# The best silent films of all time

From Méliès to Chaplin: the silent masterpieces most cited by film lovers and rankings (SensCritique, Ciné-club de Caen, AlloCiné).

- 23 votes · 16 items
- May 21, 2024 · S. Bonvin
- https://even.best/en/l/2073/the-best-silent-films-of-all-time

## Top 15

1. **Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Murnau in Hollywood: a couple, a city, a temptation.
2. **The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Dreyer and Renée Falconetti's face in close-up.
3. **Metropolis (1927)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Fritz Lang's city of the future.
4. **The Gold Rush (1925)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — The Tramp in Alaska and the dance of the rolls.
5. **City Lights (1931)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — The Tramp and a blind flower girl.
6. **The General (1926)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Buster Keaton and a locomotive in the Civil War.
7. **Battleship Potemkin (1925)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Eisenstein and the Odessa Steps.
8. **The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — German Expressionism and its twisted sets.
9. **Sherlock Jr. (1924)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Keaton, a projectionist, walks into the screen.
10. **Napoléon (1927)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Abel Gance and his triptych finale.
11. **Nosferatu (1922)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Murnau and Count Orlok.
12. **The Kid (1921)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The Tramp adopts an abandoned child.
13. **Man with a Movie Camera (1929)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Dziga Vertov films a day in a Soviet city.
14. **The Crowd (1928)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — King Vidor and an ordinary man in New York.
15. **Greed (1924)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Erich von Stroheim and an ending in Death Valley.
16. **A Trip to the Moon (1902)** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Méliès and the rocket in the Moon's eye.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.