One of the biggest differences between silent actors and "talkies" is over exaggerated body and facial expressions. Such as in The Great Train Robbery where the man takes an extended period of time to show that he had been shot and is dead. There were also many facial expressions that were extreme close-ups to show perhaps and eye movement of a wink, just to make sure the audience caught it.
As just another person watching a movie I would say that those expressions are not missed in today's movie. I mean have you ever watched a modern film where it took somebody too long to die, its like come on already, we get the picture. Today dialogue is used to inform the viewer of what is happening in the film. I notice that most of us are more impatient with scenes that take too long, we understand what is happening so a over done explanation is not necessary. Yet, as a student in The Development of Film, I do seem to miss the exaggerations. It feels almost as if the actor/actress is giving more to the scene, almost trying harder than today's actors and actresses.
As mentioned before I believe we are too impatient to be able to sit down and watch a full-length silent feature film in our free time. Yes certain elements are still incorporated in films today, such as big waves of the arms or exaggerated winks, and those certain expressions make the scene stand out, but overuse of the expressions would bore audiences today. I do not believe that there is a future in the movie industry for full-length silent films, Shorts maybe. But silent films will always play a major role in the history of film making and how it influenced films today.
