Silent Films are Like Hard Liquor: A Guide to Silent Movies

Silent films can be hard to get into when you're first starting. This video attempts to make the process a little easier by offering some tips in terms of what films to start with, as well as some dos and don'ts when watching silent movies. It's also a big celebration of silent cinema; a wonderful and exciting period in film history with some of the best movies ever made.

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[baronhausenpheffer]

Silent movies have a "vibe" that really draws me in. It's like every time you're watching one, you're getting a vision of a vanished world -- a strange, straggling survivor of an era where a substantial portion of its brethren are now forever lost to time. And then for it to be an entertaining thing of beauty on top of all of that mystique... mwah! (chef's kiss)

[susanfreeman]

I was lucky enough to see 'Nosferatu' with a live organist performing the music. If any of you have the chance to see a silent that way, go for it.

[TheFxskibidbopmmdada]

I find Charlie Chaplin extremely easy to watch, because of how well it has aged. All the humour is still good, and still pretty fast paced

[LonzosSprayPainting]

I actually saw Nosferatu at a silent movie theatre last weekend. The experience was legitimately magical

[OuterGalaxyLounge]

Coming from an oldster who has seen more than a thousand silent movies, I have to praise you for "getting" it about how to watch them. This is all on-point advice. One that I would add, is -- if it is humanly possible to do so -- see these films in a real theater projected from a real film print. The quality of the viewing experience, the immersion in the darkness, the reinforcement of having an audience around you picking up on subtle expressions and cueing laughter and other reactions really helps you zone in on what's going on.

[yohannbiimu]

Towards the dawn of "talkies" some silent films were so sophisticated and well-made they made the early talkies look ridiculous. It's no wonder that some people thought that talkies were "just a fad."

[yohannbiimu]

I love films by F.W. Murnau. It is such a shame that he died so young. He was so incredibly talented, and nearly all of his films were silent classics.

[calebrands]

An odd stragedy that I used was to start from the very beginning of cinema and move forward in time. The 1890s and 1900s are very short and easy to watch, especially the works of Georges Méliès. Then I eased my way through the 1910s with Chaplin films and feature lengths and by the time I got to the 1920s, it all just seemed natural.

[andrewtate]

when Harold Lloyd runs through a door and is faced by guys holding guns he has a a shocked look on his face and turns and runs back Spielberg and Lucas used this gag in various version in the Indiana Jones movies

[tinaprivitera]

They biffed it hard with that music in THE LODGER.

[yohei]

Funny, I started watching silent films in my early teens, and I never found them the slightest bit difficult. I loved them from the first shot.

[aust_inc]

I went right into Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari without easing myself into it. I'm glad I did though because I consider those two movies my favorite of all time. I do agree that silent films take some time to adjust when you're so used to the dialogue heavy releases of modern films. The pace is so different but once you become acclimated to it, you realize the cinematic significance of the medium.

[whenthepicturesgotbigger]

As a huge fan of silent cinema, this advice is all pretty spot on! The only one I have some minor qualms with is “don’t add your own soundtrack”. While I think it’s strange to add your own soundtrack to a piece with one built in, these films weren’t made with specified music accompaniments, and so technically any score you listen to alongside the film is ‘added’. The key is to find scores that fit the mood the film is trying to convey, I suppose.

[nickc.]

Excellent video. I’ve spent this year getting into silent films. So much genius. Been recommending The Kid to everyone. Good point of entry.

[TheMightyPika]

The Man Who Laughs is a great intro to silent drama, too. Not only is it surprisingly modern in tone and pacing, but it's just a damn good, high-tension story.

[rodrilip]

Beautiful video. One thing that really helped me is to learn about the historic context of the films, these guys were really pioneers and we are lucky to be able to watch the birth of an art form. Read about the directors, influences, see the movies with the first use of certain techniques, etc.

[JeffreyDeCristofaro]

I am definitely a huge fan of silent German films, particularly Fritz Lang, although ironically my introduction to silent films as a kid was not with European cinema, but American cinema, when I first saw the silent version of THE LOST WORLD (1925), which wasn't just the first full-length giant monster movie but also oddly enough was also the world's first inflight movie (for the German Air Service, ironically enough). I was in my pre-teens back in the mid-to-late 1990's and didn't have an understanding of cinema when I saw that film, so I was kinda thrown off and my dad had to explain the film's status, but as I learned more about the history of classic cinema going into my late teens and 20's and was growing up with watching classic films on VHS and Turner Classic Movies, and later taking film appreciation and filmmaking classes both in high school and college, I was utterly mind-blown, and it amazes me that the period from the 2000's to the 2020's is when so many silent landmarks were and are gradually becoming centennial films (I sure hope I live long enough to see certain favorite films from the 1940's, 50's and 60's at least turn centennial). Here in my hometown of Asheville, NC, we actually had several silent films made here, namely THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN (1921) which tragically have become lost, but I hope you check out our regional film historian Frank Thompson's work. His books are definitely the last word on the subject of silent regional filmmaking in the Southeast US.

[publicdomaincomedyclassics]

The great silent comedies from Chaplin, Keaton, etc are timeless, they still totally work today!

[louieandtommysdiscountedit]

That whole thing you said about people fast-forwarding movies still fucks with me. People literally gain nothing but a faster run-time doing that. The film-makers want you to experience that time in full. Make enough time for it, or pause it.

[masonallen]

I just saw my first silent film tonight. I watched the 2015 Cohen Film Collection version of Sherlock Jr. I was a little scared about watching my first silent film but your video really helped me. I learned a lot. Thank you so much.