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Bilingual title cards for silent films |
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What is this? Silent films talk with title cards. We are translating those cards into Spanish (Mexican Spanish first) and putting both languages on the same card, so a mixed audience can watch one print together. The film's running time does not change, which means the organist's cues still work. Translations are done by volunteers. Finished cards are made by designers, or generated automatically when nobody has time to draw them. Then the cards are cut back into the film. |
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Three comedies first, then seven more. All are in the public domain in the United States. |
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| The Adventurer (1917) - Charlie Chaplin The Little Tramp escapes from prison, saves a young woman from drowning, and lands in high society. Status: see the progress board below |
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| Number, Please? (1920) - Harold Lloyd Harold races the clock and a very busy telephone operator to win back the girl. Status: see the progress board below |
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| Sherlock, Jr. (1924) - Buster Keaton A projectionist dreams himself into the picture he is showing and becomes the world's greatest detective. Status: see the progress board below |
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| The General (1926) - Buster Keaton A railroad engineer chases the spies who stole his locomotive, and his girl, across enemy lines. Status: see the progress board below |
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| Don Juan (1926) - John Barrymore The great lover of Rome meets the Borgias, a hundred duels, and the one woman who says no. Status: see the progress board below |
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| Faust (1926) - F. W. Murnau Mephisto wagers for the soul of an old alchemist, who trades it for youth. Status: see the progress board below |
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| The Kid Brother (1927) - Harold Lloyd The timid youngest son of the sheriff has to catch the medicine-show crooks who took the county's money. Status: see the progress board below |
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| It (1927) - Clara Bow A shopgirl with that certain quality sets out to win the man who owns the store. Status: see the progress board below |
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| 7th Heaven (1927) - Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell A Paris sewer worker takes in a street girl, and the war takes him away from her. Status: see the progress board below |
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| Metropolis (1927) - Fritz Lang A city of masters above and workers below, and the machine-woman built to break them. Status: see the progress board below |
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How to help
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The rules of the road 1. The translation has to be as short as the English. The card is on screen for a fixed number of seconds. 2. Jokes have to land in Spanish, not just translate. 3. Names stay. Harold is Harold. 4. Everything we make is free for any theatre to use, with credit. |
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Last updated: September 3, 2026 · Best viewed at 800x600 or larger · Clip art from openclipart.org (public domain) Films are in the public domain in the United States · Made by hand. No frameworks were harmed. |