The Beauty of Silent Films

This year in my U.S. History class we happened to begin to discuss movies. And I was delighted for who knows what reason. I mean seriously why on earth would I ever enjoy talking about movies?

Anyways, as we discussed the 1920's and the new forms of entertainment coming about in that era, silent films were brought up. My teacher started out by asking who had ever watched a movie. Naturally 27 students (aka everyone) raised their hands. Next he asked who had seen an old black and white film. More than a few hands dropped and we were down to 19. I was shocked. He proceeded to ask who enjoyed watching black and white movies. The total dropped to 2 people in the room: myself and a friend of mine. Then he asked who had seen a silent film. 3 hands were raised. 

Then came the final question: Of you 3 who likes silent movies?

My hand was the only one up. 

I got quite a few stares and was even teased for it. We watched Charlie Chaplin's Gold Rush only a few minutes after the inquiry and a girl turned to me and said, "You actually like this stuff?" 

"Yes, yes I do."  She looked at as if I was insane. 

You see, what my classmates failed to see that day was that without silent films, without black and white films, without anything that had come before what we had today we would not have what we have today. 

Classics are golden.

They should be valued and cherished because without them, the art form of film making would not be what it is today. And even then, films today could learn a thing or two from the pictures before the talkies.

It doesn't matter if they are colorless. It doesn't matter if they are soundless. Those actors, those set designers and those special effects artists and those directors, they all worked with what they had. And many times, all their hard work paid off. Because many times, the end result was a timeless classic that is revered today.

If you tune in to TCM every Sunday at midnight, you can experience these films. And while silent films aren't for everyone, there are always a few that might stick out when you stumble upon them. Some will leave you breathless. The video above is an example of a film that is like that for me. It's known as "The Serpentine Dance." You'll notice is has color even though it was made before that was technically possible.

That's because the makers went through and painted each and every frame. Can you imagine having to do that?