The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

An ongoing project to survey the best films of individual decades, genres, and filmmakers.
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Shrew
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#126 Post by Shrew » Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:33 am

I considered voting for Within Our Gates, but I don’t find the arguments for its narrative nesting/cutting very compelling. They’re just too messy and confused to make much impact, though I can appreciate that Micheaux had higher goals than the slapdash structure suggests. But it does mean that the whirlwind final act hits particularly hard, like headlights piercing through a fog. The raw depiction of these terrible acts transcends the loose narrative and simple techniques. It’s interesting to compare it to Eleven A.M., which is significantly more sophisticated, though it doesn’t have much to say outside its mere existence as a piece of entertainment by and about African Americans.
domino harvey wrote:
Mon Jun 11, 2018 3:13 pm
I can't in good conscience stand by and let Speedy and Master of the House be orphaned, guess I'm submitting a list
Domino, I know you were underwhelmed by the Lloyd films you saw prior to Speedy, but what were they? Cause if you haven’t seen Girl Shy, then that ought to be a priority. I don’t get why the Lloyd estate/Criterion seem to devalue this one, as it’s the best showcase for what Lloyd does best as a romantic lead (while still providing some great stunts and one fantastic chase sequence). Speaking of which, one of my orphans was Dr. Jack. It’s like a not terrible (and far less liable for medical malpractice).version of Patch Adams that ends with the longest and zaniest Scooby-Doo chase I’ve seen.

Also, while The Playhouse is my second favorite Keaton short, I'll always be a One Week man, which was the first full Keaton film I ever saw. (But I didn't vote for it cause there were already five Keaton features on my list.)

Meanwhile, I’m going to try and watch as many of the orphans listed in top 10s as I can. I don’t suppose anyone can point me to Vidor’s Wild Oranges or Narkose (Anesthesia?)? Here’s the first one I watched:

Hell Ship (Sjostrom 1923)I don’t know why I keep being shocked to see the Swedish film industry operating at such a high level. I had the same reaction to The Saga of Gosta Berling, and both films are clear continuations of their respective director’s work in the 10s. Here, Sjostrom continues the skilled use of exteriors and his exploration of the angry, conflicted men who inhabit them. This one won’t take over Phantom Carriage on my list, but I’m glad to have caught it.

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swo17
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#127 Post by swo17 » Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:03 am

As a reminder, you all have the rest of this week to send me new lists or revisions to your original ones.

And now, as a bit of a hint, there is one director who has had all of his films that received votes last time move up in rank, by almost 40 places on average!

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swo17
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#128 Post by swo17 » Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:48 pm

Another list, another bunch of orphans:

Erotikon (Mauritz Stiller, 1920) 15
Tusalava (Len Lye, 1929) 17
Rien que les heures (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1926) 26
Études sur Paris (André Sauvage, 1928) 32
Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse (Henri Chomette, 1925) 33
The Iron Horse (John Ford, 1924) 35
The Chechahcos (Lewis Moomaw, 1923) 37
In Spring (Mikhail Kaufman, 1929) 38
Ghosts Before Breakfast (Hans Richter, 1928) 39
Faces of Children (Jacques Feyder, 1925) 41
The House of Mystery (Alexandre Volkoff, 1923) 42
The Manxman (Alfred Hitchcock, 1929) 46
The Cat and the Canary (Paul Leni, 1927) 47
The Fall of the House of Usher (James Watson & Melville Webber, 1928) 49

Also, Gus Visser and His Singing Duck and Gardiens de phare now belong on the "New Films" list, i.e. zero votes last time, at least two this time.

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Minkin
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#129 Post by Minkin » Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:15 am

I was surprised to only have 18 orphans this round! Also glad to see many of my choices not end up in the orphanage: Laila, Black Pirate, Grass, Piccadilly, etc. This was an extremely tough decade for me to narrow down to 50 - as there's just too many quality choices. My #50 choice was still only an 8/10 rating for me, so that demonstrates the scope of the problem.

Sorry to everyone - as I really wanted / hoped to participate in the discussion for this round, but I've had a lot going on, so I haven't been posting as much here (like I ever posted that much to begin with!). Since I want some of my orphans rescued, I'll give a defense here. I'll look through the orphans list and see if anything came down to the wire. I can watch several short films if anyone has any highly recommended short orphans!

I'll look through some of those Keaton shorts and see if I'm misremembering my appreciation for some of those that ended up as orphans + I think I might add It (1927) onto my list.

Anyway, here were my orphans with a last minute plea (written hastily /badly, since I don't have time to go in-depth right now) to get some votes:

In Youth, Beside the Lonely Sea (1925)
Found on the Unseen Cinema set (or youtube). This short is just beautifully composed. From the simple poem, to the triptych cinematography (take that Napoleon!). If you are going to see any film in the last few days, then make it this 5min short.

