1920 lineups + '21 recs

You got a link to El Dorado and The Blot? Can't find them on any of the sites I usually use.

Hell yeah! So glad you watched and enjoyed Monastery of Sendomir. The quality of it on YouTube is kind of shoddy, especially since half the subtitles are missing, but with Sjostrom you don't even need them to understand. Hell of a movie. Not seen the rest of your top five outside of Caligari, so I'll be sure to add the ones I've not heard of to my watch-list. Shame you weren't a bigger fan of The Saphead, but at least Keaton makes your line-up so hopefully you enjoyed him enough. I personally think it's my favorite performance of his, even on a comedic level. The Wall Street sequences were brilliant. Felt like an early Frank Capra film with some brilliant slapstick thrown in.

On the other hand, hell yes to Lillian Gish. I think it's the best performance from an actress I've seen. I know back in those days it was the norm to over-act since a lot of the actors were transitioning from theater and stage performance, but I feel like she and Emil Jannings were two actors who really understood how to over-do juuuuuust right. It helps that her eyes are so big because she can emote so much from them (which is like an acting aphrodisiac for me - acting with the eyes that is).

Anyway, onto 1921, one of my favorite years of the decade:

Above all else, you must see The Phantom Carriage. It helps that you've seen Monastery of Sendomir because it's a great starter film to get you into Sjostrom and then right smack dab into his magnum opus (IMO). Also Sjostrom himself, I think, gives one of the best performances of the decade. Other than that, a few recs:

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - A sweeping war epic, but with more focus on the philosophy of it. Beautiful film.

Orphans of the Storm - Another knock-out Gish performance that nearly rivals Way Down East (and also stars her sister!). It's a bit of an over-bloated film, as Griffith's work tends to be, but she holds it all together.

The Kid - Might be my least favorite of Chaplin's work that I've seen, only because it's a bit too light compared to his other work, but it's still a great film. Then again, this is an obvious rec.

A Sailor-Made Man - A great introduction into the world of Harold Lloyd which may also be my favorite (tied with The Freshman). Also, Noah Young - who would go on to work with him in small roles in nearly all of his films - has never been better here. Hilarious movie, and pretty short.

The Affairs of Anatol - Not a lot to write home about here, as these kinds of films dealing with marital problems in the 1920s are suuuuuper dated, but the ensemble acting is where it's at. A bit over-long, but a gem of acting for sure.

Destiny - One of my favorite Langs, but its greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness. It's overly ambitious, which I typically love, but Lang gets a bit too caught up in his creativity he forgets to tell a really strong story. Either way, ain't mad. It's very Cloud Atlas by way of some gothic nightmare. And Lang only gets better from here.

Funny you've seen Seven Years Bad Luck already as Max Linder's work was almost impossible for me to find back when I was doing this. But if you're gonna watch his work, might as well watch it all because he only made three features (though the one you've seen is also the only one I truly liked from him). And I know Stephen recommended it, but I absolutely hated The Sheik. So that one is up to you ha.

I'm just gonna upload them to my YouTube channel tonight and post the links here.

Vimeo also a no-go?