Shhhhh! It's Time to Pick Your Bestavorite Silents!

[inglis]

Hi Inglis! I was happy to see Grand Hotel on your list. I'm almost tempted to include it on mine. That, or Ninotchka.

Thanks ,I saw it for the first time and I thought this has to be on my list

[cinemalover]

Bryce,
I hope you'll decide to participate with a list. As you can tell from reading through this thread, these lists can be very informative in helping us all learn a little more about each other. It's not about which film wins, it's about the process and discussion along the road.

[Bogie]

I have a suggestion, in a couple of months time say, in Feb. we should do our 25 least favourite films list. That would be pretty interesting as well.

[jdb1]

I have a suggestion, in a couple of months time say, in Feb. we should do our 25 least favourite films list. That would be pretty interesting as well.

I'm for that idea, Bogie. That will surely spark some intense debate among us.

[klondike]

I have a suggestion, in a couple of months time say, in Feb. we should do our 25 least favourite films list. That would be pretty interesting as well.

That's a GREAT idea, Bogie!
And for most of us, the selection process would probably be at least a little less nerve wracking, and minus that haunting sense of betrayal!
And HEY, how 'bout this for a "big i-dee" as Walt Brennan used to say: for a grand follow-up finale (and another sweet piece of labor for C-Lover Chris), afterwards publish a "Love/Hate" list of all the movies that made both of the Best and Worst final lists!
That should tear up the ol' saloon!

[Mr. Arkadin]

On another tack, anyone else notice that Pandora's Box (1928) or any Louise Brooks film has not made a list yet? Renoir's works are not represented either.

That's a horrible omission on my part, although I would have chosen "Diary of a Lost Girl." I really hate doing lists like this, because there are always some that I realize later "Oh my god! how could I have forgotten that!

I can think of five right now that should be on my list, including that one.

I like Diary as well. I recently picked up Prix de Beaute (1930) and love that one also.

I was glad Way Down East (1920) got a nod. I would say the river sequence is one of the most amazing shots in film history. Gish said her hair actually froze and her arm felt like it was in a fire hanging in the water (frostbite). There are so many silents and FF that never got mention though.

[MikeBSG]

Okay, these are my 25 favorite American films.

1) Steamboat Bill, Jr.
2) Scarface (Hawks)
3) City Lights
4) Duck Soup
5) "That Fatal Glass of Beer"
6) Bride of Frankenstein
7) Adventures of Robin Hood
Destry Rides Again
9) Citizen Kane
10) The Lady Eve
11) Notorious
12) It's a Wonderful Life
13) Sunset Blvd.
14) Singin' in the Rain
15) Shane
16) The Searchers
17) Psycho
18) Dr. Strangelove
19) The Wild Bunch
20) Taxi Driver
21) Annie Hall
22) Edward Scissorhands
23) Deconstructing Harry
24) Short Cuts
25) a tie between The Body Snatcher/The Killers (Siodmak)/Scarlet Street/Rear Window/Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Looking at it, I'm surprised by how much comedy I have on the list. I'm also surprised at the big gap between "Annie Hall" and "Edward Scissorhands." Maybe "The Right Stuff" might slip in there someday.

[Jezebel38]

There are so many silents and FF that never got mention though.

I was going to comment on this earlier, when Pandora's Box was mentioned - another title missing is Metropolis, which generally pops up on these types of lists.

Since we are here in the US, and my guess is that most of peoples classic film watching is via TCM and (the old) AMC, I would not expect to see many foreign films be included in these lists. And silent films can be an aquired taste - I have not been able to get either of my siblings to give them a try. And a foreign silent film? Double whammy! These kind of films used to be played on the old Bravo and Arts channels, but no more. Mr. Arkadin seems to be the most cosmopolitan in his film tastes; I have 2 silents and 2 foreign films on my list by comparison. But once again, being an American and the dominance of the golden era of Hollywood, I would expect to see just a smattering of these titles on our choices.

[MikeBSG]

I deliberately kept my list all-American. I had "Metropolis" and "Seven Samurai" "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" and "Red Shoes" on my list at one point, but the mental calculus of measuring those enjoyable experiences against those I get from watching American films eventually got too much.

[Lzcutter]

I don't mean this to sound as smug as it seems, I was looking over my list one more time and realized that I had seen all the films on it, except Robin Hood with Doug Sr. on the big screen.

It's a tribute to the old revival and art houses that we used to have here in Los Angeles like the Vagabond, the Fox Venice, the Rialto (where I saw TKAM on a double bill with Night of the Hunter) and many more that are now just memories of an amazing time pre-VCR where the bill changed almost daily and there was always something to see.

The Silent Film Theater is where I had the opportunity to see many of the great silents on the big screen but alas, Robin Hood has always eluded me.

This is a shout out as well to the Film Programmers at UCLA and USC.

Special thanks to those who added Way Down East to your lists. It is an amazing film.

[Jezebel38]

Lynn - a few of us touched upon this in the "The Movies of YOUR Life" thread that MikeBSG started. I had a very similar experience to yours, posted in the other thread, only up here in the SF Bay area. Moraldo hasn't chimed in yet, but I think he frequented the revival houses in SF at about this same time.

[SSO Admins]

I definitely need to do some tinkering with my list. I have three Griffiths but no G.W. Pabst. There is nothing with Clara Bow in it, and she definitely deserves a slot, even though none of her movies can be considered great -- Wingsor It are the obvious choices, although I have a real soft spot for Call Her Savage.

I have two Murnaus, although I could frankly add two or three more. He is without question my favorite director. But where is John Ford? He needs to be there.

To answer a couple of earlier comments by various folks: I considered Metropolis, but I just don't think it's Lang's best work -- most ambitious yes, but best, no. I did include M, with Destiny running a close second but not quite making it.

Way Down East is a terrific film, but so is Broken Blossoms. If i have to remove one it will probably be Intolerance, but that feels like a betrayal to my beloved Mountain Girl, who I fell completely in love with the first time I saw it. Bah. And what about Orphans of the Storm?

I'm really pleased at the unexpectedly strong showing of Gold Diggers of 1933.

And to Jezebel38 -- I wouldn't say that a foreign silent is a double whammy. In the silent era movies were as close to universal as they have ever been, since translation of the intertitles was all that was necessary. Sound foreign movies are probably harder to watch than silents, assuming that one can learn to watch silents.

[movieman1957]

I have a suggestion, in a couple of months time say, in Feb. we should do our 25 least favourite films list. That would be pretty interesting as well.

Now all we have to do is remember to do it. Calendars everyone.

[cinemalover]

Mike,
Thanks for joining the listies. But no Hammer Horrors?? What must Mr.Cushing and Mr. Lee be thinking now?

[movieman]

Well, I have to mention I'd already compiled a list of 78 films I don't enjoy.
So, the (maybe hard) task will be to pick out 25 from all those.

Sincerely

movieman