I stumbled across this series a year or so ago and was disappointed that it wasn't available on DVD. Very well done, and a great history of a Hollywood few even know existed, let alone remember. My only beef is the Fairbanks episode's ending.....they're using the music at the end of "The Thief Of Bagdad" (one of my all time favorite film scores and endings of all time), but they don't use the climax, just the buildup. It would've been a perfect ending to the episode.
The Silent Era is a great love of mine and I've toyed with the idea of starting a thread about it, but figured no one would be really interested. Glad to see there are some fans besides myself! I love the Silent Era because it's a story with a beginning, middle and (sadly) tragic ending (the advent of sound). It's also fascinating because so much of it has been forgotten. Ask the average Joe about the Silent Era and he'd be doing good to name Chaplin, Keaton, and Metropolis. But there was a whole Hollywood there, with A list to D list actors, as well as those who seem to be in a plethora of supporting roles, but who's names are much lesser known. Pretty much just like modern Hollywood.
The thing about a Silent Film is that YOU have a more active role as a viewer than you do with a talkie. You "hear" the actors in the voice that you imagine them in. You also have to pay attention to what's on the screen as you can't look away and have the sound keep you up with what's going on. Silent Film's also have an almost dreamlike quality as they are basically like long music videos. I've recently discovered how much difference a good musical score can make while watching a Silent Film. Big films, especially at their premieres, often had full orchestra's, not the organ music or piano music we typically associate with them. The recently released Cohen Bros. Library version of Douglas Fairbanks "The Thief Of Bagdad" was a revelation in how much good music can help retain attention when watching a Silent Film. I'd spent years watching a 3.00 public domain version with muddy picture and droning music. The Cohen Bros. release has the original score with a full orchestra and man! It's pure Hollywood magic watching that film.
Especially the opening and ending. There's something mysterious, magical and pondering in it's opening notes, right before it says "A street in Bagdad. Dream city of the Ancient East".
(see video below from 0:00 to 1:15) The film also has a perfect Hollywood ending: the hero triumphant, get's the girl and fly's away on a magic carpet. In the cheap version, you're just happy the film is over and the music doesn't really capture a sense of epic triumph. In the Cohen Bros. version, that music is just....perfect. Again, one of my favorite film endings of all time, (see 2:25:54 to the end of video below).
[yt]
As the OP said, it was mind blowing learning that when silent films first came out, they looked as good as a regular black and white film, just without sound. I always thought the scratches, jerkiness, washed out look, etc, were all limitations of the technology of the time. Nope. I can't remember the first silent film I saw that was pristine, but it blew my mind and saddened me at the same time. How many films are we not seeing as they were originally seen? Some of the restoration on the Chaplin At Keystone collection are amazing, though in some cases, there is no hope of getting a better quality print. That's what we silent film fans have to learn to live with. Also the fact that some 80% of all silent films are lost to history because once talkies came out, Hollywood stopped giving a shit about the films that put them on the map, so many were put in vaults. Decades later, in the 60's when there was a silent film revival, studios rushed to those vaults to capitalize on it, only to discover that many of those films had disintegrated due to the chemicals used in the old film rolls.
Harold Lloyd owned all of his films, and made sure they were transferred to new technologies, though his own film library suffered a fire, which thankfully, did not get everything, but who knows what was lost. As a result of his valuing his old films, unlike some other stars who did not buy the rights to their films, or who felt they were embarrassing relics of bygone days, Harold Lloyd's films are in pristine condition and a joy to watch. The Kid Brother is not only my favorite film of his, but one of my all time favorite films. The version with the Harold Lloyd collection has a great orchestral score that is just perfect. I wish all silent's could get rid of the organ / piano's and have orchestral scores.
Anyone that's interested in trying silent film I recommend this: start with the comedies, especially the short ones. They're fun, and help ease you into a new kind of film language and experience. Some are as short 10 minutes long
Nice collection! I loves me some Keaton! I picked up a few Chaplin short films on VHS back in the late 80's or early 90's, but didn't get serious about Silent Cinema until about 2000-2001 or so. IIRC, it was TCM's "Silent Sundays" and they were playing "Judex". For whatever reason there was something fascinating about it, not just the story, but the window into another world and time. Since then I've been collecting films and books about the Silent Era.
