Favorite silent film star?

[LittleClarkie]

I keep going back and forth between this guy



And this guy



Decisions, decisions...

And you?

Anyone?

Bueller?

[RevCheesehead]

1. Gotta go with Harold Lloyd.

Remember when Channel 10 (PBS, Milwaukee) used to show his movies?

Hi, Li'l Clarkie! :hi:

[LittleClarkie]

6. Yeah, and the Oriental too

but I guess they stopped having Silent Saturdays.

I didn't really discover him until Turner Classic Movies had a marathon of his stuff though. I wonder if they're still doing Silent Sunday Night.

Hey, Rev!

I hear they're finally going to release Harold on DVD. I can't wait.

[RevCheesehead]

9. I think his hanging on the clock tower is the classic of all time.

He apparently did all his own stunts, live - no trick photography. :scared:

Hey, are you going to the Oshkosh meetup next week? (Friday night?)
(or whenever it is- in 2 weeks?)

[LittleClarkie]

12. Not to mention he was hanging there by one and a half hands

He did all the hanging in that movie, but with one and a half hands, they wouldn't let him climb. Almost all of his other stunts were all him though.

I always root for him. He's the underdog of the big three, and gets the short end of the stick quite a bit. He was just as much a genius as Keaton and Chaplan in his own way.

No, I'm not going to be able to make the meetup. I'm camping that weekend in Prarie du Chien. Hopefully the next one.

[enigmatic]

2. Colleen Moore/Wallace Reid

And "The Crowd" by King Vidor is probably my favorite silent film of all-time..

[Robeson]

3. Emma Traxler....

...well, she was fictional, but still my favorite...;-)

[madrchsod]

4. Chaplin

Clara Bow,Fairbanks,and others

[Seabiscuit]

7. Chaplin, Chaplin and Chaplin.

Case closed.

[Richard Steele]

16. And have we mentioned: CHAPLIN?

Case closed and LOCKED!

[Carla in Ca]

19. Ditto, ditto and ditto

n/t

[Nailzberg]

5. gotta go with Buster

amazing stuff.

[LittleClarkie]

8. It took me a bit longer with him

When you start out with frantic Harold, Buster's pace seems so much slower. But then I saw "The Playhouse" and "The General" (the Thames version, with the Carl Davis score. Oh. my. god. I can't watch it without that score now. It's perfect.)

My favorite has to be Sherlock Jr. though. I love how surreal it was.

[bridgit]

10. i like buster, the gish sisters too...

chaplin, lloyd, jackie coogan...there's so many:

[HEyHEY]

11. NO one can Say Fattie Arbuckle

Not that I blame them.

[LittleClarkie]

13. I was just going to, actually

I have the Keaton/Arbuckle collection. The first time I saw Roscoe in action, I thought "Damn, he's GOOD." Then I burst into tears. What a waste.

Reading about him and his story, I really think he was innocent. Poor guy.

[Book Lover]

15. He was innocent

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/fatty_arbuckle/6.html?sect=7

At the third (yes, third) trial, the jury took 6 minutes to reach their Not Guilty verdict. Five of those minutes were spent drafting this statement:

Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was only our plain duty to give him this exoneration, under the evidence, for there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime.

“He was manly throughout the case, and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed.

“The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible.

“We wish him success, and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and woman who have sat listening for thirty-one days to evidence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame."

I'm sorry if this seems like an overreaction to your post, but it really burns me to think here and now, 80-some-odd years after the fact, people don't know the truth.

[LittleClarkie]

17. That's okay

Why do you think I burst into tears the first time I saw him? He got such a bum rap. And like you said, even now, people still talk about him as if he was a rapist.

He was more a victim of extortion and that damn Code than anything.

I stand up for him when I can. Buster would have, and always did.

You should check out the Arbuckle/Keaton collection when you get the chance. The first time Buster appeared on film is on that collection. It's so weird seeing ol' Stone Face smile. Just doesn't look right.

[evlbstrd]

14. My picks...

Buster Keaton was a genius, although ya gotta give props to Chaplin. Undoubtedly the best.

And back when there was no cable, and our teevee was black and white and the kids were the remote control, Saturday was the teevee wasteland.
That's how I got to see all of those great old films, from Citizen Kane to The Day the Earth Stood Still to, well Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy.


edit for spelling dammit.
edit again for Laurel and Hardy image. dammit.

[LittleClarkie]

18. I couldn't believe it when I found out Laurel and Hardy

Started out silent. But they were just as good, sound or no.

Hell, I couldn't believe it when I found out WC Fields started out silent. You REALLY need to hear WC to appreciate him.

You know what's really good silent though. Our Gang. You get all the cuteness without the bad dialogue. The original gang was cute as hell, too. Saw them with Harold Lloyd in the Dogs of War.

[cmkramer]

20. How about Lon Chaney?

I can't think of a single performance that isn't an absolute gem. And while he was not a handsome man in the least, he had a really compelling screen presence -- you could not take your eyes off him.

But since everyone seems to be favoring comedians, I'd say Harold Lloyd is my favorite silent screen comedian.

[MrScorpio]

21. Louise Brooks was superfine

[cleofus1]

22. Harold Lloyd

for me hands down...I do prefer him to CC and or Buster...

[terrya]

23. Gloria Swanson