The Good... of the 1920s
After creating my Best-Of-Lists for every decade I felt like some pretty good movies were still left out. To change that here is my The Good... of the 1920s list. Mind you, as the heading implies the movies on this list are not bad. I just do not feel that they belong on a Best-Of-List.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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- DirectorJohn S. RobertsonStarsJohn BarrymoreMartha MansfieldBrandon HurstDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsCarl de VogtRessel OrlaGeorg JohnKay Hoog wants to stop the organisation "Die Spinnen" to get a certain diamond, that will give the owning woman the crown of Asia, but the man, who should be the owner of that diamond, doesn't know of its existence....
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishRichard BarthelmessMrs. David LandauA naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.
- 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.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsErnst LubitschPola NegriPaul WegenerThe favorite slave girl of a tyrannical sheik falls in love with a cloth merchant. Meanwhile, a hunchback clown suffers unrequited love for a traveling dancer who wants to join the harem.
- DirectorHerbert M. DawleyWillis H. O'BrienStarsHerbert M. DawleyAlan V. DayChauncey A. DayA magic aeroplane takes two children to the Moon, where they encounter prehistoric monsters and witness a battle between them.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonSybil SeelyJoe RobertsA young golfer is mugged by an escaped convict and finds himself in a prison where he foils a jailbreak.
- 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.
- DirectorRex IngramStarsRudolph ValentinoAlice TerryPomeroy CannonAn extended family split up in France and Germany find themselves on opposing sides of the battlefield during World War I.
- DirectorGeorge MelfordStarsRudolph ValentinoAgnes AyresRuth MillerA charming Arabian sheik becomes infatuated with an adventurous, modern-thinking Englishwoman and abducts her to his home in the Saharan desert.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsOlaf FønssMia MayConrad VeidtThe unfaithful wife of a cruel Indian prince attempts to escape from his domination.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsOlaf FønssMia MayConrad VeidtIrene saves Herbert and the two help Princess Savitri flee the palace.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishDorothy GishJoseph SchildkrautTwo orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenJack PickfordStarsMary PickfordClaude GillingwaterJoseph J. DowlingAn American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.
- DirectorFred NibloStarsDouglas FairbanksNigel De BrulierGeorge SiegmannCardinal Richelieu, engaged in intrigue at the court of Louis XIII, attempts to rule by threatening the queen, who is secretly in love with the Duke of Buckingham. From Gascony comes D'Artagnan to join the King's Musketeers in his quest for adventure. He wins the right to membership by proving his prowess with the sword and forms an eternal alliance with Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, the Three Musketeers. After many adventures, he embarks on a dangerous mission to England to recover a diamond brooch, a gift of the king, which the queen has given to Buckingham as a token of affection. He recovers it and returns in time to save the queen from the wrath of Louis, defeat the cardinal's intrigue, and win Constance, the queen's seamstress.
- DirectorWallace WorsleyStarsLeatrice JoyJohn BowersLon ChaneyA romantic rivalry among members of a secret society becomes even tenser when one of the men is assigned to carry out an assassination.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonVirginia FoxJoe RobertsA bank clerk ends up in a seemingly haunted house that is actually a thieves' hideout.
- DirectorBuster KeatonMalcolm St. ClairStarsBuster KeatonVirginia FoxJoe RobertsA series of adventures begins when an accident during photographing causes Buster to be mistaken for Dead Shot Dan, the local bad guy.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsAlfred AbelFrida RichardAud Egede-NissenA shiftless young man becomes obsessed with a mysterious woman and yearns to find her again.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsRudolph ChristiansMiss DuPontMaude GeorgeA con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsDouglas FairbanksWallace BeerySam De GrasseA nobleman becomes the vigilante Robin Hood who protects the oppressed English people from the tyrannical Prince John.
