Best Movies of 1920-1929

#1 The Big Parade 1925

Directors: King Vidor, George W. Hill. Cast: John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Claire McDowell, Claire Adams, Robert Ober, Tom O'Brien, Karl Dane, Kathleen Key, Rosita Marstini, Julanne Johnston.

Overview: The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.

Genre: History. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 21m.

#2 The General 1927

Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton. Cast: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom, Charles Henry Smith, Frank Barnes, Joe Keaton, Mike Donlin, Tom Nawn.

Overview: The General is a 1927 American silent film comedy from Buster Keaton. The film flopped when first released but is now regarded as the height of silent film comedy. The film is based on events from America’s civil war.

Genres: Comedy, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 18m. Rated: NR.

#3 Metropolis 1927

Director: Fritz Lang. Cast: Fritz Alberti, Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Helm, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, Erwin Biswanger, Heinrich George, Olaf Storm, Hanns Leo Reich, Helene Weigel, Heinrich Gotho, Margarete Lanner, Alfred Abel.

Overview: Metropolis is Fritz Lang’s monumental silent science fiction film from 1927. The film’s strong imagery shows us the future city of Metropolis where the society has been divided into the elite living high above ground and the workers living underground. Joh Frederson, the son of the leader of the city falls in love with a beautiful woman, Maria, who is fighting to break the societal separation.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, Science Fiction. Country: Germany. Runtime: 3h 30m. Rated: G.

#4 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 1927

Directors: F.W. Murnau, Herman Bing. Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston, Bodil Rosing, J. Farrell MacDonald, Ralph Sipperly, Jane Winton, Arthur Housman, Eddie Boland, Gino Corrado, Gibson Gowland.

Overview: The first film from director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau to be finished in the States. The film has the tangible elements of German expressionism. Murnau received a big budget from Fox and the ability to make all the filmmaking decisions. The film has been called the greatest silent film of all time.

Genres: Crime, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 35m. Rated: NR.

#5 Sherlock Jr. 1924

Director: Buster Keaton. Cast: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly, Ward Crane.

Overview: A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.

Genres: Comedy, Mystery. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 44m.

#6 The Kid 1921

6 reels of Joy.

Director: Charlie Chaplin. Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance, Albert Austin, Beulah Bains, Carl Miller, Henry Bergman, Kitty Bradbury, Nellie Bly Baker, F. Blinn, Frances Cochran, Frank Campeau, Bliss Chevalier, Elsie Codd, Jack Coogan Sr..

Overview: Considered one of Charlie Chaplin's best films, The Kid also made a star of little Jackie Coogan, who plays a boy cared for by The Tramp when he's abandoned by his mother, Edna. Later, Edna has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son. When she finds him and wrests him from The Tramp, it makes for what turns out be one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever included in a comedy.

Genres: Comedy, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 8m. Rated: NR.

#7 The Wind 1928

Director: Victor Sjöström. Cast: Lillian Gish.

Overview: Letty moves to West Texas from the East and it seems that the wind always blows and the sand gets everywhere. While living with relatives, she finds that she is not welcomed by the wife. With no where to go, she marries a man who disgusts her. Her new home is a small shack with the wind and the sand constant companions. When it is necessary for most of the men to go out into the sand storm, one stays back to have his way with Letty and that costs both of them. Written by Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 35m.

#8 Safety Last! 1923

Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor. Cast: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Westcott Clarke.

Overview: When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

Genres: Comedy, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 10m.

#9 The Gold Rush 1925

Director: Charlie Chaplin. Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman, Malcolm Waite.

Overview: A lone prospector ventures into Alaska looking for gold. He gets mixed up with some burly characters and falls in love with the beautiful Georgia. He tries to win her heart with his singular charm.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Family. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 22m. Rated: NR.

#10 The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928
La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer. Cast: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Antonin Artaud, Jean d'Yd, Louis Ravet, Armand Lurville, Jacques Arnna, Alexandre Mihalesco, Léon Larive, Maurice Schutz.

Overview: The Passion of Joan of Arc is the masterpiece from Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer that depicts the story of French martyr Joan from Orleans seven years after her canonization from the catholic church.

Genres: Drama, Foreign. Country: France. Runtime: 1h 28m.

#11 Show People 1928

Director: King Vidor. Cast: Marion Davies, William Haines, Dell Henderson.

Overview: Colonel Pepper brings his daughter, Peggy, to Hollywood from Georgia to be an actress.

Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 23m.

#12 The Cameraman 1928

Directors: Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton. Cast: Marceline Day, Charles A. Lindbergh, Harold Goodwin, Harry Gribbon, Ray Cooke, Vernon Dent, Harry Keaton, Louise Keaton, Bert Moorhouse, Edward Brophy, Buster Keaton, Richard Alexander, Sidney Bracey, William Irving.

Overview: The Great Stone Face portrays Luke Shannon, a "tintype" portrait photographer who develops a serious crush on Sally, a beautiful woman who works as a secretary for MGM's newsreel department. Luke's primary rival for Sally's affections is a cameraman for the company, so Luke decides to sign to the newsreel department in hopes of impressing her. However, his hand with a movie camera is not especially sure at first; he mistakenly double exposes a reel of film that results in battleships sailing down Broadway, while his attempts to get footage of a Tong battle seem more successful until an organ grinder's monkey runs off with his film. Luke gets the axe before long, but he's not about to give up, and he tries to find another way to impress his lady love.

Genres: Comedy, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 7m. Rated: G.

#13 The Last Laugh 1924

Director: F.W. Murnau. Cast: Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Max Hiller, Hans Unterkircher, Hermann Vallentin, Emilie Kurz.

Overview: An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious Hotel is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

Genres: Drama, Foreign. Country: Germany. Runtime: 1h 17m.

#14 Battleship Potemkin 1926
Bronenosets Potyomkin

Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein. Cast: Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Grigori Aleksandrov, Ivan Bobrov, Mikhail Gomorov, Aleksandr Levshin, Beatrice Vitoldi.

Overview: Battleship Potemkin is the classic masterpiece silent film from director Sergej Eisenstein from 1925. The film is based on the true events of the Russian Revolution of 1905. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and was a masterful example of montage editing.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 1h 15m.

#15 Greed 1924

Director: Erich von Stroheim. Cast: Zasu Pitts, Gibson Gowland, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller, Tempe Pigott, Sylvia Ashton, Chester Conklin, Joan Standing.

Overview: Greed is the classic 1924 silent film by Erich von Stroheim about a woman who wins the lottery thus becoming obsessed with money and ruining her marriage and the people around her. The film was originally 10 hours long and dramatically and realistically depicted word for word the Frank Norris novel McTeague. Only about 2 hours exist today as it is considered the 'Holy Grail' of lost films.

Genres: Drama, History. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 20m.

#16 The Patsy 1928

Director: King Vidor. Cast: Marion Davies, Orville Caldwell, Marie Dressler.

Overview: A hillarious movie from director King Vidor, with Marion Davies AND Marie Dresler! As the perpetually feuding mother and daughter, Dresler and Davies are not only side-splittingly funny, they are actually quite touching.

Runtime: 1h 18m.

#17 Siegfried 1924
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried

Director: Fritz Lang. Cast: Paul Richter, Theodor Loos.

Overview: Siegfried, son of King Sigmund, hears of the beautiful sister of Gunter, King of Worms, Kriemhild. On his way to Worms, he kills a dragon and finds a treasure, the Hort. He helps Gunther to win Krimhild, a mask that makes him invisible proves to be very useful. But because Brunhild is cursing Kriemhild, she tells her what really happened. Now Brunhild wants Siegfried's head.

Genres: Fantasy, Drama, Adventure. Country: Germany. Runtime: 2h 20m.

#18 Nosferatu 1922
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

Director: F.W. Murnau. Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder, Alexander Granach, Georg H. Schnell, Ruth Landshoff, John Gottowt, Gustav Botz, Max Nemetz, Wolfgang Heinz, Albert Venohr, Guido Herzfeld, Hardy von Francois, Karl Etlinger, Heinrich Witte.

Overview: Although the critics in 1922 didn’t find the film to be anything special, a few years after it’s release it was called innovative and a landmark in cinema history. German director Murnau’s vampire film holds claim to one of the most, if not the most important German expressionist film and a foundation for horror films.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror. Country: Germany. Runtime: 1h 22m.

#19 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ 1925

Director: Fred Niblo. Cast: Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Claire McDowell, Kathleen Key, Carmel Myers, Nigel De Brulier, Mitchell Lewis, Leo White, Frank Currier, Charles Belcher, Dale Fuller, Winter Hall.

