Top 10 Films of 1919

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

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

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

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

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

6. "Barrabas" (Louis Feuillade, France)

7. "Daddy Long Legs" (Marshall Neilan, First National)

8. "Broken Blossoms" (D.W. Griffith, United Artists)

9. "When the Clouds Roll By" (Victor Fleming, United Artists)

10. "The Hoodlum" (Sidney Franklin, First National)

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures 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. "Male And Female" (Cecil B.DeMille, Paramount)

5. "J'accuse" (Abel Gance, France)

6. "Opium" (Robert Reinert, Germany)

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

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

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

10. "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:

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.

Broken Blossoms (1919) ***

Impressive D.W.Griffith's melodrama about a pathetic waif (Lilian Gish), abused by her evil stepfather (Donald Grisp) and saved by a gentle Chinese immigrant (Richard Bartolomess).

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.