The Golden Silent Films - A Silent Movie Podcast

A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the classic of industrial infotainment, "The Story of Petroleum" in 1923. This silent short film was produced by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the Sinclair Oil Company and chronicled the growth of the oil business in the 1920s. This episode also features a cameo from noted Golden Silent...

A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the Valentino classic, "The Sheik" in 1921. Directed by George Melford, written by Monte Katterjohn and starring Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres and Adolph Menjou and based on the famous novel from Edith M. Hull. Instagram - goldensilentscastBluesky - @goldensilentscastTwitter/X - @golde...

In this special episode, noted silent film scholar Maggie Hennefeld joins us live for chat about all things silent film. Maggie works tirelessly to keep the silent era alive and cast a spotlight on the name's movie history has forgotten. In this silver screen discussion, we dive into many silent and silent adjacent topics. We get our first non-Pennsylvania and non-Ohio silent film festival rep...

A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the silent film, "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" in 1921. Directed by Rex Ingram, written by June Mathis and starring Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry and Pomeroy Cannon and based on the legendary novel from Vicente Blasco Ibanez. This film features some incredible war scenes, special effects and...

This episode of the Golden Silent Films Podcast brings together the disparate worlds of German cinema and Jersey rock. In the early 1970's, Bruce Springsteen wrote an unreleased song inspired by German actress Camilla Horn. That begged the question ... Who is Camilla Horn and why is "The Boss" singing about her? Learn the story behind this mashup of movies and music as we dive into t...

This is a special episode of the Golden Silent Films Podcast as we attend our first live screening of 2026. This was a fun AND historical experience where we learn more about the 1915 film, "The Italian" and look at its role in telling the story of Italian Immigration in the teens and twenties. To get the full impact of this film and its real-life counterparts, we were lucky enough to ta...

It is convention season once again and the Golden Silent Films Podcast is here to give you a preview of the always awesome Columbus Moving Picture Show and it's 2026 iteration. This episode takes you Columbus, Ohio to get the inside scoop on all thing's convention-y! We are joined once again by the convention's Director, Samantha Glasser, to look at the the CMPS, the memories you can l...

A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the silent feature, "Eyes of Youth" in 1919. Directed by Albert Parker and starring Clara Kimball Young and an up-and-coming Rudolph Valentino. This episode is the next in our ongoing series focused on all things Rudolph Valentino. In this episode, we look at the earliest acting exploit...

While in Delaware for a wedding, I decided to look into the silent film history of the first state. I wasn't sure what to expect but ended up finding some really interesting bits of silent history. First, we check out some of the literal first films of Delaware when we look at the history of Brandywine Springs Park. We follow that up with a look at the early years of Wilmington, Delaware nativ...

In this episode, the Golden Silent Films Podcast looks back at the tumultuous life of Barbara La Marr, one of the biggest stars of the silent era. La Marr was an incredible talent who found success on the dance floor, the silver screen and with screenwriting. The story of Barbara La Marr is an often forgotten one. Luckily for us, author and actress Sherri Snyder has made her mission to keep the le...

Join the Golden Silent Films Podcast as we take you back to Castellaneta, Italy, in podcast form. We will look back at the youth of a young boy named Rodolfo. He will face his fair share of triumphs and tragedies as he grows into movie mega-star, Rudolph Valentino. In this episode, we focus on his youth. From schools across Italy to the City of Lights, join us as we dive deep into the formative ye...

Rudolph Valentino died one hundred years ago on August 23, 1926. In an effort to celebrate the life of the Italian mega star, the Golden Silent Films Podcast is dedicating its sixth season to Rudolph Valentino. With that in mind, we are spending 2026, the centennial of Valentino’s death, paying tribute to the man, the myth and the legend. Rudolph Valentino was truly all three of those and this sea...

