By Vlad Zakh · July 24, 2026
Ford Sterling built his fame as the original leader of the Keystone Kops before moving into a respected character career across silent and early sound films. Alice in Wonderland tumbles a girl into nonsense, Sally rises from dishwasher to Broadway star, Stage Struck daydreams a waitress into a stage star, and Wild Oranges sails a grieving widower into a young woman’s terrorised life. He Who Gets Slapped and Yankee Doodle in Berlin round out the list.
01 A young girl falls down a rabbit hole into a world of eccentric, nonsensical characters.
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod · 1h 16m · Rated NR
Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Sky Store, YouTube
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, CosmoGo, YouTube, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Rent: Amazon Video
02 Ford Sterling is in this early Technicolor musical about an orphaned dishwasher who rises from a Greenwich Village restaurant to Broadway stardom.
Directed by John Francis Dillon · 1h 43m · Rated NR
Stream: YouTube TV · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
03 Ford Sterling is in this Gloria Swanson silent about a daydreaming small-town waitress who imagines herself as a glamorous stage star while pining for a travelling performer.
Directed by Allan Dwan · 1h 24m
04 Ford Sterling is in this King Vidor silent about a grieving widower whose sailing trip brings him into the orbit of a young woman terrorised by her deranged guardian.
Directed by King Vidor · 1h 28m
05 A humiliated scientist reinvents himself as a masochistic circus clown, hiding a burning desire for revenge.
Directed by Victor Sjöström · 1h 12m · Rated NR
Stream: TCM, Eternal Family · Rent or buy: Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Amazon Video
06 Ford Sterling features in this Mack Sennett silent about an American aviator who disguises himself as a woman to infiltrate the German high command during the First World War.
Directed by F. Richard Jones · 1h 07m
Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.
