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| Foreign Cinema Pages | ![still photo of Maria The Machine from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" [1927]](images/FLmetropolis_maria.jpg) |
books on silent cinema |
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle [1887-1933] Page
Charlie Chaplin [1889-1977] Page
Charley Chase [1893-1940] Page
Sergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948] Page
Douglas Fairbanks [1883-1939] Page
D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Page
Alice Guy-Blaché [1873-1968] Page
Thomas H. Ince [1882-1924] Page
Buster Keaton [1895-1966] Pages
Laurel & Hardy Page
Max Linder [1883-1925] Page
Little Rascals / Our Gang Page
Harold Lloyd [1893-1971] Page
Oscar Micheaux [1884-1951] Page
King Vidor [1894-1982] Page
Silent & Sound Movie Serials Page
at 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Western Bookstore
Zane Grey Silent Movies Page
William S. Hart [1864-1946] Page
Tom Mix [1880-1940] Page
Fred Thomson [1890-1928] Page
Books On Silent Cinema
 | "American Cinema of The 1910s: Themes & Variations" [2009] Edited by Charlie Keil & Ben Singer Rutgers Univ Press 9x6 [2/2009] for $24.95 Rutgers Univ Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [2/2009] for $70.00 |
 | "American Cinema, 1890-1909: Themes & Variations" [2009] Edited by André Gaudreault Rutgers Univ Press 9x6 pb [1/2009] for $24.95 Rutgers Univ Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/2009] for $70.00 |
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"Silent Lives: 100 Biographies of The Silent Film Era" [2008] by Lon Davis, Foreword by Kevin Brownlow BearManor Media 9x6 pb [2/2008] for $22.45 |
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"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 [11/2007] for $29.70 |
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"The First Male Stars: Men of The Silent Era" [2007] by David W. Menefee BearManor Media 9x6 pb [10/2007] for $29.95 covered actors include: John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Richard Barthelmess, John Bunny, Francis X. Bushman, Lon Chaney, Jackie Coogan, William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Antonio Moreno, Jack Pickford, Wallace Reid, Rudolph Valentino & Crane Wilbur |
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"Movies of The 20s and Early Cinema" [2007] by Jürgen Müller Taschen 9¾x7¾ pb [9/2007] for $29.19 |
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"Women Filmmakers In Early Hollywood" [2006] by Karen Ward Mahar Johns Hopkins Univ Press hardcover [10/2006] for $42.30 |
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"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 |
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"An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women In Early American Films, 1895-1930" [2004] by Denise Lowe Routledge 8¼x6 pb [12/2004] for $59.95 Routledge 9x6¼ hardcover [12/2004] for $120.60 |
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"Talking To The Piano Player: Silent Film Stars, Writers & Directors Remember" [2004] by Stuart Oderman
rare interviews & photos of Madge Bellamy, Betty Bronson, Frank Capra, Jackie Coogan, Jerry Devine, Marlene Dietrich, Minta Durfee, Allan Dwan, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Anita Garvin, Leatrice Joy, Anita Loos, Patsy Ruth Miller, Colleen Moore, Ann Pennington, Aileen Pringle, Dorothy Davenport (Mrs. Wallace) Reid, Billie Rhodes, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Constance Talmadge, Lois Wilson, and Claire Windsor BearManor Media 9x6 pb [10/2004] for $19.95 |
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"The First Female Stars: Women of The Silent Era" [2004] by David W. Menefee Praeger Publrs 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2004] for $46.95 |
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"The 1920s: American Popular Culture Through History" [2004] by Kathleen Drowne & Patrick Huber Greenwood Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [3/2004] for $51.95 |
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"Black Manhood On The Silent Screen" [2002] by Gerald R. Butters, Jr. Univ Press of Kansas 8¼x5¾ hardcover [10/2002] for $35.00 and more about Black Cinema on the Afro-American Film Festival Pages |
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"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 |
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"The 1910s: American Popular Culture Through History" [2002] by David Blanke Greenwood Press 9½x6 hardcover [4/2002] for $55.00 |
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"Edgar Rice Burroughs and The Silent Screen, 1917-1929" [2002] by Jerry L. Schneider Imprintbooks 10x7 pb [6/2003] for $25.99 author's website Edgar Rice Burroughs [1875-1950] Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"Silent Stars" [1999] by Jeanine Basinger
