Here they are. Every single silent movie reviewed and rated on this website, ranked from worst to best. Enjoy!
(I have changed my rating system and so this page is currently under construction. Enjoy browsing!)
★ = Awful!
Truly dire, these films are embarrassing on many levels and show a basic lack of understanding of storytelling, acting or character development.
The Boob (1926)
Brute Island (1914)
Less Than Dust (1916)
Peck’s Bad Boy (1922)
Surrender (1927)
The Wizard of Oz (1925)
❈❈❈
★½ = Bad
Badly made, badly acted, poorly designed and just generally a chore to get through. Very little redeeming value.
The Campus Vamp (1928)
The Captive God (1916)
The Copper Beeches (1912)
The Cossacks (1928)
The Delicious Little Devil (1918)
Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1919)
The Heart of Humanity (1918)
Heart of Wetona (1919)
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
The Little American (1918)
Little Orphant Annie (1918)
The Lion of the Moguls (1924)
The Love Flower (1919)
The Man and the Moment (1929)
The Old Oregon Trail (1928)
Parisian Love (1925)
The Perils of Pauline (1914)
The Prairie Pirate (1925)
Raffles (1925)
The Shamrock and the Rose (1927)
She Goes to War (1929)
The Soul of the Beast (1923)
The Toll of the Sea (1922)
Two Knights of Vaudeville (1915)
The Wrath of the Gods (1914)
❈❈❈
★★ = Meh
Dull, weird (not in a good way) or disturbing in some way. These films aren’t awful but they aren’t a picnic to watch either.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
Annabelle Lee (1921)
Cinderella (1914)
Circus Clowns (1922)
Don Juan (1926)
Eleven P.M. (1928)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Headin’ Home (1920)
For Ireland’s Sake (1914)
The Forbidden City (1918)
The Girl of the Rancho (1919)
Friends (1912)
Her Night of Romance (1924)
Her Sister from Paris (1925)
John Rance, Gentleman (1914)
Judith of Bethulia (1914)
Keno Bates, Liar (1915)
The Last Command (1928)
Little Old New York (1923)
Lorna Doone (1922)
The Magic Cloak of Oz (1914)
M’Liss (1918)
Nomads of the North (1920)
The Polish Dancer (1917)
Raffles the Amateur Cracksman (1917)
The Red Mill (1927)
A Romance of the Redwoods (1917)
Sawdust and Salome (1914)
Slipping Wives (1927)
Sweet Alyssum (1915)
The Tong Man (1919)
An Unsullied Shield (1913)
The Vagabond Prince (1916)
Where the North Holds Sway (1927)
You Remember Ellen (1912)
❈❈❈
★★½ = Average or unexceptional
No major artistic crimes associated with these films, they are just plain average. Some good points but not enough to elevate them.
’49-’17 (1917)
Alias Jimmy Valentine (1915)
Alice in Wonderland (1915)
Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life (1913)
The Bat (1926)
The Beloved Blackmailer (1918)
Bug Vaudeville (1921)
The Busher (1919)
Christine of the Big Tops (1926)
The Colleen Bawn (1911)
Corporal Kate (1926)
The Country Doctor (1909)
The Cradle of Courage (1920)
Gretchen the Greenhorn (1916)
Gypsy Blood (1918)
Haldane of the Secret Service (1923)
Heart of a Hero (1916)
The Hessian Renegades (1909)
Les Vampires (1915)
Little Annie Rooney (1925)
The Lumberjack (1914)
Lizzies of the Field (1924)
Mabel at the Wheel (1914)
The Married Virgin (1918)
Max Sets the Style (1914)
A Modern Musketeer (1917)
Monte Cristo (1922)
The Narrow Road (1912)
Naughty Boy (1927)
A Night in the Show (1915)
Nursery Favorites (1913)
Pool Sharks (1915)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)
Rubber Tires (1927)
The Squaw Man (1914)
The Sea Lion (1921)
Seven Keys to Baldpate (1917)
Sherlock Holmes (1916)
Sherlock Holmes (1922)
Silent Movie (1976)
The Social Secretary (1916)
Souls for Sale (1923)
The Taking of Luke McVane (1915)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Under Royal Patronage (1914)
An Unseen Enemy (1912)
The White Rose (1923)
The Wildcat (1921)
Won in a Cupboard (1914)
❈❈❈
★★★ = Good
A generally well-made movie that understands the needs of its genre and delivers. Not going to set the world on fire but enjoyable all the same.
