Rentals

Silent Features

Before the advent of sound, filmmakers produced some of its most extraordinary works in the history of cinema.
The history of British silent cinema has, until recently, been neglected, as so many films made in the 1920s and before were difficult to access. Thankfully, archive restorations have rescued these films from obscurity, and a range of British masterpieces are once being reappraised. These include Underground (1928), Anthony Asquith’s romantic melodrama set on the London Underground, The Great White Silence (1924), official film record of Captain Scott’s tragic expedition to the South Pole, and The Epic of Everest (1924), a breathtaking and poignant account of the valiant 1924 British assault on the awe-inspiring peak. Alongside British films, the collection also features Lon Chaney as The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and the Russian masterpiece Man With a Movie Camera (1929), voted the best documentary of all time in a Sight & Sound poll.
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The Epic of Everest The Epic of Everest

Non-Fiction 1924 87 mins Director: J.B.L. Noel

Premiere. A breathtaking and poignant account of the valiant 1924 British assault on the awe-inspiring peak, beautifully restored by the BFI.

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Man With a Movie Camera Man With a Movie Camera

Documentary 1929 67 mins Silent Director: Dziga Vertov

Dazzling document of Soviet life, by Dziga Vertov, showing a living city and the people and machines that propel it.

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The Great White Silence The Great White Silence

Documentary 1924 107 mins Silent Director: Herbert G. Ponting

The BFI Archive's restoration of Herbert Ponting's official film record of Captain Scott's tragic expedition to the South Pole, with a new score by Simon Fisher Turner.