Wesleyan Univ Press pb [11/2000] for $21.24 Diane Publng hardcover [4/99] for $35.00 Knopf 9x7 hardcover [10/99] out of print/used featured stars include Clara Bow, Lon Chaney, Marion Davies, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, William S. Hart, The Keystone Cops, Tom Mix, Colleen Moore, Pola Negri, Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford, Rin-Tin-Tin, Gloria Swanson, Constance & Norma Talmadge, and Rudolph Valentino |
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"Magic Mirror: Moviemaking In Russia, 1908-1918" [1999] by Denise J. Youngblood Univ WI Press 9x6 pb [4/99] for $19.95 Univ WI Press 9x6 hardcover [4/99] out of print/used |
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"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 |
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"The Red Rooster Scare: Making Cinema American, 1900-1910" [1999] by Richard Abel During the era of the nickelodeon theater, the French company Pathé dominated film distribution in America & Europe. But then American filmmakers fought back ... Univ CA Press 8¾x6 pb [3/99] for $32.95 Univ CA Press 9¼x6 hardcover [3/99] for $55.00 |
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"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 |
 | "Silent Film" [1995] Edited & with an Introduction by Richard Abel covers the early film industry around the world, including France, Germany & Russia Rutgers Univ Press 9x6 pb [12/95] for $24.00 Rutgers Univ Press 9¼x6 hardcover [12/95] 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 |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"The Silent Comedians" [1993] by Richard Dyer MacCann
featuring John Bunny, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Harold Lloyd, Mabel Normand & Mack Sennett Scarecrow Press 8½x5½ textbook binding [6/93] for $32.50 Scarecrow Press 8¾x6 hardcover [6/93] for $49.50 |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"Stars of The Silents" [1987 classic] by Edward Wagenknecht Scarecrow/Rowman & Littlefield 8¾x5½ hardcover [6/87] for $37.95 |
 | "Silent Movies" [1985] by Neil Sinyard Smithmark Publrs 12½x9½ hardcover [2/95] out of print/many used |
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"Movies of the Silent Years" [1985] Edited by Ann Lloyd & David Robinson Orbis Publng Ltd. hardcover [1/85] out of print/used |
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"Fifty Great American Silent Films, 1912-1920: A Pictorial Survey" [1980] by Anthony Slide Dover Publng hardcover [6/80] out of print/used |
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"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 |
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"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 |
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"Gentlemen To The Rescue: The Heroes of The Silent Screen" [1972] by Kalton C. Lahue A.S. Barnes hardcover [1972] out of print/used |
"Winners of The West: The Sagebrush Heroes of The Silent Screen" [1971]
by Kalton C. Lahue
A.S. Barnes hardcover [1971] out of print/used
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"The Parade's Gone By" [Random House 1968] by Kevin Brownlow Univ CA Press 10x7 pb [6/76] for $31.46 |
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"The Movies In The Age of Innocence" [1962 classic] by Edward Wagenknecht Limelight Editions 9x5¾ pb [6/97] out of print/used Ballantine pb [undated] out of print/used Univ OK Press hardcover [12/62] out of print/used |
Video / Collections
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"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 |
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"Slapstick Encyclopedia, 1909-1927" [2002] Curated by film historians David Shepard & Joe Adamson Image Ent. b&w DVD [4/2002] 5 disks for $62.99 includes 53 complete shorts plus snippets, from directors & comedians Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Monty Banks, Charley Bowers, Charlie Chaplin, Oliver Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Stan Laurel, Max Linder, Harold Lloyd, Will Rogers, Larry Semon, Mack Sennett, Ben Turpin & Bert Williams |
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"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 |
 | "Nickelodia - Volume 1" [2006]