Bad Buck of Santa Ynez (1915)
Bare Knees (1928)
Behind the Screen (1916)
Below the Surface (1920)
The Bells (1926)
Bucking Broadway (1917)
Captain January (1924)
The Chess Player (1927)
Children of Eve (1915)
The Crazy Ray (1923)
The Cruise of the Jasper B (1926)
The Curse of Quon Gwon (1916)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1900)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Don’t Change Your Husband (1919)
Double Whoopee (1929)
The Dream (1911)
The Frozen North (1922)
The Golden Chance (1915)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Himmelskibet (1918)
Hotel Imperial (1927)
Hula (1927)
In the Moonshine Country (1918)
Kean (1924)
Kismet (1920)
The Lad from Old Ireland (1910)
The Lady of the Dugout (1918)
Leaving Jerusalem by Railway (1897)
Legende du roi Gambrinus (1911)
A Little Princess (1917)
The Lucky Devil (1925)
Mabel’s Dramatic Career (1913)
The Man with the Twisted Lip (1921)
Manhandled (1924)
Mantrap (1926)
Max Learns to Skate (1907)
The Merry Jail (1917)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1909)
The Monster (1925)
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)
Onésime vs. Onésime (1912)
The Palace of the Arabian Nights (1905)
Polly of the Circus (1918)
Regeneration (1915)
The Return of Draw Egan (1916)
Ramona (1910)
The School for Scandal (1923)
Snow White (1916)
The Sunbeam (1912)
Tales of the Thousand and One Nights (1921)
Tarzan of the Apes (1918)
That Certain Thing (1928)
The Trail of ’98 (1928)
Variety (1925)
The White Devil (1930)
The Woman in the Suitcase (1920)
Wonderful Absinthe (1899)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
Young April (1926)
Zander the Great (1925)
❈❈❈
★★★½ = Very good
These films go above and beyond the call of duty and give that little extra oomph to make themselves memorable. Not exactly masterpieces but well-crafted and a lot of fun.
Adam’s Rib (1923)
Antosha Ruined by a Corset (1916)
The Artist (2011)
Back to God’s Country (1919)
The Beloved Rogue (1927)
Beyond the Border (1925)
Blue Beard (1901)
The Blue Bird (1918)
The Charlatan (1929)
The Cossack Whip (1915)
A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929)
The Daughter of Dawn (1920)
The Devil’s Needle (1916)
The Eagle (1925)
East and West (1923)
Ella Cinders (1926)
The Enchanted Cottage (1924)
Eve’s Leaves (1926)
An Excursion to the Moon (1908)
Feel My Pulse (1927)
Fox Trot Finesse (1915)
The Garden of Eden (1928)
The Girl with the Hat Box (1927)
The Last Performance (1929)
Manslaughter (1922)
The Merry Widow (1925)
Mighty Like a Moose (1926)
Miss Mend (1926)
Nero (1909)
Oh Doctor! (1925)
Out West (1918)
The Patsy (1928)
The Peasants’ Lot (1912)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Red Lily (1924)
Saturday Night (1922)
Soldier Man (1926)
Son of the Sheik (1926)
The Taming of the Shrew (1908)
Two Arabian Knights (1927)
Two-Gun Gussie (1918)
Under the Claw (1912)
The Unknown (1927)
Way Down East (1920)
The Whispering Chorus (1918)
Why Change Your Wife? (1920)
The Wicked Darling (1919)
❈❈❈
★★★★ = Splendid
These movies succeed on every level, show a deep understanding of their genre and handle their themes intelligently and stylishly. Easy to recommend.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
Blackmail (1929)
Body and Soul (1925)
Burlesque on Carmen (1915)
The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912)
Camille (1921)
The Captive (1915)
Carmen (1915)
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
The Cheat (1915)
Chicago (1927)
The Doll (1919)
The Dragon Painter (1919)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
The Fighting Eagle (1927)
Flirting with Fate (1916)
The Flying Ace (1926)
Forbidden Fruit (1921)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The House in Kolomna (1913)
The House of Mystery (1923)
The Indian Tomb (1921)
Joan the Woman (1916)
L’Enfant du carnaval (1921)
The Lost World (1925)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
Miss Lulu Bett (1921)
A Muddy Romance (1913)
My Best Girl (1927)
The Mystery of the Rocks of Kador (1912)
The New York Hat (1912)
The Oyster Princess (1919)
The Power of the Press (1928)
Que viva Mexico! (1932/1979)
The Railway of Death (1912)
Redskin (1929)
The Road to Yesterday (1925)
Shaun the Sheep (2015)
The Sheik (1921)
Sparrows (1926)
Spies (1928)
Suspense (1913)
Tempest (1928)
Tiger Rose (1923)
The Toll Gate (1920)
The Volga Boatman (1926)
A Woman of the World (1925)
The X-Rays (1897)
❈❈❈
★★★★½ = Breathtaking
In addition to succeeding with brilliant acting, beautiful design and intelligent plotting, these films are artistic accomplishments that are essential viewing for silent film fans.
Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924)
Asphalt (1929)
Barbed Wire (1927)
The Bargain (1914)
Ben-Hur (1925)
The Big Swallow (1901)
The Burning Crucible (1923)
The Canadian (1926)
Chess Fever (1925)
Daddy Long Legs (1919)
The Forty-First (1927)
The Four Feathers (1929)
Haunted Spooks (1920)
His People (1925)
The Immigrant (1917)
The Penalty (1920)
Scaramouche (1923)
The Sea Hawk (1924)
Show People (1928)
Stella Maris (1918)
Tol’able David (1921)
Waxworks (1924)
The Wishing Ring (1914)
❈❈❈
★★★★★ = Masterpiece
These films are glorious. They succeed in their genres, break new ground and do it all with ease. These silent films are absolutely essential viewing and receive the highest possible recommendation.
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Hell’s Hinges (1916)
Judex (1916)
Michael Strogoff (1926)
A Trip to the Moon (1902)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Wind (1928)
❈❈❈
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