The Gold Rush (1925)

The Gold Rush is a 1925 silent comedy film starring Charlie Chaplin. I watched it on HBO Max, but it's also available on Amazon Prime, free on Tubi, free on Plex and via YouTube:

Criterion calls it "an indelible work of heartwarming hilarity" and says,

Charlie Chaplin’s comedic masterwork—which charts a prospector’s search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale)—forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character.

Silent Film says,

The Gold Rush is his greatest and most ambitious silent film; it also was the longest and most expensive comedy film produced up to that time. The film contains many of Chaplin’s most celebrated comedy sequences, including the boiling and eating of his boot, the dance of the rolls, and the teetering cabin. However, the superb quality of The Gold Rush does not rest solely on its comedy sequences but on these scenes being so fully integrated into a character-driven narrative. Chaplin had no reservations about the finished product. Indeed, in the contemporary publicity for the film, he is quoted as saying, “This is the picture that I want to be remembered by.”

Film Site has a lengthy article. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 100%.

The Dancing Pig

The Dancing Pig is a 1907 French silent short film.

City Lights (1931)

City Lights is a silent 1931 Charlie Chaplin film. Sound film was a growing trend, but Chaplin stuck with silents for years afterwards. I watched it on HBO Max. Our ridiculous copyright laws explain why this 91-year old film is not more freely available. I blame Sonny Bono and Disney.

trailer:

Criterion calls it "the most cherished film by Charlie Chaplin". Deep Focus Review has an interesting article on Chaplin's career and this film in particular. Roger Ebert opens his review with this: "If only one of Charles Chaplin's films could be preserved, “City Lights” (1931) would come the closest to representing all the different notes of his genius." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 97%. It's included in the book 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Sherlock Holmes (1922)

Happy Sherlock Holmes Day!

Sherlock Holmes is a 1922 silent film starring John Barrymore as Sherlock Holmes and Roland Young as Dr. John Watson. This was William Powell's first film.

Diary of a Lost Girl

Diary of a Lost Girl is a 1929 German silent film starring Louise Brooks.

via YouTube:

Senses of Cinema says, "Diary of a Lost Girl is a compelling indictment of the society of the time". This film is on Roger Ebert's list of Great Movies. It has a Rotten Tomatoes concensus rating of 100%. TCM has information.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1911)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1911 French silent short film.

Sherlock Holmes Baffled

In observance of Sherlock Holmes Day I watched Sherlock Holmes Baffled, a 1900 short, silent film. This is the first film adaptation of Holmes.

Ménilmontant (1926)

Ménilmontant is a 1926 French short (38 minutes) silent film directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff. It's the story of two sisters making their way in Paris.

Film Reference calls it "one of the most interesting psychological narratives of its period." French Films has a detailed review.

The Hare and the Tortoise (1924)

The Hare and the Tortoise is a 1924 Japanese animated short film (6 minutes) telling of the Aesop's fable.

A Hard Act to Follow

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1966 of Buster Keaton. He was a comic genius with a career beginning in 1898 and lasting until the year of his death.

Here's an 8-minute short appreciation of his style, The Art of the Gag:

Here he is in his final film role, the priceless A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:

Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (below) is a 3-part documentary TV miniseries.

part 1:

part 2:

part 3:

A House Divided

A House Divided is a 1913 short silent comedy film direct by Alice Guy-Blaché.

Matrimony's Speed Limit

Matrimony's Speed Limit is a 1913 short silent comedy film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché.

Making an American Citizen

Making an American Citizen is a 1912 comedy short silent film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché.

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from Wikipedia:

Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché (née Guy; July 1, 1873 – March 24, 1968) was a French pioneer filmmaker, active from the late 19th century, and one of the first to make a narrative fiction film. She was the first woman to direct a film. From 1896 to 1906, she was probably the only female filmmaker in the world. ...

Guy-Blaché was an early influence on both Alfred Hitchcock and Sergei Eisenstein. ...

