1946

Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Bedlam (1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Blithe Spirit (1946)
The Blue Dahlia (1946)
Blue Skies (1946)
Brief Encounter (1946)
Caesar and Cleopatra (1946)
Canyon Passage (1946)
Centennial Summer (1946)
The Chase (1946)
Children of Paradise (1946)
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Cluny Brown (1946)
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Mirror (1946)
Dead of Night (1946)
Deception (1946)
The Dolly Sisters (1946)
Dragonwyck (1946)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Gilda (1946)
The Green Years (1946)
The Harvey Girls (1946)
Henry V (1946)
House of Horrors (1946)
Humoresque (1946)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Jolson Story (1946)
The Killers (1946)
Kitty (1946)
Lady in the Lake (1946)
Little Giant (1946)
The Time of Their Lives (1946)
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
Make Mine Music (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
My Pal Trigger (1946)
Night and Day (1946)
A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Notorious (1946)
Open City (1946)
O.S.S. (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The Razor’s Edge (1946)
Road to Utopia (1946)
Saratoga Trunk (1946)
Sentimental Journey (1946)
The Seventh Veil (1946)
She-Wolf of London (1946)
Sister Kenny (1946)
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
A Stolen Life (1946)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
The Stranger (1946)
Terror by Night (1946)
13 Rue Madeleine (1946)
Three Strangers (1946)
Till the End of Time (1946)
To Each His Own (1946)
Tomorrow is Forever (1946)
Two Years before the Mast (1946)
Vacation from Marriage (1946)
Without Reservations (1946)
The Yearling (1946)
Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

(September 2005 - May 2006) Lots of good stuff here. I'd recommend watching The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Sleep, and Notorious. It's a Wonderful Life is one of my favorite movies EVER and is probably the only movie I can think of that can make me cry my eyes out every time. Watch that immediately. The real treasure of this year is Children of Paradise. It's a French movie about the theatre and various relationships in and around it. I was amazed by this movie and it's also one of my all-time faves.

Top Ten -- The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Sleep, Brief Encounter, Children of Paradise, It's a Wonderful Life, My Darling Clementine, Notorious, Open City, The Spiral Staircase, The Time of Their Lives

1945

Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945)
Adventure (1945)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
And Then There Were None (1945)
Back to Bataan (1945)
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
Blood on the Sun (1945)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
The Clock (1945)
The Corn is Green (1945)
Dillinger (1945)
Here Come the Co-Eds (1945)
The Naughty Nineties (1945)
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)
House of Dracula (1945)
The House on 92nd Street (1945)
The Keys to the Kingdom (1945)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Love Letters (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Music for Millions (1945)
National Velvet (1945)
Objective, Burma (1945)
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Pride of the Marines (1945)
Salty O’Rourke (1945)
San Antonio (1945)
A Song to Remember (1945)
The Southerner (1945)
Spellbound (1945)
State Fair (1945)
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
They Were Expendable (1945)
The Three Caballeros (1945)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
The Valley of Decision (1945)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
Weekend at the Waldorf (1945)
Without Love (1945)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Woman in the Window (1945)
Wonder Man (1945)
Yolanda and the Thief (1945)

(June - September 2005) An ok mix. I think The Lost Weekend is my pick for the best of these. I also really enjoyed Leave Her to Heaven, Mildred Pierce The Picture of Dorian Gray, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I remember watching all of these movies during the summer before I moved to State College. Good times.

Top Ten -- And Then There Were None, Leave Her to Heaven, The Lost Weekend, Mildred Pierce, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Spellbound, State Fair, The Three Caballeros, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Walk in the Sun

1944

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Canterville Ghost (1944)
Casanova Brown (1944)
The Climax (1944)
Cover Girl (1944)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Dragon Seed (1944)
The Fighting Seabees (1944)
The Fighting Sullivans (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
Going My Way (1944)
A Guy Named Joe (1944)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
In Society (1944)
The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)
It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
Jane Eyre (1944)
Kismet (1944)
Laura (1944)
Lifeboat (1944)
Lost in a Harem (1944)
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)
The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
The Mummy’s Curse (1944)
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
Mrs. Parkington (1944)
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
None Shall Escape (1944)
Passage to Marseille (1944)
Phantom Lady (1944)
The Seventh Cross (1944)
Since You Went Away (1944)
Step Lively (1944)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
The Uninvited (1944)
Weird Woman (1944)
The Whistler (1944)
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
Wilson (1944)
Wing and a Prayer (1944)

Also Seen - Cry of the Werewolf (1944), The Lodger (1944) B-

(March - June 2005) I wish I could decorate Meet Me in St. Louis with hearts. It's such a great movie! Other faves are Going My Way, Double Indemnity, Laura, Lifeboat, and To Have and Have Not. By the mid-forties, film noir became very popular A good number of them came out this year.

Top Ten -- Arsenic and Old Lace, Cover Girl, Double Indemnity, Going My Way, Laura, Lifeboat, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Seventh Cross, Since You Went Away, To Have and Have Not

1943

Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Air Force (1943)
Bataan (1943)
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Captive Wild Woman (1943)
DuBarry Was a Lady (1943)
Casablanca (1943)
Destination Tokyo (1943)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943)
Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
The Human Comedy (1943)
In Which We Serve (1943)
It Ain’t Hay (1943)
Hit the Ice (1943)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Lassie Come Home (1943)
Madame Curie (1943)
The Mad Ghoul (1943)
The More the Merrier (1943)
The Outlaw (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Phantom of the Opera (1943)
Princess O’Rourke (1943)
Sahara (1943)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Son of Dracula (1943)
So Proudly We Hail (1943)
Stormy Weather (1943)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
They Got Me Covered (1943)
This is the Army (1943)
Watch on the Rhine (1943)

(December 2004 - March 2005) Casablanca is perfect and needs to be seen at least once by everyone. For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Ox-Bow Incident are also great.

