1900-1919

The 20th century begins! And with it, so did my adventure.
I began in June 2002 with four movies from the silent era...

The Great Train Robbery (1903) B
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) C+
Intolerance (1916) B+
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) B+

As you can see, I missed out on quite a number of classic titles from the era. This was mainly due to availability issues at the time. I hadn't yet heard of Netflix so I had to work with what I could get a hold of the old fashioned way. I was about to be a Senior in high school and didn't know as much about film as I do now. I had just seen The Birth of a Nation (1915) when I was trying to watch all 100 of AFI's top 100 list from 1998. I felt I had seen it too recently to include on the adventure.

Of the four I chose to watch, I'd say that each has some form of merit for a movie fan. The Great Train Robbery is an exciting little short. Tillie's Punctured Romance is notable for being Charlie Chaplin's first feature. Intolerance is the most ambitious, and it's very impressive. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is certainly the most intriguing with it's German expressionist sets and cinematography.

Over the years, I've managed to see a few films from this era that had escaped me back in '02. Thanks to the wonder of YouTube, I was able to check out some early D.W. Griffith, as well as the famous A Trip to the Moon (1902).

There are still a lot of films that I'd like to see. The early days of silent film offer more gems from film pioneers like D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Lillian Gish, etc. I will go into more detail in future posts.

Also Seen From This Era-
A Trip to the Moon (1902) A
Alice in Wonderland (1903)
The Impossible Voyage (1904)
The Night Before Christmas (1905)
The Adventures of Dollie (1908)
A Corner in Wheat (1909)
The Lonely Villa (1909)
Princess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy (1909)
The Red Man's View (1909)
The Sealed Room (1909)
Those Awful Hats (1909)
Frankenstein (1910)
In the Border States (1910)
The Unchanging Sea (1910)
His Trust (1911)
What Shall We Do with Our Old? (1911)
An Unseen Enemy (1912) A-
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
The Birth of a Nation (1915) B+
One A.M. (1916)
The Immigrant (1917) B+
A Dog's Life (1918)
Shoulder Arms (1918)
From Hand to Mouth (1919) A-