Iconic Images From Silent Films

The pictures that came to stand for the silent era, one per film, from Méliès's rocket landing in the Moon's eye to Chaplin's last stand against talking pictures. The test for a place is simple: the image is recognized by people who have never seen the film, because it has been quoted, parodied and reprinted for a century. Some are frames from the films; others are the publicity stills studios shot on set, which is how many of these moments reached the world. The gallery runs in order of release. City Lights and Modern Times came out after sound arrived, but both tell their stories with music and effects instead of dialogue, so they close the set. The Birth of a Nation is absent on purpose: its best-known images glorify the Ku Klux Klan, and Griffith is represented here by Intolerance and Way Down East.