September 29th is the very first National Silent Movie Day, a great initiative launched by three dedicated film archivists and/or activists: Brandee B. Cox from the Academy Archive, Chad Hunter from Video Trust and the Pittsburgh Silent Film Society and Steven K. Hill from UCLA. “It seems like there is a national day for almost everything,” says Hunter in the official announcement, “and we thought, why not silent movies? We were actually sort of surprised there wasn’t already one.” This is exactly the kind of activist spirit we need right now in the world of cinema. The day will be celebrated with screenings and events at venues across the country (I know that Bruce Goldstein is planning something special for Film Forum here in New York) and, of course, on TCM, with a full day of great programming.
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TCM’s line-up for this daylong fest touches on a small portion of the cinematic riches that were produced before the advent of sound, but it includes some of the very best. Their line-up includes 12 silent gems in addition to 3 documentaries paying homage to these films: A Trip to the Moon (1902), Le mystère Méliès/The Méliès Mystery (2021), Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blaché (2018), Within Our Gates (1920), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Battleship Potemkin (1925), The Wind (1928), Flesh and the Devil (1926), Sparrows (1926), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), Piccadilly (1929), The Freshman (1925), City Lights (1931), Sherlock, Jr. (1924), and The Great Buster (2018).
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