Also Seen - The Constant Nymph (1943), The North Star (1943)

Top Ten -- Cabin in the Sky, Casablanca, Destination Tokyo, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Lassie Come Home, The Outlaw, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Phantom of the Opera, Shadow of a Doubt, The Song of Bernadette

1942

Across the Pacific (1942)
All Through the Night (1942)
Andy Hardy’s Double Life (1942)
Arabian Nights (1942)
Bambi (1942)
The Black Swan (1942)
Cat People (1942)
For Me and My Gal (1942)
49th Parallel (1942)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
The Glass Key (1942)
Holday Inn (1942)
I Married a Witch (1942)
In This Our Life (1942)
Invisible Agent (1942)
Johnny Eager (1942)
The Jungle Book (1942)
Woman of the Year (1942)
Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Kings Row (1942)
Larceny Inc. (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Major and the Minor (1942)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
My Favorite Blonde (1942)
Night Monster (1942)
Now, Voyager (1942)
Orchestra Wives (1942)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Ride ‘Em Cowboy (1942)
Rio Rita (1942)
Pardon My Sarong (1942)
Who Done It? (1942)
The Pied Piper (1942)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Wake Island (1942)
Random Harvest (1942)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Road to Morocco (1942)
Roxie Hart (1942)
Saboteur (1942)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
This Gun for Hire (1942)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Tortilla Flat (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

(August - December 2004) Yankee Doodle Dandy is my favorite of the year, followed closely by Mrs. Miniver. Both were inspired greatly by the patriotism that was sweeping the nation in 1942. I also enjoyed The Pride of the Yankees, Saboteur, and To Be or Not to Be.

Also Seen -- Tennessee Johnson (1942)

Top Ten -- Bambi, 49th Parallel, Johnny Eager, Mrs. Miniver, Now, Voyager, The Pride of the Yankees, Saboteur, To Be or Not to Be, Who Done It?, Yankee Doodle Dandy

1941

Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941)
Back Street (1941)
Ball of Fire (1941)
The Big Store (1941)
The Black Cat (1941)
Blood and Sand (1941)
Blossoms in the Dust (1941)
The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
Buck Privates (1941)
Caught in the Draft (1941)
Citizen Kane (1941) A+
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Dumbo (1941) A-
The Great Lie (1941)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
High Sierra (1941)
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
In the Navy (1941)
Hold That Ghost (1941) A-
How Green Was My Valley (1941) A-
The Invisible Woman (1941)
Kathleen (1941)
Keep ‘Em Flying (1941)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Little Foxes (1941)
Louisiana Purchase (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941) A+
Man Made Monster (1941)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)
Meet John Doe (1941)
The Monster and the Girl (1941)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
One Foot in Heaven (1941)
Penny Serenade (1941)
Road to Zanzibar (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
Suspicion (1941)
They Died with Their Boots on (1941)
The Wolf Man (1941) A-

(June - August 2004) Even with Citizen Kane in this list, I have to say that The Maltese Falcon is the best movie here. Kane is fantastic though. How Green Was My Valley managed to win best picture and I'd say it was pretty deserving. I also enjoyed High Sierra (Bogart) and Dumbo because I'm a sucker. Hold That Ghost is probably my favorite Abbott and Costello - they made four movies this year! War was raging in Europe and hit America this year. The effects on movies would really start to show in the next few years.

Top Ten -- Ball of Fire, Citizen Kane, Dumbo, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, High Sierra, Hold That Ghost, How Green Was My Valley, The Maltese Falcon, Sergeant York, The Wolf Man

Also Seen -- The Sea Wolf (1941) B

1940

Abe Lincoln of Illinois (1940)
All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Black Friday (1940)
Boom Town (1940)
Brother Orchid (1940)
Christmas in July (1940)
Down Argentine Way (1940)
Dr. Cyclops (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Go West (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Great McGinty (1940)
His Girl Friday (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Kitty Foyle (1940)
Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
The Letter (1940)
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
The Mummy’s Hand (1940)
My Favorite Wife (1940)
My Little Chickadee (1940)
Northwest Passage (1940)
One Night in the Tropics (1940)
Our Town (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
The Return of Frank James (1940)
Road to Singapore (1940)
Santa Fe Trail (1940)
The Sea Hawk (1940)
Seven Sinners (1940)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
They Drive By Night (1940)
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Torrid Zone (1940)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
The Westerner (1940)

(June 2004) I remember it being a huge deal when I got into the 40s. The list of movies started to grow to about 50 movies a year and I started to see more popular titles and the beginnings of early franchises. WWII was right around the corner. Rebecca is my choice for best movie. Great Hitchcock thriller. Other faves are The Great Dictator (Chaplin), Pride and Prejudice (Olivier), and The Letter (Bette Davis).

Top Ten -- Fantasia, The Ghost Breakers, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, His Girl Friday, The Letter, The Philadelphia Story, Pinocchio, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca

Also Seen - Primrose Path (1940) B-

1939

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939)
Another Thin Man (1939) B-
At the Circus (1939) C+
Babes in Arms (1939) B-
Beau Geste (1939) B+
The Cat and the Canary (1939)
Dark Victory (1939) B
Destry Rides Again (1939) C+
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
The Flying Deuces (1939)
The Four Feathers (1939)
Gone with the Wind (1939) A+
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) C+
Gulliver's Travels (1939)
Gunga Din (1939) B-
Honolulu (1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) C+
Intermezzo (1939)
It's a Wonderful World (1939)
Jamaica Inn (1939) C-
Jesse James (1939)
Juarez (1939)
Love Affair (1939) B-
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
Mexican Spitfire (1939)
Midnight (1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) A-
Ninotchka (1939) C+
Of Mice and Men (1939) B+
The Old Maid (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) A-
The Roaring Twenties (1939) B-
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Stagecoach (1939) A-
Tower of London (1939)
Union Pacific (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939) A+
The Women (1939) B+
Wuthering Heights (1939) B+
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) B-

(December 2003 - June 2004) And the lists get looonger from here on out. 1939 is fondly known as 'Hollywood's Golden Year' because of the breadth of classics that were produced. My personal faves are Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. See. them. now. Additionally, I'd suggest viewing Beau Geste, The Cat and the Canary, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, Only Angels Have Wings, Stagecoach, The Women, and Wuthering Heights.

