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books on silent cinema video collections links individual films

Books  On  Silent  Cinema

	"Silent Movies: The Birth of Film & The Triumph of   Movie Culture (from the Archives of the Library of Congress)" [2007] by Peter Kobel Little, Brown hardcover [DUE Nov 2007] pre-order for $34.20
	"Movies of The 20s and Early Cinema" [2007]   by Jürgen Müller Taschen 9¾x7¾ pb [9/2007] for $26.39
	"The First Male Stars" [2007]   by David W. Menefee BearManor Media 9x6 pb [10/2007] for $29.95
	"Women Filmmakers In Early Hollywood" [2006] by Karen Ward Mahar Johns Hopkins Univ Press hardcover [10/2006] for $42.30
	"Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin" [2006] by John Bengtson & Kevin Brownlow Santa Monica Press 8½x11 pb [8/2006] for $16.47 Charlie Chaplin Page at Magic Lantern
	"The First Female Stars: Women of The Silent Era" [2004] by David W. Menefee Praeger Publrs 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2004] for $46.95
	"Silent Players: A Biographical & Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors & Actresses" [2002] by Anthony Slide Univ Press KY 10¼x7¼ hardcover [9/2002] for $28.00
	"Silent Film and The Triumph of The American Myth" [2001] by Paula Marantz Cohen Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6 pb [4/2001] for $24.95 Oxford Univ Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [4/2001] for $55.00
	"Weimar Cinema and After: Germany's Historical Imaginary" [2000] by Thomas Elsaesser Routledge 9x5¾ pb [9/2000] for $30.20 Routledge 9½x6½ library-hardcover [9/2000] for $125.00
	"Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton" [1999] by John Bengtson & Kevin Brownlow Santa Monica Press 8½x11 pb [12/99] for $17.46 Buster Keaton Pages at Magic Lantern
	"Guide To The Silent Years of American Cinema" [1999] by Donald W. McCaffrey & Christopher P. Jacobs Greenwood Press 9½x6½ hardcover [9/99] for $107.95
	"Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide To 646 Movies" [1999] by Robert K. Klepper McFarland & Co. 9¾x7 pb [1/2005] for $47.45 McFarland & Co. hardcover [3/99] out of print/used
	"Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film & The Shaping of Class In America" [1997] by Steven J. Ross Princeton Univ Press 9x6 pb [12/99] for $26.95 Princeton Univ Press hardcover [12/97] out of print/used
	"Seductive Cinema: The Art of Silent Film" [1994] by James Card Univ MN Press 9¼x6¼ pb [3/99] for $19.95 Knopf 9¾x6½ hardcover [5/94] out of print/used
	"The Ciné Goes To Town: French Cinema, 1896-1914" [1994] by Richard Abel Univ CA Press 10x6¾ pb [6/98] for $37.15 Univ CA Press 10½x7½ hardcover [3/94] out of print/used
	"Silent Cinema: An Introduction (Revised & Expanded Edition)" [orig 1994] by Paulo Cherchi Usai British Film Institute 9½x6½ pb [10/2000] for $25.50 British Film Institute 9½x6½ hardcover [10/2000] out of print/used
	"American Silent Film Comedies: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Persons, Studios & Terminology" [1995] by Blair Miller McFarland & Co. 9¼x6 hardcover [7/95] for $45.00
	"A Guide To Silent Westerns (Bibliographies & Indexes In The Performing Arts Series, Volume 13)" [1992] by Larry Langman Greenwood Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/92] for $126.95
	"An Evening's Entertainment: The Age of The Silent Feature Picture, 1915-1928" [1990] by Richard Koszarski (History of The American Cinema, Vol. 3) Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [5/94] for $27.50 Scribner's 10½x7½ hardcover [12/90] for $99.00 all ten volumes of the History of The American Cinema Series
	"The Transformation of Cinema, 1907-1915" [1990] by Eileen Bowser (History of The American Cinema, Vol. 2) Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [5/94] for $18.21 Scribner's 10¼x7½ hardcover [12/90] for $99.00
	"Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative" [1990] by Thomas Elsaesser British Film Institute 9x6 pb [10/90] for $31.95 British Film Institute hardcover [10/90] out of print/used
	"The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen To 1907" [1990] by Charles Musser (History of The American Cinema, Vol. 1) Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [5/94] for $34.95 Scribner's 10¼x7½ hardcover [2/90] for $99.00
	"Hollywood: The Pioneers" [1979] by Kevin Brownlow & John Kobal Knopf hardcover [3/80] out of print/used HarperCollins hardcover [10/79] out of print/used
	"American Silent Film" [1978] by William K. Everson Da Capo Press 8¾x6 pb [1/2005] for $18.95 Oxford Univ Press hardcover [6/78] out of print/used
	"The Parade's Gone By" [Random House 1968] by Kevin Brownlow Univ Ca Press 10x7 pb [6/76] for $34.95

