CriterionForum's List Project - 1920s (Version 3.0)
List activity
1.5K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
162 titles
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGeorge O'BrienJanet GaynorMargaret LivingstonA sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.
- DirectorClyde BruckmanBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarion MackGlen CavenderAfter being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsEmil JanningsMaly DelschaftMax HillerAn aging doorman is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbors and society after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel.
- DirectorPál FejösStarsBarbara KentGlenn TryonFay HoldernessTwo lonely people in the big city meet and enjoy the thrills of an amusement park, only to lose each other in the crowd after spending a great day together. Will they ever see each other again?
- DirectorDziga VertovStarsMikhail KaufmanElizaveta SvilovaA man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
- DirectorBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonKathryn McGuireJoe KeatonA film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsLillian GishLars HansonMontagu LoveA frail young woman from the East moves in with her cousin in the West, where she causes tension within the family and is slowly driven mad.
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsMasuo InoueAyako IijimaYoshie NakagawaA man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsEleanor BoardmanJames MurrayBert RoachThe life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles, and downfalls.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGeorge BancroftBetty CompsonOlga BaclanovaA blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGösta EkmanEmil JanningsCamilla HornThe demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.
- DirectorDimitri KirsanoffStarsNadia SibirskaïaYolande BeaulieuGuy BelmontA couple is brutally murdered in the working-class district of Paris. Later on, the narrative follows the lives of their two daughters, both in love with a Parisian thug and leading them to separate ways.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsGibson GowlandZasu PittsJean HersholtThe sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsMax SchreckAlexander GranachGustav von WangenheimVampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsHans Adalbert SchlettowUno HenningNorah BaringA former barber escapes from a high security prison. Flashback story of an escape from the lonely, high-security Dartmoor Prison.
- DirectorJean EpsteinStarsJean DebucourtMarguerite GanceCharles LamyAllan visits the sinister Usher family mansion, where his friend Roderick is painting a portrait of his sickly wife Madeline. The portrait seems to be draining the life out of Madeline, slowly leading to her death.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsEvelyn BrentWilliam PowellA former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.
- DirectorJean EpsteinStarsGiboisJean-Marie LaotMalgornOn an island off the coast of Brittany four isolated men collect seaweed. Two young best friends have a quarrel and when one's thumb becomes infected his friend must risk his life on the ocean to bring him to the doctor.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsJanet GaynorCharles FarrellBen BardA street cleaner saves a young woman's life, and the pair slowly fall in love until war intervenes.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeAud Egede-NissenGertrude WelckerArch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonNatalie TalmadgeJoe KeatonA man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsVictor SjöströmHilda BorgströmTore SvennbergOn New Year's Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to reflect on his selfish, wasted life.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsErich von StroheimFay WrayZasu PittsA young impoverished aristocrat falls in love with an inn-keepers daughter, but has to marry money.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsAlbert DieudonnéVladimir RoudenkoEdmond Van DaëleA film about the French general's youth and early military career.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksFritz KortnerFrancis LedererThe rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsAlbert SteinrückElse HellerGustav FröhlichJoe May's sensual drama of life in the Berlin underworld is in many ways the perfect summation of German filmmaking in the silent era: a dazzling visual style, a psychological approach to its characters, and the ability to take a simple and essentially melodramatic story and turn it into something more complex and inherently cinematic.
- DirectorHanns SchwarzStarsBrigitte HelmFrancis LedererWarwick WardNina Petrovna, the mistress of a wealthy Cossack, falls in love with a young cadet. Their happiness is short-lived.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydMildred DavisBill StrotherA boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnny OndraJohn LongdenSara AllgoodAfter killing a man in self-defense, a young woman is blackmailed by a witness to the killing.
- DirectorJean GrémillonStarsCharles DullinMarcelle Charles DullinGeymond VitalMaldone is a canal worker, happy with his life after running away from his family estate. He falls in love with Zita, a young gypsy girl, during a local fete. However, after his brother dies, Maldone is called back to manage the estate. There, he takes up the life of a landowner and marries a neighbor's daughter. Years later Maldone is still restless on the estate, and becomes obsessed with Zita, after meeting her by chance one evening.