- DirectorJohn S. RobertsonStarsMary PickfordLloyd HughesGloria HopeWealthy Elias Graves builds his home on the top of a hill; a group of squatters have taken up residence at the bottom. Many of the men in the squatters' village have their eyes on young Tess, and one of them, Ben Letts, frames Tess' father for murder. While maintaining her father's innocence, Tess must keep her love for Graves' son a secret while caring for Elias' daughter's illegitimate child.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsLeatrice JoyThomas MeighanLois WilsonThrill-seeking society girl Lydia causes a motorcycle policeman's death and is prosecuted by her fiancé Daniel, who describes in lurid detail the downfall of Rome. While she's in prison, she reforms and Daniel becomes a wasted alcoholic.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsWerner KraussEugen KlöpferVladimir GajdarovWhen farmer Rog dies, his son Peter stays, but Johannes can not be satisfied with such a condition (and servant Maria's love) and finds a job as old Count Rudenberg's secretary. His ambition leads him to charm Gerda, the Count's unique daughter. But when he discovers that Count's second wife Helga will soon inherit a field that only he knows his underground is full with petroleum, he changes his allegiance... Greed and death.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsEmil JanningsHarry LiedtkePaul BiensfeldtThe Ethiopian King offers his daughter to a powerful Pharaoh to secure peace between the two countries.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsJackie CooganJames A. MarcusAggie HerringAn orphan named Oliver Twist meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydMildred DavisJohn T. PrinceCountry doctor Jack Jackson is called in to treat the Sick-Little-Well-Girl, who has been making Dr. Saulsbourg and his sanitarium very rich, after years of unsuccessful treatment. Dr. Jack's old-fashioned methods do the trick, and the quack is sent packing.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsTheodore RobertsCharles de RochefortEstelle TaylorAfter hearing the story of Moses, the sons of a devout Christian mother go their own ways, and the atheist brother's breaking of the Ten Commandments leads to tragedy.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsGregori ChmaraElisabeta SkulskajaAlla TarasovaStudent Raskolnikow, who has written an article about laws and crime, proposing the thesis, that un-ordinary people can commit crimes if their actions are necessary for the benefit of mankind, murders an old woman, who operates a crooked loaning house, as well as her sister, who made the mistake of visiting her at the wrong time. He is suspected of the crime, but somebody else confesses to the murder. Meanwhile, he has fallen in love with Sonja, the street-walking daughter of an ex-official who was fired because of drinking. Raskolnikow's sister is engaged with an arrogant official, who dislikes him, because Raskolnikow gave Sonja 25 Rubel for her father's funeral. When Raskolnikow tells him his opinion of his behaviour against the poor, he tries to show he's a good guy also to the public and showing that Sonja is also a thief at the same time by framing her of a theft of 100 Rubels. But after this, Raskolnikow finds out that Sonja was a very close friend of his second victim.
- DirectorLambert HillyerStarsLon ChaneyVirginia ValliJack MowerA gang of blackmailers sends a cripple to San Francisco to expose a banker they have been blackmailing. However, the cripple meets and falls in love with the banker's daughter.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsPriscilla DeanMatt MooreWallace BeeryIn Shanghai, an American girl smuggling opium is put under surveillance by an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she determines to get out of the drug business, but she is afraid of the man who is the head of the drug ring for which she worked.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsEdna PurvianceClarence GeldertCarl MillerA kept woman runs into her former fiancé and finds herself torn between love and comfort.
- DirectorFritz WendhausenStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeLucie MannheimGustav von WangenheimA dreaded master lives in a gloomy castle on top of a mountain, while the villagers in the valley below dread his arrival at every wedding.
- 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.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsGloria SwansonH.B. WarnerFerdinand GottschalkZaza is the favorite actress at an open-air theater in a small French town. When diplomat Bernard Dufresne comes to the village, he stays away for fear he will fall for her. But when Zaza is badly injured, he has no choice.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonMargaret LeahyWallace BeeryThe misadventures of Buster in three separate historical periods.
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydJobyna RalstonJohn AasenA hypochondriac vacations in the tropics for the fresh air - and finds himself in the middle of a revolution instead.
- 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.
- DirectorYakov ProtazanovStarsYuliya SolntsevaIgor IlyinskyNikolai TsereteliEngineer Mstislav Sergeyevich Los travels to Mars where he leads a popular uprising against the ruling group of Elders with the support of Queen Aelita who has fallen in love with him after watching him through a telescope.
- 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.
- DirectorMarcel L'HerbierStarsJaque CatelainLéonid Walter de MaltePhilippe HériatClaire Lescot is a famous first lady. All men want to be loved by her and among them is the young scientist Einar Norsen. When she mocks at him, he leaves her house with the declared intention to kill himself.
- DirectorHenry OttoStarsLawson ButtHoward GayeRalph LewisThe tactics of a vicious slumlord and greedy businessman finally drive a distraught man to commit suicide. The businessman is tried for murder, executed, and afterward swiftly taken by demons to the Hell where he will spend the rest of eternity.
- DirectorHarry BeaumontStarsJohn BarrymoreMary AstorWillard LouisGeorge Bryan Brummel, a British military officer, loves Lady Margery, the betrothed of Lord Alvanley. Despite her own desperate love for Brummel, she submits to family pressure and marries Lord Alvanley. Brummel, broken-hearted, embarks upon a life of revelry. He befriends the Prince of Wales and leaves the army, becoming subsequently the best-known rake and decider of fashion in Europe. As his affairs flourish, so does his disdain for his benefactor, the Prince. Eventually Brummel falls into disfavor, and it is only Lady Margery who has any chance of helping him.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsMilton SillsEnid BennettLloyd HughesA wrongly-convicted English gentleman goes from galley slave to pirate captain.
