Battleship Potemkin is a silent movie from 1925. The movie is based on the uprising which happened in 1905 on the battleship. The crew totally rebelled against their commanding officers and tried to take control of the ship. They did this together with the people from Odessa which was the port they were docked at. But by doing so they opened themselves up to a huge onslaught from the Russians, who didn’t hold back in making sure they didn’t let the matter get out of hand. Continue Reading

This is one of Charlie Chaplin’s greatest ever movies. It was released even though there were many “talkies” readily available but he knew he had a great film in the making. So he decided to continue with the movie that was silent except for sound effects and music. This was quite a gamble but it really paid off when the film was released and had people flocking to see it.

Actually it wasn’t until the movie The Great Dictator in the 1940’s when he first made his first full speaking role. His silent movies were so successful, he didn’t want to steer away from them. Continue Reading

Charlie Chaplin is one of the best known silent movie actors of all time. He had an excellent way of injecting comedy in any situation and The Gold Rush is no exception. It is a very simple movie but has so many comedy moments that it keeps you enthralled all the way through.

The story itself features Charlie Chaplin playing a tramp with almost no money at all. He is in a place with many other prospectors looking for gold. He gets trapped inside a cabin with two of them and also falls in love with a girl from the dance hall, played by Georgina Hale. He tries his best to get her to notice him but he is lost amongst all the other guys around him. Continue Reading

The Passion of Joan of Arc Criterion Collection (1928) has a history that could rival most movie storylines of this decade. It was created in 1928 but was lost until 1981 when it was discovered in a Norwegian mental institute. It was originally thought to have been lost in a fire until then.

The film has some of the most modern and radical approaches of it’s time. The set design and story telling really were works of art that can be enjoyed today thanks to the discovery of the film. The surprise of the film was the superb performance of Renee Falconetti who played Joan of Arc. It was her only ever performance in a film and many people consider it to be the best performance of a central character of any film ever made. Continue Reading