- DirectorKing VidorGeorge W. HillStarsJohn GilbertRenée AdoréeHobart BosworthA young American soldier witnesses the horrors of the Great War.
- DirectorErich von StroheimRichard BoleslawskiStarsGloria SwansonWalter ByronSeena OwenA convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.
- DirectorLotte ReinigerCarl KochA handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, battling demons and falling in love with a princess.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPaul RichterMargarete SchönTheodor LoosSiegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, sets off on a treacherous journey to the Kingdom of Burgundy to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Princess Kriemhild.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsMargarete SchönGertrud ArnoldTheodor LoosPrincess Kriemhild vows to avenge her husband's murder but must overcome her brothers who swore allegiance to Hagen. She marries Etzel, King of the Huns, and persuades his army to attack Hagen, but she loses more than she bargained for.
- DirectorOskar Fischinger
- DirectorAbram RoomStarsVladimir FogelNikolay BatalovLyudmila SemyonovaA married couple have a small apartment in Moscow. When an old friend of the husband's arrives in the city, he is unable to find lodgings. Kolia, the husband, invites his friend to move in with them.
- DirectorAleksandr DovzhenkoStarsNikolai NademskySemyon SvashenkoAleksandr PodorozhnyyAn old Ukrainian man protects and searches for a legendary treasure in the midst of political upheavals.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsJanet GaynorCharles FarrellNatalie KingstonA woman on the run from the law finds her past catching up to her just as she is on the verge of true happiness.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJune TrippIvor NovelloMarie AultA landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsWalter SlezakBenjamin ChristensenNora GregorTriangle story: painter, his young male model, unscrupulous princess.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsLon ChaneyNorma ShearerJohn GilbertA bitter clown endeavors to rescue the young woman he loves from the lecherous count who once betrayed him.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergArthur RossonStarsGeorge BancroftClive BrookEvelyn BrentBoisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
- DirectorBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonRuth DwyerT. Roy BarnesA man learns that he will inherit a fortune if he marries by 7PM that evening.
- DirectorHarold L. MullerCharles R. BowersStarsCharles R. BowersKathryn McGuireMelbourne MacDowellTwo Scotland Yard detectives travel to New York to investigate the "Fuzz-Faced Phantom": a strange entity who seemingly has the power to cause bizarre, surreal incidents.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksJosef RovenskýFritz RaspAfter falling pregnant by a pharmacist and refusing to marry, a young woman is ejected from her home and sent to a strict girls' reform school.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsIchirô YûkiTatsuo SaitôJunko MatsuiTwo friends try and court the same woman.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsHildur CarlbergEinar RödGreta AlmrothA newly elected village parson is required to marry the previous parson's widow. However he's already married, and the woman is old enough to be his grandmother.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsGabriel de GravonePierre MagnierGeorges TérofA railway engineer adopts a young girl orphaned by a train crash. Years later when she starts getting suitors, he grapples with whether or not to tell her the truth about her parentage.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsMae MurrayJohn GilbertRoy D'ArcyA prince must woo the now-wealthy dancer he once abandoned, to keep her money in the country in order to keep it from crashing economically.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonSybil SeelyJoe RobertsA newly wedded couple attempts to build a house with a prefabricated kit, unaware that a rival sabotaged the kit's component numbering.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldLupino LaneThe queen of mythical Sylvania marries a courtier, who finds his new life unsatisfying.
- DirectorJean EpsteinStarsLéon MathotGina ManèsEdmond Van DaëleMarie wants to escape from her job and also from her lover, Paul, an unemployed drunk. She dreams of going off with Jean, a dockworker. The two men quarrel and fight over Marie on two occasions, but Paul retains a hold over her. Marie has a baby who falls ill and as time goes on Jean and a crippled neighbor try to help the child. Paul nearly causes the death of the child whilst in a drunken stupor and in a final struggle that occurs, the crippled woman seizes Paul's gun and shoots him dead.
- DirectorMauritz StillerStarsAnders de WahlTora TejeKarin MolanderEROTIKON surely pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable on the screen in 1920: Irene, the bored wife of a distracted entomologist, pursues a womanizing aviator, but she may actually be in love with Preben, her husband's best friend. Meanwhile, her husband seems to be getting unusually close with his own niece. Stiller obviously delights in teasing his audience with each scandalous plot twist and every salacious leer, and the result is a deliciously subversive comedy that was very much ahead of its time.
