Magic Lantern Video & Book StorePioneers of The Cinema
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Great Films Before The Academy Awards
The Pioneers
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Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson [1880-1971]
wrote, produced, directed & starred in almost 400 silent movies explore videos/DVDs • IMDb listing • Broadway credits • Wikipedia |
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, CA
Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival in Fremont, CA
RTJ's Broncho Billy fansite
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"Broncho Billy & The Essanay Film Company" [2003] by David Kiehn Farwell hardcover 10x7 [6/2003] for $32.50 |
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"The Son-of-A-Gun!" silent feature [Golden West/Sherry Feb 1919]
Co-written, produced & directed by & starring Broncho Billy Anderson, with Fred Church, Frank Whitson, A.E. Witting, Mattie Witting & Paul Willis Unknown Video b&w DVD [11/2004] for $19.95 full credits at IMDb |
director Dorothy Arzner [1897-1979]
explore videos/DVDs •
book about career • IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
director Alice Guy-Blaché [1873-1968]
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IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
Alice Guy-Blaché, Lost Visionary of The Cinema
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"Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of The Cinema" [2002] by Alison McMahan "A monumental job..." — Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times Continuum 9.4x6.4 hardcover [3/2002] for $24.50 |
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"The Memoirs of Alice Guy Blaché" [1986] Translated by Roberta & Simone Blaché Edited by Anthony Slide The only woman filmmaker to this day who owned her own studio. Scarecrow Press 8½x5½ hardcover [5/96] for $29.50 Scarecrow Press hardcover [8/86] out pf print/used |
Theodore W. Case [1888-1944]
meager IMDb listing; no entry at Wikipedia
Case Research Laboratory Museum [built 1916] in Auburn, NY
a history of motion picture sound, 1910-1929 {at University of San Diego}
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"Now We're Talking: The Story of Theodore W. Case & Sound-On-Film" [2003] by Antonia K. & Luke P. Colella Authorhouse 9¼x6¼ pb [11/2003] for $13.95 Authorhouse hardcover [1/2003] out of print/rare |
Sir Charles Chaplin [1889-1977] Page
George Eastman [1854-1932]
no data on IMDb • Wikipedia
Kodak website
George Eastman House Museum of Photography [built 1905; chartered 1947]
P.B.S. George Eastman bio
P.B.S. bio on VHS
Thomas Alva Edison [1847-1931]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
Inventing Entertainment: The Edison Companies
Edison National Historic Site in West Orange, New Jersey
list of Edison's 1,093 patents
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"Edison: The Invention of The Movies, 1891-1918" [2005] by Kino Video & M.O.M.A. Kino Video color/b&w DVD [2/2005] 4 disks for $89.99 full credits at IMDb |
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"Thomas A. Edison and His Kinetographic Motion Pictures" [1995] by Charles Musser Rutgers Univ Press 9½x9 pb [9/95] out of print |
Sergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948] Page
Louis Feuillade [1873-1925] of France
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
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"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 |
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"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 |
first cinematographer Wm. Friese-Greene [1855-1921]
B.F.I. profile •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
Abel Gance [1889-1981] of France
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IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Page
William S. Hart [1864-1946]
explore videos/DVDs • IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
William S. Hart Museum in Newhall, CA
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"William S. Hart: Projecting The American West" [2003] by Ronald L. Davis Univ OK Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [8/2003] for $28.45 |
studio head Thomas H. Ince [1882-1924]
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IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
Inceville Studios, north of Santa Monica, California
Triangle Studios [est. 1915] in Culver City, California
Triangle Films entry at Wikipedia
Ince-Triangle-M.G.M. Studios history page on Culver City website
Thomas Ince Studios [est. 1918] in Culver City, California
Ince-R.K.O.-Selznick-Desilu Studios history page on Culver City website
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"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 |
comedian Buster Keaton [1895-1966] Pages
inventor Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince of France
[1842 - disappeared 1890]
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
Victorian Cinema's Le Prince page
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"The Missing Reel: The Untold Story of The Lost Inventor of Moving Pictures" [1990] by Christopher Rawlence Penguin 7¾x5¼ pb [3/92] out of print/used Atheneum hardcover [12/90] out of print/rare |
Lumière Brothers of France
Louis [1864-1948] at IMDb •
Auguste [1862-1954] at IMDb
browse videos/DVDs •
Wikipedia
Institut Lumière museum [est. 1982] in Lyon, France
Georges Méliès [1861-1938] of France
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
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"Georges Méliès (French Film Directors Series)" [2000] by Elizabeth Ezra Manchester Univ Press 8x5 pb [9/2000] for $21.95 Manchester Univ Press 8x5¼ hardcover [9/2000] out of print/used |
