In need of a suggestion.

[Birdy]

I think The Patsy is a great idea. Funny, funny, and quick moving.
B

[Mr. Arkadin]

I've shown He Who Gets Slapped (1924) to many people who claim not to enjoy silent movies (or black and white for that matter) and always had good results.

Is He Who Gets Slapped available?

It's not commercially available yet (there has been talk about a volume 2 from TCM for about two years now), but I'm sure you could find a copy. My wife just saw me typing this and suggested The Unknown (1927), which is in the TCM Vol.1 set.

[JackFavell]

I forgot to mention that my daughter at nine thinks Modern Times is a scream.... don't know if that translates to thirteen or not.

[jdb1]

I forgot to mention that my daughter at nine thinks Modern Times is a scream.... don't know if that translates to thirteen or not.

That's a very good suggestion. I first saw Modern Times when I was about that age, and loved it to pieces. I've never stopped singing Chaplin's gibberish song, performed in the only sound portion of the movie.

[charliechaplinfan]

Is The Patsy available commercially, it is a great movie, not sure about how a 13 year old boy would take to it.

Modern Times is great. In fact I think you should be a super generous uncle and treat him to the Chaplin box set

[MichiganJ]

More interesting suggestions! Thanks everyone!

I think a good choice might be one that was remade some years later into a talkie. Watch the talkie first, then watch the original silent film upon which it was based

That's an intriguing idea. He's likely seen some movie with Dracula, so perhaps Nosferatu might be interesting. (It's my favorite version of Dracula.)

What about "The Patsy" (1928)? It's such a fresh and funny film.

Fernando and Birdy:
The Patsy is also intriguing. I agree about the pacing, and although, according to my sister, he hasn't yet discovered girls (although he got a bit red in the cheeks when I brought the subject up over Thanksgiving), Marion Davies may be just the nudge he needs…

My wife just saw me typing this and suggested The Unknown (1927), which is in the TCM Vol.1 set.

The Unknown is one of my favorite Chaney/Browning films. Pretty gruesome, too, which, of course would be right up his alley. (Love that it was your wife's recommendation.)

I forgot to mention that my daughter at nine thinks Modern Times is a scream.... don't know if that translates to thirteen or not.

Modern Times is often the film I recommend for newbies to silent film. It's perfect because it has few intertitles, but still has a matching soundtrack, which, as JDB1 notes, allows for Chaplin's song (not to mention the whole gastrointestinal sequence with the preacher's wife--again, right up a boy's alley!) Modern Times also has one of the single most funny sequences in film: the feeding machine!

While he would likely never know, the latest DVD release of Modern Times is truncated (it completely drops Chaplin's last verse in the song, as well as other slights).

Is The Patsy available commercially, it is a great movie, not sure about how a 13 year old boy would take to it.

Yes, through Warner Archives (nice print, too!)

Modern Times is great. In fact I think you should be a super generous uncle and treat him to the Chaplin box set

I will if he ends up liking whatever I send!


Again, thanks for all of the wonderful recommendations!

[feaito]

Modern Times is another great suggestion. I think that The Patsy might be available in the Warner Archives series offered by TCM-Movies Unlimited.

[feaito]

We posted almost at the same time Kevin!!!

[srowley75]

It's been fun reading everyone's comments.

I think Nosferatu would be a good suggestion as well. I seem to recall that when I was an undergrad, I overheard several non-classics fans commenting about Nosferatu's brilliance. The difficulty with that film is finding a good print to show off - some of those public domain prints are astonishingly bad (some even have no soundtrack accompanying them). Kino, an old faithful for silents fans, has recently released a special edition of Nosferatu (which at last glance was albeit quite pricey), but I've not seen their restoration so I can't say how a newbie would respond even to the most pristine presentation of the film.

Modern Times is an all-time favorite of mine and another I might have suggested myself (my sister responded well to it), but (1) it's now on moratorium from all I can tell and (2) even when it was commercially available, it was quite expensive -so all that to say, you'd be taking a pricey risk. From my perspective, it's one you might share with him (i.e., if you were there to watch it as well) but I don't know that I would send it along with any expectation that he'd watch it on his own.

I believe Judith recommended Caligari, and that's another I'd consider, if I were you. Once you could get him to give it a chance, I think he'd be intrigued, especially if he got to see a good print with an appropriately creepy yet well-crafted score. And as I own the Kino version, I can safely say it's worth the cash. It's not my favorite presentation of the film, but it's still a very good one.

-Stephen

[charliechaplinfan]

I've just looked on Amazon.co.uk in Summer last year you could buy the whole collection for £30 now it's gone up to £150. The version I've got is the BFI version, it's one of the best boxsets I've ever bought. A slightly edited version of Modern Times would never do. If you decide on the Gold Rush there are copies out there that contain both versions. The narrated version would go over with a newbie quite well but the silent version is longer and there is bigger build up of the relationship between Charlie and Georgia.