Overview: Ben-Hur is a wealthy Jew and boyhood friend of the powerful Roman Tribune, Messala. When an accident leads to Ben-Hur's arrest, Messala, who has become corrupt and arrogant, makes sure Ben-Hur and his family are jailed and separated.

Genres: Adventure, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 23m.

#20 Faust 1926
Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage

Director: F.W. Murnau. Cast: Gösta Ekman, Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn, Frida Richard.

Overview: God and Satan war over earth; to settle things, they wager on the soul of Faust, a learned and prayerful alchemist.

Genres: Drama, Foreign. Country: Germany. Runtime: 1h 25m.

#21 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920
Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Director: Robert Wiene. Cast: Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Fehér, Lil Dagover, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Rudolph Lettinger, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Werner Krauss.

Overview: An eerie German silent film from 1920. This classic expressionistic film is known as a landmark in film history becoming famous worldwide from it’s exceptional new wave style of well built and painted grotesque scenery with contrasted lighting along with the painted effect of light and shadows. The film tells a surrealistic story with an unusual end that was a result of censorship.

Genres: Crime, Foreign, Horror. Country: Germany. Runtime: 1h 11m.

#22 The Crowd 1928

Director: King Vidor. Cast: Eleanor Boardman, James Murray, Bert Roach, Estelle Clark, Daniel G. Tomlinson, Lucy Beaumont, Freddie Burke Frederick, Alice Mildred Puter.

Overview: The film centers on ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker John who meets and marries Mary. They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.

Genre: Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 44m.

#23 The Navigator 1924

Directors: Donald Crisp, Buster Keaton. Cast: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Frederick Vroom.

Overview: Two spoiled rich people find themselves trapped on an empty passenger ship.

Genre: Comedy. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 59m.

#24 Our Hospitality 1923

Directors: John G. Blystone, Buster Keaton. Cast: Joe Roberts, Natalie Talmadge, Ralph Bushman, Craig Ward, Monte Collins, Joe Keaton, Kitty Bradbury, Buster Keaton, Buster Keaton Jr..

Overview: Our Hospitality is a silent film from 1923, starring Buster Keaton. The film is about a family feud that begins a young mans journey…

Genres: Comedy, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 14m.

#25 Way Down East 1920

Director: D.W. Griffith. Cast: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Lowell Sherman, Burr McIntosh, Kate Bruce.

Overview: A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.

Genres: Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 25m.

#26 Sadie Thompson 1928

Director: Raoul Walsh. Cast: Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Friderici, Charles Lane, Florence Midgley, James A. Marcus, Sophia Artega, Will Stanton, Raoul Walsh.

Overview: Sadie Thompson arrives in Pago-Pago to start a new life, but when extremist missionary Davidson lashes out against her lifestyle and tries to force her back to San Francisco, she may lose her second chance.

Genre: Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 31m.

#27 West Point 1927

Director: Edward Sedgwick. Cast: William Haines, Joan Crawford, William Bakewell.

Overview: Wealthy Brice Wayne enters West Point and, though he does well on the football field, angers fellow cadets with his arrogance.

Runtime: 1h 35m.

#28 The Circus 1928

Director: Charlie Chaplin. Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford, John Rand, Steve Murphy.

Overview: Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman and falls in love with the circus owner's daughter. Unaware of Charlie's affection, the girl falls in love with a handsome young performer. Charlie's versatility makes him star of the show when he substitutes for an ailing tightwire walker. He is discharged from the company when he protects the girl from her father's abuse, but he returns and appeals to the handsome performer to marry the girl. After the wedding the father prevails upon them to rejoin the circus. Charlie is hired again, but he stays behind when the caravan moves on.

Genres: Comedy, Family, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 11m. Rated: G.

#29 Orphans of the Storm 1921

Director: D.W. Griffith. Cast: Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut.

Overview: Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever. They go to Paris to see if Louise's blindness can be cured, but are separated when an aristocrat lusts after Henriette and abducts her. Only Chevalier de Vaudrey is kind to her, and they fall in love. The French Revolution replaces the corrupt Aristocracy with the equally corrupt Robespierre. De Vaudrey, who has always been good to peasants, is condemned to death for being an aristocrat, and Henriette for harboring him. Will revolutionary hero Danton, the only voice for mercy in the new regime, be able to save them from the guillotine?

Genre: Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 30m.

#30 Pandora's Box 1929

Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Cast: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz, Krafft-Raschig, Alice Roberts.

Overview: The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

Genres: Drama, Thriller, Romance, Foreign. Country: Germany. Runtime: 2h 11m.

