The silent era is one of those periods in cinema history that has fascinated me for a very long time. The cinematography, the sets, the actors/actresses, directors, producers etc all played a huge part in the silent era. My favourite stars were comedians such as Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton and Ben Turpin, to the handsome, dramatic men such as John Barrymore, John Gilbert, Rudolph Valentino and Ramon Novarro. The actresses of that time were exceptional too, not just for acting, but for producing and directing too, Mabel Normand and Lois Weber were true pioneers and deserve so much more recognition than they get. Actresses like Greta Garbo, Barbara La Marr, Gloria Swanson, Pearl White etc encapsulated the spirit of the silent era.
Off screen, there were scandals galore, such as the Virginia Rappe/Roscoe Arbuckle scandal (he was acquitted but his career never recovered), William Desmond Taylor's murder and many more but for me, I want to focus on the positive side of this era, from the gorgeous costumes to the fantastic films that shone brightly during this time.
Photo at the top is of Gloria Swanson and credit goes to IMDb and Pinterest.
My experiences with silent films were confined to the Mack Sennett comedies until I saw a grainy print of Murnau's "Nosferatu". After some time I saw his "Sunrise" and learned a bit about how he used miniatures in forced perspective. It's a different kind of storytelling - al most operatic - but of course - silent.