My own collection looks like this:
Laughs With Max Linder (Seven Years Bad Luck, Be My Wife and four short sketches)
Houdini The Movie Star (3 disc collection. Films are entertaining, but formulaic)
The Best Arbuckle / Keaton Collection (2 disc set featuring their collaborations)
Heart O' The Hills (Mary Pickford, the woman for whom "America's Sweetheart" was coined. She was Canadian)
Daddy Longlegs (Mary Pickford. The first Mary Pickford film I saw)
Sparrows (Mary Pickford, has one of the saddest moments ever put to film)
The Bat (Jack Pickford, Mary's brother)
The General (Buster Keaton)
Chaplin At Keystone (Best version of Chaplin's earliest work. Some of the restorations are amazing)
Chaplin's Essany Comedies Vol 1-3
The Chaplin Mutual Comedies 90th Anniversary Edition
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton)
Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton)
Suds (Mary Pickford)
Mantrap (Clara Bow)
Down To The Sea In Ships (Clara Bow in first screen appearance, supporting role)
Parisian Love (Clara Bow)
Dancing Mothers (Clara Bow)
The Forgotten Films of Rosco Abruckle (4 DVD set)
The Thief Of Bagdad (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Big Parade (John Gilbert. As much as I enjoyed "Wings", I have to give it to this film for being a bit better. The ending was a jolt and more powerful than "Wings")
Mickey (Mabel Normand)
Diary Of A Lost Girl (Louise Brooks)
Intolerance (Lillian Gish, Erich Von Stroheim, directed by D.W. Griffith)
The Mark Of Zorro (Douglas Fairbanks. The Artist used footage from this)
Don Q, Son Of Zorro (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Strongman (Harry Langdon)
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (Harry Langdon)
Long Pants (Harry Langdon)
Orphans Of The Storm (Lillian and Dorothy Gish)
The Show Off (Ford Sterling with Louise Brooks in supporting role)
The Plastic Age (Clara Bow)
Salome (Alla Nazimova)
The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin)
Stella Maris (Mary Pickford in dual role)
Charley Bowers (2 DVD set)
It (Clara Bow. The first film I saw with her. Instant favorite, both film and actress)
What Happened To Rosa (Mabel Normand)
Amarilly Of Clothes-Line Alley (Mary Pickford)
His Majesty, The Scarecrow Of Oz
Metropolis (last two versions that came out)
The Extra Girl (Mabel Normand)
The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Conrad Veidt)
Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
Pandora's Box (Louise Brooks)
The Three Musketeers (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Iron Mask (Douglas Fairbanks. His swansong to the Silent Era)
The Black Pirate (Douglas Fairbanks)
Speedy (Harold Lloyd)
Safety Last (Harold Lloyd)
The Kid Brother (Harold Lloyd)
The Harold Lloyd Collection (featuring many of Lloyd's short films)
The Circus (Charlie Chaplin)
Wings (Buddy Rogers, Richard Arlen and Clara Bow)
Die Nibelungen
Robin Hood (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Man Who Laughs (Conrad Veidt. The Joker's look was inspired by the main character)
Nosferatu (Directed by F. W. Murnau)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (John Barrymore)
Phantom Of The Opera (Lon Chaney)
Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Lon Chaney)
Oliver Twist (Lon Chaney)
Poor Little Rich Girl (Mary Pickford)
Pollyanna (Mary Pickford)
Little Annie Rooney (Mary Pickford)
Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (Mary Pickford)
Wizard Of Oz (1914)
Patchwork Girl Of Oz
Magic Cloak Of Oz
The Wizard Of Oz (1925. Remake. First indication that Hollywood had run out of ideas LOL)
College (Buster Keaton)
Various Buster Keaton short films
Various Keystone shorts (featuring Ford Sterling, Mabel Normand, Billy Bevan, Andy Clyde
Various films by Georges Milies
There are still silent films in the hands of studios that haven't been seen in decades. UCLA TV and Film Archives also has silent films that have not been seen in decades in their possession. In this new era of digital-on-demand, I wish they would put those films online available for digital download so that we can see them, and so they can survive. The more people that have copies, the better.
