American Silent Treasures

1919-31

An annotated list of extant treasures from the last decade of American silent films.

Title
The Mark of Zorro
Release Year
1920
Director
Fred Niblo
Cast
Douglas Fairbanks, Marguerite De La Motte
Synopsis
In early California, a masked figure known as Zorro, protects the weak and helpless from mistreatment by the soldiers and allies of the corrupt governor.
Comments
After five years of social comedies in which he played the all-American youth, Douglas Fairbanks Sr starred in a costume romance featuring a masked protector of the weak and helpless. It was a smashing success. After one more comedy, Fairbanks became a swashbuckler for the remainder of the twenties.
Title
The Kid
Release Year
1921
Director
Charlie Chaplin
Cast
Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan
Synopsis
The little Tramp finds a seemingly abandoned baby and adopts him. The Tramp struggles to care for the child>
Comments
Chaplin's first feature film was highly successful at the box office and made a star of child actor Jackie Coogan who milks the poignancy of his part. The film's story and setting dramatize the dreary life of Chaplin's youth. In his dreams, the Tramp transforms the blighted neighborhood where they live into a heaven on earth.
Title
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Release Year
1921
Director
Rex Ingram
Cast
Alice Terry, Rudolph Valentino
Synopsis
Julio Desnoyers, a young Argentine of French descent, moves to Paris and enters into the high life of the French capital. He meets and falls in love with Marguerite Laurier, a beautiful, married woman. The Great War disrupts French life and Marguerite's husband and Julio go off to war. French and German soldiers and civilians are devastated by the war.
Comments
Director Rex Ingram based his film on a popular novel, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by Vincente Blasco Ibañez. In the novel and the film the effects of the war are associated with the devastation visited on mankind by the coming of four horsemen described in the biblical Book of Revelation. Alice Terry and Rudolph Valentino star in the poignant love story. Valentino's sexy tango from Julio's Argentinian period drew much notice and praise.
Title
Nanook of the North
Release Year
1922
Director
Robert Flaherty
Cast
Allakariallak
Synopsis
The film documents the daily life of an Inuit family, highlighting the human endurance of the indefatigable Nanook against the harshness of his environment.
Comments
Actually a semi-documentary, much of the action was staged for the camera.
Title
Grandma's Boy
Release Year
1922
Director
Fred C. Newmeyer
Cast
Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis
Synopsis
A shy young man, devoted to his grandmother, thwarts both his rival for the girl and a dangerous thief>
Comments
Harold Lloyd's second feature puts Lloyd in his element as a shy young man who demonstrates his innate goodness and courage.
Title
Foolish Wives
Release Year
1922
Director
Erich von Stroheim
Cast
Erich von Stroheim, Rudolph Christians, Miss DuPont
Synopsis
A trio of bogus aristocrats, who make their living by passing counterfeit bills, live in a castle in Monte Carlo. The fake count, whose life is encompassed by sex and luxury, is determined to possess the beautiful, but innocent and foolish, wife of the American envoy to Monte Carlo.
Comments
The plot is daring and advanced for 1922. Sexual pursuit and conquest, examined with sardonic wit, was not a typical subject of Hollywood movies.
Title
Safety Last
Release Year
1923
Director
Fred C. Newmeyer
Cast
Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis
Synopsis
Harold, a country boy working in a big city department store, tells his girl back home that he is the manager of the store. When his girl comes to visit, Harold needs money fast. The store offers him $500.00 to climb the 10 story facade as a publicity stunt. As he climbs, Harold is beset by multiple obstacles.
Comments
Fast, funny, and thrilling, Safety Last is one of Lloyd's best known films.
Title
Scaramouche
Release Year
1923
Director
Rex Ingram
Cast
Alice Terry, Ramon Navarro
Synopsis
After his friend is killed by an upper class swordsman, Andre-Louis Moreau learns swordsmanship. As a member of the French Parliament, Andre plots revenge and taunts the upper class delegates.
Comments
An entertaining historical drama set just prior to the French Revolution.
Title
The Marriage Circle
Release Year
1924
Director
Ernst Lubitsch
Cast
Florence Vidor, Monte Blue
Synopsis
Marital discord disturbs the tranquility of two couples, one pair happily married and one pair discontented. The happy couple are nearly separated when the discontented wife pursues the innocent husband.
