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Silent filmmakers pioneered the art form to the extent that virtually every style and genre of film-making of the 20th and 21st centuries has its artistic roots in the silent era. The silent era was also a pioneering one from a technical point of view.
Mar 28, 2022 · It's been a long time, but the silent era of cinema is worth remembering. Here's what you need to know about those early decades in film.
Jul 4, 2024 · By 1916 there were more than 21,000 movie theatres in the United States. Their advent marked the end of the nickelodeon era and foretold the rise of the Hollywood studio system, which dominated urban exhibition from the 1920s to the ’50s.
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, mime and title cards.
- Features Writer
- A Trip to the Moon (1902) Georges Méliès's science-fiction short is one of the most important films ever made. The plot, loosely based on Jules Verne’s classic adventure novels, concerns a group of astronauts who travel to the moon, only to make a quick escape after encountering its insectoid inhabitants.
- Intolerance (1916) This 1916 epic boasts some of the most impressive filmmaking of its era. Directed by the influential but controversial director D. W. Griffith, Intolerance tells not one but four storylines across its colossal runtime: the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, the Crucifixion of Jesus in AD 27, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572, and a melodrama about a reformed criminal in 1914.
- Nosferatu (1922) The image of Count Orlok (Max Schreck) ascending a staircase to feast on the blood of the unfortunate Ellen Hutter (Greta Schröder), his shadow silhouetted against the concrete wall, is one of the most iconic in all of horror.
- Sherlock Jr. (1924) No article about the silent era is complete without mention of one of its greatest comedians, the always delightful Buster Keaton. His trademark slapstick comedy would see him performing death-defying stunts that would make Tom Cruise wince, and when combined with his eternal deadpan expression, he had all the makings of the greatest physical performer of his time, and nowhere is that more evident that this 1924 classic.
Apr 14, 2018 · Every movie fan can use a primer on the earliest essentials of cinema. Well, you're in luck; here's the tl;dr version of the silent film era.
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This uniquely wide-ranging collection offers an unparalleled opportunity to study how silent and early sound films were made, marketed, and exhibited. By some estimates, 80 percent of American silent films are no longer extant, making such material culture holdings particularly significant.