The Freshman (1925)
I can see why people might favor other Lloyd films + there might be some vote splitting going on here, but I still find this to be his best film. Perhaps I'm overly sentimental from my first viewing + love of the score. It might not be as frantic as other Lloyd films, but Keaton decided to steal the concept, so it did something right.

The Haunted House (1921)
My favorite Keaton of the decade. It of course devolves into a bit of "Scooby Doo running around a house," but there's just too many quality gags + joke intertiles here ("That night the Daredevil Opera Company was executing Faust - and he deserved it").

The Great White Silence (1924)
Surprised nobody else voted for this - given the luxury treatment from the BFI. It of course has its share of penguin filler, but the events are extremely captivating. There's plenty of other arctic documentaries out there (With Byrd at the South Pole (1930)) - but those are all terribly hokey by comparison. Here is the raw thrill of humanity's attempts to conquer the unknown - and not always succeed in the process.

The Monster (1925)
For some reason, I find very few of Lon Chaney Sr's films interesting - since he plays the same character in every film. Here he is the madman owner of an insane asylum that has its share of mysteries. Its a bit of an Old Dark House film, with some good measures of humor thrown in. I was really surprised upon seeing this, and its since become a favorite. Its a great mix of comedy + unsettling creepiness.

Two Tars (1928)
I find this to be the best + funniest thing Laurel and Hardy ever made. My first viewing was with a great crowd of friends and it was rather uproarious laughter as the characters just destroy each other's vehicles. I think L&H have fallen off the radar alot (along with WC Fields for that matter) in recent times, but its clear, even from their origins that they had great talent. Though I will be voting for many of their 30s films where they are more like a queer couple.

The Patsy (1928)
Marion Davies is a really under-appreciated comedian. I know that Show People will likely be high on people's lists - but this film is just better in every regard.

Sound Test for Blackmail (1929)
I don't expect anyone else to vote for this. I just find the whole thing amusing - like that this stupid 30 second clip is counted in Hitchcock's filmography; or how even back then he just comes across as a big pervert. I suppose its just not what I expected, and I appreciate that even in the 20s, people would still just fuck around with the newest tech.

Big Business (1929)
OK, so its a rehash of Two Tars, but its still hilarious.

Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924)
This is too bizarre not to admire. You just have to appreciate the art direction choices they made with those martians. It reminds me a bit of the pre-code film Madam Satan (1930) in that regards, but this is a far more competent film.

Steamboat Willie (1928)
I suppose I mostly love the music accompanying the short; but most all of Disney's shorts are of fantastic quality (expect several of them to show up as later decade's orphans - like Corn Chips (1951)). I'm no Disney fanatic by any means (despite this disease running strongly in my family), but I find this too important to leave off - for the whole bloated empire that resulted from this film.

The Trail of ’98 (1928)
This is reminiscent of Grass (1925) - showing the perilous journey of the people on the Alaskan Gold Rush (which a relative of mine was a part of), but this also follows a narrative. I just find the history of the event to be fascinating more than anything else - but the narrative serves itself well and has probably one of cinema's first examples of
SpoilerShow
someone being burnt to death /being set afire
Spite Marriage (1929) - More Keaton vote splitting. I'll probably replace this with another Keaton short/film.

Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (1920)
There's no real excuse here. Its one of the first "horror" feature films. I'm surprised by its absence. Also surprised to see that the same concept has been done in other cultures - be it Daimajin in Japan or even North Korea's Pulgasari! I suppose people like the timeless tale of the repressed being saved by some mythical entity. Just odd to see it repeatedly done by the "statue come to life."

Catalina, Here I Come (1927)
I have to watch anything related to Catalina for some reason, and it turns out this Mack Sennett two reeler is alot of fun in the process. Since its destined to be an orphan, I think I'll drop it in favor of something else.

The Viking (1928)
I can't get enough two-strip Technicolor + this historical romance has enough interesting things to merit a watch. The best part being that they try to argue at the very end that some tower in Rhode Island was built by the Vikings

The Red Mill (1927)
More quality Marion Davies work - centered around a spooky old mill where nobody wants to go near it + a bit of Cinderella thrown in. Directed by Fatty Arbuckle of all people.
======================================
No longer orphans:

Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (1925)
I guess I like early sound films, like the Dickson Experimental Sound Test. And its just amusing to me as to what they chose to do with their new tech: have some guy making a duck quack along to his dumb song. I just wonder what happened to this guy? Was the duck a regular part of his act? Did he win some talent show? Too many unanswered questions. I just appreciate the oddity of it all, and how early sound plays against expectations. I see that this has since been rescued! Thanks to that other crazy soul out there!

Speedy (1928)
I absolutely adore Harold Lloyd, and consider him the best of the "big three" - but I've been waiting to watch his films until they come out on Criterion - as I'd rather appreciate them in better quality / I have enough else on my plate. It appears that Domino will be rescuing this film, so I heartily say thanks!
------------------------

If people want to post some <20min short films that they recommend + are easily accessible (either online or on the Unseen Cinema set), I'll watch them before the deadline. Again, sorry for cutting things so close to the end!

