The Best Movies From The 1920s
“What are the best 1920s Movies?” We looked at 110 of the top 1920s films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 20 films, all appearing on 3 or more “Best 1920s” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 75+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Top 20 Best 1920s Movies Ever Made
20 .) Greed (1924) directed by Erich von Stroheim
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- List Challenges
- White City
A lottery win of $5,000 forever changes the lives of a miner turned dentist and his wife.
19 .) The Cameraman (1928) directed by Edward Sedgwick
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.
18 .) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) directed by Rex Ingram
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart
- List Challenges
- White City
Set in the years before and during World War I, this epic tale tells the story of a rich Argentine family, one of its two descending branches being half of French heritage, the other being half German. Following the death of the family patriarch, the man’s two daughters and their families resettle to France and Germany, respectively. In time the Great War breaks out, putting members of the family on opposing sides.
17 .) The Last Laugh (1924) directed by F.W. Murnau
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- List Challenges
An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious Hotel is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.
16 .) Man with a Movie Camera (1929) directed by Dziga Vertov
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- White City
A cameraman wanders around Moscow, Kharkov, Kiev and Odessa with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention.
15 .) Our Hospitality (1923) directed by Buster Keaton, John G. Blystone
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- List Challenges
- Ranker
- White City
A man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.
14 .) Pandora’s Box (1929) directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- White City
Lulu is a young woman so beautiful and alluring that few can resist her siren charms. The men drawn into her web include respectable newspaper publisher Dr. Ludwig Schön, his musical producer son Alwa, circus performer Rodrigo Quast and Lulu’s seedy old friend, Schigolch. When Lulu’s charms inevitably lead to tragedy, the downward spiral encompasses them all.
13 .) Safety Last! (1923) directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- List Challenges
- Ranker
- White City
When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.
12 .) Sherlock Jr. (1924) directed by Buster Keaton
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- List Challenges
- Ranker
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend’s father’s pocketwatch.
11 .) The Circus (1928) directed by Charles Chaplin
Lists It Appears On:
- Compass Classroom
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman and falls in love with the circus owner’s daughter. Unaware of Charlie’s affection, the girl falls in love with a handsome young performer. Charlie’s versatility makes him star of the show when he substitutes for an ailing tightwire walker. He is discharged from the company when he protects the girl from her father’s abuse, but he returns and appeals to the handsome performer to marry the girl. After the wedding the father prevails upon them to rejoin the circus. Charlie is hired again, but he stays behind when the caravan moves on. ×
10 .) The Phantom Carriage (1922) directed by Victor Sjöström
Lists It Appears On:
- Flick Chart 2
- List Challenges
- Ranker
- White City
It’s New Year’s Eve. Three drunkards evoke a legend. The legend tells that the last person to die in a year, if he is a great sinner, will have to drive during the whole year the Phantom Chariot, that picks up the souls of the dead.
9 .) Metropolis (1927) directed by Fritz Lang
Lists It Appears On:
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city’s mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
8 .) The Kid (1921) directed by Charles Chaplin
Lists It Appears On:
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
Considered one of Charlie Chaplin’s best films, The Kid also made a star of little Jackie Coogan, who plays a boy cared for by The Tramp when he’s abandoned by his mother, Edna. Later, Edna has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son. When she finds him and wrests him from The Tramp, it makes for what turns out be one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever included in a comedy.
7 .) The General (1926) directed by Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
Lists It Appears On:
- Compass Classroom
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart
- Flick Chart 2
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
During America’s Civil War Union spies steal engineer Johnnie Gray’s beloved locomotive The General – his lady love, Annabelle Lee, aboard an attached boxcar – and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle. Released throughout most of the world in 1927, this Silent comedy-action film flopped when originally released, but now is regarded as one of the great American motion pictures. The story is based on actual historic events. ×
6 .) The Gold Rush (1925) directed by Charles Chaplin
Lists It Appears On:
- Compass Classroom
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
A lone prospector ventures into Alaska looking for gold. He gets mixed up with some burly characters and falls in love with the beautiful Georgia. He tries to win her heart with his singular charm.