Top Ten -- Beau Geste, The Cat and the Canary, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Mice and Men, Only Angels Have Wings, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, The Women, Wuthering Heights

Also Seen - The Rules of the Game B-

1938

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) B
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) C+
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) B
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) C
Blondie (1938) C+
Boys Town (1938) B-
Bringing Up Baby (1938) B
A Christmas Carol (1938) A-
The Citadel (1938) B-
The Dawn Patrol (1938) B-
Four Daughters (1938) B-
Grand Illusion (1938) A
Holiday (1938) B-
Jezebel (1938) C+
Kentucky (1938) C+
The Lady Vanishes (1938) B
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) B-
Marie-Antoinette (1938) B-
Of Human Hearts (1938) C+
Pygmalion (1938) B-
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) C+
Room Service (1938) C+
Suez (1938) C
Test Pilot (1938) C+

(August - December 2003) Grand Illusion was incredible and definitely made me fall in love with French cinema. Everything else is fondly remembered. Bringing Up Baby, A Christmas Carol, and The Lady Vanishes are fun.

Top Ten -- The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Bringing Up Baby, A Christmas Carol, The Citadel, Four Daughters, Grand Illusion, La Bête Humaine, The Lady Vanishes, Pygmalion

Also Seen - Algiers B-, La Bête Humaine B+, Merrily We Live (1938) B, You Can't Take it With You C+

1937

The Awful Truth (1937) A-
Camille (1937) B-
Captains Courageous (1937) B-
A Day at the Races (1937) B
Dead End (1937) B
The Good Earth (1937) B+
In Old Chicago (1937) C+
Lost Horizon (1937) B
Night Must Fall (1937) B-
Nothing Sacred (1937) B
100 Men and a Girl (1937) C+
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) A-
Shall We Dance? (1937) C+
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) A
Stage Door (1937) B-
A Star is Born (1937) B-
Stella Dallas (1937) C+
They Won't Forget (1937) B-
Topper (1937) B-

(August 2003) Best movie of the year goes to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs just because I love those Disney movies. I also really enjoyed The Prisoner of Zenda and The Awful Truth. All in all a pretty good year.

Top Ten -- The Awful Truth, Camille, A Day at the Races, Dead End, The Good Earth, Lost Horizon, Night Must Fall, The Prisoner of Zenda, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Topper

Also Seen - Conquest, The Life of Emile Zola C+, Make Way for Tomorrow A-, Young and Innocent B

1936

After the Thin Man (1936) B
Anthony Adverse (1936) B-
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) B
Come and Get It (1936) B-
Dimples (1936) C+
Dodsworth (1936) B-
Libeled Lady (1936) B
Modern Times (1936) A
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) B-
My Man Godfrey (1936) A
The Petrified Forest (1936) B-
Romeo and Juliet (1936) B-
San Francisco (1936) B-
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) B-
Swing Time (1936) B-
A Tale of Two Cities (1936) C+
Theodora Goes Wild (1936) B-
Three Smart Girls (1936) C+
Wife vs. Secretary (1936) B

(July - August 2003) My Man Godfrey is definitely my fave of the year. Modern Times is also a classic to the max. Wife vs. Secretary is good. Otherwise, no real fireworks. It is interesting to note that I was watching these movies during the summer before I started college.

Top Ten -- After the Thin Man, Fury, Libeled Lady, Modern Times, My Man Godfrey, The Petrified Forest, Sabotage, Show Boat, These Three, Wife vs. Secretary 

Also Seen - Fury B+, Gold Diggers of 1937,  The Great Ziegfeld B-, Sabotage B, Secret Agent B-, Show Boat B+,  These Three (1936) A- Reefer Madness (1936)

1935

Alice Adams (1935) C+
Anna Karenina (1935) B-
Becky Sharp (1935) C+
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) A-
Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) C+
Captain Blood (1935) B-
Dangerous (1935) C+
David Copperfield (1935) B
The Informer (1935) B
Les Miserables (1935) B
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) B+
Mark of the Vampire (1935) B
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) B
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) B+
Naughty Marietta (1935) C+
A Night at the Opera (1935) A
The Raven (1935) B
Roberta (1935) C+
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) B-
Top Hat (1935) B
Werewolf of London (1935) B

(June 2003) A Night at the Opera is great Marx Brothers. The Bride of Frankenstein, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, and Mutiny on the Bounty are also good times. Becky Sharp was the first total color movie.

Top 10 -- The Bride of Frankenstein, David Copperfield, The Informer, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Mark of the Vampire, Mutiny on the Bounty, A Night at the Opera, The Raven, The 39 Steps, Werewolf of London

Also Seen - The 39 Steps B+

1934

The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) B-
The Black Cat (1934) B+
Bright Eyes (1934) B-
Charlie Chan in London (1934) C+
Cleopatra (1934) B-
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) B
Death Takes a Holiday (1934) C+
Flirtation Walk (1934) C+
Flying Down to Rio (1934) B-
The Gay Divorcee (1934) B
Imitation of Life (1934) B-
It Happened One Night (1934) A+
It's a Gift (1934) C+
Manhattan Melodrama (1934) B-
March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934) B
Of Human Bondage (1934) C+
One Night of Love (1934) D+
The Thin Man (1934) A-
Viva Villa! (1934) C+

(February - June 2003) It Happened One Night and The Thin Man are both fantastic.

