Famous Players-Lasky

Rudolph Valentino stars as Juan Gallardo, a Seville matador who rises from poverty to national fame only to be undone by his infatuation with a wealthy aristocrat, Doña Sol. Fred Niblo directed this Paramount adaptation of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's novel, with June Mathis writing the scenario that helped cement Valentino's screen persona as the brooding, doomed lover. Lila Lee plays the wife he betrays and Nita Naldi, in her breakout role, the temptress. The film is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Romance · Silent

Chang is a remarkable early documentary feature from the team who would later make King Kong. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack traveled to the jungles of northern Siam, now Thailand, to film a real farming family's struggle against the wilderness. Kru, his wife, and their children battle a leopard, a tiger, and a herd of elephants that destroys their home. The film is staged in places, but the danger and the animals are real, and the result has the grip of an adventure story. Chang was nominated for an Academy Award and is now a forgotten gem. It entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2023.

Documentary · Adventure · Drama · Silent

The definitive silent adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, directed by John S. Robertson for Famous Players-Lasky. John Barrymore delivers a tour de force as the virtuous Dr. Jekyll, whose experiments in separating good from evil unleash the hideous Mr. Hyde. Barrymore's transformation, achieved largely through facial contortion and makeup rather than camera tricks, remains one of the most effective in screen history. Nita Naldi plays the dance hall temptress who draws Jekyll toward his darker self. The film cemented Barrymore's reputation as a serious screen actor and established the visual vocabulary for cinematic split-personality horror. The film is in the public domain.

Horror · Drama · Silent

Before King Kong, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack made their name with this astonishing ethnographic documentary. They joined the Bakhtiari tribe of Persia on its annual migration — some 50,000 people and half a million animals crossing icy rivers and a 12,000-foot mountain pass in search of pasture. The scale is still hard to believe, and the sequence of the migration over the Karun River on inflated goatskin rafts is one of the great images in documentary history. Released by Paramount in 1925 and never renewed, the film is in the public domain.

Documentary · Silent

It is the film that coined the phrase "It girl" and made Clara Bow the embodiment of the 1920s flapper. She plays a department store salesgirl with plenty of "It", that magnetic self-confidence author Elinor Glyn defined on screen, who sets her sights on the store's handsome young owner. Bow's charm carries the whole picture, and the film was a sensation when it was released. Long considered lost, a print surfaced in Prague in the 1960s, and the Library of Congress selected It for the National Film Registry. The film's copyright was renewed in 1954 and expired on January 1, 2023, when it entered the public domain.

Comedy · Romance · Silent

Cecil B. DeMille's first historical epic, with Metropolitan Opera soprano Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc, framed by a modern story in which a British officer on the eve of a dangerous mission is inspired by her vision. Wallace Reid, Theodore Roberts, and Hobart Bosworth support, and DeMille's early experiments with color effects light the burning-at-the-stake scenes. Produced through the Cardinal Film Corporation for Paramount, the film was among the first screen spectacles devoted to Joan of Arc. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · History · Silent

Gloria Swanson stars as Tessie McGuire, a department store clerk who rises through New York's social strata after a wealthy man takes an interest in her, only to discover that high society can be as exploitative as the shop floor. Directed by Allan Dwan from a story by Frank R. Adams, the film is a sharp class comedy that gives Swanson ample opportunity to display both comic timing and dramatic depth. The film's critique of urban capitalism and its treatment of working women was unusual for a mainstream Paramount production of the period. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Comedy · Drama · Silent

Cecil B. DeMille's social drama about Lydia Thorne (Leatrice Joy), a wealthy, reckless socialite whose careless driving kills a policeman and lands her in prison. There she encounters the district attorney who prosecuted her, Daniel O'Bannon (Thomas Meighan), a man who once loved her, and Evangelin (Lois Wilson), a selfless fellow inmate whose example forces Lydia to confront the moral emptiness of her privileged life. The film's parallels between Jazz Age excess and Roman decadence, conveyed through one of DeMille's trademark flashback sequences, gave it a moral weight that resonated with 1920s audiences. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Crime · Silent

