The Passion of Joan of Arc
(La passion de Jeanne d’Arc)

 

France / 1928 / 96 min

Director : Carl Theodor Dreyer

Cast : Renée Falconetti, Eugène Silvain, Maurice Schutz

Cinematographer : Rudolph Maté

Screenplay : Carl Theodor Dreyer, Joseph Delteil

Production Company : Société générale des Films

Print Source : Gaumont

 

Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer"s masterpiece, The Passion of Joan of Arc, is praised as one of the greatest films of all time for its groundbreaking techniques and direction, as well as a legendary performance by Renée Falconetti. The story of a martyr dating back to 1431 AD, its title character, Joan of Arc, is taken to the castle of Rouen in chains to be tried by an Ecclesiastical Court, under the English invaders" command. She faces the courtroom"s outrage with disarming humility. Found guilty of heresy, she is sentenced to die at the stake; she is burned alive amidst jeers from the crowd.

 

 

 

The Passion of Joan of Arc was edited into various versions. However, the print screened will be Dreyer’s original 1928 version that was finally found in 1981, and digitally restored in 2015.  

 

  

Journey into the Night
(Der Gang in die Nacht)

Germany / 1921 / 81 min

Director :  F.W. Murnau

Cast :  Olaf Fønss, Erna Morena, Conrad Veidt

Cinematographer : Max Lutze

Screenplay :  Harriet Bloch, Carl Mayer

Production Company :  Goron Films

Print Source : Filmmuseum München

 

The earliest surviving film by German director F. W. Murnau, the film tells the story of Eigil, a middle-aged doctor who leaves his fiancé for Lily, a charming cabaret performer. The new couple sets up their love nest in a countryside villa, where their love is tested by the appearance of a mysterious blind painter.

Journey into the Night is an excellent example of German Expressionism, a form Murnau pioneered with his many innovative cinematography and editing techniques, including the incorporation of stage play conventions, and the use of insert shots to heighten dramatic tension. 

  

The Devious Path 
(Abwege)

 

 

Germany / 1928 / 98 min

Director :  Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Cast :  Gustav Diessl, Brigitte Helm, Hertha von Walther

Cinematographer : Theodor Sparkuhl

Screenplay :  Adolf Lantz, Ladislaus Vajda, Helen Gosewisch

Production Company :  Erda-Film GmbH, Universal Pictures Corp.

Print Source : Filmmuseum München

 

A family drama directed by Weimar-era master director, G.W. Pabst, the film is notable for having created a memorable female character with the performance of Brigitte Helm. The Devious Path tells the story of a woman whose affluent lawyer husband neglects her in favor of work. She soon embarks on a new romance with another man. Their marriage winds up in court when the husband submits a claim for divorce. 

 

The Grey Automobile
(El Automóvil Gris)

 

 

Mexico / 1919 / 223 min

Director : Enrique Rosas

Cast : Juan Canals de Homes, Joaquín Coss, Juan Manuel Cabrera, Miguel Ángel Ferriz 

Cinematographer : Enrique Rosas

Screenplay : José Manuel Ramos

Production Company : Azteca Films, Rosas y Cía.

Print Source : Cineteca Nacional Mexico

 

 

A Mexican silent film produced as a Serial that was very popular during the silent era. The story of a police inspector who tries to follow a scandalous criminal gang, based on actual events involving a gang that terrorized Mexico City in 1915. The producer brought in the actual detective who apprehended the gang to play a leading role as the police inspector. Real gang members also appeared in some scenes. 

 

The Grey Automobile was originally produced as a 12-chapter serial in 1919, but was late edited into a series of different versions. The most common of these versions is a 2-hour cut. However, the version to be screened exceeds 200 minutes, and is by far closest to the original cut in terms of content and film tinting. Restored by the Cineteca Nacional in Mexico. 

 

 

The Secret of Delft
(Het geheim van Delft)

 

 

The Netherlands / 1917 / 65 min

Director : Maurits H. Binger

Cast : Annie Bos, Lily Bouwmeester, Louis H. Chrispijn Senior, Jan van Dommelen

Cinematographer : H.W. Metman

Production Company : Filmfabriek Hollandia

Print Source : EYE Film Museum

 

A silent drama with striking tinting techniques, The Secret of Delft was directed by Maurits Binger, a Dutch film pioneer. The film stars Annie Bos, otherwise known as the queen of Dutch silent film. Bos performed her own stunts in the film, going so far as to strap herself to a windmill 40 meters off the ground. The film tells the story of Jan Vogel, an honest craftsman in a Delft pottery factory, who tries to help his boss rescue their company from financial crisis by experimenting with the long lost formula for painting porcelain. Unfortunately, the fickle finger of fate works in strange ways. His employer commits suicide, and Jan’s nephew Willem, having hatched a plot to steal his secret formula, takes this chance to slander his name.

