Reading Room

Amazing Tales from the Archives 2022 (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Shari KizirianSan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

Below the Surface (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Scott SimmonSan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

The Primrose Path (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Matthew KennedySan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

Blind Husbands (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Richard KoszarskiSan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

On Blind Husbands

Waxworks (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Cheryl EddySan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

On Waxworks

King of the Circus (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Pamela HutchinsonSan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

The Great Victorian Moving Picture Show (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Bryony DixonSan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Dana StevensSan Francisco Silent Film Festival19 May 2022

On Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Foolish Wives (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By David ThomsonSan Francisco Silent Film Festival18 May 2022

On Foolish Wives

Sunrise (1927) - Outtakes with Commentary (opens youtube.com in a new tab)

Outtakes from F.W. Murnau's 1927 classic, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. This comes with commentary from John Bailey.

By John Bailey26 Aug 2021

On Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Keaton at the Crossroads: Buster's Last Silent Comedy, Spite Marriage (opens criterion.com in a new tab)

Stephen Winer on Spite Marriage (1929), Keaton's last personal silent comedy at MGM.

By Stephen WinerThe Criterion Collection23 Jul 2021

10 great British silent films (opens bfi.org.uk in a new tab)

Bryony Dixon and others pick essential British silents from East Is East (1916) to A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929).

By Bryony Dixon et al.BFI10 Jun 2021

Soleil et Ombre (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Monica NolanSan Francisco Silent Film Festival6 Oct 2020

The peak of silent cinema (opens bfi.org.uk in a new tab)

Ian Christie selects 15 key films from 1926–1930, when silent cinema reached a zenith of poetic expression before sound.

By Ian ChristieSight & Sound / BFI13 Aug 2020

The Cameraman: Man with a Movie Camera (opens criterion.com in a new tab)

Imogen Sara Smith on Buster Keaton's The Cameraman (1928), his last film with real creative control.

By Imogen Sara SmithThe Criterion Collection16 Jun 2020

BFI Recommends: The General (opens bfi.org.uk in a new tab)

As our daily series continues, Geoff Andrew recommends… well, the greatest comedy movie ever?

By Geoff AndrewBFI5 Jun 2020

Fatty + Buster: The Comique World of Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Imogen Sara SmithSan Francisco Silent Film Festival1 Apr 2020

On Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton

Redskin (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Scott SimmonSan Francisco Silent Film Festival1 Apr 2020

Woman with a Movie Camera: The Films of Alice Guy Blaché (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Shari KizirianSan Francisco Silent Film Festival1 Apr 2020

The Marriage Circle (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Jeanine BasingerSan Francisco Silent Film Festival1 Apr 2020

On The Marriage Circle

The Phantom of the Opera (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Monica NolanSan Francisco Silent Film Festival1 Apr 2020

On The Phantom of the Opera

F W Murnau in Germany and Hollywood (opens youtube.com in a new tab)

Lancaster Silent Movies & Classic Film Club24 Feb 2020

On Nosferatu, Faust and 2 more

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (opens silentfilm.org in a new tab)

By Jonathan KieferSan Francisco Silent Film Festival30 Jan 2020

On The Adventures of Prince Achmed