A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen [Mass Market Paperback]

Daniel J. Blum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 1955

This treasure-trove of stills and portraits brings to life the pictures and the people who transformed the cinema from a curiosity into a beloved institution. From the earliest Edison kinetoscopes of 1889 to Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights' and 'Modern Times', the rambunctious, ground-breaking days of the silent era are captured in these pages.

All the great stars are here - Greta Garbo, Rudolph Valentino, Mary Pickford, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, and Lillian Gish, among others. Also included are such brilliant director as Mack Sennett & D.W. Griffith.

This year-by-year chronology provides a delightful visual guide to the fondly remembered decades that comprised the silent era. There is a short essay on the films and filmmakers of each year, as well as dozens of photos that constitute a wonderful introduction to, or a nostalgic look back at, the marvelous moving picture of these pioneering times.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (May 5, 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399506675
• ISBN-13: 978-0399506673
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,955,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable Photo Reference Guide (Happy Hunting!), November 18, 2003

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen (Mass Market Paperback)

I was thoroughly impressed with this book the moment I opened it. It has literally thousands of b&w photos filling its 324 pages. The photos are of various sizes and include the players and films in chronological order from "the early years" of the 1890s through 1929. From the widely known to the obscure, they are all here! What's more, the names of the films and actors are provided for nearly all the photos which has aided me in identifying a few miscellaneous stills I have. I run a tribute website for Henry B. Walthall and being able to see one photo in this book of a "lost" or "buried" film I will never get a chance to see means so much. I am sure that any silent film buff will find some prized rare photos in this book to treasure. Book includes index list of actors and films for easy reference. (This review is based on the 1982 printing edited by Daniel Blum alone, original copyright 1953).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply......THE BEST, June 11, 2003

By 

J. Rose (Romulus, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen (Mass Market Paperback)

I believe that this is definitely the best book ever written on any form of entertainment in our culture. It is the kind of book that makes you feel a great deal of adulation, sympathy, love, or any other emotion for the characters, the silent screen stars, just by seeing their photographs. The reader can literally feel themselves fall back about ninety or so years while looking through this immense photo gallery which captures stars in their natural element and heydey. Where else can you find big names like Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, and Douglas Fairbanks? Or, names that were big then, like, Norma and Constance Talmadge, Robert Harron, and Alice Joyce? Or, even sound stars who were also silent screen players like, Joan Crawford, Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper, and Myrna Loy? I would recommend this anthology to anybody, film buff (which I am a HUGE HUGE one!) or photography student. It is an indespensible collection for the eyes to feast on, thousands of pictures of the most important people in the world. Enjoy!!![.]
(This review based on the edition published in 1953, and by Daniel Blum alone.)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Collection of Thousands of Silent Movie Photos, November 28, 2005

By 

Tee (LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A pictorial history of the silent screen (Paperback)

This magificent "coffee table" book, in print for over 30 years but out of print now for over 20 years, is a must for the library of any silent movie fan. Thousands of photographs of silent movie actors and movie scenes, listed by year from 1908 to 1928, over 300 10x12 pages of truly rare photographs many from films unseen for almost a century and some players who tragically have not a single film known to still exist in sizes that range from postage stamp size to full page. And of course the superstars and legends are seen in large numbers of pictures: Mary Pickford around 40 photos, Charlie Chaplin about 30 plus similar numbers on Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, Buster Keaton, etc. As well as a quite sizable number on big stars from the period less known today - Wallace Reid, Corinne Griffith, Mae Murray, Charles Farrell, etc. You will spin many an hour pouring over the photos in this book and go back to it again and again.