Two works from the father of narrative cinema. In "Broken Blossoms" (1919); a Chinaman arrives in London to teach the locals the ideals of Buddhism but finds them most unreceptive and, instead, opens a shop which becomes the refuge for a xenophobic boxer's abused daughter. Lillian Gish is brilliant and Griffith poetic. "Abraham Lincoln", (1930), was Griffith's first talkie and is a straightforward biopic from childhood to his premature assassination. find out more...

John Ford's 50th and most celebrated silent film demonstrates the ideals of expansion, enterprise and achievement, but condones racism and exploitation. The scale of this film surpassed all of the other silent westerns and put Ford in the history books. Double-dealing, vengeance and romance are all covered with a poetic sense of history as we see the country united by a trans-continental railroad, realized by a great man and brought about through the sweat of the working man. A classic, black an find out more...