The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Francis recounts the time he exposed Dr. Caligari as a murderous sociopath who hypnotized one of his patients to commit his crimes. As he finishes his story, we learn Francis is actually patient at an insane asylum and his account is his latest delusion.
This film invented the now clichéd twist ending where the protagonist is not who we thought, a technique which has been used in such disparate films as Psycho (1960), The Sixth Sense (1999), and Shutter Island (2010).
In addition to groundbreaking narrative techniques, this beautiful nightmare was one of the first films to incorporate an artistic vision in every phase of its design. The resulting film looks like it takes place in a deranged mind.
Destiny (1921)
When a young woman begs Death to return her recently deceased lover to the land of the living, he takes her to a room with three candles, each representing a life in danger; if love can save one of them, he will return her lover to life.
Sadly, the life represented by each candle ends in inevitable demise.
His challenge unanswered, Death gives the woman one more opportunity to retrieve her beloved, charging her to find a replacement soul. The desperate woman finds a child trapped in a burning building, but realizes alleviating her own suffering is not worth inflicting so much pain on the child’s mother. Resigned to her fate, she joins her lover in the life to come.
Fritz Lang’s film is a beautiful exploration of the fate common to everyone, and our futile attempts to postpone it; a sharp reminder of how little power we have over our own destiny.
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922)
The titular doctor is an expert criminal who brainwashes his victims and manipulates them into doing his dirty work for him.
He hypnotizes millionaire Edgar Hull and wins a large amount of money from him at cards, but when prosecutor, Norbert von Wenk begins an investigation, Mabuse goes on the offensive and tries to eliminate both men.
Prior to the early twentieth century, literature rarely depicted men who were evil simply for the sake of evil. Evil was always a means to some other end, such as power, revenge, or money. Despite his enormous wealth, power, and influence, Dr. Mabuse persists in his immoral behavior because he enjoys the chaos of destruction.
Lang had already directed over ten films, but this film assured his legacy; Dr. Mabuse resonated because he played into post World War fears. A world which saw chaos and destruction everywhere was more likely to believe in a character who sought it out. The film’s enormous influence on how evil is depicted in film can be seen in everything from James Bond villains to Dr. Evil to Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker.
Souls for Sale (1923)
On her wedding night, Mem Steddon abandons her husband, Owen Scudder, wandering on to a Hollywood set where she’s courted by director Frank Claymore and star Tom Holby.
Upset his plan to murder Mem and claim the insurance money was thwarted, Owen arrives to reclaim his legally married wife, but when his attempted murder of Claymore places her in harm’s way, he sacrifices himself to save Mem.
This was written and directed by Howard Hughes uncle, Rupert. I love the idea of nineteen year old Howard hanging out on set and fatefully falling in love with Hollywood glamour.
This melodramatic film lurches from one manufactured catastrophe to the next, but along the way it offers a captivating insider account of the early days of Hollywood, and a pair of fascinating cameos, Charlie Chaplin on the set of A Woman of Paris (1923) and Erich von Stroheim directing Greed (1924).
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
This early metafictional film demonstrates Keaton’s insight into the deep relationships between audiences and their favorite films.
His patented, insane stunt work includes an unbelievable scene with him hanging from a ladder connected to a water basin. His innovative technical work is evident when a projectionist walks into a film.
The Big Parade (1925)
After enlisting in the war effort, blue blood Jim Apperson (John Gilbert) befriends working class Slim and Bull during boot camp and falls in love with a French peasant girl, Melisande.
During the difficult trench warfare, Bull and Slim are killed and Jim is severely injured. He returns home with only one leg to learn his fiancée has fallen in love with his brother. Elated, he returns to France to reunite with Melisande.
Excellent as Jim, John Gilbert was a huge star in the silent era but his career faded during the transition to sound and now he’s all but forgotten.
Director King Vidor also directed the seminal silent film The Crowd (1928). His later sound films were solid, but not as spectacular.