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"Melies The Magician" tv documentary [Gaumont 1997] Directed by Jacques Meny Facets b&w DVD [1/2002] for $34.99 full credits at IMDb |
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"Landmarks of Early Film, Volume 2: The Magic of Méliès" [1994]
includes the documentary "Georges Melies: Cinema Magician" [1978] and 15 restored shorts Image Ent. b&w/color DVD [3/99] for $26.99 |
'race' filmmaker Oscar Micheaux [1884-1951]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
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"With A Crooked Stick: The Films of Oscar Micheaux" [2004] by J. Ronald Green Indiana Univ Press 9x6 pb [4/2004] for $27.95 Indiana Univ Press 9½x6¼ [4/2004] for $65.00 "Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux" [2000] |
 | "Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: African-American Filmmaking & Race Cinema of The Silent Era" [2001] Edited & curated by Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines & Charles Musser Indiana Univ Press 11x9½ hardcover [9/2001] for $42.30 |
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"Writing Himself Into History: Oscar Micheaux, His Silent Films & His Audiences" [2000] by Pearl Bowser & Louise Spence Rutgers Univ Press 9¼x6¼ pb [8/2000] for $25.95 Rutgers Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [8/2000] out of print/used |
 | "Midnight Ramble: The Story of the Black Film Industry"
[P.B.S./American Experience TV documentary aired Oct 1994 ] Co-produced & co-directed by Bestor Cram; co-directed by Pearl Bowser; narrated by James Avery Shanachie Video color VHS [2/95] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb |
silent movie cowboy star Tom Mix [1880-1940] Page
Eadweard Muybridge [1830-1904]
posters •
browse books •
Artcyclopedia •
Wikipedia
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"River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge & the Technological Wild West" [2003] by Rebecca Solnit Penguin 8½x5½ pb [3/2004] for $10.20 Viking 9¼x6¼ hardcover [1/2003] out of print/many used |
Pathé Brothers of France
Charles Pathé [1863-1957]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
with Émile, Théophile & Jacques Pathé founded
Société Pathé Frères [est. 28 September 1896] of Paris, France
company website •
Wikipedia
Edwin S. Porter [1870-1941]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
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"Before The Nickelodeon: The Early Cinema of Edwin S. Porter" [Oct 1982]
Co-produced, directed & edited by Charles Musser; written by Warren Leight; narration by silent-era star Blanche Sweet Kino Video b&w/color DVD [4/2008] for $21.99 
Kino Video color/b&w VHS [11/98] out of prodn/rare full credits at IMDb |
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"Before The Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter & The Edison Manufacturing Company" [1991] by Charles Musser Univ CA Press 9¼x6 pb [6/91] out of print/used Univ CA Press 9¾x6¾ hardcover [6/91] out of print/used |
Hal Roach [1892-1992]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
First Motion Picture Unit of the U.S.A.A.F. (at 'Fort Roach' during WWII)
Hal Roach article at Silents Are Golden
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"A History of The Hal Roach Studios" [2005] by Richard Lewis Ward S.I.U. Press 9x6 pb [8/2006] for $16.88 S.I.U. Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [3/2005] out of print/used |
William Selig [1864-1948]
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IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
'The King of Comedy' Mack Sennett [1880-1960]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
director Wm. Desmond Taylor [1872-1922]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
MTS's Wm. Desmond Taylor fansite
DMK's Wm. Desmond Taylor fansite
director King Vidor [1894-1982] Page
Erich von Stroheim [1885-1957]
explore videos/DVDs •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
Books
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"Silent-Era Filmmaking In Santa Barbara" [2007] by Robert S. Birchard Arcadia Publng (Images of America) 9x6¼ pb [7/2007] for $19.99 |
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Fort Lee: Birthplace of The Motion Picture Industry" [2006] by Fort Lee {NJ} Film Commission Arcadia Publng (Images of America) 9x6¼ pb [9/2006] for $15.59 |
 | "Before Hollywood: From Shadow Play To The Silver Screen" [2005] by Paul Clee Clarion Books 9x9 pb [8/2005] for $14.96 |
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"Celebrating 1895: The Centenary of Cinema" [1998] Edited by John Fullerton Indiana Univ Press hardcover [11/98] out of print/used |
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"Who's Who of Victorian Cinema: A Worldwide Survey" [1996] Edited by Stephen Herbert & Luke McKernan British Film Institute 9¼x6½ hardcover [10/96] 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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"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 |
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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 |
Videos & DVDs
'Slapstick Symposium' Series on DVD
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"Hollywood: A Celebration of The American Silent Film" [H.B.O. 1980]
Written & directed by David Gill & Kevin Brownlow, narration by James Mason Vol. 1: "The Pioneers" HBO VHS [6/98] out of prodn/used Vol. 2: "In the Beginning" HBO VHS [6/98] out of prodn/used complete box set
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Cinema Pioneers Links
Cinema Pioneers category at Wikipedia
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