	"The 1910s: American Popular Culture Through History" [2002] by David Blanke Greenwood Press 9½x6 hardcover [4/2002] for $55.00
	"The 1920s: American Popular Culture Through History" [2004] by Kathleen Drowne & Patrick Huber Greenwood Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [3/2004] for $51.95

Video  Collections

"Landmarks of Early Film, Volume 1" [1994] Image Ent b&w DVD [7/98] for $26.99 includes Edison Kinestoscope films (1894-96), films by the brothers Lumière (1895-97), films by French special effects pioneer Georges Méliès, documentary 'actualities' {1897-1910), and selected short films from 1903 to 1913 "Landmarks of Early Film, Volume 2: The Magic of Méliès" [1994] Image Ent b&w/color DVD [3/99] for $26.99 includes the documentary "Georges Melies: Cinema Magician" [1978] and 15 restored shorts

"Griffith Masterworks" box set [2002] Kino Video b&w DVD [12/2002] 7 disks for $89.99 includes "The Birth of A Nation" [1915], "Intolerance" [1916], "Broken Blossoms" [1919], "Orphans of The Storm [1921], and 23 Biograph shorts [1909-13], plus many extras "D.W. Griffith: Years of Discovery, 1909-1913" [22 Biograph shorts; 2002] Image Ent. b&w DVD [9/2002] 2 disks for $35.99 Magic Lantern's D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Page

Individual  Films

"The  Battleship  Potemkin"
{'Bronenosets Potyomkin 1905'}  [Russia/Goskino Dec 1925; reissued 1950]

	Based on the historical Odessa revolt of 1905; sailors aboard the battleship Potemkin refuse to eat rancid meat and the admiral orders them shot; the sailors mutiny and kill the officers; the citizens of Odessa rally behind the sailors; cossacks arrive and slaughter the unarmed citizens on the harbor steps (famous sequence) and then the Russian navy destroys the Potemkin. Co-written, directed & edited by Sergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948]; starring Aleksandr Antonov Delta b&w DVD [3/2004] for $6.99 Image Ent. b&w DVD [10/98] for $22.99 Hollywood Select Video b&w VHS [8/97] for $14.24 Soundtrack Factory Edmund Meisel soundtrack CD [9/2000] for $16.99 full credits from IMDb movie poster art print {4 sizes} available at AllPosters.com
	"Sergei M. Eisenstein's Potemkin: A Shot-By-Shot Presentation" [1972] by David Mayer Da Capo Press 8x5½ pb [1/2001] for $16.95 Viking hardcover [2/72] out of print/used entry about the film at Wikipedia
	"The Battleship Potemkin: The Film Companion" [1988] by Richard Taylor I.B. Tauris 8½x5½ pb [3/2001] for $21.95 "Battleship Potemkin" script [1984] critical text by Andrew Sinclair Faber & Faber 8¾x5½ pb [8/88] out of print/used

"The  Big  Parade"  [M.G.M. Nov 1925; restored 2005]

Actually the prologue to screenwriter L. Stallings's autobiographical novel "Plumes"; an idle rich American boy enlists in the Army and is sent to France where he becomes friends with two fellow soldiers, suffers in the trenches, and finds love with a French girl. Directed by King Vidor [1894-1982]; script by Harry Behn, based on a play by Joseph Farnham [1884-1931] and the story "Plumes" {below) by Laurence Stallings; starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Claire McDowell, Claire Adams, Robert Ober, Tom O'Brien, Karl Dane, Kathleen Key, Rosita Marstini & Julanne Johnston; listed on National Film Registry (1992) Warner b&w VHS [4/92] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb

"Plumes" [1924] by Laurence Stallings [1894-1968] Used as partial basis for Vidor's silent war film "The Big Parade" [1925], the autobographical novel tells of the aftermath of military service in Europe during The Great War; the author/- protagonist returned to a wife and daughter after losing a leg in battle and struggled with the loss of his idealistic faith in government and society. Univ SC Press 8x5 pb [11/2006] for $15.56

entry about "The Big Parade" at Wikipedia

"Metaphor" [1980 short]

Color documentary produced & directed by King Vidor [1894-1982] about the influence of his silent classic film "The Big Parade" on painter Andrew Wyeth video/DVD not available; credits from IMDb

"The  Birth  of  A  Nation"
[D.W.G./Epoch silent classic Feb 1915]

	Originally released as "The Clansman", shortly retitled as "The Birth of A Nation"; the film reflects the racist nature of the Dixon book (and of the Reconstruction Era), and was protested by the N.A.A.C.P. & others on re-release in 1922. The plot follows two families in South Carolina on opposite sides in the U.S. Civil War; later events include recreations of historic Civil War battles, the assassination of President Lincoln, the post-war Reconstruction, and the founding of the Ku Klux Klan. Co-written & directed by D.W. Griffith [1875-1948]; based on the 1905 novel & play "The Clansman" by Thomas F. Dixon Jr.; starring Ralph Lewis, Elmer Clifton, Robert Harron, Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Walter Long, George Siegmann, Wallace Reid, Joseph Henabery {as Abraham Lincoln}, Josephine Crowell, Spottiswoode Aitken, George Beranger, Maxfield Stanley, Jennie Lee, Raoul Walsh {as John Wilkes Booth}, Donald Crisp (as Gen. Grant} & Howard Gaye {as Gen. Lee}; listed on National Film Registry (1992) Kino Video b&w silent DVD [8/00] 2 disks for $26.99 the above DVD set includes a 'Making of..' documentary [1992] and 7 short films by D.W. Griffith: "In the Border States" [1910], "The House with the Closed Shutters" [1910], "The Fugitive" [1910], "His Trust" [1910], "His Trust Fulfilled" [1910], "Swords and Hearts" [1911] and "The Battle" [1911] Image Ent. b&w silent DVD [11/98] for $17.99 Delta b&w silent DVD [12/2004] for $6.99 Madacy? b&w silent VHS [1/85] 2 tapes for $24.95 Madacy b&w silent VHS [9/97] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb "The Birth of A Nation" 11"x17" poster available at AllPosters.com "The Clansman" 11"x17" poster available at AllPosters.com
	"D.W. Griffith's Film The Birth of A Nation: The Film That Transformed America" [2006] by Michael R. Hurwitz BookSurge Publng 7¾x5¼ pb [9/2006] for $13.99
	"D.W. Griffith's The Birth of A Nation: A History of The Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time" [2007] by Melvyn Stokes Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6 pb [12/2007] for $24.95 Oxford Univ Press 9x6 hardcover [12/2007] for $99.00

"The  Black  Pirate"
[Elton Corp. March 1926 silent]

A nobleman infiltrates a pirate band to avenge the death of his father; NOTE: filmed in 2-strip color. Directed by Albert Parker; produced & co-written by & starring Douglas Fairbanks; also starring Billie Dove & Donald Crisp; listed in the National Film Registry (1993) Image Ent. color DVD [8/99] for $26.96 Kino Video color VHS [6/96] for $24.95 full credits from IMDb

"Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man & the Girl"  [studio mo 1919]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1996)

"Cabiria"
[Italy April 1914; restored 1985]

"One of the most influential films ever made ... visually stunning." Set against the Punic Wars, a little princess, believed killed in a volcanic eruption, is then kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Carthage. A Roman noble and his slave save the girl from sacrifice to the local god Moloch, and she then becomes the slave of the queen. Ten years later, Carthage falls to the Roman army, and Cabiria is able to return home. Produced, co-written & directed by Giovanni Pastrone; co-written by Gabriele D'Annunzio, based on a book by Titus Livus; starring Carolina Catena, Letizia Quarante, Umberto Mozzato, Bartolomeo Pagano, Italia Almirante-Manzini & Gina Marangoni Kino Video tinted b&w DVD [11/2000] for $26.99 Kino Video tinted b&w VHS [11/98] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb

"Civilization"  [Ince/Triangle 1916 silent epic]

