Product Details
American Silent Film

American Silent Film
By William K. Everson

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Product Description

Praised as the "best modern survey of the silent period" (New Republic), this indispensable history tells you everything you need to know about American silent film, from the nickelodeons in the early 1900s to the birth of the first "talkies" in the late 1920s. The author provides vivid descriptions of classic pictures such as The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Sunrise, The Covered Wagon, and Greed, and lucidly discusses their technical and artistic merits and weaknesses. He pays tribute to acknowledged masters like D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Lillian and Dorothy Gish, but he also gives ample attention to previously neglected yet equally gifted actors and directors. In addition, the book covers individual genres, such as the comedy, western gangster, and spectacle, and explores such essential but little-understood subjects as art direction, production design, lighting and camera techniques, and the art of the subtitle. Intended for all scholars, students, and lovers of film, this fascinating book, which features over 150 film stills, provides a rich and comprehensive overview of this unforgettable era in film history.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #280475 in Books
  • Published on: 1998-08-21
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 472 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
LJ's reviewer predicted this book was "bound to become the standard work on the period" (LJ 6/1/78), especially since it offers an in-depth look at "flickers" made prior to the 1920s boom that have been neglected in other histories. In addition to the early features, chapters cover D.W. Griffith and The Birth of a Nation, the Western, comedy, art direction and production design, the European influence, genres, directors, and the transition to sound. This survey remains "a readable, informed history of the period."
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

William K. Everson (1929–1996) was the author of The Art of W. C. Fields, Classics of the Horror Film, and The Western.

Customer Reviews

Twenty-year old book is still one of the best on silent film5
This book, written by the late film expert William K. Everson, is one of the best that you will read on silent film. Everson covers the entire silent film era from its beginnings to the coming of sound. This book focuses on the artistic successes more than the business end of the topic. While he completely covers D.W. Griffith's career, he also champions other early directors like John Collins. He covers interesting topics like art direction (or the lack of) in many early films. While the scope of the book is American films, he devotes time to the influence of European films and filmmakers on American films.

This books is an excellent introduction to silent film, yet a person familiar with the topic will not be able to put it down either.

A great introduction to the Silent Film genre.5
I am so glad that Da Capo put this old Oxford University Press book back in print. I had read it back when I was a teenager in Chandler, Arizona and found its descriptions of these elusive films fascinating. For instance, this book was the first place I had heard of FW Murnau's excellent Sunrise, which is now a favorite of mine. Get this book for your private Silent Film Genre Reference Library.

A CLASSIC5
This book is a classic. If you own only two or three film books, this should be one of them. Everson was the man. He saw everything, and what's more, he understood what he saw. There is no better introduction to the world of silent film.