Best films and performances to 1930

[Belle]

My best actors and films range from 1919 to 1930: all films made in Germany, unless otherwise stated.

Best actors:
Conrad Veidt "The Man Who Laughs" 1927 Paul Leni (USA)
Conrad Veidt, "Anders als die Andern", 1919 Richard Oswald (only 25 minutes of extant film survived WW2)
Conrad Veidt, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", 1919 Robert Wiene
Conrad Veidt, "Orlacs Hände", 1924 Robert Wiene (Austria)

Emil Jannings, "Der Blaue Engel", 1930 Joseph von Sternberg (it makes me choke to suggest Jannings because he was a loyal Nazi!)
Emil Jannings, "Der Letzte Mann", 1924 FW Murnau
Emil Jannings, "The Last Command", 1928 Joseph von Sternberg (USA)
Gustav Fröhlich, "Metropolis", 1927 Fritz Lang
Louise Brooks, "Pandora's Box" 1929 GW Pabst
Renee Falconetti, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 Carl-Theodor Dreyer (Denmark)
Douglas Fairbanks, "The Thief of Bagdad" 1924 Raoul Walsh (USA)

Best films are all these too!!

[Swithin]

One of my favorite silent films is the two-part The Indian Tomb (1921), and one of my favorite silent film performances is Conrad Veidt, who plays Ayan III, the Maharajah of Bengal, in the film.

[Belle]

Yes!!!!!! I've recently ordered it on Ebay but there's absolutely no sign of it!!!

"Conny" Veidt and those beautiful eyes!! What's not to love?? British director Michael Powell referred to Veidt's "magnificent authority".

[laffite]

Yes!!!!!! I've recently ordered it on Ebay but there's absolutely no sign of it!!!

"Conny" Veidt and those beautiful eyes!! What's not to love?? British director Michael Powell referred to Veidt's "magnificent authority".

Belle, you complimented me on this thread as having "discernment" in my choice of Dodsworth as a fave '30s film. I have been indisposed by an epidemic of nasty things to computers when go wrong, and have not been here of late. I hope you didn't erase it because of a thought that I was slighting you for not answering. I am also open to the possibility that it was a joke, as all here would presume to have "discernment" regarding film.

Except me perhaps. If it was a joke, then you have chosen the right person for that. To have true discernment one has to have a repertoire of viewing history. I am low on the totem pole in that. I have seen demonstrably fewer films in the Golden Era (and later too, maybe) than most others here and am far less knowledgeable. I know little about studios (a few obvious things only) and what distinguishes one filmmaker from another in the Golden Era (a few obvious things only)

Dodsworth is a great film and plays especially well in our own time. Somewhere in the TCM Archive I have a long post on Dodsworth which was powered not by discernment but by sheer enthusiasm. I actually started posting on the movie before I finished seeing if for the first time. I was saying things like, "I can't believe that a film can this be this good!" I was enthralled by Fran, sitting at her bureau with goop all over face, bickering with Sam. Ruth Chatterton is out of this world. The by the way Sam I'm spending the summer with this man at his Italian Villa. I may have see Ruth Chatteron earlier (Female 1933) but I had never seen anything like Fran, so well acted as she was. A tragic figure, to have illusions meet with reality. Edith Cortwright is one of my favorite characters ever. If I were Keenyn Wynn in that Twilight Zone episode, I would have described Edith into the tape recorder. Now I am trying to recall the innumerable glories of this film but it has been awhile an no doubt another viewing is indicated.

Thanks Belle

[umop apisdn]

John Gilbert in The Big Parade (1925)
Janet Gaynor in Sunrise and 7th Heaven (1927)
Renee Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Lillian Gish in The Wind (1928)
Charles Chaplin in The Gold Rush (1925)

[Belle]

Yes!!!!!! I've recently ordered it on Ebay but there's absolutely no sign of it!!!

"Conny" Veidt and those beautiful eyes!! What's not to love?? British director Michael Powell referred to Veidt's "magnificent authority".

Belle, you complimented me on this thread as having "discernment" in my choice of Dodsworth as a fave '30s film. I have been indisposed by an epidemic of nasty things to computers when go wrong, and have not been here of late. I hope you didn't erase it because of a thought that I was slighting you for not answering. I am also open to the possibility that it was a joke, as all here would presume to have "discernment" regarding film.

