The best thing to do when one is trying to get used to silent film is stay away from those period or biblical epics like the one you just watched.

I'd go for suspense or thrillers like Hitchcock's The Lodger and or Blackmail. There's a great gangster silent movie called Regeneration by Raoul Walsh.

You can never go wrong w/ the thrill-stunt comedies of Harold Lloyd. Try Safety Last and The Freshman found on the awesome Haroly Lloyd Collection DVD boxset.

Buster Keaton and Bruckman's The General can entertain anyone. Anyone. I defy you not to find the train sequences thrilling!

Of course, we have Charlie Chaplin. Try Modern Times. Can't beat the boxing match in City Lights.

You still enjoy sight gags or visual jokes in modern comedy movies, right? The Lloyds, Keatons, and Chaplins are full of them.

A second thing to do is play a favorite instrumental music piece that you think fits. I honestly can't stand most of the orchestral accompaniment on silent movie DVDs. I know someone that plays trip-hop instrumentals or modern electronic music. I watch most of them literally silent.