Impressive silent drama, Pudovkin's best film.
February 17, 1970
Napoleon (1927) ****
An impressive silent epic that traces Napoleon's life from childhood until his triumphant invasion of Italy.
Play Safe (1927) ****
The Cat And The Canary (1927) ***
A scary night in a remote castle, with ghosts and murderers on the loose, and a huge heritage to be... well, inherited. A successful mix of horror and comedy, this film became a model for countless imitations.
The Unknown (1927) ***
Silent horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney as an armless circus freak.
Chang (1927) ***
Well before "King Kong", Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack made this impressive documentary about elephants disrupting the lives of a family deep in the jungles of Northern Siam.
Three's A Crowd (1927) *
Catherine ou Une vie sans joie (1927) ***
Jean Renoir's first feature film, codirected with Albert Dieudonné. Filmed in 1924, it was only released in 1927. Renoir himself called it a failure (''J'espère que nulle trace ne demeure de ce petit chef-d'œuvre de banalité''), but it's actually quite interesting, with several very innovative sequences.
Le Chapeau de paille d'Italie (1927) ***
A French farce about various misunderstandings concerning a staw hat eaten by a horse.
College (1927) ***
This is undoubtedly Buster Keaton's weakest silent film, but it still has quite a few amusing gags (including a truly memorable, very bizarre finale).
The Gaucho (1927) ***
Douglas Fairbanks plays a South American bandito in this rather unique film - a religious adventure pic (basically a cross between "Robin Hood" and "The Song Of Bernadette").
The Jazz Singer (1927) ***
This silent melodrama (with fully-synchronized musical numbers and one "talky" sequence), became such a huge popular success, it compelled all Hollywood studios to start producing sound films. It's a story of a cantor's son (Al Jolson), who becomes a great Broadway star. Songs include:"Dirty Hands, Dirty Face"
"Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye" ***
"Blue Skies" *
"Mother, I Still Have You"
"Mammy" **
The Lodger (1927) ***
The first "true" Alfred Hitchcock's film, which introduced all the elements of his classic thrillers: an innocent man accused of a murder he didn't commit, a climactic chase, an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia etc. etc.
The Kid Brother (1927) ***
Silent comedy starring Harold Lloyd as a young man intimidated by his older brothers.
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) ***
Impressive adaptation of the famous novel, with a few major changes from the original (such as moving the timeline forward to the Civil War era).
Mogila nieznanego zolnierza (1927) ***
My Best Girl (1927) ***
Mary Pickford plays a shopgirl from a poor family who falls in love with a coworker who is really a millionaire's son.
Hotel Imperial (1927) **
Pola Negri is excellent in this World War I drama about a Austro-Hungarian soldier who saves his country from a dangerous Russian spy, but the film is quite uneven.
The Student Prince In Old Heidelberg (1927) **
Very different from most Ernst Lubitsch's films. Instead of a sophisticated comedy of manners, it's an old-fashioned romantic drama with a hint of Teutonic nostalgia. Dated, but quite appealing.
The Love Of Sunya (1927) *
This is silent cinema at its very worst - not only tedious and pretentious, but also badly acted and devoid of any imagination. Gloria Swanson plays a young woman facing a crucial decision in her life.
The Fair Co-Ed (1927) *
College comedy starring Marion Davis. Very slow-paced - it takes almost a third of the film for our heroine to actually get to the college and unpack her bags.
The Patent Leather Kid (1927) *
Two films (a boxing drama and a war drama) for the price of one. Neither is very good.
Downhill (1927) *
A rich man's son leaves home after being called a liar and his life goes from bad to worse. Silent melodrama directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Le Vertige (1927) *
Hopelessly dated melodrama about a tsarist general murdering his wife's lover. Probably Marcel L'Herbier's most conventional and boring film.
The Diplomatic Pouch (1927) *
Boring spy flick (directed by Alexander Dovzhenko), about evil agents of Capitalist Imperialism trying to stop brave Communists from delivering an important letter to the Kremlin.
His First Flame (1927) *
Should Tall Men Marry? (1927) ***
A Stan Laurel solo comedy (without Ollie). He plays a cowboy who helps a girl kidnapped by a suitor. Produced by Hal Roach and directed by Louis J. Gasnier.
With Love And Hisses (1927) ***
The Second Hundred Years (1927) ***
Slipping Wives (1927) ***
Love 'Em And Weep (1927) ***
While both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appear in it, this isn't really "their" film, but a James Finlayson vehicle. He plays a married man blackmailed by an old girlfriend. While the first half is quite slow, gags improve significantly in the second half of the film.
Duck Soup (1927) ***
Sur un air de Charleston (1927) ***
Putting Pants On Philip (1927) ***
Speeding Along (1927) ***
Tin lizzies are racing on rural roads. Pastoral scenery is an additional asset of this little-known silent short comedy.
Do Detectives Think? (1927) ***
Etudes des mouvements a Paris (1927) ***
Pride Of Pikeville (1927) ***
Why Girls Love Sailors (1927) ***
A young girl is kidnapped by a sea captain. This is really a Stan Laurel vehicle, with Oliver Hardy only in a supporting role. The film was made just before the Laurel & Hardy team was formed.
Sugar Daddies (1927) **
Stan Laurel plays a cross-dressing lawyer. Oliver Hardy plays a butler. The best scene has Ollie trying to remove Stan's hat.
Sailors Beware (1927) *
Lame comedy set on an ocean liner, with Stan Laurel as a stowaway taxi driver and Oliver Hardy as a crew member.
Flying Elephants (1927) *
An early Stan & Ollie film set in prehistoric times. They don't appear as a team yet.
Munchen-Berlin Wanderung (1927) *
The Battle Of The Century (1927) *****
Trolley Troubles (1927) ****
Oswald is a trolley car driver. Probably Walt Disney's best pre-Mickey cartoon, endlessly inventive.
Koko The Kop (1927) ****
Koko The Kid (1927) ****
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