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Part 1 |
Silent Films Part 1 | Examples
 Silent Films: A
thorough history of the films of the classic silent era is described in two
other places in this site:
These are the films of the early era that were
without synchronized sound, from the earliest film (around 1891), until
1927, when the first 'talkie', The Jazz Singer (1927) was produced, although there were a few other 'silents' later on, such as Calling them silent films is something of a misnomer - movie theatres and other dream palaces provided pianists, wurlitzers, and other sound machines, and some films were produced with complete musical scores. Most early silents were accompanied with a full-fledged orchestra, organist or pianist to provide musical background and to underscore the narrative on the screen. Some even had live actors or narrators. Unfortunately, many of the early classics have been lost to decomposing nitrate film bases and outright destruction. Many early silent films were either dramas, epics, romances, or comedies (often slapstick). One-reelers (10-12 minutes) soon gave way to four-reel feature-length films. Early masters of cinema during the silent years included Cecil B. De Mille,
known for his epics such as The Ten Commandments (1923), Erich Von
Stroheim's dramatic tale of the degenerative effects of avarice in Early pioneering director D. W. Griffith was often identified with epics including:
The most-remembered films from the silent years are the visual
comedies from the Mack Sennett Keystone Kops series, starring Fatty Arbuckle
and Mabel Normand, and slapstick from the 'silent clowns.' Tragi-comic superstar
Charlie Chaplin is most noted for The Kid (1921), his classics including Physically-daring comedian Buster Keaton ("Old or Great Stoneface")
appeared in many other classic comedies, including Sherlock Jr. (1924),
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City Lights (1931)
