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Long before sound became an essential part of motion pictures, Westerns were an established genre. The men and women who brought to life cowboys, cowgirls, villains, sidekicks, distressed damsels and outraged townspeople often continued with their film careers, finding success and fame well into the sound era--always knowing that it was in silent Westerns that their careers began. More than a thousand of these once-silent Western players are featured in this fully indexed encyclopedic work. Each entry includes a detailed biography, covering both personal and professional milestones and a complete Western filmography. A foreword is supplied by Diana Serra Cary (formerly the child star "Baby Peggy"), who performed with many of the actors herein.
This work contains 41 engaging essays on players of the silent screen, from superstars like Rudolph Valentino and Clara Bow to fascinating figures like Clarine Seymour and Arthur Johnson. These stories range from the tragic (early deaths, drug problems, talkie-related career failures) to the triumphant (a surprising number of silent stars enjoyed long, happy lives). Many of these personalities have never before been covered in depth, and their careers highlight the entire silent era, from its beginnings in the 1890s to its demise in the late 1920s. These essays, earlier versions of which were published in Classic Images, have been completely reedited and rewritten, reflecting information later made available to the author.
Many of the stars of silent westerns were young horse wranglers who left the open fields to make extra money bulldogging steers and chasing Indians around arenas in traveling Wild West shows. They made their way to Hollywood when the popularity of the Wild West shows began to decline, found work acting in action-packed silent westerns, and became idols for early moviegoers everywhere. More than 100 of those cowboys who starred in silent westerns between 1903 and 1930 are highlighted in this work. Among those included are Art Acord, Broncho Billy Anderson, Harry Carey, Fred Cody, Bob Custer, Jack Daugherty, William Desmond, William Duncan, Dustin Farnum, William Farnum, Hoot Gibson, Neal Hart, William S. Hart, Jack Holt, Jack Hoxie, Buck Jones, J. Warren Kerrigan, George Larkin, Leo Maloney, Ken Maynard, Tim McCoy, Tom Mix, Pete Morrison, Jack Mower, Jack Perrin, William Russell, Bob Steele, Fred Thompson, Tom Tyler, and Wally Wales, to name just a few. Biographical information and a complete filmography are provided for each actor. Richly illustrated with more than 300 movie stills.
A timely and captivating account of America’s first women directors who, with little recognition, helped pave the way for females in the film industry today. Originally published in 1977 as Early Women Directors, Anthony Slide’s The Silent Feminists was the first volume to recognize and honor the work of female directors in the American silent film industry. With a new foreword by the author, this invaluable resource documents these pioneering women’s lives and careers and provides an introduction to the notable yet often overlooked history of female film directors. It introduces readers to such trailblazers of the motion picture as Alice Guy Blaché, Lois Weber, Mrs. Wallace Reid, Ida May Park, Margery Wilson, and many others. More than forty years after its original publication, The Silent Feminists remains an important and influential study, providing original documentation on a subject that has steadily and deservedly grown in significance.
" From his unique perspective of friendship with many of the actors and actresses about whom he writes, silent film historian Anthony Slide creates vivid portraits of the careers and often eccentric lives of 100 players from the American silent film industry. He profiles the era’s shining stars such as Lillian Gish and Blanche Sweet; leading men including William Bakewell and Robert Harron; gifted leading ladies such as Laura La Plante and Alice Terry; ingénues like Mary Astor and Mary Brian; and even Hollywood’s most famous extra, Bess Flowers. Although each original essay is accompanied by significant documentation and an extensive bibliography, Silent Players is not simply a referenc...
Amy Schumer, Samantha Bee, Mindy Kaling, Melissa McCarthy, Tig Notaro, Leslie Jones, and a host of hilarious peers are killing it nightly on American stages and screens large and small, smashing the tired stereotype that women aren't funny. But today's funny women aren't a new phenomenon—they have generations of hysterically funny foremothers. Fay Tincher's daredevil stunts, Mae West's linebacker walk, Lucille Ball's manic slapstick, Carol Burnett's athletic pratfalls, Ellen DeGeneres's tomboy pranks, Whoopi Goldberg's sly twinkle, and Tina Fey's acerbic wit all paved the way for contemporary unruly women, whose comedy upends the norms and ideals of women's bodies and behaviors. Hysterical...
From 1913 through 1918, Long Beach, California, was home to the largest independent film company in the world, the largely forgotten Balboa Studio. Founder Herbert M. Horkheimer bought the studio from Edison Company in 1913, and by 1915 Balboa's expenses exceeded $2,500 a day and its output hit 15,500 feet of film per week. Bert Bracken, Fatty Arbuckle, Henry King, Baby Marie Osborne, Thomas Ince, and William Desmond Taylor began their careers with the studio. In 1918, Horkheimer stunned the industry by declaring bankruptcy, shutting down Balboa, and walking away from moviemaking. The closing of the studio effectively ended Long Beach's runs as a major film location and left many wondering about the true reasons behind Horkheimer's decision. Most of Balboa's films have been lost, and little has until now been written about the studio. This book first explores the history of filmmaking in Long Beach and then fully details the story of Balboa. The extensive filmography includes length, copyright date when available, cast and credits, and a plot summary.
In 1962, Samuel K. Rubin founded 8mm Collector, the predecessor to Classic Images, a widely respected publication in the vintage film hobby that celebrates the golden age of Hollywood. He was instrumental in beginning the "vintage film fan movement," founding The Society for Cinephiles, as well as organizing the Cinecon vintage film conventions. This is simultaneously a history of the vintage film hobby, a history of Classic Images, and a memoir of Rubin's forty years in the center of the hobby's world. Rubin has drawn from his personal experiences with industry professionals from the silent and early sound era, and from his service during the more than 320 issues of Classic Images published since that magazine's inception. The book covers the birth of 8mm Collector and includes reviews of the classic films, reviews of books and videos of the early screen and profiles of classic film industry personalities. Classic Images still provides a medium for film enthusiasts to share their experiences with different vendors, buy and sell movie memorabilia, and generally covers the entire movie industry from the viewpoint of the collector.
An encyclopedic look at silent film comedy that covers all the greats, from the Keystone Kops to Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton, as well as myriad lesser-known figures. Readers will delight in reacquainting themselves with the movies that first made audiences laugh.
In the early years of his performing career, Will Rogers was a vaudeville performer of limited prominence. Around the age of thirty-five, however, this Oklahoma cowboy philosopher shed his role as local stage entertainer and moved toward fame as a Broadway star and nationally beloved humorist. This documentary history, volume four in the definitive five-volume Papers of Will Rogers, reveals Rogers’s personal and professional transformation during what may have been the most productive period of his diverse career. Between 1915 and 1928—the years covered by this volume—Rogers developed his unique monologues of topical humor, sampled the relatively new medium of radio, and pursued a care...