Joseph Schildkraut

D.W. Griffith's lavish silent epic, set against the French Revolution. Two orphaned sisters, the sighted Henriette (Lillian Gish) and the blind Louise (Dorothy Gish), travel to Paris seeking a cure and are swept apart by aristocratic abduction and the coming Terror, until a kindly chevalier (Joseph Schildkraut) and the rise of Danton (Monte Blue) turn the tide. Griffith built enormous period sets and staged crowd scenes on a scale to rival Intolerance, and the film marked Lillian Gish's final role for him. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Silent

The 1929 Show Boat was the first film adaptation of Edna Ferber's 1926 novel, produced by Carl Laemmle at Universal Pictures and directed by Harry A. Pollard. Laura La Plante stars as Magnolia Hawks, the daughter of a show boat captain, who falls for the gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Joseph Schildkraut). The film incorporates songs from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's 1927 stage musical, including "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." Made during the transition to sound, the film is a part-talkie with both silent intertitles and sound sequences. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Musical · Romance

The King of Kings is Cecil B. DeMille's silent epic of the life of Jesus, from the healing of Mary Magdalene through the crucifixion and resurrection. H.B. Warner plays Jesus with a restrained dignity DeMille demanded of the cast and crew, who were asked to behave with reverence during filming. The film was a serious religious picture, not a spectacle, and it was seen by hundreds of millions of people over the decades, often in churches and schools. DeMille's sense of scale is here, but the heart of the film is intimate. It entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2023.

Drama · History · Silent