Directed by William C. deMille (Cecil's older brother) and based on Zona Gale's Pulitzer Prize-winning play and novel, this silent drama is a quietly devastating portrait of a woman's self-emergence. Lois Wilson stars as Lulu Bett, an unmarried woman in a dull Midwestern town who serves as an unpaid household drudge for her sister and overbearing brother-in-law. When a chance at marriage seems to offer escape, only to collapse, Lulu gradually evolves from servitude into self-assurance. The film was selected for the National Film Registry in 2001. As a work published before 1930, the film is in the public domain in the United States.

Comedy · Drama · Silent

The first film adaptation of J.M. Barrie's play, made with Barrie's blessing and his personal choice of Betty Bronson for the title role. Herbert Brenon's production preserves the stage business, including an animal impersonator as the Darling family's dog Nana and the crocodile, and the famous moment when the audience is asked to clap if they believe in fairies. Ernest Torrence's Captain Hook set the template for every screen Hook to follow, and the film's success helped convince a young Walt Disney that Peter Pan was worth adapting himself. Long thought lost, a copy was recovered by film historian James Card in the 1950s. The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2020.

Fantasy · Adventure · Family · Silent

A pre-Code crime drama directed by John Cromwell and produced by David O. Selznick, Street of Chance stars William Powell as a jewel thief who suffers amnesia after being struck on the head during a robbery. He awakens to find himself living a respectable life as a wealthy businessman, with no memory of his criminal past — until his old associates resurface. Jean Arthur plays his wife and Kay Francis his former accomplice. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing. As a work published in 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Crime · Drama

The Affairs of Anatol is a 1921 silent comedy-drama directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Wallace Reid as Anatol, a wealthy man who repeatedly tries to "save" women from moral peril, often to the distress of his wife Vivian (Gloria Swanson). Based on the 1893 play by Arthur Schnitzler, the film features a lavish production design by Paul Iribe and showcases DeMille's growing taste for opulent sets and decadent subject matter. The all-star cast includes Bebe Daniels as the mysterious Satan Synne, Elliott Dexter, Wanda Hawley, and Monte Blue. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Comedy · Drama · Romance · Silent

James Cruze, who had scored a hit with The Covered Wagon (1923), returned to the frontier epic with this story of the Pony Express and the riders who carried mail across the West. The plot follows a rider framed for murder and the woman who believes him, set against the backdrop of the short-lived but legendary mail service. Wallace Beery plays a villain, Ricardo Cortez the accused rider, and Betty Compson the woman who helps clear him. Cruze stages the riding sequences with the same eye for scale that made his westerns spectacles. Published in 1925, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Western · Adventure · Silent

An early sound Paramount comedy-adventure based on Booth Tarkington's play Magnolia. Raised by Northern Quakers, a young Mississippi gentleman (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) refuses a duel and is disgraced, then returns years later disguised as a notorious riverboat rogue to win back his honor and his sweetheart (Mary Brian). Richard Wallace directed a cast that also includes Henry B. Walthall and Wallace Beery. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Romance · Drama

Based on E.M. Hull's bestselling 1919 novel, The Sheik made Rudolph Valentino a star almost overnight. Agnes Ayres plays Lady Diana Mayo, a headstrong Englishwoman who insists on traveling alone into the Algerian desert, only to be abducted by Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan, a desert chief who falls in love with his captive. The film is a silent romantic adventure of the desert-romance school, all tents and horses and yearning close-ups, and it struck a nerve with 1921 audiences that few films before or since have matched. Valentino's dark, smoldering presence became a cultural phenomenon. The portrayal has not aged well in every respect, but the film's place in cinema history is secure as the picture that defined a new kind of leading man. It was published in 1921 and is in the public domain in the United States.

