The Big V [Hardcover]

Anthony Slide (Author), Alan Grevinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1987 | ISBN-10: 0810820307 | ISBN-13: 978-0810820302 | Edition: A History of the Vitagraph Company

This is a completely new, revised, and expanded version of the book first published by Scarecrow in 1976. It documents the work of America's first major film company, Vitagraph, from its beginnings in the 1890s through its sale to Warner Bros. in 1925.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...groundbreaking...Very readable and historically important... (Michael R. Pitts Classic Images )

...his attempt to restore forgotten Vitagraph to its rightful place in the annals is a worthy one. Much diligent and useful research has gone into The Big V>>>> (Roy Fowler Film & Television Technician (Uk) )

Detailed and finely researched... (Film Review Annual )

...his attempt to restore forgotten Vitagraph to its rightful place in the annals is a worthy one. Much diligent and useful research has gone into The Big V (Roy Fowler Film & Television Technician (Uk) )

About the Author

Anthony Slide has written or edited more than thirty books an the history of popular entertainment, among which are Early Women Directors, The Vaudevillians, International Film, Radio, and Television Journals, and The American Film Industry: A Historical Dictionary. He has held executive positions with both the American Film Institute and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and has been hailed as both "a publishing phehomenon" (by American Classic Screen) and a "a meticulous film scholar" (by Variety). Slide also edits the Scarecrow Press Filmmakers series.

Alan Gevinson, who worked with Slide on the revision of The Big V, is on the staff of the American Film Institute Catalog.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 356 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press; A History of the Vitagraph Company edition (September 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810820307
• ISBN-13: 978-0810820302
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,687,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Big V by Anthony Slide. revised Edition, September 13, 2011

By 

Kenneth M. Henderson "Michael Moviespast" (Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Big V (Hardcover)

The Big V
This book is the revised edition(something I have been getting a lot lately chasing older publications in the film history field. I got a used University copy. I enjoyed the book and started reading it soon after I received it. easy to read and very informative on a company, Vitagraph Films that was taken over by Warners mid-1920s to get Vitagraph's film exchanges & Flatbush/Brooklyn film studios. The surviving films are sparse due to vault fires. A 1914 fire destroyed much of the pioneering productions back to about 1904 and a later one finished off a lot more. Some of their 20s productions were later remde by Warner Bros and some by RKO as Talkies. A fascinating book about J Stuart Blackton & Albert E Smith, two British emigres to USA as youngster who founded this company after being involved in a stage act together. Their earliest star was The Vitagraph Girl, Florence Turner and they briefly employed the giant so-called comedian John Bunny who died young.

Slide often appears in extras on DVDs and is a fan of silent films. He emigrated from England several years ago and lectures and writes on silent film.

This revised edition includes an extensive added filmography of the company compiled by another for inclusion in this edition. Recommended.