The General (1926). Arguably his masterpiece. Steamboat Bill Jr (1928) tags close behind. I adore them both.
I got to see The General in a theater with live organ music a few years ago.
Me too. Twice. It IS a rendezvous of nostalgia raining in. The life size proportions exacerbate the tension onscreen. The gags work better releasing the higher amounts of stress seeing the practical effects unfold in larger relief. The live organ finishes the feast of melody rounding out the peering back in time.
The General was the first silent movie I saw in a theater (excepting a school presentation of Nosferatu) and it was packed. There were people who had probably seen it at the premiere who had brought their grandkids. It was the loudest laughing I had ever heard in a theater.
Safety Last! (1923) matched it. When attending a screening in the same theater as The General (1926), the raucous rapture saturated the hall. Likewise Steamboat Bill Jr (1928). The three were tsunamis of gasps, applause, reverent quiet, and a torrent of organ music covering the crowd. I’d flock to any of them again in a second.
Bruce Lee Poulet IS A Flock Of One.
(And me, too. I always go to silent showings if I can find one. Phantom of the Opera was great with an actual organ player.)
Relating to movies, I AM A Flock of One. The movies are my flock.
My favorite too
Anybody know when the phrase “silent movie” first started getting used? I assume the late twenties but maybe it was after “talkies” got coined?
according to Wiki, it’s a retronym - which came into being to distinguish them from the talkies - started being used around the time the Jazz Singer was shown.
Definitely, since “talkies” goes back to 1913! And “talking picture” predates it, going all the way back to 1908!
Yeah experiments with sound started off pretty early, and by 1913, as mentioned, you have Edison’s Kinetophone films (which I have on DVD)
Watch the Unknown from 1927. It’s a great darkly comic little thriller that feels like a really good Tales from the Crypt. And it’s only an hour long!
I love the Everett True comics. This looks delightful!
It is Tod Browning’s finest hour. The unsettling unease and nightmare logic runs you into the ground with its devastation. Chaney legitly has you in the palm of his hand. The carnival feel rolls you over and the heartache is real. Joan Crawford’s presence lends it weight as well.
The benchmark release of The Unknown (1927) and the remaining films in this set is The TCM Archives - The Lon Chaney Collection. The respectful care dispensed to each one of these films is remarkable.