Five silent-era films selected by Thomas Gladysz. A not-necessarily-best-of list, in alphabetical order.

Just recently, the folks at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival asked me to contribute to their ongoing series, a list of five silent films that I’d like to share with others. I said yes, and my list has been published on the SFSFF Instagram account, alongside the lists of other noted film historians, writers, critics, movie directors, and even a Doctor Who! 

My list is shown below. But do click through to check out the many other list by others at https://www.instagram.com/sfsilentfilm/

 
It shouldn't come as a surprise for me to have recommended Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, two films starring Louise Brooks. Both are masterpieces, and both are films I have watched and rewatched a number of times -- and always found stirring. 

The Crowd is a tender and beautiful film about everyday people directed by King Vidor, one of my very favorite American directors of the silent era. If you have seen it, you should. 

Another film I love and another that tugs at one's heartstrings is He Who Gets Slapped, which stars Lon Chaney. Back in 2011, I wrote a program essay about the film for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Contemporary director Alexander Payne, who introduced the film, gave my essay a shout out from the stage, and since then, my piece has gotten some bounce. It has been reprinted by EbertFest and the Telluride Festival, and led me last year to be invited to Seattle, Washington to introduce the film (in costume) at the historic Paramount theater. It is a film close to my heart, as I love the story it was based on and Seastrom's expressive direction. My original essay can be found on the SFSFF website, along with other pieces I have written over the years.

A Strong Man, or in Polish Mocny Człowiek, is a film I have blogged about here in the past. It was directed by Henryk Szaro (1900 – 1942), a screenwriter and theater and film director. Born Henoch Szapiro to a Jewish family, Szaro was a leading Polish director of the late 1920s and 1930s. He was killed in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, after being pulled out of his apartment and shot in the streets. Something of a prodigy, Szaro was only 29 when he directed Mocny Czlowiek, his 7th film.

Like other Polish movies that disappeared during World War II, Mocny Czlowiek was long considered lost until a copy was found in Belgium in 1997. Based on a 1912 novel by Stanislaw Przybyszewski (a Dostoevskian Polish writer known as “the discoverer of the human naked soul”), Mocny Czlowiek tells the story of a mediocre journalist who, dreaming of fame and glory, leads his ill friend, a far more talented writer, to an early death in order to steal his unpublished manuscript.

Strong Man Gregori Chmara was once married to earlier Lulu Asta Nielsen

The film is remarkable for many reasons. What stands out is its contemporary sensibility, especially its moral relativity, drug use, and casual acceptance of criminal behavior. Also striking is its vigorous film narrative brought about through the use of dynamic camera movement, montage, and the use of dissolves and double and triple exposures. Like Poland, which was situated between two dominant political and military powers, this extraordinary Polish production shows the influence of both the German and Russian silent cinema -- though it stands firmly on its own. (Interestingly, the film's lead was played by the Ukranian-born Russian actor Gregori Chmara, who was married to one-time Lulu Asta Nielsen; his career ran from 1915 to 1971.)

If you like films from Weimar Germany, chances are you will like Mocny Czlowiek. It is a film which seeps into the dark recesses of the heart. Szaro's drama of individual cruelty, desire and weakness was recently restored and can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VGr3gmiLyA

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.