Movie: Silent Britain

Top 6 Billed Cast

Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet

Himself - Presenter

Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff

Himself

Ian Christie
Ian Christie

Himself

Bryony Dixon
Bryony Dixon

Himself

Michael Eaton
Michael Eaton

Himself

Frank Gray
Frank Gray

Himself

  • HomePage

  • Overview

    Long treated with indifference by critics and historians, British silent cinema has only recently undergone the reevaluation it has long deserved, revealing it to be far richer than previously acknowledged. This documentary, featuring clips from a remarkable range of films, celebrates the early years of British filmmaking and spans from such pioneers as George Albert Smith and Cecil Hepworth to such later figures as Anthony Asquith, Maurice Elvey and, of course, Alfred Hitchcock.

  • Release Date

    2006-05-31

  • Average

    6.8

  • Rating:

    3.4 starts
  • Tagline

  • Genres

  • Languages:

    English
  • Keywords

Recommendations Movies

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
69%

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound(en)

2019-10-25

The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.

The Director and the Jedi
72%

The Director and the Jedi(en)

2018-03-12

An intimate documentary delving into Rian Johnson's process as he comes in as a director new to the Star Wars universe.

Everything or Nothing
72%

Everything or Nothing(en)

2012-10-05

The story of three men with a shared dream: James Bond franchise producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and Bond creator and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history, which began in 1962.

Visions of Light
71%

Visions of Light(en)

1992-09-17

Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return
68%

Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return(en)

2022-09-07

This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.

The Skywalker Legacy
78%

The Skywalker Legacy(en)

2020-03-18

The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Being James Bond
78%

Being James Bond(en)

2021-08-29

Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Mifune: The Last Samurai
71%

Mifune: The Last Samurai(en)

2016-12-02

An account of the life and work of legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune (1920-97), the most prominent actor of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.

Seduced and Abandoned
62%

Seduced and Abandoned(en)

2013-05-20

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Casting By
69%

Casting By(en)

2012-11-01

This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.

The Walking Dead: The Return
73%

The Walking Dead: The Return(en)

2024-02-15

Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
70%

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing(en)

2004-10-12

Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.

Making 'The Shining'
71%

Making 'The Shining'(en)

1980-10-04

Directed and edited by Stanley Kubrick's daughter Vivian Kubrick, this film offers a look behind the scenes during the making of The Shining.

I Know That Voice
71%

I Know That Voice(en)

2014-01-07

Filmmaker Lawrence Shapiro discusses voice-over acting with the talented people behind the characters.

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
75%

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story(en)

2025-06-20

The authorized documentary celebrating the film that redefined Hollywood, 50 years after its premiere. Featuring rare archival footage and interviews with acclaimed Hollywood directors alongside Steven Spielberg, top shark scientists, and conservationists, the film uncovers the behind-the-scenes chaos and how the film launched the summer blockbuster, inspired a new wave of filmmakers, and paved the way for shark conservation that continues today.

Corman's World
71%

Corman's World(en)

2011-12-16

A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.

As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
77%

As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty(en)

2000-11-05

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

Friedkin Uncut
71%

Friedkin Uncut(en)

2018-11-05

An introspective insight into the life and artistic journey of William Friedkin, an extraordinary and offbeat director of cult films such as The French Connection, The Exorcist, Sorcerer, Cruising, To Live and Die in L.A. and Killer Joe. For the first time Friedkin opens up, guiding the audience on a fascinating journey through the themes and the stories that have influenced his life and his artistic career.

Hitchcock/Truffaut
72%

Hitchcock/Truffaut(en)

2015-09-05

Filmmakers discuss the legacy of Alfred Hitchcock and the book “Hitchcock/Truffaut” (“Le cinéma selon Hitchcock”), written by François Truffaut and published in 1966.

Room 237
61%

Room 237(en)

2012-10-26

A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.

Similar Movies

The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk
70%

The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk(en)

2007-09-02

Film historians, and survivors from the nearly 30-year struggle to bring sound to motion pictures take the audience from the early failed attempts by scientists and inventors, to the triumph of the talkies.

Finlandia
43%

Finlandia(fi)

1922-10-21

A documentary from Erkki Karu, one of the earliest pioneers of Finnish cinema: This government-produced propaganda film introduces the nature, sports, military, agriculture and capital of Finland.

Nanook of the North
71%

Nanook of the North(en)

1922-06-11

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

The Simón's Jigsaw: A Trip to the Universe of Juan Piquer Simón
0%

The Simón's Jigsaw: A Trip to the Universe of Juan Piquer Simón(es)

2015-10-17

A journey through the work of Spanish filmmaker Juan Piquer Simón (1935-2011).

Las Hurdes, país de leyenda
70%

Las Hurdes, país de leyenda(es)

1922-01-01

An account of the journey that King Alfonso XIII of Spain made to the impoverished shire of Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in the region of Extremadura, in 1922.