The Silent Era is a great love of mine and I've toyed with the idea of starting a thread about it, but figured no one would be really interested. Glad to see there are some fans besides myself! I love the Silent Era because it's a story with a beginning, middle and (sadly) tragic ending (the advent of sound). It's also fascinating because so much of it has been forgotten. Ask the average Joe about the Silent Era and he'd be doing good to name Chaplin, Keaton, and Metropolis. But there was a whole Hollywood there, with A list to D list actors, as well as those who seem to be in a plethora of supporting roles, but who's names are much lesser known. Pretty much just like modern Hollywood.
The thing about a Silent Film is that YOU have a more active role as a viewer than you do with a talkie. You "hear" the actors in the voice that you imagine them in. You also have to pay attention to what's on the screen as you can't look away and have the sound keep you up with what's going on. Silent Film's also have an almost dreamlike quality as they are basically like long music videos. I've recently discovered how much difference a good musical score can make while watching a Silent Film. Big films, especially at their premieres, often had full orchestra's, not the organ music or piano music we typically associate with them. The recently released Cohen Bros. Library version of Douglas Fairbanks "The Thief Of Bagdad" was a revelation in how much good music can help retain attention when watching a Silent Film. I'd spent years watching a 3.00 public domain version with muddy picture and droning music. The Cohen Bros. release has the original score with a full orchestra and man! It's pure Hollywood magic watching that film.
Especially the opening and ending. There's something mysterious, magical and pondering in it's opening notes, right before it says "A street in Bagdad. Dream city of the Ancient East".
(see video below from 0:00 to 1:15) The film also has a perfect Hollywood ending: the hero triumphant, get's the girl and fly's away on a magic carpet. In the cheap version, you're just happy the film is over and the music doesn't really capture a sense of epic triumph. In the Cohen Bros. version, that music is just....perfect. Again, one of my favorite film endings of all time, (see 2:25:54 to the end of video below).
[yt]
As the OP said, it was mind blowing learning that when silent films first came out, they looked as good as a regular black and white film, just without sound. I always thought the scratches, jerkiness, washed out look, etc, were all limitations of the technology of the time. Nope. I can't remember the first silent film I saw that was pristine, but it blew my mind and saddened me at the same time. How many films are we not seeing as they were originally seen? Some of the restoration on the Chaplin At Keystone collection are amazing, though in some cases, there is no hope of getting a better quality print. That's what we silent film fans have to learn to live with. Also the fact that some 80% of all silent films are lost to history because once talkies came out, Hollywood stopped giving a shit about the films that put them on the map, so many were put in vaults. Decades later, in the 60's when there was a silent film revival, studios rushed to those vaults to capitalize on it, only to discover that many of those films had disintegrated due to the chemicals used in the old film rolls.
Harold Lloyd owned all of his films, and made sure they were transferred to new technologies, though his own film library suffered a fire, which thankfully, did not get everything, but who knows what was lost. As a result of his valuing his old films, unlike some other stars who did not buy the rights to their films, or who felt they were embarrassing relics of bygone days, Harold Lloyd's films are in pristine condition and a joy to watch. The Kid Brother is not only my favorite film of his, but one of my all time favorite films. The version with the Harold Lloyd collection has a great orchestral score that is just perfect. I wish all silent's could get rid of the organ / piano's and have orchestral scores.
Anyone that's interested in trying silent film I recommend this: start with the comedies, especially the short ones. They're fun, and help ease you into a new kind of film language and experience. Some are as short 10 minutes long
Nice collection! I loves me some Keaton! I picked up a few Chaplin short films on VHS back in the late 80's or early 90's, but didn't get serious about Silent Cinema until about 2000-2001 or so. IIRC, it was TCM's "Silent Sundays" and they were playing "Judex". For whatever reason there was something fascinating about it, not just the story, but the window into another world and time. Since then I've been collecting films and books about the Silent Era.
