Decade
12 films · 1920–1929
Films released in the 1920s.
Directed by Carl Boese, Paul Wegener
Starring Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück, Lyda Salmonova
In 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem – a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
Directed by F. W. Murnau
Starring Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Directed by Benjamin Christensen
Starring Benjamin Christensen, Ella La Cour, Emmy Schønfeld
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious– instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
Directed by Rupert Julian
Starring Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Mary Philbin
At the Opera of Paris, a mysterious phantom threatens a famous lyric singer, Carlotta and thus forces her to give up her role (Marguerite in Faust) for unknown Christine Daae. Christine meets this phantom (a masked man) in the catacombs, where he lives.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
Directed by Harry O. Hoyt
Starring Bessie Love, Lewis Stone, Wallace Beery
The first film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel about a land where prehistoric creatures still roam.You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page .
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
Directed by Sergei Eisenstein
Starring Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Grigori Aleksandrov
A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
Directed by Sergei Eisenstein
Starring Maksim Shtraukh, Grigori Aleksandrov, Mikhail Gomorov
Workers in a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia go on strike and are met by violent suppression.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Directed by Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
Starring Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender
During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
Directed by Fritz Lang
Starring Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Rights: Public domain in the United States
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Starring Maria Falconetti, Eugène Silvain, André Berley
A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual…
Rights: Public domain in the United States
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Starring Simone Mareuil, Pierre Batcheff, Luis Buñuel
Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Directed by Dziga Vertov
Starring Mikhail Kaufman
A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/
Reel Archive