Comments
Ernst Lubitsch was a master at romantic comedy that depicts the sexual intrigues of the upper middle class>
Title
The Thief of Bagdad
Release Year
1924
Director
Raoul Walsh
Cast
Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston
Synopsis
The Thief competes with the Prince of the Mongols and the Prince of Persia to win the hand of the beautiful Princess and save her kingdom from the Mongol horde.
Comments
Douglas Fairbanks's most elaborate production, a fantasy set in a fairytale land of genies, flying carpets, and magic wishing dust.
Title
The Navigator
Release Year
1924
Director
Donald Crisp, Buster Keaton
Cast
Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire
Synopsis
Rollo Treadway and his girl are the only people on an ocean liner. Rollo has to do all the work of operating and steering the vessel.
Comments
Keaton has lots of creative fun with the opportunities given to him by this situation.
Title
He Who Gets Slapped
Release Year
1924
Director
Victor Sjöström
Cast
Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert
Synopsis
Scientist Paul Beaumont, betrayed by his wife, becomes a circus clown, named "He Who Gets Slapped". He loves fellow performer Consuelo and sacrifices himself to save her from marriage to the man who betrayed him>
Comments
A strong drama for Chaney allows him to express unfulfilled emotional yearning. The first film produced by newly formed MGM was a critical and box office success.
Title
Peter Pan
Release Year
1924
Director
Herbert Brenon
Cast
Betty Bronson, Ernest Torrence
Synopsis
Peter, the boy who never grows up, takes Wendy and her brothers to Neverland, his fantasy island, where Peter battles the scheming Captain Hook.
Comments
A delightful version of James A Barrie's play.
Title
The Gold Rush
Release Year
1925
Director
Charlie Chaplin
Cast
Charlie Chaplin, Georgia Hale
Synopsis
The Tramp prospects for gold in the Yukon.
Comments
Chaplin's Tramp goes on the Alaskan gold rush, his experiences are both comic and heart breaking. The film is funny and poignant.
Title
The Freshman
Release Year
1925
Director
Sam Taylor
Cast
Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston
Synopsis
Harold is a shy college student who incorrectly believes that he is a "big" man on campus. He gets to win the big football game anyway, running around wildly.
Comments
Very funny example of Lloyd.
Title
The Merry Widow
Release Year
1925
Director
Erich von Stroheim
Cast
John Gilbert, Mae Murray, Roy D'Arcy
Synopsis
A beautiful, rich widow is courted by two princes. Prince Danilo sincerely loves her. Prince Mirko admires her beauty but mostly wants her money.
Comments
Director Eric von Stroheim turned a lightweight romantic musical comedy into a dramatic romance with emphasis on the sensuality of all his stars.
Title
The Big Parade
Release Year
1925
Director
King Vidor
Cast
John Gilbert, Renée Adore
Synopsis
American doughboys enjoy the life in the French countryside before entering into the horrors of trench warfare.
Comments
Along with the soldiers, the viewer transitions from pleasant leisure into mortal combat. John Gilbert was a very good silent actor. This was one of the highest grossing films of the silent era.
Title
The General
Release Year
1926
Director
Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton
Cast
Buster Keaton, Marion Mack
Synopsis
Johnnie Grey is a Confederate engineer whose engine, named "The General", is stolen by Union raiders. Johnnie, following in another train, is intent on getting "The General" back.
Comments
An exciting chase with Keaton performing all kinds of stunts that produce some marvelously funny moments>
Title
The Black Pirate
Release Year
1926
Director
Albert Parker
Cast
Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove
Synopsis
The Duke of Arnoldo revenges himself on pirates and saves a beautiful princess.
Comments
Typical Fairbanks swashbuckler includes lots of action.
Title
Mare Nostrum
Release Year
1926
Director
Rex Ingram
Cast
Alice Terry, Antonio Moreno
Synopsis
Freya Talberg, a beautiful spy, recruits Ulysses Farragut, a Spanish mariner, to assist in the refueling of a German U-boat. Farragut's son is killed aboard a passenger ship torpedoed by the U-boat. Aiding the French navy, Farragut avenges his son. Freya is caught by the French and executed.
Comments
An artfully made World War I melodrama is set in the Mediterranean.
Title
Flesh and the Devil
Release Year
1926
Director
Clarence Brown
Cast
Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson
Synopsis
