Top 10 Films of 1919

1. "The President" (Carl T. Dreyer, Denmark)

2. "The Oyster Princess" (Ernst Lubitsch, Germany)

3. "Back To God's Country" (David Hartford, Canada)

4. "Die Puppe" (Ernst Lubitsch, Germany)

5. "Madame Dubarry" (Ernst Lubitsch, Germany)

6. "Blind Husbands" (Erich von Stroheim, Universal)

7. "Sir Arne's Treasure" (Mauritz Stiller, Sweden)

8. "Male And Female" (Cecil B.DeMille, Paramount)

9. "J'accuse" (Abel Gance, France)

10. "L'Atleta fantasma" (Raimondo Scotti, Italy)

Other great films:

Barrabas (France)

Daddy Long Legs

Top 5 Guilty Pleasures of 1919:

1. "Opium" (Robert Reinert, Germany)

2. "Homo sum" (Octav von Klodnicki, Germany)

3. "Ravished Armenia" (Oscar Apfel, First National)

4. "Anders als die anderen" (Richard Oswald, Germany)

5. "The Lads Of The Village" (Harry Lorraine, UK)

Short Top 10:

1. "Hearts And Flowers" (Eddie Cline, Sennett)

2. "Sunnyside" (Charles Chaplin, First National)

3. "From Hand To Mouth" (Alf Goulding, Pathe)

4. "Bumping Into Broadway" (Hal Roach, Pathe)

5. "Ask Father" (Hal Roach, Pathe)

6. "A Day's Pleasure" (Charles Chaplin, First National)

7. "The Grocery Clerk" (Larry Semon, Vitagraph)

8. "My Brother Is Coming" (Michael Curtiz, Hungary)

9. "Billy Blazes, Esq." (Hal Roach, Pathe)

10. "The Brain Of Soviet Russia" (Dziga Vertov, Russia)

Other great shorts:

Polska delegacja na Konferencji Wersalskiej (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Feline Follies" (Otto Messmer, Sullivan)

2. "The Tantalizing Fly" (Max Fleischer, Bray, Paramount)

3. "Dud Leaves Home" (Wallace Carlson, Bray, Paramount)

Other great cartoons:

Oh'phelia (UK)

Weak films of 1919:

Broken Blossoms
The Busher
Don't Change Your Husband
The Greatest Question
A Romance Of Happy Valley
Spiders (Germany)
True-Heart Susie

Weak shorts:

Back Stage
Captain Kidd's Kids
The Chef
The Detectress
Don't Shove
The Hayseed
His Royal Slyness
I'M On My Way
A Jazzed Honeymoon
Looking For Trouble
Neighbours
Never Touched Me
Next Aisle Over
Pay Your Dues
Ring Up The Curtain
Rowdy Ann
A Sammy In Siberia
Spring Fever

The Oyster Princess (1919) *****

Delightful comedy from Ernst Lubitsch, probably his best German film. Cynical and fresh, its biting humour hasn't aged one bit. Ossi Oswalda plays a millionaire's daughter who wants to marry a prince.

The President (1919) *****

Carl T. Dreyer's first film and a masterpiece of sobriety and restraint. An excellent melodrama.

J'accuse (1919) ****

Sir Arne's Treasure (1919) ***

Impressive Swedish drama about crime, love and fate.

The Lads Of The Village (1919)

Anders als die anderen (1919) ***

Homo sum (1919) ***

Opium (1919) ***

Barrabas (1919) ***

Daddy Long Legs (1919) ***

Mary Pickford's version of the classic novel by Jean Webster.

Ravished Armenia (1919) ***

Male And Female (1919) ***

One of Cecil B. DeMille best silent films, remade countless times (most memorably by Lina Wertmuller in 1974 and by Ruben Ostlund in 2022).

Back To God's Country (1919) ***

L'Atleta fantasma (1919) ***

Italian adventure film in the style of Louis Feuillade's serials.

Spiders (1919) *

Awful adventure film by Fritz Lang.

A Romance Of Happy Valley (1919) *

Ridiculous Griffith's melodrama. It was once considered a lost film but unfortunately a copy was found in the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

The Greatest Question (1919) *

Very dated melodrama starring Lilian Gish.

The Busher (1919) *

A baseball picture.

The Grocery Clerk (1919) ***

It's the usual mayhem at Larry's grocery store, with cats walking on flypaper and an exciting climax atop high towers. Directed by Larry Semon and produced by Vitagraph.

The Brain Of Soviet Russia (1919) ***

Directed by Dziga Vertov.

Polska delegacja na Konferencji Wersalskiej (1919) ***

Ask Father (1919) ***

Harold tries to ask a father for his daughter's hand. Probably the first Harold Lloyd film with a building-climbing sequence.

My Brother Is Coming (1919) ***

Michael Curtiz's first surviving film, made in Communist Hungary in 1919. A bit pretentious, but well-directed and a unique document of its era. Impressive images.

From Hand To Mouth (1919) ***

A Harold Lloyd comedy about a naive heiress kidnapped by bandits. A clear inspiration for Buster Keaton's “Cops”. Directed by Alf Goulding, with often hilarious titles by Hal Walker.