“The film features none of the parallel editing, close-shot inserts and point-of-view shots that D.W. Griffith and others were experimenting with at the time as a means of generating dramatic tension. This piece tells its story very quietly, asking us to peer at the deep space of the frame where a little girl listens, ignored by the adults, as they hear the doctor say her sister will die when the last leaf falls from the tree. It’s autumn, of course, and late at night the child creeps outside with string and ties the falling leaves back onto the trees. This touching, very simple film was directed by one of the most prolific and respected female directors of the period. Hundreds of her films have been lost to the ravages of time and the fragility of nitrate film stock. Yet another good reason to tout this survivor as a favorite.”

“Although the film launched (Ernst) Lubitsch’s career in the United States, it is not watched enough. It’s a delightful sex comedy in which playful variations of what would come to be called ‘The Lubitsch Touch’ shimmer everywhere. The extended scene that closes in to frame only two pairs of hands flirting skittishly at the dinner table rivals Chaplin’s famous dance of the buns scene in ‘The Gold Rush.’”

“British filmmakers of the 1920s have been overlooked for far too long (notwithstanding the recent restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s early films). The dramatic intensity of characters caught in a most unusual love triangle, shot with a majestic cinematography and chiaroscuro lighting effect, is particularly memorable. This is also a favorite because it is so hard to come by. I had the privilege of watching it at Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (‘Days of Silent Cinema’) festival in Italy seven or eight years ago, and wait for the day when I might see it again.”

“Everyone watches Chaplin’s features from the 1920s, and for good reason. They’re fantastic. But the earlier stuff is less delicate at times, and all the more charming for that. This is one of my favorites of his earlier gems from the Mutual period of his career, a 30-minute tour de force. You just can’t help but laugh.”

All fragments of mystery-action-adventure serials starring Pearl White, especially “The Exploits of Elaine” (1915), “Pearl of the Army” (1916), “The Iron Claw” (1916), “The Lightening Raider” (1918) and “The House of Hate” (1919). “None survive fully intact. The reels that do remain, extant, even when deteriorated or piecemeal, remind us that female serial stars like Pearl White had a physical and psychical stamina that challenge the capacities of even the most famous action heroes of today. Hats off to all the ladies leaping off bridges and chasing down bad guys, in the hundreds of stirring episodes drawing crowds to the silver screen throughout the 1910s.”

“If there’s something I still look forward to no matter how many times I’ve seen it, it’s that one. It’s a wonderful film, very uplifting. There’s a happy ending. It has all the best elements of German film — dark lighting, bleak — which make the turnaround at the end work. It’s definitely worth viewing.”

“I’m a huge fan of Buster Keaton, and not just because he was one of the great comic stunt talents of all time. The Great Stone Face was always the little guy trying to gather up the shreds of his dignity as the world throws a continuous string of outrageous calamities at him. For me he was at his best when he was taking the whole idea of the movies apart. In ‘Sherlock, Jr.’ he’s a projectionist who falls asleep and dreams himself into the movie he’s showing. He sends up the whole idea of acting and editing by portraying a guy who’s always out of sync with the scene he’s in.”

“I love (actress) Louise Brooks and the Weimar era depicted in the film. Louise and Lulu (the character she plays in the film) both had that wild streak. The face, those close-ups, that trendsetting bob haircut. And Louise’s independence appealed to me. She was so glamorous and from a small town in Kansas (I’m from a small town in Iowa). In my 20s when I read the 1979 New Yorker profile by Kenneth Tynan of her, I was hooked and have been ever since.”

“The acting was superb and the set decoration was breathtaking. (At the first Academy Awards ceremony, held in 1929 and honoring films made in 1927 and 1928, star Emil Jannings won for best actor.) Jim Riggs’ accompaniment was top-notch and captured the pathos of the final scene to perfection. (‘The Last Command’ played at the Paramount on Feb. 6, 2012, with Jim Riggs performing at the Mighty Wurlitzer.) At the end of the film, the screen goes black. Jim turned off the organ lights and there was a very long pause before the first person dared clap.”

“Starring Douglas Fairbanks in the original swashbuckling, sword-fighting action thriller. It includes action, suspense and a bit of humor. It’s amazing to see a lot of the same cinematic tricks used in later action films, such as the Indiana Jones series.”

“It’s fun to play. There’s a lot of emotional range in the film. It also touches on one of my other favorites...which is trains.”

“I can’t name just one. ‘Sunrise’ (1927). ‘Tell it to the Marines’ (1926). ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ (1925). ‘The Black Pirate’ (1926), with Douglas Fairbanks. ‘Thief of Bagdad’ (1924). ‘The General’ (1926). ‘Phantom of the Opera’ (1925), that’s always a crowd favorite. ‘Safety Last’ (1923). It’s very difficult to narrow it to one.”