- DirectorSam TaylorStarsMary PickfordCharles 'Buddy' RogersSunshine HartA department store's stock girl falls in love with a co-worker, the son of the store's manager; the feeling is mutual though he is engaged to a debutante and focusing on becoming successful without the influence of his father.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceJackie CooganThe Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMerna KennedyAl Ernest GarciaThe Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonTom McGuireErnest TorrenceThe effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain comes to join his father's crew.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsHelen MorganJoan PeersFuller Mellish Jr.A burlesque star seeks to keep her convent-raised daughter away from her low-down life and abusive lover/stage manager.
- DirectorLeopold JessnerPaul LeniStarsHenny PortenFritz KortnerWilliam DieterleA crippled mailman is in love with a maid who lives in the same building he does in one of the city's poor neighborhoods. She, however, is in love with a wealthy, handsome young man. Desperate to win her love, he begins to intercept love letters they send to each other and replaces them with his own messages, which each thinks is from the other. His plan seems to be succeeding, but then something happens that bring tragic results to them all.
- DirectorVsevolod PudovkinStarsI. InkizhinovI. DedintsevValéry InkijinoffAfter a run-in with the law, a Mongolian man becomes a fugitive and joins the Russian Civil War.
- DirectorFranz OstenStarsSeeta DeviHimanshu RaiCharu RoyTwo neighboring Indian kingdoms are ruled by cousins - King Ranjit and King Sohat. Unbeknownst to Ranjit, Sohat is plotting to seize control of his kingdom.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsRudolph ChristiansMiss DuPontMaude GeorgeA con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsIrene RichMay McAvoyBert LytellA society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydJobyna RalstonRichard DanielsA shy young man who can't talk to women ventures out to publish a book full of fictional conquests, but finds true love along the way.
- DirectorKote MikaberidzeStarsAleksandre TakaishviliBella ChernovaEvgeniy OvanovThe protagonist, a lazy pen-pusher, gets the sack for his bureaucratic idleness, and learns that the way back into the job market depends on getting a letter of recommendation from a "grandmother".
- DirectorEdward SedgwickBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMarceline DayHarold GoodwinHopelessly in love with a woman working at MGM Studios, a clumsy man attempts to become a motion-picture cameraman to be close to the object of his desire.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeGerda MaurusWilly FritschThe mastermind behind a ubiquitous spy operation learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian lady in his employ and a dashing agent from the government's secret service.
- DirectorMaurice ElveyStarsEstelle BrodyJohn StuartNorman McKinnelA celebration of working-class leisure activities at Hindle, Lancashire during "Wakes Week", an annual week still observed in parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire when all factories and schools take a holiday.
- DirectorWalter RuttmannStarsPaul von HindenburgThis movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsDouglas FairbanksJulanne JohnstonSnitz EdwardsA recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsBenjamin ChristensenElisabeth ChristensenMaren PedersenFictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
- DirectorEwald André DupontStarsGilda GrayAnna May WongJameson ThomasA young Chinese woman working in the kitchen at a London dance club is given the chance to become the club's main act, which leads to a plot of betrayal, forbidden love, and murder.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsJanet GaynorCharles FarrellGuinn 'Big Boy' WilliamsMary, a poor farm girl, meets Tim just as word comes that war has been declared.
- DirectorEwald André DupontStarsEmil JanningsMaly DelschaftLya De PuttiPrologue: The murderer "Boss" Huller - after having spent ten years in prison - breaks his silence to tell the warden his story. "Boss", a former trapeze artist, and his wife own a cheap side-show that displays ''erotic sensations''. But he longs for his former glamorous life in the circus. When he meets the orphan Berta-Marie, he falls under her spell and leaves his wife and young son behind. He makes Berta-Marie his partner in a new trapeze number. One day, the famous trapeze artist Artinelli takes note of them and engages them for his trapeze show in Berlin. Their salto mortale becomes an immediate sensation. Calculatedly and cold, Artinelli seduces Berta-Marie and destroys "Boss'" happiness.