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swo17
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#130 Post by swo17 » Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:47 am

Minkin wrote:
Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:15 am
Since its destined to be an orphan, I think I'll drop it in favor of something else.
Unless its appearance on the orphan list or your recommendation prompts someone else to list it... If it's really one of your 50 favorites you should keep it!

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Satori
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#131 Post by Satori » Sat Jun 23, 2018 12:14 pm

Minkin wrote:
Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:15 am
Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924)
This is too bizarre not to admire. You just have to appreciate the art direction choices they made with those martians. It reminds me a bit of the pre-code film Madam Satan (1930) in that regards, but this is a far more competent film.
I think I'll join you with this one. The thing that I find most interesting about the film are its competing generic discourses: it is basically a 90 minute social realist film with a 20 minute sci-fi movie film tacked onto it. The whole first part of the film is about this opposition between "reality" (i.e. dialectical materialism) and forms of fantasy: the rich guy who fantasizes about his pre-revolution wealth and the main character's obsession with space travel. Both of these forms of dreaming take the characters away from the work of building up the Soviet Union following the New Economic Policy.

At the same time, though, the Mars sequences introduce an opposition between mise-en-scene and montage. There is the fascinating montage sequence through which the film explains the slave revolt: there is a shot of a worker in chains, cut to him with a hammer smashing model buildings, cut to him forging a sickle, etc. But silent sci-fi is all about mise-en-scene: the films's architecture is like German Expressionism-lite, with some weird, curvy stairways and large rooms. So now we have an opposition between two forms of modernist cinema to add to the film's opposition between realism and modernism. It's all great fun!

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the preacher
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#132 Post by the preacher » Sun Jun 24, 2018 4:24 pm

I'm too lazy to revise my original ballot, but I see some of my runners-up among the orphans:
Underground (Anthony Asquith, 1928) 21
The Chronicles of the Gray House (Arthur von Gerlach, 1925) 20
The Marriage Circle (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924) 40
Tol'able David (Henry King, 1921) 41
Hindle Wakes (Maurice Elvey, 1927) 31
The Golem (Paul Wegener & Carl Boese, 1920) 45
The House of Mystery (Alexandre Volkoff, 1923) 42
...

Apologies for not being supportive.

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swo17
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#133 Post by swo17 » Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:33 am

Thanks to everyone for your participation this round. I'll be releasing the results shortly in the next three posts. Here as usual is a guide to what the figures listed after each film represent, each separated with a slash mark:

1. Total points (50 for each #1 placement, 49 for each #2, etc.)
2. Number of lists the film appeared on (out of 14 submitted). If the film appeared in anyone's top 10, the number of top 10 appearances is also denoted in parentheses.
3. Highest placement of the film on any one list. If more than one person ranked the film this high, this is also denoted in parentheses.
4. Change in position from the 2011 list, with movements of 10 or more highlighted.

So for example, the 351/9(5)/2(x2)/+15 shown for Metropolis means that it scored 351 points and appeared on nine lists (and five top 10s), with two people ranking it as high as #2. The film also moved up fifteen positions from its placement on the 2011 list.

For the list of orphans, only figure #3 is displayed (the highest rank, not the score given).

If anyone would like me to PM them a list of how all of their picks fared in the overall tally (rather than having to scour through all of the results) it's a simple thing for me to do. Just let me know.

I'll start the 1930s thread in the next few days. In the meantime, feel free to continue discussion in this thread regarding the results of this project and to share your individual lists (including defenses of your poor-faring favorites).

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swo17
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#134 Post by swo17 » Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:33 am

