Top 10 Films of 1921

1. "Seven Years Bad Luck" (Max Linder, USA)

2. "The Kid" (Charles Chaplin, First National)

3. "The Three Musketeers" (Fred Niblo, United Artists)

4. "Der Mude Tod" (Fritz Lang, Germany)

5. "Fievre" (Louis Delluc, France)

6. "The Nut" (Theodore Reed, United Artists)

7. "Die Bergkatze" (Ernst Lubitsch, Germany)

8. "Leaves From Satan's Book" (Carl T. Dreyer, Denmark)

9. "The Sheik" (George Melford, Paramount)

10. "Souls On The Road" (Minoru Murata, Japan)

Other great films:

Cud nad Wisla (Poland)

Janosik (Czechoslovakia)
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Maiden's Mountains (Russia)

The Phantom Carriage (Sweden)

A Sailor-Made Man

Top 5 Guilty Pleasures of 1921:

1. "The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse" (Rex Ingram, Metro)

2. "L'Uomo meccanico" (Andre Deed, Italy)

3. "Atelier faiminette" (France) - short

4. "Queen Of Sheba" (J. Gordon Edwards, Fox)

5. "The Heedless Moths" (Robert Z. Leonard, USA) - lost

Short Top 10:

1. "The Goat" (Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline, First National)

2. "Never Weaken" (Fred C. Newmeyer, Pathe)

3. "The High Sign" (Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline, First National)

4. "The Idle Class" (Charles Chaplin, First National)

5. "The Playhouse" (Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline, First National)

6. "The Haunted House" (Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline, Metro)

7. "The Boat" (Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline, First National)

8. "Hard Luck" (Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline, Metro)

9. "The Man With The Twisted Lip" (Maurice Elvey, UK)

10. "Jiraiya The Hero" (Shozo Makino, Japan)

Other great shorts:

Lucky Dog

Cartoon Top 10:

1. "Fishing" (Dave Fleischer, Winkler)

2. "Opus I" (Walter Ruttmann, Germany)

3. "Modeling" (Dave Fleischer, Winkler)

4. "The Pet" (Winsor McCay, USA)

5. "Invisible Ink" (Dave Fleischer, Winkler)

6. "The Hypnotist" (Otto Messmer, USA)

7. "The Victor" (Walter Ruttmann, Julius Pinschewer, Germany)

8. "Kapten Grogg skall fiska" (Victor Bergdahl, Sweden)

9. "Opus II" (Walter Ruttmann, Germany)

10. "Kansas City's Spring Clean-Up" (Walt Disney, USA)

Weak films of 1921:

Ace Of Hearts
The Affairs Of Anatol
Be My Wife
The Copper Beeches (UK)
Das Weib des Pharao (Germany)
Dream Street
Johan (Sweden)
Sands Of Sacrifice
Sappho (Germany)

Weak shorts:

Among Those Present
Be Reasonable
Cleaning Up!!?
Did You Ever Take a Ride Over Kansas City Street 'In a Fliver'
I Do
Kansas City Girls Are Rolling Their Own Now
Now Or Never

Weak cartoons:

Bug Vaudeville
The Flying House
Their Master's Voice

L'Uomo meccanico (1921) ****

The Phantom Carriage (1921) ***

The Heedless Moths (1921)

The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (1921) ***

Cud nad Wisla (1921) ***

Polish drama about the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, directed by Richard Boleslawski and starring Jadwiga Smosarska. Half of the film is lost, but what remains has a true documentary quality, as it was filmed while the war was still raging on. In fact, the film was released on March 16, 1921 - two days before the peace treaty was finally signed in Riga.

Souls On The Road (1921) ***

Maiden's Mountains (1921) ***

A story of Judas and Satan wandering the world in search of a virgin who could become the mother of the new Evil. 33 minutes of the film have been preserved. Filmed in 1919, the movie was shown only once - in September 1921 in Petrograd during the "Week of Relief of the Starving". Directed by Aleksandr Sanin and Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky.

Queen Of Sheba (1921) ***

Only a brief fragment of this famous film has been preserved.

Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921) ***

Mary Pickfort plays both Lord Fauntleroy and his mother in this excellent adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel. Innovative special effects.

Janosik (1921) ***

Ace Of Hearts (1921) **

Interesting psychological drama about a terrorist organization preparing an assassination.

Dream Street (1921) **

Heavy melodrama directed by D.W. Griffith. It's set in a poor neighborhood in London. Story of two brothers in love with the same girl. And a murder.

The Affairs Of Anatol (1921) **

Cecil B. DeMille's comedy about an unfaithful husband.

Sands Of Sacrifice (1921) **

Silent melodrama set in Northern Canada and New York City.