During the 1940s, there was a glut of Hollywood films romanticizing American involvement in Europe’s wars, but this incredibly prescient film, focusing on the human cost of war, more closely mirrors contemporary attitudes.
The General (1926)
Johnnie Gray (Keaton) is not allowed to sign up for the Confederate cause because he’s too valuable as a train engineer. Mistaking this for cowardice, his girlfriend, Annabelle Lee refuses to see him.
When Union soldiers steal Johnnie’s train, he chases them on foot, handcar, and boneshaker bicycle. After he sneaks into their camp and overhears the Union plan for a surprise attack, he’s chased by Union soldiers as he races back to warn his platoon.
Because of Gray’s heroics, the Confederate soldiers fend off the Union attack, and, after the battle, he’s commissioned into the Confederate Army and reunited with his fiancée.
In this masterpiece, Keaton turns an obscure incident into a comic epic about courage, sacrifice, and loyalty. Amazingly, the film was a box office failure, and contemporary critics complained it wasn’t funny. While these critics have long since been forgotten, the film’s reputation has steadily increased. Already elected into the National Film Registry, it ranked 18th in the American Film Institute’s 2007 list of the 100 greatest American films.
Metropolis (1927)
In the future, the wealthy, led by Joh Fredersen live above ground, while the working class live underneath the city.
Curious about the lives of the people he never sees, Fredersen’s son, Freder, switches places with a worker. During his journey of discovery, he falls in love with Maria and they plot to bridge the gap between the two societies.
Their plans are put on hold when famed scientist Rotwang kidnaps Maria and replaces her with a robot double, the Machinemensch, which he intends to use to destroy Metropolis as revenge for Fredersen stealing the woman of his dreams.
The evil robot tricks the poor of Metropolis to flood the underground, but as the rising water endangers their children, the workers realize their folly and turn on the robot, burning her at the stake.
After he defeats Rotwang in a rooftop fight, Freder unites his father with the chief foreman, restoring peace to the city.
This early and influential science fiction film captured the spirit of the early twentieth century progressive and socialist movements.
The film was allegedly a favorite of Joseph Goebbels, but, in a few years, director Fritz Lang would flee to America to escape Nazism. His later American films were good, but he suffered under the artistic and financial restraints of Hollywood.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Compiled from transcripts of the 1431 trial of Joan of Arc (Renee Maria Falconetti), this is a brilliant examination of the power and limits of faith.
Alongside Ingmar Bergman, Carl Th. Dreyer is one of the most spiritual artists of the twentieth century. Bergman was obsessed with God’s silence, Dreyer was focused on people who claimed to hear God.
Roger Ebert correctly said, “you cannot know the history of silent films unless you know the face of Renee Maria Falconetti.” Her transcendent performance inspires and destroys. As we admire Joan’s courage, our own pitiful attempts at faithfulness seem inconsequential.
Applause (1929)
Burlesque star Kitty Darling (Helen Morgan) sends her infant daughter, April, to a convent, hoping a first-rate education in a religious environment will give her a chance for a better life.
Years later, an older, alcoholic Kitty struggles to find work as her cheating boyfriend, Hitch, spends all of her remaining money. When he discovers she’s sending money to care for her daughter, he demands she bring April home.
After a lecherous Hitch tries to force himself on her, a despondent April, unsettled by his advances and her mother’s deteriorated state, runs away and falls in love with a young sailor. She plans to marry and start a new life, but cannot abandon her mother.
She calls off the marriage and takes her sick mother’s place in the chorus line while a depressed Kitty commits suicide with a bottle of sleeping pills.
During the show, April is disturbed by the crowd’s lusty reaction and flees in tears. On the run, she reunites with her boyfriend after he promises to take care of her and her mother.
This early sound film feels at least a decade ahead of its time. Director Robert Mamoulian demonstrated how the new sound technology freed the camera, opening up the world of film to new artistic possibilities.
In addition to its ingenuity, this is an excellent examination of the dark side of show business, a reminder of how it has always objectified, dehumanized and sexualized women, made all the more poignant by the parallels to Helen Morgan’s own career.