What term describes the text cards inserted between scenes in silent films?

The text cards inserted between scenes in silent films are called intertitles.

An intertitle is a filmed or printed card placed amid the moving images to communicate dialogue, narration, location, time, or other information. Because silent films generally lacked synchronized spoken dialogue, these cards helped audiences follow the story and understand what characters were saying.

Dialogue intertitles typically presented a character’s spoken words, while expository intertitles supplied narrative explanation or descriptive details. Early filmmakers used several labels, including “subtitles,” “captions,” “titles,” “leaders,” and “headings,” before “intertitle” became the preferred modern term.

Intertitles were not the same as opening or closing credits, which identify performers, filmmakers, and production companies. Nor are they exactly the same as modern subtitles, which usually translate or transcribe spoken audio. As sound films became popular in the late 1920s and 1930s, intertitles largely disappeared, although filmmakers still use title cards as an artistic device or to provide historical context.