Unknown Video b&w DVD [4/2006] for $19.95 All films are complete and feature piano scores by Frederick Hodges; contains "A Country Cupid" [Biograph 1911 short] directed by D.W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet & Edna Foster; "The Adventures of Billy" [Biograph 1911 short] directed by D.W. Griffith, starring Donald Crisp & Edna Foster; "The Charge of The Light Brigade" [Edison 1912 short] directed by J. Searle Dawley; "The Egyptian Mummy" [Vitagraph 1914 short] directed by Lee Beggs; "In The Tennessee Hills" [Kay-Bee 1915 short] produced by Thomas Ince, directed by James Vincent; "Broncho Billy's Sentence" [Essanay 1915 short] directed by & starring G.M. Anderson |
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"Nickelodia - Volume 2" [2007]
Unknown Video b&w DVD [11/2007] for $19.95 Six main films are complete and feature piano scores by Frederick Hodges; contains "The Light That Came" [Biograph 1909 short] directed by D.W. Griffith; "Fate's Turning" [Biograph 1911 short] directed by D.W. Griffith; "As A Boy Dreams" [I.M.P. 1911 short] directed by Thomas Ince, starring Mary Pickford; "Little Dove's Romance" [Bison 1911 short] directed by Fred Balshofer; "Peeping Pete" [Keystone 1913 short] directed by & starring Mack Sennett, co-starring Ford Sterling & Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle; "The Leap From The Water Tower" [Kalem 1915 serial] directed by & starring J.P. McGowan, co-starring Helen Holmes; plus bonus of the exciting last reel of "The Juggernaut" [Vitagraph 1915 feature film] directed by Ralph W. Ince |
 | "Silent Greats: The Ultimate Collection" DVD Box Set [2007]
St. Clair Ent. DVD set [6/2007] 6 disks for $22.49 the first three disks contain 52 Charlie Chaplin shorts from 1914 to 1919; the other three disks contain 13 Buster Keaton shorts from 1921 to 1923, and five Keaton features: "The General" [1927 silent]; "Steamboat Bill, Jr." [1928 silent]; "Parlor, Bedroom & Bath" [1931 talkie]; "L'il Abner" [1940 talkie]; and "The Villain Still Pursued Her" [1941 talkie]; extras include posters gallery & trivia quiz |
 | "The Golden Age of Silent Films" [2007]
Timeless Media Group DVD set [11/2007] 3 disks for $14.98 Host Dale Reed introduces each of the six silent features included on this DVD box set: "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" [Paramount 1920] starring John Barrymore; "The Mark of Zorro" [1920] starring Douglas Fairbanks; Eleanor H. Porter's "Pollyanna" [1920] starring Mary Pickford; "Blood and Sand" [1922] starring Rudolph Valentino; Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" [Universal 1923] starring Lon Chaney; and Buster Keaton's "The General" [1927] "The Golden Age of Silent Films" 2-disk set [2008] four films, same as above: "Dr. Jekyll", "Zorro", "Blood & Sand" and "Hunchback" Timeless Media Group DVD set [10/2008] for $11.49 in Collector's Tin container: Timeless Media Group DVD set [2/2009] for $11.49 |
 | "Silent Classics The Ultimate Collection" DVD Box Set [2008]
St. Clair Ent. DVD set [4/2008] 6 disks for $19.99 19 movies on six disks; the first four disks contain "The Mark of Zorro" [1920] starring Douglas Fairbanks & Noah Beery; "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" [1920] starring John Barrymore & Nita Naldi; "Nosferatu" [1922] starring Max Schreck; "Oliver Twist" [1922] starring Jackie Coogan & Lon Chaney; "Robin Hood" [1922] starring Douglas Fairbanks & Wallace Beery; "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" [1923] starring Lon Chaney; "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924] starring Douglas Fairbanks & Anna May Wong; "The Phantom of The Opera" [1925] starring Lon Chaney; "Don Q, Son of Zorro" [1925] starring Douglas Fairbanks & Mary Astor; Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" [1927]; and "The Iron Mask" [1929] starring Douglas Fairbanks; extras include poster gallery & two radio shows; Disk 5 contains 4 Mary Pickford films: "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" [1917]; "The Poor Little Rich Girl" [1917]; "Pollyanna" [1920]; and "Little Annie Rooney" [1925]; Disk 6 contains 4 "Wizard of Oz" films: "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" [1914] starring Violet MacMillan, Bert Glennon, Todd Wright & Hal Roach; "His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz" [1914] starring Violet MacMillan; "The Magic Cloak of Oz" [1914 short] starring Mildred Harris & Violet MacMillan; "The Wizard of Oz" [1925] starring Dorothy Dwan, Charles Murray, Larry Semon, Oliver Hardy & Allen 'Farina' Hoskins; plus bonus 'Oz Gallery' |
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"Griffith Masterworks - Volume 2" box set [2008]
Kino Intl. DVD box set [11/2008] 5 disks for $80.99 contains "The Avenging Conscience" [1914 feature] starring Henry B. Walthall, Spottiswoode Aitken & Blanche Sweet; "Way Down East" [1920 feature] starring Lillian Gish & Richard Barthelmess; "Sally of The Sawdust" [1925 feature] starring Carol Dempster & W.C. Fields; "Abraham Lincoln" [1930 feature] starring Walter Huston; "The Struggle" [1931 feature]; and the PBS documentary "D.W. Griffith: Father of Film" [1993]; plus bonus "Edgar Allen Poe" [Biograph 1909 short] Magic Lantern's D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Page |
