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The Top 100 Silent Era Films


Updated July 24, 2000
Copyright © 1999-2000 by Carl Bennett.

The CrowdWhat are the 100 best silent era films? With all the interest in AFI's best 100 American films list (which, in our opinion, should remove The Jazz Singer (1927) and add Saving Private Ryan), we couldn't help asking that question.

Because we love silent films and because we are insatiable list makers, this project has been started. The effort is hampered considerably by the fact that most of the films made in the silent era have been lost to decomposition and willing destruction. It is our opinion, however, that most of the truly great films have survived due to their timeless popularity and enduring value.

The list will not be limited to features exclusively. There are several short silent film masterpieces and they will be considered along with features. While our definition of the silent cinema timeline usually spans from about 1891 to 1929, we will accept later true silents like City Lights (1931) or Japanese silent films from the early 1930s, for example. The film must still exist somewhere and in some viewable form. Without surviving prints there is no way to validate the true value of a film. No lost film can fairly be included on the list based solely on its reputation. We will limit the list to films that were produced to be silent films exclusively (synchronized music tracks are acceptible, but part-talkies and talkies that have only survived as silents are out). This will also be a flexible listing. Once the list reaches 100 ranked titles, it will continue to change based on the responses we receive.

We suggested several titles as a starting point. Additional titles have been nominated and voted onto the ranked list by our readers. In the case of a tie in the number of votes, we exercise our own editorial opinion as to the better of the two tied films. Once a film is on the list the only way it can be removed is to vote it off the list (something we wish we could do to several titles on the AFI list). The more votes we receive for the better films, the faster the lesser films get pushed off the list.

Use the link below to e-mail your votes to us. List the films you think deserve to be included in a list of the best silent era films. No particular order is necessary, but please include the full title, the year of release, the country of its production, and the film's director (if known). We previously limited your voting to 10 films, but we received complaints that that limitation was too restricting. Feel free to vote for as many films as you would like but, remember, each vote is only a single vote for each film. Vote only for those films you think deserve to be on a top 100 list, up to 100 individual films.

Ranking of the films began early in 2000. In the case of ties we exercise our editorial opinion of the tied films and rank accordingly. We have acknowledged that the first few revisions to the list resulted (with the small number of early votes) in wildly skewed ranking orders. The ranking order has begun to settle down and truly reflect the best films of the silent era. If you think the current standing results are unrealistic then send in your votes today and let's see how this list continues to shake out.

COMMENTS ON THE LATEST UPDATE: The latest round of voting left much of the list in order, with many of the top films getting an equal ratio of votes. Napoléon has climbed back to No. 5. Metropolis, a one-time favorite at No. 1, breaks back into the list of top 10 films. City Lights continues its reign at No. 1. And Pandora's Box holds firmly onto the No. 2 position. More films have been voted onto the bottom of the ranked list, which now numbers 94. We'll soon reach the golden 100 number.

Very few of the films on this list are not available on home video. Thanks to home video, more people have an opportunity to enjoy these silent masterpieces and can make informed judgments on each film's historic and esthetic value.

We would like to thank the people who took a few moments to vote for their favorite silent era films, you are the ones who make this project work through your involvement.




CAST YOUR VOTES HERE

Remember: Title, year, director, country.