Leo von Hardin falls madly in love with beautiful, sensual Felicitas, whom he believes is unmarried. After a duel in which he kills Felicitas' (unexpected) husband, Leo is stationed in a far post for five years. When he returns, Leo finds that Felicitas has married his best friend, Ulrich, who is rich. Despite her new marriage, Felicitas wants to renew their affair.
Comments
Garbo is sensuous and alluring. Gilbert makes passionate love to her. The highly sensual scenes between Garbo and Gilbert enraptured the public.
Title
Sparrows
Release Year
1927
Director
William Beaudine
Cast
Mary Pickford
Synopsis
Milly, the oldest child on a baby farm in the swamps. leads the other children on a perilous journey to safety.
Comments
Even at 33 yrs old, Mary Pickford, a unique personality who easily projected goodness and innocence, could still please her public by playing a teenager.
Title
The Kid Brother
Release Year
1927
Director
Ted Wilde, Harold Lloyd
Cast
Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston
Synopsis
Harold, the youngest son of the Hickory family, is much smaller and weaker than his robust, powerful father and brothers. When thieves steal the town's money entrusted to his father, Harold proves his mettle by capturing the thieves and saving his family's honor.
Comments
A strong story includes lots of comedy and showcases Lloyd's athletic abilities.
Title
My Best Girl
Release Year
1927
Director
Sam Taylor
Cast
Mary Pickford, Charles "Buddy" Rogers
Synopsis
A rich young man, learning about the family business by working in the storeroom, falls in love with Maggie, a fellow employee. His family wants him to marry a society wife.
Comments
Mary Pickford was a great actress within her range. She progresses through a succession of emotions rapidly and believably and captures the heart of the audience doing it.
Title
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Release Year
1927
Director
F.W. Murnau
Cast
Janet Gaynor, George O'Brien
Synopsis
A simple country husband is enticed by a beautiful city woman into a clumsy attempt to drown his wife. He regrets his actions immediately and attempts to convince his shocked and frightened wife that he is repentant and loves her.
Comments
A simple love story of betrayal and redemption is beautifully acted and photographed.
Title
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
Release Year
1927
Director
Ernst Lubitsch
Cast
Ramon Navarro, Norma Shearer
Synopsis
Prince Karl Heinrich, attending the university in Heidelberg, finds his first romance with a pretty bar maid. Duty and his high social position separate them.
Comments
Ernst Lubitsch directs a bittersweet romance of young love.
Title
Underworld
Release Year
1927
Director
Josef von Sternberg
Cast
George Bancroft, Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent
Synopsis
Tough gangster Bull Weed controls the bootlegging business in his city. Bull's beautiful girlfriend, Feathers, falls in love with his lawyer, Rolls Royce. Bull seeks revenge before forgiving them at the sentimental ending.
Comments
Atmospheric late silent anticipates the gangster films of the early thirties.
Title
Wings
Release Year
1927
Director
William A. Wellman
Cast
Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Richard Arlen
Synopsis
Comradeship supports US Air Service fliers who face the peril of flying over enemy territory in their small, weakly built airplanes.
Comments
The first Academy Award Best Picture is renown for its thrillingly realistic air combat scenes.
Title
7th Heaven
Release Year
1927
Director
Frank Borzage
Cast
Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell
Synopsis
Chico, who works under the streets of Paris, saves waif Diane from her brutal sister. Chico takes Diane to his apartment on the seventh floor of a tenement. In their small piece of heaven, the pair find love. Even Chico's battlefield service in WWI cannot break their connection.
Comments
This delicate and poignant film was extremely popular in its time.
Title
Valley of the Giants
Release Year
1927
Director
Charles Brabin
Cast
Milton Sills, Doris Kenyon
Synopsis
A lumberman fights to protect his forest holdings from a ruthless rival.
Comments
An exciting, well paced, and fun film features Milton Sills at his best.
Title
Chicago
Release Year
1928
Director
Frank Urson
Cast
Phyllis Haver, Victor Varconi
Synopsis
Roxie Hart, a cheating wife, kills her lover. After a sensational trial, she is found not guilty. Her husband leaves her. Her national celebrity lasts only a short time. The amoral Roxie is left alone and destitute.
Comments
Originally a play (1926) this is the first of several film versions.
Title
White Shadows in the South Seas
Release Year
1928
Director
W.S. Van Dyke
Cast
Monte Blue, Raquel Torres
Synopsis