#31 Seven Chances 1925

Director: Buster Keaton. Cast: Buster Keaton, T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards, Ruth Dwyer, Frances Raymond, Erwin Connelly, Jules Cowles.

Overview: A man learns he will inherit a fortune if he marries -- by 7 p.m. today.

Genres: Comedy, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 56m.

#32 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1921

Director: Rex Ingram. Cast: Rudolph Valentino.

Overview: Set immediately before World War I, it deals with a rich Argentine family, one branch recently arrived from France, the other from Germany.

Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 12m.

#33 Flesh and the Devil 1926

Director: Clarence Brown. Cast: John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, Lars Hanson, Barbara Kent.

Overview: Leo and Ulrich are life long friends. Home, on leave from their military training, Leo sees the beautiful Felicitas at the railroad station. Awed by her beauty, they meet again at the ball and quietly leave together. In her room, her husband, about whom she has neglected to inform Leo, comes in and challenges Leo to a duel. The duel is done, the Count is killed, and Felicitas is a widow. Leo, however, is 'requested' to serve 5 years in Africa and he tells Ulrich to watch over Felicitas while he is gone. After 3 years, Ulrich is able to get a pardon for Leo, and all that Leo thinks about on the way home is Felicitas. When he arrives, he learns that Felicitas has married Ulrich. Leo tries to stay away from her, but Felicitas uses every opportunity to tempt him to return to her as her lover. She creating a deadly triangle with the two life long friends.

Genres: Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 49m. Rated: PG.

#34 The Merry Widow 1925

Director: Erich von Stroheim. Cast: Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy.

Overview: Prince Danilo falls in love with dancer Sally O'Hara. His uncle, King Nikita I of Monteblanco forbids the marriage because she is a commoner. Thinking she has been jilted by her prince, Sally marries old, lecherous Baron Sadoja, whose wealth has kept the kingdom afloat. When he dies suddenly, Sally must be wooed all over again by Danilo.

Runtime: 2h 17m.

#35 Diary of a Lost Girl 1929
Tagebuch einer Verlorenen

Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Cast: Louise Brooks, André Roanne, Josef Rovenský, Fritz Rasp, Vera Pawlowa, Franziska Kinz, Arnold Korff.

Overview: Thymiane Henning, an innocent young girl, is raped by the clerk of her father's pharmacy. She becomes pregnant, is rejected by her family, and must fend for herself in a harsh, cruel world.

Genres: Drama, Foreign. Country: Germany. Runtime: 1h 44m.

#36 Steamboat Bill, Jr. 1928

Directors: Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton. Cast: Buster Keaton, Tom McGuire, Ernest Torrence.

Overview: The effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.

Genres: Comedy, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 11m.

#37 The Adventures of Prince Achmed 1929
Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed

Director: Lotte Reiniger.

Overview: Based on stories from "The Arabian Nights." A wicked sorcerer tricks Prince Achmed into riding a magical flying horse. The heroic prince is able to subdue the magical horse, which he uses to fly off to many adventures. While travelling, he falls in love with the beautiful Princess Peri Banu, and must defeat an army of demons to win her heart. The film is animated using the silhouette technique.

Country: Germany. Runtime: 1h 5m.

#38 Kriemhild's Revenge 1924
Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache

Director: Fritz Lang. Cast: Margarete Schön, Gertrud Arnold, Theodor Loos.

Overview: After Siegfried's dead, Kriemhild marries Etzel, the King of the Huns. She gives birth to a child, and invites her brothers for a party. She tries to persuade Etzel and the other Huns, that they kill Hagen, the murderer of Siegfried, but he is protected by her brothers. A fierce battle begins to force her brothers to give Hagen to her.

Country: Germany. Runtime: 2h 9m.

#39 Girl Shy 1924

Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor. Cast: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Daniels, Carlton Griffin.

Overview: Harold Meadows (Lloyd) is a shy, stuttering bachelor working in a tailor shop, who is writing a guide book for other bashful young men, "The Secret of Making Love," chapters from which are portrayed as fantasy sequences. Fate has him meet rich girl, Mary (Ralston), and they fall in love. But she is about to wed an already married man, so our hero embarks upon a hair-raising daredevil ride to prevent the wedding.

Genres: Action, Comedy, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 20m. Rated: G.

#40 The Unknown 1927

Director: Tod Browning. Cast: Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Norman Kerry, Nick De Ruiz, John George, Frank Lanning.

