Who Needs Sound!

One of my current passions is old classic movies. I’m fascinated with the old black and whites and particularly the old silent films. Much to the dismay of my family, TCM (Turner Classic Movie channel) has a silent night and shows a classic silent film each week. Lately I’ve watched the silent version of both The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera from the 1920’s starring Lon Chaney, both considered defining films in their day. Fabulous!

Or the incomparable Greta Garbo in her legendary silent roles including Anna Karenina which she did as a silent film and again in the 1930’s with sound.

And Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate from 1926 and actually filmed in Technicolor! What fun!

Or Beauty and the Beast (La Belle) which is actually not a silent, but since it is in French, you have to watch with subtitles. The black and white shadowing is incredible and there’s such wonderful detail. Enchanting!

And a personal favorite, Wings, a World War I film about pilots with one of the most breathtaking aerial dogfight battles ever filmed, even to this day. "Edge of your seat" stuff! Remember—no computer graphics in the 20's. It’s actual flying! This film includes a very young Gary Cooper in just a bit part. Who could miss this one!

Ken is incredibly patient with my new film choices although he smiled as he quietly told me one night that the movie we’d just watched was about as much fun as watching paint dry! :-) I actually bribed Kevin and Tammy to sit through at least 15 minutes of Hunchback. I've never seen two people disappear so fast when the time was up!

What a rich heritage we have, though, and its so fascinating to see the beginnings of the industry that is so much a part of our lives today. Many of our wonderful classics were made into silent films: Scrooge, Zorro, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Oliver Twist and The Iron Mask to name just a few. Some day I hope to watch each one of them!

silent films.com