5 .) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Lists It Appears On:
- Compass Classroom
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
- White City
A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she’d spoken to God, Jeanne d’Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.
4 .) Battleship Potemkin (1925) directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein
Lists It Appears On:
- Compass Classroom
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
- White City
A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and is a masterful example of montage editing.
3 .) Nosferatu (1922) directed by F.W. Murnau
Lists It Appears On:
- Eskify
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- List Challenges
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
Vampire Count Orlok is interested in a new residence and in his real estate agent’s young wife. F. W. Murnau’s unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”
2 .) Sunrise (1927) directed by F.W. Murnau
Lists It Appears On:
- Compass Classroom
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
- White City
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
1 .) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) directed by Robert Wiene
Lists It Appears On:
- Eskify
- Film Crave
- Flick Chart 2
- IMDB
- List Challenges
- Ranker
- Watch Mojo
- White City
Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. It is the annual fair in Holstenwall. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep. When Alan asks Cesare about his future, Cesare answers that he will die before dawn. The next morning Alan is found dead. Francis suspects Cesare of being the murderer, and starts spying on him and Dr. Caligari. ×
The 75+ Additional Best 1920s Films
| # | Movies | Directors | Lists |
| 21 | Coeur Fidele (1923) | List Challenges | |
| – | – | – | White City |
| 22 | Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge (1924) | Fritz Lang | IMDB |
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 23 | Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) | Fritz Lang | IMDB |
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 24 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) | Eskify | |
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 25 | Faust (1926) | F.W. Murnau | IMDB |
| – | – | – | Ranker |
| 26 |
Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)
|
Eskify | |
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 27 | Last of the Mohicans (1920) |
Compass Classroom
|
|
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 28 | Nanook of the North (1922) | Robert J. Flaherty | IMDB |
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 29 | Robin Hood (1922) | Flick Chart | |
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 30 | Steamboat Bill Jr. | Flick Chart 2 | |
| – | – | – | Ranker |
| 31 | The Big Parade (1925) |
Compass Classroom
|
|
| – | – | – | Ranker |
| 32 | The Crowd (1928) | King Vidor | IMDB |
| – | – | – | White City |
| 33 | The Docks of New York (1928) | Josef von Sternberg | IMDB |
| – | – | – | White City |
| 34 | The Iron Horse (1924) | Flick Chart | |
| – | – | – | List Challenges |
| 35 | The Man Who Laughs (1928) | Eskify | |
| – | – | – | Ranker |
| 36 | The Phantom of the Opera (1925) | Eskify | |
| – | – | – | Ranker |
| 37 | The Thief of Bagdad | Ranker | |
| – | – | – | White City |
| 38 | The Wind (1928) | Victor Sjöström | IMDB |
| – | – | – | Ranker |
| 39 | Wings | Flick Chart | |
| – | – | – | Ranker |
| 40 | 3 Bad Men | White City | |
| 41 | A Blind Bargain (1922) | Eskify | |
| 42 | A Page of Madness | White City | |
| 43 | A Woman of Paris (1923) | List Challenges | |
| 44 | Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) | Walter Ruttmann | IMDB |
| 45 | Cops (1922) |
Compass Classroom
|
|
| 46 | Destiny (1921) | List Challenges | |