Produced & co-directed by Thomas H. Ince; starring Howard C. Hickman, Enid Markey, J. Frank Burke, George Fisher & Herschel Mayall; listed on National Film Registry (1999) Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] for $28.45 full credits at IMDb

"Flesh  and  The  Devil"  [studio mo 1926]
Starring John Gilbert, Greta Garbo & Lars Hanson
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2006)

"The  Four  Horsemen  of  The  Apocalypse"  [studio mo 1921]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1995)

"The  Freshman"  [studio mo 1925]
Co-produced by & starring Harold Lloyd, with Jobyna Ralston
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1990)

"The  Gold  Rush"  [studio mo 1925]
Directed by & starring Charles Chaplin
Limited Edition Collectors Set Creative Design b&w DVD [11/2003] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1992)

"The  Great  Train  Robbery"
[Edison Mfg. Dec 1903]

The first movie with a plotted storyline was a Western! Co-written & directed by Edwin S. Porter; starring Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson; listed in National Film Registry (1990) V.C.I. 100th Anniversary b&w DVD [12/2003] for $17.99 includes "Tumbleweeds" [1925 silent] with Wm. S. Hart; "The Battle of Elderbush Gulch" [1913 silent] by D.W. Griffith [1875-1948]; "The Heart of Texas Ryan" [1917 silent] with Tom Mix, plus extras "Great Train Robbery" credits from IMDb

"Greed"
silent film masterpiece [M.G.M. Dec 1924]

A San Francisco dentist woos and marries his best friend's girl. She wins the lottery and her jealous ex-boyfriend turns the dentist in for having no license to practice. This legendary 'lost film' was delivered at ten hours length (42 reels of film); the studio forced Stroheim to make drastic cuts; he cut it down to four hours. The displeased studio then took control and released a 2-hour & 20-minute version, which failed at the box office. The excised negatives and exposed film were destroyed, perhaps as late as the 1950s. The Turner restoration makes use of still photos & historical script continuity. Co-written & directed by Erich von Stroheim; based on the novel "McTeague" {below}; starring Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller, Tempe Pigott, Sylvia Ashton, Chester Conklin & Joan Standing; listed on the National Film Registry in 1991 Turner 4-hr restoration b&w VHS [9/98] 2 tapes - out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb "Greed" [1993] critical text by Jonathan Rosenbaum British Film Institute 7½x5¼ pb [9/93] for $14.95 "The Complete Greed of Erich von Stroheim" [1972] by Herman G. Weinberg Ayer 10&frac15x10¼ hardcover [1/72] out of print/used complete script: Ayers hardcover [1/72] out of [print/used "McTeague: A Story of San Francisco" [1899 classic novel] by Frank Norris [1870-1902] Signet mass pb [8/2003] for $7.95 W.W. Norton 8½x5¼ pb critical text [11/96] for $12.80 entry about the book at Wikipedia

VT's "Greed" fansite
entry about the film at Wikipedia

"Intolerance:  Love's  Struggle  Throughout  The  Ages"
[Triangle silent classic Sept 1916]

Four tales of intolerance by Mankind: religious rivalry in ancient Babylon; the tale of Christ in Roman-occupied Judea; Catholic vs. Huguenot in 1572 France; and in modern America. Produced, co-written, directed & edited by D.W. Griffith [1875-1948]; starring Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Howard Gaye, Lillian Langdon, Olga Grey, Margery Wilson, Eugene Pallette, Spottiswoode Aitken & Constance Talmadge; listed on National Film Registry (1989) Kino Video 197-min. b&w DVD [10/2002] for $26.99 Alpha Video 163-min. b&w DVD [10/2003] for $6.98 Kino Video 197-min. b&w VHS [6/2000] 2 tapes - out of prodn/used HBO Masterpiece 175-min. b&w VHS [10/91] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb movie entry at Wikipedia 11"x17" poster available at AllPosters.com

"D.W. Griffith's Intolerance: Its Genesis & Its Vision" [1986] by William M. Drew McFarland & Co. 9x6 pb [9/2001] for $29.95 McFarland & Co. 9½x6¼ hardcover [4/86] out of print/used

"It"  [studio mo 1927]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2001)

"Judex"  [Gaumont silent serial Dec 1916]