The 1920s List

01. Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927) 451/11(7)/1(x2)/+1
02. La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (Carl Dreyer, 1928) 430/10(8)/2/-1
03. Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) 387/10(5)/1/+3
04. Lonesome (Pál Fejös, 1928) 386/11(5)/2/+1
05. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924) 365/10(4)/1/+2
06. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) 351/9(5)/2(x2)/+15
07. Der letzte Mann (F.W. Murnau, 1924) 340/11(4)/5(x2)/-3
08. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920) 330/9(4)/2/+22
09. Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (Fritz Lang, 1922) 329/11(2)/3/+15
10. Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922) 324/10(4)/2/+6
11. The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926) 313/9(3)/1/-8
12. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924) 310/8(3)/1/+2
13. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) 298/7(5)/1(x2)/+2
(tie) Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924) 298/11(2)/1/+27
15. The Fall of the House of Usher (Jean Epstein, 1928) 285/10(4)/2/+3
16. Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926) 281/8(2)/8/-3
17. The Docks of New York (Josef von Sternberg, 1928) 280/8(3)/1/-6
18. A Page of Madness (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926) 260/8(2)/1/-9
19. Faust (F.W. Murnau, 1926) 223/8(2)/5/-7
20. Un chien andalou (Luis Buñuel, 1929) 213/9(2)/6/+2
21. The Last Command (Josef von Sternberg, 1928) 204/10/13/-2
22. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton, 1925) 201/8(2)/4/+27
23. Napoléon (Abel Gance, 1927) 193/7(1)/4/+5
24. Spione (Fritz Lang, 1928) 184/8(1)/10/+49
25. The Wind (Victor Sjöström, 1928) 177/7/12/-17
26. The Crowd (King Vidor, 1928) 173/6(1)/9/-16
27. 7th Heaven (Frank Borzage, 1927) 164/5(2)/5/-4
28. Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton & John Blystone, 1923) 163/5(2)/7(x2)/-3
29. Michael (Carl Dreyer, 1924) 158/4(3)/5(x2)/+17
30. The Cameraman (Buster Keaton & Edward Sedgwick, 1928) 148/6(1)/6/+43
31. Safety Last! (Fred Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923) 146/6/19/+3
32. The Phantom Carriage (Victor Sjöström, 1921) 144/7/14/-7
33. One Week (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1920) 139/6(1)/6/+24
34. The Wedding March (Erich von Stroheim, 1928) 137/5(1)/5/-7
35. Varieté (E.A. Dupont, 1925) 136/7(1)/6/+46
36. Cœur fidèle (Jean Epstein, 1923) 134/5/15/+23
37. Walking from Munich to Berlin (Oskar Fischinger, 1927) 132/4(1)/2/+4
(tie) Pandora's Box (G.W. Pabst, 1929) 132/7/23(x3)/-8
39. The Big Parade (King Vidor, 1925) 125/5/11/-2
40. There It Is (Charles Bowers & H.L. Muller, 1928) 124/4/13/+10
41. The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924) 123/5(1)/7/+35
(tie) Frau im Mond (Fritz Lang, 1929) 123/4/18/+95
43. Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922) 118/5(1)/3/+35
44. The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927) 109/3(1)/8/+7
45. Lucky Star (Frank Borzage, 1929) 108/4/12/+33
46. The Love Parade (Ernst Lubitsch, 1929) 107/3/11/+12
47. My Grandmother (Kote Mikaberidze, 1929) 106/3(1)/10/+25
48. The Lodger (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927) 104/4/18/-3
49. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Walter Ruttmann, 1927) 102/4(1)/5/+27
(tie) Piccadilly (E.A. Dupont, 1929) 102/5/22/+29
51. Underworld (Josef von Sternberg, 1927) 100/5/22/-4
52. Asphalt (Joe May, 1929) 99/4/17(x2)/-21
53. The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (Hanns Schwarz, 1929) 95/3(2)/4/-21
(tie) Girl Shy (Fred Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1924) 95/4(1)/3/+18
55. Finis terræ (Jean Epstein, 1929) 94/3(1)/6/-35
56. Steamboat Bill, Jr. (Buster Keaton & Chas Reisner, 1928) 91/4(1)/7/+8
(tie) Cops (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1922) 91/4/15/+46
58. L'Inhumaine (Marcel L'Herbier, 1924) 90/4(1)/9/+61
59. He Who Gets Slapped (Victor Sjöström, 1924) 87/4(1)/7/-12
60. Diary of a Lost Girl (G.W. Pabst, 1929) 86/3/17/-8
61. The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin, 1925) 85/6/25/-28
62. Gardiens de phare (Jean Grémillon, 1929) 81/2(1)/9/New
(tie) A Cottage on Dartmoor (Anthony Asquith, 1929) 81/3(1)/4/-45
64. Foolish Wives (Erich von Stroheim, 1922) 79/3/17/+4
65. My Best Girl (Sam Taylor, 1927) 77/2(1)/10/-4
(tie) The Kid (Charles Chaplin, 1921) 77/3(1)/3/-3
67. La Roue (Abel Gance, 1923) 75/4(1)/10/-13
(tie) The Joyless Street (G.W. Pabst, 1925) 75/4/12/+24
69. Wings (William Wellman, 1927) 74/3(1)/9/+23
70. Erotikon (Gustav Machatý, 1929) 73/3(1)/8/-10
71. The Merry Widow (Erich von Stroheim, 1925) 72/2(1)/1/-17
72. The Smiling Madame Beudet (Germaine Dulac, 1923) 71/2(1)/4/New
73. Maldone (Jean Grémillon, 1928) 70/3(1)/6/-37
74. The Playhouse (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1921) 69/2(1)/2/+10
(tie) Street Angel (Frank Borzage, 1928) 69/2/16/-30
76. Flesh and the Devil (Clarence Brown, 1926) 67/2(1)/8/+38
(tie) Strike (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) 67/4/26/+78
78. Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (Lotte Reiniger, 1926) 66/2(1)/3/-39
(tie) Days of Youth (Yasujirō Ozu, 1929) 66/2(1)/9/-25
(tie) The Black Pirate (Albert Parker, 1926) 66/2/12/New
81. Never Weaken (Fred Newmeyer, 1921) 65/3(1)/4/+3
82. Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, 1922) 63/2/16/+38
83. Fräulein Else (Paul Czinner, 1929) 61/3/18/New
84. Bed and Sofa (Abram Room, 1927) 60/2/14/-42
85. L'Invitation au voyage (Germaine Dulac, 1927) 58/2(1)/1/+3
86. The Circus (Charles Chaplin, 1928) 57/4/30/-24
87. Sylvester (Lupu Pick, 1924) 56/2(1)/4/New
(tie) The Penalty (Wallace Worsley, 1920) 56/2(1)/6/+64
(tie) The Life and Death of 9413, a Hollywood Extra (Robert Florey & Slavko Vorkapich, 1928) 56/2/14/New
(tie) Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock, 1929) 56/4/22/-52
91. At the Edge of the World (Karl Grune, 1927) 55/2/21/New
(tie) Homecoming (Joe May, 1928) 55/3/25(x2)/+45
93. Queen Kelly (Erich von Stroheim, 1929) 53/5/20/-55
94. Sparrows (William Beaudine, 1926) 52/2(1)/6/New
95. Lady Windermere's Fan (Ernst Lubitsch, 1925) 51/3/27/-25
96. Harbor Drift (Leo Mittler, 1929) 50/2/22/+30
97. Speedy (Ted Wilde, 1928) 49/2(1)/7/New
(tie) October (Sergei Eisenstein & Grigori Aleksandrov, 1928) 49/3/21/+25
99. Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (Ernest Schoedsack & Merian Cooper, 1925) 47/2(1)/6/New
(tie) Sadie Thompson (Raoul Walsh, 1928) 47/2(1)/6/New
(tie) Zvenigora (Alexander Dovzhenko, 1928) 47/2(1)/10/-56