Top 5 -- The Black Cat, The Gay Divorcee, It Happened One Night, March of the Wooden Soldiers, The Thin Man

Also Seen - Hollywood Party (1934), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) B-, Twentieth Century (1934) B+

1933

Dinner at Eight (1933) B+
Duck Soup (1933) A+
Footlight Parade (1933) B+
42nd Street (1933) B
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) B-
The Invisible Man (1933) B
Island of Lost Souls (1933) C+
The Kennel Murder Case (1933) C+
King Kong (1933) A+
Lady for a Day (1933) B
Little Women (1933) B-
Morning Glory (1933) C+
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) B
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) B
Queen Christina (1933) B
She Done Him Wrong (1933) C
Smilin’ Through (1933) C
Sons of the Desert (1933) B-

(January - February 2003) Duck Soup rules! The Marx Brothers were great and this movie is gold. King Kong is also incredible. Dinner at Eight and Footlight Parade are also sweet.

Top 5 -- Dinner at Eight, Duck Soup, Footlight Parade, The Invisible Man, King Kong

Also Seen - Berkeley Square (1933), Cavalcade (1933) B-

1932

The Cabin in the Cotton (1932) B-
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) A-
A Farewell to Arms (1932) B-
Freaks (1932) A
Grand Hotel (1932) A+
Horse Feathers (1932) B
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) B+
Mata Hari (1932) B
The Mummy (1932) B
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) C
The Old Dark House (1932) B
One Hour with You (1932) C+
Rasputin and the Empress (1932) B
Red Dust (1932) B
Scarface (1932) B-
Shanghai Express (1932) B-
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) B-
Trouble in Paradise (1932) B-

(August 2002 - January 2003) I loved Freaks, but I'd probably say Grand Hotel, with Greta Garbo, is my fave of the year. Both are so intriguing. I wish I'd watched more Garbo movies.

Top 5 -- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Freaks, Grand Hotel, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, One Way Passage
 
Also Seen - Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932) B+, Doctor X (1932) B-, Emma (1932) B, The Most Dangerous Game (1932) B, One Way Passage (1932) B+, White Zombie (1932) B-

1931

Arrowsmith (1931) B-
The Champ (1931) B-
City Lights (1931) A+
Dracula (1931) A+
Five Star Final (1931) B+
Frankenstein (1931) A+
The Front Page (1931) B-
M (1931) A+
The Miracle Woman (1931) B-
Monkey Business (1931) B-
The Public Enemy (1931) B
The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) B-
Skippy (1931) B-
Trader Horn (1931) C+

(July - August 2002) City Lights is definitely my favorite Charlie Chaplin movie. Dracula and Frankenstein are fun. I enjoyed Five Star Final a lot (it's about morals and ethics in the newspaper business). M is a masterpiece that I didn't appreciate in 2002, but a 2017 revisit blew me away.

Also Seen - Cimarron B-, A Free Soul B-, The Guardsman B+

Night Nurse My Top 5 films of the year -- City Lights, M, Frankenstein, Dracula, Five Star Final

1930

The 1930s weren't as rushed for me as the first 30 years of the 20th century. The number of movies per year began to increase. Silent films were pretty much a thing of the past at this point. The Academy Awards were in its third year and history books have given exposure to so many of the nominees. In July 2002, I chose to watch the following nine titles...

Animal Crackers (1930) B-
Anna Christie (1930) B-
The Big House (1930) B
The Big Trail (1930) C
The Blue Angel (1930) B+
The Divorcee (1930) C+
Little Caesar (1930) B+
Min and Bill (1930) B-
Morocco (1930) B-

The Academy's choice for Best Picture that year was All Quiet on the Western Front. I had just seen it a year earlier during my attempt to watch every Best Picture winner. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it since, but I am anxious to revisit. While trying to see as many early Hitchcock's as possible, I had recently seen Murder and chose not to watch it again so soon.

My favorite of the year is the German film The Blue Angel starring Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich. It's heartbreaking and the music is so wonderful. Marlene Dietrich also appeared in Morocco that year and got her only Oscar nomination. She was luminous. Another foreign beauty, Greta Garbo, appeared in her first talking film, Anna Christie. It's interesting to imagine how a German and a Swede became two of the greatest stars of the 30s.

Some other great movie stars made early breakthroughs this year, including John Wayne in the western The Big Trail, which is notable as the first movie to be shown in a letterbox format. Wayne wouldn't reach prominence until later in the decade, but Edward G. Robinson became a legendary tough guy thanks to the success of Little Caesar. Marie Dressler became an unlikely household name with her Oscar-winning role in Min and Bill.

My Top 5 films of the year - All Quiet on the Western Front, Anna Christie, The Big House, The Blue Angel, Little Caesar