- 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.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsFlorence VidorMonte BlueMarie PrevostProfessor Stock and his wife Mizzi are always bickering. Mizzi tries to seduce Dr. Franz Braun, the new husband of her good friend Charlotte.
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydJobyna RalstonJosephine CrowellEpisodic look at married life and in-law problems. Adventures include a ride on a crowded trolley with a live turkey, a wild spin in a new auto with the in-laws in tow, and a sequence in which Hubby accidentally chloroforms his mother-in-law and is convinced that he has killed her. When she begins sleep-walking, he thinks that she has returned to haunt him.
- 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.
- DirectorDonald CrispBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonKathryn McGuireFrederick VroomTwo spoiled rich people find themselves trapped on an empty passenger ship.
- 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.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsHermann PichaRosa ValettiAndré MattoniA young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's Tartuffe, in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets his own inheritance.
- DirectorFred NibloCharles BrabinChristy CabanneStarsRamon NovarroFrancis X. BushmanMay McAvoyA Jewish prince seeks to find his family and revenge himself upon his childhood friend who had him wrongly imprisoned.
- DirectorKing VidorGeorge W. HillStarsJohn GilbertRenée AdoréeHobart BosworthA young American soldier witnesses the horrors of the Great War.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsJoseph SchildkrautJetta GoudalVera ReynoldsA married couple discovers that their strained relationship is the result of unhappiness in their past lives.
- DirectorRoland WestStarsLon ChaneyGertrude OlmsteadHallam CooleyA meek clerk who doubles as an amateur detective investigates some very strange goings-on at a remote mental sanitarium.
- DirectorKing BaggotWilliam S. HartStarsWilliam S. HartBarbara BedfordLucien LittlefieldThe government will grant a fringe of terrain for the settlers who want to live and work there. The starting sign will be a gunshot which will iniciate the run for the best fields and claims.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsRudolph ValentinoVilma BánkyLouise DresserA wanted Russian lieutenant becomes a masked vigilante seeking vengeance upon the man who stole his family's land, only to fall for his charming daughter.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsJohannes MeyerAstrid HolmKarin NellemoseWhen a man becomes tyrannical towards his family, the women of the house decide to teach him a lesson in gratitude.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsMary PickfordWilliam HainesWalter JamesThe tenements are home to an international community, including the friends and family of a tough young ragamuffin named Annie Rooney, but their neighborhood is threatened by a dangerous street gang.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydJobyna RalstonBrooks BenedictA nerdy college student will do anything to become popular on campus.
- DirectorBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonRuth DwyerT. Roy BarnesA man learns that he will inherit a fortune if he marries by 7PM that evening.
- DirectorBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonHoward TruesdaleKathleen MyersWith little luck at keeping a job in the city a New Yorker tries work in the country and eventually finds his way leading a herd of cattle to the West Coast.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsGeorge O'BrienOlive BordenLou TellegenThree outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyOwen MooreRenée AdoréeTwo thieves, the Blackbird and West End Bertie, fall in love with the same girl, a French nightclub performer named Fifi. Each man tries to outdo the other to win her heart.
- DirectorRoland WestStarsGeorge BerangerCharles HerzingerEmily FitzroyA masked criminal who dresses like a giant bat terrorizes the guests at an old house rented by a mystery writer.
- DirectorJames YoungStarsLionel BarrymoreCaroline Frances CookeGustav von SeyffertitzAn innkeeper murders a wealthy guest to pay off his debt, but his conscience will not allow him to get away with the crime so easily.
- DirectorMillard WebbStarsJohn BarrymoreDolores CostelloGeorge O'HaraThis silent movie is based on Melville's classic Moby Dick. Ahab and his brother compete for the affections of minister's daughter Esther. But the great white whale has been eluding the harpooners, bearing many scars of failed attacks. Can our hero Ahab succeed where others have perished?
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyLois MoranOwen MooreA former captain tries to reunite with his daughter, twenty years after leaving her as an infant.
- DirectorGeorge FitzmauriceStarsRudolph ValentinoVilma BánkyGeorge FawcettThe son of the sheik and a dancing girl fall in love, but when he is made to believe she has betrayed him he seeks revenge.
- DirectorJames CruzeStarsCharles FarrellEsther RalstonWallace BeeryAn American fighting ship battles Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean in the 18th century.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsMay McAvoyCharles RayHolmes HerbertTerry O'Neill is the youngest of a family of Irish firefighters. He falls in love with Helen Corwin, but complications ensue when Terry learns that her father, a wealthy contractor, has cut costs by putting his buildings in danger of fire.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsWilliam BoydElinor FairRobert EdesonDuring the Revolution Princess Vera, though betrothed to Prince Dimitri, is attracted to the peasant Feodor.