Except me perhaps. If it was a joke, then you have chosen the right person for that. To have true discernment one has to have a repertoire of viewing history. I am low on the totem pole in that. I have seen demonstrably fewer films in the Golden Era (and later too, maybe) than most others here and am far less knowledgeable. I know little about studios (a few obvious things only) and what distinguishes one filmmaker from another in the Golden Era (a few obvious things only)

Dodsworth is a great film and plays especially well in our own time. Somewhere in the TCM Archive I have a long post on Dodsworth which was powered not by discernment but by sheer enthusiasm. I actually started posting on the movie before I finished seeing if for the first time. I was saying things like, "I can't believe that a film can this be this good!" I was enthralled by Fran, sitting at her bureau with goop all over face, bickering with Sam. Ruth Chatterton is out of this world. The by the way Sam I'm spending the summer with this man at his Italian Villa. I may have see Ruth Chatteron earlier (Female 1933) but I had never seen anything like Fran, so well acted as she was. A tragic figure, to have illusions meet with reality. Edith Cortwright is one of my favorite characters ever. If I were Keenyn Wynn in that Twilight Zone episode, I would have described Edith into the tape recorder. Now I am trying to recall the innumerable glories of this film but it has been awhile an no doubt another viewing is indicated.

Thanks Belle

Let me assure you it was no joke, as I never joke about great cinema. These films are as important in their way to the culture as Pride and Prejudice was for the culture of its time. I set a high bar on discernment!! Wide viewing or not, you've chosen an excellent film in 'Dodsworth' which remains overlooked these days. Walter Huston was just astonishing in all his films, particularly this one and "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". And "The Furies", which remains one of my favourite westerns. (That and "Johnny Guitar" are both hybrids which enjoyed top directors in John Huston and Nick Ray respectively.)

[Belle]

On the subject of Conrad Veidt (a topic and personage I never grow tired of discussing), this scene at 45 minutes here in Part 2 of The Indian Tomb absolutely blew my sox off!! Veidt was a volcano: shades of Cesare from "Cabinet" in this sequence!! Veidt developed a habit of closing his eyes during very dramatic scenes, in both silents and talking pictures. Veidt was an enigmatic fusion of androgyny and masculinity.

The continuity is very good in this film, especially in this sequence. (I worked as Continuity myself some decades ago for television - documentary film.)

[laffite]

On the subject of Conrad Veidt (a topic and personage I never grow tired of discussing), this scene at 45 minutes here in Part 2 of The Indian Tomb absolutely blew my sox off!! Veidt was a volcano: shades of Cesare from "Cabinet" in this sequence!! Veidt developed a habit of closing his eyes during very dramatic scenes, in both silents and talking pictures. Veidt was an enigmatic fusion of androgyny and masculinity.

The continuity is very good in this film, especially in this sequence. (I worked as Continuity myself some decades ago for television - documentary film.)

Have you seen The Beloved Rogue (1927) I love this one. J.Barrymore is the famed French poet, Francois Villon, and Conrad Viedt is King Louis XI. Conrad spends a lot of time being hunched over. In place of regal splendor he comes across as a snake. Marceline Day is Charlotte de Vauxcelles, love interest to Francois.

The movie is in the public domain but the original music is not. The film, as found on IMDB, is completely silent throughout. There is, however, a print where a third-party has added some music. But not for all the film, about an hours worth and so there are long passages that has no music at all. The music used is listed in the comments section.

I've seen this three times and will back again. The captions are brilliant, very amusing. Whoever the author, much credit deserving. There is a six-minute wooing scene that is moving and so well done. Marceline Day is a treasure. She and Conrad are more Expressionist while Barrymore is natural/modern.

[Belle]

No, I haven't watched it right through as I'm yet to see a good restoration. I see you've posted a pretty reasonable one, though the frame speed is still somewhat varied!! It has some luminaries in the credits: William Cameron Menzies and Paul Bern, being just two of these.

You mention the acting styles, and this sums up some of the differences between German cinema of that period and its American and English counterparts!!

Yesterday I put on a party for a significant birthday for my spouse; 20 friends came and I started talking to them about cinema of the Wiemar Republic and its comparison with English and American cinema (I know nothing much about French or Danish!). The only comment from my guests was "you should go on "Mastermind"!! (Sigh)

[Swithin]

Yesterday I put on a party for a significant birthday for my spouse; 20 friends came and I started talking to them about cinema of the Wiemar Republic and its comparison with English and American cinema (I know nothing much about French or Danish!). The only comment from my guests was "you should go on "Mastermind"!! (Sigh)

Speaking of Weimar, have you seen Babylon Berlin? It's a fabulous German series about the Weimar years. Some of it has to do with the film industry at that time. It has the most incredible production values and is the most expensive television series ever produced, that's not in English. I'm waiting for the next season of it, which is available, but Netflix seems to be dragging its heels.

Have a look at this incredible scene, in a Weimar nightclub:

[Belle]

ABSOLUTE WOW, WOW!! Thanks for the heads-up and please report here when you know more about that next series. I haven't seen any of it.