Also Seen -
All Quiet on the Western Front B+
Murder B-

1929

1929 Movies Top Ten Films Seen Alibi (1929) C Blackmail (1929) B- Bulldog Drummond (1929) B+ The Broadway Melody (1929) C+ The Cocoanuts (1929) B- Condemned (1929) Coquette (1929) - B- Disraeli (1929) B The Divine Lady (1929) B- Hallelujah (1929) B+ The Letter (1929) B The Love Parade (1929) B Spite Marriage (1929) B Their Own Desire (1929) Un Chien Andalou (1929) A The Valiant (1929) B Weary River (1929) B- Films I Haven't Seen Applause (1929) - Rouben Mamoulian Arsenal (1929) Russian Asphalt (1929) - Germany Big Business (1929) - Laurel and Hardy The Big Pond (1929) - Chevalier/Colbert The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) - Oscar winner Captain Fracasse (1929) - French film Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) - Pabst Drag (1929) - Oscar nominee/Barthelmess Dynamite (1929) - Cecil B. DeMille Erotikon (1929) Eternal Love (1929) Ernst Lubitsch The Great Gabbo (1929) - von Stroheim The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) - best pic nominee In Old Arizona (1929) - best pic nominee The Iron Mask (1929) - Fairbanks Sr. The Kiss (1929) Laila (1929) - Norwegian film The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) - Norma Shearer The Leatherneck (1929) - classic Western Liberty (1929) Leo McCarey Madame X (1929) - oscar nominee The Man with the Movie Camera (1929) - documentary The Manxman (1929) - Hitchcock Monkey's Moon (1929) - British nature short The New Babylon (1929) - Russian film The New Gentleman (1929) - French film Our Daily Bread [City Girl] (1929) F.W. Murnau Pandora's Box (1929) - Brooks/Pabst People on Sunday (1929) Piccadilly (1929) Queen Kelly (1929) - Stroheim/Swanson Regen (Rain) (1929) The River (1929) - Borzage Sally (1929) - Oscar nominee Seduction (1929) - Czech film Seven Footprints to Satan (1929) The Taming of the Shrew (1929) - Pickford/Fairbanks Thunderbolt (1929) - von Sternberg The Trespasser (1929) - Swanson Untamed (1929) - first Joan Crawford talkie The Virginian (1929) - Gary Cooper Wild Orchids (1929) Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond) (1929) - Fritz Lang The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna (1929) Wonder of Women (1929) - lost Oscar nom

1928

1928 The Last Command (1928) B The Circus (1928) B The Crowd (1928) B Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) B- Films I've Also Seen The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) A- The Patsy (1928) The Racket (1928) B- Speedy (1928) A- Street Angel (1928) White Shadows in the South Seas (1928) Films I Haven't Seen Abwege (1928) - Pabst Across to Singapore (1928) Arsenal (1928) - Russian epic The Awakening (1928) - lost Oscar nominee The Barker (1928) - Oscar nominee The Battle of the Sexes (1928) - D. W. Griffith Beggars of Life (1928) - Louise Brooks The Cameraman (1928) - Keaton Champagne (1928) - Hitchcock The Cop (1928) - Oscar nom Crossroads (1928) The Divine Woman (1928) - Garbo The Docks of New York (1928) - Josef von Sternberg The Drag Net (1928) - von Sternberg Easy Virtue (1928) - Hitchcock Eliso (1928) The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) The Farmer's Wife (1928) - Hitchcock The Finishing Touch (1928) 4 Devils (1928) - lost Oscar nom Four Sons (1928) - John Ford A Girl in Every Port (1928) - Louise Brooks Glorious Betsy (1928) - lost Oscar nominee Hangman's House (1928) - John Ford The Italian Straw Hat (1928) - Rene Clair L'Argent (1928) - French film Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) - Chaney Leave 'Em Laughing (1928) - Laurel and Hardy Lights of New York (1928) - first complete talkie The Little Match Girl (1928) - Jean Renoir Lonesome (1928) - romantic drama The Man Who Laughs (1928) - classic horror The Matinee Idol (1928) Frank Capra The Mysterious Lady (1928) - Garbo Noah's Ark (1928) - classic epic The Noose (1928) - Barthelmess October (1928) - Eisenstein Our Dancing Daughters (1928) - Joan Crawford The Patriot (1928) - best pic nominee/lost film Riley the Cop (1928) - John Ford Sadie Thompson (1928) - Swanson Sal of Singapore (1928) - lost Oscar nom Sex in Chains (1928) - William Dieterle A Ship Comes In (1928) - Louise Dresser Show Life (1928) Show People (1928) - King Vidor Skyscraper (1928) - Oscar nom Spione (Spies) (1928) - Fritz Lang Steamboat Willie (1928) - Mickey Mouse Storm Over Asia (1928) - Russian film Tempest (1928) - Barrymore The Trail of '98 (1928) Two Tars (1928) - Laurel and Hardy Underground (1928) - Anthony Asquith West of Zanzibar (1928) - Chaney The Wedding March (1928) - von Stroheim Westpoint (1928) While the City Sleeps (1928) The Wind (1928) - Gish A Woman of Affairs (1928) - Garbo

1927

1927 Metropolis (1927) A The Cat and the Canary (1927) B- The General (1927) B- It (1927) C+ Sunrise (1927) B- The Jazz Singer (1927) B+ Seventh Heaven (1927) C+ Films I've Also Seen The Lodger (1927) B Wings (1927) B Films I Haven't Seen Annie Laurie - Lillian Gish Bed and Sofa (1927) Berlin: The Symphony of a Great City (1927) Casanova Chang (1927) - documentary The Chess Player (1927) College (1927) - Buster Keaton The Devil Dancer (1927) - lost Oscar nominee Dirnentragodie (1927) The Dove (1927) - lost Oscar winner Downhill (1927) - Hitchcock Easy Virtue (1927) - Hitchcock The End of St. Petersburg (1927) The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927) - Russian doc Fantasia en Surdato (1927) The Gaucho (1927) - Fairbanks Sr. Hindle Wakes (1927) Hotel Imperial (1927) - Pola Negri Hula (1927) The Kid Brother (1927) - Harold Lloyd The King of Kings (1927) - Cecil B. DeMille La p'tite lilie (1927) London After Midnight (1927) - Lon Chaney Long Pants (1927) - Capra/Langdon Love (1927) - Greta Garbo The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927) - Pabst The Love of Sunya (1927) - Swanson The Magic Flame (1927) - lost Oscar nominee Mr. Wu (1927) My Best Girl (1927) Napoleon (1927) - Abel Gance The Ring (1927) - Hitchcock The Patent Leather Kid (1927) - Barthelmess Sorrell and Son (1927) - lost Oscar nominee The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) - Novarro/Shearer Tell It to the Marines (1927) The Three-Sided Mirror (1927) - French film Twelve Miles Out (1927) - John Gilbert Two Arabian Knights (1927) - Lewis Milestone Underworld (1927) - Josef von Sternberg The Unknown (1927) - Tod Browning The Way of All Flesh (1927) - best pic nominee

