Nov. 5, 1925: "The Big Parade" premieres in Los Angeles. The WWI epic will become the blockbuster movie of the decade, generating an eye-popping gross of $6 million. It sets a standard for realism and excitement in war films and makes a major star of its lead, John Gilbert. 1/6

King Vidor's First World War epic The Big Parade premiered 100 years ago today. It would go on to huge box office success, reportedly ranking as the second-highest-grossing film of the silent era after The Birth of a Nation

That Night's Wife (1930) Directed by Yasujirō Ozu

Max Linder in Entente cordiale (1912)

Faust (1926) Directed by F.W. Murnau

“Nothing in the world can be compared to the human face. It is a land one can never tire of exploring. There is no greater experience…than to witness the expression of a sensitive face under the mysterious power of inspiration. To see it animated from inside, and turning into poetry.” -Carl Dreyer

Häxan (1922), an early example of a horror film that was framed as a documentary

I highly recommend the Méliès museum in Paris

Nosferatu (1922)

Here is an excerpt of my conversation with @silentmoviegifs.bsky.social for The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever: 1908. Links in quoted post!

Really enjoyed talking about some films from 1908. If you are interested in silent film, you should really check out this podcast, I've learned a lot about the early years of cinema by listening to it

1908 in cinema

1908 E3 of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever is live! Don McHoull, @silentmoviegifs.bsky.social, joins me to talk comedy, tricks, and drama. And he highlights a few GIF-able moments from the movies! Links 👇

Nothing suspicious here, just Greta Garbo dropping a smoking gun. The Mysterious Lady (1928)

Mary Pickford's Little Annie Rooney was released 100 years ago today, on Oct. 18, 1925

Nosferatu (1922) established the convention of vampires dying from exposure to sunlight. In the novel Dracula, which Nosferatu was based on, sunlight was only an irritant to vampires

Buster Keaton in Sherlock Jr. (1924)

Le mystère de la tour Eiffel (1928) was filmed on location at the Eiffel Tower

An interesting thing about going to a movie in Iceland is that theatres add an intermission to every film by abruptly stopping it halfway through so that people can go get a snack or use the restroom. A bit jarring when you aren’t expecting it, I thought the projector broke

Charlie Chaplin in Work (1915)

La Grenouille (1908) Directed by Segundo de Chomón

Heading to Spain for the rest of the month, so I may not post as frequently. Though maybe I will, after 10 years of doing this it’s become kind of a compulsion to post at least one silent movie gif a day

It's kind of crazy how long some comic strips run for. The Katzenjammer Kids started in 1897 and ran until 2006. Barney Google started in 1919 and it's still going

A bit off topic, but I made a video essay about Barney Google, a comic strip that started in 1919 and is somehow still running today www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQi5...

Fulta Fisher's Boarding House is the first narrative film directed by Frank Capra. Capra got the job by calling up a San Francisco-based movie studio and falsely implying he had experience working in Hollywood. At the time he was working as a book salesman

Buster Keaton was born 130 years ago today, on October 4, 1895

Buster Keaton was born 130 years ago today, on October 4, 1895

Charlie Chaplin in The Floorwalker (1916) and Modern Times (1936)

A few of Lon Chaney's many faces

The Paramount logo in Wings (1927) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

1907 E7 of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever is live! I use the brief season finale to wrap up some of the themes and share the five most-selected films from the guests and listeners. (Already) old-school genres reigned supreme! Links 👇

Harold Lloyd in Get Out and Get Under (1920)

Clara Bow in Dancing Mothers (1926)

Beatriz Michelena was one of America's first Latina movie stars. All her films were feared lost until a print of Salomy Jane (1914) was discovered in Australia in 1996

Colleen Moore in Why Be Good? (1929)

The Voice of the Violin (1909) includes D.W. Griffith's hilariously inaccurate depiction of an anarchist meeting

One of cinema's first depictions of the parting of the Red Sea. From The Life of Moses (1909)

Buster Keaton and Bartine Burkett in The High Sign (1921)

The Bat (1926) was believed to be lost for decades until a print was found in the 1980s

The "Teddy" Bears (1907)

Harold Lloyd in The Freshman (1925)

Harold Lloyd's The Freshman is now 100 years old. It was Lloyd's most popular silent comedy, and one of the biggest hits of 1925, taking in $2.6 million at the box office

I was planning to make some posts about today being the 100th anniversary of the release of The Freshman, but after doing a bit of research it seems like it actually premiered in August of 1925, contrary to what online sources like Wikipedia indicate

Max Linder in Max Learns to Skate (1907)

Greta Garbo was born 120 years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1905

The Merry Frolics of Satan (1906) Directed by Georges Méliès

Buster Keaton in The Haunted House (1921), Tom in Heavenly Puss (1949)

Faust (1926) Directed by F.W. Murnau

The birth of a cinematic trope? A home invader cuts a phone line in The Lonely Villa (1909)

This gag from Fast and Furious (1924) may seem a bit familiar to silent comedy fans