Captain Elliot's Circle
100%

Captain Elliot's Circle(en)

2023-09-05

Equal parts documentary, essay, and narrative,"Captain Elliot's Circle" is mostly a poetic interaction with an obscure corner of Chinese and British history. Constructed using primary source documents about the taking of Zhoushan, Britain's first choice for a seaport, in the late 1830s,this movie uses Captain Charles Elliot's reluctance to brutalize the Chinese to reflect on the cyclical nature of history and the power structures that move it. The long takes used throughout function to illustrate the dramatically different ways in which people who lived in the mid-19th century perceived time. Additionally, it represents the psychological effect of living on an island regardless of what era you were born in.The last third of the movie focuses on a young woman whose strange day job has taken her far away from the island of Zhoushan generations after Captain Charles Elliot was last there. "Captain Elliot's Circle" was shot on location in Zhoushan and Hangzhou.

Yakuza Eiga, une histoire du cinéma yakuza
70%

Yakuza Eiga, une histoire du cinéma yakuza(fr)

2009-02-12

The history of the Yakuza Eiga at the TOEI studio is roughly outlined. Real Yakuza and also their connections to the movie business are discussed, and many important actors and directors of the genres are interviewed. Former real yakuza boss turned actor Noboru Ando, Takashi Miike, Sonny Chiba and many more get a chance to speak.

Adolf Island
66%

Adolf Island(en)

2019-06-23

Caroline Sturdy Colls, a world leader in the forensic investigation of Nazi crime scenes, is chasing clues to an unsolved case: a concentration camp that existed on the British island of Alderney. Witnesses and survivors claimed that thousands died there, but only 389 bodies have ever been found. Under heavy restrictions imposed by the local government, which may not want its buried secrets revealed, Colls must uncover the truth using revolutionary techniques and technologies.

The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster
77%

The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster(en)

1999-01-01

The history of Frankenstein's journey from novel to stage to screen to icon.

Ishiro Honda: Memoirs of a Film Director
75%

Ishiro Honda: Memoirs of a Film Director(en)

2024-10-04

A documentary film that delves into the life and cinematic career of one of Japan's most prolific directors: Ishiro Honda. The film will spotlight Honda's filmography from both a historical and personal perspective, exploring his contributions to the Japanese film industry and his firsthand experiences of war, from which he barely survived. It will also delve into his profound feelings regarding the atomic bomb, a subject that became an obsession for him and was frequently reflected in his films. The documentary will analyze Honda's body of work through interviews with individuals who had the privilege of collaborating with him, as well as experts on Honda's films from both Japan and the Western world. Furthermore, the film will uncover Honda's friendship and professional relationship with director Akira Kurosawa.

In the Land of Giants and Pygmies
60%

In the Land of Giants and Pygmies(en)

1925-01-01

IN THE LAND OF GIANT PYGMIES, a diary of Aurelio Rossi's 1925 trek into the immense Belgian Congo, preserves a long-gone-Colonial-era wonder at natural resources, "primitive" tribes, customs and costumes in Europe's cast African possessions, and implies that the "dark continent" could benefit from the "civilizing" influences of home.

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror
76%

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror(en)

2021-09-09

An exploration of the cinematic history of the folk horror, from its beginnings in the UK in the late sixties; through its proliferation on British television in the seventies and its many manifestations, culturally specific, in other countries; to its resurgence in the last decade.

Prince Philip: The Plot to Make a King
90%

Prince Philip: The Plot to Make a King(en)

2016-04-16

Documentary telling the inside story of the plans by Louis Mountbatten to maneuver his nephew and heir to the Greek throne, Philip, into marrying the future queen Princess Elizabeth and the tensions that that unleashed.

Uncensored Women
0%

Uncensored Women(es)

2022-12-21

The story of a group of actresses who, in the Spain of the seventies, and in the midst of the democratic Transition, decided to appear nude in the films of that time of radical political change, defying the rigid and deeply rooted social rules.

The First Look
70%

The First Look(es)

2024-04-07

In Spain, a poor country ruined by the recent Civil War (1936-39), and in the midst of Franco's dictatorship, a film school was created in Madrid in 1947, which became, almost unintentionally, a space of freedom and pure experimentation until its closure in 1976.

How the Telephone Talks
0%

How the Telephone Talks(en)

1919-04-27

"All sounds travel in waves much the same as ripples in water." Educational film produced by Bray Studios New York, which was the dominant animation studio based in the United States in the years surrounding World War I.

Straight to VHS
65%

Straight to VHS(es)

2021-03-25

Act of Violence Upon a Young Journalist is a film shot in 1988 and released on VHS in 1989; a mysterious cult work of Uruguayan cinema surrounded by strange theories about Manuel Lamas, its unknown creator. Until now.

Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs
46%

Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs(en)

1895-03-05

A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring one dog jumping through hoops and another dancing in a costume, which was considered lost until footage from an 1896 Fairground Programme was identified as being from this film.

Boxing Match; or, Glove Contest
38%

Boxing Match; or, Glove Contest(en)

1896-08-03

Staged boxing match between Sergeant-Instructor Barrett and Sergeant Pope, with a round, interval, and knockout.

Die Zeit meines Lebens - Dirty Dancing in Ost und West
80%

Die Zeit meines Lebens - Dirty Dancing in Ost und West(de)

2022-07-10

In 1987, a small film distributor from Frankfurt/Main brings the film "Dirty Dancing" to West German cinemas against all negative odds. The film becomes the hit of the year, in complete contrast to France, where foreign films have a hard time against the local film landscape.