1926

1926 I haven't seen anything from 1926! Films I Haven't Seen The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) - first animated feature Battling Butler (1926) - Buster Keaton Beau Geste (1926) - Ronald Colman The Black Pirate (1926) - Fairbanks Sr. Brown of Harvard (1926) By the Law (1926) Camille (1926) - Norma Talmadge Don Juan (1926) - John Barrymore Dura Lex (1926) - Russian film Ella Cinders (1926) Faust (1926) - F.W. Murnau Flesh and the Devil (1926) - Greta Garbo For Heaven's Sake (1926) - Harold Lloyd The Great Train Robbery (1926) Hands Up! (1926) The Holy Mountain (1926) La Boheme (1926) - Gish/Gilbert The Magician (1926) Mantrap (1926) - Clara Bow Mare Nostrum (1926) Menilmontant (1926) Mighty Like a Moose (1926) Moana (1926) - Robert J. Flaherty Mother (1926) - Russian film The Mountain Eagle (1926)- Hitchcock Nana (1926) Old Ironsides (1926) A Page of Madness (1926) - Japanese film The Scarlet Letter (1926) - Lillian Gish The Son of the Sheik (1926) - Valentino Sparrows (1926) - Mary Pickford The Strong Man (1926) - Capra/Langdon The Student of Prague (1926) The Temptress (1926) - Greta Garbo Three Bad Men (1926) - John Ford Torrent (1926) - Greta Garbo Tramp, Tramp, Tramp - Langdon/Crawford What Price Glory? (1926) - Ford/Walsh

1925

Battleship Potemkin (1925) Ben-Hur (1925) The Big Parade (1925) The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Films I've Also Seen The Freshman (1925) The Gold Rush (1925) Films I Haven't Seen Body and Soul - Micheaux/Robeson Chess Fever - Russian film Clash of the Wolves (1925) - Rin Tin Tin Cobra (1925) Don Q Son of Zorro (1925) - Fairbanks Sr. The Eagle (1925) - Valentino Go West (1925) - Keaton Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925) - doc Joyless Street (1925) - Garbo Lady of the Night (1925) Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) The Lost World (1925) - classic sci-fi Master of the House (1925) - Dreyer The Merry Widow (1925) - Stroheim/Gilbert Paris Qui Dort (The Crazy Ray) (1925) - Rene Clair Paths to Paradise (1925) The Plastic Age (1925) - Clara Bow The Pleasure Garden (1925) - Hitchcock Riders of the Purple Sage (1925) Seven Chances (1925) - Keaton Siegfried (1925) - Fritz Lang, with Wagnerian score Strike (1925) - Eisenstein Tartuffe (1925) - Murnau Tumbleweeds (1925) The Unholy Three (1925) - silent Chaney Variety (1925) - Germany

1924

Greed (1924) A The Thief of Bagdad (1924) A The Navigator (1924) B Sherlock Jr. (1924) B Films I Haven't Seen Aelita (1924) - Russia America (1924) - D.W. Griffith feature Ballet Mecanique - French video art The Chechahcos - National Film Registry selection Die Nibelungen (including [Kriemhild’s Revenge] (1924) - Fritz Lang Entr'acte (1924) - Rene Clair The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924) - Russia Forbidden Paradise (1924) - Pola Negri Girl Shy (1924) - Harold Lloyd He Who Gets Slapped (1924) - Lon Chaney Hot Water (1924) - Harold Lloyd The Iron Horse (1924) - John Ford Isn't Life Wonderful? (1924) - D.W. Griffith The Joyless Street (1924) G.W. Pabst The Last Laugh (1924) - F.W. Murnau Le Ballet Mechanique (1924) - French The Marriage Circle (1924) - Ernst Lubitsch Michael (1924) - Dreyer The Open Road (1924) Peter Pan (1924) - classic silent The Saga of Gosta Berling (1924) - Greta Garbo The Sea Hawk (1924) - Frank Lloyd Siegfried's Death (1924) - Fritz Lang Strike (1924) - Eisenstein Waxworks (1924) - Paul Leni

1923

1923 Safety Last (1923) B+ The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) B The Ten Commandments (1923) C Films I've Also Seen The Pilgrim (1923) Films I Haven't Seen The Balloonatic (1923) - Buster Keaton The Burning Brasier (1923) - French The Covered Wagon (1923) - classic western The Love Nest (1923) - Buster Keaton Our Hospitality (1923) - Buster Keaton Salome (1923) Scaramouche (1923) - Lewis Stone/Ramon Novarro The Smiling Madame Beudet (1923) - French feminist film Sylvester (1923) - German Three Ages (1923) - Buster Keaton Why Worry? (1923) - Harold Lloyd A Woman of Paris (1923) - Charlie Chaplin

1922

1922 Nosferatu (1922) B+ Films I’ve Also Seen Haxan (1922) Nanook of the North (1922) Films I Haven't Seen The Blacksmith (1922) - Keaton Blood and Sand (1922) - Valentino The Burning Soil (1922) - Murnau Cops (1922) - Keaton Daydreams (1922) - Keaton Dr. Jack (1922) - Lloyd Dr. Mabuse - The Gambler (1922) - Fritz Lang The Electric House (1922) - Keaton Foolish Wives (1922) - Erich von Stroheim The Frozen North (1922) - Keaton Grandma's Boy (1922) - Lloyd La Roue (1922) - Abel Gance My Wife's Relations (1922) - Keaton The Paleface (1922) - Keaton Phantom (1922) - Murnau The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) - Lewis Stone/Ramon Novarro Robin Hood (1922) - Fairbanks Sr. A Santanotte (1922) - Italian Shadows (1922) Sherlock Holmes (1922) - John Barrymore Tess of the Storm Country (1922) - Pickford The Three Must-Get-Theres (1922) - Max Linder The Toll of the Sea (1922)

