Defining Era
THE 1920S
THE BIRTH OF SOUND
Silent giants gave way to the first talkies. The studio system took shape and a century of cinema began in earnest.
1920 — 1929
401
Films Catalogued
68.8
Avg Master Score
6.8
Avg IMDb
F.W. MURNAU
Top Director
16
Oscar-Nominated
The Defining Three
ESSENTIAL VIEWING
Top-ranked by master score. If you only saw three films from this decade, these are the three.
Filter the List
401/401 films
Master Score
Awards
Showing 50 of 401
01
T
The Kid
1921 · Charles Chaplin
94.3
02T
The Passion of Joan of Arc
1928 · Carl Theodor Dreyer
91.8
03S
Safety Last!
1923 · Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor
91.6
04S
Sherlock Jr.
1924 · Buster Keaton
91.6
05T
The Big Parade
1925 · King Vidor, George W. Hill
91.3
06T
The Cameraman
1928 · Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton
90.3
07M
Man with a Movie Camera
1929 · Dziga Vertov
90.0
08B
Battleship Potemkin
1925 · Sergei Eisenstein
89.4
09T
The Last Laugh
1924 · F.W. Murnau
89.2
10F
Faust
1926 · F.W. Murnau
89.1
11S
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1928 · Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton
88.9
12T
The Gold Rush
1925 · Charles Chaplin
88.6
13O
Our Hospitality
1923 · John G. Blystone, Buster Keaton
88.2
14T
The Crowd
1928 · King Vidor
88.2
15S
Seven Chances
1925 · Buster Keaton
87.9
16T
The Adventures of Prince Achmed
1926 · Lotte Reiniger, Carl Koch
87.9
17T
The Wind
1928 · Victor Sjöström
87.7
18T
The Navigator
1924 · Donald Crisp, Buster Keaton
87.4
19T
The Man Who Laughs
1928 · Paul Leni
86.9
20N
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
1922 · F.W. Murnau
86.9
21P
Pandora's Box
1929 · Georg Wilhelm Pabst
86.6
22S
Speedy
1928 · Ted Wilde
86.3
23D
Diary of a Lost Girl
1929 · Georg Wilhelm Pabst
86.3
24S
Sunrise
1927 · F.W. Murnau · 3 Oscars
86.2
25S
Strike
1925 · Sergei Eisenstein
85.8
26T
The Phantom Carriage
1921 · Victor Sjöström
85.7
27N
Nanook of the North
1922 · Robert J. Flaherty
85.5
28T
The Phantom of the Opera
1925 · Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney, Ernst Laemmle
85.5
29N
Napoleon
1927 · Abel Gance
85.3
30H
Häxan
1922 · Benjamin Christensen
84.3
31D
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried
1924 · Fritz Lang
84.1
32S
Show People
1928 · King Vidor
84.1
33D
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler
1922 · Fritz Lang
83.7
34T
The Kid Brother
1927 · Ted Wilde, Harold Lloyd, Lewis Milestone
83.6
35H
He Who Gets Slapped
1924 · Victor Sjöström
83.0
36T
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
1927 · Alfred Hitchcock
83.0
37G
Go West
1925 · Buster Keaton
82.9
38T
The Freshman
1925 · Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor
82.6
39G
Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life
1925 · Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
82.2
40D
Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge
1924 · Fritz Lang
82.2
41T
Three Ages
1923 · Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton
82.0
42D
Destiny
1921 · Fritz Lang
81.9
43T
The Circus
1928 · Charles Chaplin · 1 Oscar
81.4
44T
The Unholy Three
1925 · Tod Browning
81.2
45B
Berlin: Symphony of Metropolis
1927 · Walter Ruttmann
81.1
46T
The Unknown
1927 · Tod Browning
81.0
47T
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1923 · Wallace Worsley
80.9
48I
It
1927 · Clarence G. Badger, Josef von Sternberg
80.8
49Q
Queen Kelly
1929 · Erich von Stroheim, Richard Boleslawski
80.6
50S
Sadie Thompson
1928 · Raoul Walsh
80.6
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THE 1930S
THE FIRST GOLDEN AGE
The Hays Code arrived, screwball comedies ran riot, and the studios learned how to make magic by the foot.