Back from a week at the beach where I had limited internet access, nice weather and a good book to read—a recipe for blogging disaster. I don't feel the least bit guilty.I see that while I was gone, Erich von Stroheim's Greed was your choice for best picture of 1924, narrowly edging Buster Keaton's Sherlock, Jr.. I'll keep that in mind when my unofficial picks one day become official.
Douglas Fairbanks' swashbuckling classic The Thief of Bagdad finished third, F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh fourth, and Keaton's The Navigator tied with "other" for fifth. Actually, "I have not seen any movie made in 1924" came in third, but we'll skip over that.
While we're here, how about another poll—What is your choice for the best movie of 1925? Arguably, the best year in silent movie history. Your choices, in alphabetical order:
Battleship Potemkin
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
The Big Parade
The Freshman
The Gold Rush
Lady Windermere's Fan
The Lost World
The Merry Widow
The Phantom of the Opera
Seven Chances
Other
I Have Not Seen Any Movies From 1925
I was quite surpried by "Seven Chances" when I first watched it. I had seen the Chris O'Donnell remake years ago, thought it was horrible and had no idea it was a remake. It's kind of sad how time seems to erase the memory of film unless it's really well known.
ReplyDeleteI had the same kind of problem with someone who thought the original Parent Trap movie was the one with Lindsay Lohan. Argh.
I had seen the Chris O'Donnell remake years ago, thought it was horrible and had no idea it was a remake.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm the kind of guy who didn't realize Chris O'Donnell had done a remake.
Seven Chances is a Buster Keaton film that seems to have fallen through the cracks a bit, even among Keaton fans. It's a terrific comedy.
By the way, I'm pretty sure the Three Stooges did the gist of Seven Chances twice, once with Curly, once with Shemp. A real opportunity to compare comedic styles. It was only after I delved into silent comedy that I realized that the Stooges were an encyclopedia of old silent gags -- they copied everybody.
the Stooges were an encyclopedia of old silent gags -- they copied everybody ...
ReplyDeleteNow, it's a sad commentary on me -- I mean, on people -- but a compendium of Stooges bits followed by clips of their bits' origins might-could have the same effect the British blues bands had on 60s kids who otherwise might never have listened to Muddy Waters or Robert Johnson ...
Has to be The Gold Rush, by some margin. Chaplin's greatest.
ReplyDeleteWould disagree about '25 being Silent's best year, though - 1927 has to be the point of perfection, with films like Wings, Sunrise, It, Seventh Heaven, Napoleon, & Hitchcock's best silent, The Lodger.