Rank

Title

Year

Director

Country of Production
1. City Lights 1931 Charles Chaplin USA
2. Die Büchse der Pandora
[Pandora's Box]
1929 G.W. Pabst Germany
3. Sunrise 1927 F.W. Murnau USA
4. Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari
[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari]
1920 Robert Wiene Germany
5. Napoléon 1927 Abel Gance France
6. Metropolis 1927 Fritz Lang Germany
7. Greed 1924 Erich von Stroheim USA
8. The General 1926 Buster Keaton and
Clyde Bruckman
USA
9. Nosferatu 1922 F.W. Murnau Germany
10. Intolerance 1916 D.W. Griffith USA
11. La Passion et la Mort de Jeanne d'Arc
[The Passion of Joan of Arc]
1928 Carl Theodor Dreyer France
12. The Crowd 1928 King Vidor USA
13. The Wind 1928 Victor Sjöström USA
14. Bronenosets 'Potyomkin'
[The Battleship Potemkin]
1925 Sergei Eisenstein USSR
15. Sherlock, Jr. 1924 Buster Keaton USA
16. The Gold Rush 1925 Charles Chaplin USA
17. Broken Blossoms 1919 D.W. Griffith USA
18. The Birth of a Nation 1915 D.W. Griffith USA
19. Safety Last 1923 Fred Newmeyer and
Sam Taylor
USA
20. The Phantom of the Opera 1925 Rupert Julian USA
21. Wings 1927 William Wellman USA
22. The Big Parade 1925 King Vidor USA
23. The Thief of Bagdad 1924 Raoul Walsh USA
24. Flesh and the Devil 1927 Clarence Brown USA
25. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ 1925 Fred Niblo USA
26. The Docks of New York 1928 Josef von Sternberg USA
27. Häxan
[Witchcraft Through the Ages]
1922 Benjamin Christensen Sweden
28. Tabu 1931 F.W. Murnau and
Robert J. Flaherty
USA
29. Chelovek s kinoapparatom
[Man with a Movie Camera]
1929 Dziga Vertov USSR
30. Faust 1925 F.W. Murnau Germany
31. Seven Chances 1925 Buster Keaton USA
32. Der letzte Mann
[The Last Laugh]
1924 F.W. Murnau Germany
33. The Wedding March 1928 Erich von Stroheim USA
34. The Strong Man 1926 Frank Capra USA
35. A Girl in Every Port 1928 Howard Hawks USA
36. Beggars of Life 1928 William Wellman USA
37. The Circus 1928 Charles Chaplin USA
38. HE Who Gets Slapped 1924 Victor Sjöström USA
39. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1921 Rex Ingram USA
40. The Kid 1921 Charles Chaplin USA
41. The Unknown 1927 Tod Browning USA
42. Zemlya [Earth] 1930 Alexander Dovzhenko USSR
43. Nanook of the North 1922 Robert J. Flaherty USA
44. Un Chien Andalou
[The Andalusian Dog]
1928 Luis Buñuel and
Salvador Dali
France
45. My Best Girl 1927 Sam Taylor USA
46. 7th Heaven 1927 Frank Borzage USA
47. Oktiabr [October] 1928 Sergei Eisenstein USSR
48. The Freshman 1925 Sam Taylor and
Fred Newmeyer
USA
49. The Cameraman 1928 Edward Sedgwick USA
50. The Last Command 1928 Josef von Sternberg USA
51. The Navigator 1924

Buster Keaton and
Donald Crisp
USA
52. Die Nibelungen
(including Siegfried and Kriemhilds Rache
[Kriemhild's Revenge])
1924 Fritz Lang Germany
53. Orphans of the Storm 1921 D.W. Griffith USA
54. Sparrows 1926 William Beaudine USA
55. Our Hospitality 1923 Buster Keaton and
John G. Blystone
USA
56. The Mark of Zorro 1920 Fred Niblo USA
57. The Lodger 1926 Alfred Hitchcock England
58. Foolish Wives 1922 Erich von Stroheim USA
59. Cops 1922 Buster Keaton and
Eddie Cline
USA
60. Cabiria 1914 Giovanni Pastrone Italy
61. The Immigrant 1917 Charles Chaplin USA
62. The Scarlet Letter 1926 Victor Sjöström USA
63. What Price Glory? 1926 Raoul Walsh USA
64. Tol'able David 1921 Henry King USA
65. The Ten Commandments 1923 Cecil B. DeMille USA
66. Way Down East 1920 D.W. Griffith USA
67. Body and Soul 1925 Oscar Micheaux USA
68. The Sinking of the Lusitania 1918 Winsor McCay USA
69. The Cheat 1915 Cecil B. DeMille USA
70. Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen
[The Diary of a Lost Girl]
1929 G.W. Pabst Germany
71. Big Business 1929 James W. Horne USA
72. The Lost World 1925 Harry O. Hoyt USA
73. The Great Train Robbery 1903 Edwin S. Porter USA
74. Steamboat Bill, Jr. 1928 Charles F. Reisner USA
75. The Cat and the Canary 1927 Paul Leni USA
76. Show People 1928 King Vidor USA
77. The Marriage Circle 1924 Ernst Lubitsch USA
78. It 1927 Clarence Badger USA
79. The Merry Widow 1925 Erich von Stroheim
and Monta Bell
USA
80. The Penalty 1920 Wallace Worsley USA
81. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920 John S. Robertson USA
82. The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg 1927 Ernst Lubitsch USA
83. Das Wachsfigurenkabinett
[Waxworks]
1924 Paul Leni Germany
84. The Man Who Laughs 1928 Paul Leni USA
85. Der Student von Prag
[The Student of Prague]
1926 Henrik Galeen Germany
86. Mat [Mother] 1926 Vsevolod I. Pudovkin USSR
87. Die Freudlose Gasse
[The Joyless Street]
1925 G.W. Pabst Germany
88. Berg-Ejvind och hans Hustru
[The Outlaw and His Wife]
1917 Victor Sjöström Sweden
89. Stachka [Strike] 1924 Sergei M. Eisenstein USSR
90. Queen Kelly 1928 Erich von Stroheim USA
91. The Unholy Three 1925 Tod Browning USA
92. Traffic in Souls 1913 George Loane Tucker USA
93. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923 Wallace Worsley USA
94. Le Voyage dans la lune
[A Trip to the Moon]
1902 Georges Méliès France