Top Directors

Buster Keaton (16 films, 1705 points)
F.W. Murnau (7 films, 1408 points)
Fritz Lang (6 films, 1326 points)
Erich von Stroheim (5 films, 651 points)
Carl Dreyer (5 films, 644 points)
Josef von Sternberg (5 films, 601 points)
Jean Epstein (6 films, 578 points)
Victor Sjöström (5 films, 481 points)
Sergei Eisenstein (4 films, 454 points)
King Vidor (6 films, 443 points)

Pál Fejös (2 films, 412 points)
Dziga Vertov (2 films, 402 points)
Sam Taylor (6 films, 402 points)
Fred Newmeyer (5 films, 387 points)
Edward Cline (8 films, 387 points)
Frank Borzage (4 films, 382 points)
G.W. Pabst (6 films, 359 points)
Robert Wiene (2 films, 340 points)
Clyde Bruckman (1 film, 313 points)
Teinosuke Kinugasa (2 films, 281 points)

Dimitri Kirsanoff (1 film, 281 points)
Abel Gance (2 films, 268 points)
E.A. Dupont (2 films, 238 points)
Charles Chaplin (4 films, 229 points)
Luis Buñuel (1 film, 213 points)
Alfred Hitchcock (5 films, 205 points)
Ernst Lubitsch (4 films, 201 points)
Germaine Dulac (3 films, 172 points)
Raoul Walsh (2 films, 170 points)
John Blystone (1 film, 163 points)

Joe May (2 films, 154 points)
Hanns Schwarz (3 films, 152 points)
Jean Grémillon (2 films, 151 points)
Edward Sedgwick (1 film, 148 points)
Charles Bowers & H.L. Muller (2 films, 140 points)
Cecil B. DeMille (4 films, 136 points)
Marcel L'Herbier (2 films, 133 points)
Oskar Fischinger (1 film, 132 points)
Tod Browning (2 films, 132 points)
George Hill (1 film, 125 points)

Benjamin Christensen (1 film, 118 points)
Anthony Asquith (2 films, 111 points)
Kote Mikaberidze (1 film, 106 points)
Walter Ruttmann (1 film, 102 points)
Clarence Brown (3 films, 97 points)
Grigori Kozintsev & Leonid Trauberg (2 films, 92 points)
Chas Reisner (1 film, 91 points)
Alexander Dovzhenko (2 films, 91 points)
Karl Grune (2 films, 87 points)
René Clair (2 films, 79 points)


Top Countries

USA (119 films, 43.8% of points)
Germany (63 films, 26% of points)
France (35 films, 14.7% of points)
USSR (21 films, 7.7% of points)
UK (14 films, 3.1% of points)
Sweden (9 films, 2.6% of points)
Japan (4 films, 2.2% of points)
Czechoslovakia (1 film, 0.4% of points)
Austria (3 films, 0.3% of points)
Belgium (2 films, 0.3% of points)


