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  • Let's Go to the Movies
  • Early Movies
  • Silent Era
  • Golden Age

The Movies

Silent Era

The National Museum of American History is known for cinematic treasures such as Dorothy's Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz (1939), but it also holds a remarkable collection of silent film artifacts. Made from the 1890s to the late 1920s, silent films lacked synchronized sound; live music and shots of printed text conveyed emotion and dialogue. These selected artifacts offer a glimpse into the early days of cinema as a global art and entertainment form.


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Charlie Chaplin

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. in "Mr. Robinson Crusoe"

Charlie Chaplin

Sessue Hayakawa

Rudolph Valentino

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton L'Opérateur

Buster Keaton in "Dough Boys"

Rudolph Valentino

Buster Keaton

Rudolph Valentino

L'Aigle Noir

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

Douglas Fairbanks as the Gaucho

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

D. W. Griffith

D.W. Griffith

John Gilbert

John Gilbert

John Gilbert in "Gentleman's Fate"

John Gilbert in "Redemption"

Harold Lloyd

Harold Lloyd

Movie Crazy

Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney

William Surrey Hart


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