Best Movies of 1928
1.
The Circus
5.8
Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman and falls in love with the circus owner's daughter. Unaware of Charlie's affection, the girl falls in love with a handsome young performer. Charlie's versatility makes him star of the show when he substitutes for an ailing tightwire walker. He is discharged from the company when he protects the girl from her father's abuse, but he returns and appeals to the handsome performer to marry the girl. After the wedding the father prevails upon them to rejoin the circus. Charlie is hired again, but he stays behind when the caravan moves on.
Starring:
Charlie Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis
Directed by:
Charlie Chaplin
Release date:
1928-01-06
2.
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
5.6
The just out of college effete son of a no-nonsense steamboat captain comes to visit his father whom he's not seen since he was little.
Starring:
Buster Keaton, Ernest Torrence, Tom McGuire, Marion Byron, Tom Lewis
Directed by:
Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton
Release date:
1928-02-14
3.
Steamboat Willie
4.6
Mickey Mouse, piloting a steamboat, delights his passenger, Minnie, by making musical instruments out of the menagerie on deck.
Starring:
Walt Disney
Directed by:
Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks
Release date:
1928-11-18
4.
The Cameraman
4.3
A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.
Starring:
Buster Keaton, Marceline Day, Harold Goodwin, Sidney Bracey, Harry Gribbon
Directed by:
Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton
Release date:
1928-09-10
5.
Lonesome
4.2
Two lonely people in the big city meet and enjoy the thrills of an amusement park, only to lose each other in the crowd after spending a great day together. Will they ever see each other again?
Starring:
Barbara Kent, Glenn Tryon, Fay Holderness, Gusztáv Pártos, Eddie Phillips
Directed by:
Pál Fejős
Release date:
1928-06-20
6.
The Wind
4.1
When Letty Mason relocates to West Texas, she finds herself unsettled by the ever-present wind and sand. Arriving at her new home at the ranch of her cousin, Beverly, she receives a surprisingly cold welcome from his wife, Cora. Soon tensions in the family and unwanted attention from a trio of suitors, including neighbor Lige Hightower, leave Letty increasingly disturbed, resulting in tragedy.
Starring:
Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming, Edward Earle
Directed by:
Victor Sjöström
Release date:
1928-09-15
7.
The Mysterious Lady
4.1
A beautiful Russian spy seduces an Austrian military officer in order to obtain secret plans. When she falls in love with him, both are placed in danger.
Starring:
Greta Garbo, Conrad Nagel, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Albert Pollet, Edward Connelly
Directed by:
Fred Niblo, Harold S. Bucquet
Release date:
1928-08-04
8.
The Patsy
4.1
Jealous that her older sister Grace has landed handsome and successful Tony Anderson, Patricia Harrington launches an elaborate charm offensive to win his heart. Patricia shrugs off her diffidence and, in the hope that Tony will be drawn to her new persona, tries to carry herself with the self-confidence of the era's silent film stars. When this doesn't have the desired effect, Patricia takes things a step further.
Starring:
Marion Davies, Orville Caldwell, Marie Dressler, Lawrence Gray, Dell Henderson
Directed by:
King Vidor
Release date:
1928-04-22
9.
The Last Command
4.0
A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.
Starring:
Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, William Powell, Jack Raymond, Nicholas Soussanin
Directed by:
Josef von Sternberg
Release date:
1928-01-22
10.
The Man Who Laughs
4.0
Gwynplaine, son of Lord Clancharlie, has a permanent smile carved on his face by the King, in revenge for Gwynplaine's father's treachery. Gwynplaine is adopted by a travelling showman and becomes a popular idol. He falls in love with the blind Dea. The king dies, and his evil jester tries to destroy or corrupt Gwynplaine.
Starring:
Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin, Olga Baclanova, Brandon Hurst, Cesare Gravina
Directed by:
Paul Leni
Release date:
1928-04-27
11.
Speedy
3.9
"Speedy" loses his job as a soda-jerk, then spends the day with his girl at Coney Island. He then becomes a cab driver and delivers Babe Ruth to Yankee Stadium, where he stays to see the game. When the railroad tries to run the last horse-drawn trolley (operated by his girl's grandfather) out of business, "Speedy" organizes the neighborhood oldtimers to thwart their scheme.
Starring:
Harold Lloyd, Ann Christy, Bert Woodruff, Brooks Benedict, Babe Ruth
Directed by:
Ted Wilde
Release date:
1928-04-07
12.
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
3.9
A young prince falls in love with a beautiful barmaid while at university in old Heidelberg.
