curious - patrickU 11:34:00 05/17/05 (0)
  In Reply to: Just curious posted by rico on May 17, 2005 at 07:51:47:

  Think " Abel Gance "...
  Yes it look very similar " chez Patrick " as was saying this Stereophile writer as " chez Rico ". In the future I want to upgrade the German silent movies as maybe the best ever.
  
  

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