Whether he had a hand in their restoration or not, Bret Wood, filmmaker, author, and SVP and Producer of Archival Releases at Kino Lorber, selects five films that hold some personal connections for him. While they shift back and forth from epic drama and short comedy, these picks also highlight some representative traits of American film in 1914.

Among the many projects Bret has worked on at Kino are Pioneers of African-American Cinema and Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers. His films include Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films and he is the author of Tod Browning: une vie avec les freaks.

Visit the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1914!

Media mentioned:

• Bill Joins the W.W.W.’s (1914) - Edward Dillon
• The Death Mask (1914) - Thomas Ince
• The Professional Scapegoat (1914) - Sidney Drew
• The Avenging Conscience (1914) - D.W. Griffith
• Judith of Bethulia (1914) - D.W. Griffith
• Queen Kelly (1929) - Erich von Stroheim
• The Great Train Robbery (1903) - Edwin S. Porter
• Home, Sweet Home (1914) - D.W. Griffith
• The Birth of a Nation (1915) - D.W. Griffith
• Intolerance (1916) - D.W. Griffith
• The King of Kings (1927) - Cecil B. DeMille
• A Corner in Wheat (1909) - D.W. Griffith
• The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) - D.W. Griffith
• L’Inferno (1911) - Francesco Bertolini, Giuseppe de Liguoro, and Adolfo Padovan
• Cabiria (1914) - Giovanni Pastrone
• Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - Brian De Palma
• Death’s Marathon (1913) - D.W. Griffith
• The Devil’s Needle (1916) - Chester Withey
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (1999-2024)
• Freaks (1932) - Tod Browning
• The Unholy Three (1925) - Tod Browning
• The Devil-Doll (1936) - Tod Browning
• Alien (1979) - Ridley Scott
• Animal House (1978) - John Landis
• Rodan (1956) - Ishirō Honda
• Star Wars (1977) - George Lucas
• The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916) - John Emerson and Christy Cabanne
• Cinema’s First Nasty Women