Individual Films
"The Battleship Potemkin"
aka "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 Kino Video b&w Blu-ray [4/2010] for $25.99 
Image Ent. b&w DVD [10/98] for $23.49 Delta b&w DVD [3/2004] out of prodn/used Hollywood Select Video b&w VHS [8/97] out of prodn/used Soundtrack Factory Edmund Meisel soundtrack CD [9/2000] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia movie poster art print {4 sizes} available at AllPosters.com |
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"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 |
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"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
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"The Beloved Rogue" [1927]
Starring John Barrymore;
full credits from IMDb
"Ben Hur: A Tale of The Christ"
[M.G.M. Dec 1925 silent; 1931 sound re-release; 1989 restoration]
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Once friends in childhood, Judah Ben-Hur becomes a wealthy merchant and Messala becomes a Roman soldier. An accident during a parade causes Judah to be made a galley slave; determined on revenge, he survives and becomes a famous Roman athlete. Returning to Judeah, he is unable to find his sister and mother, believes them to be dead, and blames Messala. (At a cost of $3.9 million, the most expensive silent movie ever made. The famous chariot race sequence was filmed on a gigantic set built at Jefferson & Sepulveda in Culver City, Cali- fornia.) Directed by Fred Niblo {chariot race directed by B. Reeves Eason}; based on the 1880 novel by Gen. Lew Wallace; starring Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Kathleen Key, Carmel Myers, Nigel De Brulier, Mitchell Lewis, Frank Currier, Charles Belcher, Dale Fuller, Winter Hall & Claude Payton, with 125,000 extras; listed on the National Film Registry (1997)
1989 Turner restoration available on DVD as part of the 1959 movie 4-disk Collector's Edition 1925 & 1959 versions: Warner Home Video Collector's Edition DVD [9/2005] 4-disks for $31.99 1925 version only: Warner Home Video b&w VHS [9/98] out of prodn/used 27"x40" two-shot poster from Amazon for $19.99 27"x40" couch poster from Amazon for $19.99 11"x17" couch poster from Amazon for $14.99 full credits from IMDb • film entry at Wikipedia |
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"Ben Hur: A Tale of The Christ" [1880 bestseller] by Gen. Lew Wallace the most popular novel of the XIXth Century, and always in print for over 100 years Signet Classics mass pb [2/2003] for $7.95 Norilana Books 9x6 pb [10/2007] for $15.25 Norilana Books 9¼x6¼ hardcover [10/2007] for $22.36 book entry at Wikipedia • Broadway play credits [1899-1916] at IBDb |
"The Big Parade" [M.G.M. Nov 1925; restored 2005]
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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 |
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"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 |
"Metaphor" [1980 short]
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]
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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 full-length version is 190 minutes.
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 187-minute b&w silent DVD [12/1002] 2 disks for $26.99 the above DVD set includes a 'Making of..' documentary [1992] and 7 short films by D.W. Griffith Image Ent. 187-minute b&w silent DVD [11/98] for $14.99 Reel Enterprises 159-minute b&w DVD [11/2006] for $11.49 Kino Video 165-minute b&w silent VHS [12/2002] 2 tapes - 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 Amazon |
more details (synopsis, books, posters, links) on
"The Birth of A Nation" 1915 Movie Page
"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"
[Paramount/United Artists May 1919 silent]
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1996)
"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" [1920]
Starring Conrad Veidt;
full credits from IMDb
"Cabiria" [Italy April 1914; restored 1985]
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"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: An Epic of Humanity"
[Ince/Triangle June 1916 silent epic]
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A warrior king starts a war. A submarine commander refuses to torpedo a defense-less passenger ship; the submarine is sunk and the captain is drowned and enters the spirit world. Christ returns to earth in the captain's body and is put on trial for treason, but the magical figure then escorts the warrior king on a tour of the horrors of war to convince him to stop making war.
