Teapot Dome Scandal Rocks America

Now Jesse Walker looks back a hundred years to 1922.

https://jessewalker.blogspot.com/2023/01/has-it-really-been-whole-century-i-have.html

We're solidly in the silent era, and it was actually quite a year, I'd say.

Here's his top ten:

1. Salome

2. Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror

3. Dr. Mabuse Part 2

4. Dr. Mabuse Part 1

5. Cops

6. The Blacksmith

7. Grandma's Boy

8. Pay Day

9. Jumping Beans

10. Witchcraft Through The Ages

Because 1922 films aren't shown that often, Jesse has no list of honorable mentions, though he does bring up the experimental advertisement Der Sieger.

He then goes back even further and mentions The Cameraman's Revenge from 1912 and La Voyage Dans La Lune in 1902.  For that matter, in 1892--yes, 1892--there's Pauvre Pierrot and from 1882 The Kiss.  By this last, we're in motion picture pre-history.

There's only so much to say about 1922.  Many silent films are lost and most of the others aren't that easy to see.  Still, this was a year when filmmaking was in full bloom, full of innovation and excitement.

I haven't seen Salome, but Nosferatu still holds up--in fact, it's fun to see Dracula before he was Dracula. Speaking of spooky stuff, I'm also a fan of Witchcraft Through The Ages (which I know better as Haxan).

Dr. Mabuse is still fascinating, though I can't remember the difference between parts 1 and 2.

The greatest films of the silent era come from the clowns. Jesse lists two from Buster Keaton, who was still making shorts in 1922.  Cops is perhaps his best known (even if Keaton didn't consider it anything special) but there's nothing wrong with his other films that year--The Paleface, My Wife's Relations, The Frozen North, The Electric House and Day Dreams.

Meanwhile, Harold Lloyd was making full-length films, and Grandma's Boy, being his first true feature, always meant a lot to him. His second feature from 1922, Dr. Jack, is also worth looking at.

Pay Day was a short Chaplin made--his last true short--to help finish off his contract with First National so he could start working for his own company, United Artists.  It ended up working pretty well.

I haven't seen Jumping Beans, but the Fleischers, in general, were doing good work at their studio in the 1920s.  Speaking of animation, there was also the highly popular Felix The Cat films as well as the beginning of the Our Gang series.

There are a number of other titles from 1922 worth seeking out.  Some I've seen, some not.  Some I'm surprised aren't on Jesse's list, but maybe he hasn't had a chance to watch them.  Here are some notable titles:

Foolish Wives

The Loves Of Pharaoh

Manslaughter

Mud And Sand

Nanook Of The North

Oliver Twist

One Exciting Night

Phantom

The Prisoner Of Zenda

Robin Hood

Sherlock Holmes

Smilin' Through

Tess Of The Storm Country

The Three Must-Get-Theres

So I guess that's it.  Please resume normal activities.