 

The House on Trubnaya
(Dom na Trubnoy)

 

Soviet Union / 1928 / 84 min

Director : Boris Barnet

Cast : Vera Maretskaya, Anel Sudakevich, Ada Vojtsik, Vladimir Fogel

Cinematographer : Yevgeni Alekseyev

Screenplay : Bella Zorich, Viktor Shklovsky, Nikolay Erdman

Production Company : Mezhrabpomfilm

Print Source : mk2 Films

 

Praised as one of the great Soviet silent films for its outstanding cinematic and editing techniques, Boris Barnet’s The House on Trubnaya is a satirical comedy that subtly reflects social issues in Soviet-era. The film tells the story of Parasha, a young peasant woman who"s come to Moscow to try her luck, residing in a worn-out apartment on Trubnaya Street. She works as a maid to make ends meet but is ruthlessly exploited by her employers. Soon after, she is invited to join the worker’s union, and is later unexpectedly elected to the Moscow city council.

   

The Goddess

 

China / 1934 / 78 min

Director : Wu Yonggang

Cast : Ruan Lingyu, Tian Jian, Zhang Zhizhi, Li Keng

Cinematographer : Hong Weilie

Screenplay : Wu Yonggang

Production Company : Lianhua Film Company

Print Source : China Film Archive

 

Praised as the greatest Chinese silent film, this work of realism features Ruan Lingyu, the bewitching actress hailed as China’s Greta Grabo. The film tells the story of a woman down on her luck.  When her husband commits suicide, the young woman becomes a prostitute in order to pay her son’s tuition fees. When her neighbors begin to spread gossip about her at school, her son is forced to drop out. The pressure pushes her to fight with her back against the wall.     

 

Foolish Wives

 

USA / 1922 / 101 min

Director : Erich von Stroheim

Cast : Erich von Stroheim, Miss DuPont, Maude George

Cinematographer : William H. Daniels, Ben F. Reynolds

Screenplay : Erich von Stroheim

Production Company : Universal

Print Source : Lobster Films

 

Rightfully proclaimed the ‘first million-dollar movie’ to come out of Hollywood, this masterpiece was directed by and starred Erich von Stroheim, noted as the movie world"s legend. The story is that of a con artist in Monte-Carlo, who masquerades as a Russian noble in an attempt to seduce rich women and extort money from them. 

 

After seeing Foolish Wives and Human Heart in 1923, Tuan Yawaprapas, the editor of the first Thai film magazine, Papayon Siam, proclaimed, “The success in making both films is as significant as Buddha’s triumph over evil.”

 

45 Minutes from Hollywood

 

USA / 1926 / 22 min

Director : Fred Guiol

Cast : Glenn Tryon, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Theda Bara

Screenplay : Hal Roach, H.M. Walker

Production Company : Hal Roach, Pathe Exchange Release

Print Source : Lobster Films

 

 

This comedy portrays a young man travelling to Hollywood in order to try his luck. However, he gets into trouble when he sees a bank robbery in progress, believing it to only to be a movie scene.

 

45 Minutes from Hollywood was the first movie in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appeared together under the direction of Hal Roach, a renowned producer of the silent film era. Even though they were not the main characters and did not share any scenes in this film, they were paired up by Roach in another the following year, and soon rose to fame together as the world’s greatest comedy double-act.  

 

Sherlock JR.

 

USA / 1924 / 45 min

Director : Buster Keaton

Cast : Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Ward Crane, Joseph Keaton

Cinematographer : Byron Houck, Elgin Lessley

Screenplay : Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell

Production Company : Metro Pictures Corporation, Buster Keaton Productions

Print Source : Park Circus

 

A silent masterpiece by Buster Keaton, one of the great film comedians, otherwise known by his trademark nickname, ‘The Great Stone Face.’ The story is that of a movie projectionist who daydreams of being a great detective. One day, he falls asleep and actually daydreams himself into the movie he is showing.

 

Sherlock Jr. is widely regarded as one of Keaton’s best films for its amazing stunts and special effects. Moreover, it was an early film within a film. It also portrayed the influence of cinema on people and popularity of the movie theater in that period, later inspiring Woody Allen to make The Purple Rose of Cairo.