- DirectorCharles VanelStarsCharles VanelSandra MilovanoffChristiane TourneurA pit worker is crippled by an accident and his wife flirts with another man.
- DirectorErnst LubitschJohn M. StahlStarsRamon NovarroNorma ShearerJean HersholtA cloistered, overprotected Austrian prince falls in love with a down-to-earth barmaid in this "Viennese fairy tale."
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerStarsHarold LloydMildred DavisRoy BrooksA man hits the streets with a scheme to keep his fiancé from losing her job, however, things quickly go from bad to worse.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonEdward F. ClineMonte CollinsAfter waking up from his wacky dream, a theater stage hand inadvertently causes havoc everywhere he works.
- DirectorRalph SteinerA study on water, the reflections and motions of the liquid that accentuates its ethereality and metallic beauty.
- DirectorJacques FeyderStarsJean ForestVictor VinaPierrette HouyezA man whose wife has died remarries, and his new wife has a daughter of her own from a previous marriage. The man's young son, however, who loved his mother deeply and misses her terribly, resents his father's new wife, not wanting her to take the place of his beloved mother, and makes life miserable for his new stepsister..
- DirectorHiroshi ShimizuStarsEmiko YagumoMinoru TakadaMichiko OikawaToshie, a young, conservative secretary-typist has fallen in love with Shozo Narita, a young man she has met through her work.
- DirectorGermaine DulacStarsRaymond DubreuilEmma GyntRobert MirfeuilTired of being ignored by her husband, a young woman heads off to a nautical-themed nightclub, frequented by rowdy sailors. Her attentions is caught by a handsome naval officer.
- DirectorKarl GruneStarsAnton EdthoferAud Egede-NissenLeonhard HaskelPresents two distinct plot lines until the two eventually merge: the first is that of the bored middle-aged man seeking a departure from monotony in his life; the second is that of the blind man and the little boy, his grandson, who are interdependent. None of the characters have been given names and are therefore referred to only by description. The city is an expressionistic nightmare, a dangerous and chaotic place.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsAsta NielsenGreta GarboÁgnes EszterházyIn post-WWI Vienna, Greta (Greta Garbo), her kid sister, and retired dad try to make it through tough times.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsCharles MartinelliLouis Pré FilsAlbert PréjeanA scientist's invisible ray freezes Paris into immobility.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanHarry d'Abbadie d'ArrastStarsClara BowCharles 'Buddy' RogersRichard ArlenTwo young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsGeorge O'BrienMadge BellamyCharles Edward BullAfter witnessing the murder of his father by a renegade as a boy, the grown-up Brandon helps to realize his father's dream of a transcontinental railway.
- DirectorLupu PickStarsWerner KraussEdith PoscaHermine Straßmann-WittSet during the winter, the story tells the tale of a track checker and his family who live a poverty-stricken life next to a railway line. They receive a telegram announcing the arrival of the section inspector, who is to live with the family.
- DirectorMarcel L'HerbierStarsBrigitte HelmMarie GloryPierre AlcoverThe business tycoon Nicolas Saccard is nearly ruined by his rival Gunderman, when he tries to raise capital for his company. To push up the price of his stock, Saccard plans a publicity stunt involving the aviator Jacques Hamelin flying across the Atlantic to Guyana and drilling for oil there, much to the dismay of Hamelin's wife Line. While Hamelin is away, Saccard tries to seduce Line. Line finally realizes that she and her husband were pawns in Saccard's scheme, and she accuses him of stock fraud.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonEdward F. ClineLuke the DogTwo inventive farmhands compete for the hand of the same girl.
- DirectorJames W. HorneLeo McCareyStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyJames FinlaysonOllie and Stanley are two Christmas Tree sales reps who get into one of their usual mutual-destruction fights with a disgruntled homeowner.
- DirectorHanns SchwarzStarsLil DagoverWilly FritschDita ParloA middle class girl agrees to marry a young nobleman in the army.He has disgraced himself with scandalous behavior,such as consorting with the wife of an elderly Viennese.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsMarion DaviesWilliam HainesDell HendersonA young lady from Georgia goes to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming an actress.