1921

1921 The Sheik Films I've Also Seen The Kid The Phantom Carriage Films I Haven't Seen The Ace of Hearts (1921) - Lon Chaney The Affairs of Anatol (1921) - DeMille/Swanson Among Those Present (1921) - Harold Lloyd Between Two Worlds (1921) - Fritz Lang Blade of Satan's Bog (1921) - Dreyer The Boat (1921) - Buster Keaton Brewster's Millions (1921) - Fatty Arbuckle comedy Camille (1921) - Valentino Destiny (1921) Fritz Lang The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (1921) - Valentino The Goat (1921) - Keaton Hard Luck (1921) - Keaton The Haunted House (1921) - Keaton The 'High Sign' (1921) - Keaton I Do (1921) - Lloyd The Indian Tomb (1921) - German Little Lord Faunteroy (1921) - Mary Pickford Never Weaken (1921) - Lloyd Now or Never (1921) - Lloyd Orphans of the Storm (1921) - Griffith/Gish The Play House (1921) - Keaton A Sailor-Made Man (1921) - Lloyd Seven Years' Bad Luck (1921) - Max Linder The Three Musketeers (1921) - Fairbanks Sr Tol'able David (1921) - Richard Barthelmess

1920

1920 Way Down East (1920) Also Seen Within Our Gates (1920) Films I Haven't Seen Convict 13 (1920) - Buster Keaton Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) - John Barrymore An Eastern Westerner (1920) - Harold Lloyd Get Out and Get Under (1920) - Harold Lloyd The Golem (1920) - classic German horror Haunted Spooks (1920) - Harold Lloyd High and Dizzy (1920) - Harold Lloyd The Jack-Knife Man (1920) - King Vidor The Last of the Mohicans (1920) - Wallace Beery The Mark of Zorro (1920) - Douglas Fairbanks Sr Neighbors (1920) - Buster Keaton Number Please? (1920) - Harold Lloyd One Week (1920) - Buster Keaton The Parson's Wife (1920) - Dreyer The Penalty (1920) Pollyanna - Mary Pickford The Saphead (1920) - Buster Keaton The Scarecrow (1920) - Buster Keaton The Toll Gate (1920) - William S. Hart western Why Change Your Wife? (1920) - DeMille

Films I Haven't Seen - 1900-1919

The following is a tentative list of shorts and feature films that I haven't seen during the 1900-1919 era. So many are now available on DVD or YouTube, so I should be able to catch up on what I missed from these 20 years.

What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City (1901)
The Man With the Rubber Head (1901) - Melies?
Excelsior! Prince of Magicians (1901)
The Dwarf and the Giant (1901)
Bluebeard (1901)

Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants (1902)

*Life of an American Fireman (1903)
The Infernal Cauldron (1903)

Westinghouse Works (1904)
The Untamable Whiskers (1904)
The Suburbanite (1904)

The Living Playing Cards (1905) - Georges Melies
The Black Devil (1905)

The Birth, The Life and Death of Christ (1906)
The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) - Edwin S. Porter
The Hilarious Posters (1906)

That Fatal Sneeze (1907)
The Policemen's Little Run (1907)
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon (1907)

The Tempest (1908)
Fantasmagorie (1908)

Ben's Kid (1909) - Fatty Arbuckle
The Country Doctor (1909) - Griffith
The Devilish Tenant (1909)
Lady Helen's Escapade (1909) - Griffith

The Abyss (1910)
The Hasher's Delirium (1910)
*In Old California (1910) - Griffith
The Usurer (1910) - Griffith


Enoch Arden (1911) - Griffith
The Last Drop of Water (1911) - Griffith
The Miser's Heart (1911) - Griffith

The Burglar's Dilemma (1912) - Griffith
The Female of the Species (1912) - Griffith
For His Son (1912) - Griffith
Friends (1912) - Griffith
From the Manger to the Cross (1912) - early religious film
The Girl and Her Trust (1912) - Griffith
The Lesser Evil (1912) - Griffith
The New York Hat (1912) - Griffith
One is Business, The Other Crime (1912) - Griffith
The Painted Lady (1912) - Griffith
Quo Vadis? (1912) - first 2-hour+ film
*Richard III (1912) - oldest surviving full-length film
The Sunbeam (1912) - Griffith
The Vampire Dancer (1912) - Danish erotic melodrama

The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913) - Griffith
Death's Marathon (1913) - Griffith
*Fantômas (1913) - French crime/detective film
The House of Darkness (1913) - Griffith
*The Last Days of Pompeii (1913) - Italian epic
The Mothering Heart (1913) - Griffith
The Student of Prague (1913)
Traffic in Souls (1913)
The Vampire (1913) - US vamp film
The Avenging Conscience, or 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' (1914) - Griffith
*Cabiria (1914) - early Italian film
Daisy Doodad’s Dial (1914)
Gertie the Trained Dinosaur (1914)
Judith of Bethulia (1914) - Griffith epic available on YouTube
Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) - Chaplin's tramp
The Massacre (1914) - Griffith
The Perils of Pauline (1914) - unavailable Pearl White serial
*The Squaw Man (1914) - first DeMille film

