Talk, Don't Talk

1928 was a transitional year for film.  1927 had brought The Jazz Singer, and by now it was clear sound was here to stay.  But it wouldn't be till 1929 that silent movies were left behind (and that's in Hollywood--it took a little longer for the rest of the world).

So the world of silent film had reached its technical peak and would soon be abandoned, while movies were still learning to talk.  Let's see Jesse Walker's top ten from that year (and it will be his last list):

1. There It Is
2. Spies
3. The Docks of New York
4. The Fall of the House of Usher

5. The Fall of the House of Usher
6. Speedy
7. Zvenigora
8. KoKo's Earth Control
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc
10. The Seashell and the Clergyman

"There It Is" is a short by Charlie Bowers, and I don't believe in shorts for these lists, not even from 1928. (Jesse is a big fan of Bowers, an eccentric comedian who's mostly forgotten today).

Never seen Spies, though Fritz Lang was certainly doing interesting work around this time.

The Docks Of New York is a gritty film unlike most other silents, and I wonder if that isn't as much due to screenwriter Jules Furthman as director Josef von Sternberg.

Haven't seen either version of The Fall Of The House Of Usher.

Speedy is the last silent feature Harold Lloyd released. (He actually made one more--Welcome Danger--but then revamped it into a sound film.  I wonder if somewhere out there, there isn't a complete copy of the silent version.) It's good, though not up to the level of his previous film, The Kid Brother.

Zvenigora is by Dovzhenko, one of the top Soviet filmmakers of the time.  I've only seen bits of it so I can't really judge it.

"KoKo" is another weird short.

There's no other film like The Passion Of Joan Of Arc, which has been recognized as a classic from the start.  I usually don't like lots of close-ups, but it certainly works here.

Haven't seen the last film on the list. I believe it's a short.

Honorable mentions:

11. October
12. Steamboat Bill, Jr.
13. Ghosts Before Breakfast
14. The Wind
15. The Cameraman
16. Études Sur Paris
17. Woos Whoopee
18. The Crowd
19. Two Tars
20. La Zone

11 (which I thought was a 1927 film) is a fascinating film by Eisenstein, who's even more highly thought of than Dovzhenko, though not by Jesse this year.

I am shocked 12 and 15 aren't top ten.  In the past Jesse has shown appreciation for Buster Keaton, so why put them so low?  I think they are two of Buster's best, and they'd probably be my top two films for the year.

14 is considered a classic, though I wouldn't go quite that far.  Haven't seen 16, though it sounds interesting.  18 is another classic, and I think it mostly holds up--would certainly make my top ten.

13 is a short.  17 is a Felix the Cat short.  19 is a Laurel and Hardy short--they had only just formed and were making one per month. 20 is a short.

Other films that would make my top ten:

The Circus (Jesse's anti-Chaplin mania has gone too far--this film may not be at the level of The Gold Rush or City Lights, but it should certainly be high on anyone's list)

A Girl In Every Port

Show People

Other films I like:

Feel My Pulse, The Godless Girl, The Italian Straw Hat, The Last Command, Laugh Clown Laugh, The Matinee Idol, Our Dancing Daughters, The Patsy, The Smart Set

Other films of note (most I haven't seen--they're rarely shown and some are simply missing):

The Actress, Beggars Of Life, The Big City, The Cardboard Lover, Champagne, The Constant Nymph, The Divine Woman, Easy Virtue, The Farmer’s Wife, Four Songs, Hangman’s House, Ladies Of The Mob, L'Argent, The Man Who Laughs, The Mysterious Lady, Noah’s Ark, The Noose, The Patriot, Red Hair, Rose-Marie, Sadie Thompson, The Singing Fool, Sins Of The Father, Skyscraper, Storm Over Asia, Tempest, The Terror, Three Sinners, The Vortex, The Wedding March, West Point, What A Night!, While The City Sleeps, White Shadows In The South Seas, A Woman Of Affair