Silent movies often get pigeonholed as either zany slapstick with exaggerated acting or serious, dark, depressing art films. In reality, the silent period covers vast amounts of genres, topics, sensibilities, and filmmaking styles and came from countries all around the world. From the invention of projected cinema in the 1890s to the final films shot without synchronized dialogue in the early 1930s, filmmakers found inventive ways to use a nascent art form without ever needing any synchronized dialogue.
On The Everyday Cinephile, I’ve sought to cull together a wide variety of information from throughout the silent period to highlight the artistic power and beauty of numerous filmmakers. My hope is that this collection of information related to silent movies will break down many common misconceptions in an engaging, informative fashion so that the newest newcomers and the most experienced silent movies fanatic alike will dive into something new and spectacular from the era.
Browsing through my selection of silent movies-related posts and articles, you will find everything from rankings of Harold Lloyd films to introduction guides to silent cinema to deep dives into a single silent film. Make sure to use the search bar located on the top right of the site or on the left side widget to search for silent film terms, filmmakers, and performers you’d like to learn more about. Feel free to reach out to me to suggest topics you’d like to see covered or any specific films or filmmakers you’d like to learn more about.
Whether in a close-up of the glamorous Marlene Dietrich or an alluring wide shot of the Morrocan desert, Von Sternberg’s ability to create a visually stunning image stands unmatched in the annals of film history. Josef von Sternberg might be known for his string of …
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Not every day do silent film stars of yesteryear find their way back into the limelight. The namesake of the final title track on Taylor Swift’s upcoming album Tortured Poets’ Society, Clara Bow lies on the brink of such a rare moment in the …
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I recently finished Buster Keaton’s silent filmography—or so I thought. Focused on watching all Keaton’s appearances in Arbuckle shorts, the 21 shorts he directed, and his silent feature comedies, I overlooked his starring role in Herbert Blanche’s 1920 The Saphead.
It was a natural …
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Lotte Reiniger etched her name in cinematic history with her groundbreaking animated feature film The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). Beyond creating the earliest surviving animated feature film, Lotte Reiniger and her entire body of work remain rather obscure today.
From her first film in …
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Anyone even slightly familiar with the silent era knows of the staggering amount of films lost to time either through carelessness, accident, or cost-cutting measures. Less discussed are the dozens and dozens of surviving films extant but unavailable for public viewing hoarded by a private …
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Horror has always been a genre tremendously suited for exploring the inner machinations of human desire and morality. Two cinematic adaptations of Maurice Renard’s 1920 novel, Robert Wiene’s 1924 The Hands of Orlac and Karl Freund’s Mad Love, explore this in a tale of …
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