Following French movie pioneer Louis Feuillade's classic "Les Vampires" [1915], he made another great early serial, 12 episodes about a 'caped crusader' avenging wrongs, a precursor to Batman and The Shadow. Co-written & directed by Louis Feuillade; starring René Cresté {as Judex}, Musidora, René Poyen, Édouard Mathé, Gaston Michel & Yvonne Dario Flicker Alley subtitled silent b&w DVD [6/2004] 2 disks for $39.95 full credits from IMDb • film entry at Wikipedia

"The Lost World"  [studio mo 1925]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1998)

"Man With The Movie Camera"
[Soviet silent Jan 1929, USA May 1929]

"a dazzling and sophisticated ... experiment in the language of pure cinema" Written & directed by Dziga Vertov; modern musical score by the Alloy Orchestra Image Ent. b&w silent DVD [2/2002] for $22.99 Kino Video b&w silent VHS [11/2001] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb

"Metropolis"  [studio mo 1925]
Directed by Fritz Lang [1890-1976]; full credits from IMDb; listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (5/2005)

"Nanook of The North"  [studio mo 1922]
Written & directed by Robert J. Flaherty
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1989)

Abel Gance's "Napoléon"  [studio mo 1927]
full credits from IMDb
stereo sound reissue 1934 + restored 4-hr version 1981 + full 5-hr re-restoration 2000; used 1991 video 6300183548
Napoleon by Kevin Brownlow (Paperback - Sep 9, 2005) 1844570770

"Peter Pan"  [studio mo 1924]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2000)

"The Phantom of The Opera"  [studio mo 1925]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1998)

"The Poor Little Rich Girl"  [studio mo 1917]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1991)

"Regeneration"  [Fox Sept 1915]
Co-written & directed by Raoul Walsh [1887-1980]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2000)

"Safety Last!"  [Hal Roach Studios mo 1923]
Co-produced by Hal Roach; starring Harold Lloyd & Mildred Davis
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1994)

"Sherlock Jr."  [BKP/MGM 1924]

Directed by & starring Buster Keaton [1895-1966], with Joe Keaton; listed on National Film Registry (1991); listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (10/2005) Kino Video b&w DVD [11/99] for $21.99 Kino Video b&w VHS [11/2001] for $18.95 full credits from IMDb video & DVD includes "Our Hospitality" [Schenck/MGM 1923]

"The Son of The Sheik"  [studio mo 1926]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2003)

"Steamboat Willie"  [Disney sound cartoon 1928]
Co-written & co-directed by Walt Disney & Ub Iwerks; listed on National Film Registry (1998)
full credits from IMDb

"Strike" aka "Stachka" [Soviet/Goskino silent April 1925]

During Czarist rule, workers at a railroad locomotive factory go on strike; as time drags on, excitement is replaced by hunger, management brings in provocateurs & police, and the military arrives to liquidate the workers. Co-written & directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948]; co-written & assistant-directed by & starring Grigori Aleksandrov Image Ent. b&w silent DVD [7/2000] for $22.99 Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb

"The Thief of Bagdad"  [studio mo 1924]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1996)

"The Toll of The Sea"  [1921]
Hollywood's first color film

"Les  Vampires"  [Gaumont silent serial Nov 1915]

A vast gang of crooks who call themselves 'The Vampires' is undone by an intrepid reporter and a reformed member of the gang. Written & directed by Louis Feuillade; starring Musidora {as Irma Vep}, Édouard Mathé, Marcel Lévesque, Jean Aymé, Fernand Herrmann & Stacia Napierkowska Image Ent. subtitled silent b&w DVD [4/2005] 2 disks for $34.99 full credits from IMDb • film entry at Wikipedia

Links

D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Page at Magic Lantern
Charlie Chaplin [1889-1977] Page at Magic Lantern
Buster Keaton [1895-1966] Pages at Magic Lantern
Sergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948] Page at Magic Lantern

Fred Thomson [1890-1928] Page at 'Readers of The Purple Sage'
Zane Grey Silent Movies Page at 'Readers of The Purple Sage'

Donald Sosin & Joanna Seaton's Music For Silent Films
TL's 'Silents Are Golden' website
Welcome To Silent Movies fansite
German-language site of Silent Era postcards
Silent Clowns Film Series [est. 1996] in New York City
Silent Era website [est. 1999]
'Slapsticon' silent comedy film festival [July 2007 = #5] in Arlington, VA

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