Romance · Adventure · Silent

D.W. Griffith's lavish adaptation of Marie Corelli's bestselling novel. A penniless writer (Ricardo Cortez) is granted wealth and fame by a suave stranger (Adolphe Menjou) who is Satan in disguise, only to find that every wish brings misery, while the woman who truly loves him (Carol Dempster) stands beyond his corrupted reach. One of Griffith's most expensive productions, the film pairs its Faustian plot with opulent sets and a European cast including Lya De Putti. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

Cecil B. DeMille's first pass at the story he would remake in 1956, and the most expensive American film up to that time. The picture is built in two halves: a biblical prologue telling the story of Moses, from the bulrushes to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, and a modern parable about two brothers, one who keeps the commandments and one who breaks them. The prologue is the part everyone remembers, with the Exodus staged on a vast scale, the parting of the Red Sea done with a clever combination of miniatures and reversed footage, and Theodore Roberts playing Moses as a bearded patriarch. The modern story, starring Richard Dix and Leatrice Joy, is a morality play about a corrupt contractor who ignores his mother's teachings. DeMille built full-scale Egyptian sets in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes in California and left the buried sphinxes there for archaeologists to dig up decades later. The film was a huge hit and saved Famous Players-Lasky from a slump. Its copyright expired at the end of its first term, and it entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2019, along with the other 1923 works.

Drama · Religious · Silent · Epic

Underworld is the film that launched the American gangster genre. Josef von Sternberg directed it from a story by Ben Hecht, who would win the first Academy Award for Best Original Story the year the awards began. George Bancroft plays Bull Weed, a criminal kingpin whose jealous devotion to his moll, Feathers, drags him into a war with a rival and the law. Evelyn Brent is the woman caught between the gangster and the alcoholic lawyer he befriends. Von Sternberg's camera work is fluid and expressive, already showing the style he would bring to his films with Marlene Dietrich. The film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2023.

Crime · Drama · Silent

A respectable but dull husband divorces his prudish wife and marries a vivacious younger woman, only for his ex-wife to transform herself into a glamorous flapper to win him back. Cecil B. DeMille's social comedy starring Gloria Swanson. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Comedy · Drama · Romance

Wings is the film that won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture, and it remains the only fully silent film to take the top prize. Directed by William A. Wellman, a former World War I fighter pilot, it follows two young American aviators who enlist in the Army Air Corps and become combat pilots in France, bound by friendship and divided by their love for the same woman. Clara Bow plays the hometown girl waiting back home. The aerial dogfight sequences were shot with real planes and real pilots, hundreds of them, and they still rank among the most thrilling ever filmed. Gary Cooper appears briefly in an early role that helped launch his career. The film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2023.

War · Drama · Romance · Silent

A black cat named Master Tom ventures out for a night of music and romance, in the very first appearance of the character soon to be renamed Felix the Cat. Animated by Otto Messmer at Pat Sullivan's studio. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

When a baseball game is rained out and the crowd turns ugly, Felix the Cat takes matters into his own paws to save the day. A silent Felix cartoon animated by Otto Messmer. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Haldane of the Secret Service is a 1923 silent serial-style adventure produced by and starring Harry Houdini, directed by Burton King for the Houdini Picture Corporation and distributed by Famous Players-Lasky. Houdini plays Heath Haldane, a government agent who infiltrates a vicious gang of counterfeiters to rescue a captive agent and smash the ring. As in his other film vehicles, the picture was built around Houdini's escapes and physical stunts, though the acting is stiff and the plot is thin. It was the last feature Houdini made before returning to the stage. As a 1923 work, it entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2019.

Mystery · Action · Silent

A Lower East Side boy from an immigrant Jewish family grows up to become a celebrated violinist, only to enlist and head to the trenches as war breaks out. Frank Borzage directed this Cosmopolitan Productions release, adapted by Frances Marion from a Fannie Hurst story, with Vera Gordon's Mama Kantor anchoring the family and Gaston Glass as the adult Leon. The film was a hit and a model for the immigrant-family melodramas that followed. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

Felix the Cat visits the circus, where he tangles with performing animals and finds himself in the center ring amid a parade of sight gags. An Otto Messmer-animated Felix the Cat short, later retitled Frolics at the Circus. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy