Publisher's Synopsis
The icons of silent film - Chaplin, Garbo, Bow, Valentino - remain endlessly fascinating, indelibly fixed in our cultural memory but silent film is also important as a window on the past and offers insights into the moves of today. Sadly, less tham 5% of all the films made before 1930 exist in any form. Great strides are being made in the preservation of early film but many disintegrating before they're even seent. The Library of Congress houses the largests collection of silent film and associated memorabilia and have created this book as a tribute to these great films. Kobel explores the fascinating world of these films, from the early narrartive shorts of the 1890s to the brilliant full length features of the 1920s. This extraordianry book puts directors, actors and their films into a broad historical perspective, to give a sense of their relative importance and influence not only in Hollywood but in Europe, where silent film also flourished. He looks at the technology of early film, the contributions of women directors, African-American films, the use of colour and the restoration work being spearheaded by people like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