Results by Year

Image Image Image


Casualties from the 2011 List

54. The Parson's Widow (now an orphan)
65. Applause (now an also-ran)
66. Hintertreppe (now an orphan)
66. Storm Over Asia (now an orphan)
68. A Throw of Dice (now an also-ran)
75. Hindle Wakes (now an orphan)
83. The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (now an orphan)
84. H₂O (now an orphan)
87. Faces of Children (now an orphan)
88. The Undying Pearl (now voteless)
90. Die Straße (now an orphan)
92. Paris qui dort (now an also-ran)
94. The Iron Horse (now an orphan)
94. Scherben (now an orphan)
96. L'Argent (now voteless)
97. The Scarecrow (now an orphan)
98. Big Business (now an also-ran)
99. Show People (now an also-ran)
99. Abwege (now an orphan)
99. Hungarian Rhapsody (now an orphan)

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swo17
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#135 Post by swo17 » Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:33 am

Also-Rans

Paris qui dort (René Clair, 1924) 45/2/27/-10
Mother Krause's Journey to Happiness (Phil Jutzi, 1929) 45/3/30/New
La Femme et le Pantin (Jacques de Baroncelli, 1929) 44/2/24/New
Arsenal (Alexander Dovzhenko, 1929) 44/2/25/+1
Hallelujah (King Vidor, 1929) 43/2/12/New
The Late Mathias Pascal (Marcel L'Herbier, 1926) 43/3/23/New
Ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger, 1924) 42/2/18/New
Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (Theodore Case, 1925) 41/2/11/New
Champagner (Géza von Bolváry, 1929) 41/2/16/New

Lazybones (Frank Borzage, 1925) 41/2/20/+11
Erdgeist (Leopold Jessner, 1924) 41/2/28/New
Der müde Tod (Fritz Lang, 1921) 41/3/35/+8
Applause (Rouben Mamoulian, 1929) 38/3/25/-49
3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926) 35/2/22/New
Entr'acte (René Clair, 1924) 34/2/33/+16
Phantom (F.W. Murnau, 1922) 31/2/25/+31
Big Business (Leo McCarey & James Horne, 1929) 31/2/26/-19
The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925) 29/2/27/New
The Three-Sided Mirror (Jean Epstein, 1927) 29/2/35/-5

Mother (Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1926) 27/2/33/+14
Show People (King Vidor, 1928) 27/2/36/-22
The Last Performance (Pál Fejös, 1929) 26/2/34/New
Tartuffe (F.W. Murnau, 1925) 25/2/35/+27
Aelita: Queen of Mars (Yakov Protazanov, 1924) 24/2/32/New
West of Zanzibar (Tod Browning, 1928) 23/2/29/New
Laila (George Schnéevoigt, 1929) 21/2/38/New
A Throw of Dice (Franz Osten, 1929) 18/2/35/-60
The 'High Sign' (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1921) 13/2/40/-21
The Holy Mountain (Arnold Fanck, 1926) 12/2/43/New

It (Clarence Badger, 1927) 7/2/45/New
The Little Match Girl (Jean Renoir & Jean Tédesco, 1928) 5/2/47/+17
The Saga of Gösta Berling (Mauritz Stiller, 1924) 4/2/48/+25

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swo17
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#136 Post by swo17 » Mon Jun 25, 2018 11:34 am

Orphans

Abwege (G.W. Pabst, 1928) 34
Der alte Fritz (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1927) 24

Barbed Wire (Rowland Lee, 1927) 33
A Bashful Bigamist (Allen Watt, 1920) 21
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Fred Niblo, 1925) 50
Bennie the Howl (Vladimir Vilner, 1926) 41
Berliner Stilleben (László Moholy-Nagy, 1926) 48
Beyond the Rocks (Sam Wood, 1922) 48
The Big Jump (Arnold Fanck, 1927) 40
The Blot (Lois Weber, 1921) 38
Body and Soul (Oscar Micheaux, 1925) 50
The Bride of Glomdal (Carl Dreyer, 1926) 38
By the Law (Lev Kuleshov, 1926) 37

The Cat and the Canary (Paul Leni, 1927) 47
The Chechahcos (Lewis Moomaw, 1923) 37
The Chess Player (Raymond Bernard, 1927) 18
Children of No Importance (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1926) 35
The Chronicles of the Gray House (Arthur von Gerlach, 1925) 20
College (Buster Keaton & James Horne, 1927) 40
Crainquebille (Jacques Feyder, 1922) 32
Crossroads (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1928) 30

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (John Robertson, 1920) 36
Dynamite (Cecil B. DeMille, 1929) 14

Eleven P.M. (Richard Maurice, 1928) 11
Emak-Bakia (Man Ray, 1927) 44
Erotikon (Mauritz Stiller, 1920) 15
Études sur Paris (André Sauvage, 1928) 32

Faces of Children (Jacques Feyder, 1925) 41
The Fall of the House of Usher (James Watson & Melville Webber, 1928) 49
The Flying House (Winsor McCay, 1921) 45
The Freshman (Fred Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1925) 5
From Morn to Midnight (Karl Heinz Martin, 1920) 28

