[ryl00]

> But are you really going to say they stand up to films made in recent years with a fully mature vocabulary?

Sure! I've seen 19 of the 42 films you counted as being made between 1920-1945, and I'd say the overwhelming majority of those 19 definitely still hold up. Are you seriously telling me Double Indemnity (1944), City Lights (1931), Duck Soup (1933), and Casablanca (1942) are only fit for consumption by film students? If so, I'd say "lucky film students!"

[jonahrd]

I am telling you that Metropolis for always being cited as one of the greatest films of all time is not actually that good, although very very influential.