Carmen (1915) Cecil B. DeMille
*The Cheat (1915)
A Fool There Was (1915) - Theda Bara
*Les Vampires (1915) - famed horror serial
Pool Sharks (1915) - W.C Fields
*Regeneration (1915) - early Raoul Walsh film
The Tramp (1915) - Chaplin

Behind the Screen (1916) - Chaplin
Civilization (1916) - early epic from Thomas Ince
The Curse of Quon Gwon - early Chinese film
The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916)
Hell's Hinges (1916) - William S. Hart western
*Judex (1916) - Louis Feuillade serial
*The Pawnshop (1916) - Chaplin
*The Rink (1916) - Chaplin
*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)

The Adventurer (1917) - Chaplin
Cleopatra (1917) - lost Theda Bara film
The Cure (1917) - Chaplin
Easy Street (1917) - Chaplin
Fear (1917)
Joan the Woman (1917) - Cecil B. DeMille
A Little Princess (1917) - Pickford
The Outlaw and His Wife (1917) - Swedish
The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917) - Pickford
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) - Pickford
The Silent Man (1917) - William S. Hart western

The Blue Bird (1918) - National Film Registry selection
Hearts of the World (1918) - Griffith
The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918)
Mickey (1918)
The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918)
The Song of the Scarlet Flower (1918)
*Stella Maris (1918) - Pickford
Tarzan of the Apes (1918) - Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan
The Whispering Chorus (1918) - Cecil B. DeMille

Ask Father (1919) - Harold Lloyd
Billy Blazes, Esq. (1919) - Harold Lloyd
Blind Husbands (1919) - von Stroheim
*Broken Blossoms (1919) - Griffith/Gish
Bumping into Broadway (1919) - Harold Lloyd
The Busher (1919) - John Gilbert
Daddy-Long-Legs (1919)
The Doll (1919) - Ernst Lubitsch
Don’t Change Your Husband (1919) Cecil B. DeMille
J'accuse! (1919) - Abel Gance war film
Madame DuBarry (1919) - Negri/Jannings/Lubitsch
Male and Female (1919) - Gloria Swanson
The Oyster Princess (1919) - Ernst Lubitsch
Sir Arne's Treasure (1919)
True Heart Susie (1919) - D.W. Griffith

There are many films from this era that are considered lost. Amazing to think that it's been 100+ years. Also there are lots of shorts from D.W. Griffith, as well as Charlie Chaplin, and some early shorts from Harold Lloyd that I haven't had a chance to see.

One day...

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-

The Kiss (1896)

Perhaps the most famous of the short, experimental moving pictures of the late 1890s, The Kiss depicts an older, seemingly aristocratic (and let's face it, unattractive) couple kissing. It lasts a mere 20 seconds and was produced by Thomas Edison in 1896.

May Irwin and John C. Rice play the famous couple. This film is actually a reenactment of the final scene of the stage musical, The Widow Jones, in which the actors appeared.

History maintains that this brief image caused an outrage for its 'indecency', prompting an early demand for film censorship. What an impact for what, when compared to 21st century standards, appears to be a slight achievement.

Early Cinema

The whole of my adventure consists of feature-length films (with one notable exception) released after 1900. It is worth noting, however, that there are a number of great short films released before the 20th century that I'd still like to discuss, having seen them since I began 'adventuring'.

Mavericks of technology like Thomas Edison, The Lumiere Brothers, and Louis Le Prince are credited as the most famous early filmmakers. Known for inventing the art of motion pictures, Edison developed the Kinetoscope, which was an early film projector. Edison went on to produce a number of experimental short films in the late 1890s, including The Kiss (1896). His film Blacksmith Scene (1893) is said to be the first Edison company film made for commercial distribution. It is currently the oldest film on the National Film Registry and is given credit as the starting point in the American motion picture industry. Edison followed it with an experimental film called Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894), also known as Fred Ott's Sneeze. It is said to be the first film with a close-up.

The Lumiere Brothers (Auguste and Louis) did a lot with the advancement camera processes, later abandoning motion pictures for photography. One of their major contributions to film is Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896). This film features a train coming towards the camera, which is said to have frightened moviegoers in its day due to its realistic cinematography.

Le Prince (who is said to have mysteriously vanished!) actually preceded them all in filmmaking by using a single-lens camera and paper film to make Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888) and Roundhay Garden Scene (1888). The latter (pictured below) is considered to be the earliest surviving film!

These films, each clocking in at less than a minute, can be seen on YouTube and are fascinating examples of the early days of cinema.

The Adventure Begins

Welcome,

I thought I would open with an explanation of my self-proclaimed 'Adventure Through Movies'. This blog will detail my chronological journey through film that began in June 2002.

I was about to turn 17 and was bursting with a love for the cinema. My movie-watching habits were pretty haphazard. I would watch an assortment of old movies and new movies, while trying to watch as many Oscar-winning Best Pictures as I could. I also tried my best to see as many movies that were considered to be among "the greatest of all time". Eventually, I decided that I needed structure. An idea struck!  I could experience movies chronologically.  I decided to go all the way back to the dawn of film and work my way to the present. 

I wanted to attempt to put myself in the context of the era when film was created and I hoped to experience the passage of time along with the progression of film-making. In effect, I'd experience a history lesson through the cinema. The films that I chose to watch were typically those that I could imagine myself opting to see if I lived in that time period. As my adventure progressed, I began to watch movies based on who made them, who appeared in them, and their critical reception. A big thanks must be extended to my dad's massive film collection, as well as Netflix, and the Penn State libraries for allowing so many renowned and obscure films to be within my grasp.

In this blog, I will detail my experiment by listing each film that I've watched. I'd like to offer insight based on my perspective of the progression of cinema, as well as general thoughts on filmdom, and maybe some reviews. I hope that you will learn a little bit more about film and discover some of these movies that make up my adventure.

This is my life's work. Why not share it?

CinemaAdventurer