| 47 | Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) | Georg Wilhelm Pabst | IMDB |
| 48 | Don Q Son of Zorro | Flick Chart | |
| 49 | Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler | White City | |
| 50 | Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925) | Eskify | |
| 51 | Faust: A German Folk Legend | Flick Chart 2 | |
| 52 | Foolish Wives (1922) | List Challenges | |
| 53 | For Heaven’s Sake | Flick Chart | |
| 54 | Four Sons (1924) | List Challenges | |
| 55 | Hands Up! | Flick Chart | |
| 56 | He Who Gets Slapped (1924) | List Challenges | |
| 57 | Hindle Wakes | White City | |
| 58 | Humoresque (1920) | List Challenges | |
| 59 | Isn’t Life Wonderful | White City | |
| 60 | L’Argent (1928) | Marcel L’Herbier | IMDB |
| 61 | La Roue (1923) | List Challenges | |
| 62 | Lady Windermere’s Fan (1925) | Ernst Lubitsch | IMDB |
| 63 | London After Midnight (1927) | Eskify | |
| 64 | Lonesome | White City | |
| 65 | Lucky Star | White City | |
| 66 | Miss Lulu Bett (1921) | List Challenges | |
| 67 | Mother (1926) | Vsevolod Pudovkin | IMDB |
| 68 | Napoleon (1927) | Abel Gance | IMDB |
| 69 | October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1927) | Grigoriy Aleksandrov | IMDB |
| 70 | One Week (1920) |
Compass Classroom
|
|
| 71 | Orphans of the Storm (1921) | List Challenges | |
| 72 |
Passion of Joan of Arc, The ( passion de Jeanne d’Arc, La )
|
Film Crave | |
| 73 | Peter Pan (1924) | List Challenges | |
| 74 | Phantom (1922) | List Challenges | |
| 75 | Phantom Carriage, The ( Körkarlen ) | Film Crave | |
| 76 | Regen (1929) | Mannus Franken | IMDB |
| 77 | Scaramouche | Flick Chart | |
| 78 | Sky High (1922) | List Challenges | |
| 79 | Speedy | Flick Chart | |
| 80 | Tell It to the Marines | Flick Chart | |
| 81 | The Black Pirate (1926) |
Compass Classroom
|
|
| 82 | The Bronze Bell | Flick Chart | |
| 83 | The Covered Wagon (1923) | List Challenges | |
| 84 | The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) | Eskify | |
| 85 | The Godless Girl | Flick Chart | |
| 86 |
The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920)
|
List Challenges | |
| 87 | The House of Mystery | White City | |
| 88 |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
|
List Challenges | |
| 89 | The Iron Mask | Flick Chart | |
| 90 | The Jazz Singer” (1927) | Watch Mojo | |
| 91 | The Lodger (1927)* |
Compass Classroom
|
|
| 92 | The Mark of Zorro (1920) | List Challenges | |
| 93 | The Marriage Circle (1924) | Ernst Lubitsch | IMDB |
| 94 | The Mollycoddle | Flick Chart | |
| 95 | The Mysterious Lady | Flick Chart | |
| 96 | The Navigator (1924) | List Challenges | |
| 97 | The Penalty (1920) | List Challenges | |
| 98 |
The Spiders, Part II: The Diamond Ship
|
Flick Chart | |
| 99 | The Ten Commandments (1923) | List Challenges | |
| 100 | The Three Musketeers | Flick Chart | |
| 101 | The Unknown | White City | |
| 102 | The Viking | Flick Chart | |
| 103 | The Virginian (1929) |
Compass Classroom
|
|
| 104 | Tol’able David (1921) | List Challenges | |
| 105 | Un Chien Andalou (1929) | Luis Buñuel | IMDB |
| 106 | Underworld (1927) | Josef von Sternberg | IMDB |
| 107 | Variety | White City | |
| 108 | Way Down East (1920) | List Challenges | |
| 109 | Within Our Gates (1920) | List Challenges | |
| 110 | Won in the Clouds | Flick Chart |
10 Best 1920s Film Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| Compass Classroom | Great Films from the 1920s |
| Eskify | 10 Best 1920s Horror Films |
| Film Crave | Top Movies of 1920s List, Best Movies 1920s |
| Flick Chart | The Best Action Movies of the 1920s |
| Flick Chart 2 | The Best Movies of the 1920s |
| IMDB | Greatest films of the 1920s |
| List Challenges | Top 120 Films From the 1920s |
| Ranker | 1920s Silent Movies | List of Best 20s Silent Films |
| Watch Mojo | Top 10 Movies of the 1920s |
| White City | Best Films of the 1920s |
