Lady Windermere's Fan

Ernst Lubitsch's 1925 silent film adapts Oscar Wilde's play while almost entirely refusing to use Wilde's epigrams as intertitles. Instead Lubitsch tells everything through glances, doorways and the movement of objects: where a fan is found, whose hands a letter reaches, who is looking at whom. A society woman's mistaken belief that her husband is having an affair can have serious consequences for everyone. The adaptation is considered a textbook example of how a dialogue-dependent text can be made visual in silent cinema. The gossip sequence at the racecourse is among the best moments of wordless comedy. Mrs Erlynne, played by Irene Rich, is the emotional centre, and her sacrifice stays silent. Who it's for: viewers interested in silent cinema, Lubitsch's style and Wilde adaptations. Who it's not for: anyone expecting Wilde's dialogue, or unfamiliar with the pace of silent storytelling.