Starring:
Ramon Novarro, Norma Shearer, Jean Hersholt, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Philippe De Lacy
Directed by:
Ernst Lubitsch
Release date:
1928-01-30
13.
A Woman of Affairs
3.9
Childhood friends Diana, Neville and David are caught in a love triangle as adults. Diana and Neville have long been smitten with each other, but her father disapproves of the relationship, resulting in her eventual marriage to David. It's not long after their wedding, however, that tragedy strikes, sending Diana on a downward spiral. When Neville reappears in her life, will he be able to save her from her own misery?
Starring:
Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lewis Stone, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Johnny Mack Brown
Directed by:
Clarence Brown
Release date:
1928-12-15
14.
West of Zanzibar
3.9
A magician seeks vengeance upon the man who paralyzed him and the illegitimate daughter he sired with the magician's wife.
Starring:
Lon Chaney, Lionel Barrymore, Mary Nolan, Warner Baxter, Jacqueline Gadsden
Directed by:
Tod Browning
Release date:
1928-11-24
15.
Sadie Thompson
3.9
A young, beautiful prostitute named Sadie Thompson arrives on the South Pacific island of Pago Pago looking for honest work, and falls for Timothy O'Hara, an American sailor who is unfazed by her unsavory past. However, Mr. Davidson, a missionary who arrived on the island at the same time, aims to "save" Sadie from her sinful life and petitions to have her separated from her beau and deported back to San Francisco.
Starring:
Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Friderici, Charles Lane, Florence Midgley
Directed by:
Raoul Walsh
Release date:
1928-01-07
16.
Street Angel
3.9
A spirited young woman finds herself destitute and on the streets before joining a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter.
Starring:
Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Natalie Kingston, Henry Armetta, Guido Trento
Directed by:
Frank Borzage
Release date:
1928-04-09
17.
The Wedding March
3.8
Prince Nikki, Lieutenant of the Guard in pre WWI Vienna, is flat broke, but the only advice he gets from his parents is either to shoot himself or to marry money. During the Chorpus Christi parade his horse accidentaly hurts poor Mitzi, the daughter of inn-keepers in a Viennese suburb, who is, according to the wishes of her parents, going to marry the butcher Schani. When Nikki visits her at the hospital, they fall in love, much to the dislike of her parents and Schani. Nikki's parents, meanwhile have arranged a prospective marriage with Cecilia, the limping daughter of a very rich non-aristocratic industrial. Due to the fact, that Nikki's father is a general in the Austrian-Hungarian Army, resitance is useless. When Mitzi, after hearing of it, is still refusing Schani's proposal, he vowes to shoot Nikki when he leaves the church.
Starring:
Erich von Stroheim, Fay Wray, George Fawcett, Maude George, Cesare Gravina
Directed by:
Erich von Stroheim
Release date:
1928-10-06
18.
The Fall of the House of Usher
3.7
In a decaying castle surrounded by a dank, mirrored lake live the morbidly nervous Roderick Usher and his sickly twin sister, Madeline. Their tale is told and dimly comprehended by the unnamed narrator, a boyhood friend whom Roderick has summoned. When Madeline soon dies—or seems to die—they entomb her body. On a stormy night, "cracking and ripping" sounds and a "shriek" from below convince the panicky Roderick that "We have put her living into the tomb!" The shrouded, emaciated figure of Madeline appears at the door of Roderick's book-strewn study, falls upon him, "and in her violent and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse."
Starring:
Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, Melville Webber
Directed by:
James Sibley Watson, Melville Webber
Release date:
1928-12-31
19.
Plane Crazy
3.6
Plane Crazy is an American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, released in 1929 by The Walt Disney Studio, was the first creation of the character Mickey Mouse. It was made as a silent film and given a test screening to a theater audience on May 15, 1928, but failed to pick up a distributor. Later that year, Disney released Mickey's first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie, which was an enormous success. Following this, Plane Crazy was released as a sound cartoon on March 17, 1929.
Starring:
Walt Disney
Directed by:
Walt Disney, Ub Iwerks
Release date:
1928-05-14
20.
Our Dancing Daughters
3.6
A flapper sets her hat for a man with a hard-drinking wife.
Starring:
Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Nils Asther, Dorothy Sebastian, Anita Page
Directed by:
Harry Beaumont
Release date:
1928-09-01
Also check Best movies of 1927.
Check out our top containing the Best Movies of 1928. This top was obtained with our unique algorithm ordered by our unique ranking system.