I'm glad The Patsy is out on DVD, does anyone know if any other Marion pictures have been released?

[Ann Harding]

Yes, Milestone Films released Quality Street (1927, S. Franklin) as a supplement to a Marion Davies documentary on DVD, in the US.
Click Here.

[srowley75]

The problem as I see it is finding something he'd be likely to watch on his own. Even at his age, my sister would attempt to view classics with me if I was there to watch with her - but most often, if I wasn't there, she'd watch something else. And that's most definitely true when it comes to silent movies - more often than not, even now I have to wait until she's in the right mood before tackling a silent or foreign language film.

I've done a quick survey of cinema-literate acquaintances I knew in college (older than 13, but about the youngest people I know who've would've seen silent movies) and, of those who even give silent movies a look (some consider themselves extremely broadminded if they watch a film made "as far back as 1970-something"), Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd are pretty much the only actors whose films they've seen. I know one who's seen Caligari and Nosferatu and a couple Murnaus. (And I'm not counting those who've had to watch Potemkin for a class.) So I still say that one of the comedians is the best bet - but after looking over Amazon (I assume you're wanting a R1 disc), good luck with regard to price and availability. Most of Chaplin's films are on moratorium and prohibitively expensive (the Mutuals are available but still pricey, even if you only buy one volume); Keaton's films are available through Kino and somewhat cheaper than Chaplin's but still more than the average movie; and Lloyd's films are only available in an expensive set or else individually through private sellers for about $20-25 apiece, average.

-Stephen

[MichiganJ]

I'm glad The Patsy is out on DVD, does anyone know if any other Marion pictures have been released?

Warner Archives also has: The Red Mill; Cain and Mabel; Operator 13; and Hollywood review of 1929. Show People was available on VHS and laserdisc (but not yet DVD. For shame).

I think Nosferatu would be a good suggestion as well...Kino, an old faithful for silents fans, has recently released a special edition of Nosferatu (which at last glance was albeit quite pricey), but I've not seen their restoration so I can't say how a newbie would respond even to the most pristine presentation of the film.

I have this "Ultimate Edition" released by Kino and it is by far the best print available--better than their or Images previous releases (and surely the public domain editions). It comes from a high-definition video transfer (which bodes well for a possible release on Blu-ray)

The print on Kino's Caligari, too, is quite nice, (better than the Image release) although not perfect.

Modern Times is an all-time favorite of mine and another I might have suggested myself (my sister responded well to it), but (1) it's now on moratorium from all I can tell

The rumor is that Criterion is looking into obtaining the rights for the Chaplin films. This would make the third go-round for them on DVD. If the rumor is true, I hope that they stay closer to the initial CBS/Fox releases, which contained the films as originally released rather than the later Warner Brothers/MK2 editions, which contained the films as they were re-edited by Chaplin late in life. (The exception is The Gold Rush, where Chaplin re-edited the film in the 40's, releasing it with the narrated soundtrack. Both DVD releases of the film contained this edited edition, but the WB/MK2 edition also included the Kevin Brownlow restored silent version (complete with the fade out kiss with Georgia!).

From my perspective, it's one you might share with him (i.e., if you were there to watch it as well) but I don't know that I would send it along with any expectation that he'd watch it on his own.

Believe me, if I didn't live 800-miles away, I'd love to share them with him. Unfortunately, it's likely he's going to be watching whatever I send by himself (I doubt I could convince my sister to sit down and watch a silent film.) I fully expect that whatever I send may get a simple cursory glance, and then be tossed. I hope not, of course, and maybe the goofy film I'm "producing" for him will make him curious about a "real" silent film.

There are so many great suggestions here, I sincerely hope to be able to send them all one day! Just gotta find that one that sparks the interest.
Thanks again, everyone!

[MichiganJ]

Thanks, Stephen, for taking the time to do your survey. I think comedy is the way to go, too. At least to start with.

I just went through my collection and found the perfect disc! Slapstick Masters has four perfect short comedies:
Easy Street--surely one of Chaplin's funniest
Chasing Cho Cho--a terrific Monty Banks short (which was edited down from a feature--keeping all of the good parts.)
Big Business--Laurel and Hardy's best short!
and the best of all:
One Week--one of Keaton's funniest, and, since my nephew's dad is in construction, I bet I can pursued them to watch it together! And you just know that the two will laugh hysterically!
We may actually get two silent films fans from this!

MANY THANKS, EVERYONE! (I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.)

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm heartened that Marion's movies are being released, the Warner movies don't ship to Great Britain yet, more's the pity. Show People is a great movie, it's such a shame that hasn't been released yet.

Good luck with your choice, Big Business is the best of L&H.

Over here, Chaplin's films have been inexpensive and Keaton's expensive (if you want a decent print)