Ghosts Before Breakfast (Hans Richter, 1928) 39
The Godless Girl (Cecil B. DeMille, 1929) 2
The Golem (Paul Wegener & Carl Boese, 1920) 45
The Great White Silence (Herbert Ponting, 1924) 13

H₂O (Ralph Steiner, 1929) 26
The Hands of Orlac (Robert Wiene, 1924) 41
The Haunted House (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1921) 10
The Hell Ship (Victor Sjöström, 1923) 3
Her Skeleton in the Closet (Johannes Guter, 1929) 22
Hindle Wakes (Maurice Elvey, 1927) 40
Hintertreppe (Paul Leni & Leopold Jessner, 1921) 42
The House of Mystery (Alexandre Volkoff, 1923) 42
Hungarian Rhapsody (Hanns Schwarz, 1928) 22

Impressionen vom alten Marseiller Hafen (Vieux Port) (László Moholy-Nagy, 1929) 37
In Spring (Mikhail Kaufman, 1929) 38
In Youth, Beside the Lonely Sea (Director Unknown, 1925) 4
The Informer (Arthur Robison, 1929) 49
The Iron Horse (John Ford, 1924) 35
Isn't Life Wonderful (D.W. Griffith, 1924) 37

Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse (Henri Chomette, 1925) 33
Johan (Mauritz Stiller, 1921) 44

Kean (Alexandre Volkoff, 1924) 36

Laster der Menschheit (Rudolf Meinert, 1927) 36
Das letzte Fort (Curtis Bernhardt, 1929) 26
Liberty (Leo McCarey, 1929) 50
Little Annie Rooney (William Beaudine, 1925) 28
Lorna Doone (Maurice Tourneur, 1922) 26

The Man Who Laughs (Paul Leni, 1928) 34
Manhatta (Charles Sheeler & Paul Strand, 1921) 49
Manolescu (Viktor Tourjansky, 1929) 28
The Manxman (Alfred Hitchcock, 1929) 46
The Marriage Circle (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924) 40
Master of the House (Carl Dreyer, 1925) 16
The Mating Call (James Cruze, 1928) 17
Mauprat (Jean Epstein, 1926) 20
Melody of the Heart (Hanns Schwarz, 1929) 23
Miss Lulu Bett (William DeMille, 1921) 1
Miss Mend (Boris Barnet & Fyodor Otsep, 1926) 33
The Monster (Roland West, 1925) 14

Narkose (Alfred Abel, 1929) 8
The Navigator (Buster Keaton & Donald Crisp, 1924) 25
Neighbors (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1920) 46
The New Babylon (Grigori Kozintsev & Leonid Trauberg, 1929) 7
Now You Tell One (Charles Bowers & H.L. Muller, 1926) 35

Old and New (Sergei Eisenstein & Grigori Aleksandrov, 1929) 11
Orochi (Buntarō Futagara, 1925) 14
Our Heavenly Bodies (H.W. Kornblum, 1925) 44

The Parson's Widow (Carl Dreyer, 1920) 43
The Patsy (King Vidor, 1928) 20
La perle (Henri d' Ursel, 1929) 25
Poet i tsar (Vladimir Gardin & Yevgeni Chervyakov, 1927) 37
Pratermizzi (Gustav Ucicky & Karl Leiter, 1927) 47

The Red Mill (Roscoe Arbuckle, 1927) 48
Rien que les heures (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1926) 26
The Ring (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927) 38
Running Wild (Gregory La Cava, 1927) 15

Saint Joan the Maid (Marco de Gastyne, 1929) 46
The Scarecrow (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1920) 23
The Scarlet Letter (Victor Sjöström, 1926) 26
Schatten (Arthur Robison, 1923) 27
Der Schatz (G.W. Pabst, 1923) 29
Scherben (Lupu Pick, 1921) 36
Schloß Vogelöd (F.W. Murnau, 1921) 37
The Seashell and the Clergyman (Germaine Dulac, 1928) 8
Six et demi onze (Jean Epstein, 1927) 46
The Sixth Part of the World (Dziga Vertov, 1926) 36
Something to Think About (Cecil B. DeMille, 1920) 31
The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926) 43
The Soul of Youth (William Taylor, 1920) 22
Sound Test for Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock, 1929) 24
S.V.D. - Soyuz velikogo dela (Grigori Kozintsev & Leonid Trauberg, 1927) 3
The Starfish (Man Ray, 1928) 49
Stark Love (Karl Brown, 1927) 18
Steamboat Willie (Walt Disney & Ub Iwerks, 1928) 34
La storia di una donna (Eugenio Perego, 1920) 46
Storm Over Asia (Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1928) 50
Die Straße (Karl Grune, 1923) 19
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (Ernst Lubitsch, 1927) 19

