125 Great Silent Films!

So we have made it to number 125 on our list of 'filmmaker's guides'. I am honestly surprised that I have come this far without running out of ideas (which I slowly but surely am, I don't know how much longer I can go on like this). But I am happy to say that if you've made it this far on my journey with me, I thank you dearly and there will be more of this content to come. I am currently writing this quite late at night whilst watching some of my favourite films and I am thinking about this journey we have been on together. We started off covering thematics and symbolisms, moved on to various other types and genres of film, we went through all different classic actors and different shots, some directors and character types. I am glad to say that number 125 is going to be one of my most carefully curated lists of silent films that I have ever done.

Here we go then, 125 great silent films. These are possibly the ones that you should watch if you want to study filmmaking. I will highlight my personal favourites by putting them in bold, but in all other aspects they are in no particular order.

1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
2. Nosferatu (1922)
3. Der Müde Tod (1921)
4. The Ten Commandments (1923)
5. Ben-Hur (1925)
6. Faust (1926)
7. Metropolis (1927)
8. City Lights (1931)
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
10. Sunrise (1927)
11. The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
12. The Gold Rush (1925)
13. Sherlock Jr. (1924)
14. Pandora's Box (1929)
15. Safety Last (1923)
16. Greed (1924)
17. The Big Parade (1925)
18. The Last Laugh (1924)
19. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
20. The Kid (1921)
21. Wings (1927)
22. Way Down East (1920)
23. Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
24. The Circus (1928)
25. The Haunted Castle (1921)
26. The Andalusian Dog (1928)
27. Nanook of the North (1922)
28. Flesh and the Devil (1927)
29. Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922)
30. The Unknown (1927)
31. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
32. Show People (1928)
33. The Four Hoursemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
34. Die Nibelungen (1924)
35. The Man Who Laughs (1928)
36. The Mark of Zorro (1920)
37. Orphans of the Storm (1921)
38. Seven Chances (1925)
39. The Wedding March (1928)
40. He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
41. Girl Shy (1924)
42. The Last Command (1928)
43. Tabu (1931)
44. The Navigator (1924)
45. The Freshman (1925)
46. Foolish Wives (1922)
47. Sparrows (1926)
48. The Sheik (1921)
49. The Cameraman (1928)
50. The Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
51. Les Vampires (1915)
52. The Golem (1920)
53. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
54. The Lodger (1926)
55. Cops (1922)
56. Beggars of Life (1928)
57. My Best Girl (1927)
58. It (1927)
59. The Son of the Sheik (1926)
60. Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
61. Robin Hood (1922)
62. The Lost World (1925)
63. 7th Heaven (1927)
64. The Great Train Robbery (1903)
65. Stachka (1924)
66. October (1928)
67. The Immigrant (1917)
68. Queen Kelly (1928)
69. The Kid Brother (1927)
70. Tess of the Storm Country (1922)
71. The Docks of New York (1928)
72. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
73. A Woman of Paris (1923)
74. Speedy (1928)
75. Mat (1926)
76. The Last of the Mohicans (1920)
77. The Cheat (1915)
78. Variety (1925)
79. The Iron Mask (1929)
80. The Unholy Tree (1925)
81. The Iron Horse (1924)
82. Die Freudlose Gasse (1924)
83. Underworld (1927)
84. Big Business (1929)
85. L'Inhumaine (1924)
86. Sir Arne's Treasure (1919)
87. A Man There Was (1917)
88. Faithful Heart (1923)
89. Lady Windermere's Fan (1925)
90. Apart From You (1933)
91. Scenes of Ostend (1929)
92. The Ingmar Inheritance (1925)
93. Phantom (1922)
94. The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
95. L'Argent (1928)
96. The Late Mathias Pascal (1925)
97. Tartuffe (1925)
98. The New Babylon (1929)
99. The Wheel (1923)
100. Michael (1924)
101. Limite (1931)
102. Woman in the Moon (1929)
103. Napoleon (1927)
104. J'Accuse (1919)
105. The Phantom Carriage (1921)
106. Love's Crucible (1922)
107. Hell's Hinges (1916)
108. City Girl (1930)
109. I Was Born, But (1932)
110. The Pearl (1929)
111. The Dying Swan (1917)
112. Haxan (1922)
113. Spione (1928)
114. The Outlaw and His Wife (1918)
115. Bed and Sofa (1927)
116. Apart from You (1933)
117. The Wind (1928)
118. Impatience (1928)
119. Judex (1916)
120. Borderline (1930)
121. People on Sunday (1930)
122. Earth (1930)
123. The Kiss (1929)
124. Torrent (1926)
125. Modern Times (1936)

And there you have it, 125 silent films that I adore. I hope you have enjoyed the filmmaker's guide up until now and I also hope you continue to read on. If you haven't already, you can investigate some of these silent films - many of them are very enjoyable and I'm sure there are some of your favourites that are probably not appearing on my list. (I can think of a few of my own that simply would not fit!) Well, let us press on with the next filmmaker's guide as we make our way to our next milestone of 150.