Film Dictionary: Feb 14, 1970

February 14, 1970

Top 10 Films of 1924

1. "The Last Laugh" (F.W. Murnau, Germany)

2. "Sherlock Jr" (Buster Keaton, Metro)

3. "Greed" (Erich Von Stroheim, Metro-Goldwyn)

4. "The Thief Of Bagdad" (Raoul Walsh, United Artists)

5. "Siegfried" (Fritz Lang, Germany)

6. "The Navigator" (Donald Crisp, Buster Keaton, Metro-Goldwyn)

7. "Girl Shy" (Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, Pathe)

8. "The Marriage Circle" (Ernst Lubitsch, Warner)

9. "Hot Water" (Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor, Pathe)

10. "Michael" (Carl T. Dreyer, Germany)

Other great films:

Aelita (Soviet Union)

Forbidden Paradise
Hands Of Orlac (Germany)
He Who Gets Slapped

Kino-Eye (Soviet Union)

Peter Pan

The Saga Of Gosta Berling (Sweden)

Slubowanie (Poland)
Waxworks (Germany)

Top 10 Guilty Pleasures of 1924:

1. "L'Inhumaine" (Marcel L'Herbrier, France)

2. "Kriemhild's Revenge" (Fritz Lang, Germany)

3. "Quo Vadis" (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, Italy)

4. "Out Of Order" (USA)

5. "Dante's Inferno" (Henry Otto, Fox)

6. "Messalina" (Enrico Guazzoni, Italy)

7. "La Voyeuse" (France)

8. "The Casting Couch" (USA)

9. "Moon Of Israel" (Michael Curtiz, Austria)

10. "Ole Opfinders offer" (Lau Lauritzen, Denmark)

Short Top 10:

1. "Paris qui dort" (René Clair, France)

2. "Entr'acte" (René Clair, France)

3. "The Hollywood Kid" (Roy Del Ruth, Sennett, Pathe)

4. "Ballet mécanique" (Fernand Leger, France)

5. "Galloping Bungalows" (Eddie Cline, Sennett, Pathe)

6. "The First Hundred Years" (Harry Sweet, Sennett, Pathe)

7. "Lizzies Of The Field" (Del Lord, Sennett, Pathe)

8. "Wall Street Blues" (Del Lord, Sennett, Pathe)

9. "Luck O' The Foolish" (Harry Edwards, Sennett, Pathe)

10. "High Society" (Robert F. McGowan, Roach, Pathe)

Other great shorts:

All Wet
Backward Flow (Japan)
Big Moments From Little Pictures
The Hansom Cabman

His New Mamma
One Wet Night

Out Bound

Picking Peaches
Publicity Pays

Smithy
Ten Dollars Or Ten Days

Cartoon Top 10:

1. "Symphonie diagonale" (Viking Eggeling, Germany)

2. "Alice's Wild West Show" (Walt Disney, Winkler)

3. "Opus III" (Walter Ruttmann, Germany)

4. "Alice And The Dog Catcher" (Walt Disney, Winkler)

5. "Trip To Mars" (Dave Fleischer, Red Seal)

6. "Alice And The Three Bears" (Walt Disney, Winkler)

7. "Alice's Spooky Adventure" (Walt Disney, Winkler)

8. "The Cartoon Factory" (Dave Fleischer, Red Seal)

9. "Alice's Day At Sea" (Walt Disney, Winkler)

10. "Alice's Fishy Story" (Walt Disney, Winkler)

Other great cartoons:

The Cat And The Magnet

Weak films of 1924:

America

Enchanted Cottage
The Extraordinary Adventures Of Mr West In The Land Of The Bolsheviks (Soviet Union)
The Iron Horse
Isn't Life Wonderful
Monsieur Beaucaire

Weak shorts:

All Night Long
Family Life
Feet Of Mud
Our Congressman
Shanghaied Lovers
Smile Please
West Of Hot Dog
Yukon Jake

Weak cartoons:

Alice Gets In Dutch
Felix Goes West
Sharp Shooters
She's In Again

Sherlock Jr (1924) *****

One of Buster Keaton's best film. Particularly memorable is a sequence where Buster tries to enter a movie being projected on the screen.

The Last Laugh (1924) *****

The greatest silent German film ever made. It tells the story of a hotel porter who looses his job. It's not an expressionist film. It belongs to another movement, known as "Kammerspiel".

The Thief Of Bagdad (1924) ****

An enchanting Oriental fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks as a smart thief trying to marry a beautiful princess. It's adapted from an "Arabian Nights" tale. The first hour is particularly exciting.

Greed (1924) ****

Very different from Erich von Stroheim's other films. It's a story of a San Francisco dentist and his greedy wife (Zasu Pitts). The non-restored version is 104 min.