Three Ages (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1923) 50
Thunderbolt (Josef von Sternberg, 1929) 41
Tol'able David (Henry King, 1921) 42
Tragedy at the Royal Circus (Alfred Lind, 1928) 43
The Trail of '98 (Clarence Brown, 1928) 41
Tusalava (Len Lye, 1929) 17
Two Tars (James Parrott, 1928) 16

Under the Lantern (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1928) 50
Underground (Anthony Asquith, 1928) 21

The Viking (Roy Neill, 1928) 47

The Waltz Dream (Ludwig Berger, 1925) 29
Was ist los im Zirkus Beely? (Harry Piel, 1927) 41
Waxworks (Paul Leni & Leo Birinsky, 1924) 48
When the Cat's Away (Walt Disney, 1929) 49
White Hell of Pitz Palu (G.W. Pabst & Arnold Fanck, 1929) 24
Why Change Your Wife? (Cecil B. DeMille, 1920) 21
Why Worry? (Fred Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923) 16
Wild Oranges (King Vidor, 1924) 7
The Wild Party (Dorothy Arzner, 1929) 14
Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920) 19
The Woman Disputed (Henry King & Sam Taylor, 1928) 48
A Woman of Affairs (Clarence Brown, 1928) 31
A Woman of Paris (Charles Chaplin, 1923) 41
Women of Ryazan (Olga Preobrazhenskaya & Ivan Pravov, 1927) 10

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Mr Sausage
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#137 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:22 pm

The winner, Sunrise, is the current Film Club discussion. Come by and give your thoughts, if you aren't burnt out on silents.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions

#138 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Tue Jun 26, 2018 12:32 pm

Great to see Gardiens de Phare storming up the charts and also L`Inhumaine but sadly seemingly at the expense of Maldone and particularly L`Argent .
Had I had the wherewithal to get a vote together those positions would have radically altered as all 4 figure in my upper echelon. So it goes.
Also Sylvester at last makes its mark . If only there as a copy around that didn't look like it was covered in 80 year old yoghurt!

Kudos to swo for another impeccable job

MongooseCmr
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:50 pm

Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

#139 Post by MongooseCmr » Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:31 am

Wow, Chaplin really fell off. I’ve picked up that Keaton was more hip today but I wasn’t sure that feeling extended here as well. And interesting that the silent Lang’s that seemed equally out of style in his poll shot up this time.

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thirtyframesasecond
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

#140 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:38 am

MongooseCmr wrote:
Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:31 am
Wow, Chaplin really fell off. I’ve picked up that Keaton was more hip today but I wasn’t sure that feeling extended here as well. And interesting that the silent Lang’s that seemed equally out of style in his poll shot up this time.
I should've just sent my last list in (I didn't get round to participating). I had A Woman of Paris near the top.

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TMDaines
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

#141 Post by TMDaines » Tue Dec 25, 2018 6:32 am


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jindianajonz
Jindiana Jonz Abrams
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm

Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

#142 Post by jindianajonz » Mon Feb 04, 2019 6:45 pm

Not quite sure where this fits, but I had a great viewing experience about two weeks ago when I watched Irving Johnson's "Around Cape Horn" while sailing across the Drake Passage and rounding the Horn myself. According to the historian who presented it, Johnson filmed this himself in 1929 while working on one of the last tall ships to sail from Europe to the Pacific around the Horn, though the film was lost until the 80's when it was rediscovered by the Mystic Seaport Museum. They tracked Johnson down, and had him record an absolutely hillarious commentary track explaining what life was like on the ship. What's remarkable is that Johnson was not a filmmaker who was brought along to document the voyage, but was an actual sailor who managed to record some excellent footage while he was working. This allows him to bring the camera high up into the rigging and film a rather sizable storm that almost washes him off, feats that a regular filmmaker may not have even attempted.

The highlights for me were seeing the training regimen he created for himself at his Kansas home, in which he learned all sorts of acrobatics he read about in novels but soon learned were never used in the real world, and his explanation that the sole dog on the ship is a 'motivator' who always bites the slowest sailor performing a particular task, although sometimes the dog got confused and bit the fastest sailor instead.
Last edited by jindianajonz on Tue Feb 05, 2019 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Minkin
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Re: The 1920s List: Discussion and Suggestions (Decade Project Vol. 4)

#143 Post by Minkin » Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:42 am

Thanks for posting this! It was a fantastic watch. The film with narration is available on youtube.

I'm glad to see that the old Peking still survives! It looks to have had an interesting life - being a WW1 reparation to Italy; or that it was in the UK as a children's academy for many years - and was even featured prominently in the great Miss Marple adaptation with Margaret Rutherford - Murder Ahoy (1964)

Also weird to see that the sailor / filmmaker went on to captain ships with his wife; and that a young Sterling Hayden was a mate aboard one of their ships!

Many historic sites in California have signs to indicate that the furniture was "taken around the horn" ... and that now just seems absurd to me. How many people had to die, just so some rich asshole could have a nice sofa?

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