We sorted the entire list of Top Ranked Films on the Net by year, and will post them here decade by decade. This first post is all films before 1930, since nearly all are silent.
Year, Title, Overall Rank, Director
- [1902] -
1. Voyage dans la lune, Le (Trip to the Moon) #331 - Méliès, Georges
- [1915] -
1. Birth of a Nation, The #68 - Griffith, D.W.
- [1916] -
1. Intolerance #64 - Griffith, D.W.
2. Les Vampires #262 - Feuillade, Louis
- [1919] -
1. Broken Blossoms #147 - Griffith, D.W.
2. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The #322 - Wiene, Robert
- [1921] -
1. Kid, The #228 - Chaplin, Charles
2. Phantom Carriage, The #879 - Sjöström, Victor
- [1922] -
1. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens #48 - Murnau, F.W.
2. Nanook of the North #443 - Flaherty, Robert
3. Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler #486 - Lang, Fritz
4. Foolish Wives #633 - von Stroheim, Erich
- [1923] -
1. Our Hospitality #568 - Keaton, Buster/John Blystone
2. Safety Last! #748 - Newmeyer, Fred C. & Taylor, Sam
- [1924] -
1. Greed #79 - von Stroheim, Erich
2. Sherlock Jr. #89 - Keaton, Buster
3. Strike #324 - Eisenstein, Sergei
4. Last Laugh #420 - Murnau, F.W.
5. Navigator, The #522 - Keaton, Buster/Donald Crisp
- [1925] -
1. Gold Rush, The #39 - Chaplin, Charles
2. Battleship Potemkin #100 - Eisenstein, Sergei
3. Seven Chances #628 - Keaton, Buster
4. Big Parade, The #811 - Vidor, King
- [1926] -
1. Faust #585 - Murnau, F.W.
2. Mother (Mat) #860 - Pudovkin, Vsevolod
- [1927] -
1. Metropolis #23 - Lang, Fritz
2. General, The #28 - Keaton, Buster/Clyde Bruckman
3. Sunrise #38 - Murnau, F.W.
4. October #220 - Eisenstein, Sergei
5. Napoléon #230 - Gance, Abel
- [1928] -
1. Passion of Joan of Arc, The #51 - Dreyer, Carl Theodor
2. Steamboat Bill, Jr. #208 - Keaton, Buster/Charles F. Reisner
3. Pandora's Box #249 - Pabst, G.W.
4. Un Chien Andalou #254 - Buñuel, Luis & Salvador Dali
5. Crowd, The #356 - Vidor, King
6. Wind, The #512 - Sjöström, Victor
7. Wedding March, The #527 - von Stroheim, Erich
8. Cameraman, The #542 - Keaton, Buster/Edward Sedgwick
9. Circus, The #666 - Chaplin, Charles
10. Storm Over Asia #755 - Pudovkin, Vsevolod
Best Picture Oscar®: Wings
- [1929] -
1. Man With a Movie Camera, The #78 - Vertov, Dziga
2. Hallelujah! #778 - Vidor, King (w Sound)
3. Queen Kelly #944 - von Stroheim, Erich
Best Picture Oscar®: Broadway Melody
Top Ranked for the Decade:
1-Metropolis (#23), 2-The General (#28), 3-Sunrise (#38), 4-The Gold Rush (#39), 5-Nosferatu (#48), 6-The Passion of Joan of Arc (#51), 7-Intolerance (#64), 8-The Birth of a Nation (#68), 9-The Man with the Movie Camera (#78), 10-Greed (#79), 11-Sherlock Jr. (#89), 12-Battleship Potemkin (#100)
I haven't seen many silent films, but of all the films on this list, I was most impressed by F.W. Murnau's Sunrise, winner of three Oscars® for 1928, including the only one ever given for "Artistic Film". I was also very impressed by the innovative editing and cinematography in Dziga Vertov's 28 classic Man With the Movie Camera, still dazzling by today's standards, and very fast-moving.
