9. The Last Laugh (1925)
German legend F.W Murnau made arguably the most purely silent film with 1925's The Last Laugh. Unlike most silent films, The Last Laugh did not even use intertitles to convey dialogue, instead the filmmakers used a constantly moving camera and a brilliant performance from Emil Jannings to effectively tell the story. Jannings plays a doorman at a hotel and the job completely defines him as a person. He enjoys the respect that people give him and his uniform provides him with his sense of identity. One day, a manager sees him struggle to unload a customers luggage and the next day, the doorman arrives to find someone else doing his job and himself demoted to a bathroom attendant. An important film in the German Expressionist movement started by the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Last Laugh was both a critical and commercial hit and its set design, camera movement, and emphasis on purely visual storytelling make it an essential silent film.