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsJane WintonJohn RocheWarner OlandIn 16th-century Italy, devil-may-care playboy Don Juan runs afoul of the despotic Borgias.
- DirectorRex IngramStarsApollon UniÁlex NovaKada-Abd-el-KaderThe story of a female German spy who willingly sacrifices her life for her country.
- DirectorArnold FanckLeni RiefenstahlStarsLeni RiefenstahlLuis TrenkerErnst PetersenDiotima meets Karl in the mountains where they fall in love and have an affair. When Karl's friend, Vigo, meets her, he mistakenly believes she is in love with him. Karl then believes that she is betraying him with his friend.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsLillian GishJohn GilbertRenée AdoréeA group of starving artists try to survive in 1830s Paris, including a seamstress and the would-be playwright she loves.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsJohn GilbertGreta GarboLars HansonChildhood friends are torn apart when one of them marries the woman the other fiercely loves.
- DirectorFred NibloMauritz StillerStarsGreta GarboAntonio MorenoMarc McDermottAn architect tries suppressing his passion for a seductive woman.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsLillian GishLars HansonHenry B. WalthallAfter having a child out of wedlock, a young Puritan woman is pressured to reveal the name of her lover.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsWerner KraussRuth WeyherIlka GrüningA scientist is tormented by an irrational fear of knives and the irresistible compulsion to murder his wife.
- DirectorLev KuleshovStarsAleksandra KhokhlovaSergey KomarovVladimir FogelA five-person team of gold prospectors in the Yukon has just begun to enjoy great success when one of the members snaps, and suddenly kills two of the others. The two survivors, a husband and wife, subdue the killer but are then faced with an agonizing dilemma. With no chance of turning him over to the authorities for many weeks, they must decide whether to exact justice themselves or to risk trying to keep him restrained until they can return to civilization.
- DirectorBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonSnitz EdwardsSally O'NeilA love-struck weakling must pretend to be boxer in order to gain respect from the family of the girl he loves.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsMonte BluePatsy Ruth MillerLilyan TashmanGeorgette lives in Paris with her unexciting, effeminate husband, an actor and interpretive dancer. Meanwhile, Suzanne lives across the street and reads romance novels while dreaming of someone more exciting than her own lackluster spouse Maurice. Each woman happens across the other's husband and begins her dream affair. Four people, each cheating on their spouse, and none of them is aware that their own spouse is cheating. Who will find out first, and how?
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsLon ChaneyLouise DresserRenée AdoréeWhen Mandarin Wu's unmarried daughter becomes pregnant by a young Englishman, he seeks vengeance.
- 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.
- DirectorHarry A. PollardStarsMargarita FischerJames B. LoweArthur Edmund CareweSlavery tears apart a Black family in the South before the start of the Civil War.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsLon ChaneyRicardo CortezBarbara BedfordDuring the Russian Revolution, a mentally challenged peasant saves then obsesses over a beautiful countess.
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsAl JolsonMay McAvoyWarner OlandThe son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.
- 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.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsJohn GilbertRenée AdoréeLionel BarrymorePerformers in a Budapest sideshow encounter love, greed, and murder.
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsJohn BarrymoreDolores CostelloWarner OlandA nobleman studying for the priesthood abandons his vocation in 18th Century France when he falls in love with a beautiful, but reluctant, courtesan.
- DirectorWalter SummersStarsCraighall SherryHans von SlockRoger MaxwellDramatic reconstruction of two 1914 naval battles off Coronel and the Falkland Islands.The first a defeat of the British by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, the second a retaliation by the British under vice Admiral Sturdee.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsAlbert DieudonnéVladimir RoudenkoEdmond Van DaëleA film about the French general's youth and early military career.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIvor NovelloBen WebsterNorman McKinnelBound by honor, a successful schoolboy takes the blame for his roommate's indiscretion, and it's all downhill from there.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsÉdith JéhanneUno HenningFritz RaspIn the Crimea, the Reds and the Whites aren't done fighting, and Jeanne discovers that the man she loves is a Bolshevik (when he kills her father). Penniless, she returns to Paris where she works for her uncle. Soon after, her lover Andreas is in France to organize the sailors in Toulon. So also is a thief, traitor, and libertine, Khalibiev, who wants to seduce Jeanne. His schemes, Jeanne and Andreas's naivete, and a lost diamond bring the lovers to the brink of tragedy.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsWilliam BoydMary AstorLouis WolheimTwo American soldiers are captured by the Germans on the Western Front during World War One and escape a POW camp only to stumble into further life-threatening adventures when they come across an Arabian king's daughter while on the lam.
- 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."
- DirectorAlbert ParkerStarsGloria SwansonJohn BolesPauline GaronA young woman at life's crossroads is granted mystic visions of how her decisions will affect her future life.