Guy-Blaché almost died from the Spanish flu pandemic in October 1919 while filming her final film Tarnished Reputations. Following her illness, she joined [husband] Herbert in Hollywood in 1919 but they lived separately. She worked as Herbert's directing assistant on his two films starring Alla Nazimova. Guy-Blaché directed her last film in 1919. In 1921, she was forced to auction her film studio and other possessions in bankruptcy. Alice and Herbert were officially divorced in 1922. She returned to France in 1922 and never made a film again. ...

Guy-Blaché never remarried, and in 1964 she returned to the United States to live in Wayne, New Jersey, with her only daughter, Simone. On March 24, 1968, at the age of 94, Guy-Blaché died in a nursing home.

from the Women Film Pioneers Project:

From 1896 to 1906 Alice Guy was probably the only woman film director in the world. She had begun as a secretary for Léon Gaumont and made her first film in 1896. After that first film, she directed and produced or supervised almost six hundred silent films ranging in length from one minute to thirty minutes...

Her Gaumont silent films are notable for their energy and risk-taking...

Variety has an overview of her career and says,

Alice Guy-Blaché was the first woman to direct a film. She helmed or produced over 1,000 movies, in addition to writing, editing and set decorating many of them. Guy-Blaché also cast interracial actors long before Hollywood ever did. ...

Falling Leaves

Falling Leaves is a 1912 silent short film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché. A young girl is dying of consumption. Can the doctor who has developed a cure save her? I love these old silent shorts. So much story and character development in so little time. The creators of our modern bloated films could learn a lesson from some of these little works.

The Wind (1928)

The Wind is a 1928 silent drama film starring Lilian Gish. Wikipedia says, "it is one of the last silent films released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is considered to be among the greatest silent films."

You can watch it online at this link. The sound track there is a strange addition, and I ended up muting it. It's a silent film, after all. Here's a trailer:

The Guardian highlights director Viktor Sjostrom, saying,

Between 1917 and 1921 he made four films of such technical mastery and luminous power that it was only a matter of time before Hollywood lured him across the water.

These films, full of the almost masochistic obsessions of Swedish Protestantism, but also extremely beautiful in their depiction of the elemental forces of nature, caused Sjostrom, together with his equally famous fellow director Mauritz Stiller, to be characterised as a gloomy Swede, even though he both acted in and made comedies too. And in America his three most famous works - He Who Gets Slapped (1924), The Scarlet Letter (1926) and The Wind (1928) - each dealt with human suffering.

The Wind is almost certainly the best - a silent classic...

Senses of Cinema says,

Widely considered one of the last great silent American films, Victor Sjöström’s The Wind is also one of the few Hollywood films that is truly alive to the elements, to the atmosphere and physicality of place. Sjöström’s career – both in Europe and America – is populated by films that examine the relationship of human characters to their environments.

Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus rating of 100%.

Here's a screenshot from the movie:

showing the sharing of a cuppa in the isolated wilds of Texas. She's newly arrived from Virginia to live with her cousin and his wife, and nothing is as she expected. I'll be more comfortable than they look as I join the bloggers at the weekly T Stand for Tuesday gathering.

Algie the Miner

Algie the Miner is a 1912 short silent film directed by Alice Guy-Blaché. An effeminate man has a year to prove himself man enough to his prospective father-in-law so that the protective father will agree to let him to marry his sweetheart.

Namakura Gatana (The Dull Sword)

Namakura Gatana dates back to 1917 and is reportedly the oldest surviving anime film. It was discovered in an antique shop in 2007.

Urashima Tarō

Urashima Tarō is a 1918 Japanese animated short film adaptation of a folk tale about a fisherman who travels to an underwater world on a turtle. It's less than 2 minutes long. You can watch it here.

The Lady and the Beard

The Lady and the Beard is a 1931 Japanese comedy. The Imdb has this plot synopsis: "A bearded kendo champion has difficulties in life because of his conservative ways and his unusual beard."

Click the little "CC" at the bottom right of the video to get the English subtitles.

The Pot

The Pot is a 1925 Japanese short animated film. It combines two stories into one seventeen-minute movie: 1) The Fisherman and the Jinni from One Thousand and One Nights, and 2) the story of the fox and the lion from Machiavelli's The Prince. You can watch it online here.