Extra Credit Films (Silent Era)

There are so many movies, it would take years to cover all of them thoroughly (hence the reason to major in film studies...) In an attempt to encourage the viewing of some of these important early films, any of these films may be watched for extra credit.

How to do it:
1. Choose a film & watch it.
2. Summarize the film in a paragraph (or two). Aim for just the important events that happen in the film.
3. Evaluate the film in a paragraph (or two). What did you think of the film? What did you learn about the artistry of film making by watching the film (apply the practical information of this course to the film)? What did you learn about the time period or narrative stories by watching the film? Etc.
4. Turn in your film review by the end of the marking period.
5. Repeat as needed.

Oscar Micheaux:

• Within Our Gates (1919, with Evelyn Preer)
• Body and Soul (1925, with Paul Robeson)
• The Symbol of the Unconquered (1920)
• Swing (1938, a talkie!)

Robert Flaherty:

• Nanook of the North (1922) 

Dziga Vertov: 

• Man With a Movie Camera (1929)

Vitagraph (Sidney Drew):

• A Florida Enchantment (1914)

Lois Weber:

• Where Are My Children (1916)

Robert Wiene:

• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919, with Conrad Veidt)
• Genuine: A Tale of a Vampire (1920)
• The Hands of Orlac (1924, with Conrad Veidt)

Sergei Eisenstein:

• Battleship Potemkin (1925)
• Oktober (1928)
• Alexander Nevsky (1938)

F.W. Murnau:

• Nosferatu (1922)
• Phantom (1922)
• Faust (1926)
• Sunrise (1927, with Janet Gaynor)
• Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931) (compare to Nanook of the North)

Cecil B. DeMille:

• The King of Kings (1927, in 2-strip Technicolor)
• Male & Female (1919, with Gloria Swanson)

Paul Leni:

• The Cat and the Canary (1927)

Harry Hoyt:

• The Lost World (1925)

Paul Wegener: 

• The Golem (1920)

MGM's:

• Ben Hur (1925, with Raymond Navarro)
• Sherlock Holmes (1922, with John Barrymore, from the George Eastman collection)

Adolph Zukor:

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920, with John Barrymore)

Other silent films (actors):

• The Mark of Zorro (1920, with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.)
• The Thief of Bagdad (1924, with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.)
• The Black Pirate (1926, in 2 strip Technicolor, with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.)
• The Sheik (1921, with Rudolph Valentino)
• The Son of the Sheik (1926, with Rudolph Valentino)
• Seventh Heaven (1927, with Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell)
• It (1927, with Clara Bow)

Carl Laemmle:

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923, with Lon Chaney)
• The Phantom of the Opera (1925, with Lon Chaney)

Laurel & Hardy Films:

• Sons of the Desert (1933) full film
• Babes in Toyland (1934) full film
• Way Out West (1937) full film
• The Flying Deuces (1939) (full film)
• Utopia (1951) (full film)

• Battleship Potemkin (1925, full film)
• Oktober; and (Oktober: the full film 1928)
• Alexander Nevsky (1928) (battle on the ice sequence) - Music by Sergei Prokofiev. We can see how the invention of sound in the next few years will revolutionize film. The exciting tone of the music, nicely reflects the glory, fear, and trepidation of the characters in this scene.