A drunken doctor denounces white influence on Pacific Islanders and moves to an untouched island. The doctor lives with the contented people who maintain their native culture. When white traders move onto the island, the Doctor tries to stop them. Unsuccessfully.
Comments
A strong story of the social, cultural, and personal tragedy that results from outside intrusion on the native cultures of the Pacific islands.
Title
The Crowd
Release Year
1928
Director
King Vidor
Cast
Eleanor Boardman, James Murray
Synopsis
John Sims has come to New York seeking a high paying job. Denied this success, he marries and settles into a middle class life with a wife and two children living in a small apartment.
Comments
A powerful, realistic examination of middle class life in the early 20th Century.
Title
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Release Year
1928
Director
Charles Reiner, Buster Keaton
Cast
Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron
Synopsis
Steamboat Bill Jr, son of Steamboat Bill Sr, is a small, skinny college boy while Bill Sr is a tall, rugged steamboat captain. Bill Jr's girlfriend is the daughter of his father's worst rival. Bill Jr is about to return to college when Bill Sr is jailed and a hurricane arrives. Bill Jr proves his capability when battles through the hurricane and saves his father, his girl, the girl's father, and the steamboat.
Comments
Very funny with great Keaton stunts.
Title
The Wind
Release Year
1928
Director
Victor Sjöström
Cast
Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson
Synopsis
A farmer brings his bride, a Virginian, to his farm on the western prairies where the wind blows continually. The woman finds the loneliness oppressive.
Comments
Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson are masterful as the unhappily married couple. The unceasing wind is almost a living presence.
Title
Docks of New York
Release Year
1928
Director
Josef von Sternberg
Cast
George Bancroft, Betty Compson
Synopsis
A stoker on a tramp steamship has a few hours leave while his ship is in port. He saves a woman from suicide and befriends her. He marries her with the intention of leaving in the morning. He is preparing to go to sea again when he decides not to abandon her.
Comments
This late silent film is an emotionally affecting love story of two lonely people.
Title
Street Angel
Release Year
1928
Director
Frank Borzage
Cast
Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell
Synopsis
Angela and Gino are lovers. On the day Gino gains a commission for a mural, innocent Angela is arrested for prostitution and jailed for a year. Gino, thinking the fallen woman has deserted him, is unable to paint and becomes a despairing semi-derelict. When the year is up, Angela is released. On the waterfront, Gino meets Angela in the fog. Assuming that she is a fallen woman, Gino attacks her. She pleads her innocence. He sees the truth and they are happily reunited.
Comments
The theme of the film is stated in the opening intertitle: "Everywhere, in town and city, we pass, unknowingly, human souls made great by love and adversity."
Title
Eternal Love
Release Year
1929
Director
Ernst Lubitsch
Cast
John Barrymore, Camilla Horn
Synopsis
Due to his weakness, lovers Marcus and Cilia are separated. Each marries on the rebound. They cannot stay apart, and their longing for one another leads to tragedy.
Comments
Director Ernst Lubitsch concentrated on comedies and made few dramas. This film demonstrates his mastery of intense romantic melodrama.
Title
City Lights
Release Year
1931
Director
Charlie Chaplin
Cast
Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cheryl
Synopsis
The Tramp gains the money to pay for an operation to restore the sight of a blind girl, but ends up in jail getting it. When he returns, she can see him.
Comments
Comedy and tragedy combine in one of Chaplin's funniest and most heart breaking films.

References

Flaming Youth. Motion Picture News. Nov-Dec 1923
THE SCREEN; Screen Struck Merton. The New York Times. September 8, 1924
Mordaunt Hall. THE SCREEN; Lorelei Lee and Dorothy. The New York Times. January 16, 1928
Mordaunt Hall. The Blonde's Victor; Garbo. The New York Times. January 22, 1928
The Divine Woman. Exhibitor's Herald and Moving Picture World. January 1928.
The Divine Woman. Screenland. January 1928.
Mordaunt Hall. THE SCREEN; The Circus Siren. The New York Times. October 11, 1928
F. Scott Fitzgerald. Echoes of the Jazz Age. Scribner's Magazine. November 1931
Peter Bogdanovich. "John Ford". University of California Press. 1968
Gary Carey. Lost Films. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1970
Frank Thompson. Lost Films, Important Movies That Disappeared. Citadel Press. 1996

References

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