Customer Reviews

Silent Cinema

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First of all, if the book comes with the dvd, as mine did - buy it! This is a great book to get into your favorite silent film stars, directors, and the history of the movies. It will introduce you to actors and actresses you never heard of, directors and what was their leanings, producers and their craft. I love the history and the stories of this time, and this opened up a whole new avenue of people I now want to see on the screen.

The DVD is a detailed look at the silent actors in various roles and films. It is 193 minutes long and it covers so much information!

I was into Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin for years, and lately have searched out the western silents artists such as Broncho Billy and William S. Hart. I had just opened the door to a crack of what was out there - this book and dvd have flung the door open! There is still so much out there to see and collect.

The DVD sells the book, but then the book sells the DVD. Wonderful!
It is a great buy for the buck!

Let me begin by saying that reading this book revealed as much to me about classic silent films as I would have learned directly from the men and women who made them. The biographical profiles are informative, and the movie discussions are thrilling. I found myself wishing I could see every film and every star while I read, glad that someone had finally put the spotlight on silent movies.

The book includes a three-hour DVD. Both book and DVD are great introductions to anyone who might be checking out silent movies for the first time. The authors researched this work with an eye to uncovering unique pieces of information, and their documentation of details remains an extraordinary example of accuracy, as well as managing to be entertaining, too, a combination that I find rare with nonfiction books.

This package delivers substance, pictures, and loving tributes to the great stars of a bygone era, and should be on every film fan's bookshelf.

Review posted by David W. Menefee, author of the new 2011 Sarah Bernhardt, Her Films, Her Recordings.