Silent Cinema

by Joel W. Finler

Looking at the advent of the film industry world-wide, this book covers the absolute beginnings of cinema. It includes information on major genres, studios, stars and directors.

Genres: Film

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Joel Waldo Finler.

Reviews

[Bernie4444 · Rating 4 out of 5]

World of cinema before the coming of sound.

Joel W. Finler’s idea of the best samples of Silent movies. He did a pretty good job considering that you cannot include all movies in a 192-page book that is mostly black-and-white stills from films from around the world.

The first chapter is about the first decade 1894 to 1905 showing the rudimentary beginnings and simple films.

The second chapter 1906 to 1915 includes an exotic picture of Egyptian life in Patrone’s “Cabiria” 1914 aka "Cabiria, Visione Storica del Terzo Secolo A.C.".

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of the silent period, including European cinema (but short shrift to pre-revolutionary Russia). Lots of quotes from other works, relatively few factual errors. Easy read, lots of really nice pictures on large pages.