Overview: Lon Chaney is carnival knife thrower Alonzo the Armless and Joan Crawford is the scantily clad carnival girl he hopes to marry.

Genres: Drama, Horror, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 3m.

#41 The Phantom Carriage 1921
Körkarlen

Director: Victor sjöstrom. Cast: victor sjostrom, Hilda Borgström, Tore Svennberg, Astrid Holm, Concordia Selander.

Overview: It's New Year's Eve. Three drunkards evoke a legend. The legend tells that the last person to die in a year, if he is a great sinner, will have to drive during the whole year the Phantom Chariot, the one that picks up the souls of the dead...

Runtime: 1h 33m.

#42 Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler 1922
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler

Director: Fritz Lang. Cast: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Aud Egede Nissen, Gertrude Welcker, Alfred Abel, Bernhard Goetzke, Paul Richter, Robert Forster-Larrinaga, Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Georg John, Julius Falkenstein, Grete Berger.

Overview: Arch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller. Country: Germany. Runtime: 3h 15m.

#43 The Kid Brother 1927

Directors: Ted Wilde, J.A. Howe. Cast: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Walter James, Leo Willis, Olin Francis, Constantine Romanoff, Eddie Boland, Frank Lanning, Ralph Yearsley.

Overview: The most important family in Hickoryville is (naturally enough) the Hickorys, with sheriff Jim and his tough manly sons Leo and Olin. The timid youngest son, Harold, doesn't have the muscles to match up to them, so he has to use his wits to win the respect of his strong father and also the love of beautiful Mary.

Genres: Comedy, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 22m. Rated: G.

#44 The Man Who Laughs 1928

Director: Paul Leni. Cast: Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin, Olga Baclanova, Brandon Hurst.

Overview: Gwynplaine, son of Lord Clancharlie, has a permanent smile carved on his face by the King, in revenge for Gwynplaine's father's treachery. Gwynplaine is adopted by a travelling showman and becomes a popular idol. He falls in love with the blind Dea. The king dies, and his evil jester tries to destroy or corrupt Gwynplaine.

Genres: Drama, Horror. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 50m.

#45 Napoleon 1927
Napoléon

Director: Abel Gance. Cast: Albert Dieudonné, Antonin Artaud, Abel Gance, Gina Manès.

Overview: A massive six-hour biopic of Napoleon, tracing his career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign), his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797 (the film stops there because it was intended to be part one of six, but director Abel Gance never raised the money to make the other five). The film's legendary reputation is due to the astonishing range of techniques that Gance uses to tell his story, culminating in the final twenty-minute triptych sequence, which alternates widescreen panoramas with complex multiple- image montages projected simultaneously on three screens.

Genres: Drama, History. Country: France. Runtime: 3h 55m.

#46 Wings 1927

Director: William A. Wellman. Cast: Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Richard Arlen, Jobyna Ralston, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, Richard Tucker.

Overview: Two young men fall in love for the same same girl. After US enters WWi, both join the Air Corps and become ace. They remain friends, but the realtion to the girl threatens their friendship

Genres: Action, Drama, Romance, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 21m.

#47 Strike 1925
Stachka

Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein. Cast: Maksim Shtraukh, Grigori Aleksandrov, Mikhail Gomorov.

Overview: The film depicts a strike in 1903 by the workers of a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia, and their subsequent suppression. The film is most famous for a sequence near the end in which the violent putting down of the strike is cross-cut with footage of cattle being slaughtered, although there are several other points in the movie where animals are used as metaphors for the conditions of various individuals. Another theme in the film is collectivism in opposition to individualism which was viewed as a convention of western film.

Genres: Drama, Foreign. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 1h 22m.

#48 He Who Gets Slapped 1924

Director: Victor Sjöström. Cast: Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Tully Marshall, Marc McDermott, Ford Sterling.

Overview: Story of an inventor who, suffering betrayal in life, makes a career of it by becoming a clown whose act consists of getting slapped by all the other clowns. He falls in love with another circus performer, and those who betrayed him enter his life yet again.

Genres: Drama, Thriller. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 35m.

#49 The Thief of Bagdad 1924

Director: Raoul Walsh. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher, Julanne Johnston, Sôjin, Anna May Wong, Brandon Hurst, Tote Du Crow, Noble Johnson.

Overview: A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Drama, Action, Science Fiction, Family. Runtime: 2h 20m.