 

Films Nominated to the List
But Not Yet Ranked
     
  Alias Jimmy Valentine 1915 Maurice Tourneur USA
  Alraune 1928 Henrik Galeen Germany
  America 1924 D.W. Griffith USA
  Anna Christie 1923 John Griffith Wray USA
  Le Ballet Méchanique 1924 Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy France
 

The Bat

1926

Roland West

USA
 

Beau Geste

1926

Herbert Brenon

USA
 

The Black Pirate

1926

Albert Parker

USA
 

Blood and Sand

1922

Fred Niblo

USA
 

Brewster's Millions

1921

Joseph Henabery

USA
 

Brown of Harvard

1925

Jack Conway

USA
 

The Covered Wagon

1923

James Cruze

USA
 

David Copperfield

1913

Thomas Bentley

England
 

Dr. Mabuse: Der Spieler
[Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler]

1922

Fritz Lang

Germany
 

Don Juan

1926

Alan Crosland

USA
 

Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood

1922

Allan Dwan

USA
 

Gertie the Dinosaur

1914

Winsor McCay

USA
 

The Goose Woman

1925

Clarence Brown

USA
 

Go West

1925

Buster Keaton

USA
 

Hintertreppe [Backstairs]

1921

Leopold Jessner and
Paul Leni

Germany
 

The Iron Horse

1924

John Ford

USA
 

The Iron Mask

1929

Allan Dwan

USA
 

Joan the Woman

1917

Cecil B. DeMille

USA
 

Le Joueur d'échecs
[The Chess Player]

1927

Raymond Bernard

France
 

The King of Kings

1927

Cecil B. DeMille

USA
  Kurutta Ippeiji
[A Page of Madness]
1926 Teinosuke Kinugasa Japan
 

The Last of the Mohicans

1920

Maurice Tourneur and
Clarence Brown

USA
 

The Last Warning

1928

Paul Leni

USA
 

Male and Female

1919

Cecil B. DeMille

USA
 

Mantrap

1926

Victor Fleming

USA
 

Man, Woman and Sin

1927

Monta Bell

USA
 

Old Ironsides

1926

James Cruze

USA
 

The Perils of Pauline

1914

Louis J. Gasnier and
Donald MacKenzie

USA
 

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

1917

Marshall Neilan

USA
 

Regeneration

1915

Raoul Walsh

USA
 

Romola

1924

Henry King

USA
  Scaramouche 1923 Rex Ingram USA
 

The Scar of Shame

1927

Frank Peregrini

USA
 

The Sea Beast

1926

Millard Webb

USA
 

Seven Footprints to Satan

1929

Benjamin Christensen

USA
 

The Sheik

1921

George Melford

USA
 

Sherlock Holmes

1922

Albert S. Parker

USA
 

Son of the Sheik

1926

George Fitzmaurice

USA
 

Spione [Spies]

1928

Fritz Lang

Germany
 

The Squaw Man

1914

Oscar C. Apfel and
Cecil B. DeMille

USA
 

Street Angel

1928

Frank Borzage

USA
  The Street of Forgotten Men 1925 Herbert Brenon USA
 

Sylvesterabend [Sylvester]

1923

Lupu Pick

Germany
 

Tarzan of the Apes

1918

Scott Sidney

USA
 

The Three Musketeers

1921

Fred Niblo

USA
 

Tumbleweeds

1925

King Baggot

USA
 

Underworld

1927

Josef von Sternberg

USA
 

Les Vampires

1915-16

Louis Feuillade

France
  Variété [Variety] 1925 E.A. Dupont Germany
 

Von morgens bis mitternachts
[From Morning till Midnight]

1920

Karl-Heinz Martin

Germany
 

The Way of All Flesh

1927

Victor Fleming

USA
 

Wild Orchids

1929

Sidney Franklin

USA
 

Within Our Gates

1920

Oscar Micheaux

USA
 

A Woman of Paris

1923

Charles Chaplin

USA



CAST YOUR VOTES HERE

Remember: Title, year, director, country.


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