ReservoirDog45

Right now I've never seen a movie older than the 1930s. What are some of the essentials, here are a few I am interested in:
Metropolis (what's the best dvd version)
Battleship Potekim
The Birth of a Nation
Un Chien Adulou
Nosterfu
Some Charlie Chaplin (where to start)
Some Buster Keaton (where to start)

Thanks for helping me out with this

chente

Add Passion of Joan of Arc and Sunrise to your list. The best version of Metropolis is the R2 Eureka Masters of Cinema disc. It'll cost you, though.

You should check out Silentera

natevines

Intolerance - another great Griffith film.
Wings
Trip to the Moon

RyoHazuki

The new Warner Brothers Gangster Collection would be a good place to start. 5 great classics for 41.99 (at costco).

talemyn

Yeah . . . I was just going to mention that, too.

ReservoirDog45, I've been looking into Birth Of A Nation and Intolerence and people keep recommending the Griffith Masterworks boxed set that contians both of those films, plus two more Griffith features and a collection of short films. It's supposed to be a very impressive set.

For Metropolis, if you don't have a region free player, then the Kino release is the best R1 release.

For Chaplin, a lot of his movies were actually post 1930, but if you aren't real strict on the date, I'd recommend The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940).

And, if you are willing to fudge on the release year a little, I'd also add to the list Grand Illusion (1937 . . . a Criterion Collection DVD).

Count Dooku

30 Great or Important (or both) Films made before "It Happened One Night"

[I don't know if all of these films are available on DVD]

1. Birth Of A Nation (1915)
2. Intolerance (1916)
3. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
4. The Kid (1921)
5. Nosferatu (1922)
6. Safety Last (1923)
7. The Last Laugh (1924)
8. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
9. The Freshman (1925)
10. The Gold Rush (1925)
11. The Phantom Of The Opera (1925)
12. Metropolis (1926)
13. The Lodger (1926)
14. The General (1927)
15. The Jazz Singer (1927)
16. Sunrise (1927)
17. The Crowd (1928)
18. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
19. Pandora’s Box (1929)
20. All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)
21. Little Caesar (1930)
22. City Lights (1931)
23. Frankenstein (1931)
24. The Public Enemy (1931)
25. M (1931)
26. Grand Hotel (1932)
27. 42nd Street (1933)
28. King Kong (1933)
29. Dinner At Eight (1933)
30. Duck Soup (1933)

darkhawk

For Charlie Chaplin, get the Warner Bros. Chaplin Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. It has his 10 movies he did from 1921 The Kid through Monsieur Verdoux, one of his last movies. The set also comes with a few of his shorts that he did before he started doing movies.

Also, pick an actor or actress you like and start buying dvds with them in it. Even if they have a small part, it will still be worth it to get it. Example: Cary Grant. With all that is being released now there's over 40 of his movies out now.

PopcornTreeCt

Charlie Chaplin movies rock. I can't believe they're still funny and actually funnier that most comedies made nowadays.

Chew

Great list

Cameron

don't skip lon chaney...as important as chaplin or keaton IMHO...check out the warner set and Image's Milestone collection Phantom of the Opera.

Purrcey

All the suggestions you've gotten so far are good...but I can't believe no one has mentioned Douglas Fairbanks! (senior that is). My husband recommends either The Thief of Bagdad or The Black Pirate or his The Mark of Zorro.

Also well, in addition to M there also is Spies by Fritz Lang (1928).

These are all available on DVD currently. As well, there is Kino box set with Dr. Cabinet of Caligari, Nosferatu, The Golem and Waxworks.

Some time this year, Harold Lloyd (safety First, The Freshman) is being released for the first time on DVD.

mikeporter

Not yet mentioned:
31 Dracula
33 Invisible Man
35 Bride of Frankenstein
51 Day the Earth Stood Still

Cameron

^^^both good calls....and if your doing classic horror....pick up freaks

jaeufraser

They made movies back then!?!? I thought The Matrix was the birth of cinema.

Ha, anyway, going beyondn 1930 does limit the list. I'd recomend Metropolis, Sunrise as particularly entertaining films. Birth of a Nation, for educational purposes.

In terms of classics though, Stagecoach was always a great film, as were the works of John Ford. Howard Hawks was also a very worthwhile person to look up. Some of his older films like Scarface are definately worth looking up, though some of his best films came later on in the 50s like Rio Bravo. You might want to check out Howard Hughes plane epic Hells Angels too, from 1930. An impressive film no doubt for its time.

marty888

Two more I highly recommend:

THE OLD DARK HOUSE on Kino. This 1932 movie was directed by James Whale (Frankenstein, etc) and stars Boris Karloff, Chales Laughton, Melvyn Douglas and Gloria Stuart (yes, the same Gloria Stuart of Titanic fame), and includes two audio commentary tracks that are terrific.

THE LOST WORLD on Image. This 1925 silent classic based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story is the most complete version yet, running 93 minutes, and has your choice of two different scores, a commentary track, animation outakes, and a neat reproduction of the original 20-page souvenir booklet.

Corvin

I especially (and perhaps unsurprisingly) like Modern Times and City Lights.

And put me down as another recommending Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc. I was floored by this film.

Cameron

i need to get this one....can you give me the upc?

naitram

Before 1930, huh?...here's my favorites:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Metropolis (1927)
Steamboat Bill Jr. (Buster Keaton 1928)
The Cameraman (Buster Keaton 1928)
The Temptress (1926)

close:

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
Freaks (1932)
Frankenstein (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Vampyre (1932) - can we get a good DVD of this?