Highest-Rated Movies about 'Early Cinema'

The Blue Angel (1930), The Lodger (1927), Wings (1927), Haxan (1922), The Cheat (1915), Murder! (1930), Female (1933), Sherlock Jr. (1924) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Early Cinema movies.

#1. The Blue Angel (1930)

Storyline: Prim educator Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is driven mad with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry his beloved. However, married life with a woman whose job is to make men desire her proves more difficult than Rath imagined.

Plot Keywords: german cinema, classic film, film noir, drama, tragedy, downfall, erotic ...

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#2. The Lodger (1927)

Storyline: When a landlady (Marie Ault) and her husband (Arthur Chesney) take in a new lodger (Ivor Novello), they're overjoyed: He's quiet, humble and pays a month's rent in advance. But his mysterious and suspicious behavior soon has them wondering if he's the killer terrorizing local blond girls. Their daughter, Daisy (June), a cocky model, is far less concerned, her attraction obvious. Her police-detective boyfriend (Malcolm Keen), in a pique of jealousy, seeks to uncover the lodger's true identity.

Plot Keywords: silent film, suspense, thriller, film noir, serial killer, alfred hitchcock, british film ...

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#4. Haxan (1922)

Storyline: A hybrid of documentary and fiction, this silent film explores the history of witchcraft, demonology and satanism. It shows representations of evil in a variety of ancient and medieval artworks, offers vignettes illustrating a number of superstitious practices and presents a narrative about the persecution of a woman accused of witchcraft. The film ends by suggesting that the modern science of psychology offers important insight into the beliefs and practices of the past.

Plot Keywords: horror, documentary, silent film, occult, historical, swedish film, fantasy ...

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#6. Murder! (1930)

Storyline: Actress Edna Druce is found dead, and fellow thespian Diana Baring (Norah Baring) can't explanation why she's holding the murder weapon. Diana seems destined for conviction and the death penalty, but juror Sir John Menier (Herbert Marshall) thinks she's innocent. An actor himself, Sir John collects clues and revisits the crime scene in an attempt to clear Diana, but his noble efforts might finger another performer with ties to Edna and Diana's touring company.

Plot Keywords: suspense, crime, murder, courtroom, drama, mystery, psychological ...

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#8. Sherlock Jr. (1924)

Storyline: A meek and mild projectionist, who also cleans up after screenings, would like nothing better than to be a private detective. He becomes engaged to a pretty girl but a ladies man known as the Sheik vies for her affection. He gets rid of the projectionist by stealing a pocket watch belonging to the girl's father - which he pawns to buy her an expensive box of candy. He then slips the pawn ticket into the projectionist's pocket and subsequently is found by the police. He doesn't have much luck but in his dreams, he the debonair and renowned detective Sherlock Jr. who faces danger and solves the crime. In real life, the girl solves crimes quickly.

Plot Keywords: silent film, comedy, action, detective, fantasy, surreal, 1920s ...

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#9. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)

Storyline: Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. It is the annual fair in Holstenwall. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep. When Alan asks Cesare about his future, Cesare answers that he will die before dawn. The next morning Alan is found dead. Francis suspects Cesare of being the murderer, and starts spying on him and Dr. Caligari. The following night Cesare is going to stab Jane in her bed, but softens when he sees the beautiful woman, and instead of committing another murder, he abducts her. Jane's father awakens because of the noise, and he and some servants follow the fleeing Cesare. When Cesare cannot outrun his pursuers anymore, he gently places Jane down on the ground, and runs away. Francis and the police investigate the caravan of Dr. Caligari, but the ...

Plot Keywords: silent film, horror, psychological thriller, surrealism, black and white, classic cinema, mystery ...

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#10. Dr. Mabuse, King of Crime (1922)

Storyline: Dr. Mabuse and his organization of criminals are in the process of completing their latest scheme, a theft of information that will allow Mabuse to make huge profits on the stock exchange. Afterwards, Mabuse disguises himself and attends the Folies Bergères show, where Cara Carozza, the main attraction of the show, passes him information on Mabuse's next intended victim, the young millionaire Edgar Hull. Mabuse then uses psychic manipulation to lure Hull into a card game where he loses heavily. When Police Commissioner von Wenk begins an investigation of this mysterious crime spree, he has little to go on, and he needs to find someone who can help him.—Snow Leopard

Plot Keywords: crime, mystery, thriller, german cinema, silent film, classic, film noir ...

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#11. Nosferatu (1922)

Storyline: Wisbourg, Germany based estate agent Knock dispatches his associate, Hutter, to Count Orlok's castle in Transylvania as the Count wants to purchase an isolated house in Wisbourg. They plan on selling him the one across the way from Hutter's own home. Hutter leaves his innocent wife, Ellen, with some friends while he is away. Hutter's trek is an unusual one, with many locals not wanting to take him near the castle where strange events have been occurring. Once at the castle, Hutter does manage to sell the Count the house, but he also notices and feels unusual occurrences, primarily feeling like there is a dark shadow hanging over him, even in the daytime when the Count is unusually asleep. Hutter eventually sees the Count's sleeping chamber in a crypt, and based on a book he has recently read, believes the Count is really a vampire or Nosferatu. While Hutter is trapped in the castle, the Count, hiding in a shipment of coffins, makes his way to Wisbourg, causing death along his way, ...

Plot Keywords: vampire, silent film, horror, classic, black and white, adaptation, supernatural ...

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#12. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)

Storyline: Intolerance and its terrible effects are examined in four historical eras. In ancient Babylon, a mountain girl is caught up in the religious rivalry that leads to the city's downfall. In Judea, the hypocritical Pharisees condemn Jesus Christ. In 1572 Paris, unaware of the impending St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, two young Huguenots prepare for marriage. Finally, in modern America, social reformers destroy the lives of a young woman and her beloved.

Plot Keywords: epic, historical, romance, drama, silent film, multi-narrative, social critique ...

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#13. The Navigator (1924)

Storyline: Rollo decides to marry his sweetheart Betsy and sail to Honolulu. When she rejects him he decides to go alone but boards the wrong ship, the "Navigator" owned by Betsy's father. Unaware of this, Betsy boards the ship to look for her father. whom spies capture before cutting the ship loose. It drifts out to sea with the two socialites each unaware of there being anyone else on board.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Plot Keywords: silent film, comedy, adventure, black and white, 1920s, nautical, classic film ...

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#14. The 39 Steps (1935)

Storyline: Richard Hannay is a Canadian visitor to London. At the end of "Mr Memory"'s show in a music hall, he meets Annabella Smith, who is running away from secret agents. He agrees to hide her in his flat, but she is murdered during the night. Fearing that he could be accused of the murder, Hannay goes on the run to break the spy ring.

Plot Keywords: mystery, thriller, spy, manhunt, british, classic, film noir ...

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#15. Nanook of the North (1922)

Storyline: Documents one year in the life of Nanook, an Eskimo (Inuit), and his family. Describes the trading, hunting, fishing and migrations of a group barely touched by industrial technology. Nanook of the North was widely shown and praised as the first full-length, anthropological documentary in cinematographic history.—<xaviermartin@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: documentary, silent film, arctic, expedition, survival, nature, hunting ...

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