My own collection looks like this:
Laughs With Max Linder (Seven Years Bad Luck, Be My Wife and four short sketches)
Houdini The Movie Star (3 disc collection. Films are entertaining, but formulaic)
The Best Arbuckle / Keaton Collection (2 disc set featuring their collaborations)
Heart O' The Hills (Mary Pickford, the woman for whom "America's Sweetheart" was coined. She was Canadian)
Daddy Longlegs (Mary Pickford. The first Mary Pickford film I saw)
Sparrows (Mary Pickford, has one of the saddest moments ever put to film)
The Bat (Jack Pickford, Mary's brother)
The General (Buster Keaton)
Chaplin At Keystone (Best version of Chaplin's earliest work. Some of the restorations are amazing)
Chaplin's Essany Comedies Vol 1-3
The Chaplin Mutual Comedies 90th Anniversary Edition
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton)
Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton)
Suds (Mary Pickford)
Mantrap (Clara Bow)
Down To The Sea In Ships (Clara Bow in first screen appearance, supporting role)
Parisian Love (Clara Bow)
Dancing Mothers (Clara Bow)
The Forgotten Films of Rosco Abruckle (4 DVD set)
The Thief Of Bagdad (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Big Parade (John Gilbert. As much as I enjoyed "Wings", I have to give it to this film for being a bit better. The ending was a jolt and more powerful than "Wings")
Mickey (Mabel Normand)
Diary Of A Lost Girl (Louise Brooks)
Intolerance (Lillian Gish, Erich Von Stroheim, directed by D.W. Griffith)
The Mark Of Zorro (Douglas Fairbanks. The Artist used footage from this)
Don Q, Son Of Zorro (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Strongman (Harry Langdon)
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (Harry Langdon)
Long Pants (Harry Langdon)
Orphans Of The Storm (Lillian and Dorothy Gish)
The Show Off (Ford Sterling with Louise Brooks in supporting role)
The Plastic Age (Clara Bow)
Salome (Alla Nazimova)
The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin)
Stella Maris (Mary Pickford in dual role)
Charley Bowers (2 DVD set)
It (Clara Bow. The first film I saw with her. Instant favorite, both film and actress)
What Happened To Rosa (Mabel Normand)
Amarilly Of Clothes-Line Alley (Mary Pickford)
His Majesty, The Scarecrow Of Oz
Metropolis (last two versions that came out)
The Extra Girl (Mabel Normand)
The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Conrad Veidt)
Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
Pandora's Box (Louise Brooks)
The Three Musketeers (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Iron Mask (Douglas Fairbanks. His swansong to the Silent Era)
The Black Pirate (Douglas Fairbanks)
Speedy (Harold Lloyd)
Safety Last (Harold Lloyd)
The Kid Brother (Harold Lloyd)
The Harold Lloyd Collection (featuring many of Lloyd's short films)
The Circus (Charlie Chaplin)
Wings (Buddy Rogers, Richard Arlen and Clara Bow)
Die Nibelungen
Robin Hood (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Man Who Laughs (Conrad Veidt. The Joker's look was inspired by the main character)
Nosferatu (Directed by F. W. Murnau)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (John Barrymore)
Phantom Of The Opera (Lon Chaney)
Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Lon Chaney)
Oliver Twist (Lon Chaney)
Poor Little Rich Girl (Mary Pickford)
Pollyanna (Mary Pickford)
Little Annie Rooney (Mary Pickford)
Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (Mary Pickford)
Wizard Of Oz (1914)
Patchwork Girl Of Oz
Magic Cloak Of Oz
The Wizard Of Oz (1925. Remake. First indication that Hollywood had run out of ideas LOL)
College (Buster Keaton)
Various Buster Keaton short films
Various Keystone shorts (featuring Ford Sterling, Mabel Normand, Billy Bevan, Andy Clyde
Various films by Georges Milies
There are still silent films in the hands of studios that haven't been seen in decades. UCLA TV and Film Archives also has silent films that have not been seen in decades in their possession. In this new era of digital-on-demand, I wish they would put those films online available for digital download so that we can see them, and so they can survive. The more people that have copies, the better.
Last edited:
