Customer Reviews

Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies

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As an amateur film critic and historian, I found this book both accessible and excellently-researched. Although the book would serve well as a film history text, it is so clearly written and organized that one can learn much by simply picking a page and reading. For instance, the chronological presentation helps the novice (like myself) place the film in its historical context, while the criticisms of the films, which are all available on videocassette, highlight the artistic significance of the works, relating them to contemporary films and actors. While it is a comprehensive reference of 119 years of silent film, the abundance of photos throughout the book tell the story of the silents all by themselves. Finally, the index is the place to start if one wants to learn about the early days of so many stars of cinema's Golden Age, who started out in silents.

Profiling over 600 movies in general is very time-consuming, but Robert Klepper does a superb job in highlighting not only the most popular silent films in existence but also vague titles that seem lost in time well deserving of recognition. By the fact that Klepper's research went as far back into the 1870s, when many short films twenty years later are lauded as the first silent film shows his dedication to this art and we in turn are given a fun but necessary history lesson in filmmaking.

Unfortunately as this is a critical guide, I felt less of the impact of the movie and more of Klepper's own interpretations and opinions on film. While it would be unrealistic to think that all 646 movies would get an equal amount of page time, there are some movies he doesn't even explain the plot of, only telling us how good or bad it is based on the actors or how it's directed. Shouldn't we be allowed to make that judgment ourselves? It's impossible if we don't know what the movie's about. One glaring example of this is the 1925 version of "Ben-Hur", by which the 1959 multi-Oscar winner was based on. Most of the time in writing about this movie is Klepper describing his own disdain for the remake and how much better this version is, without listing very many valid examples why this is so. He does very little overall to highlight the positives of this movie, only telling us to watch it over the remake. I personally like both versions and would recommend both version, but considering the remade Ben-Hur is tied for holding the most Oscars in movie history I don't believe it should just be dismissed as a stupid remake because of all the controversy surrounding it. Tell me WHY I need to see the silent version, and not at the expense of an equally magnificent version.

This didn't bother me as much as the way Klepper played favorites with actors and directors. Halfway through the book I could easily idenitfy his two favorites: D.W. Griffith and Erich von Stroheim. Not only does he highlight multiple movies by both men (whereas in other cases he'll only highlight one movie of a prominent director), but he continuously repeats himself with each description, idolizing storytelling but mostly lavishing both men's works. It really bothered me that he wrote a lengthy description of "Birth of a Nation" and completely neglected to highlight the massive controversy of this movie and the negative impact it had on American society, only praising the compelling storytelling and cinematography. He completely ignored the impact of the movie by focusing on its cimematic context.

I guess this bothers me more because of the take he had on Charlie Chaplin and his movies. He makes it clear he's a somewhat fan of Chaplin but he detests the "little tramp" character. And because he detests this character he ignores a number of movies Chaplin made that involved the tramp character and those that he reviewed he ignored the context of the movie entirely to lambast Chaplin. "The Kid" and "Gold Rush" for example have reviews that completely downplay Chaplin's role in each movies success, only highlighting the achievements of the other actors and punctuating all the reviews with "I don't like the tramp", something in which he uses to give a masterpiece like "Gold Rush" a very low review. Unlike Griffith and the "Birth of a Nation", he ignores the context of Chaplin's movies and focuses on negatives that hardly anyone notices.

As for Erich von Stroheim, it almost seemed like to me that Klepper wants us to believe this man was a flawless filmmaker caught in the Hollywood wheel, when that clearly wasn't the case. As with the movie "Greed" Klepper presents studio producer Irving Thalberg as some heartless monster who cut the movie apart without considering the artistic aspects of the movie. Though Klepper briefly acknowledges it, Greed was seven hours long, cost the studio tons of money, and was completely unmarketable until Thalberg got hold of it. Klepper completely glosses over the fact that von Stroheim would burn through the studio's money constantly on EVERY movie he made and used his stardom to bully the studio and actors into getting what he wanted. But he made great movies and Thalberg was part of the studio and so he was OBVIOUSLY a bigger bully than von Stroheim.

It's impossible to highlight every single silent movie, but Robert Klepper obviously chose which movies to review. And it really bothered me that the basis of his list revolved around continuously praising those he favored (D.W. Griffith, Erich von Stroheim), downplaying the achievements of others (Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow), or outright ignoring the achievements of others (Fritz Lang, William Haines) just to name a few.

Don't get me wrong; I don't hate this book. Thanks to this book I've been introduced to many fascinating silent films and I've become a strong fan of Rodolph Valentino. But I felt this would've fared better if it wasn't so riddled with Klepper's own biases. Let us decide which movies are good. And please, spend some time talking about more than the same two people.

Robert Klepper has a remarkable love and knowledge of silent film. His understanding of the historical place of any movie he reviews is impressive and thoughtful. The book is a standing resource for any film enthusiast. In watching these films some of our favorite practices are to look for scenes that more modern films either steal (or pay omage to - depending on your thinking) and to pay attention to stunts that no actor or actress will ever have to duplicate in a more advanced film age. These are things that Robert Klepper also makes notice of and shares with his readers. I find his rating system to be reliable to my own standards and his humor to be very welcome - though I think some readers might miss some of it.

I do cherish this particular book and guard it heavily - no one is permited to borrow it. (I am usually pretty generous with my shelves.)

I assure you that the book is well worth the price -it is an excellent resource to the novice or the expert.

J

Klepper does a terrific job of giving a clear and succinct summary of the films, and then gives a lengthier and meatier discussion of the merits, often including plenty of fascinating trivia. This makes it a great book for endless hours of browsing through its many pages. It's also a great reference work, with plenty of cast and crew information, running times, and the like. Though expensive, it's one of my best purchases related to silent film ever and well worth the price.

I have owned "Silent Films, 1877-1996" for two years, and use it as a constant reference. (If you are a fan of TCM "Silent Sunday" or are a fan of silent movies and would like a guide to watching or purchasing silent film, this is the first reference to which I turn.) This does not cover absolutely every silent film, but there have been very few which I did not find information upon here. "Silent Films" also covers actors, directors, and other cinematographical information. The price tag is high, but for the silent movie buff it is indeed worth the price. I journal my silent movie viewings on its pages to keep a record. "Silent Films, 1877-1996" has gone from investment to treasure.

I bought this book last year and love it and use it all the time. I get films from libraries all over the country and look up the movies that come in. I bring it with me if I am going somewhere that I will be awhile and read each review. It has a permanent place on my coffee table. If you love silent films, this book is a must.

This is the best index of silent film that I've ever seen. The reviews are bold independent and informative, if not always completely objective, Mr. Klepper is not afraid to have an opinion. This is a reference that I keep going back to.

Sadly, Robert Klepper died in 2000, at the age of 32. A very nice fellow and an important film historian. Do pick up this worthwhile book, and mourn the fact that there will be no more from him.