The Golden Silent Films Podcast is celebrating National Bacon Day the only way we know how ... by celebrating the life and work of Lloyd Bacon. The career of Bacon spanned the silent and sound, both in front of and behind the camera. The celebration was so big we had to tag in Samantha Glasser from the "Columbus Moving Picture Show Podcast" to help discuss the life and career of the lege...

Entertainer and Chaplin historian, Dan Kamin, was kind enough to join us at the home office of the Golden Silent Films Podcast to discuss the 1925 Chaplin classic, "The Gold Rush." This episode is a rare event for us. We don't do in-person interviews often, but this one was defiantly worth stepping out of our comfort zone for. Dan Kamin had so many great insights and stories from the...

A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the legendary film, "The Gold Rush" in 1925. Directed by Charles Chaplin and starring Chaplin, Mack Swain and Georgia Hale. This episode celebrates the 100th anniversary of the release of "The Gold Rush" and looks at the film's new 4K restoration and it's subsequent Pi...

The first Edwin S. Porter in 2024 was so nice, we had to attend it twice. The Golden Silent Films Podcast returns to the great town of Connellsville for a night of film, music and history. We take another look at the life of Edwin S. Porter with a special emphasis on his work history as a projectionist which works great considering what films we watched. This fantastic event took place on Septembe...

“Boooo! Prepare to be burdened with the haunting memory of the Hash-Slinging Slasher because we’re heading down to Bikini Bottom tonight for a little haunting spree and a Golden Silent Films Podcast Halloween Spectacular!” A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the "SpongeBob Squarepants" episode "Graveyard Shift"...

This episode is the next in a series highlighting the short form content originally aired as a timed exclusive on our Golden Silent Films Podcast YouTube Channel. In this episode you'll get a battle of book versus film, as we look at "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" and its fascinating author. Next, we dive into the surprising origins of the false eyelash and its connection to silent film. Lastly...

A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the silent short, "The Haunted House" in 1921. Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline. This short stars Buster Keaton and was photographed by Elgin Lessley. This episode celebrates Silent Movie Day, International Podcast Day and an early Halloween. In addition to the film discussion,...

The Golden Silent Films Podcast is honored to welcome renowned silent film accompanist and historian Ben Model to the show. Model recently added author to his incredibly long and illustrious resume. He joins us to talk about his brand-new book, "The Silent Film Universe", as well as some fun detours through the film world. If you want to learn more about Ben Model and his book, check out silentfil...

In this episode, the Golden Silent Films Podcast looks back at the life and career of Signe Auen, whom you may or may not recognize as Seena Owen. In a wildly varied career, Owen's career took her from the stage to the screen to the script, all while working with the biggest names in film. Don't forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel where you get the regular podcast episodes...

This episode is the first in a series highlighting the short form content aired as a timed exclusive on our Golden Silent Films Podcast YouTube channel. In this episode you will learn about Oakland, California's forgotten amusement park, Idora Park and its connections to silent film. After that, we update you on our adventures at the 2025 Columbus Moving Picture Show convention. Lastly, we resurre...

This episode is a special Pittsburgh-based double feature. Starting in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood, we'll be watching 1927's "Cave of the Silken Web" and learning about ScreenShot: Asia. We'll follow that screening up by going to downtown Pittsburgh and the famous Harris Theater where we'll be checking out the 1928 gusty classic, "The Wind". This segment also features a chat with the talente...

A discussion about and look into the stories, the history and personalities that came together to make the silent film "The False Faces" in 1919. Directed by Irvin V. Willat and starring Henry Walthall and Lon Chaney. This episode was released in conjunction with the film being screened on the opening day of the Columbus Moving Picture Show on May 22, 2025. Bluesky - @goldensilentscast Instagram -...

This announcement features big news on the future of content delivery from the Golden Silent Films Podcast. We will be producing silent film short form content for YouTube in an effort to diversify and grow the reach of our podcast. We hope to see you fine listeners join us on the streaming platform for some really fun and unexpected stories from the silent era. This is not us leaving the audio re...