Most people nowadays believe that silent films were of a low quality and would never attract modern viewers with sophisticated tastes. Some say that their plots were primitive, with acting styles that could be termed as campy and artificial. This is nothing but a stereotype, though. During the so-called “silent era” a lot of masterpieces where created which did not lose their unique and tender beauty, poetry, and cultural significance.
The term “silent movie” refers to pictures with no synchronized sound, especially without spoken dialogues. In order to get the idea across, pantomime and title cards where extensively used. Sometimes cinemas provided live music to emphasize certain emotional moods. The first projects of creating motion pictures were made in the late 19th century, some time between 1877 and 1880. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the first narrative film was created by Louis Le Prince in 1888. This two-second long film, named “Roundhay Garden Scene”, pictured people walking “Oakwood Street” garden. Silent Era films captured vast audiences during 1894-1929, but in 1927 the first movie with the sound, or “talkie”, was filmed – “The Jazz Singer”. Although silent film production has ceased, they are still considered a valuable cultural heritage, an important stage of the becoming and development of film production.
Silent movies do not constitute a separate genre, and with only a few exceptions they have the same genres as modern movies. Silent films do not include the genre of the musical, although Erich von Stroheim created a silent version of “The Mary Widow”. Major film genres include western, comedy, melodrama, science fiction and horror.
Among the most highly-developed genres of silent movies are comedies, in which an emphasis was made on visual and physical humor. The most famous actors of that time were Charlie Chaplin (“The Kid”, “A Woman of Paris”, “The Gold Rush”, “City Lights”, “The Great Dictator”, “A King in New York” and some more), Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Oliver Hardy, Edna Purviance. The most prominent producers of the Silent Film Era in terms of comedy were Mack Sennett (creator of the “Keystone Cops”) and Hal Roach. Science fiction and fantasy movies were presented by one of the earliest works, “A Trip to the Moon” (1902).
Westerns, a truly American art form, were extremely popular during these times. When referring to silent movies, the most famous films of this genre are “Green Train Robbery” by Edwin S. Porter, former Thomas Edison’s cameraman; “Virgin Land” by Henry Nash Smith, “The Jack of Hearts” by B. Reeves Eason; “The Last Drop of Water”, by D. W. Griffith, and many others.
The Silent Era created also several masterpieces of the horror genre, such as “Une noit Terrible” (1896), “The Haunted Castle” (1897), “Le Monstre” (1903), Frankenstein (1910), “The Brand of Satan” (1917), “Nosferatu” (1922) and several more.
During the Silent Era, people were interested in emotional and romantic stories. Most movie critics believe that silent films are the bright form of expressing deep and tender feelings without words. The most well-known films of this genre include “The Fool There Was” with Theda Bara (1915) and works of melodrama master, D. W. Griffith who featured Lillian Gish in most of his movies, like “True Heart Susie” (1919), “Broken Blossoms” (1919), “Orphans of the Storm” (1922), movies picturing dramas of World War I “Hearts of the World” (1918) and “Way Down East” (1920). Two of the most influential melodramas of that time were F. W. Murnau’s “Sunrise” (1927) and Erich von Stroheim’s “Greed” (1924).
The Silent Era was the beginning of cinema culture and movie production, and the first steps in a new venture are never easy and flawless. The technical level of that time did not allow those effects which are so common for modern cinema audiences now. Yet silent movies contributed a lot to the development of film and the cinema industry as a whole. Masterful silent movies prove that there are certain situations when words are not needed to express profound feelings and events.
References
Tim Dirks. (n.d.). Melodrama Films. Filmsite. Retrieved from http://www.filmsite.org/melodramafilms.html
Tim Dirks. (n.d.). Movie Review “The Great Train Robbery”. Filmsite. Retrieved from http://www.filmsite.org/grea.html
Tim Dirks. (n.d.). Movie Review “Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon)”. Filmsite. Retrieved from http://www.filmsite.org/voya.html
Silent Melodrama Film. Moviemail. Retrieved from
http://www.moviemail.com/silent-film/melodrama/
Jackson, M. (July 10, 2012). Nosferatu +13 More Classic Silent Horror Movies You Can Watch Now. [Blog post] Retrieved from http://www.blastr.com/2012/10/nosferatu-13-more-terrify.php
OLCP Silent Film (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2013 from the OLCP wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_film#cite_note-1
OLCP Silent Comedy (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2013 from the OLCP wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_comedy
OLCP Charlie Chaplin (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2013 from the OLCP wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin
Boeder, L. (n.d.). A Guide to Classic Movie Genres and Styles. Great Examples of Classic Movies in Every Genre. About Classic Movies. Retrieved from http://classicfilm.about.com/od/classicmoviereviews/a/GenreGuide.htm
Semlyen, Phil de. (n.d.). Become a Silent Movies Expert in Ten Easy Movies. Empire. Retrieved from http://www.empireonline.com/features/become-a-genre-expert-silent-movies
The Silent Western. Early Movie Myths of the American West. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Westfilm/west.html