Top 10 Films of 1928

1. "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc" (Carl T. Dreyer, France)

2. "Zvenigora" (Alexander Dovzhenko, Soviet Union)

3. "Steamboat Bill Jr" (Charles Reisner, United Artists)

4. "The Crowd" (King Vidor, MGM)

5. "Crossroads" (Teinosuke Kinugasa, Japan)

6. "The Wind" (Victor Sjostrom, MGM)

7. "Show People" (King Vidor, MGM)

8. "The Docks Of New York" (Josef von Sternberg, Paramount)

9. "Spione" (Fritz Lang, Germany)

10. "The Last Command" (Josef von Sternberg, Paramount)

Other great films:

The 47 Ronin (Japan)
Beggars Of Life
The Cameraman
La Chute de la maison d'Usher (France)
The Circus

Four Sons

Glorious Betsy

Kif Tebbi (Italy)
Lights Of New York

The Man Who Laughs

The Mating Call
Moulin Rouge (UK)
The Mysterious Lady
October (Soviet Union)
Our Dancing Daughters
Pan Tadeusz (Poland)
Sadie Thompson
Samurai Town: Story 1 (Japan)
A Ship Comes In
The Singing Fool
Skyscraper
Sozenji Baba (Japan)
Speedy
Tajemnica starego rodu (Poland)
The Tempest
The Wedding March
West Of Zanzibar

White Shadows In The South Seas

Short Top 10:

1. "Two Tars" (James Parrott, Roach, MGM)

2. "Limousine Love" (Fred Guiol, Roach, MGM)

3. "You're Darn Tootin'" (Edgar Kennedy, Roach, MGM)

4. "La Coquille et le clergyman" (Germaine Dulac, France)

5. "The Bridge" (Joris Ivens, Holland)

6. "Impatience" (Charles Dekeukeleire, Belgium)

7. "The Finishing Touch" (Clyde Bruckman, Leo McCarey, Roach, MGM)

8. "Leave 'Em Laughing" (Clyde Bruckman, Leo McCareyRoach, MGM)

9. "Early To Bed" (Emmett J. Flynn, Roach, MGM)

10. "We Faw Down" (Leo McCarey, Roach, MGM)

Other great shorts:

Betty's Bath

Desert Nymphs

From Soup To Nuts

Habeas Corpus

Jazz Babies

Le Pompier de Folies Bergères (France)

Their Purple Moment

Cartoon Top 10

1. "Koko's Earth Control" (Dave Fleischer, Paramount)

2. "Woos Whoopee" (Otto Messmer, USA)

3. "Steamboat Willie" (Walt Disney, Disney)

4. "Plane Crazy" (Walt Disney, Disney)

5. "Comicalamities" (Otto Messmer, USA)

6. "Gallopin' Gaucho" (Walt Disney, Disney)

7. "Tall Timber" (Walt Disney, Universal)

8. "Oh What A Knight" (Walt Disney, Universal)

9. "Fiery Fireman" (Friz Freleng, Rudolf Ising, Universal)

10. "Sunny Italy" (Mannie Davis, Paul Terry, Pathé)

Other great cartoons:

The Barn Dance

Bright Lights
The Haunted House
Koko's Courtship
Ozzie Of The Mounted

Sky Scrappers
The Wild West

Weak films of 1928:

L'Argent (France)
Champagne (UK)
The Chaser
City Girl
Drums Of Love
Easy Virtue (UK)

Four Devils
Laugh Clown Laugh
Lilac Time
Maldone (France)
The Matinee Idol
The Red Dance
Riley The Cop
Sex In Chains (Germany)
Storm Over Asia (Soviet Union)
Street Angel
Tire au flanc (France)
A Woman Of Affairs
Yacht Of The Seven Sins (Germany)

Weak shorts:

The Beach Club
The Best Man
Campus Carmen
The Eyes Have It
Life And Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra
La Petite marchande d'allumettes (France)
Run Girl Run
Should Married Men Go Home?

Weak cartoons:

Dinner Time
The Fox Chase
Futuritzy
In The Bag
Rival Romeos
Static
Sunday On A Farm

Lost films:

Oh Kay
The Patriot
Telling The World

Top Musical of 1928

"The Singing Fool" (Lloyd Bacon, Warner)

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) *****

One of the greatest masterpieces of cinematic art. Consisting almost entirely of close-ups, it's a silent symphony of movement, editing, superb acting and masterful direction. 

Wonder Of Women (1929)

A lost film.

The Crowd (1928) ****

Memorable drama about urban life in the late 20's. Directed by King Vidor.

Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928) ****

The first half of this film is quite ordinary, but the second half contains some of the most memorable scenes ever captured on film (including entire buildings falling down on Buster Keaton).

Zvenigora (1928) ****

Crossroads (1928) ****

The Tempest (1928) ***

The Mating Call (1928) ***

The Man Who Laughs (1928) ***

The Wedding March (1928) ***

A typical Erich von Stroheim's film, less memorable than "Foolish Wives" (1922), "Greed" (1924) or "Queen Kelly" (1929), but still quite fascinating (and much more romantic).

The Wind (1928) ****

In a remote desert outpost in the Far West, a young girl (Lilian Gish) kills a man who tried to rape her.

Four Sons (1928) ***

Lights Of New York (1928) ***

The first full "talkie", a fine gangster film, slightly dated, but very interesting.

La Chute de la maison d'Usher (1928) ***

Visually impressive French avant-garde film directed by Jean Epstein

The Cameraman (1928) ***

Typical Buster Keaton comedy with many funny gags.

White Shadows In The South Seas (1928) ***

The Circus (1928) ***

Little tramp Charlie finds a job in a circus and falls in love with an acrobat girl. There is a memorable sequence in a house of mirrors.

Sozenji Baba (1928) ***

Silent "chambara jidai-geki" full of samurai fighting. Directed by Masahiro Makino.

Glorious Betsy (1928) ***

The Docks Of New York (1928) ***

Silent melodrama directed by Joseph Von Sternberg.

October (1928) ***

Sergei Eisenstein's least memorable film, but an excellent showcase of his theories about montage. A failure from a narrative point of view, but stylistically - quite interesting.

Samurai Town: Story 1 (1928) ***

Only an 8 min fragment survives from this silent "chambara jidai-geki" (samurai period movie) directed by Masahiro Makino. It's a fast-paced swashbuckling romp closer in spirit to Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops than to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, and it looks like it was edited by Edward Scissorhands after drinking too much sake, but it's definitely very entertaining.

Tajemnica starego rodu (1928) ***

Silent Polish melodrama about a secret of an aristocratic family. The beginning is weak, but it's worth to stick with it, because in the second half it becomes very interesting.

The Mysterious Lady (1928) ***

Classic MGM spy melodrama starring Greta Garbo as a Russian secret agent seducing an Austrian officer.

Sadie Thompson (1928) ***

Gloria Swanson gives a fabulous, Oscar-nominated performance in this otherwise old-fashioned, slightly dated melodrama.

Our Dancing Daughters (1928) ***

An icon of the Jazz Age, starring Joan Crawford as a wild party girl who falls in love with a rich bachelor.

Show People (1928) ****

Excellent show biz comedy starring Marion Davies as a young Hollywood actress who has to choose between slapstick comedy and serious drama.