Produced & co-directed by Thomas Ince; co-directed by Reginald Barker & others; starring Howard C. Hickman, Enid Markey, J. Frank Burke, George Fisher & Herschel Mayall; listed on National Film Registry (1999)
not available on DVD; Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] for $28.45 11"x17" poster from AllPosters.com for $19.99 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $14.36 full credits at IMDb |
"Le Comte de Monte-Cristo"
[France Oct 1929 2-part silent; restored 2006]
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restored print presented at Cannes in 2006 by ZZ Productions; screened on 7 June 2008 with live orchestra performance by L'Orchestre National de le Ile de France at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France
Co-written & directed by Henri Fescourt; adapted from the 1844 Alexandre Dumas novel; starring Jean Angelo, Lil Dagover, Gaston Modot & Marie Glory
video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb 24"x32" book poster from Amazon for $55.99 |
"Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" [1920]
Starring John Barrymore;
full credits from IMDb
"Flesh and The Devil" [M.G.M. Dec 1926 silent]
Directed by Clarence Brown; starring John Gilbert, Greta Garbo & Lars Hanson
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2006)
"The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse"
[Metro Pictures March 1921 silent]
Produced & directed by Rex Ingram; starring Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry & Wallace Beery
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1995)
"The Freshman" [Pathé Sept 1925]
Co-produced by & starring Harold Lloyd, with Jobyna Ralston
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1990)
"The General" [BKP/U.A. Feb 1927]
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"one of the best five silent films ever made" per A.F.I.
Co-written & co-directed by & starring Buster Keaton, co-starring Annabelle Lee; listed on National Film Registry (1989) Kino Video b&w silent on Blu-ray [10/2009] for $20.99
Image Ent. b&w DVD [10/99] for $22.49 Kino Video b&w VHS [11/2001] out of prodn/used video & DVD above also contain "The Playhouse" & "Cops" shorts Jef Films b&w VHS [5/98] for $19.99 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The Gold Rush" [United Artists June 1925 silent]
Directed by & starring Charles Chaplin
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1992)
Warner Home Video Special Edition b&w DVD [7/2003] 2 disks for $26.99
"The Great Train Robbery"
[Edison Mfg. Dec 1903 silent]
 | 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); "Great Train Robbery" credits from IMDb V.C.I. 100th Anniversary b&w DVD [12/2003] for $17.99 the DVD includes "Tumbleweeds" [1925 silent] with Wm. S. Hart [1864-1946]; "The Battle of Elderbush Gulch" [1913 silent] by D.W. Griffith [1875-1948]; "The Heart of Texas Ryan" [1917 silent] with Tom Mix [1880-1940], plus other extras |
"Greed" silent film masterpiece
[M.G.M. Dec 1924]
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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 1902 novel "McTeague" by Frank Norris; 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
not available on DVD; Turner 4-hr restoration b&w VHS [9/98] 2 tapes - out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • entry about the film at Wikipedia "Greed" [1993] critical text by Jonathan Rosenbaum
"The Complete Greed of Erich von Stroheim" [1972] by Herman G. Weinberg
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Magic Lantern's "Greed" 1924 Movie Page
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" [1923]
Starring Lon Chaney; full credits from IMDb
"Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout The Ages"
[Triangle Sept 1916 silent classic]
 | 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 |
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"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" [Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Feb 1927 silent]
Starring Clara Bow & Antonio Moreno;
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2001)
"Judex" [Gaumont Dec 1916 silent serial]
 | 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" [First National Pictures Feb 1925 silent]
Starring Wallace Beery, Lloyd Hughes, Bessie Love & Lewis Stone; cameo by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [1859-1930]
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; listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (5/2005) 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 |
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"The Man With The Movie Camera: The Film Companion" [2001] by Graham Roberts I.B. Tauris 8½x5¼ pb [3/2001] for $24.50 |
 | "Metropolis" [U.F.A./Paramount Jan 1927 silent] Directed by Fritz Lang [1890-1976] more details (synopsis, books, posters, DVDs & videos) on
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"Mother, 1905"
[Russia Oct 1926, USA May 1934 silent]
 | Film version of Gorky's classic novel of the failed 1905 Revolution; film restored in 1968, with new music. The title character's son joins a workers' strike, and her brutish husband joins the loyalist group arming to stop any such revolutionary activity; over time, she becomes more aware of the reasons for the workers' stand against the oppressors and joins the revolution herself.
Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin; written by Nathan Zarkhi, based on the 1907 novel by Maxim Gorky [1868-1936]; starring Vera Baranovskaya, Nikolai Batalov, Aleksandr Chistyakov & Anna Zemtsova
Image Ent. b&w DVD [1/99] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"Nanook of The North" [Pathé June 1922 silent]
Written & directed by Robert J. Flaherty
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1989)
Abel Gance's "Napoléon"
[France April 1927 silent; M.G.M. USA release Feb 1929]
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This six-hour masterpiece was Part 1 of Gance's planned six-film life work about Napoleon, but Gance could never get funding for the rest. The film covers Napoleon Bonapart's early years up thru the French Army's triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797, and the final twenty-minute triptych sequence (on three screens) alternates widescreen panoramas of war with complex multiple-image montages projected simultaneously, ending in blue-white-red tinting symbolizing the tricolor flag of France.
There was a stereo sound reissue in 1934; the Brownlow-Coppola 235-minute version was exhibited with live orchestras in 1981; the 5-hour-plus re-restoration was completed in 2000.
Written, directed & edited by Abel Gance [1889-1981]; starring Albert Dieudonné & Gina Manès
Region 1 DVD not available in USA Universal 1981 release b&w/color VHS [3/92] 2 tapes - out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb color Coppola 1981 re-release 27"x41" poster from Amazon for $39.99 "Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite" documentary [1968] by Kevin Brownlow video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb "Napoleon" script? [1990] by Abel Gance Faber & Faber 8½x5½ pb [1/90] out of print/used |
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"Napoleon" [1983] by Kevin Brownlow
Abel Gance's masterpeice would have been lost had then-teenager Brownlow not discovered 9.5mm snippets in a London shop. The book is a record of the 30-plus years of extraordinary work that resulted in the 4-hour 1981 version and the over-five-hour restoration of 2000. British Film Institute 9x6 pb [1/2008] not available? Knopf pb [10/83] out of print/used Jonathan Cape hardcover [5/83] out of print/used |
"Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" [1922]
Directed by F.W. Murnau, starring Max Schrek
full credits from IMDb
"Peter Pan"
[Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Dec 1924 silent]
Starring Betty Bronson {as Peter Pan}, Mary Brian, Anna May Wong, Virginia Brown Faire & Ernest Torrence
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2000)
"The Phantom of The Opera"
[Universal Sept 1925 silent]
Starring Lon Chaney & Mary Philbin; full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1998)
"The Poor Little Rich Girl"
[Artcraft Pictures March 1917]
Starring Mary Pickford; 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 April 1923 silent]
Co-produced by Hal Roach; starring Harold Lloyd & Mildred Davis
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1994)
"Sherlock Jr." [B.K.P./M.G.M. April 1924 silent]
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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" [United Artists July 1926]
Starring Rudolph Valentino & Vilma Bánky; full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (2003)
"Steamboat Willie" [Disney sound cartoon Nov 1928]
Co-written & co-directed by Walt Disney [1901-66] & Ub Iwerks
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1998)
"Strike" aka "Stachka"
[Soviet/Goskino April 1925 silent]
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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"
[United Artists March 1924 silent]
Directed by Raoul Walsh; starring Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Anna May Wong & Sojin
full credits from IMDb; listed on National Film Registry (1996)
"The Toll of The Sea"
[Metro Pictures / Technicolor Nov 1922 silent]
Hollywood's first color film. Script by Frances Marion; starring Anna May Wong & Kenneth Harlan
video/DVD not available;
full credits from IMDb
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" silent feature
[Universal Pictures Nov 1927]
 | Based on the 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe novel; one of the most expensive silent films ever made; the stereotypes and Victorian melodrama are counter-balanced by many moving moments and nail-biting action sequences, especially Eliza's escape across the ice floes. Kino's restoration includes a new recording of the original Movietone orchestral score. Presented by Carl Laemmle; co-produced & directed by Harry A. Pollard; starring Margarita Fischer, James B. Lowe, Arthur Edmund Carewe, George Siegmann, Eulalie Jensen, Mona Ray & Virginia Grey
Kino Video b&w DVD [11/99] out of prodn/used Kino Intl. b&w VHS [11/99] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb |
"Les Vampires" [Gaumont Nov 1915 silent serial]
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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
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]
Silent Film Society of Chicago [est. 1998]
![Kansas Silent Film Festival [Feb 2009 = #13] in Topeka, Kansas](images/KansasSilentFilmFestival.jpg)
Catalina Island Museum Silent Film Benefit [June 2010 = #23] in California
'Slapsticon' silent comedy film festival [July 2008 = #6] in Arlington, VA
San Francisco Silent Film Festival [July 2008 = #13]
Online sales in association with 
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